- (Bloomberg) -- The bird flu virus spreading
around the world is mutating into more variations with genetic characteristics
that increase the risk of infection in humans, according to a U.S. government
study.
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- Researchers are finding more human cases
of the disease caused by a variant that had only been seen in birds before
2005, said Rebecca Garten, a U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
scientist who led the study. The research was presented today at the International
Conference on Emerging Infectious Diseases in Atlanta.
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- More surveillance is needed to track
new forms of the virus that may acquire the ability to spread from person-to-person,
Garten said. Government officials said earlier this month that federal
laboratories are developing a second bird flu vaccine to provide more protection
against new strains.
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- ``As the virus continues its geographic
expansion, it is also undergoing genetic diversity expansion,'' Garten
said in an e-mailed statement before the conference. ``Change is the only
constant.''
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- The virus, called H5N1, has spread from
Asia to the Middle East, Africa and Europe through migrating flocks and
poultry farms. At least 177 people who live or work in close contact with
birds have caught the flu, and 98 of them have died.
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- Fearing that the U.S. may be hit with
the particularly lethal bird flu in the coming months, the departments
of the Interior and Agriculture said March 8 they would ramp up testing
for bird flu beginning in April. About 100,000 migratory birds are expected
to be tested this year, compared with an average of about 12,000 in years
past.
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