This comes on the heels of three cases of the flu on Sunday, including two men who have since died, joining me now from Minneapolis, his Dr Michael Foster home.

He's director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy Doctor, also home.

Thank you so much for joining us.

What do you make of what's happening in China?

Well, thank you for having me.

First of all, let me just say that it's ah, situation is changing rather quickly.

As of tonight, there are now seven confirmed cases in three different areas in China.

Ah, and, uh, this point, it looks as if from the virus information that we have that it's becoming much more adapted towards transmitting to and by humans.

Yeah, I saw you one time say that when it comes to influence, expect the unexpected.

So what should we expect?

Well, I think this one is truly has the public health community around the world quite concerned.

This is a virus that we as humans have really no experience with.

So should it become adapted to humans and be transmitted by humans to humans.

We don't really have any residual protection in the population.

And so it surely could cause a very serious disease and spread worldwide and literally be another pandemic virus.

I think the real question is, is it going to fizzle out much like we saw with H five n one in Hong Kong in 1997?

Or is it going to go on and really become a full blown pandemic?

And we have no idea.

Right now we're at between those two extremes.

Let me ask you, if you would for audience just to kind of walk us through the normal spread of avian flu, how does it spread?

Well, basically, all influenza viruses originate in aquatic birds.

Ah, And when we think of that, we think of that kind of what we say natural reservoir, meaning that there are many, many different flu viruses.

Some make them their way into domestic poultry, other domesticated birds, and they actually have a certain kind of receptor site.

Or, in other words, their ability to attach to the lungs of birds is different than it is in humans.

Pigs, they're kind of the universal receptor.

You can actually infect pigs with bird viruses and human viruses.

And what we worry about is when a virus changes enough, either going through pigs or just in birds directly to now readily infect humans and allow humans to transmit it to other people.

That's when we get a brand new strain of flu virus and people.

That's what we worry about.

Pandemics are a rapidly emerging global problem, and that's what we're worried about.

Here, let me ask you this.

We have a lot of viewers in Asia.

Any suggestions you'd make to them that might be watching tonight?

No, I think Stay tuned.

I first thought congratulate the Chinese government for really a very rapid response and complete transparency.

I think they've done a remarkable job at all levels in China of responding to this, and they clearly have been sharing the information with the rest of the world in real time.

That helps a lot.

That allows us to give the public a much better information right now.

This may fizzle out.

We could only hope that it will if it doesn't.

Obviously it's a stay tuned moment, and it's one that could really be very significant and That's what people have to wait for.

And you're somebody who knows when something's fizzling and when something's actually being fueled.

What will you be looking for in the next few days?

Well, one of things we're gonna be looking for is there any person to person transmission?

We don't have any evidence of that yet.

But when people become infected from whatever source, that maybe whether it's some animal, uh, or another person is there evidence of that person to person transmission?

The second thing we're gonna be looking at is the virus continue to change has become more adapted to one that we'd expect to be readily transmitted among people.

And then I think, third of all our we've seen it spread in a way that would suggest really rapid transmission.

Does it get outside of China?

Does it move into the rest of the world?

Remember that in 2009 with that pandemic strain, H one N one within 28 days of its first recognition that viruses and 48 different countries So here we're gonna be watching very carefully.

Does this virus move?

And if it does, where does it move to and what does it do?

It'll be an interesting few days.

Thank you so much.

Dr.

Osterman.

Poster home for joining us this evening from Minneapolis.

Appreciated.