Bird flu may be more dangerous to humans than SARS

Main Category: Flu / Cold / SARS
Also Included In: Flu / Cold / SARS
Article Date: 15 Jan 2004 - 0:00 PDT

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Scientists are saying that if the Bird Flu combines with a human influenza virus it could be more deadly than SARS.

In Vietnam two million chickens have died - as well as three people. 18 provinces of South Vietnam have banned the transport of chickens.

Dr Veronica Chan (head of the microbiology and parasitology department at the University of the Philippines College of Medicine) said humans would have no protection against a hybrid strain of flu. She said there would be an epidemic if the hybrid appeared. "It kills. It kills," she said.

Of the 12 people in northern Vietnam who have died from influenza, three have died from bird flu (according to the WHO, they have not confirmed either way what happened to the other nine). There were five more suspected cases yesterday.

The World Health Organisation is taking this so seriously that it has sent its most senior experts to Hanoi (Vietnam). They said a vaccine will be flown out there during the next few weeks (to fight the outbreak).

Vietnamese expert, Hoang Thuy Long (Director of the Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology, Hanoi) said they are still unsure about whether the virus can pass from human to human. 'As we are not able to define if the H5N1 flu virus could jump from humans to humans, the fight against this flu has yet to have a clear target." se said. 'It is expected that the avian influenza strain A (H5N1) would linger.'

Apart from infecting chickens, Hoang Long said this bird flu (strain) can infect ducks, pigs, horses and humans (this gives it the potential to evolve into new, more dangerous strains). 'In a case when a pig is infected by both the poultry virus and the human (flu) virus, this host will create a new virus which has most of the human genes.' said Long.

The bird flu is affecting chickens in Japan and South Korea as well.

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