FAO: H5N1 levels in Indonesia raise pandemic risk

Mar 18, 2008 (CIDRAP News) – The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) today warned that H5N1 avian influenza levels in Indonesia's poultry are so high that conditions may be ripe for the type of viral mutation that could spark an influenza pandemic.

"I am deeply concerned that the high level of virus circulation in birds in the country could create conditions for the virus to mutate and to finally cause a human influenza pandemic," said Joseph Domenech, the FAO's chief veterinary officer, in a press release today.

http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/cidrap/content/influenza/avianflu/news/mar1808birds.html