Flu pandemic's toll inestimable. WHO says 2-360 million people could die from bird flu virus
The World Health Organization moved Friday to revise alarming predictions that a pandemic stemming from the bird flu virus ravaging parts of Asia could kill as many as 150 million people. The UN health agency was deluged with inquiries after Dr. David Nabarro — named Thursday as the UN co-ordinator for avian and human influenza — cited the number during a news conference at the UN's New York headquarters. While WHO's flu spokesman at the agency's Geneva headquarters did not say the 150 million prediction was wrong, he emphasized that 7.4 million deaths is a more realistic estimate. Scientists have made predictions ranging from less than 2 million to 360 million. Last year, WHO's chief for the Asia-Pacific region predicted 100 million deaths, but until now that was the highest figure publicly mentioned by a WHO official.
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