Channel 4 News featured a special report the other night on bird flu.
They reported that they have seen new evidence from the World Health Organisation, (due to be released to the world's media soon), that shows that the virus is showing signs of rapid mutation and that the risk of a human pandemic is now very likely.
In northern Vietnam, patterns of infection are changing amongst humans. The disease is becoming milder, but it is also clustering - evidence, (the scientists say), that it is rapidly mutating and working out ways to become more infectious/contagious amongst humans. And laboratory analysis has also confirmed that the bird flu virus (H5N1) is also subtly changing its genetics also adds further evidence.
Bird flu is proving to be a virus full of surprises. The jump it originally made fom ducks into chickens is akin to a virus jumping from a cat to a horse. The leap from chickens to humans was even bigger.
And another worrying development has emerged in Indonesia, where authorities have detected bird flu for the first time in pigs. Three pigs have tested positive for H5N1 and have now been quarantined. They will be tested further before being slaughtered.
Source: Channel 4
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