[Termite_Commander]

That's good to hear. We've all heard of the possibility that a pandemic strain might be resistant to Tamiflu, though. A quarter of children who were treated with the drug in Vietnam has virus that developed resistance over the antiviral course. Luckily, that resistance never got out of the hospital and had a chance to become a dominant strain.

So Tamiflu still works, for the time being.

[Zuben Elgenubi]

Avian Flu News Tracker
March 18, 2006 1:18 p.m.

Updated regularly with news on avian-flu precautions, research and outbreaks. All times EST.

Saturday, March 18

1:16 p.m.: Israel's Channel Two television reported the presence of H5N1 was confirmed at Sdeh Moshe in southern Israel. Israel had quarantined four areas where the bird flu was suspected and began culling hundreds of thousands of birds on Saturday even though the final test results had not been received.

10:37 a.m.: A spokesman for the WHO said Saturday that initial tests have shown that a woman who died this week in Egypt had bird flu, making her likely the first human death from the disease in that country. Final confirmation that the death was a result of H5N1 is still pending. A number of people who came in contact with the woman are also being tested, said Hassan el-Bushra, the WHO's regional adviser for emerging diseases.