WHO Warns of Dire Flu Pandemic

MEDICAL: DISEASES: INFECTIOUS : NEWS: WHO Warns of Dire Flu Pandemic

CNN.com Health

WHO warns of dire flu pandemic

Thursday, November 25, 2004 Posted: 10:06 PM EST (0306 GMT)

http://www.cnn.com/2004/HEALTH/11/25/birdflu.warning/index.html

BANGKOK, Thailand -- The World Health Organization has issued a dramatic warning that bird flu will trigger an international pandemic that could kill up to seven million people.

The influenza pandemic could occur anywhere from next week to the coming years, WHO said.

"There is no doubt there will be another pandemic," Klaus Stohr of the WHO Global Influenza Program said on the sidelines of a regional bird flu meeting in Bangkok, Thailand.

"Even with the best case scenario, the most optimistic scenario, the pandemic will cause a public health emergency with estimates which will put the number of deaths in the range of two and seven million," he said.

"The number of people affected will go beyond billions because between 25 percent and 30 percent will fall ill."

Pandemics occur when a completely new flu strain emerges for which humans have no immunity.

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