The first recorded human infection with avian flu was in Hong Kong in 1997 with 18 confirmed cases and six deaths. Later outbreaks have been confirmed in the Southeast Asian countries Cambodia, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam and later in Egypt and Turkey. The virus starts in wild birds where it seems relatively harmless. When spread to poultry for human consumption, most strains are still mild. But the variant that developed in 1997 called H5N1 spread to humans with a large percentage of those infected becoming terminal in a short time.
Transmission
The H5N1 virus is spread through direct contact with infected poultry or surfaces where infected poultry have been dropping feces. Most human casualties have been with rural families where poultry is allowed to cohabit with humans, so direct contact is common. Infected birds who have died and been fed to animals have caused the infection to spread as well. The threat, which is being tracked by the World Health Organization, is the possibility of human to human transmission. If that happens, a super epidemic, or "pandemic" is threatened, where no one in contact with other humans would be safe. That situation has yet to occur and steps are being made worldwide to see that it doesn't occur.
Safety
The World Health Organization said the avian flu is not transmitted even with infected poultry if proper food handling and thorough cooking is done (to 70 degrees C or 158 degrees F). No pink flesh should be allowed to make it to the dinner table nor any runny egg yolks. "Exposure is considered most likely during slaughter, defeathering, butchering and preparation of poultry for cooking," according to the WHO site.
