Deadly new super-flu strain 'one of the biggest biological threats of our time,' says expert

Thursday, December 01, 2011 by: Jonathan Benson, staff writer
Tags: super flu, biological threat, health news

(NaturalNews) Influenza infections typically occur just one at a time, but this year there is a growing number of cases where individuals are coming down with both seasonal flu and swine flu (H1N1) at the same time. And according to the UK's Express, experts are concerned that a killer strain of super-flu will emerge from this unusual co-mingling, and begin infecting populations around the world with novel flu strains for which they have no immunity.

It seems that at the onset of every flu season in recent years, government officials and "experts" come out in one accord to warn about a deadly new flu strain that is either already infecting people, or that has the potential to start. This year is no exception. According to Dr. Peter Hotez, a "world-renowned expert in infectious diseases," a deadly new flu strain could soon emerge that has the ability to quickly cross oceans in as little as 24 hours.

"Highly infectious strains of the virus against which humans have little defense can spread from one continent to another within 24 hours," Dr. Hotez is quoted as saying by Express. "We are required to remain vigilant against one of the biggest biological threats of our time."

Does such a virus actually exist right now? It is difficult to say, as "experts" seem to suggest it is only possible that one might emerge. And yet at the same time as these so-called experts are telling the public that humans do not have immunity against this hypothetical super-flu, they are also warning everyone to be prepared and to remain "vigilant" against it.

Flu surveillance teams have reportedly observed an unusual uptick in cases of seasonal flu and swine flu co-mingling in Cambodia, which is what they say may provoke the emergence of the deadly new strain. Should this occur, the strain has the potential to quickly spread and kill millions of people around the world, they say.

Then, there is the ongoing hubbub about bird flu (H5N1), which experts have been warning about for several years now. Professor John Oxford, a British flu expert, says this strain has been a "mini crisis," and that at some point it will likely "hitch a ride on another current strain of the virus (and) no one in the world will have any immunity to [it]."

Sources for this article include:

http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/281388/B...