An expert has answers for you about avian flu.
Since it was first detected in birds in late 2021, avian flu has killed millions of poultry and infected animals that were previously thought to be immune, including dairy cows. The FDA has documented the H5N1 virus in animals in 48 states.
Yet only 27 people worldwide have been infected since the outbreak began, and only four have been in the US. That suggests the risk to humans remains relatively low—for now. Why? And what early warning signs could point to an increasing risk?
Stylianos Bournazos, a research associate professor in the Leonard Wagner Laboratory of Molecular Genetics and Immunology at Rockefeller University, headed by Jeffrey V. Ravetch. Bournazos and his colleagues have been tasked with a crucially important project: the development of a universal influenza vaccine that protects against every flu strain—those currently circulating and any yet to emerge.
Here he explores what you need to know—and how worried you should be:
Source: Rockefeller University