Tuesday, September 28, 2004

Human Bird Flu Transmission

Reuters reports a probable case of human-to-human bird flu transmission in Thailand. Both victims have already died.
Experts have long feared the H5N1 bird flu virus, which swept through much of Asia early this year, could mutate into a form that could be passed from person to person and set off a pandemic like the one in 1918, which killed 20 million people.


Experts believe this is a fluke rather than a new, virulent flu strain. Note that at least 20 million people died of the Spanish flu; the real numbers may be twice that.

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