LONDON (Reuters) – Governments will invest in vaccines against all strains of the influenza virus present in the animal kingdom as insurance against an outbreak in humans, the World Health Organization’s next chief scientist said on Monday. said it should.
Across the US, UK, France and Japan, outbreaks of bird flu have caused record losses to poultry over the past year.
The recent spread of the H5N1 virus (commonly known as bird flu) to mammals needs to be monitored, but the risk to humans remains low, the WHO said earlier this month.
Incoming WHO chief scientist Jeremy Farrar said the pharmaceutical industry should make at least some I hope to conduct clinical trials.
“I fear we’re watching in slow motion something that may never happen,” he added in a media briefing. Looking back at what we’re doing now, why would we say we didn’t do more?”
latest update
Show 2 more stories
Farrar is a clinical scientist and was most recently Director of the Wellcome Trust. He was appointed WHO chief scientist in December, and later this year he will officially join the WHO.
Reported by Natalie Glover, London.Edited by Alex Richardson
Our criteria: Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
