The AP (via The NY Times) is reporting that the Avian Flu has
been confirmed as the cause of death of a young woman in Iraq.
Patients displaying symptoms consistent with the flu have been
admitted to local hospitals. January 2006 Archives Declan Butler
is reporting in tomorrow's Nature that the H5N1 strains
currently circulating in Turkey carry mutations, "likely to make
the virus better adapted to humans." According to Dr. Butler:
The Turkey outbreak is unusual, because of the large family
clusters of cases; the fact that many of those infected have
only mild symptoms; and the speed with which infections have
arisen — twenty cases, including four deaths, in less than two
weeks. So scientists are urgently trying to establish whether
the virus is behaving differently in this outbreak from previous
ones in Asia. In particular, international teams are
investigating the possibility that the virus is moving between
people. I speculated briefly last week about the odd behavior of
the Turkey strain, and with 20 case