H.S. For Sunday Bird Flu update 041308

Bird Flu update

Hey folks,

As you are well aware, I have been watching this VERY CAREFULLY and reporting to you anytime some new evidence pops up. The Bird Flu, or H5N1, is a very real and looming threat out there. I have documented many stories and articles on this subject and I feel it necessary to let you know about this possible PERSON TO PERSON case.

Other than an article here and there, this is really not talked about that much. As I keep telling you this is VERY real and could cause millions of deaths if it mutates. Now we seem to have a case in question in China, and instead of working together, China wants to cover it up.

According to the AFP - China rejects human-to-human bird flu report

China has rejected a study which found a probable case of human-to-human bird flu transmission in the country, state media reported.

The study, published in British medical magazine The Lancet this week, said a 24-year-old man was likely to have infected his father with H5N1 before dying, raising the spectre of a feared flu pandemic.

But health ministry spokesman Mao Qun'an said there was no clear evidence to support the findings.

“So far no evidence has been found in China to support the idea that the H5N1 virus can easily pass from one person to another,” he said, according to Xinhua news agency on Friday.

No one said “EASILY.” But if it has been passed once from person to person, then it can and will happen again. We need to find out if it indeed HAS, and if so, HOW. This way we may be able to stop it.

The case, in the eastern city of Nanjing in December, is one of a handful worldwide in which the H5N1 virus is suspected to have spread from one person to another.

To date, however, all such cases have been what scientists call “limited, non-sustained, person-to-person transmission,” meaning that contagion only occurs under specific circumstances.

Which we need to know about.

The vast majority of the known 378 human cases of H5N1 bird flu since 2003 were spread by domestic or wild fowl, according to the World Health Organization. More than 60 percent proved fatal.

Experts fear that the H5N1 virus could mutate after infecting one human into a more contagious form, as occurred during at least three flu pandemics in the 20th century.

An estimated 20 to 40 million people perished in the so-called “Spanish flu” of 1918. Since 2003, there have been around 200 bird flu fatalities, mainly in Asia.

I know that this is nothing new about China covering things up. But to our Chinese friends, we do not BLAME China if this is TRULY a person to person transmission of H5N1. However, this is to important to play pathetic political games with. The entire world is at risk here. Knock it off and let the Scientist do their thing to find out if this is truly mutating as some suspect. We need all the information we can get so we can fight this, before it becomes to powerful.

Be right back with another Health and Science segment.
Peter

Sources:
AFP - China rejects human-to-human bird flu report