The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
Avian flu risk still ‘low’ after first US patient dies – WHO
A day after the United States reported its first human death from avian flu, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) insisted that the risk to the general population remains “low”.
WHO spokesperson Dr. Margaret Harris told reporters in Geneva on Tuesday that the H5N1 virus causing the disease is “not circulating in humans, but jumping into humans who are exposed” to poultry or dairy cattle.
“We’re not seeing sustained circulation,” she insisted.
The patient who died of the disease in Louisiana was over 65 and reportedly had underlying medical conditions, Dr. Harris said. According to the health authorities he had been exposed to chickens and wild birds. Several dozen people in the US have contracted avian influenza during the current outbreak, mainly farmworkers in close contact with poultry flocks and cattle herds.
Dr. Harris stressed that WHO’s assessment of the risk to the general population “is still low and remains set”. The main concern is for those who work in animal industries, who need to be better protected.
The WHO spokesperson added that the United States was continuing to carry out “a lot of surveillance” in the human and animal population, “in the methods we use for farming, for our food production…all those things need to be combined because indeed it always does pose a risk”.
Meanwhile, a respiratory virus gaining ground in China, known as the human metapneumovirus, or hMPV, has been sparking media attention in recent weeks, but it does not represent a new or major threat, Dr. Harris insisted.
The UN health agency spokesperson said that such infections are on the rise in China “as expected during winter”, with seasonal influenza being “by far the most common among them”, as reported by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
“China’s reported levels of respiratory infections are within the usual range for the winter season,” Dr. Harris explained. “Authorities report that hospital utilization is currently lower than this time last year, and there have been no emergency declarations or responses triggered,” she added.
As for hMPV, it was first identified in 2001 and “has been in the human population for a long time”, Dr. Harris clarified.
She added that it is a common virus that circulates in winter and spring and usually “causes respiratory symptoms similar to the common cold”. Like any of the hundreds of common cold viruses known to exist, it can lead to more serious disease in patients with low immunity, particularly but not limited to newborns and the elderly.
Asked about hMPV’s mortality rate, Dr. Harris described it as “very, very low”. It is not a pathogen that normally leads to deaths in humans, save for the most vulnerable, she concluded, recommending “simple” prevention measures, such as wearing a mask, improving ventilation of closed spaces and handwashing.
-Ends-
STORY: Virus update WHO 07 January 2025
TRT: 1:53”
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH/ NATS
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 7 JANUARY 2025 GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
1. Exterior wide shot: Palais des Nations, Flag Alley.
2. Wide lateral shot: Speakers at the podium of the press conference from rear; speaker on screens; journalists in the Press room.
3. SOUNDBITE (English) – Dr. Margaret Harris, spokesperson, UN World Health Organization (WHO): “It’s not circulating in humans, but it is jumping into humans who are exposed, particularly those exposed to poultry or to the dairy cattle, the two, sort of, groups where we’re seeing most of the movement from animal to human, but we’re not seeing sustained circulation.”
4. Medium shot: Journalists in the Press room.
5. SOUNDBITE (English) – Dr. Margaret Harris, spokesperson, UN World Health Organization (WHO): “It very much has to be looked at in the animal population and in the methods we use for farming, for our food production. All those things need to be combined, because indeed, it always does pose a risk. As you know, our risk assessment is still low and it remains set.”
6. Wide lateral shot: Speakers at the podium of the press conference from rear; speaker on screens.
7. SOUNDBITE (English) – Dr. Margaret Harris, spokesperson, UN World Health Organization (WHO): “China’s reported levels of respiratory infections are within the normal range, it’s what we expect to see for the winter season. Authorities report that hospital utilization is currently actually lower than usual, is currently lower than this time last year, and there have been no emergency declarations – this is really important - there have been no emergency declarations.”
8. Wide lateral shot: Speakers at the podium of the press conference from rear; speaker on screens; journalists in the Press room.
9. SOUNDBITE (English) – Dr. Margaret Harris, spokesperson, UN World Health Organization (WHO): “It is not a new virus. It was first identified in 2001, it’s been in the human population for a long time. It is a common virus that circulates in winter and spring. It usually causes respiratory symptoms similar to the common cold.”
10. Medium shot: Journalists in the Press room.
11. SOUNDBITE (English) – Dr. Margaret Harris, spokesperson, UN World Health Organization (WHO): “The case mortality is very, very low. The only group in which you would see mortality are the really, really vulnerable, and you would normally see pneumonia, you would see the more severe respiratory infections.”
12. Various shots of journalists in the Press room.
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
UN Human Rights Spokesperson Jeremy Laurence on deadly attacks by the Rapid Support Forces in Sudan
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , OHCHR , UNITED NATIONS , WFP , WHO
Gaza: Famine “irrefutably” confirmed, UN humanitarians unite in plea for aid access
Famine has been confirmed in Gaza Governorate by the world’s top authority on food security and will spread further within the Strip unless fighting stops and much more aid is allowed in, UN humanitarians said on Friday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
UN Human Rights Spokesperson Jeremy Laurence on the eighth anniversary of military assault on the Rohingya in Myanmar
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
UN Human Rights Spokesperson Jeremy Laurence on the declared famine in Gaza Governorate
3
36
1
2
Edited News , Statements , Images , Conferences | HRC , OCHA , UNOG
A record 383 aid workers were killed last year with hundreds more wounded, kidnapped and detained, the UN’s top aid official said on Tuesday in a call for accountability, at a solemn ceremony in Geneva to mark World Humanitarian Day.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Thameen Al-Kheetan made the following statement at today’s biweekly press briefing in Geneva:
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
“In Gaza, the Israeli army has intensified its attacks in the north of the strip,” UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Thameen Al-Kheetan told the biweekly press briefing in Geneva on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , OCHA
Gaza: Aid insufficient to avert ‘widespread starvation’ as Israeli military ramp-up forces more people to flee
The small trickle of aid entering Gaza is totally insufficient to alleviate starvation and displacement in the Strip, UN humanitarians said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
Gaza: Hospitals continue to overflow with people injured while seeking food - WHO
As besieged Palestinian civilians face widespread malnutrition and starvation, hospitals in the Strip are increasingly overwhelmed by the influx of victims of shootings and other injuries at food distribution areas, warns the World Health Organization.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNHCR , WHO , UNMAS
Urgent help is needed to halt a deadly cholera outbreak that is sweeping across Sudan, UN agencies said on Friday, while warning that communities continue to be terrorized by parties to the conflict even as they flee violence.
2
2
1
2
Press Conferences , Edited News , Images | UNEP
Negotiations got under way at UN Geneva on Tuesday to agree on a legally binding treaty to curb plastic pollution, with delegates from nearly 180 countries attending.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , UNICEF
Gaza: Hundreds of trucks per day of free aid needed “for months”, in addition to commercial supplies - OCHA
Despite the tactical pauses Israel introduced last week to allow some safe passage for humanitarian convoys, the amount of aid that has entered Gaza remains by far insufficient for the starving population, and UN trucks continue to face impediments on their way to delivering aid.