Virus most likely to cause next pandemic ‘could be passed to humans’ from horses, study finds
Bird flu can infect horses without causing any symptoms, according to new research, raising fears that the virus could be spreading undetected.
It’s another twist in the emerging threat of the H5N1 virus, widely seen as the most likely cause of the next pandemic.
Scientists at the University of Glasgow found antibodies to the virus in blood samples taken from horses living in Mongolia. Their results have been published in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases.
The HPAI H5N1 virus. File pic: iStock
Professor Pablo Murcia, who led the research, told Sky News that the finding suggests horses worldwide could be vulnerable in areas where bird flu is present – and they could pass on the virus to humans.
“It’s very important, now we know these infections can occur in nature, that we monitor them to detect them very rapidly,” he said.
“Horses, like many other domesticated animals, live in close proximity to humans and if this virus was to establish in horses the probability of human infection increases.”
The team at the Medical Research Council-University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research also believe horses could be a mixing bowl for new strains of flu.
It’s already known that they can be infected with equine flu, caused by the H3N8 virus. But if a horse is simultaneously infected with H5N1, the viruses could swap genetic material and evolve rapidly.
The H5N1 virus has been around for several decades, largely causing outbreaks in poultry. But in recent years a new variant has spread worldwide with migrating birds and has repeatedly jumped species to infect mammals.
The virus is spreading in cows in the US, with more than 700 dairy herds in 15 states infected, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
Almost 60 farm workers have been infected, though so far all have had mild symptoms.
Scientists are concerned that the virus is developing mutations that would help it survive in mammalian cells and have criticised the slow response of US authorities.
Dr Tulio de Oliveira, the director of the Centre for Epidemic Response and Innovation in South Africa, who first detected the Omicron variant in the COVID pandemic, said he is watching events in the US with dread.
“The last thing that they would need at the moment is another pathogen that evolved and mutated,” he told Sky News.
“If you keep H5N1 circulating for a long time and across different animals and in humans, you give the chance that that can happen.
“They do not need another potential pandemic.”
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US authorities are bringing in new rules on testing of raw milk, which can contain live virus.
According to the UK Health Security Agency the virus is highly unlikely to affect cattle in Britain and the risk to the public is low.
But an order has been placed for five million doses of a vaccine against the H5 family of viruses if bird flu begins to spread in humans.
World
Ukraine war: 14 killed as Russian missile and drone attacks strike Kyiv – including American citizen
Russian missile and drone attacks have killed 14 people in Kyiv overnight, according to Ukrainian officials.
A 62-year-old US citizen who suffered shrapnel wounds is among the dead.
At least 99 others were wounded in strikes that hollowed out a residential building and destroyed dozens of apartments.
Pic: AP
Emergency workers were at the scene to rescue people from under the rubble.
Images show a firefighter was among those hurt, with injured residents evacuated from their homes.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the attack as “one of the most terrifying attacks on Kyiv” – and said Russian forces had fired 440 drones and 32 missiles as civilians slept in their homes.
“[Putin] wants the war to go on,” he said. “It is troubling when the powerful of this world turn a blind eye to it.”
Pic: AP
Ukraine’s interior minister, Ihor Klymenko, said 27 locations across the capital have been hit – including educational institutions and critical infrastructure.
He claimed the attack, in the early hours of Tuesday morning, was one of the largest on the capital since Russia’s full-scale invasion began in February 2022.
Drones swarmed over the city, with an air raid alert remaining in force for seven hours.
One person was killed and 17 others injured as a result of separate Russian drone strikes in the port city of Odesa.
Pic: Reuters
It comes as the G7 summit in Canada continues, which Ukraine’s leader is expected to attend.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy was due to hold talks with Donald Trump – but the president has announced he is unexpectedly returning to Washington because of tensions in the Middle East.
Ukraine’s foreign minister says Moscow’s decision to attack Kyiv during the summit is a signal of disrespect to the US.
Moscow has launched a record number of drones and missiles in recent weeks, and says the attacks are in retaliation for a Ukrainian operation that targeted warplanes in airbases deep within Russian territory.
Kyiv’s mayor Vitali Klitschko says fires broke out in two of the city’s districts as a result of debris from drones shot down by the nation’s air defences.
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Pic: AP
On X, Ukraine’s foreign ministry wrote: “Russia’s campaign of terror against civilians continues. Its war against Ukraine escalates with increased brutality.
“The only way to stop Russia is tighter pressure – through sanctions, more defence support for Ukraine, and limiting Russia’s ability to keep sowing war.”
Olena Lapyshnak, who lived in one of the destroyed buildings, said: “It’s horrible, it’s scary, in one moment there is no life. I can only curse the Russians, that’s all I can say. They shouldn’t exist in this world.”
World
Israeli tank shelling kills 51 people waiting for aid in Khan Younis, Hamas-run health ministry says
Israeli tank shellfire has killed at least 51 Palestinians in Khan Younis, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza.
Hundreds of others have been injured, with “dozens of critical cases” arriving at a medical complex.
It is feared that the number of fatalities will rise.
Pic: Reuters
The strikes took place as people waited for United Nations and commercial aid trucks in the southern Gaza city.
Witnesses said that Israeli forces carried out an airstrike on a nearby home before opening fire toward the crowd.
“Emergency, intensive care, and operating rooms are experiencing severe overcrowding,” a statement said.
Officials say medical staff “are operating with limited supplies of life-saving medicines” – with the ministry renewing an “urgent appeal” to increase aid.
Pic: Reuters
Hours earlier, Donald Trump had joined other G7 leaders to call for a “de-escalation of hostilities in the Middle East, including a ceasefire in Gaza”.
The Israeli military is yet to comment on this incident.
On Monday, Gaza’s health ministry said at least 34 people were shot dead near food distribution centres.
This was the highest reported daily total since Israel and US-backed aid centres opened last month, with thousands of Palestinians moving through Israeli military-controlled areas to reach them.
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