The World Health Organization (WHO) has confirmed a second human case of bird flu in Spain. It will be another worker from the same farm in Guadalajara where a man was infected last September.

Health sources, consulted by Europa Press, have confirmed this second infection and clarified that it is a “closed case”. Both infections have occurred in young men and, according to a report published by WHO, “no evidence of person-to-person transmission has been identified in these events.” Likewise, neither of the two workers showed any symptoms.

The first workers were detected after an outbreak in birds was confirmed on September 20 at a poultry farm. After the outbreak in poultry was identified, nasopharyngeal samples were taken from 12 agricultural workers and avian influenza A(H5N1) virus was detected in one of the workers, a 19-year-old man.

The affected person remains isolated for a day until he or she tests negative in the second test. The next day samples were collected from close contacts of the case, who also tested negative.

Following response and detection measures at the farm, all workers were tested again on 13 October. On that day, avian influenza virus was detected in nasopharyngeal samples from another worker, to be exact a 27-year-old man who was involved in control measures, including cleaning and disinfection with personal protective equipment.

He initially tested negative during the first round of testing on September 23. This second case remained isolated until October 22, when the second sample was negative by RT-PCR. Two close contacts with him were identified and tested negative for respiratory sampling.

Given the potential impact on public health, a multisectoral response is initiated in poultry farming that includes control, prevention and early detection measures. Detection of bird flu in these people, according to WHO, may be due to exposure to infected poultry or a contaminated environment. To date

HOW SERIOUS IS BIRD FLU?

Human avian influenza infections can range from asymptomatic or mild upper respiratory tract infections (fever and cough) to rapid progression to severe pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome, shock, and even death.

Cases of avian influenza virus infection in humans are usually the result of direct or indirect exposure to infected, live or dead birds, or a contaminated environment. From 2003 to 21 October 2022, a total of 868 cases of human infection, including these two cases, and 456 deaths have been reported globally from 21 countries. A total of three cases of bird flu infection in humans have been reported in Europe to date, one case from the UK in 2021 and two cases from Spain in 2022.

In light of this, WHO has highlighted the importance of global surveillance to detect and monitor virological, epidemiological and clinical changes associated with emerging or circulating influenza viruses that may affect human (or animal) health and virus exchange in a timely manner for risk assessment.

Currently, there is no vaccine to protect against avian influenza, so the United Nations agency recommends that everyone involved in work with poultry or poultry should be vaccinated against seasonal flu to reduce the theoretical risk of a regrouping event.