Bird flu could be spreading to horses undetected

Scientists at the University of Glasgow found antibodies to the virus in blood samples taken from horses living in Mongolia

Bird flu can infect horses without causing any symptoms, according to new research, raising fears that the virus could be spreading undetected. It’s another twist in the emerging threat of the H5N1 virus, widely seen as the most likely cause of the next pandemic.

Scientists at the University of Glasgow found antibodies to the virus in blood samples taken from horses living in Mongolia. Their results have been published in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases. Professor Pablo Murcia, who led the research, told Sky News that the finding suggests horses worldwide could be vulnerable in areas where bird flu is present, and they could pass on the virus to humans.

“It’s very important, now we know these infections can occur in nature, that we monitor them to detect them very rapidly,” he said. “Horses, like many other domesticated animals, live in close proximity to humans and if this virus was to establish in horses the probability of human infection increases.”

The team at the Medical Research Council-University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research also believe horses could be a mixing bowl for new strains of flu. It’s already known that they can be infected with equine flu, caused by the H3N8 virus. But if a horse is simultaneously infected with H5N1, the viruses could swap genetic material and evolve rapidly.

The H5N1 virus has been around for several decades, largely causing outbreaks in poultry. But in recent years a new variant has spread worldwide with migrating birds and has repeatedly jumped species to infect mammals.

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