With dire warnings of an avian flu pandemic, and the first UK government supplies of anti-viral drugs being reserved for certain groups of people, is it time for individuals to take responsibility for their own safety and stock up online with recommended treatments such as Tamiflu?
A. Avian flu is a specific strain of influenza A – the same influenza virus that causes human flu. About two years ago there was an outbreak of avian flu in South-east Asia, and the first cases of humans developing avian flu were reported. To date, 112 humans have developed avian flu, mostly in Vietnam, and 57 of them have died from it. More than 100 million poultry have died as a result of this outbreak, some from the disease and some from a cull that was carried out to contain the outbreak. The humans who caught avian flu were mostly people who had contact with poultry, and it appears that they all caught the flu from birds, and not from other human beings. The worry is that the virus may transform itself so that it is capable of spreading from human to human. If this happens, humans will have little natural resistance to the disease and it could spread quickly, with deadly effect. Tamiflu is a drug that may be effective in treating avian flu in humans. No one knows how effective it
