Avian Flu Pandemic

[Aquamarine]

It seems quite possible that human-to-human transmission of avian flu have occured.

http://www.iht.com/articles/540692.html
http://www.helenair.com/articles/2004/09/20/montana_top/a05092004_01.txt

How bad is this?

[Jikx]

It is half true, half hysteria.

Immunising birds could also amplify the problem. I can imagine the horror of an infected bird, with no symptoms of the flu, being an active carrier and spreading the infection everywhere. And when the virus does jump to humans, it is already immune to existing vaccines. Hows that for fear mongering?

[iansmith]

I can imagine the horror of an infected bird, with no symptoms of the flu, being an active carrier and spreading the infection everywhere.

The only birds that have symptomes are usually the chicken and domesticated birds but the duck and relatives, these are the natural host, do not show symptomes since the virus has reach evolutionnary stasis. However, virus have recently evolved to be come more virulent in the duck and this is probably due to the mixing in another animal. We had a whole seminar 2 weeks ago with a avian flu expert and he explain all this. He was also saying that in the current pandemic human-human transmission had yet to be seen and proven but he had the same fear that the new virus in asia could be the next killer because it was highly pathogenic.