Are travelers at risk for the bird flu? What are the symptoms
associated with this illness? ABCNEWS.com asked Dr. William
Schaffner to answer questions about the risks the disease poses
to the U.S. population. Schaffner is an infectious disease
specialist and the chairman of the Department of Preventive
Medicine at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn. Question:
What is bird flu? Answer: Influenza comes in a variety of forms
and this is a type of influenza that is for all intents and
purposes confined to birds. This virus is found principally in
Southeast Asia but it has also infected flocks of migratory
water fowl, and their migration patterns extend into Eastern
Europe. That's important because it opens up the possibility
that this virus could be transported by migratory water fowl and
get into the poultry populations of Eastern Europe. Although
bird-related influenza has been known for years, a single strain
that could spread geographically so extensively is a new
phenomenon. Question: How is it contra