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Bird flu could become a human pandemic. How are countries preparing?

Wealthy nations are purchasing vaccines against H5N1 influenza and boosting surveillance, but there are concerns that low-income countries will be left behind.
  1. Smriti Mallapaty
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A large number of cows crowd together for their midway milking at a diary in Wisconsin.

Highly pathogenic avian influenza has been detected in 145 cattle herds in the United States. Credit: Matthew Ludak for The Washington Post via Getty

As cases of avian influenza continue to rise in cattle in the United States, countries are preparing for the possibility that the virus could start spreading in people. Many nations are ramping up surveillance, as well as purchasing vaccines or developing new ones.

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doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-024-02237-4

Updates & Corrections

  • Correction 18 July 2024: A previous version of this story misstated how some H5N1 vaccines are made.

References

  1. Le Sage, V. et al. Preprint at bioRxiv https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.05.22.595317 (2024).

  2. Caserta, L. C. et al. Preprint at bioRxiv https://doi.org/content/10.1101/2024.05.22.595317 (2024).

  3. Furey, C. et al. Nature Commun. 15, 4350 (2024).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Dadonaite, B. et al. Preprint at bioRxiv https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.05.23.595634 (2024).

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