July 13, 2005 2:39 a.m. EST
William J Brown - News Room Administrators Staff
Hong Kong, China (AHN) - The World Health Organization is concerned that a deadly strain of bird flu, that has already killed more than 50 people in Asian countries might mutate into a form that can be passed from one person to another and create a global pandemic.
WHO spokesman Peter Cordingley says so far there is no conclusive proof of human-to-human transmission. "We have found a couple of cases that were very suspicious, but we couldn't actually hammer that nail home."
The H5N1 strain of bird flu has jumped from chickens to humans elsewhere in Southeast Asia, killing 36 people in Vietnam, 12 in Thailand and four in Cambodia.
Health experts worry that pigs could become infected with both bird flu and its human equivalent could act as a "mixing bowl," resulting in a dangerous, mutant virus that might spread to people more easily - and then from person to person.
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