Bird Flu in China Could Become ‘Pandemic’ Threat To Humans: Researchers

"The virus causing a second wave of bird flu across China has mutated frequently and 'should be considered as a major candidate to emerge as a pandemic strain in humans,' researchers reported Wednesday.

While it is much too early to predict whether that might happen, one of the scientists said in an interview, there is cause for alarm because the H7N9 virus jumps to humans more quickly than its predecessors and previously has been found in mammals.

'This virus is more dangerous,' said Yi Guan of the University of Hong Kong, one of the authors of a research letter published online Wednesday in the journal Nature."

Lenny Bernstein reports for the Washington Post March 11, 2015.