Avian influenza (bird flu) continues to impact people living and working in the Middle East, Europe, India, and Africa.

Since its discovery in 1996, the highly contagious H5N1 virus has killed thousands of chicken, duck, and turkey flocks—commodities typically raised as sources of food and income.

Spread mainly between birds, there has been no documented cases of human-to-human transmission of the disease. However, the World Health Organization reported that in the last decade, 91 people in have died following exposure to diseased birds or poultry by-products.

Humans have no natural immunity to the disease, nor is there a vaccine against it.

The bird flu is also contributing to world poverty. To curtail spread of the disease, many regional health boards have ordered the destruction of poultry farms in affected areas. More than 200 million birds in 32 countries have died from either the virus or preventive culling. Government bans on poultry exports have closed poultry production industries in many countries. Poultry farmers and their employees have had their livelihoods destroyed.

Without money to purchase alternative sources of protein, people living in affected areas also face malnutrition. 

World Vision is There
World Vision is working to prevent bird flu outbreaks in areas threatened by or afflicted with avian influenza.

• World Vision staff members in Georgia, which lies between Russia and Turkey, regularly holds public education seminars on bird flu prevention for community and youth centre workers.
• World Vision's Avian Flu Task Force in Africa has created and distributed brochures on bird flu and disease prevention.
• A National Emergency Preparedness Response Fund, established by World Vision in Chad, ensures regular screenings of both poultry and humans for avian influenza, as well as continued education about the disease.
• In Romania, specialized teams of World Vision staff members disinfect poultry farms after the livestock have been culled.