HERE are two pieces of good news about bird flu: first, combining genes from H5N1 with those from a common human flu virus doesn’t seem to have instant pandemic potential. Second, an H5N1 vaccine stimulates a strong immune response so, if the worst happens, we may be able to protect ourselves.
H5N1 meets two of three requirements for a pandemic strain: it is highly pathogenic and unfamiliar to most people’s immune systems. If it also acquired the ability to transmit easily from person to person, H5N1 would threaten millions of lives. One way this could happen is if the virus…
