Scott McPherson's Web Presence

My last blog focused on the return of H5N1 avian influenza in humans in 2009.  Just scroll down to read it... I'll wait.

OK, welcome back.  What is happening is a veritable explosion of bird flu across Asia and the Middle East in 2010.  We have over 400 residents of West Bengal (India) under Tamiflu blankets; human cases seemingly every third day in Egypt, and at one point we had three confirmed cases in one day; and a quite sudden acceleration of H5N1 in poultry and wild birds across most of southeast Asia. 

Now Indonesia, a nation which has thankfully turned away from insanity with the appointment of a new health minister. is back in the timely reporting category.  Hey, anything was better than the last two years under Supari!  They could have had a zombie epidemic and the rest of the world could have been blissfully unaware -- until the undead came down Broadway.  And speaking of zombies -- where the Sam Hill is that World War Z movie?  Brad Pitt and Plan B, don't make me come down there and read you the Zombie Riot Act.  Why do you think Zombieland was such a financial success?   And a bit of movie trivia -- Zombieland's central character (right) was named Tallahassee, by the way.

But I digress.  Anyway, Indonesia has now reported two confirmed human H5N1 cases.  One case is in West Java, and one is in Jakarta.  Regrettably, the West Java case -- a 25-year old of unknown gender -- died.  I am sure that if you go to www.flutrackers.com, you will find plenty of stories about the deaths. 

And just this morning, news of a third Indonesian bird flu patient arrives via proMED.  This patient, a woman in Lampung, accompanies a huge die-off of birds in the province.

While this is taking place, the Western press is reporting about the roasting of public health officials over regarding what some misguided souls proclaim to be a "false pandemic" of H1N1v.  As the public health officers of the civilized world circle the wagons in the West, swine flu continues to insinuate itself throughout Asia.  Ans as it does what the flu does, it will absolutely have multiple opportunities to rub elbows with bird flu in towns and villages.  It has already had multiple opportunities with each and every confirmed human H5N1 case since April of 2009. 

Everyone is asking him/herself, "What virus was shed by those who are testing positive for bird flu?  Who might have walked into a cloud of H5N1 particles expunged by someone?  And what if that person, in turn, also acquires H1N1v swine flu?  Deep in the lungs of those dual-flu victims, what terrible reassortment experiments might be churning?  And what is the form and substance of that mutation, if it survives?"

Wait, you ask.  Why should swine flu mix with bird flu?  Recall that swine flu is only one-third swine.  It is also one-third human, and one-third avian.  Look at the number of flocks of turkeys all over the world that have acquired swine flu.  (interesting that I can only recall turkey flocks having acquired H1N1v).

For these flocks to have acquired a human strain of flu surely must tell us that H1N1v retains enough of an avian genetic footprint that direct infection from humans to birds is not just possible -- it has happened.  Numerous times.

Follow my logic here.  If birds can catch swine flu from humans, then it means swine flu retains enough of its bird ancestry that reassortment with bird flu is absolutely possible.  All it takes is enough exposure, in enough hosts, all over the world, to cook a strain that can both infect humans and kill in greater numbers than swine flu.

Sure, the swine flu pandemic was not what we were fearing.  But let's finish the sentence.

The swine flu pandemic was not what we were fearing -- yet.  We have a long, long way to go.