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By Jason Gale and John Lauerman
Dec. 29 (Bloomberg) -- Bird flu infected fewer humans in the second half of the year, prompting experts to point to a new enemy in the fight against a possible pandemic: complacency.
The lethal H5N1 strain of avian influenza was reported in people every two days in the first half. Since July, the number of cases has slowed to about one a week and scientists say the virus hasn't yet found a way to easily infect humans.
Governments should continue to track and eradicate the disease, even as public perception shifts and a pandemic poses no immediate threat, said David Nabarro, the United Nations coordinator for avian and pandemic influenza. The flu spread in domestic poultry and wild birds across 38 countries in Asia, Africa and Europe since February, offering the virus more chances to mutate into a form dangerous for humans.
``You don't stop airport security screening because there have been no hijacks for two years,'' Nabarro said in an interview from New York last week. ``The danger of a pandemic is as profound now as it was a few years ago.''
Since January, countries including the U.S. and Japan have pledged about $2.5 billion to fund efforts to monitor, manage and eradicate H5N1 and to prepare for a possible pandemic. Those efforts may have helped, according to Nabarro.
``It would be nice to think that the enormous amount of work that's been put into this is having an impact,'' he said. ``I think it's a bit early to tell.''
Hiccups Kills More People
The flu pandemic that struck in 1918 would probably kill about 62 million people nowadays, as many as died during World War II, the Lancet medical journal said last week.....
By Jason Gale and John Lauerman
Dec. 29 (Bloomberg) -- Bird flu infected fewer humans in the second half of the year, prompting experts to point to a new enemy in the fight against a possible pandemic: complacency.
The lethal H5N1 strain of avian influenza was reported in people every two days in the first half. Since July, the number of cases has slowed to about one a week and scientists say the virus hasn't yet found a way to easily infect humans.
Governments should continue to track and eradicate the disease, even as public perception shifts and a pandemic poses no immediate threat, said David Nabarro, the United Nations coordinator for avian and pandemic influenza. The flu spread in domestic poultry and wild birds across 38 countries in Asia, Africa and Europe since February, offering the virus more chances to mutate into a form dangerous for humans.
``You don't stop airport security screening because there have been no hijacks for two years,'' Nabarro said in an interview from New York last week. ``The danger of a pandemic is as profound now as it was a few years ago.''
Since January, countries including the U.S. and Japan have pledged about $2.5 billion to fund efforts to monitor, manage and eradicate H5N1 and to prepare for a possible pandemic. Those efforts may have helped, according to Nabarro.
``It would be nice to think that the enormous amount of work that's been put into this is having an impact,'' he said. ``I think it's a bit early to tell.''
Hiccups Kills More People
The flu pandemic that struck in 1918 would probably kill about 62 million people nowadays, as many as died during World War II, the Lancet medical journal said last week.....
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