The altermedia net is buzzing with rumors of a mutated SARS or avian flu in Baoding Hospital No. 252, Hebei province. The CDC is denying this report, calling it nothing more than net hysteria. While it’s possible that it’s much ado about nothing, it should be noted that Hebei province has suffered from severe bouts of H5N1 since early February, to the degree that egg demand–for fears of transmission–has plummeted.
According to an article posted yesterday at sina.com, (click here for English translation via FluTrackers), children are the latest victims:
“Recently, a fever of children really, we pay more attention to our children have lost several a few days fluid.” Recently, the provincial capital of Miss Shi telling everyone that. The data from the hospital confirmed the feelings of Miss Shi: Since last Saturday, the provincial capital of patients with flu-like fever surge on outpatients has more than doubled the previous week.
H5N1 may just become the international problem we’ve all feared, especially since researchers have chosen to release the sequence information of the recently lab-grown, mutated H5N1 shown to have a deadly propensity for human to human transmission.
Dr. Henry Niman has written a short commentary on recent studies that reveals how ‘easy’ it would be for a terrorist to initiate the required genetic changes in bird flu to form it into a highly efficient weapon.
You might want to stock up on hand sanitizer and masks…just in case.
