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http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L1292177.htm

http://english.people.com.cn/200602/12/eng20060212_242042.html



UN says bird flu virus only two mutations away from more deadly form





The bird flu virus is only two mutations away from a form that can spread easily among people, a UN official said in an interview published in Portugal on Saturday.



" Only two mutations are needed for it to become easily transmissible among humans," thus sparking a pandemic in which millions of people could die, David Nabarro, the world body' s coordinator on avian influenza, told Portuguese newspaper Expresso.



" I wake up every morning thinking that today could be the day that I will see a report about a strange case of bird flu among humans," he said.



The UN official added that he has told governments around the world to prepare for the arrival of a human to human strain of the virus " as if this will happen tomorrow."



Since the re-emergence of the H5N1 bird flu virus in Asia in 2003, the World Health Organization has reported a total of 166 confirmed human cases as of Feb. 9 this year, of which 88 people have died in seven countries.



Scientists fear the virus could soon mutate to become easily transmissible among people and cause a global pandemic similar to the 1918 Spanish flu outbreak.



Source: Xinhua

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