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Study defines two bird flu strains

Infection Control Monitor, March 22, 2006

All influenza viruses can easily mutate, and H5N1 appears to be no exception.

The H5N1 strain of bird flu in humans has evolved into two separate strains, which could complicate developing a vaccine and preventing a pandemic, Reuters reports.

The first strain, or clade, infected people in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Thailand in 2003 and 2004. The second strain is a cousin of the first, and infected people in Indonesia in 2004.

"Back in 2003, we only had one genetically distinct population of H5N1 with the potential to cause a human pandemic. Now we have two," said the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)'s Rebecca Garten, who helped conduct the study.

The U.S. Health and Human Services Department has approved the development of a second H5N1 vaccine based on the second clade.

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