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Vietnam, with the largest number of reported cases (at least 90) and deaths (40) as of September 2005, is the center of human H5N1 infection. Pictured here at far right is nurse Nguyen Duc Tinh, who is suspected to have acquired an H5N1 infection directly from a patient, Nguyen Sy Tuan (seated, wearing stethoscope). Both men, along with Sy Tuan's sister, Nguyen Thi Ngoan, survived the illness (Their stories are told in the film H5N1 · Killer Flu)
Most of the human H5N1 infections have been attributed to direct contact with sick poultry, but this group of cases (along with another so-called "family cluster" of cases reported in Thailand), in which H5N1 may have been transmitted from person to person, makes a pandemic seem a real possibility. The virus was not lethal in this particular cluster of cases, but some epidemiologists feel that the lack of lethality may not be a cause for celebration, but instead an indication that the virus is adapting to human hosts and perhaps a portent of much larger numbers of cases to come -- with many more deaths to follow.
The death rate from human H5N1 infection has been falling over the past year, though that may be because mild cases are now being recognized when they had not been in the first years of the outbreak. The meaning of these cases is still far from clear.
Credit: Thirteen/WNET/Blue Ice Pictures, Inc.
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Briefing
Read a briefing on the dangers posed by avian influeza and the challenges nations must overcome in order to fight against it.
Interactive Map
Explore how avian flu is spreading across Asia.
Filmmaker Notes
Go behind the scenes with producer Micah Fink.
Info-Graphic
Learn how chemical and biological weapons work.
Interactive Challenge
Test your knowledge of the HIV/AIDS pandemic.
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