Written and Edited by Aubrey Noelle Stimola, American Council on Science and Health, April 2006

Avian flu is any flu caused by a virus adapted to birds. It is also called bird flu, avian influenza and bird influenza. The only known such viruses are Influenzavirus A. All subtypes (but not all strains of all subtypes) of this species are adapted to birds, so for many purposes avian flu virus is the Influenza A virus (the "A" does not stand for "avian").

As of 2006, "avian flu" is being commonly used to refer to the H5N1 subtype of Influenza A virus, the world's major flu pandemic threat.

Since 2004 some 228 humans have been infected with bird flu in 10 countries, with about 130 fatalities, mostly in Asia, according to the World Health Organization.

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