Originally posted by jtma508
reply to post by mystiq
Why is the fact that it has avian fragments so important? The most important factor is that it is a recombinant of human influenza. That gives it the critical human-to-human transmissability. And of all the infuenzas known, the swine type has proven to be the most lethal. I don't get what makes the avian aspect susch a big deal.
The concern surrounding the H5N1 is that IF it successfully recombines with a human influenza it could, by virtue of the birds' mobility, spread widely and quickly with little chance of stopping it.
H5N1 is a real nasty killer, near 40% fatal I think. If it did turn into a human virus it would likely lose much of its potency, but I think that the real concern is its killing power. If the bird flu kept its potency and became a human virus which spread quickly we well could see 30-40% of the populous killed.
The swine strain is one nasty virus, and if it spreads quickly we are in real trouble on the whole.
Don’t mean to fear monger here. If you did get sick your much more than likely not going to die from Swine Flu.



