MOSCOW, January 11 (RIA Novosti) - The onset of the mid-winter flu season could accelerate the mutation of the bird flu virus because all kinds of influenza are of an avian origin, Russia's chief doctor Gennady Onishchenko said Wednesday.
In an interview with government paper Rossiiskaya Gazeta, Onishchenko sought to highlight common misunderstandings about the virus.
"The name 'bird flu' is not quite accurate because all flu pandemics, including the Spanish flu pandemic in 1918-1919 [that killed millions], originated from birds," he said, adding that birds still suffered from those kinds of flu.
He said the outbreak of common influenza expected in the northern hemisphere in January could exacerbate the situation and accelerate bird flu mutation.
Striking a cautionary note, Onishchenko said that a vaccine for any new strain could only be developed after that form of the virus had already evolved. But he warned against giving into panic in the face of a new strain, saying that hysteria surrounding any outbreak could be more dangerous than the virus itself.
