yes
Yes, some strains are highly contagious in humans, such as the H1N1/09 pandemic Swine Flu. Others, like the Avian (bird) flu, are not easily transmitted from person to person. Transmission of the bird flu from human to human is extremely rare.
Is it a the flu epidemic or flu pandemic
Bird Flu didn't happen... it's been here all the time...
A disese which is constantly present in an area is called as "endemic disease." A disease which spreds in a small area is called as "epidemic". A disease which spreads throughout the world is called as "pandemic". Eg. The recent psread of the bird-flu from china to other parts of the world.
the effects of a flu pandemic don't need to be lethal because the meaning of the word pandemic is that the disease is spreading fast on a global scale.
The 1918 pandemic of the Spanish Flu killed multiple millions world wide.
Pandemic Flu Pandemic refers to contagious or infectious diseases that are usually worldwide or spread across several continents. Some examples of diseases that have caused past pandemics would be cholera, small pox, the bubonic plague, typhus, the Spanish flu, and the Asian flu. Flu refers to influenza. Human influenza pandemics, such as the 2009 novel swine flu (A-H1N1/09) pandemic, are caused by the influenza virus subtypes of A-H1N1. A-H1N1/09 is the subtype that caused this recent swine flu pandemic. It was declared a pandemic on June 11, 2009 by WHO (World Health Organisation). A flu virus that becomes prevalent throughout the world (Apex)
It is expected that bird flu will continue to be a part of human experience in the near and distant future. Aggressive measures to keep it from spreading are expected to be successful in containing it.
spanish flu
Burt Flu The Bird with Bird Flu - 2005 was released on: USA: 11 December 2005
A pandemic can last from a few weeks (as in the case of the recent "swine" and "bird" flus), through to a year or two (the "Spanish" influenza) and even decades (as HIV/AIDS is considered a pandemic) or centuries (the Black Death).