The Hindu : International : WHO warns of bird flu pandemic

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jan 21, 2005

International

International

WHO warns of bird flu pandemic

HANOI: Health experts are bracing for a repeat of last year's bird flu outbreak after six persons died in Vietnam within three weeks and neighbouring Thailand reported its first cases among poultry this year. Outbreaks among poultry have been reported nationwide in Vietnam, and health experts say the pattern looks worrying similar to last year, when the virus spread rapidly just before the Lunar New Year holiday, or Tet. It quickly appeared in nine other Asian countries, killing or forcing the slaughter of more than 100 million birds and jumping from poultry to people in Vietnam and Thailand, where 26 and 12 persons died respectively. ``It has a higher fatality rate than the Ebola virus,'' said Hans Troedsson, WHO representative in Vietnam, where more than 70 per cent of those infected have died. — AP

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