By : Satyaki Paul
Recently, a middle-aged man residing in the Jiangsu province of China was found infected with a rare strain of bird flu i.e., H10N3. The positive side of the news is that no one else was found and the risk of spread is abysmally low.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) is in consonance with the Beijing National Health Commission (BNHC) on the matter of zero human-to-human transmission. The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) opined that this doesn’t cause severe disease. Nonetheless, the credibility of such multinational institutes is now under radar due to the lackadaisical attitude posed by WHO while handling the initial first stage of COVID19 pandemic. Thus, our premier Indian institutes of virology i.e., National Institute of Virology (NIV) should start researching on such topics as turning a blind eye might result in similar side effects of the second wave of COVID19 pandemic.
In 2016-17, another strain i.e., H7N9 was discovered in China wherein around 300 individuals were killed. In this context, the WHO had remarked that this was a rare case of human-to-human transmission. In similar vein, Russia also reported cases of H5N8 strain of bird flu which had caused huge damage to the poultry sector of Europe, Russia and Asia.
Thus, in conclusion we can say that only time can tell what will happen. As because the genetic sequence of this strain is not yet decoded. The veracity posed by H5N1 is known to all. In 1997, this strain caused the death of around 455 individuals worldwide. Only few mutations of strains can adversely affect the virulence of the disease this can be seen through the case of COVID-19. Thus, this is global call as all these newer virus strains should be looked into carefully. So, that another pandemic can be subverted with time in hand. The author works as a Ph.D. Research Scholar at the Department of Anthropology, University of Calcutta, and the co-author of the book Anthropology For All (2021).