Bird flu outbreaks raise fresh fears of an epidemic

A new flu season has arrived, and with it comes a spike in worries about the potential outbreak of bird flu in humans. With new human cases reported in Indonesia and Cambodia, investigators have also been alarmed by a fresh outbreak of the virus in the poultry population of Hong Kong. Hong Kong had vaccinated its chickens, leaving some scientists concerned that new cases could indicate that the vaccine has lost its ability to check the virus.

One professor in Kong Kong notes that the H5N1 strain has been in existence since 1996, which the Wall Street Journal notes makes it the "lasting potential human-influenza virus compared with the two-dozen human influenza outbreaks over the past century."

Developers have been hard at work developing new antidotes to bird flu. New adjuvants in particular may make it possible to protect the world from a human pandemic.

- read the story in the Wall Street Journal 

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