It is time to vaccinate people for bird flu

Something unprecedented -something happened almost a year ago -something that had the testimony of a global catastrophe: the Vogel -Influenza -Ein -Virus learned how to infect cattle, one of the largest biomass on earth. And not some cattle, but whey cows, the animals that provide one of the most consumed products in the history of agriculture: milk.

Nobody saw what speaks the power of viral evolution and viral adaptation. Last year, bird flu caused serious damage in milk flocks and poultry transactions.

The CDC reports that the 50 countries and Puerto Rico have outbreaks in poultry from March 10 that affected 166,414,821 animals, and 17 countries have outbreaks in dairy cows that affect 977 herds. This is almost certainly a underestimation of the problem. Not all herds of dairy are monitored. Although the disease in cows is not as serious as in birds, the spread of viruses inside and under herds shows that the spread of cattle to Bovin occurs.

People were also infected. So far we have had no reports on the transmission of the virus of humans to human, but 70 people were infected by sick birds and cows, and one person has died.

Nobody, including US experts, fully understands what comes next. We fear that this could be our next pandemic if something changes in the virus to cause infection from people to person.

We may not know when or whether this will happen, but that does not mean that we cannot be prepared because we can. The insertion of some simple measures will work to prevent the next global flu pandemic.

The full name for this virus is “highly pathogenic bird -Influenza A (H5N1). We will simply call it” bird flu “. It has been identified in Chinese geese in 1996. Since then it has been circulating in birds worldwide. to spread this year more than 24,000 sea lions.

This jump from birds was alarming because it does not require much more change for the virus to learn to jump to humans. HIV, Covid-19 and Ebola are current examples of viruses that have started in animals and have acquired the ability to infect people.

Just said we had bird flu, but now we have cow flu. The virus jumped to pigs on at least one farm.

Even worse, the virus still infects the cow in milk. Pasteurized milk is certain: pasteurization kills the virus. But raw, non -pasteurized milk is not safe. So far, people have often not absorbed the virus through their digestive systems, but bird flu is a virus of the intestine for birds. It is completely conceivable – and even likely – that this virus will help this virus to learn people to infect people.

The bird flu virus is a mastermind when adjusting. If someone is infected with both seasonal and bird flu, the two viruses can exchange genes. This exchange can include genes that improve the ability of the bird flu virus to infect people.

Should we be concerned that human transmission comes next? So far, infections in humans seem to be dead ends, infections that are not passed on to other people. In the United States, a total of 70 H5N1 cases were reported to people in the United States in 2024 and 2025. The first US death on January 6 of this year. Most of these cases followed exposure to dairy cows or poultry. The states in which human cases are reported include California, Colorado, Iowa, Louisiana, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, Ohio, Oregon, Texas, Washington, Wisconsin and Wyoming. In each of these cases, people were in contact with animals with the exception of Missouri.

However, the case of Missouri is alarming because no animal exposure was known. This person has underlying conditions that could have used a higher risk. People like this – with weakened immune systems – are a training reason for human viruses, as their immune system enables the virus to continue to replicate longer than with a healthier person. The virus grows in them, mutates and adapts before it can be removed. And it will train until it finds its way to a new host – and possibly access to the 8 billion people on the planet.

The good news is that we have made great progress in virus surveillance due to the Covid pandemic. The tests are faster, cheaper and easier, even at home. We can follow viruses in the waste water and enable ourselves to recognize outbreaks in early stages. We made a viral vaccine most important and delivered it in less than a year in the world. Compared to the earlier development of vaccine, this was really the equivalent to travel with “warp speed”.

It is now time to make a vaccine against the “bird cow” and the likely human H5N1 flu, to deliver and to keep it practical. Nothing would be cheaper to protect US citizens from bird flu than a vaccine.

We need a vaccine not only for humans, but also for cows and probably also chickens. The US Agriculture Ministry is currently carrying out field tests with vaccines for poultry and dairy cattle and examines vaccine options for other species.

The vaccination of chickens is a complicated undertaking. Egg producers want it, but those in the chicken export business don't. The reason for this is that many countries do not accept vaccinated chickens because there are fears that some of these chickens protected by a vaccine may still have enough of the virus to spread it. This could be the most important of all trade agreements that should be negotiated. If Importers of US chickens take vaccinated chickens, we could start a widespread vaccine campaign against this virus. China, Mexico and France are already doing this.

Maybe less controversial, we should also vaccinate milk herds – as well as the people who work with dairy cattle and poultry. Let us vaccinate pigs against this virus, as they were historically the animal host who is most helpful in influenza A to adapt to people. Do you remember the swine flu?

Today, after the Covid pandemic, we are better prepared to deal with an emerging pathogen like H5N1. We have antiviral drugs, including Tamiflu, which would probably be effective against H5N1, but we don't have enough of them yet. The mRNA vaccines can quickly target H5N1 and production can be increased to meet the needs of our nation.

We believe that it is time to create the H5N1 vaccination of cattle and workers in the industry and possibly the broader public if the risk justifies this. The United States were leaders worldwide in medicine and science. To prevent the next pandemic, we now have to lead again.

Dr. Paul Klotman is President, CEO and Managing Director of the Baylor College of Medicine. Dr. Anthony Maresso is a professor of molecular virology and microbiology at the Baylor College of Medicine.