WHO said the virus, which passes from birds to humans, had killed 200 of the 350 people confirmed as infected worldwide. WHO avian flu expert David Nabarro told journalists in Geneva it was still feared that the H5N1 strain, the most dangerous ever recorded, could be the virus that mutates and causes the next human influenza pandemic by passing from human to human. WHO was co-ordinating preparations and overseeing moves to speed up vaccine production globally but there was another two to...

Haunted by the knowledge that influenza killed 50 million people in 1918, scientists and public health officials continue to seek ways to head off the next great pandemic. Others are looking for the best way to construct a vaccine, or antiviral drugs, to prime our immune systems to grapple with the more dangerous virus that may evolve from the avian flu. And it's never been done for any influenza virus, despite the substantial death tolls from the annual flu - a complacency that has begun...

Warning that the H5N1 virus responsible for bird flu could still transform itself into the next human influenza pandemic, a senior United Nations specialist has stressed the need to ensure that the world can respond promptly and effectively in the case of an outbreak. Warning that the H5N1 virus responsible for bird flu could still transform itself into the next human influenza pandemic, a senior United Nations specialist has stressed the need to ensure that the world can respond promptly...

Louis, Buseman said, health officials started closing schools and limiting public gatherings as soon as the mortality rate from influenza increased above its normal level. The prospect for another influenza pandemic is of grave concern to public health officials. Public health officers have some advantages that their counterparts didn't have in 1918: Detection has improved, medical care is vastly more advanced, and there's a global network. In today's world, health officials estimate that...

While the number of clinics has dropped by one or two compared with previous years, the clinic hours have been extended in most cases, Kalailieff said. In addition to the clinics, flu shots are also available through many family physicians, walk-in clinics, pharmacies, home nursing services and some workplaces. Kalailieff said the health department doled out about 130,000 doses of flu vaccine to its community partners last flu season. People planning on going to the health department s flu...