Complain about a product or service

Scientists Fear Bird Flu Virus May Have Mutated

May 18, 2006

Bird Flu • FDA Gains Insight to Bird Flu Virus • New Flu Bug Proves Resistant to Antiviral Drugs • Report: Nation Not Ready For Flu Pandemic • Antiviral Overuse Could Aid Deadly Flu • 1918 Flu Virus Offers Clues to Prevent Pandemics • Scientists Report Progress Toward Bird Flu 'Cure' • Bird Flu Not the Only Animal Disease Threat • Bird Flu Vaccine Trials 'Encouraging' • FDA Frets about Flu Drugs' Side Effects • World Not Ready For Bird Flu • Researchers: Bird Flu Pandemic Inevitable • Bird Flu Scare in Virginia • FDA Issues Flu Vaccine Guidelines • FDA Approves First Bird Flu Vaccine • More Flu Bugs Show Resistance To Anti-Virals • Seasonal Flu Shot Might Offer Some Bird Flu Protection • Experts Concerned about Tamiflu Overuse • Study Finds Much Bird Flu Planning is Misplaced • U.S. Orders More Bird Flu Vaccine • Scientists Identify Genetic Changes That Could Lead to Bird Flu Pandemic • Drug Interaction Can Render Tamiflu Ineffective • New Bird Flu Variant Renews Pandemic Concerns • Researchers Find New Weapon Against Flu Virus • Researchers Test Spreadability of Bird Flu Viruses to Humans • GlaxoSmithKline Claims Bird Flu Breaththrough • Global Corporations Struggle to Plan For Pandemic • Flu Pandemic Is "Inevitable," EU Experts Warn • Bird Flu Virus May Have Mutated In Indonesian Cases • Indonesian Nurse May Have Bird Flu • Study Warns of "Chaos" and "Panic" If Bird Flu Strikes • Investigators Find No Evidence Bird Flu Virus Has Mutated • Scientists Fear Bird Flu Virus May Have Mutated • Airlines Queasy About Quarantining Bird Flu Victims • More ...

World Health Organization officials are increasingly concerned that a thus far unexplained outbreak of the bird flu virus could mean that a long-feared scenario has been borne out -- that the virus may have mutated so that it can be passed from one human to another.

The concern began with reports that seven members of one family in a remote Indonesian village had come down with the disease.

Doctors were immediately troubled by the fact that there had been no outbreaks of the disease among birds in the region. To date, all of the more than 200 people infected with the virus have gotten it from contact with a diseased bird.

Health authorities hoped that their investigation would disclose a common contact among the seven infected people. So far, that contact has not been found.

At this point, health officials say they cannot rule out that the seven infected family members passed the virus to each other.

Scientists from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have joined their WHO colleagues on the scene to continue the probe.

Unless they can find a connection among all seven family members with one or more diseased birds, they say they may be forced to conclude that a mutation has occurred.

Some scientists have said that if the disease can be transmitted easily among humans, the resulting pandemic could be catastrophic, resulting in millions of fatalities worldwide.

At least 115 of the 208 people known to be infected with the bird flu have died in the last three years, mainly in Asia.

Report Your Experience
If you've had a bad experience -- or a good one -- with a consumer product or service, we'd like to hear about it. All complaints are reviewed by class action attorneys and are considered for publication on our site. Knowledge is power! Help spread the word. File your consumer report now.

Share		Follow us on Twitter.