Serious question folks.

Is this a press panic?

According to th BBC this morning, there have been a total of 60 human deaths in 2 years in the Asian regions where bird flu is present. A colleague tells me that 120 people have actually caught it, so it's a high risk if you get it.
But how does that compare with the number of deaths in the UK (or Europe as a whole) each year from common or garden flu?

(Sorry that's 2 questions)