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Friday, August 20, 2004
Flu
Scientists in China say they have discovered a highly virulent strain of bird flu virus in pigs.
An official at the China National Avian Flu Reference Laboratory said the H5N1 virus strain had been found in pigs at several farms in the country.
I’ve been morbidly fascinated with this Avian flu since it first appeared in 1997. I’ve always wondered and worried about the pandemic potential of this flu strain.
The discovery of the virus in pigs is important, because typically, the bird flu is not contagious in humans. Pigs, however, can be infected by both avian and human strains of the flu, which means that they can become a mixing ground that would allow an avian flu to become contagious to humans.
Since I first started learning about the flu and the number of deaths it can cause I was amazed that so few people worry about it at all. I was also shocked to discover the devastation of the 1918 Influenza Pandemic–that a disease could be so deadly, and yet so unknown. (An excellent book on the subject is Gina Kolata’s book Flu : The Story Of The Great Influenza Pandemic.)
Will the Asian flu become a deadly worldwide threat? We can hope that the strain doesn’t mutate to spread rapidly in humans. We can also hope that the emergency preparedness that was put into place following September 11th and the Anthrax letters will allow medical personnel to respond quickly to a deadly flu strain, and keep the spread limited.
We can hope.