lates news on bird flu

[papia]

A new flu pandemic could happen at any time and kill between 5-150 million people, a UN health official warned. David Nabarro, who is charged with co-ordinating responses to bird flu, said a mutation of the virus affecting Asia could trigger new outbreaks. "The consequences in terms of human life when the pandemic does start are going to be extraordinary and very damaging," Dr Nabarro told the BBC. Bird flu has swept through poultry and wild birds in Asia since 2003. It has killed huge numbers of birds and lead to more than 60 human deaths.
Bird flu viruses do not usually infect humans, but several cases of human infection with bird flu viruses have occurred since 1997.