Maria Cheng
Maria Cheng
evidence spread surprising
It would not be surprising if it had spread from Turkey, but at the same time, we have no evidence yet that it has.
across difficult larger matter opportunity rapidly short spread start stop surprised window within worldwide
But this is a very short window of opportunity here. Because influenza spreads so rapidly we wouldn't be surprised to see this spread worldwide within a matter of weeks.Ê.Ê.Ê. Once we start to see this in a larger area, across borders, then it will be very difficult to stop it.
cases contain identify might rapidly spread
If we are able to identify cases rapidly enough so that we could put in these measures, they might effectively contain the spread of a pandemic,
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.
announced cases turkish
These are all cases that have already been announced (by Turkish authorities).
chances evolve form human seeing spark
The more chances H5N1 has to infect people, the more chances it has to evolve into a form that could spark a pandemic. And the place we're seeing the most human infections right now is Indonesia.