The virus is already responsible for killing 54 people in Asia and appears to spread only by close interaction of humans with sick birds or infected poultry.
However, medical experts fear the H5N1 strain could mutate into a form that could easily pass from person to person by casual contact. This would trigger a dangerous global pandemic because people have developed no resistance to the strain.
Dr. Shigeru Omi of the World Health Organization says, "The virus has behaved in ways that suggests it remains as unstable, unpredictable and versatile as ever. We believe we are at the tipping point. Either we reverse this trend or things will get out of hand. We must have an all-out war against this virus. The only way to control it is by imposing mass vaccination of poultry and speeding up efforts to develop new poultry vaccines."
