The H5N1 bird flu cases among animals is continuing to rise, as US officials warn about the role of humans in spreading the virus. As far as public health authorities know so far, the outbreak in dairy cattle has spilled over to three farmworkers in the United States, all of whom have had mostly mild symptoms. 

There are now 102 herds in the US with H5N1 cases, though given the prevalence of inactivated virus in commercially available pasteurised milk, experts believe the true number may be even higher. In New York, the bird flu virus is not yet spreading among people, but the city is already preparing as if it could. 

The virus has worried epidemiologists for its pandemic potential even before the first human patients were detected in Hong Kong back in 1997. In the years since then, it has spread through migratory birds and periodically torn through chicken farms. Fewer than 1,000 people are known to have been infected in the past 20 years, but slightly more than half of those infected have died.

On this episode of Morning Shot, Raina MacIntyre, Professor of Global Biosecurity, University of New South Wales, Sydney shares her insights on  what a bird-flu pandemic in people might look like.

Presented by: Ryan Huang

Produced & Edited by: Yeo Kai Ting (ykaiting@sph.com.sg)

Graphics credits: Charlie Neibergall/ Guadalupe Pardo/Associated Press