New bird flu cases after six year absence

Fresh cases of the H5N1 avian influenza virus have been identified in a number of countries, underling fears that an outbreak among humans may still occur, it has been reported.

For the first time in six years Hong Kong has reported new cases, while four cases in humans were found in December in Egypt, Cambodia and Indonesia, according to the LA Times.

The news comes following two years of falling infection rates for the virus, leading some experts to claim that the possibly of a dramatic rise in infections among the human population might not be fully prepared for.

Michael T. Osterholm, director of the centre for infectious disease research and policy at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, told the paper: "What alarms me is that we have developed a sense of pandemic-preparedness fatigue."

Mr Osterholm said that the rate of infections had continued to "at the very least smoulder and many times flare up" since the initial outbreaks in 2003.