The Race to Stop Bird Flu Before it Mutates
In Vietnam and Thailand, authorities are trying desperately to stop bird flu from spreading, before the virus becomes able to be passed from person to person and causes an epidemic much larger than SARS. Right now, it can only be caught directly from infected chickens. “If the virus continues to spread in chickens, it may adapt itself so it can grow in humans,” says epidemiologist Arnold Monto. “If it is transmitted human to human, then we are concerned this is the start of the great pandemic.”
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