The likelihood of a possible new pandemic due to avian influenza in the near future is low. There is no need to panic, said Anatoly Altshtein, chief researcher at the Gamaleya National Research Center for Ecology and Mathematics.
“Of course, it is impossible to say that there is a certain reality that tomorrow we will definitely have a bird flu pandemic. Scientists and bodies dealing with the epidemiological situation should be concerned about this issue. The people need not worry about this matter. The likelihood that this will happen in the near future is small. If so, then there are vaccines“, – quotes Altshtein TASS.
He noted that avian influenza as a result of mutation can give rise to pathogenic variants of the virus. But so far this is just a theory.
Altstein emphasized that such things can never be completely controlled. In particular, a hundred years ago there was a very serious Spanish flu pandemic.
Earlier, World Health Organization (WHO) epidemiologist Richard Peabody urged to prepare for a possible new pandemic due to bird flu.
Due to the fact that the bird flu virus will be transmitted from person to person, this could lead to a new pandemic, Peabody said.
