described the virus as being potentially highly pathogenic

Since the arrival of swine flu many people seem to have forgotten about the far more deadly H5N1 bird flu virus which is still a constant worry for health authorities in America and Europe.

Only recently the Dutch government was required to issue instructions to destroy nearly 9,000 chickens at a farm in the Netherlands after a few of the birds tested positive for an H7 variant of the bird flu. Such is the fear of the bird flu virus that 60 individual farms in the surrounding area of Kootwijkerbroek were placed under surveillance and testing was done.

A government spokesman described the virus as being potentially highly pathogenic and said that there was the possibility that more animals would have to be culled.

The authorities also banned any transport of poultry, eggs and anything associated with their production in the area and said that birds should be kept indoors.

The H7 variant of the bird flu virus is often fatal with birds and can even be fatal with humans too. In 2003 the government of the Netherlands culled 30 million birds to stop the spread of the virus and have already culled well over 100,000 birds this year.

Farm workers are often given antiviral drugs like Tamiflu or Relenza to protect themselves from the symptoms of a potential influenza infection. They are also advised to wash their hands regularly, stay away from other family individuals as much as possible and to take common sense precautions to stop the proliferation of the virus.

The bird flu virus has destroyed the livelihood of thousands of families in Europe, but it has yet to directly kill anybody except in third world countries. To contract bird flu it is necessary to be in very close contact with poultry and there's no evidence that it is contagious from human to human, but some scientists speculate that it is only a question of time before the H5N1 virus changes into a more contagious version.