Possible Human Deaths in China from Avian "Bird" Flu (moved from ATSNN), page 1

On the heals of China admitting that more than 1000 birds have died at Qinghai Lake and the surrounding preserve in north-central China, rumors have sprouted on the Internet of human deaths in the same region. 121 deaths, according to one Chinese-language (and certainly not government run) website, are attributed to Avian Flu. The Chinese have denied any human deaths from Avian Flu.

www.nbr.co.nz
Originally, the government had said 178 geese were found dead in Qinghai Lake but over the weekend admitted 1,000 migratory wild birds in the area.

He said the disease had not spread to humans but rumours of deaths among humans persist.

A web-based Chinese-language news service called Boxun (Abundant News), which allows correspondents to freely post information on its site, reported on 25 May that 121 people in 18 villages in the sparsely-settled western province of Qinghai have died of bird flu, and more are ill. Some 1300 people, have been isolated, it reported, according to Dr Henry Niman, founder of Recombinomics, a biotech firm set up to develop vaccines against flu.

Please visit the link provided for the complete story.

The questions of human transmission and death, of course, are the most important aspects of the entire Avian Flu story. It pains me to read in the above-cited article the news that there are deaths involved in the China outbreak, not simply because of the possible human loss of life, but because we, the readers, must rely upon a questionable source. Who in the world is "Abundant News?" What sort of agenda does it have? The veracity of the report from "Abundant News" will be known in time, but time is something we may not have.