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 | UNHCR
Close to 80,000 have fled DR Congo amid fighting, sexual violence: UNHCR
In the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), insecurity and horrific sexual violence have pushed tens of thousands to flee across borders with no sign of the exodus stopping, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Monday delivered his global update to the Human Rights Council, highlighting key issues and trends, and the human rights situation in more than 30 countries.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
The UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk told the Human Rights Council in Geneva that the human rights situation in Myanmar was among the worst in the world.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNICEF
Haiti: Massive surge in child armed group recruitment – UNICEF
The ongoing emergency in Haiti is crushing children’s chances of an education and a better future as scores of youngsters are recruited by heavily armed and violent gangs, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warned on Friday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk today called on UN member states to act with urgency towards a ceasefire and to ease the suffering of the Sudanese people.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
“We are at an inflection point in the crisis in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,” the UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk told the Human Rights Council in Geneva.
1
1
1
Edited News | HRC
Investigators tasked by the UN Human Rights Council to track alleged grave abuses of power by top Nicaraguan officials on Wednesday insisted that the International Court of Justice should prosecute what they called the systematic and systemic repression of the country’s people.
1
1
Edited News | WHO
Gaza: Polio campaign reaches target, additional medical corridors needed, says WHO
The second mass polio vaccination campaign in Gaza has reached almost 548,000 children under the age of 10, according to the UN health agency (WHO). That represents 92 per cent of the 591,000 due to be vaccinated, said Dr Rik Peeperkorn, Representative of the World Health Organization in the occupied Palestinian territories (OPT) to journalists in Geneva via videolink from Gaza.
1
1
1
Edited News , Conferences | OHCHR , UNOG
At the opening of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, on the third anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk called for a solution based on the rights, needs and aspirations of the Ukrainian people.
1
1
1
Edited News , Conferences | HRC
World’s ‘warmongers’ must stop, UN chief tells Human Rights Council
With no end to numerous protracted conflicts - not least in Ukraine, three years to the day since the full-scale Russian invasion - UN chief António Guterres on Monday scorned the world’s “warmongers” for trampling on people’s most fundamental rights.
1
1
1
Edited News , B-roll , Conferences | HRC
High-level representatives of the UN and its Member States arriving at the Palais des Nations in Geneva to attend the world's top human rights forum.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , UNICEF , UNWOMEN
In the almost three years since the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, the country’s people have endured “psychological terror…displacement and hardship”, top UN aid coordinator Matthias Schmale said on Friday.