Chance of bird flu mutating into virus transmissible between humans is “very low”

doi:10.1136/bmj.332.7546.873-c

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Michael Day

London

Scientists are continuing to test dead birds on Scotland's east coast after the discovery there of a dead swan infected with H5N1 influenza, in what was the United Kingdom's first official case of the infection. An emergency telephone line set up after the incident has received thousands of reported sightings of dead birds, but no further cases have emerged, and senior officials have sought to downplay the risk to human health.

As the BMJ went to press, David King, the government's chief scientific adviser, said that bird flu was “absolutely …