Confirmed: Human-to-human bird flu transmission
A recent report has confirmed that a father and son in China had been infected with bird flu, wherein the son caught the virus in a poultry market, and the father caught the flu from his son. The 24-year old son died while the 52-year old father survived after being treated and vaccinated in a H5N1 clinical trial. Other family members, colleagues and friends were also treated to make sure the virus does not spread. All the others tested negative for the H5N1 virus, which means the virus does not easily spread through casual contact. Samples of the virus from father and son showed almost identical genetic characteristics.