# 1604
While the feared onslaught of human infections out of the Indian Subcontinent's bird flu outbreaks has yet to materialize, medical authorities in Pakistan are preparing for the worst.
The lack of reported human cases in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh is no assurance there aren't any.
There could be mild cases flying under the radar, or even serious cases where the testing simply doesn't detect the virus. We get daily news reports of `suspected cases' in isolation, but so far, no confirmation of human infection.
So, unless there is a massive cover up going on, that's a pretty good sign there aren't many human cases in these afflicted countries.
For now, H5N1 remains difficult for humans to catch.
Bird flu is still primarily a disease of birds. Consider the tens of thousands of exposures that occur every day in places like Indonesia, India, and Bangladesh. Out of all of these culled, cooked, or coddled infected chickens, we see only a handful of human infections every month.
Now, this could change in a heartbeat. The virus could, overnight, mutate into something quite easily caught and transmitted by humans.
And that is why we watch so carefully, and why thousands of people are screened and `suspected' patients are isolated in bird flu affected areas, so that if a change does happen, we will know about it as soon as possible.
The lack of reported human infections in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh thus far - while good news - is hardly comforting.
The virus is out there, it's spreading geographically, and it still has the potential to mutate into a pandemic strain.
That threat hasn't gone away. Nor is it likely to, anytime soon.
Isolation wards set up in major hospitals of Peshawar for treatment of bird flu patients
PESHAWAR, Feb 3 (APP): After confirmation of bird flu virus in some areas of the country, emergency has been declared in major hospitals of NWFP and Isolation Wards have been set up to treat any patient infected with the deadly disease.
“We have set up an Isolation Ward with the capacity of treating 100 patients affected by the disease,” informed Dr. Saib Gul, Director Emergency Lady Reading Hospital Peshawar.
Talking with APP here on Sunday, Dr. Sahib Gul said all precautionary measures have been taken by hospital administration for treatment of bird flu patients and officials have been directed to be very vigilant and efficient.
All the staff members have been informed about the protective measures from being infected with the deadly virus in case of admission of any patient in the hospital, he added.
He said presently no such patient has arrived from any part of the province .
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