Can avian flu be passed from person to person

[Jennifer]

There are indications that it can, although so far not in the feared
mutated form which could fuel a pandemic.

A case in Thailand indicated the probable transmission of the virus
from a girl who had the disease to her mother, who also died.

The girl's aunt, who was also infected, survived the virus.

Experts said these cases indicated the basic virus could be passed
between humans, and predicted similar small clusters of cases would be
seen again.

It is not the only instance where it has been thought bird flu has been
passed between humans.

In 2004, two sisters died in Vietnam after possibly contracting bird
flu from their brother who had died from an unidentified respiratory
illness. In a similar case in Hong Kong in 1997, a doctor possibly
caught the disease from a patient with the H5N1 virus - but it was
never conclusively proved