Monday, March 06, 2006

Bird Flu -Around the world alerts

Much of the world is now on alert for outbreaks of the lethal strain of bird flu that is fast becoming a major avian killer around the world.

Millions of birds have died or been destroyed as a result of outbreaks in dozens of countries since the H5N1 strain emerged in South-East Asia in 2003, before spreading to Europe and Africa.

The number of cases among humans is also rising, and by mid-February 2006, more than 90 people had died from bird flu - a mortality rate of just over 50%.

The first human deaths from H5N1 outside Asia, in January 2006, heightened concern, but the World Health Organization pointed out that the deaths, in Turkey, were among people who had been in close contact with infected birds, and were not passed from human to human.
Read full article via bbc news

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