Scientists have expressed fears that so-called bird flu, previously only found in chickens, could be spread by humans.

They say the virus, traced to seven people in Hong Kong, will be hard for people to resist if it is contagious. So far two people have died.

The problem was being discussed at a meeting of the National Institute for Medical Research in the UK. British doctors are being warned to watch out for symptoms of the deadly strain.

The latest victims in Hong Kong are a boy and a girl, aged two and three, cousins of a five-year-old girl also suffering from the disease. They are in hospital.

The case increased fears that the virus, known as H5NI, could be passed from human-to-human.

Hong Kong health director Margaret Chan said information collected from the seven confirmed cases showed some patients had had contact with poultry while others had not.

"This points to the fact that the transmission of the virus both from bird-to-human and human-to-human are possible," she said.

"However, the efficiency of transmission from human-to-human should not be high or there would be hundreds and thousands of such cases in the territory by now."

In neighbouring China no special measures have been adopted to contain the virus.

A spokesman for the animal quarantine division in Beijing said: "Normal inspections are taking place. No supplementary measures have been taken in the poultry farms.

"There is no proof of the transmission of the virus from chickens to humans. We will take measures if this transmission is established."

Virologist Robert Webster, of the USA Influenza Team, says it is "just a matter of time" before the virus spreads from human to human.

Virologist Robert Webster, of the USA Influenza Team

Mr Webster made his remarks after returning from Hong Kong where he joined other experts hunting for the source of the virus.

The first human victim was a three-year-old boy who died in Hong Kong in May 1997.

The two main poultry markets in Hong Kong were closed by the authorities earlier this week and cleanliness guidelines were issued to chicken stall owners.
 

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