Q: How many people have been affected?
The World Health Organization said that, since December 2003, there had been 115 confirmed cases of avian flu and 59 deaths in Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand and Indonesia.
Avian flu does have a high fatality rate. In comparison, Sars has killed around 800 people worldwide and infected at least 8,400 since it first emerged in November 2002.
Q: Can avian flu be passed from person to person?
There are indications that it can, although so far not in the feared mutated form which could fuel a pandemic.
A case in Thailand indicated the probable transmission of the virus from a girl who had the disease to her mother, who also died.
The girl's aunt, who was also infected, survived the virus.
UK virology expert Professor John Oxford said these cases indicated the basic virus could be passed between humans, and predicted similar small clusters of cases would be seen again.
It is not the only instance where it has been thought bird flu has been passed between humans.
In 2004, two sisters died in Vietnam after possibly contracting bird flu from their brother who had died from an unidentified respiratory illness.
In a similar case in Hong Kong in 1997, a doctor possibly caught the disease from a patient with the H5N1 virus - but it was never conclusively proved.
Q: Does this mean there is likely to be a large outbreak of bird flu?
Experts are concerned that this could happen. But in the Thai case, the virus was only been passed to close relatives and spread no further.
In addition, it had not combined with a form of human flu.
This is the real fear. Experts believe that the virus could exchange genes with a human flu virus if a person was simultaneously infected with both.
The more this double infection happens, the higher the chance a new virus could be created and be passed from person to person, they say.
Q: What would be the consequence if this did happen?
Once the virus gained the ability to pass easily between humans the results could be catastrophic.
Worldwide experts predict anything between 2m and 50m deaths.
Thanks! I thought I was well grounded in my claim.
Your belief is not proof.