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18 February 2005: THREAT TO HUMAN HEALTH AS BIRD FLU ADAPTING TO MAMMALS
Bird flu could be far more prevalent and humans more susceptible than previously thought, according to new research by British scientists. A team at Oxford University, who studied a number of deaths in Vietnam, concluded that avian influenza, as it is formally known, is "progressively adapting to mammals".

In the case of a four-year-old Vietnamese boy, the child died from a bird flu-related disease despite not displaying breathing problems or other obvious symptoms, the Oxford University researchers said.

This finding has prompted fears that the spread and impact of avian influenza has been underestimated. The findings are published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Source: THE SCOTSMAN

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