Will the bird flu virus H7N9 become a deadly threat to humans worldwide in the future?

Experts warn against the spread of H7N9 and its deadly consequences

The time of the great danger of an epidemic seems to be over, at least in Central Europe. Surely people still know the history of the plague today, which claimed more than 20 million victims in the Middle Ages. But even today many dangerous pathogens are found in different countries of the world. Experts are now investigating a new form of the so-called bird flu virus. Bird flu viruses called H7N9 could also threaten the lives of people in Europe.

A team of researchers from the University of Tokyo and other research institutes found in its current research that the bird flu virus H7N9 has so far infected about 1,600 people worldwide. Of those affected, around 40 percent died as a result of the disease. The physicians published the results of their study in the journal "Cell Host & Microbe".

A specific form of avian influenza virus has already caused quite a few deaths worldwide. Physicians fear that the H7N9 virus could also become a serious threat to people in Europe. (Image: psdesign1 / fotlia.com)

The plague eradicated nearly a third of its population in the Middle Ages

The time of great epidemics is actually long gone in central Europe. However, the danger of a spreading disease should not be underestimated. In the Middle Ages, the plague had raged in Europe, killing millions of people. Almost a third of the population at the time was estimated to have died from this disease. Experts suggest that the plague (often referred to as black death) first occurred in Asia at that time. Over time, it also reached Europe through trade routes.

Virus H7N9 could also infect people in Europe

The Japanese professor Yoshihiro Kawaoka is engaged in his research with the bird flu virus H7N9. This has already led to about 1,600 diseases worldwide. Many people have died as a result of the disease. This dangerous form of bird flu could also be dangerous for people in Europe. A new pandemic by the bird flu virus is feared by the researchers.

In the past, experts thought that H7N9 can not be transmitted from person to person

The recently published results of the bird flu virus H7N9 study raise serious concerns. So far, the scientists actually assumed that this bird flu virus can not be transmitted from person to person. Unfortunately, the experts seem to have been wrong in their assumption.

H7N9 proliferates in human cells and can be transmitted between mammals

In laboratory studies, scientists found that H7H9 is also able to replicate in human cells. In addition, the researchers could make another frightening finding in their study of the bird flu virus. By laboratory experiments on ferrets it could be proved that the virus can now also be transferred between mammals, explain the authors.

Some samples of H7N9 were already resistant to common drugs

What makes limiting the virus even more problematic is that even now some of the samples are resistant to common drugs. Actually, it is now only a matter of time before the H7N9 virus continues to mutate, the experts explain. When this happens, the virus could get completely out of control. For this reason, the scientists around the professor from Japan demand that the development of H7N9 be observed with the utmost vigilance. (As)