WHO:H7N9 virus is deadlier than H5N1

BANGKOK, April 26 (TNA) - The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that the H7N9 avian influenza virus is deadlier than the H5N1 subtype, advising health authorities, including those in Thailand, to take extreme precautions against the new fatal bird flu, which has killed 23 people in China. Professor Emeritus Dr. Prasert Thongcharoen, an adviser to the Thai Ministry of Public Health's Department of Disease Control, acknowledged the WHO warning on Friday. Dr. Prasert told reporters that for the H5N1 subtype, infected poultry die before the disease is transmitted to humans. But for the H7N9 virus, poultry neither fall ill nor show any symptom and can transmit the disease to humans, the H7N9 subtype is, thus, considered more life-threatening than the H5N1 virus. Dr. Prasert recommended that the Thai Ministry of Public Health prepare medications and laboratories and monitor Chinese visitors, noting that the special precautions are essential although a travel ban remains unnecessary. (TNA)