Since 2003, a devastating epidemic of avian influenza caused by the highly pathogenic H5N1 virus has predominately affected poultry flocks in many countries in Asia, the Middle East, Europe and Africa. Over a hundred people that mainly had direct contact with infected birds have died; most cases have occurred in previously healthy children and young adults.

Over 250 million chickens had to be killed to stop the spread of the virus or they have died of the disease. Farmers and poultry producers have suffered losses amounting to billions of dollars.

So far, avian influenza is an animal disease that has not yet resulted in a sustained human-to-human transmission. Nonetheless, because all influenza viruses have the ability to change, scientists are concerned the virus could be able to infect people and spread easily from one person to another. The widespread circulation of avian influenza virus in animals increases this risk. The international community urgently needs to prepare itself for such a crisis.

Different UN agencies are currently leading the battle against the H5N1 virus.

The Rome-based Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), a specialized UN agency, has been actively working with Governments to improve the control of avian influenza, ensuring that the virus is eliminated where it is detected. This reduces the economic losses among poultry and - by limiting the amounts or circulating H5N1 virus - also reduces the likelihood of virus mutation that could trigger a human to human transmission. FAO has worked closely with the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) in Paris.

The World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva, the UN specialized agency on human health, has been working with governments as they investigate human cases of H5N1 infection, check for human to human transmission, and prepare to detect, and then respond to, the start of an influenza pandemic. Other parts of the UN system, led by the resident coordinators at the country level, have been supporting this effort.

The office of the UN System Influenza Coordination (UNSIC) has been created within the UN Development Group to help ensure that the UN system responds to national, regional and global challenges in relation to influenza. The primary purpose of this office is to ensure cooperation and coordination within the UN system in support of different initiatives underway to address the avian flu epidemic and the threat of a human pandemic.