Experts say bird flu can't be beaten [View All]

[RedEarth]

Experts say bird flu can't be beaten
Focus moves from eradication to control in Asia

By Ned Colt
Correspondent
NBC News
Updated: 6:36 p.m. ET March 4, 2005


SONG PHI NONG, Thailand - In the heart of Thailand's poultry industry, a deadly virus is stalking healthy flocks of birds. In the past year recurring outbreaks of bird or avian flu have left millions of chickens dead.

And what the virus didn't kill the Thai government did, fearing the virus could decimate the industry.

But the virus isn't just in Thailand. It's in at least eight Asian countries — and not just in chickens, but in ducks, migratory birds, pigs, house cats, tigers and, in rare cases, humans.

Dr. Scott Dowell, from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, is in Thailand trying to stop the flu from spreading and killing. The U.S. and Thailand are working together to find ways to control this virus that kills seven of every ten people who contract it. Normal influenzas kill about one in 100.

"Certainly this virus now is one of the deadliest viruses that affects humans," says Dowell. "The good news is, it doesn't affect very many."

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/7091155/