THE H5N1 bird flu virus may be evolving the ability to spread from mammal to mammal, the crucial change that could lead to a pandemic, according to a team that has tracked infected pigs in Indonesia since 2005.
The H5N1 strain kills 60 per cent of infected people. However, most infections occur after direct contact with an infected bird and as long as human transmission remains rare, the virus cannot cause a pandemic.
Chairul Nidom of Airlangga University in Surabaya, Indonesia, and colleagues, have been tracking H5N1 in pigs in Indonesia, the country hardest hit by the avian flu virus. …
