Experts Sound Alarm as Avian Flu Spreads Among Cats
(MENAFN) Alexander Gintsburg, head of the Gamaleya Research Institute, has raised alarms over the spread of H5N1 avian flu among cats, warning it could jump to humans and spark a deadly pandemic. Gintsburg emphasized that the situation is serious enough to call for the rapid development of a vaccine.
“[A vaccine prototype] should go through Phase I and II clinical trials against the strain that is very likely to start transmitting not just between animals, but from human to human,” Gintsburg stated in an interview aired on Wednesday.
The institute, which developed Sputnik V—the first registered Covid-19 vaccine—has now turned its attention to the evolving threat.
Gintsburg cautioned that a mutation of the virus enabling airborne human-to-human transmission could lead to a crisis even worse than smallpox.
“The fatality rate is 50–70%, and if transmitted by air, smallpox will seem like child’s play compared to what could happen after one or two mutations,” he warned.
Gintsburg stressed the need for Russia to develop the vaccine quickly.
“A ready prototype should be available to scale up production in three to four weeks and introduce it for public use,” he added, noting that no such program is currently in place.
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