Mutating H7N9 bird flu may pose pandemic threat, scientists warn - Yahoo News

Remember the bird flu? It's back! If you recall, as I do, there were stories in 2007/2008 about plans for the government to declare martial law and mandate that everyone receive bird flu vaccinations. Obama even declared a state of emergency as the WHO issued it’s highest level of threat (pandemic) concerning the bird flu.



There were reports of Guard units being trained on how to cordon off areas for quarantine and set up roadblock checkpoints to check the populace and administer the shots or quarantine citizens refusing the shots.



There was massive public resistance with millions declaring on social media sites and public gatherings that they would not take the shots, even groups of healthcare givers, EMS workers, doctors and nurses.  So much so that I believe they had to postpone their nefarious plans.

Don’t think for a minute that they forsook the plan though…



Mutating H7N9 bird flu may pose pandemic threat, scientists warn - Yahoo News

By Kate Kelland

LONDON (Reuters) - A wave of H7N9 bird flu in China that has spread into people may have the potential to emerge as a pandemic strain in humans, scientists said on Wednesday.

The H7N9 virus, one of several strains of bird flu known to be able to infect humans, has persisted, diversified and spread in chickens across China, the researchers said, fuelling a resurgence of infections in people and posing a wider threat.

"The expansion of genetic diversity and geographical spread indicates that, unless effective control measures are in place, H7N9 could be expected to persist and spread beyond the region," they said in a study published in the journal Nature.

The H7N9 bird flu virus emerged in humans in March 2013 and has since then infected at least 571 people in China, Taipei, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Canada, killing 212 of them, according to February data from the World Health Organization (WHO).

After an initial flare up of human cases at the start of 2013, the H7N9 appeared to die down -- aided in large part by Chinese authorities deciding to close live poultry markets and issue health warnings about direct contact with chickens.

But infections in people increased again last year and in early 2015, prompting researchers to try to understand more about how the virus re-emerged, how it might develop, and how it might threaten public health.

In this study, an international team of scientists led by Yi Guan of Hong Kong university monitored the evolution and spread of H7N9 over 15 cities across five provinces in China.

By collecting and sequencing a large number of samples, they found that the H7N9 virus is mutating frequently, acquiring genetic changes that might increase its pandemic potential.