Bird flu strain could start pandemicFrom correspondents in Hong...

Bird flu strain could start pandemic
From correspondents in Hong Kong
11aug04

A LESSER-known type of the bird flu common among poultry in Asia was becoming deadlier and could spark a pandemic by mixing with human viruses, a Hong Kong scientist has warned.

The H9N2 strain of bird flu is less lethal than the H5N1 strain that ravaged poultry farms in Asia earlier this year and crossed over to humans, killing 24 people.
But it was more prevalent and a recent study said it had become more virulent, Leo Poon, a microbiologist at the University of Hong Kong, said.

Mr Poon was a co-author of the study, which was conducted by a team of US and Hong Kong scientists and published in the August issue of the Journal of Virology.

It found that a higher percentage of mice infected with the H9N2 virus from the 2001-2003 period died compared to those infected with a 1997 version of the virus, Mr Poon told The Associated Press by phone.









He said it was not clear why H9N2 had increased in virulence but warned of a pandemic if the strain mixed with a human virus.

"Surveillance shouldn't just be about H5N1," he said. "You should look at other avian influenza viruses."

Tens of millions of chickens either died or were culled due to the H5N1 bird flu outbreak earlier this year.

The virus also crossed over to humans, killing eight in Thailand and 16 in Vietnam. It has resurfaced among chickens in both countries recently.