Sputnik V Developer cautions of possible 'Cat Flu' plague
(MENAFN) Alexander Gintsburg, head of Russia’s Gamaleya Research Institute—the organization behind the Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine—has issued a stark warning about a potential global pandemic triggered by the H5N1 avian flu, which is increasingly being found in domestic cats. He urged immediate development of a vaccine in case the virus mutates to enable human-to-human transmission.
Speaking to Izvestia, Gintsburg emphasized that a vaccine prototype should be ready to undergo early clinical trials and be rapidly scalable for mass production. He warned that if H5N1 mutates to become airborne among humans, the resulting crisis could surpass the devastation caused by smallpox, citing its estimated 50–70% fatality rate.
Currently, there is no program in place to develop or deploy such a vaccine, Gintsburg noted, but insisted that Russia must be prepared to produce and distribute one within a month if needed.
Concerns about avian flu crossing into cats were recently highlighted in a University of Maryland study, which recorded over 600 feline infections across 18 countries over the past two decades. The fatality rate among infected cats was over 50%, and researchers cautioned that domestic cats may serve as a bridge for the virus to jump to humans—particularly those who are in close contact with animals.
Cats often contract H5N1 by eating infected birds, raw poultry, or unpasteurized milk from infected livestock. However, some cases involved indoor cats with no clear source of exposure, suggesting unknown methods of transmission.
Since 2003, the World Health Organization has confirmed 974 human cases of H5N1 in 24 countries, resulting in 470 deaths. Most infections stemmed from contact with infected poultry, and the virus has not yet shown sustained human-to-human transmission. Despite the virus’s high mortality rate, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) maintains that the current risk to the general public is low.
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