tetano
Editor, Senior Moderator
SINGAPORE - The avian flu strain that has killed 17 people in China may have originated in wild ducks, says a Singapore scientist.
Proteins on the virus' shell appear to have come from the birds, said Associate Professor Gavin Smith of the Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School Emerging Infectious Diseases programme. This could have happened years, not months, ago.
Prof Smith's view goes at least some way towards answering the burning questions that have emerged since the start of the outbreak: Where did the new H7N9 virus come from, and how likely is it to cause a pandemic?
So far, more than 80 people in China have fallen ill. The World Health Organisation has confirmed about 40 per cent of sufferers had no contact with fowl. And Chinese officials are investigating the possibility that the virus has spread from human to human.
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http://yourhealth.asiaone.com/content/h7n9-flu-outbreak-ducks-may-be-source
Proteins on the virus' shell appear to have come from the birds, said Associate Professor Gavin Smith of the Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School Emerging Infectious Diseases programme. This could have happened years, not months, ago.
Prof Smith's view goes at least some way towards answering the burning questions that have emerged since the start of the outbreak: Where did the new H7N9 virus come from, and how likely is it to cause a pandemic?
So far, more than 80 people in China have fallen ill. The World Health Organisation has confirmed about 40 per cent of sufferers had no contact with fowl. And Chinese officials are investigating the possibility that the virus has spread from human to human.
..
http://yourhealth.asiaone.com/content/h7n9-flu-outbreak-ducks-may-be-source