But health organizations around the world have been alerted because the potential of the new virus for causing a pandemic, or global epidemic, in humans is unknown. Nearly 40 years later one million succumbed to the Asian flu and in 1967 the Hong Kong flu claimed 700,000 lives. Scientists do not know what causes a flu pandemic. They believe the new strain originates in birds or pigs and then crosses over to humans who have no immunity against it. Advances in technology have allowed them to identify new lethal viruses in humans and to launch global warning systems and immunization programs.
Many virologists believe another pandemic is already overdue.
May. They confirmed that it was a new virus that had not been seen in humans before. The H1N1, H2N2 and H3N2 combinations caused the previous three major epidemics. The new virus which virologists identified as H5N1 has a similar combination, and doctors believe the child may have caught it while visiting a chicken farm a week before he became ill. Experts from the World Health Organization are investigating a similar virus that has killed chickens in Hong Kong to determine if the boy's case was a direct spillover and if there are other people infected with it. A H5N1 virus infection to his death is not yet clear.