The United Kingdom’s Health Security Agency has now contracted with a supplier to purchase more than 5 million doses of human H5N1 avian flu vaccine to prepare the country should an avian flu pandemic occur. The virus has been causing a prolonged global outbreak with new cases emerging in humans recently—although the risk still remains quite low. Poultry and dairy cattle are the most likely animals to experience outbreaks of the virus, and thousands of …
Read MoreCDC Ramps up H5N1 Surveillance
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has asked state health officials to keep up with flu surveillance over the summer to watch for human-to-human spread of the H5N1 bird flu virus, according to CIDRAP. Flu surveillance generally wanes during the warmer months when there are fewer seasonal flu virus cases. H5N1 vaccines exist, but the nation is far from ready for a full-scale national vaccine program should the virus become a widespread health …
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