Why Finland and others are vaccinating people against bird flu – The Economist

WORKERS AT POULTRY and fur farms in Finland will, in the coming days, receive vaccines against bird flu. Fourteen other EU countries have signed up to procure bird-flu vaccines through a programme set up by the European Commission. Americas government has also bought vaccines in anticipation of a pandemic. And it recently commissioned Moderna, a pharmaceutical company, to create an mRNA bird-flu vaccine using a technology that was effective in protecting against covid-19. So why are countries vaccinating people against bird flu?

The illness is also called avian flu or highly pathogenic avian influenza. The usual carriers are wild waterfowl; when these birds migrate, so does the virus. It is easily transmitted to domestic poultry and is highly contagious and deadly for them. Usually it is rare for bird flu to infect mammals, including humans. But the strain of the virus that is currently circulating, H5N1, has infected hundreds of mammals. This spring it was found in dairy cows in Texas. It has since been found in dairy herds in at least 12 American states. With each mammal that is infected, there is a possibility that the virus mutates, allowing it to jump to humans more easily.

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Why Finland and others are vaccinating people against bird flu - The Economist