Risk for bird flu pandemic.
So far, numerous outbreaks of avian influenza, in both birds and humans, have been reported in Asia, Africa and Europe. In most of these cases,  the virus was transmitted from birds to people. Although there are very rare examples of a H5N1 transmission between family members, specialists are confident that the virus cannot spread among humans yet. However, scientists believe that the likelihood of a bird flu pandemic is very high. Many of them have been convinced that this is inevitable and perhaps imminent, because the H5N1, soon or later, will coexist with a common influenza strain in humans and it will evolve to a new hybrid type, as it has been explained in the introductory bird flu page. The new virus will be extremely contagious and potentially lethal among humans. Although the fatality of the disease cannot be determined accurately yet, specialists recon that bird flu may kill from eighty to one hundred millions of people worldwide, especially in the developing countries, where sanitation, nutrition and pharmaceutical provision are poor. Due to immense global transport and tourism the disease will spread rapidly. Lack of effective medications and urbanization, which involves crowdedness, will render the pandemic difficult to be controlled. At the moment, there is no vaccine available and its appearance does not seem to be likely in the near future. Moreover, the production of Tamiflu, the only effective antiviral drug against bird flu, is far from being adequate to meet the worldwide demand.
Potential consequences of a bird flu pandemic.
Specialist cannot estimate the precise impact on the global economy but they all agree it will be huge. The consumption of poultry and eggs  will drop sharply and imports between countries will be banned. A bird flu pandemic will inflict devastating consequences in tourism industry, since people will be extremely reluctant to travel.
High street market will be affected negatively and internet trade will skyrocket, because consumers will avoid visiting crowded stores and prefer to make their purchases online instead.
Severe changes are possible to occur in the social tissue, since people will hesitate to socialize with friends, relatives, colleagues and neighbors. This will have a very serious impact on business of public hosting or catering, including restaurants, clubs, cafeterias, cinemas and sports events.
The whole thing sounds like one of the darkest humanity's nightmares but it has happened before. In 1918-1919 a similar avian influenza pandemic, known as Spanish flu, killed nearly fifty million people worldwide.
Prevention of bird flu spread.
The quarantine of contaminated farms and the culling of infected or potentially infected poultry and other domestic birds are the most typical preventive measures that can be taken, in order a further spread of the disease to be avoided.
Since there is not any effective vaccination available, people, like farmers, culling personnel and healthcare providers, who are at high risk for bird flu infection, must be covered with Tamiflu. The drug should be taken under a physician's instructions.
Although the H5N1 cannot be transmitted with foods, it is strongly recommended poultry and especially eggs to be well cooked, before eaten.
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