An Avian Flu That Jumps From Birds to Mammals is Killing New Englands Baby Seals.

Found this article this morning and thought I should bring it to the ATS community. This is my first real thread, so please be gentle!

Wildlife officials first became concerned in September 2011, when seals with severe pneumonia and skin lesions suddenly appeared along the coastline from southern Maine to northern Massachusetts. Most were infants (less than 6 months), and a total of 162 dead or moribund seals were recovered over the next 3 months. Pathogen screening was conducted in a subset of afflicted seals, using sensitive diagnostic tools developed at the CII, and a new strain of avian H3N8 influenza virus was identified as a culprit.

Link

I am no expert on diseases or pandemics, but it looks to me like the virus is evolving. How long until it begins to affect humans? Should we be worried?

Oops. Didn't realize this was posted yesterday, even though I did do an ATS search for it....

Mine has a different link, but the info is the same.

Here is the other thread:

Thread

reply to post by Saphira

This is my first real thread, so please be gentle!

Oops. Didn't realize this was posted yesterday, even though I did do an ATS search for it....

Mine has a different link, but the info is the same.

Here is the other thread:

Ahhh, they learn so fast!

You get a star, just for that!