Should this move from human to human -- and it hasn't yet, I want to stress that -- then it's going to be a real challenge.
But the risk is pretty much the same as it has been, it is very low to humans, but we're worried about the transformation of the virus into a human pandemic strain.
From our point of view, Iraqi authorities have done a very good job in responding to the outbreak and have been very transparent about what is known about the human disease.
Pigs are known to be able to be infected with both avian and human viruses, and they too can serve as mixing vessels, just like humans.
We are concerned that the virus infects a human that already has contracted a strain of normal influenza and this influenza will mix with this avian form. As a result, a new strain could be formed that the human immune system has never seen before and that would ignite a pandemic.
You have to put this in perspective: there have been 180 million birds that have been killed because of this disease and yet we've identified fewer than 200 human cases.
Tens of millions of birds have been affected. But there have been only about 117 human cases in two years, ... This is a very difficult disease to move from animals to humans.
It was not unexpected. There will be sporadic human cases as long as the virus is circulating in animals.
It was not unexpected, ... There will be sporadic human cases as long as the virus is circulating in animals.