In areas of the world with avian flu outbreaks, has anyone gotten infected from poultry meat or eggs?
Yes. A large percentage of the confirmed human cases in Southeast Asia and other countries with outbreaks are believed to have become infected during the slaughtering or subsequent handling of diseased or dead birds prior to cooking. In these countries, poultry is often raised in backyard settings and either eaten by the family or sold in live bird markets. The practices of home slaughtering, defeathering, butchering, and preparation of the meat for consumption expose people to potentially contaminated parts of poultry. A few people may also have gotten infected from consuming uncooked duck blood pudding, which is a delicacy in parts of Asia. The H5N1 avian influenza virus spreads to virtually all parts of an infected bird, including blood, meat and bones. It can survive in contaminated raw poultry meat and therefore can be spread through the marketing and distribution of contaminated food products, such as fresh or frozen meat. In general avian flu viruses can survive for fairly long
