WHO: Flu Pandemic May Have Begun
Recombinomics Commentary
May 5, 2005
>> In Asia, there are hints that the virus is indeed changing. "Incomplete evidence suggests that there may be a shift in the epidemiology of the disease," says Stöhr. "More clusters are being seen than last year, older people are now coming down with the diseases, and more cases are milder." Taken together, these characteristics could indicate that the virus is becoming less virulent and more infectious, he says, which could signal the start of a pandemic. <<
Klaus Stohr's comments above are the first acknowledgement by WHO that the 2005 flu pandemic may have begun. The clearest signal was the simultaneous admission of a family of five in Haiphong on March 22. All five were confirmed to be H5N1 positive and all five recovered. Earlier signals were the transmission from patients to nurse(s) in Thai Binh and the 195 commune members in Quang Binh with flu symptoms. Although samples were collected from over 30 individuals, the results have yet to be released. The same is true for the neighbors of the Haiphong family and the patients at Vietnam Sweden hospital in Thai Ninh.
1000 samples were collected, and those results were not announced either, but the shipment of samples to CDC for analysis was a very big red flag and these changes correlated with an amino acid loss, presumably in the HA cleavage site, are a clear signal that the H5N1 in northern Vietnam was a recombinant.
The virus clearly has all of its ducks in a row, and humans are simply sitting ducks, unaware or unconcerned about the looming mayhem in the fall.
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