Bird Flu Facts

  • What is the bird flu? Bird flu, or avian influenza, is an infectious disease stemming from the Type A influenza virus found in birds. The virus is carried by wild ducks, sea birds and shore birds, but rarely develops into the disease in these species. It does, however, tend to develop rapidly in domestic birds, such as chickens, turkeys and ducks.


  • Does it affect humans?
    There are more than 200 confirmed cases of bird flu in humans. The first outbreak was in Hong Kong in 1997. Of 18 people hospitalized, six people died. Today, 115 deaths are attributed to bird flu.


  • Is it contagious? Is the threat of bird flu reaching pandemic proportions real? So far there has been no human-to-human transmission. The current strain can only be passed from an infected bird to people. The threat of a pandemic is present because of global travel and the possibility of the virus mutating to a form that might make human-to-human transmission more possible.


  • Is it treatable?
    There is no vaccine for bird flu. Four antiviral drugs -- amantadine, rimantadine, oseltamivir, and zanamivir -- are approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to combat influenza in general. However, sometimes flu strains can become resistant to these drugs, and therefore the drugs may not always be effective. For example, amantadine and rimantadine have been found ineffective in fighting the bird flu virus. The others are still being investigated.


  • What are the symptoms?
    The symptoms range from fever, cough, sore throat and muscle aches to eye infections, pneumonia and severe respiratory diseases.


  • How can I protect myself?
    Avoid touching wildlife. Do not pick up dead or potentially diseased wildlife. NOTE: Most human transmission has resulted from direct or close contact with with infected poultry or surfaces that have secretions from infected birds. Proper cooking, i.e., well-cooked foods, would kill the virus if it were present.


  • Learn More

    • Bird Flu Statistics

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