From the PHLS Communicable Disease Surveillance Centre Events of the Quarter

Communicable disease featured prominently in national and international headlines during the last quarter of 1997, following the identification of a new strain of influenza A vims (H5N1) in Hong Kong. The identification of this new strain raised concerns about risks of a new pandemic of influenza. Extensive investigations identified that the strongest risk factor for infection among human cases affected with this strain was visiting a poultry stall in the week before becoming ill. These results and other findings indicated that human to human transmission of this strain of influenza is inefficient, and that there was no immediate risk of a pandemic. Closer to home, there was considerable professional and public debate over the safety of organophosphate lotions for the treatment of headlice, and there was the usual seasonal increase in reports of clusters of meningococcal infections, particularl