How are people getting sick from the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain of bird flu?
The highly pathogenic H5N1 virus is found in the saliva, nasal discharges and feces of infected birds. In countries where this disease is found, families frequently raise birds for their own meals, and ducks and chickens often roam freely and contaminate the neighborhood. Human infections have occurred as a result of direct, prolonged contact with infected birds or heavily contaminated environments, and from slaughtering and preparing infected birds for food. At this time the virus is not easily spread from person to person. If it starts spreading from person to person more readily, the way human flu viruses do, it could become a major threat to public health.
