Bird flu virus found in Kazakhstan could kill humans

[Lori Price CLG]

Bird flu virus found in Kazakhstan could kill humans

The recent bird flu outbreak found close to Kazakhstan's northern border with Russia was caused by the deadly H5N1 strain that can be transmitted to humans, a statement by Kazakhstan's Agricultural Ministry read on Thursday.

This conclusion comes after Kazakh researchers and foreign experts analyzed the serum of the poultry and wild birds killed by the flu in the province of Pavlodar, according to the statement.

<snip>

Lori Price

[wli]

1. wow, from poultry alone this thing is massively virulent

If it ever develops a human-to-human vector it's going to be like the Black Death all over again or worse (atop all the other ongoing crises, e.g. Peak Oil, global economic collapse, global warming, etc.).

[tavalon]

2. That's what they are fearing

If it happens (and there is a possibility it happened with a couple of people in China) then we have our next flu pandemic and the mortality rate is likely to be high, high, high.