Wednesday, March 15, 2006
Scientists sound off on bird flu
One virologist has three months worth of food stockpiled and says it’s only a matter of time before the virus mutates to humans
Dr. Robert Webster, a virologist at New York’s St Jude’s Children’s Hospital, is one of the few bird flu experts confident enough to answer the key question: Will the avian flu switch from a terrible hazard for the world’s birds and become a real threat to humans ? He says it’s “about even odds at this time for the virus to learn how to transmit human to human.”
Right now, Avian H5N1 is strictly a bird flu. It can be transmitted from bird to human, but only by direct contact with the droppings and excretions of birds. But viruses morph and the big fear among the world’s scientists is that the bird virus will join the human flu virus, change its genetic code, and emerge a new and deady flu that can spread airborne directly from human to human .
Webster says, “I personally believe it will happen and make personal preparations.” Dr. Webster has stored three months of food and water at his home to prepare for an outbreak . He says, “Society just can’t accept the idea that 50 percent of the population could die. And I think we have to face that possibility. I’m sorry if I’m making people a little frightened, but I feel it’s my role.”