> **Public Concerns About Avian Influenza (AI)**
>
> **Summary of Responses to AI Questions Proposed**

**Overview:** Data collected from 68 health volunteers attending a
monthly meeting of health volunteers of "Tambon" Sa Kaeo on December 6,
2005, in the Sa Kaeo municipal conference room. Participants were asked
about their own concerns about AI and the concerns of the community.

**General information**

-   What are signs and symptoms of AI?

-   How does AI occur?

-   Is it serious?

-   Can AI really occur on chicken farms?

-   Can people who work around poultry or poultry feces get AI? Are they
    at risk?

-   Other than chickens, what kinds of animals can be infected with AI?

-   How likely is it that a pandemic will occur?

-   Is the government going to impose any restrictions on raising
    chicken or poultry?

**Transmission**

-   How is AI transmitted?

-   How is AI transmitted from animals to humans?

-   How is AI transmitted from humans to humans?

-   Can AI be transmitted to humans from a large number of birds that
    live underneath the house's roof?

-   Can you get AI if bird feces gets into the water supply?

-   Is there any way to prevent migratory birds from transmitting AI (to
    humans)?

**Treatment and vaccine**

-   Is there a vaccine for AI?

-   Can AI be treated efficiently (is there any good treatment for AI)?

-   What is the proper care and treatment for AI?

-   How expensive is AI treatment?

**Prevention and control**

-   How can AI be prevented?

-   How do I protect my family?

-   How can AI be controlled?

-   To what extent can AI be controlled now?

-   How do you protect humans and animals from getting AI?

-   How to get rid of AI completely (eradication)?

-   Is there any money to pay them (health volunteers) to survey animals
    for AI surveillance?

-   Is it safe to eat chicken or other poultry and eggs (now)?

**Safety in the community**

-   Is one's local community at risk? (in the near future?)

-   Can chicken-fighting sport take place again now?

-   Is it safe to have direct contact with poultry now?

-   Is there any chicken dropping dead in the community now?

-   Can AI occur in the large birds ("Nok Pak Hang") that are commonly
    found in the fields close to their home or community?

**Pandemic influenza concerns**

Most health volunteers were concerned about the potential for pandemic
influenza because:

-   it was very likely to occur

-   there are many chickens in the village

-   there is no effective prevention for AI

-   those who get AI die so quickly

-   AI has a high death rate in humans

-   the AI virus could mutate and be transmissible from human to human

Very few were not concerned about the potential for pandemic influenza
because:

-   the province has a good plan to prevent AI

-   there are good physicians and good treatment

-   every country could prevent it now.

**Questions:**

A.) Ask health volunteers the 4 following questions (to get health
volunteers' opinions about AI).

> 1\) When you think about Bird Flu, what concerns you the most?
>
> 2\) What kind of information do you want to know about bird flu?
>
> 3\) Where would you like to get this information from? \[what sources
> do you trust the most)?
>
> 4\) Are you at all concerned about the potential for pandemic
> influenza?

B.) Ask health volunteers the 3 following questions that the villagers
might commonly ask them (to get the villagers' opinions about AI).

> 1\) What do you think your community \[village members\] are most
> concerned about regarding AI?
>
> 2\) What are the top questions that they frequently ask you about?
>
> 3\) Besides receiving information from you \[the health volunteers\]
> where else do they get good information about AI?