Doctor claims Bird Flu mortality rate has doubled since 1997

The human mortality rate from the avian flu appears to have doubled since the last time it made an appearance.

The human mortality rate from the avian flu appears to have doubled since the last time it made an appearance. Hong Kong respiratory specialist says up to 70 per cent of people who have caught bird flu in the latest Asian outbreak have died, which is around twice the level of Hong Kong’s 1997 outbreak.Dr David Hui says the mortality rate from a similar H5N1 strain of bird flu was around 30 per cent seven years ago.A cull of the territory’s entire 1.5 million poultry population in three days is credited with stopping the virus in its tracks. If not for this mass cull deaths from the current strain could number in the hundreds and even possibly thousands.(Source: ABC Health News, Feb 2004)