A health expert has warned of a potential bird flu pandemic after noting mutations in the H5N1 influenza virus that allow it to survive longer.
Public Health Ministry senior health expert Dr Tawee Chotpitayasunondh said an avian flu pandemic could return in the near future, citing a report from 2009 that showed the H5N1 virus had mutated and could live for longer periods in animals' bodies.
"A report found changes in the structure of the H5N1 virus that was spreading in Indonesia," he said. "These changes have allowed the virus to develop so that it can live in animals' bodies for longer periods but causes less mortality than the original virus," he said.
The Nation
