Ginzburg compared a possible avian flu epidemic with smallpox

The avian influenza virus from cats, which are massively infected in Europe and the United States, is highly likely to spread to humans. Alexander Gintsburg, director of the N.F. Gamalei National Research Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology, told Izvestia about this.

Since the pathogen has a high degree of contagiousness and can cause severe symptoms, the epidemic caused by it can be compared with the spread of smallpox, therefore, it is necessary to prepare a prototype vaccine against H5N1 in the country.

"We need a prototype of this vaccine. He must undergo the first and second stages of clinical trials against the strain, which is very likely to be transmitted not only between animals, but also from person to person. The mortality rate there is 50-70%, and with airborne transmission, smallpox will seem like a toy compared to what can happen as a result of one or two mutations," said Alexander Ginzburg.

A prototype of the drug is needed in case a dangerous variant of avian influenza spreads in Russia or other countries. Then, if a threat arises, it will be possible to release in three to four weeks the amount of vaccine necessary for its introduction into civilian circulation. However, such work is currently not being carried out at the Gamaleya Center, and there is no single state program in Russia that would unite developers and manufacturers of such drugs, he added.

Read more in the exclusive Izvestia article:

Contagious with fur: avian flu in cats threatens the world with a new pandemic