The very possibility of a pandemic should instill concern into people's lives. This caution should not only bring about awareness, but should influence people to take action and attempt to prevent what could be avoided. The Avian Influenza, which was once seen as a minor threat to humans, is now being considered a very likely threat to human life on a large scale. The threat of an Avian Flu Pandemic is all too real, and as with any relevant probability of disaster, the outcome must be foreseen in order to accurately curtail the initial spread. This is the sole purpose for the creation of our project. We desire for people to become aware of what the Avian Flu is and how it will affect them if a pandemic was to occur in the near future. Although only a few hundred cases of human infection have occurred in recent years the adaptation of virus strains (predominantly the H5N1 strain of Influenza A virus) and the possibility of an antigenic shift pose a significant threat. If people were to see a definite proposed outcome of an Avian Flu Pandemic then our project as well as our purpose would be a success.
         This project endeavors to realistically and accurately model, an influenza epidemic within specified bounds or parameters that reflect real-world situations. Additionally, after much research and discussion, a collaborative effort was made by the team to determine realistic parameters to develop the model into one that examines the consequences of an outbreak of Avian Influenza specifically. This model assumes that the virus has experienced an antigenic shift, allowing it to spread by human -to-human contact. Although many critics consider this assumption to be too broad to accurately model an Avian Influenza epidemic, the team felt this was generalization that was necessary to make an attempt to build a model. This model will provide people who work with epidemiological issues with the means to predict the effect of an outbreak. This information is much sought after and extremely important to both professional epidemiologists and the general public. Although the prevention of such an outbreak is the most desirable outcome, the ability to model the effects of it would be a very important aspect of controlling a disastrous situation. This project will allow multiple simulations to be done in a relatively short amount of time. It will help researchers find the best methods of containing the epidemic by letting researchers change the parameters according to their containment methods. Epidemiologists can experiment with different potential solutions through the use of a program such as this one. After running the simulation multiple times, they can evaluate the effect of their ideas by comparing the new results to the previous predicted outcomes. In this way they will be able to determine the most effective methods of limiting the range and effect of the illness.

         Of the team members that have done a project of this magnitude in the previous years. One of them had actually done a project very similar to the one now being created. The previous results for the last project were that the team never completed any of the projects due to the time elapse. What the previous did achieve was a creation for the abstract and the interim of the project but without out finding prior research and a working coded program for this simulation.