Word: h5n1
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...Just as dead was any complacency on the Special Autonomous Region's part that it had solved its problems with bird flu. Health authorities worry about a repeat of 1997, when a strain of avian flu virus?H5N1?jumped directly from a bird to a human. Eighteen people were infected; six died. And the outbreak caused worldwide concern among health experts, who feared a possible global pandemic. Now, despite what is described as a first-class surveillance system for its poultry, Hong Kong is suffering its third lethal outbreak of bird flu in nearly five years. Flu experts...
...more than 1.5 million people worldwide. Considering the lethal history, scientists are keen to track the mutations of the latest virus. Although only the 1997 variant infected humans, the concern is that another fatal combination could leap the species barrier at any time."We do not know enough about H5N1," Shortridge says. "It's a dangerous situation...
...accurate or accessible official records of animal disease outbreaks. October reports of bird flu in Fujian province and the slaughter of 10,000 ducks and chickens were denied by Chinese officials. In addition, mainland farming and health regulations are lax, and where they do exist, enforcement is minimal. If H5N1 is detected in carcasses or feces when stock reaches Hong Kong, the chickens are sent back and too often merely repackaged. Says Hong Kong legislator Wong Yung-kan: "Everyone knows chickens that fail live-import quarantine become frozen imports...
...Even though all three recent H5N1 chicken strains are related to a goose virus that originated in Guangdong, when Hong Kong inspectors find diseased mainland chickens, they are not allowed to trace the outbreak across the border to its source...
...HONG KONG Bird Flu Hong Kong's government ordered the "depopulation" of the territory's estimated 1.2 million poultry as a new and highly virulent strain of avian flu was discovered. All market poultry stalls were shut down, and imports of live birds from China were halted. The new H5N1 virus is genetically different from the virus that led to the slaughter of all Hong Kong's poultry - and six human deaths...