By Marilyn J. Bardsley

Sometimes it seems like we are continually besieged with threats — hurricanes, terrorism, West Nile Virus, and so forth. The steady barrage over the years has made many of us skeptical that any of these threats will ever intrude on our lives. It is because of this threat "overload" that public health officials have been very cautious about sounding the alert about an influenza pandemic.

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But this situation is changing and federal, state and local governments are all gearing up for a scenario that could make Katrina look like a minor disruption. The goal is to educate businesses, communities and individuals about what they need to do to prepare for a pandemic —without causing panic.

Not everyone realizes this, but pandemics are naturally occurring phenomena. There have been three pandemics in the past century: one very severe in 1918-1919, causing an estimated 50 million plus deaths worldwide, and two comparatively "moderate" pandemics in 1957-1958 and 1968-1969, causing respectively an estimated 1-2 million deaths and 700,000 deaths worldwide.

By now, most everybody has heard something about "bird flu," but many people don't understand how that dffers from the flu we get vaccinated for every year and what a disease of birds has to do with a pandemic. So let's clear up any confusion about what is meant by "bird flu," seasonal flu and pandemic flu.

Avian (bird) flu is caused by influenza viruses that occur naturally among birds. Wild birds worldwide carry avian influenza viruses in their intestines, but usually do not get sick from them. Avian influenza is very contagious among birds and can make some domesticated birds, including chickens, ducks, and turkeys, very sick and kill them. There are a number of subtypes that currently exist in bird populations. The subtype that is causing the death of millions of birds worldwide, by disease and by culling, is H5N1, a very virulent and highly contagious strain of influenza among wild and domestic birds.

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