Revelation 6:7,8 NCV When the Lamb opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, "Come!"8 I looked, and there before me was a pale horse. Its rider was named death, and Hades was following close behind him. They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill people by war, by starvation, by disease, and by the wild animals of the earth.
As 24 people are now confirmed dead from H7N9 bird flu, researchers are saying that it poses a “serious threat” because of the pace and severity of the outbreak.
Professor John McCauley of the World Health Organization told reporters it was “unusual to get these numbers” so quickly at the discovery of a new virus. One of the big problems with H7N9 is that it does not create symptoms in birds so it is almost impossible to detect without testing all birds.
“Whenever an influenza virus jumps across from its normal host in bird populations into humans it is a cause for concern,” Professor Jeremy Farrar of the Wellcome Trust said.
Farrar was concerned about the disparity in ages in the outbreak. The youngest victim is 2 years old and the oldest 81 years old.
“That suggests there truly is no immunity across all ages, and that as humans we have not seen this virus before,” Farrar said. “The response has been calm and measured, but it cannot be taken lightly.”
A study in the Lancet medical journal has shown that H7N9 is a mix of at least four viruses from ducks and chickens.
