Maria Cheng
Maria Cheng
cats exposed fall means people role virus
But we don't know what this means for humans. We don't know if they would play a role in transmitting the disease. We don't know how much virus the cats would excrete, how much people would need to be exposed to before they would fall ill.
including people similar somewhat symptoms three
There have been three deaths, with symptoms somewhat similar to H5N1 infection. Other people are still in hospital, including one who is very sick.
bare breathing clearly eyes images mouth nose people possibly protected quite seen
We've seen images where quite clearly they are not protected properly. We see people with bare hands, their eyes, their nose and their mouth uncovered, where they are possibly breathing in virus,
people suspect
There are no other suspect cases. There aren't any other people under observation.
changing health indication people virus workers
I think really, (illness in) people like health-care workers and first responders would be our first indication that something is changing in the virus to make it more transmissible.
birds certainly cluster easily humans numbers pieces seen sure terms together virus
I'm not sure we've seen a cluster like this in terms of numbers and certainly it's a concern. Is the virus being transmitted more easily from birds to humans, or even from humans to humans? We need to put all the pieces together before we can come to conclusions.
attempt good strengthen worldwide
Any attempt to strengthen the surveillance worldwide for H5N1 is a good plan.
far looks
So far it looks like the same pattern.
fatal laboratory samples
The laboratory in the U.K. said that they have detected H5N1 in samples from the two fatal cases.
birds concern contact humans infected mean obviously seen virus worldwide
We've never seen so many outbreaks of the same virus in so many different regions. Our concern obviously is that humans could potentially come into contact with birds infected with H5N1, which would mean populations worldwide are potentially at risk.
fast response
The response has been very fast and very transparent.
extensive good information moment
At the moment we don't have very good information about how extensive these outbreaks are.
infected mammals means
We know that mammals can be infected by H5N1, but we don't know what this means for humans.
keen obviously samples sent
We are obviously keen to have the samples sent abroad.