Why is there concern about avian influenza?
Currently, avian or “bird” flu is just that – a strain (H5N1) of influenza that is infecting and killing birds in Asia, Africa and parts of Europe. The H5N1 virus has been transmitted from birds to mammals and, in some limited circumstances, to humans who have come in close contact with the sick birds. Scientists are concerned that the bird strain could mutate or change and become transmissible between humans, which could then trigger a pandemic.
