The World Health Organisation (WHO) has issued a handbook containing information on avian flu which can be downloaded from the WHO website in PDF format.

The organisation describes the document as follows: "It's an introduction to everything you need to know about influenza, including about avian influenza and the potential for a pandemic."

It is a tool designed to help ensure factual reporting on the issue: "For journalists already familiar with avian and pandemic influenza, the handbook is an indispensable fact-checking reference. For those new to the issues, it's a pandemic primer to help put reporting in context, and a source for essential facts and figures."

As the situation changes updates will be posted on the WHO website.

Source: WHO (through the EJC newsletter)