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The number of human cases is small, and the A(H5N1) strain contains only avian genes. But W.H.O. officials are concerned that the bird strain might exchange genes with a human virus to create an entirely new virus that could spread easily among people. It would take a combination of events, each of low probability, to produce a large outbreak. But the health agency said the implications for public health were so important that precautionary measures must be taken. Knowing that anti-influenza drugs may be needed in an outbreak of human bird flu, and as part of the surveillance process, laboratories in the network have been testing which of a small number of such drugs may be effective against the A(H5N1) strain. The tests are being done at the C.D.C. in Atlanta, in London and in Hong Kong. Taiwan has reported that a different strain of avian influenza, A(H5N2), is causing mild illness among poultry. Tests show that the strain's genes are closely related to those in a vaccine that is widely used for poultry in Hong Kong and China, Dr. [Klaus Stohr] said. He said that one possibility was that the Taiwan bird cases were from a poor-quality vaccine

P/>New tests have turned up a disturbing problem with the avian influenza virus that is spreading in Asia: The strain appears resistant to one of the two main classes of drugs used to fight influenza viruses, a World Health Organization official said Saturday.<P/>Meanwhile, the strain, A(H5N1), has been detected among birds in a sixth Asian country, Cambodia, and two more human cases have been diagnosed in a new area of Vietnam, said the official, Dr. Klaus Stoehr.<P/>Both Vietnamese cases were in children in Ho Chi Minh City, bringing to seven the total in that country. Six have been fatal. Five earlier Vietnamese cases were in Hanoi.<P/> Thailand has reported two fatal human cases.<P/>All the human cases are believed to be from contact with chickens or their waste, not from eating them or their eggs

The Thai operations, conducted jointly with the country's biggest agricultural businesses, involved killing chickens at farms where there were infections or halting the sale of these chickens, while quietly testing Thai chickens going to the country's main export markets, Mr. Penkair said. Japan buys half of Thailand's chicken exports, and the European Union buys a third

Thailand reported that two boys from different provinces had become infected with the bird flu and that six more people were suspected of having it. Vietnam has already reported five confirmed fatal cases in people near Hanoi, and the country is testing seven additional suspected cases. Chickens from South Korea, Japan, Vietnam and Thailand have been dying from the same disease. The Thai government has vehemently denied for the last week that there was any avian influenza in Thailand, insisting that it was bird cholera. But Jakrapob Penkair, the government's chief spokesman, said in a telephone interview on Friday night that the government had known for a few weeks that chickens were dying of avian influenza

The Thai government has vehemently denied for the last week that there was any avian influenza in Thailand, insisting that it was bird cholera. But Jakrapob Penkair, the government's chief spokesman, said in a telephone interview on Friday night that the government had known for a few weeks that chickens were dying of avian influenza. ''It was kept from the public, but full-scale operations have been under way'' to control the problem, he said. The Thai operations, conducted jointly with the country's biggest agricultural businesses, involved killing chickens at farms where there were infections or halting the sale of these chickens, while quietly testing for bird flu all Thai chicken going to the country's main export markets, Mr. Penkair said. Japan buys half of Thailand's chicken exports and the European Union buys another third. Cambodia confirmed Friday that bird flu had been killing chickens there. Laos said earlier this week that it was investigating chicken deaths but believed them to be bird cholera. Agence France-Presse reported from the Indonesian island of Bali on Friday that a provincial official had acknowledged the death of thousands of chickens, but blamed it on the Newcastle virus

Thailand reported that two boys from different provinces had become infected with the bird flu and that six more people were suspected of having it. Vietnam already has reported five confirmed fatal cases in people near Hanoi, and the country is testing seven additional suspected cases. Chickens from South Korea, Japan, Vietnam and Thailand have been dying from the same disease. The Thai government has vehemently denied for the last week that there was any avian influenza in Thailand, insisting that it was bird cholera. But Jakrapob Penkair, the government's chief spokesman, said in a telephone interview on Friday night that the government had known for a few weeks that chickens were dying of avian influenza. The Thai operations, conducted jointly with the country's biggest agricultural businesses, involved killing chickens at farms where there were infections or halting the sale of these chickens, while quietly testing Thai chickens going to the country's main export markets, Penkair said. Japan buys half of Thailand's chicken exports and the European Union buys a third

Though influenza continued to decline around the nation last week, it was still widespread in five states --..

''The tests clearly indicate that the viruses from Vietnam and South Korea are very closely related,'' said Dr. Klaus Stohr, a W.H.O. influenza expert. But he said they were distinct from the strain found in Hong Kong last year. That strain infected 18 people in Hong Kong in 1997, killing 6, and was found in duck meat in South Korea in 2001. In a new development, the birds have been found to be producing large amounts of type A virus, of the H5N1 strain, in respiratory secretions and saliva. In the past they usually excreted the virus only in feces, Dr. Stohr said. Developing a vaccine is a complex process. Because the H5N1 strain kills chickens, scientists cannot use chicken eggs in the initial stage of making the vaccine, as they do for human strains of influenza virus. Instead, scientists working with the health agency -- in London, at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, and elsewhere -- are using a newer laboratory technique known as reverse genetics

The worry is that the avian influenza strain, A(H5N1), could combine with a human influenza virus to create a new strain. That strain, in turn, could cause a large epidemic in people. It might even become the seeds of an influenza pandemic that many experts agree is inevitable and possibly imminent. Italian scientists are credited with identifying avian influenza (often called bird flu) more than a century ago. There are now about 15 avian influenza strains that usually infect birds exclusively, particularly migratory waterfowl. The strains produce a range of illness from mild to lethal. Birds that survive infection excrete the virus and can spread it widely in flight patterns. Influenza experts still fear the exchange of genetic material between the bird A(H5N1) strain and a human influenza virus. The swap occurs in a process called reassortment, which occurs when people are concurrently infected with human and avian influenza strains. In effect, humans serve as a virus mixing bowl

The World Health Organization said a 5-year-old boy in Nam Dinh Province died this month of avian influenza, bringing the country's total of confirmed deaths from bird flu in recent weeks..