Talk:avian influenza

Intuitively, this should get its own entry. For one thing, I would like to define "bird flu" as a synonym for it. Further, I'm not sure the definition I give is correct, or will remain correct. If a strain makes the jump from birds to humans (or another species), is it still avian? That is, does the avian part mean "from birds (whatever its prevalence elsewhere)" or "confined (mainly) to birds"? For an answer, we can try to determine whether the recently reconstructed 1918 Spanish flu virus is considered avian. It's generally agreed to have originated in birds. I suspect we'll get a bit of disagreement on that point. To me, this is further evidence of idiomaticity. -dmh 20:29, 14 October 2005 (UTC)