By Alice Park Tuesday, August 30, 2011
..Health authorities aren't sure how the new strain will impact the upcoming flu season, but they aren't taking any chances. When the World Health Organization's influenza experts met in February to decide on the strains to include in the upcoming seasonal flu shot, they also selected virus strains that wouldn't be part of this year's vaccine but should be stockpiled in case of an outbreak. And they selected an H5N1 version of the same clade as the mutant strain now circulating among the birds in China and Viet Nam. That means that the virus is ready to go for testing and development into a vaccine should it suddenly emerge as a problem among people.
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