What’s an influenza pandemic?
An influenza pandemic is a global outbreak of disease that occurs when a new influenza A virus appears in the human population, causes serious illness, and then spreads easily from person to person worldwide. • What’s the difference between “pandemic flu” and the regular seasonal flu? Pandemic flu is different from seasonal flu. A pandemic is caused by a strain of flu virus that is new or rare. Therefore, none of us have been exposed to it – as opposed to the regular seasonal flu that causes outbreaks every year. For more differences between pandemic and seasonal flu, see www.hhs.gov/flu/season_or_pandemic.html. • What about avian flu? Avian flu or “bird flu” normally infects birds, although these bird strains can sometimes infect small numbers of humans who come in close contact with them. Sometimes – not always – these bird strains can become more easily transmitted to people. If that happens, and the strain changes enough to become easily transmissible between people, it can result
