Bird flu could evolve and directly infect humans, warns UK scientist
A UK researcher has warned there is a serious risk that the avian flu virus could mutate and put human beings directly at risk. Dr John McCauley, from the UK Institute for Animal Health, is currently doing research for the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC). He told BBC News Online that: 'At the moment the virus affects humans only after transferring to them from poultry. In 1997, six people died in Hong Kong after 18 became infected. This year, 23 patients have died from a total of about 34 people infected in South East Asia. 'That means there is a mortality rate from some strains of highly pathogenic avian influenza of between 30 and 60 per cent of those infected. There's no reason to say the virus will not continue to evolve so that it can transmit directly from one person to another. There's a realistic chance that could happen,' he continued. Dr McCauley suggested that one way of avoiding this would be for people involved in culling infected poultry to take anti-flu medicine to prevent infection and a possible pandemic. He warned against complacency stating that 'I think the avian form of the disease has not been cleared up in any of the affected countries.' Work is currently being carried out in the UK to understand the dynamics of avian flu, and scientists are also attempting to create a breed of chicken that would be genetically immune to viral infections.
Kraje
United Kingdom