Brussels, 17/11/2005 (Agence Europe) - A group of Vietnamese researchers in the Hanoi Pasteur Institute announced on 13 October that they had observed the existence of genetic mutation in the H5N1 strain of the bird flu, and that this may help to transmit the virus to mammals, according to Le Monde. They claim that their examinations of 24 samples of the virus taken from people and birds have pointed to a significant variation of two H (hemaglutinin) and N (neuraminidase) proteins, which make it possible to differentiate between the flu viruses. This new confirmation of the extremely high capacity of the H5N1 virus to mutate can be taken as a new indication of an increased risk of the breakout of a human flu pandemic.
The WHO is in talks with the government and the Swiss group Roche on moves to build up a stock of the antiviral drug Tamiflu, to be used to supply the poor countries, particularly in South-East Asia, should a human flu pandemic break out. One idea which has been floated is to build up this stock on the basis of donations, from the richer countries, to a level of 5% of their own stocks of antiviral drugs, reported the Financial Times of 14 November, which went on to note that up to now, the Swiss group has refused to bring the prices of its drug down to less than 12 EUR for a pack of 10 tablets for the poorer countries. In the developed countries, the price stands at 15 EUR.