Mothers Can Pass H5N1 Onto Babies In Utero

More confirmation of H5N1's remarkable ability to infect and destroy major organs, outside of the lungs and respiratory tract.

Chinese experts at Peking University have announced results of a study showing that pregnant women infected with the bird flu virus can pass it on to their unborn babies :

In a study by scientists at Peking University tissue taken from the body of a 24-year-old pregnant woman who died from bird flu, found the virus was also present in the placenta and had infected the fetus.

Gu Jiang, director of the School of Basic Medical Sciences which is affiliated to Peking University...who led the study says the virus was also found in the alimentary canal, brain, blood cells and respiratory tract of both the mother and the fetus and the unborn child's lungs and liver were also affected.

Gu says blood and feces from people infected with the virus must be handled extremely carefully to avoid further spreading of the disease.

The World Health Organization (WHO) also says example of transfer does not prove that the virus can be transmitted from one human to another, as the mother and her unborn child are considered to function as one body.