<font color="red">'''Humans''' - Avian influenza viruses do not normally infect humans. However, there have been instances of certain highly pathogenic strains causing severe respiratory disease in humans. In most cases, the people infected had been in close contact with infected poultry or with objects contaminated by their faeces. Nevertheless, there is concern that the virus could mutate to become more easily transmissible between humans, raising the possibility of an influenza pandemic. In 2005 there was an outbreak of a strain of avian influenza known as H5N1, and in the last month there have been reports from China of human deaths from a new strain, H7N9. Link</font color> | <font color="red">'''Humans''' - Avian influenza viruses do not normally infect humans. However, there have been instances of certain highly pathogenic strains causing severe respiratory disease in humans. In most cases, the people infected had been in close contact with infected poultry or with objects contaminated by their faeces. Nevertheless, there is concern that the virus could mutate to become more easily transmissible between humans, raising the possibility of an influenza pandemic. In 2005 there was an outbreak of a strain of avian influenza known as H5N1, and in the last month there have been reports from China of human deaths from a new strain, H7N9. Link</font color> |