Bird flu can cause a range of symptoms in humans. Some patients report fever, cough, sore throat and muscle aches. Others suffer from eye infections, pneumonia, acute respiratory distress and other severe and life-threatening complications.
Bird flu is nothing to be sniffed, at least that's what scaremongers in the media have been telling us for weeks now. With conflicting opinions about the risk to human health, scare stories about emerging viral infections, and a solitary dead parrot, what are we to think?
Can bird flu viruses infect humans?
They can, but only very rarely. Moreover, those people infected with bird flu so far live in very deprived conditions in close daily contact with birds and their excretions.
What is bird flu?
Bird flu, or avian influenza to give it is proper name, is caused by various influenza A viruses and occurs naturally the world over infecting wild birds without noticeable symptoms. The virus is highly contagious among birds and can be passed on to other bird species, including some domesticated birds, such as chickens, ducks, and turkeys, where it can cause flu symptoms.
What is bird flu type H5N1?
The name H5N1 refers to the type of proteins found in the protein coat of the influenza virus - haemagglutinin 5(H5) and neuraminidase 1 (N1). There are dozens of different proteins that can be present, so that flu viruses called H1N1, H1N2, and H3N2 etc are also known.
Should I be worried about the H5N1 infections reported in Asia and Europe?
So far H5N1 has spread only rarely from infected birds to individuals and even more rarely from one person to another and not then on to a third person. Some scientists are concerned that H5N1 might mutate to form a new virus that could infect people. However, such mutations usually lead to less virulent forms of a virus. After all, H5N1 causes few if any symptoms in wild birds, and if it were to spread to humans, the virus itself would quickly die out if it were commonly fatal.
Is there a vaccine for the mutant form of H5N1?
No. A form of H5N1 that can infect people does not exist. There can be no vaccine for a disease that does not exist. There are several antiviral drugs around that interfere with viral enzymes and stop them replicating.
Will there be a flu pandemic?
At the moment, scientists have no answer to this question. However, as always, the media has been quick to latch on to the latest doom and gloom stories. More worrying though is an increasing trend among people who favour "alternative" medicine or those misinformed by a scaremongering media to avoid vaccinations against real threats such as mumps, measles, rubella, and human flu because of concerns about rare or non-existent side-effects. The falling numbers of people protected against these potentially fatal diseases could lead to epidemics that, rather than being a flight of fancy, will pose a real threat to human health..
What is bird flu?
"Avian" refers to birds and "flu" is the common name for influenza. Avian flu is influenza that infects birds, including wild birds such as ducks and domestic birds such as chickens. Avian flu is caused by of influenza virus type A. There are 15 subtypes of influenza A, two of which affect birds. These are called the H5 and the H7 subtypes.1
These viruses are known as "highly pathogenic (disease-causing) avian influenza" (HPAI). They produce a severe disease in birds and are rapidly fatal, leading to bird flu epidemics.
One such bird flu virus (the H5N1 subtype) is currently infecting chickens in Asian countries and has recently been found in Romania and Turkey.
How is bird flu virus passed from birds to people?
When a bird is infected with bird flu, it sheds the flu virus in its faeces, saliva and mucus. Other birds become infected by eating or inhaling the virus.
The virus can infect people who are in close contact with infected birds - for example by people inhaling dried faeces that have become trampled into dust or stuck to the feathers or other parts of the body of the infected bird.1
People cannot catch bird flu from eating cooked chickens.
What are the symptoms of human flu?
Human flu symptoms are:
- fever
- cough
- sore throat
- muscle aches
- conjunctivitis
Cases of bird flu are more likely to cause breathing problems and pneumonia, and can be fatal.
Is there a vaccine to stop people getting bird flu?
There is currently no vaccine to prevent bird flu in humans. Currently available vaccines are not effective against the H5N1 strain of the virus. Scientists are working on developing a vaccine, but it is difficult because the virus frequently changes.
What can be done to contain the spread of bird flu?
In the countries that have been affected by bird flu, governments are attempting to contain the virus by culling affected poultry stocks. By removing the potential for the virus to spread through the countries' chicken populations, it is hoped that the virus will be contained and removed from circulation.
What is avian influenza (bird flu)?
Bird flu is an infection caused by avian (bird) influenza (flu) viruses. These flu viruses occur naturally among birds. Wild birds worldwide carry the viruses in their intestines, but usually do not get sick from them. However, bird flu is very contagious among birds and can make some domesticated birds, including chickens, ducks, and turkeys, very sick and kill them.
How are bird flu viruses different from human flu viruses?
There are many different subtypes of type A influenza viruses. These subtypes differ because of certain proteins on the surface of the influenza A virus (hemagglutinin [HA] and neuraminidase [NA] proteins). There are 16 different HA subtypes and 9 different NA subtypes of flu A viruses. Many different combinations of HA and NA proteins are possible. Each combination is a different subtype. All known subtypes of flu A viruses can be found in birds. However, when we talk about “bird flu” viruses, we are referring to influenza A subtypes chiefly found in birds. They do not usually infect humans, even though we know they can. When we talk about “human flu viruses” we are referring to those subtypes that occur widely in humans. There are only three known A subtypes of human flu viruses (H1N1, H1N2, and H3N2); it is likely that some genetic parts of current human influenza A viruses came from birds originally. Influenza A viruses are constantly changing, and they might adapt over time to infect and spread among humans.
What are the symptoms of bird flu in humans?
Symptoms of bird flu in humans have ranged from typical flu-like symptoms (fever, cough, sore throat and muscle aches) to eye infections, pneumonia, severe respiratory diseases (such as acute respiratory distress), and other severe and life-threatening complications. The symptoms of bird flu may depend on which virus caused the infection.
What is an avian influenza A (H5N1) virus?
Influenza A (H5N1) virus – also called “H5N1 virus” – is an influenza A virus subtype that occurs mainly in birds. Like all bird flu viruses, H5N1 virus circulates among birds worldwide, is very contagious among birds, and can be deadly.
How is infection with H5N1 virus in humans treated?
The H5N1 virus currently infecting birds in Asia that has caused human illness and death is resistant to amantadine and rimantadine, two antiviral medications commonly used for influenza. Two other antiviral medications, oseltamavir and zanamavir, would probably work to treat flu caused by the H5N1 virus, but additional studies still need to be done to prove their effectiveness.
What does CDC recommend regarding the H5N1 bird flu outbreak?
In February 2004, CDC provided U.S. health departments with recommendations for enhanced surveillance (“detection”) in the U.S. of avian influenza A (H5N1). Follow-up messages, distributed via the Health Alert Network, were sent to the health departments on August 12, 2004 , and February 4, 2005 ; both alerts reminded health departments about how to detect (domestic surveillance), diagnose, and prevent the spread of avian influenza A (H5N1). The alerts also recommended measures for laboratory testing for H5N1 virus. Working together with WHO and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) on safety testing of vaccine seed candidates and to develop additional vaccine virus seed candidates for influenza A (H5N1) and other subtypes of influenza A virus. Avian influenza, also known as bird flu, is a type A influenza virus. It is
lethal to poultry and is potentially fatal in humans. Bird flu spreads between
both wild and domesticated birds. It has also been passed from birds to humans
who are in close contact with poultry or other birds. The strain of bird flu presently affecting Asia is the H5N1 strain. This strain
has killed at least 65 people in Indonesia, Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand since
2003. If the H5N1 bird flu virus were to mix with a human influenza virus, such a
'combined' virus could create a new human influenza virus that could spread
rapidly.
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