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Antiviral
A medication that may be used to treat people who have been infected by a virus to help limit the impact of some symptoms and reduce the potential for serious complications. People who are in high risk groups are often given antiviral drugs because of their increased potential to develop additional health issues.
Avian Flu
A highly contagious viral disease with up to 100% mortality in domestic fowl caused by influenza A virus subtypes H5 and H7. All types of birds are susceptible to the virus but outbreaks occur most often in chickens and turkeys. The infection may be carried by migratory wild birds, which can carry the virus but show no signs of disease. Humans are only rarely affected.
ACCD
UW Advisory Committee for Communicable Disease
CDC
United States Center for Disease Control and Prevention
Isolation
The physical separation of a person suffering from an infectious or contagious disease from others in a community.
H5N1
A variant of an influenza viruses that occur naturally among wild birds. Low pathogenic AI is common in birds and causes few problems. H5N1 is highly pathogenic, deadly to domestic fowl, and can be transmitted from birds to humans. There is no human immunity and no vaccine is available. It was first identified in Italy in the early 1900s and is now known to exist worldwide.
PHSKC
Public Health Seattle/King County
Quarantine
The physical separation of healthy people who have been exposed to an infectious disease-for a period of time-from those who have not been exposed.
Pandemic Flu
Pandemic flu is virulent human flu that 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.
Seasonal Flu
A respiratory illness that can be transmitted person to person. Most people have some immunity, and a vaccine is available. This is also known as the common flu or winter flu.
Social Distancing
A disease prevention strategy in which a community imposes limits on social (face-to-face) interaction to reduce exposure to and transmission of a disease. These limitations could include, but are not limited to, school and work closures, cancellation of public gatherings and closure or limited mass transportation.
Pandemic
The worldwide outbreak of a disease in humans in numbers clearly in excess of normal.
Panzootic
The worldwide outbreak of a disease in animals in numbers clearly in excess of normal.
Vaccine
An injection, usually of an innocuous (weak or killed) form of the virus, that stimulates the production of antibodies by the immune system to help prevent or create resistance to an infection. Vaccines are usually given as a preventive measure.
WHO
World Health Organization
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