What To Do

The bird flu H5N1 strain that is currently present in the UK is destroyed by cooking, and there is no need to avoid eating poultry which should always be well cooked anyway.

However, UK government officials are well aware that H5N1 has been transmitted to humans by contact with infected raw meat, eggs and live birds – although no cases of this happening have been recorded in the UK. Poultry workers are most at risk of contracting the virus and every effort has to be made to prevent this by culling all infected birds.

If a fully contagious variant of H5N1 emerges, its global spread is thought to be inevitable. It is estimated to reach every continent within three months or less.

The best line of defence against such a virus is vaccination. But new vaccines can't be developed overnight and won't be available immediately the new virus emerges. The groundwork for an H5N1 vaccine has been completed by an international coalition of scientists with the World Health Organisation. As it is, this vaccine will not be enough to stop an emergent pandemic strain of flu, but since H5N1 is the most likely source of a pandemic strain, the vaccine will serve as a starting point, and speed up the manufacture of an effective vaccine.

However, the World Health Organisation has warned that at current manufacturing capacities, developing countries may have no access to vaccines at all.

The first line of defence will be anti-viral drugs and isolation of infected patients. The UK Department of Health has placed an order for 14.6 million courses of the anti-viral drug Tamiflu – enough to treat a quarter of the population. But there is evidence that some strains of H5N1 have developed resistance to this drug.

Initially we will be reduced to following these few simple rules:

• Wash your hands frequently. Flu is easily passed from hand to hand, or from hand to cup to mouth, etc. People who wash their hands frequently have been shown to catch colds and the flu less often.
• To cut down the risk of being infected, avoid large gatherings of people.
• If infected, stay at home to avoid infecting others.

Of course these three things will also help you avoid the normal run of snuffles that go around seasonally.

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