Russia announced on Saturday that it had identified the first cases of H5N8 avian influenza in humans, according to several reports.
Anna Popova, the country’s head of public health, said in television comments that seven cases have been detected in farm workers in southern Russia, Bloomberg News reported. Authorities reported information about the cases to the World Health Organization (WHO).
Popova said the workers had mild cases and were recovered. The farm was the site of a bird outbreak in December, Bloomberg noted.
“It is not transmitted from person to person. But only time will tell when future changes will allow us to overcome this barrier, ”she said, according to the media. “The discovery of this strain now gives all of us, the world over, time to prepare for possible mutations and the possibility to react in a timely manner and develop testing and vaccine systems.”
In a statement to The Hill, WHO said that “it has been notified by the Russian Federation of human infection with H5N8 avian influenza through international health regulation mechanisms”
“Preliminary information indicates that the reported cases were of workers exposed to flocks of birds. They were asymptomatic and no transmission from man to man has been reported. If confirmed, this would be the first time that H5N8 has infected people,” the statement said. “We are discussing with national authorities to gather more information and assess the impact of this event on public health.”
Reuters noted that outbreaks of the strain have occurred in Europe, China, the Middle East and North Africa in recent months, but only in birds.
Updated 14:30