SINGAPORE: As a preventative measure against avian influenza or bird flu, Singaporean authorities issued a warning in June prohibiting people from handling or feeding wild birds, including straggling hens.
A few weeks later, the US awarded the pharmaceutical behemoth Moderna US$176 million to help with the development of a bird flu vaccine. Based on the same mRNA technology as COVID-19 vaccines, this would be administered during a pandemic that is still recent in memory.
This virus was first identified in the late 1800s, almost 150 years ago, and it has since spread among migratory water birds. Eventually, it spread to domestic poultry and farm animals, as they are susceptible to severe illness and even death from bird flu. Although human cases are uncommon, they can cause serious illnesses that could even be fatal.
The bird flu strains H5N1 and H7N9 have impacted humans the most out of all the subtypes and strains. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has expressed alarm about the recent increase in H5N1 cases.
In recent years, it has killed or caused the culling of hundreds of millions of poultry worldwide, disrupting food supply chains in certain situations. Additionally, it has been spreading to mammals from house cats to alpacas that were not previously thought to be susceptible.
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