Let's wait until there is a confirmation. |
Most people see this as a long-term challenge. The short-term money is needed because we have some services that are stretched, but we need a long-term approach. |
Only two mutations are needed for it to become easily transmissible among humans. |
Some of the challenges we face now are really quite dramatic and call for a lot of technical expertise. |
Something generally disturbing is going on at the moment. It's certainly in the bird world, and it's pushing up against the human world in a serious way. |
Their view is they would like to feel that other countries who have samples or material would share them freely with Chinese scientists. They are putting a lot of importance on the notion of reciprocity (...), which they used to me on a number of occasions and I don't know what it means. |
They're what's required to help countries put in place their influenza programs and to get much better and effective control. They're also monies that are required by the international organizations. |
This is a really serious global situation. |
This is not the start of the pandemic. The start of the pandemic starts when there is human to human transfer, confirmed and sustained. |
Unfortunately, we cannot tell when the mutation might happen, or where it might happen, or how unpleasant the mutant virus will turn out to be. Nevertheless, we must remain on high alert for the possibility of sustained human-to-human transmission and of a pandemic starting at any time. |
We cannot afford to be in any way complacent. The fact that there are human cases of bird flu being reported at quite regular intervals now means that the disease is still quite serious. |
We expected it to move, but not any of us thought it would move quite like this. |