It sounds like the set up to a really bad movie made to boost tissue sales, but apparently Hong Kong may see the mixing and mutating of bird flu and seasonal flu. Eeek!
According to Dr. Ho Pak-leung, a microbiologist at the University of Hong Kong: “It is possible that the two viruses could mix together and mutate.”
“The outcome is very hard to predict. The worst outcome could lead to human-to-human transmission.”
Ho made the comments to the SCMP in the wake of Hong Kong’s third confirmed case of H7N9 avian flu on Sunday, detected in a 61-year-old who had reportedly been hanging out with dead chickens at a mainland wet market. D’oh!
Meanwhile, Hong Kong’s seasonal flu death toll now stands at 255.
Mainland authorities recorded 583 bird flu cases as of Saturday, 54 of which were in neighbouring Guangdong province.
Ho said the epidemic seems to be moving south towards Hong Kong, while another HKU microbiologist Yuen Kwok-yung said human bird flu cases in the territory are likely to increase as Lunar New Year holidaymakers return home.
Masks on, people!
Image: Will via Flickr
Reader Interactions