Influenza Pandemic Preparedness

The next influenza pandemic threat comes from the epidemic spread among fowls caused by influenza A virus subtype H5N1 (H5N1) and its occurrence in human cases. Since mid-2003, highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) has ravaged poultry and animal farms in eight East Asian countries. It was even more widespread during 2004 and 2006. There were more than thirty countries in Africa, Asia, Europe and Middle East reporting their first H5N1 infection in wild or domestic birds. Because the virus’ scope expanded, human exposure to the virus is getting higher; thus the risk of infection increases. With every one case of human H5N1 flu, the virus could become more adaptive to the human body or the risk of gene re-assortment between the human and fowl virus increases, hence forming a new human influenza virus. Once this virus evolves and spreads easily among humans, a majority of the world population may be infected within a very short period of time, since there is no antibody against this novel virus.