FDA Preparing for Possible Bird Flu Spread Among Humans: Commissioner

Authorities say avian influenza currently poses little risk to people.

Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Robert Califf in Washington in a file image. Joe Raedle/Getty Images

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is preparing for a scenario in which the highly pathogenic avian influenza starts spreading among humans, the agency’s commissioner said on May 8.

“This virus, like all viruses, is mutating. We need to continue to prepare for the possibility that it might jump to humans,” Dr. Robert Califf, the commissioner, told senators during a hearing in Washington.