FDA says it's preparing for a bird flu pandemic in people that could kill one ... trends now
The FDA is gearing up for a bird flu pandemic in people that could kill one in four of those it infects, the agency's top official has revealed.
Dr Robert Califf, its commissioner, told a Senate Committee yesterday that officials were already drawing up plans to hastily roll out tests, anti-virals and vaccines in the case of the disease jumping to humans.
But he emphasized the risk of it spreading to people was low, with only two cases detected in humans in the US so far — including a farmer in Texas this year. There was no sign of the virus passing from one person to another.
'This virus, like all viruses, is mutating,' he told the policymakers. 'We need to continue to prepare for the possibility that it might jump to humans.'
'[The] real worry is that it will jump to the human lungs where, when that has happened in other parts of the world... the mortality rate has been 25 percent.'
Dr Robert Califf, FDA commissioner, pictured speaking to the Senate's agriculture committee on Wednesday
The above graph shows the dairy herds that have tested positive for bird flu over time. Officials fear that this is bringing the virus a step closer to infecting humans
The above map shows the states that have reported bird flu infections in dairy herds
Bird flu already appears to be somewhat widespread in cattle, raising concerns that it could be a step closer to jumping to humans.
Fragments of the virus have already been detected in products including one in five grocery store milks — as well as cottage cheese and sour cream.
But officials say these are still safe to consume because the virus inside them was effectively 'dead'.
They found that, when injected into a fertilized chicken egg, the virus did not start to divide and kill cells — showing that it no longer posed a risk of infection. All the products had been pasteurized, or heated and quickly cooled, to kill microbes.
Dr Califf, who was speaking to the Agriculture Committee, added: 'We gotta have testing, gotta have anti-virals and we need to have a vaccine
