Word: flu
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...near the outbreak's locus. York said Tuesday that there were no reports of humans sickened by the virus, and that the government had not yet determined whether the birds were infected with the potentially lethal H5N1 or a less virulent strain of influenza. (See pictures of the bird flu...
Although Hong Kong health authorities have periodically found evidence of the H5 virus among wild birds in the city, this week's incident is the first outbreak on a Hong Kong farm since 2002, when nearly a million birds were slaughtered after dozens died of the flu. No human cases were reported that year in Hong Kong, but two people died in mainland China from the virus in 2003. (Globally, 246 fatal cases have been reported to date, according to WHO.) Hong Kong has since taken aggressive measures to limit outbreaks by vaccinating birds against the virus and reducing...
...Hong Kong microbiologists of a virus outbreak earlier this year found that chickens that had been vaccinated against the H5 virus had only one-quarter as many antibodies as those vaccinated in 2001. Yuen Kwok-yung, head of the University's microbiology department and an expert on avian flu, warned recently that the vaccine may be approaching total failure...
...very versatile virus. It's on tractor wheels and in wild birds. It may be found on a farmer's boots. We've seen this virus embedded right across Asia." Dr. Lo, too, says the city's proximity to China's Guangdong province, the epicenter of many recent bird flu outbreaks, renders it vulnerable as the virus inevitably mutates and spreads. "In the last year, there have been two episodes among poultry in Guangdong," he says. "The virus has been very active...
Given that another flu outbreak among humans in densely populated Hong Kong could quickly turn into an epidemic, many health experts suggest that it is well past time to update the vaccine to meet the evolving threat. "When the time arrives that the old vaccine no longer works, I believe we should have another to put in its place," Dr. Lo says. "Apparently...