WHO
Most avian influenza viruses do not cause disease in humans. However, some are zoonotic, meaning that they can infect humans and cause disease. The most well known example is the Highly Pathogenic Influenza A (H5N1) virus – also called "HPAI H5N1 virus" – currently circulating in poultry in parts of Asia and northeast Africa. It is highly contagious among birds and can be deadly to them. Infections with these viruses have occurred in humans, especially in people having direct or close contact with H5N1-infected poultry or H5N1-contaminated surfaces. HPAI H5N1 virus can infect the respiratory tract of humans causing severe respiratory illness (e.g. pneumonia and respiratory failure) and eventually leading to death. Of the few avian influenza viruses that have crossed the species barrier to infect humans, HPAI H5N1 has caused the largest number of detected cases of severe disease and death in humans. More than 600 human HPAI H5N1 cases have been reported to WHO from 15 countries in Asia, Africa, the Pacific, Europe and the Near East since November 2003. Approximately 60% of the cases have died. The majority of these cases have occurred among children and adults younger than 40 years old. Mortality has been highest in people aged 10-19 years old and young adults. Most human HPAI H5N1 cases have presented late in their illness for medical care and have been hospitalized with severe respiratory disease. However, some clinically mild HPAI H5N1 cases have been reported, especially in children.
A flu epidemic occurs when cases of influenza exceed the normal expectancy within a community or region during a given period and which cannot be explained by ’normal’ seasonal increases. Epidemiologists often consider the term outbreak to be synonymous to epidemic, but the general public typically perceives outbreaks to be more local and less serious than epidemics.