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Has person-to-person transmission been proven for H5N1? It's still quite likely they were both infected from the same animal. If they can prove spread between p

Has person-to-person transmission been proven for H5N1? It's still quite likely they were both infected from the same animal. If they can prove spread between people, that's a big problem... Until then this isn't a risk, other than the major implications for agriculture and food supply.

ambientqtns 4y ago
As far as I've read, they aren't sure about human to human transmission. Roughly a dozen people have had H5N1, but they all plausibly could have gotten it from poultry handling. Which means a) no need to panic, but definitely a good idea to keep an eye on things in case we do observe human<->human transmission and b) Maybe we need to revisit how we raise animals for food....
- myshpa 4y ago
  > Maybe we need to revisit how we raise animals for food Maybe the problem isn't how, but how many.
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
  - ambientqtns 4y ago
    Sure, I mean, those are definitely related.
timr 4y ago
Probably, but it's rare and hard to confirm. Animal-to-human transmission is also rare, for that matter. The headline is irresponsible and fear-mongering clickbait, even just by referencing the contents of the article below it.
- happytoexplain 4y ago
  Even just probably-unwarranted "worrying" is now "fear-mongering clickbait"? I feel so genuinely sad about the feverish level of shitflinging that so many topics are subject to due merely to their proximity to social politics.
  - timr 4y ago
    Read the article. The headline is not at all supported by the content, which itself is based on a single-word quote from a WHO spokesperson that leaves a great deal of doubt about the intent of the comment. Literally the first paragraph of the story contradicts the headline: > The discovery of two cases of bird flu within the same family in Cambodia has highlighted the concern over potential human-to-human spread of the virus, although experts have stressed the risk remains low. By the third paragraph, you will know that human-to-human transmission hasn't even been confirmed in this case. By the fourth paragraph, you will know that the thing "worrying" the WHO is the growth of human cases, not this particular case. Unfortunately, most people don't read past the headline, and the Guardian knows it.
    - biorach 4y ago
      After 2 cases in the same family in Cambodia a director of the WHO says “The global H5N1 situation is worrying given the wide spread of the virus in birds around the world and the increasing reports of cases in mammals including humans,” The Guardian's headline is "WHO says avian flu cases in humans ‘worrying’ after girl’s death in Cambodia" This sounds a) reasonable grounds for worry by someone who studies epidemics and b) an accurate headline by the Guardian.
      - timr 4y ago
        > a) reasonable grounds for worry by someone who studies epidemics What does this have to do with the accuracy of the headline? You're just appealing to authority -- but the same authority figure says, in the same article, that the 2 cases in Cambodia may not even be an example of human-to-human transmission: > “So far, it is too early to know if it’s human-to-human transmission or exposure to the same environmental conditions,” Briand told a virtual press conference hosted in Geneva. The line you're quoting also explicitly says that the "worry" is general spread, not this particular example.
TSiege 4y ago
I don't think it's been proved, but I tink the concern is that it's viewed as a matter of when not if. > The discovery of two cases of bird flu within the same family in Cambodia has highlighted the concern over potential human-to-human spread of the virus, although experts have stressed the risk remains low.
legulere 4y ago
Family clusters have happened for a long time with H5N1, with human-to-human being likely. For instance a paper that currently goes around from 2007: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2857285/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2857285/ The issue is that each mammal/human infection gives the virus the possibility to adapt to mammals/humans and/or reassortment with other influenza viruses, like happened with H1N1/09.

ambientqtns 4y ago

As far as I've read, they aren't sure about human to human transmission. Roughly a dozen people have had H5N1, but they all plausibly could have gotten it from poultry handling. Which means a) no need to panic, but definitely a good idea to keep an eye on things in case we do observe human<->human transmission and b) Maybe we need to revisit how we raise animals for food....

myshpa 4y ago
> Maybe we need to revisit how we raise animals for food Maybe the problem isn't how, but how many.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- ambientqtns 4y ago
  Sure, I mean, those are definitely related.

timr 4y ago

Probably, but it's rare and hard to confirm. Animal-to-human transmission is also rare, for that matter. The headline is irresponsible and fear-mongering clickbait, even just by referencing the contents of the article below it.

happytoexplain 4y ago
Even just probably-unwarranted "worrying" is now "fear-mongering clickbait"? I feel so genuinely sad about the feverish level of shitflinging that so many topics are subject to due merely to their proximity to social politics.
- timr 4y ago
  Read the article. The headline is not at all supported by the content, which itself is based on a single-word quote from a WHO spokesperson that leaves a great deal of doubt about the intent of the comment. Literally the first paragraph of the story contradicts the headline: > The discovery of two cases of bird flu within the same family in Cambodia has highlighted the concern over potential human-to-human spread of the virus, although experts have stressed the risk remains low. By the third paragraph, you will know that human-to-human transmission hasn't even been confirmed in this case. By the fourth paragraph, you will know that the thing "worrying" the WHO is the growth of human cases, not this particular case. Unfortunately, most people don't read past the headline, and the Guardian knows it.
  - biorach 4y ago
    After 2 cases in the same family in Cambodia a director of the WHO says “The global H5N1 situation is worrying given the wide spread of the virus in birds around the world and the increasing reports of cases in mammals including humans,” The Guardian's headline is "WHO says avian flu cases in humans ‘worrying’ after girl’s death in Cambodia" This sounds a) reasonable grounds for worry by someone who studies epidemics and b) an accurate headline by the Guardian.
    - timr 4y ago
      > a) reasonable grounds for worry by someone who studies epidemics What does this have to do with the accuracy of the headline? You're just appealing to authority -- but the same authority figure says, in the same article, that the 2 cases in Cambodia may not even be an example of human-to-human transmission: > “So far, it is too early to know if it’s human-to-human transmission or exposure to the same environmental conditions,” Briand told a virtual press conference hosted in Geneva. The line you're quoting also explicitly says that the "worry" is general spread, not this particular example.

TSiege 4y ago

I don't think it's been proved, but I tink the concern is that it's viewed as a matter of when not if. > The discovery of two cases of bird flu within the same family in Cambodia has highlighted the concern over potential human-to-human spread of the virus, although experts have stressed the risk remains low.

legulere 4y ago

Family clusters have happened for a long time with H5N1, with human-to-human being likely. For instance a paper that currently goes around from 2007: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2857285/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2857285/ The issue is that each mammal/human infection gives the virus the possibility to adapt to mammals/humans and/or reassortment with other influenza viruses, like happened with H1N1/09.