WHO Chief Warns Of Bird Flu, Swine Flu Interaction

May 19, 2009 7:23 a.m. EST

Geneva, Switzerland (AHN) - In her annual address to the 62nd World Health Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland, World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Dr. Margaret Chan warned against the possible interaction between two deadly viruses; the Avian flu (H5N1) and the swine flu (H1N1). The international summit, which brings world health officials together, began Monday amid the backdrop of a deadly global pandemic.

The swine flu has dominated the Assembly's agenda and was the focus of Chan's speech. At the same time, the WHO confirmed the swine flu has spread to 8829 patients across 40 countries; 74 people have died worldwide from the virus.

"As we now know, a new influenza virus with great pandemic potential, the new influenza A (H1N1) strain, has emerged from another source on another side of the world. Unlike the avian virus, the new H1N1 virus spreads very easily from person to person, spreads rapidly within a country once it establishes itself, and is spreading rapidly to new countries. We expect this pattern to continue," Chan explained.

"Unlike the avian virus, H1N1 presently causes mainly mild illness, with few deaths, outside the outbreak in Mexico. We hope this pattern continues... On 29 April, I raised the level of pandemic influenza alert from phase 4 to phase 5. We remain in phase 5 today. This virus may have given us a grace period, but we do not know how long this grace period will last. No one can say whether this is just the calm before the storm," Chan warned.

"Presence of the virus has now been confirmed in several countries in the southern hemisphere, where epidemics of seasonal influenza will soon be picking up. We have every reason to be concerned about interactions of the new H1N1 virus with other viruses that are currently circulating in humans. Moreover, we must never forget that the H5N1 avian influenza virus is now firmly established in poultry in several countries. No one can say how this avian virus will behave when pressured by large numbers of people infected with the new H1N1 virus," Chan added.