The deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu will take several years to contain, the World Health Organization warned yesterday, adding that claims in China that the virus was found in pigs is a worrying new development.
The H5N1 virus has killed 27 people in Asia. A recent outbreak of bird flu in Malaysia -- the first case in this Southeast Asian country -- and flare-ups in Thailand and Vietnam, plus recent claims by Chinese researchers that pigs have the virus indicate that the disease may be entrenched and adapting in parts of Asia.
The discovery in pigs, which are genetically similar to humans, intensifies fears that it could mutate into a version that could lead to human-to-human infections. However, it remains unclear whether the pigs were actually infected with H5N1 or simply had traces on their snouts from snuffling around chicken runs.
Pigs could conceivably become a new host for the virus to mutate, said Shigeru Omi, WHO director for the Western Pacific.
"We don't know how wide this virus is spreading among pigs. Is it only several pigs or many pigs?" Omi told a news conference. "This is a new finding, which we are following up very carefully, but it does not mean that it will immediately cause a pandemic."
Omi said the disease will keep popping up because it "is circulating more widely than we expected among poultry."
Australians were downloading virtual private networks (VPNs) in droves, while one of the world’s largest porn distributors said it was blocking users from its platforms as the country yesterday rolled out sweeping online age restriction. Australia in December became the first country to impose a nationwide ban on teenagers using social media. A separate law now requires artificial intelligence (AI)-powered chatbot services to keep certain content — including pornography, extreme violence and self-harm and eating disorder material — from minors or face fines of up to A$49.5 million (US$34.6 million). The country also joined Britain, France and dozens of US states requiring
Hungarian authorities temporarily detained seven Ukrainian citizens and seized two armored cars carrying tens of millions of euros in cash across Hungary on suspicion of money laundering, officials said on Friday. The Ukrainians were released on Friday, following their detention on Thursday, but Hungarian officials held onto the cash, prompting Ukraine to accuse Hungary’s Russia-friendly government of illegally seizing the money. “We will not tolerate this state banditism,” Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrii Sybiha said. The seven detained Ukrainians were employees of the Ukrainian state-owned Oschadbank, who were traveling in the two armored cars that were carrying the money between Austria and
Kosovar President Vjosa Osmani on Friday after dissolving the Kosovar parliament said a snap election should be held as soon as possible to avoid another prolonged political crisis in the Balkan country at a time of global turmoil. Osmani said it is important for Kosovo to wrap up the upcoming election process and form functional institutions for political stability as the war rages in the Middle East. “Precisely because the geopolitical situation is that complex, it is important to finish this electoral process which is coming up,” she said. “It is very hard now to imagine what will happen next.” Kosovo, which declared
MORE BANS: Australia last year required sites to remove accounts held by under-16s, with a few countries pushing for similar action at an EU level and India considering its own ban Indonesia on Friday said it would ban social media access for children under 16, citing threats from online pornography, cyberbullying, online fraud and Internet addiction. “Accounts belonging to children under 16 on high-risk platforms will start to be deactivated, beginning with YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X, Bigo Live and Roblox,” Indonesian Minister of Communications and Digital Meutya Hafid said. “The government is stepping in so that parents no longer have to fight alone against the giants of the algorithm. Implementation will begin on March 28, 2026,” she said. The social media ban would be introduced in stages “until all platforms fulfill their
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