title: Infectious disease: can we avert a lethal flu pandemic?
abstract: If avian flu becomes directly transmissible among humans, could we prevent a pandemic by using prophylactic antivirals? Possibly, if the virus is not too transmissible, and we react fast and efficiently.
authors.affiliation: Zoology Department, Oxford University, Oxford, UK.
authors.forename: Robert M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: May
mesh_terms: D000081:Acetamides / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000818:Animals; D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001715:Bird Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000821:virology*; D001717:Birds; D018890:Chemoprevention / Q000379:methods; D003198:Computer Simulation; D004196:Disease Outbreaks / Q000517:prevention & control*; D006801:Humans; D053124:Influenza A Virus, H5N1 Subtype; D005585:Influenza in Birds / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000635:transmission; D007251:Influenza, Human / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D053139:Oseltamivir; D015047:Zoonoses / Q000635:transmission*
chemical_list: D000081:Acetamides; D000998:Antiviral Agents; D053139:Oseltamivir