WHO caution on bird flu

Chinese and international health experts wrapped up a workshop on Tuesday on the pressing need for a vaccine against a future strain of bird flu that could pass easily between humans, a WHO spokewoman said.

 

The H5N1 virus has prompted the slaughter of millions of birds across Asia since late 2003, and caused the deaths of at least 163 persons worldwide, according to the WHO. People are inflected through close contact with birds but experts fear the virus could mutate into a strain that can pass between humans, sparking a worldwide pandemic.

 

(The Hindu,31^st January,2007)