Fast facts about avian influenza

• 3 — types of influenza virus (A, B, C)¹
• 1 — type that can cause pandemics (A)¹
• 1 — A-virus subtype currently freaking the world out (H5N1)^{1, 2}
• 0 — successful vaccines against H5N1 avian flu currently available³
• 18 — people infected by avian flu in Hong Kong in 1997, the first case of direct spread from birds to humans^{1, 4}
• 6 — people who died of avian flu in Hong Kong in 1997¹
• 5 — years after first human infection that no confirmed human cases of avian flu were reported (1998-2002)⁴
• 5 — countries in which human infection has been reported since 2003⁵
• 135 — confirmed human cases of avian flu reported to the World Health Organization since Dec. 26, 2003, at press time⁵
• 69 — confirmed human deaths from avian flu reported to WHO since Dec. 26, 2003, at press time⁵
• 3 — flu pandemics in the 20th century (1918-19 Spanish flu, 1957-58 Asian flu, 1968-69 Hong Kong flu)⁶
• 1 million — estimate of the number of people worldwide who died during the Hong Kong flu pandemic⁷
• 2 million to 7.4 million — WHO’s “conservative” estimate of the number of people who could die during the next pandemic⁷
• 80 — countries represented by health officials who met with the U.S. State Department in October to discuss strategies for facing a possible pandemic⁸
• 4 — hours White House officials will spend on a pandemic preparedness drill on Dec. 10, 2005¹²
• $800 billion — estimate of one-year worldwide economic impact of an avian flu pandemic⁹
• $71.3 billion to $166.5 billion — estimate of economic impact on the U.S. of an avian flu pandemic⁶
• $7.1 billion — amount of emergency funding asked of Congress by President Bush to prepare for a possible pandemic¹⁰
• $0 — amount granted by Congress so far; the request was dropped from a health-funding bill¹¹
• 13 — South Korean chickens infected with avian flu that were then fed an extract of kimchi, a spicy variation of sauerkraut¹³
• 11 — chickens that began recovering within a week¹³
• 850 — percent jump in sauerkraut sales reported by stores in Minnesota’s Twin Cities after the kimchi story was reported locally¹⁴

Note: “Avian flu” refers to the H5N1 strain.

Sources:
1. Avian influenza frequently asked questions, World Health Organization.
2. Avian influenza, Wikipedia.
3. Key facts about avian influenza, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
4. Avian influenza infection in humans, CDC.
5. Cumulative number of confirmed human cases of avian influenza A/H5N1 reported to WHO, WHO.
6. Key facts about pandemic influenza, CDC.
7. 10 things you need to know about pandemic influenza, WHO.
8. “Avian flu under the microscope,” Business Week, 09 Oct 2005.
9. “Avian flu: economic losses could top US$800 billion,” World Bank, 08 Nov 2005.
10. “Bush unveils $7.1 billion plan to prepare for flu pandemic,” CNN.com, 02 Nov 2005.
11. “Lawmakers reject emergency bird flu funds,” Reuters, 17 Nov 2005.
12. “U.S. grapples with bird flu preparations,” Reuters, 07 Dec 2005.
13. “Korean dish ‘may cure bird flu,'” BBC News, 14 Mar 2005.
14. “Is sauerkraut a new weapon against bird flu?”, The Seattle Times, 07 Nov 2005.