Russia has reported seven cases of a new strain of avian flu, H5N8, which epidemiologists say hopped from chickens to humans working with the birds in a poultry plant. Dr. Anna Popova, the nation’s public health chief, said, “All seven people... are now feeling well. The discovery of these mutations when the virus has not still acquired an ability to transmit from human to human gives us all, the entire world, time to prepare for possible mutations and react in an adequate and timely fashion.” Russian scientists who isolated the genetic code of the virus did not detect signs of transmission between humans.
