Monday, February 18th, 2008
Bird Flu: A Few Facts
What is bird flu? What do you need to know about it? How does it affect you? Accurate and detailed information is available freely from medical professionals and on the Internet. As a brief introduction, below are some basic facts about bird flu.
1. What is bird flu?
Avian influenza, or bird flu, is a contagious disease that affects chickens, ducks, turkeys, and other birds. Bird flu was first detected over 100 years ago and nowadays comes in a variety of about 20 strains. Most recently, outbreaks of the viral disease have been caused by the H5N1 strain, which is a particularly deadly strain of the virus.
2. Can I be infected with bird flu?
The H5N1 strain of the flu, also called the Asian bird flu because it recently was detected in Asia, has a small risk level for human beings because it cannot be transmitted from one human being to another. A human being can only be infected from direct contact with a sick animal. It is possible that this could change and that the strain could evolve into a virus that can be transferred from one human to another. But this is not the case now.
3. Is there a treatment for bird flu?
Professionals currently researching the Avian bird flu claim that rimantidine and amantidine, two cheap and popular flu drugs, have no power over the bird flu, but Relenza and Tamiflu, two other flu drugs, can indeed effectively treat the viral disease.
4. Is there a risk of a bird flu epidemic?
Experts in this area suggest that rapid and extensive culling and quarantining of potentially infected animals is the best way to prevent an epidemic. Another option is vaccination of birds against the bird flu virus.
Bird Flu Causes Symptoms Information With Treatment
Although their symptoms are similar, SARS is caused by completely different viruses. Influenza viruses also are more contagious and cannot be as readily contained as SARS by isolating people who have the infection. Scientists fear the bird flu virus could evolve into a form that is easily spread between people, resulting in an extremely contagious and lethal disease.
The two viruses could recombine inside the victim’s body, producing a hybrid that could readily spread from person to person. The grimmest scenario would be a global outbreak to rival the flu pandemic of 1918 and 1919, which claimed millions of lives worldwide. For now, researchers are trying to develop a vaccine that would protect people in the event of a bird flu pandemic.
Causes of Bird Flu
The common Causes of Bird Flu :
Bird flu (or Avian flu) is currently being used to describe the influenza virus, H5N1, which is producing a highly contagious and rapidly fatal disease, leading to severe epidemics in birds.
Bird flu is caused by different subtypes of influenza A virus affecting chickens, ducks and other birds Viruses which cause mild disease can mutate into viruses that can cause serious disease (highly pathogenic).
Symptoms of Bird Flu
Some Symptoms of Bird Flu :
Cough
Fever
Sore throat
Muscle aches
conjunctivitis
Treatment of Bird Flu
Antiviral medications used to treat human flu viruses help to reduce the symptoms of bird flu, but it’s not yet clear whether these work for the current type of bird flu.
Oseltamivir (brand name Tamiflu) and zanamivir (brand name Relenza) antiviral medications used to treat regular flu may be helpful in the treatment of bird flu.
However, their effectiveness against the H5N1 subtype of the virus is uncertain, and there are also concerns about the availability and cost of these medications.
Always follow your doctor’s advice