Chicken flu

The recent epidemic termed as chicken flu is not a new disease as the variants of the same virus are known to have devastated poultry farms in different parts of the world in the past. The chicken flu epidemic, affecting poultry stocks, has now spread across most of East Asia and spread to other countries too is a distinct possibility. Its incidence has been officially reported in Korea, Vietnam, Japan, Thailand, Cambodia, Hong Kong, Laos, China, Indonesia and Pakistan.

The disease is caused by a virus that belongs to the influenza family, and primarily affects birds. While wild birds are also affected, domesticated birds like chicken are affected more seriously. The most dangerous fact attached to this disease is that its virus has the ability to attack human beings- i.e. it seems to be able to "jump species" and cause disease in human beings as well. This coupled with the fact that influenza epidemics among humans caused by new viruses have been known in the past to kill thousands, even millions, has set alarm bells ringing across the world.