The risk of Avian Influenza (Bird Flu or N5N1) which is a highly contagious viral disease, is being overestimated in the metropolis especially by the media. People close to the birds and pigs usually are infected with the avian influenza due to the highly concentrated poultry and pig farming in the non-Muslim countries. Avian influenza cannot be declared as pandemic on behalf of only 206 deaths world wide in duration of more than 12 years. According to the experts, the bird flu, affecting several species of food producing birds (chickens, turkeys, quails, guinea fowl, etc.) as well as pet birds and wild birds, is not directly connected with humans. The virus of such disease transmits into humans through an intermediate host of a pig. Talking to The Nation on Thursday, Dr Akram of Micro Laboratories said that countries of the Far East were highly affected with the disease because their people lived close to the birds and pigs. Akram, having a PhD degree in Microbiology and spent 32 years in the field of poultry, further said that the avian influenza virus could be transmitted to humans in two ways: First, directly from infected birds (usually poultry) or virus-contaminated environments (equipment, feed, clothes, etc.) and secondly through an intermediate host such as a pig. Giving references of various reports published by international organisations, he said recently, the Avian Flu Virus has been found in pigs in Asia. The pigs, which showed no symptoms of disease, tested positive for H5N1 in nasal swabs. The WHO says that the presence of the virus in nasal cavities means the pigs may simply be contaminated but not infected. In any case, this has caused great concern in the health organisations around the world. With this recent evidence, pigs can potentially serve as a host for avian and human influenza viruses. This may allow these different flu viruses to interact together to produce a strain of Flu virus that is easily transmittable between humans. If the flu strain is pathogenic, it could lead to a world wide pandemic, he added. As per Word Health Organisation (WHO), considering the widespread nature of the current H5N1 outbreak in Asia and the capability of influenza viruses to jump the species barriers, it is inevitable that H5N1 virus will be detected in some pigs. Pigs can be infected with both avian and human influenza. Viruses, for instance, human influenza H3N2 viruses have been detected in pigs in Asia, Europe and Africa. Some of these human and avian influenza viruses might become adapted to pigs and then begin circulating in pig populations. The co-circulation of avian, human, and pig viruses in pigs is of significant concern because of the potential for a genetic exchange, or "re-assortment,' of material between these viruses. Such an occurrence has the potential to produce a new, pandemic influenza strain. Dr Akram said, "If the fatality of the disease affects humans, the Muslims will be the last as pigs are the main source of the disease transitions.' According to views of some animal health organisations, "the avian flu virus can also be harboured in pigs.'Although pigs do not show any signs of avian flu disease, it can secrete the virus in the spray from its airways. People in close proximity, for example during feeding, can then inhale the spray and become infected (just as human flu is passed on in the aerosols from sneezing). It is considered that some individuals, who have caught the avian flu in Hong Kong, Thailand and Vietnam, did so through this scenario, as they purportedly working in close contact with pigs. To date, human-to-human transmission of avian flu has not occurred, Dr Akram concluded.