Officials: U.S. Bird Flu Coming Soon(AP) Deadly bird flu probably will arrive in the United States this year, and the government says it expects 20 to 100 suspected cases to undergo testing by the end of December.
People are not yet at risk, officials said. The government has a plan to quarantine and destroy any poultry flocks in which the virus is found.
"At this point, if you're a bird, it's a pandemic. If you're a human, it's not a pandemic," said Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt.
... Officials worry the virus might spread from migratory wild birds to the nearly 10 billion chickens raised each year in the United States. The deadly bird flu virus is rare in people, but scientists fear it could mutate into a form that could spread rapidly among people and possibly spark a worldwide epidemic.
Scientific jury still out on prospects of avian flu pandemicCBC News
Scientists are divided about whether sporadic cases of the deadly H5N1 strain of avian flu in humans means a global pandemic is nearing.
The human health impact of H5N1 has been minimal, compared to killers like malaria and AIDS.
... "Those pundits that have been predicting disaster all this time," said Dr. Richard Schabas, Ontario's former chief medical officer. "I think it's time for them to take a good hard look at what has happened and what hasn't happened, and maybe re-evaluate their assessment."
As days pass without H5N1 altering its behaviour in humans, the chances of it triggering a pandemic are reduced, Schabas said.
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