The authorities in Hong Kong have announced a rapid test for a new strain of influenza, H5N1, previously found only in birds but which has now entered the human population. Officials say they hope the new test will help them to track more accurately the spread of the virus, which has so far been contracted by nine people and caused two deaths. From Hong Kong, Jill McGivering reports.

Previous tests used by the authorities have taken one to two weeks to confirm if the virus is present. Health officials said the newly developed rapid test wasn't 100% sensitive but gave a result in one or two days.

It is now being introduced at three Hong Kong hospitals where cases of the new virus are being treated. Early diagnosis is crucial both to the treatment of the virus and to mapping how it is spreading.

Some wholesale chicken markets in Hong Kong have re-opened

The authorities are struggling to combat rising local anxiety about the new virus. Some wholesale chicken markets in Hong Kong re-opened on Thursday, after being closed for three days for disinfecting.

But public confidence in chicken has suffered as a result of the scare. Chicken sellers say sales are down between 30% and 80% despite repeated re-assurances from experts that cooked chicken doesn't constitute a risk.

The international team of scientists investigating the new virus still doesn't have an answer to one of the most central questions - how the virus is being transmitted. Officials say birds-to-human transmission and human-to-human transmission may be taking place, but they expect to take several more weeks to establish the facts.

Earlier this week, two more suspected cases of the virus were announced, bringing the total to nine. Both new cases were young children whose cousin is already known to be infected with virus.

Their infection strengthens the possibility that human-to-human transmission is now taking place. Health officials say the virus is showing signs of change as it enters the human population but that symptoms in the most recent cases have been less acute.

The head of the influenza programme at the World Health Organisation is now on his way to Hong Kong to bolster the international team as it tries to calculate the danger posed by the new virus.
 

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