Posted on 06/24/2006 2:15:05 AM PDT by neverdem
ROME, June 23 — An Indonesian who died after catching the A(H5N1) bird flu virus from his 10-year-old son represents the first confirmed case of human-to-human transmission of the disease, a World Health Organization investigation of an unusual family cluster has concluded, the agency said Friday.
The W.H.O. investigators also discovered that the virus had mutated slightly when the son had the disease, although not in any way that would allow the virus to pass more readily among people.
"Yes, it is slightly altered, but in a way that viruses commonly mutate," said Dick Thompson, a spokesman for the agency in Geneva. "But that didn't make it more transmissible or cause more severe disease."
The greater importance of the slightly modified virus is that it allowed researchers from the W.H.O. and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States to document that the virus almost certainly was passed from person to person.
In previous cases where human-to-human transmission was suspected, researchers could not test samples from the patients, or the virus in the patients was the same as that in poultry in the area.
The genetics work vindicates some Internet flu watchers who had disputed statements by a W.H.O. official and the Indonesian Health Ministry soon after the cluster was reported, saying it was possible the whole family had been infected by a barbecued pig, poultry or chicken manure.
The independent flu watchers, relying on local Indonesian news media, had argued that the pattern of dates on which different family members fell ill suggested that the virus had jumped from human to human to human.
Scientists have long said the A(H5N1) virus, which has killed or led to the culling of hundreds of millions of birds worldwide, does not spread easily to humans or among them.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
ping
We are safe for now..........
The world will end on December 21, 2012.
At least according to the Mayan Calender, et al.
Al Gore said there's still time to save the planet. That's the planet though. He didn't mention the people on it. Darn.
Planets are incredibly difficult to destroy.
http://qntm.org/destroy
All I need are the people who make cable TV, rib eye steaks, onions and beer.
I love milk.
I'm going to head to the bunker and I need several females to help me repopulate the planet.
Selfish human! Just thinking about your own wants and lusts:)
I will not believe this story until it is reported by a real news source....which the NYT is not.
ping
ping
NOW can we REALLY be controlled?
"The virus has killed at least 130 people worldwide since it began ravaging Asian poultry stocks in late 2003"
And in the -3- years it's taken to kill 130 people, how many have died from "regular" flu?
Or even AIDS, for that matter?
I suppose you want beauty contest material?
sw
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