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Avian Flu: what is the real risk to humans?

Published the Updated By Sacha Tembe and Jeanne Fenouil; Translation: AI-assisted

Avian flu is making headlines, but is there really cause for concern? Marie-Anne Rameix-Welti, a unit director at the Institut Pasteur, provides an update on the H5N1 virus: a very low risk to humans to date, and ongoing surveillance.
  • #H5N1
Grippe aviaire

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© Script: Jeanne Fenouil and Sacha Tembe - Filmmaking: Jeanne Fenouil (video in french, english subtitles available translated by AI)

 

Avian flu is all over the news... but what is the real risk to humans?

Marie-Anne Welti, head of the Molecular Mechanisms of Pneumovirus Multiplication unit at the Institut Pasteur, takes stock of the current situation.

The H5N1 virus, responsible for avian flu, mainly affects birds, but has also been detected in farmed mammals, such as dairy cows in the USA since 2024.

In France, cases were observed in wild birds and on farms in 2022. Thanks to animal vaccination, the situation is now well under control.

The good news is that, according to the WHO, the risk to humans remains very low, with no human-to-human transmission detected to date. Very rare human cases only concern people who have been in close contact with infected animals.

Institut Pasteur remains mobilized: a specific diagnostic test for the H5N1 virus has been developed, and any human cases in France are being actively monitored - with no signals to date.

A useful reminder: never touch a dead bird in the wild.