A Bit of Context on the Bird Flu Threat

March 13, 2006 — -- Avian flu has the potential to be a major crisis, and top government and public health officials are planning for the worst. However, almost without exception, they all say the worst-case scenario -- easy transmission from human to human -- is unlikely, but still possible.

Here are two key facts to help put the virus in context:

Here is what some prominent officials and health experts have said about bird flu:

President Bush

 Dr. Anthony Fauci, director, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health

Robert Webster, world-renowned virologist at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, consultant to the World Health Organization and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

Dr. Dick Thompson, World Health Organization spokesman on communicable diseases

Dr. John Treanor, professor of medicine, Infectious Disease Unit, University of Rochester Medical Center

Dr. Alex Thiermann, special adviser to the director general of the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE)

Professor Sir David King, chief scientific adviser to the British government and head of the Office of Science and Technology