WHO downplays pandemic fears

The World Health Organization said that a cluster of bird flu deaths in the village of Kabu Sebalang on the Indonesian island of Sumatra is a potentially seminal event. The Associated Press quotes WHO spokesman Peter Cordingsly, who alarmingly calls the six deaths "the mother of all clusters." Cordingsly state, "This is the first time that we've been completely stumped about possible single-source infection."

International health experts suspect that H5N1, the virus that causes bird flu, may have spread by human to human transmission among the members of a single family. Experts have warned for months that a deadly influenza pandemic could result if H5N1 acquires the ability to move between humans. WHO officials in Geneva downplayed the story, noting that the disease does not appear to have been passed by casual contact but rather by close proximity.

- read this article [1] from The New York Times

PLUS: Expect lots of talk about the pandemic threat level over the next few days. For the time being, WHO officials said the agency has decided against convening a global meeting of international experts to discuss raising the threat level. Article [2] (WSJ sub. req.)

ALSO: The U.S. appears to be preparing to take a proactive role in the crisis. Media reports indicate that Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt has ordered a large stockpile of Tamiflu shifted to a "secure location in an unnamed Asian country." Article [3]