Curious Cat Science and Engineering Blog » Bird Flu Resistant to Main Drug

October 3, 2005

Bird Flu Resistant to Main Drug

Bird Flu ‘Resistant to Main Drug’ (cite removed content so link to them removed)

While the H5N1 virus is now mostly passed directly from bird to human, health experts have warned that it is just a matter of time before it mutates into a form that is easily transmissible between people. When that happens, it may result in as many as 150 million human deaths.

Obviously the 1918 flu pandemic should stand as a recent example of the danger posed by flu epidemics. I don’t have any ability to judge how likely these threats of “bird flu” are but it seems like we could very easily be failing to invest sufficient resources in fighting such a possibility.

Have bird flu warnings affected you?, BBC

It also is a reminder that we should be careful not to overuse anti-biotics.

by curiouscat Tags: Life Science, Science
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One Response to “Bird Flu Resistant to Main Drug”

Curious Cat Science and Engineering Blog » H5N1 Influenza Evolution and Spread Says:
November 24th, 2006 at 7:13 pm
“The current H5N1 virus is apparently not well ‘fitted’ to replication in humans, although the genetic makeup of a small proportion of humans supports attachment and replication of the virus”…