H9N2 bird flu threat understated in humans
However, flu experts at the University of Maryland, St. Jude's Children's Research hospital in Memphis and elsewhere recently wrote in the Public Library of Science journal PLoS ONE that the H9N2 strain posed a "significant threat for humans".
They found that just a few mutations could turn it into a virus that people catch and transmit easily.
Peiris said that while the H9N2 strain might be more transmissible, its effects would be far less devastating than a possible H5N1 pandemic.
"There are other viruses out there besides H5N1 that could be the next pandemic," Peiris said.
"But I suspect (H9N2) will not be so severe in its outcome."
Peiris pointed out that the last three major pandemics vastly differed in their severity, with the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic killing an estimated 50 million people worldwide, whereas the "Hong Kong" flu in 1968 killed around one million.
There are hundreds of strains of avian influenza virus but only four -- H5N1, H7N3, H7N7, and H9N2 - are known to have caused human infections, according to the World Health Organization.
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