Russia Just Alerted The WHO to The World s First Case of H5N8 Avian Flu in Humans
ANNA SMOLCHENKO & AMELIE BAUBEAU, AFP
22 FEBRUARY 2021
Russia said Saturday that its scientists had detected the world s first case of transmission of the H5N8 strain of avian flu from birds to humans and had alerted the World Health Organization.
In televised remarks, the head of Russia s health watchdog Rospotrebnadzor, Anna Popova, said scientists at the Vektor laboratory had isolated the strain s genetic material from seven workers at a poultry farm in southern Russia, where an outbreak was recorded among the birds in December.
Russia said Saturday that its scientists had detected the world s first case of transmission of the H5N8 strain of avian flu from birds to humans and had alerted the World Health Organization. In televised remarks, the head of Russia s health watchdog Rospotrebnadzor, Anna Popova, said scientists at the Vektor laboratory had isolated the strain s genetic material from seven workers at a poultry farm in southern Russia, where an outbreak was recorded among the birds in December. The workers did not suffer any serious health consequences, she added. They are believed to have caught the virus from poultry on the farm.