Definitions

What is pandemic flu? 

Influenza is a contagious respiratory disease caused by a virus. Pandemic influenza is an epidemic of the flu virus that spreads worldwide, or across large regions of the world. 

A flu pandemic will occur when 3 conditions are met:

• A new flu virus emerges
• The body has luttle or no immunity against the new virus
• The new virus quickly spreads person to person

An influenza virus can achieve pandemic status when an influenza virus emerges or mutates into a form that can easily escape the defences of the human immune system. It has the ability to spread rapidly, putting severe strain on existing health services. A virus of pandemic proportion causes high rates of infection and mortality, as well as intense social and economic disruption. 

Pandemic influenza is different from seasonal influenza because it does not just attack the weaker sections of society, but all ages including children and otherwise fit adults. 

Human symptoms could be severe and possible complications include viral pneumonia, respiratory distress and organ failure. The UK Health Departments’ Pandemic Influenza Contingency Plan, considered clinical attack rates for up to 50% of the UK population. 

The threat of an influenza pandemic is very real, and on 31st December 2007, the Chief Medical Officer Sir Liam Donaldson described it as 'a biological inevitability'. The UK Government's March 2008 National Security Strategy places pandemic influenza as the 'highest risk' amongst civil emergencies, above terrorism or flood.

During a pandemic flu outbreak businesses could lose many of their working population to employee sickness, refusal to travel / attend work or resulting from the necessity to care for family members in a pandemic situation.  Current productivity levels would fall dramatically, and a company may actually cease to function in any capacity.

What is Bird flu?

The immediate risk is presented by a shift in the genetic make-up of an avian influenza virus, H5N1 (bird flu). This virus is ever present in domestic and wild bird populations of the world. Fatal human infections have already occurred from direct contact with infected birds across the globe. 

It is widely publicised and predicted by health professionals, epidemiologists & virologists that this virus has the potential to be the next highly infectious, killer global disease. The WHO is working with governments worldwide to track and contain this virus under difficult circumstances. 

Once a mutation occurs to H5N1, which allows for easy human-to-human transmission, pandemic influenza could take less than one month to spread to the UK from its source. H5N1 can already infect humans via direct contact with an infected bird. In recent months the WHO have studied a limited and isolated amount of cases that can be classified as direct human-to-human transmission.