What can be done is precisely the question that is ever more urgently occupying Hong Kong authorities charged with stopping the spread of an influenza virus that ran through Hong Kong's chickens and those brought in from elsewhere in China, and has infected at least nine people. Tuesday, health authorities released detailed case histories of seven victims of the virus, two of whom died. They also announced that they had found two more, who were linked for the first time to another victim of the virus. The health authorities here were careful not to draw quick conclusions. If we had an epidemic, we would have hundreds and thousands of cases.
Influenza viruses are almost unique in their ability to spread rapidly around the world.
There have been three influenza pandemics this century. In 1957, the influenza pandemic killed between 90,000 and 100,000 in the United States alone. Several wholesale poultry markets have been closed for inspection and cleaning, and chickens outside Hong Kong will be required to be certified by Chinese veterinarians as free from the virus. However, because the border with the rest of China is now increasingly porous, thousands of chickens are smuggled into Hong Kong daily, according to reports in local newspapers. Meanwhile, detailed genetic testing of the virus found in seven victims has been done by the CDC in Atlanta.