Just when you let out a sigh of relief that the turkey leftovers were finally finished, it’s time to worry about birds again. Recent reports suggest that avian influenza might be making a bit of a comeback. Two weeks ago, Hong Kong officials reported the first human case there since 2003. And today, Japanese officials confirmed an outbreak of highly-virulent H5N1 in chickens on a rural poultry farm, the first occurrence of this viral strain in that country in three years.

While the H1N1 swine flu dominated headlines, it’s worth noting that the deadly H5N1 virus never really went away. While it’s true that incidences of bird flu have waned since 2006, when 115 laboratory-confirmed cases and 79 deaths were reported worldwide, so far this year, 20 people have died from the virus, according to statistics compiled by the World Health Organization (WHO).

In case H5N1 starts spreading again more broadly, it’s worth looking back to see what lessons could be learned from the last outbreak.

For one, now might be the time to start stockpiling vaccines. Fortunately, the US Food and Drug Administration approved a bird flu jab a few years ago, which puts the world in a better position than last time around when researchers were clamoring to develop one. As we reported in 2003, after the first human death from H5N1, public health officials cried foul — no pun intended — that even though a similar virus had killed people in 1997 the world still lacked a vaccine.

Since that time, Asian countries have ramped up surveillance efforts to catch potential outbreaks early, but they could probably afford to keep doing more. As our 2005 report shows, balancing the needs of tourism and commerce with the need to be diligent and transparent in reporting potential cases can be a delicate juggling act that has, in the past, landed governments in direct opposition to WHO officials.

Most importantly, whatever public health officials do now, let’s make sure to keep laboratory strains of the H5N1 virus under wraps, and not, as happened last year, accidentally contaminate samples and possibly help fuel an epidemic.

But maybe all this worry and panic is overblown. Looking back, we can see now — and as we reported then — that scientific studies detailing mutations in the virus may have fueled unwarranted concern in early 2006. Whatever happens in the coming weeks, we’ll be thinking about other birds beyond the partridge in the pear tree.

Image by Joe Gatling via Flickr Creative Commons