Hi Henry,
Sounds bad, but as yet I do not fully comprehend the science you speak of. I'm not a biologist. Does the link below provide some description of what is going on? It's from Jan 16 2004, so I guess things have just got worse since then. I highlighted a sentence where "recombination" is mentioned, is there a web site you know of (and easily locate) where I can learn more about "recombination"?
Thanks for the updates,
pb
==========================================================
iconocast.com
Avian-Human Flu Feared
World Health Organization officials: 2 strains could combine
By Laurie Garrett
STAFF WRITER
January 16, 2004
World health officials expressed concern yesterday about the spread of a virulent form of bird influenza in Asia, which has struck as the region is in the grips of a human flu epidemic.
World Health Organization officials yesterday cited the "distinct possibility" that the avian and human viruses could combine to produce a super-virulent form of flu in people.
Vietnam has reported 14 humans infected with avian flu, three confirmed by lab testing. Twelve of the 14 have died.
Complicating the regional picture is one confirmed case of SARS in southern China and two suspected cases. The symptoms of SARS and influenza are nearly identical.
WHO and national Centers for Disease Control officials underscored that no human-to-human transmission of the avian virus has been identified. In interviews, they raised the possibility of simultaneous infection with avian and human flu viruses.
Influenza is an unstable virus that mutates by swapping genes - not only between various strains but also with the host species, through a process called recombination. The process brings new viruses every season.
Routinely, influenza infects migratory birds without harm, particularly ducks. The microbe is spread through droppings; in a barnyard, for instance, the virus can be transmitted to livestock. Transmission to humans is considered extremely rare; typically, the avian virus must undergo genetic recombination inside pigs before it can infect other mammals.
The current avian flu outbreak in Asia is considered worrisome because:
The virus appears to be killing off the normal host, ducks, by the thousands, WHO experts said, something not seen before.
In Vietnam, 14 people - all farmers and their families - caught the virus through contact with chickens. Vietnamese health officials also say they have found pigs infected with the virus.
Avian flu is spreading in Japan among chickens for the first time since 1925.
A mild strain of avian flu was found at a Taiwan farm. Yesterday, the farm slaughtered 20,000 chickens.
"We are not in an [avian] influenza pandemic situation now," Dr. Klaus Stohr, chief virologist for the World Health Organization, said in an interview from Geneva. The virus at this stage "is not capable of spreading worldwide [in people] quickly." Nevertheless, he said, there is "not only a possibility, but a probability that a virulent form of influenza could emerge in Vietnam."
In 1997 in Hong Kong, a handful of people died of avian flu. Isolated cases have since surfaced in China and Hong Kong. The emergence of SARS last year was initially misinterpreted as avian influenza.
Dr. Simon Mandel, WHO's expert on the clinical aspects of the SARS and influenza cases, said, "the presence of even garden-variety influenza really magnifies the problem of SARS. Trying to find SARS then is like searching for a needle in a haystack." |
