Several outbreaks of severe bird flu in Europe and Asia have been reported in recent days to the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), a sign that the virus is spreading rapidly again.

The spread of bird flu has put the poultry industry on alert as previous outbreaks have led to the extinction of tens of millions of birds.

The virus is also attracting the attention of epidemiologists as it can be transmitted to humans. China has reported 21 human infections with the H5N6 bird flu subtype so far this year, more than throughout 2020. In Europe, Norway reported an H5N1 bird flu outbreak in the Rogaland region in a herd of 7,000 birds. tha OIE.

Bird flu can rarely affect humans if they touch infected birds, feces or the place where the birds stay, or when preparing infected birds for cooking.

Although there have been very few human cases to determine the exact period of onset of avian influenza symptoms, it is expected to be from 3 to 10 days. The symptoms of bird flu in humans are similar to those of the common flu and include:

- fever
- sore throat
- cough
- headache
- muscle aches

Avian flu in humans can cause a number of serious and potentially fatal complications, including:

- eye infections
- pneumonia, including viral pneumonia
- acute respiratory distress
- inflammation of the brain and heart.