World Health Organization Weakening Stance On Human-To-Human H7N9 Spread

Revelation 6:7,8 NCV When the Lamb opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, "Come!"8 I looked, and there before me was a pale horse. Its rider was named death, and Hades was following close behind him. They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill people by war, by starvation, by disease, and by the wild animals of the earth.

On the same day that a World Health Organization official announced the H7N9 strain of bird flu is “one of the most lethal”, other statements are indicating the organization is not as sure of their previous view the virus does not transmit between humans.

“The situation remains complex and difficult and evolving,” WHO Assistant Director-General for Health Security Keiji Fukuda said at a pressconference. “When we look at influenza viruses, this is an unusually dangerous virus for humans.”

Fukuda said that evidence now proves that the virus is more easily transmitted between birds and humans than H5N1 bird flu.

After a report last week showing that half the patients in China who have contracted the virus had no contact with poultry, the WHO has changed their tone regarding human-to-human transmission. The group previously would mention in press releases that there was no evidence of human-to-human transmission of the virus.

Now, WHO experts are talking about a lack of evidence so far of SUSTAINED transmission between people, meaning that human-to-human transmission is possible. Sustained transmission of the virus between humans is the worst-case scenario for transmission of the virus.

Scientists saysthe genetic sequence of the virus shows a mixture of genes from three other bird flu strainsmaking H7N9 a “triple reassortant” virus. Because this virus is a “pure” bird flu strain, like H5N1, it is more deadly to humans.

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