Bird flu is likely widespread among birds in Massachusetts, State health and environmental officials said this week on Wednesday, as new cases are reported in both wild and domestic birds across multiple municipalities.
Bird flu, or H5N1, is a type of highly pathogenic avian influenza that causes severe disease in birds and occasionally infects humans.
Earlier this week, Massachusetts State officials warned that evidence "suggests that highly pathogenic avian influenza is widespread in Massachusetts and is likely present even in places where there has not been a confirmed positive."
The Massachusetts outbreak follows outbreaks in dairy cows, poultry and backyard birds in at least 10 states including Texas, Louisiana, and California, with 67 human cases confirmed since April 2024, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The first US fatality linked to H5N1 in an elderly patient with underlying medical conditions was reported in Louisiana in January.
So far, most human cases acquired from dairy cows have been mild, whereas the human cases with the virus acquired from birds have been severe and even fatal. Although human-to-human transmission of either of these H5N1 virus genotypes is not confirmed, scientists have found that just a few changes in the virus can lead to rapid human-to-human transmission.
Concerns that the usual antiviral preparedness strategies are insufficient to combat the potential pandemic risks from the various H5N1 genotypes because of rapid changes in the viruses are being raised by scientists, said Dr Anil Diwan, president of NanoViricides (NYSE-A:NNVC), a Phase II-ready biopharmaceutical company developing antiviral drug treatments.
“Influenza viruses change far more rapidly than SARS-CoV-2 ever did in the COVID-19 pandemic,” Diwan said, adding, “Novel drugs that the virus cannot escape such as NanoViricides Inc’s broad-spectrum drug NV-387 need to be rapidly advanced if we are to be truly prepared for a potential H5N1 pandemic.”
Diwan cautioned that the vaccine and antibody strategies may offer little protection. “Any currently designed H5N1 vaccines or antibodies are unlikely to be of much use, or possibly very limited use, to protect from a potential pandemic strain of H5N1 that has not appeared yet, because viruses will develop resistance against the pre-existing vaccines or antibodies rapidly. This lesson was learned during the global COVID pandemic and must be taken seriously.”
Relying on currently available drugs is not a good strategy either, said Diwan, explaining, “Influenza viruses that are resistant to all of the currently available anti-influenza drugs are already known to exist. Further, such drug resistance can even be transferred to the H5N1 strains via recombination with a drug-resistant strain. Of course, the H5N1 strains can simply mutate to develop resistance.”
“Therefore, vaccines, antibodies, and existing drugs, all of which the virus will potentially escape, simply will not do,” Diwan said, adding, “In contrast, the virus cannot escape NV-387 even as it changes rapidly because NV-387 is designed to mimic a key host-side feature that is required for infection by even the changed virus. This host-mimicry makes it nearly impossible for the virus to develop resistance to NV-387.”
The company said NV-387 has demonstrated superior efficacy against other influenza strains in preclinical trials, outperforming treatments currently available in the market such as Tamiflu, Rapivab and Xofluza. NanoViricides is advancing NV-387 into Phase II clinical trials.