Post Reply - H5N1/flu (other types)

   https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-11-07/dead-birds-on-beaches-spark-h5n1-bird-flu-warning/104562368 or https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-11-07/dead-birds-on-beaches-spark-h5n1-bird-flu-warning/104562368 ;Thousands of migratory seabirds have been discovered washed up dead or starving along beaches from North Queensland to Tasmania.
About 2,000 carcasses were found at one New South Wales beach this week, according to seabird research group Adrift Lab.
From October to November, migrating short-tailed shearwaters travel to their breeding sites along the Australian east coast from places like Siberia, Japan and South America.
Wildlife rescue volunteers say the looming threat of the lethal bird flu strain H5N1 is adding another layer of burden to the already busy period.

DJ, Maybe Australia will be able to limit/slow down the spread of H5N1 in (wild) birds...it is not possible to stop H5N1 reaching Australia...
-
https://afludiary.blogspot.com/2024/11/preprint-emergence-of-novel-reassortant.html or https://afludiary.blogspot.com/2024/11/preprint-emergence-of-novel-reassortant.html ;
While Cambodia's avian flu resurgence came from an older (2.3.2.1c) clade of H5N1, last April in - FAO Statement On Reassortment Between H5N1 Clade 2.3.4.4b & Clade 2.3.2.1c Viruses In Mekong Delta Region - we learned that a new genotype - made up of this older clade and the newer 2.3.4.4b clade of H5N1 - had emerged in Southeast Asia.
-
As we discussed in my last blog (see UK: HPAI H5N5 Rising), the threat from HPAI H5 comes from a large and growing array of related viruses, all of which are on their own evolutionary pathway, and any of which could become a global health threat. 

Even if we get lucky, and H5 doesn't have what it takes to spark a pandemic, there's no lack of other contenders in the wild.  Whether from an influenza virus, a coronavirus, `Disease X', another pandemic is inevitable. 
Which is why, in 2021's PNAS Research: Intensity and Frequency of Extreme Novel Epidemics, researchers estimated our pandemic risk may increase 3-fold over the next few decades. 
DJ, We are facing a "mega-mix" of diseases-with CoViD doing a lot of damage to immunity...Climate collapse further increasing pandemic spread/risks...

Humans are at risk in the coming years...NOT decades...
---
https://afludiary.blogspot.com/2024/11/uk-hpai-h5n5-rising.html or https://afludiary.blogspot.com/2024/11/uk-hpai-h5n5-rising.html ;
Although the spillover of HPAI H5N1 into mammals has most of our attention, H5 influenza continues to evolve, and over the years has produced dozens of clades and subclades, hundreds of genotypes, spanning  9 different subtypes (H5N1-H5N9).  
Many have failed to thrive, or gone extinct, but new variations continue to appear. 
While China's H5N6 virus is arguably the most concerning of these offshoots, we've also been following the spread of HPAI H5N5 in Europe - and its crossing over into Canada - with considerable interest. 
-
Last July, in Cell Reports: Multiple Transatlantic Incursions of HPAI clade 2.3.4.4b A(H5N5) Virus into North America and Spillover to Mammals, researchers reported finding the mammalian adaptive E627K mutation in a number of samples.
-
While it isn't clear how much of a player H5N5 will become, it has been increasingly reported across Europe, has crossed the Atlantic several times, and Ferrets inoculated with A(H5N5) viruses showed rapid, severe disease onset, with some evidence of direct contact transmission.
Given HPAI H5's track record, this is an avian flu variant we need to keep an eye on. 

See also https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Influenza_A_virus_subtype_H5 or https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Influenza_A_virus_subtype_H5 
DJ, The more types/variants of flu, the more spread in all kinds of species-the higher the risk of some types of flu going H2H/Human to Human...with a high(er) Case Fatality Ratio/Co-infection...Flu-Rona (Flu and CoViD) must be spreading...