Hype About Bird Flu: Bird flu, also called avian influenza, or avian flu, is caused by many subtypes of the Influenza A virus. In the last three years, the H5N1 subtype of the Influenza A virus has proved to be deadly. It has killed not only millions of birds, but humans as well, killing more than half of the more than two hundred people that have been reported to have come down with it. Most of the Human Cases of Bird Flu have been reported in Vietnam and Indonesia, but a burst of new cases in Egypt in early 2007 and new cases in other countries indicate that bird flu is far from over.
Pandemics and Bird Flu Go Hand in Hand: The three pandemics of the 20th century were all caused by avian flu viruses that managed to turn into deadly, highly transmissible diseases in humans. At this time, the H5N1 subtype lacks one trait that would catapult it into pandemic fame, efficient transmission from human to human.
H5N1 Bird Flu is Currently Not Highly Contagious, Except Among Birds: Bird flu caused by the H5N1 subtype is not yet efficiently transmitted from person to person and therefore the World Health Organization has not declared a pandemic. Bird Flu Transmission Among Birds is highly efficient and poultry farmers and people with small backyard flocks of poultry should know how to recognize bird flu symptoms in their animals. Bird to human transmission is the most common way humans become infected with bird flu.
Bird Flu Symptoms in Humans: Bird flu is a type of influenza, so the symptoms of bird flu are like the flu. One major difference is that H5N1 bird flu seems to strike younger, healthier individuals more than older, frail people, typical targets of the seasonal flu.
Symptoms are:
- Fever
- Cough
- Shortness of breath
- Sore throat
- Muscle aches
- Diarrhea and abdominal pain (has occurred in some very young patients)
- Nausea and vomiting (in some patients)
- Bleeding of nose and gums (reported in some patients)
- Conjunctivitis is a common symptom of other types of bird flu, but is not usually a symptom in bird flu caused by the H5N1 virus.
Prevention and Control of Bird Flu: Avoiding the Top 10 Bird Flu High Risk Activities is a good step to preventing bird flu. Bird Flu Masks need only be worn by People at Risk of Getting Bird Flu. The best prevention we have access to now is Proper Hand Washing.
What H and N mean and Two General Classifications of Bird Flu Viruses: There are two types of bird flus differentiated by their severity. Bird flus that cause only mild disease are called Low Pathogenic Avian Influenza, LPAI, and ones that cause severe disease and death are called High Pathogenic Avian Influenza, HPAI.
In Influenza A nomenclature, the letter `H` stands for hemagglutinin (HA) and the N for neuraminidase, two surface glycoproteins that are antigens that set off the immune system.
Bird Flu is Common Among Birds, Some Birds May Be Carriers: Bird flu is as common among birds as seasonal flus among humans. Birds get sick, some die, many live and life goes on. But highly pathogenic H5N1 tends to kill most birds who get it, except, some studies are finding, some species of water birds, especially ducks. Ducks and other water fowl, then may be carriers of a deadly disease to other birds, and mammals, including humans.
Vaccines Against Pandemic Flu: Pandemic Flu Vaccine Production is being researched. Unless universal flu vaccines can be developed, vaccines targeting a specific pandemic flu virus would have to be developed after a pandemic flu virus is identified, and by that time, a pandemic would be ongoing.
In April 2007, an H5N1 vaccine made by Sanofi Aventis was approved by the FDA, but will only be distributed in the case of a pandemic. The vaccine unlikely to be very effective for the reasons already stated above.
Human to Human Transmission of Bird Flu: In May, 2006, the first human to human cases were reported by the World Health Organization. In the same month, there was evidence that the virus had made a double jump, from the person in an Indonesian village who had contracted it from an ill individual, who had gotten it from direct contact with birds or bird parts, to another individual.
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