Deadly flu pandemic imminent

THE world is closer to the next flu pandemic “than we have ever been before” and it may kill up to seven million people, a World Health Organisation expert predicted today.

Pandemics usually occur every 20 to 30 years when the genetic makeup of a flu strain changes so dramatically that people have little or no immunity built up.

Klaus Stohr of the WHO Global Influenza Programme said at a Bangkok conference, “There is no doubt there will be another pandemic.”