How widespread is the bird flu now?

Answer 1

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:
To date, human cases have been reported in six countries, most of which are in Asia: Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Thailand, Turkey, and Viet Nam. The first patients in the current outbreak, which were reported from Viet Nam, developed symptoms in December 2003 but were not confirmed as H5N1 infection until 11 January 2004. Thailand reported its first cases on 23 January 2004. The first case in Cambodia was reported on 2 February 2005. The next country to report cases was Indonesia, which confirmed its first infection on 21 July. China's first two cases were reported on 16 November 2005. Confirmation of the first cases in Turkey came on 5 January 2006, followed by the first reported case in Iraq on 30 January 2006. All human cases have coincided with outbreaks of highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza in poultry. To date, Viet Nam has been the most severely affected country, with more than 90 cases.

Altogether, more than half of the laboratory-confirmed cases have been fatal. H5N1 avian influenza in humans is still a rare disease, but a severe one that must be closely watched and studied, particularly because of the potential of this virus to evolve in ways that could start a pandemic.