Mon Jun 29, 2009 1:55pm EDT
By Olivia Rondonuwu
JAKARTA, June 29 (Reuters) - Indonesia's first cases of the new H1N1 flu have raised concerns that if the virus spreads it could combine with the entrenched and deadly H5N1 avian influenza to create a more lethal strain of flu.
Even if this worst-case scenario did not occur, experts say populous, developing countries such as Indonesia, India or Egypt, where healthcare systems can be rudimentary, will suffer more deaths from the new virus.
Indonesian Health Minister Siti Fadillah Supari, who confirmed six new H1N1 cases on Sunday, said she was concerned about H1N1, widely known as swine flu, "marrying" with H5N1 avian flu.
Influenza viruses not only mutate quickly and unpredictably, but they can swap genes, especially if a person or animal becomes infected with two strains at once. The new H1N1 strain is itself a mixture of various strains, genetic tests show.
H5N1 bird flu has been circulating in Asia for years and has hit Indonesia harder than any other country. Although it only rarely infects people, it has killed 262 out of 433 infected globally since 2003, with 141 of those cases in Indonesia.
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Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/homepageCrisis/idUSN29385766._CH_.2400 
