Flu Terms Defined

Seasonal Influenza: (often called "The Flu") A contagious respiratory illness caused by an influenza virus.  The Flu kills about 36,000 people in the United States annually.  Seasonal Flu occurs every year and can cause mild to severe illness in people.  The best protection against seasonal flu is vaccination and hand washing.  Flu shots are available every year for faculty, staff and students through the UNCW flu shot campaign.

Avian (Bird) Flu: Avain Influenza occurs naturally among birds.  This virus does not usually infect humans.  However, in 1997, a lethal strain of bird flu known as H5N1 infected humans in Hong Kong who had close contact with poultry.  H5N1 resurfaced in Hong Kong in 2003.  Since then, cases of human infection with the bird flu virus have been reported in several countries including Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Iraq, Thailand, Turkey, and Vietnam.  So far, there have been very few cases of human-to-human transmission of the disease.  Thus, the World Health Organization has kept the Pademic Flu Alert Level at Phase 3: No or very limited human-to-human transmission. 

Pandemic Flu: A pandemic flu occurs when a virulent human flu causes a global outbreak, or pandemic, of serious illness.  Because there is little natural immunity, the disease can spread easily from person to person.  Currently, there is no pandemic flu in the world. 

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