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July 09, 2003

INTERNATIONAL IMMUNIZATION NEWS

“Bird Flu Mutations Pose Risk”

South China Morning Post (www.scmp.com) (07/09/03) P. 4; Benitez, Mary Ann

On Tuesday, Hong Kong’s agricultural chief, Thomas Chan Chun-yuen, said that although “we are at a stage where we are quite comfortable as far as the H5N1 [avian flu] virus is concerned,” the country may not be ready for future outbreaks if the virus has mutated.  In 1997, six of the 18 people who became infected with the virus died, and earlier this year H5N1 took the life of one man and infected his young son.  Biosecurity and hygiene standards have been stepped up at poultry farms following an outbreak of H5N1 flu in 2002, but another senior agriculture official, Trevor Ellis, noted that a recent study found that “vaccinated chickens can get infected and shed [H5N1] virus, albeit at lower levels than unvaccinated chickens.”