DENVER — Whether or not bird flu becomes the next major pandemic in humans is up for debate in the science community right now, as the H5N1 bird flu virus has appeared in more animals and a growing number of human cases have been reported.
So far, there have been no confirmed cases of human-to-human transmission, but assistant professor of biology at MSU Denver David Merriam told Denver7 this week that could change if H5N1 mutates.
“The nature of the virus is such that if two flu strains mix in a single person, they can swap genetic information very easily,” Merriam said.
Merriam worries about people contracting H1N1, the primary flu virus, and H5N1 at the same time.
“If they're a dairy worker or a chicken worker working with H5N1, and now you have both of them in the same person, that's where you start seeing selective pressure. And that selective pressure is the sort of thing that could lead to it being more transmissible in people,” Merriam said.
Merriam also worries about increased vaccine hesitancy leading to more illnesses spreading. He noted the current measles outbreaks in Texas and New Mexico involve a vaccine-preventable virus.
“What you see very reliably is whenever vaccinations drop in a localized region, there's a very good chance that you then see a sudden resurgence of measles,” Merriam said.
The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) maintains a database where you can search for your child's school and see the vaccination rates for all required vaccines in the state of Colorado.
That data shows compliance rates for childhood vaccinations from PreK through 12th grade across the state was about 93% for the 2023-2024 school year, a drop of about 2% since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
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