CHINA-BIRD FLU NOT PANDEMIC SAY UN.
A recent string of bird flu infections in humans in China
posed no risk of a pandemic as the cases were unrelated, but authorities need
to remain alert, U.N. experts said Wednesday. "The strain we see now is not a
pandemic threat," Hans Troedsson, the World Health Organization representative
in China, told journalists at a news conference. Eight human cases of infection
with the deadly H5N1 strain of the bird flu virus have been reported in China
so far this year. Five of those infected died from the disease. Though the
number of cases was up from three in China for all of 2008, Troedsson said the
numbers remain too low for great concern, especially as they came during winter
months when the virus temporarily gains strength.