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An Evening of Avian Influenza with Dr. L.J. Tan of the AMA
Flocks of angry birds infected with the avian H5N1 influenza virus may be winging towards the United States, but in Chicago at least, the medical writing community is prepared. This is thanks to a dinner organized by your chapter and featuring speaker Dr. L.J. Tan, Director of Infectious Disease, Immunology, and Molecular Medicine for the AMA.
Dr. Tan is one of the nation’s recognized experts on avian flu, and has consulted for the Federal government on many dimensions of this disease.
He was kind enough to give us an evening of his time and make a presentation that was utterly engrossing. The dinner was held at Mon Ami Gabi in Oakbrook Center, a nice little four-star bistro reminiscent of the best of Boulevard Montparnasse. As you can see from the photographs, no one suffered any ill effects.
Dr. Tan’s overview included far too much to reproduce here, but we’ll share a few facts:
· What do the “H” and “N” of H5N1 stand for? Hemagglutinin and Neuraminidase subtypes. (Go ahead, drop those casually at your next meeting!)
· This is not the first outbreak of avian influenza. In 1983, for example, 17 million birds were culled in an outbreak of H5N2 in Pennsylvania. (Which explains why it was so hard to find a decent chicken Vesuvio).
· The virus is killed by heat. On the other hand, one gram of contaminated manure can infect 1 million birds. Remember to wipe your feet.
· Good news: Viet Nam and Thailand have reported no new cases for 6 months.
· Not such good news: Reassortment. This is what scientists fear: the combining of normal influenza with avian H5N1, producing a strain that has enhanced transmissibility among humans. However:
· The limited number of human infections so far is reassuring.
· Most reassuring is that people like Dr. Tan are keeping an eye on things.
-Rick Hyer
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