September 28, 2004

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  WHO 'suspects' bird flu passing between humans 2004-09-26 / Taiwan News, Staff Reporter / "From the existing data... we are suspecting human to human transmission" of bird flu, the WHO's acting Thailand representative Kumara Rai told AFP after studying information from Kamphaeng Phet province where the deaths of a girl and boy are suspected to be caused by bird flu. This would be the first such transmission of the lethal virus. Avian influenza's lethal H5N1 strain has killed 28 people in Vietnam and Thailand this year in two waves of Asian outbreaks which also caused the death or culling of more than 100 million chickens. The WHO fears H5N1 could mutate into a highly contagious form that triggers a global human flu pandemic. When asked if a confirmed viral leap between humans in the Thai cases would mark the first step in such a feared mutation, Rai said "I think so."

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