It is well known that bird flu or avian flu was discovered in Italy more than a century ago. To date, there have been several strains of avian influenza. Many of these strains have become lethal, particularly the H5 and H7 strains. According to reports, the deadliest H5N1 strain to date has caused only 70 deaths in Asia in the past two years. Many scientists believe that bird flu is likely to become the fourth most epidemic in the world without proper action.
The flu has affected the lives of many people, especially in the 20th century. The Spanish flu of 1918, the Asian flu of 1957 and the flu of Hong Kong in 1968 caused at least 20 million deaths worldwide.
Avian influenza can spread rapidly because avian influenza viruses are usually found in the gut of migratory birds that migrate long distances. Avian flu can spread when other birds, chickens or geese are in contact with the saliva, nasal secretions or faeces of infected birds. Birds become ill and die within 48 hours of infection. Humans who do not have proper protective equipment to interact with infected birds are also at risk.
Scientists believe that there are four reasons why avian flu may become a pandemic.
1. Many countries, especially third world countries, do not have adequate facilities to take care of the bird flu problem. Without these facilities, the bird flu virus is likely to spread.
No vaccine has been fully developed and tested to combat avian influenza viruses. The use of amantadine and rimantadine, two drugs for the treatment of influenza, is not successful for people infected with the virus. Even if research is underway, humans still have no cure for avian flu. If a pandemic occurs, it will take at least four months to produce a vaccine attributable to people with this disease.
3. Avian influenza viruses affect birds and pigs. However, because viruses have different strains and are prone to variability, scientists worry that the virus will evolve into something worse and directly affect humans. Viruses can spread through the air and spread from one person to another.
4. Many people working on farms and in poultry and animal husbandry do not have adequate equipment and adequate protective measures.
People who may be infected with bird flu may have symptoms similar to human flu. People with bird flu experience fever, sore throat and muscle aches. Because of the similar symptoms between avian flu and human flu, people with avian flu may mistakenly diagnose human flu. However, late symptoms of avian flu include eye infections and respiratory diseases, which can be life threatening.
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In 1997, when bird flu broke out in Hong Kong, 18 people were infected and 6 died. As a quick response, the total number of poultry in Hong Kong is estimated at 1.5 million and has been killed. Many believe that this rapid response to avian flu outbreaks is the best solution and helps drive it into a pandemic.
In general, most people are at a low risk of contracting avian flu because it requires close or direct interaction with infected birds or guano. Since the number of people infected with the disease is still very small and limited to a small number of children and adults, there is no serious cause of warning. However, for those who are in constant contact with birds, the risk will become very high during local poultry outbreaks.
Due to the rapid development of current technologies, in addition to the lessons learned from past major epidemiological studies, there is hope to prevent bird flu from becoming another global epidemic.
Orignal From: Avian flu: What is the real chance of a pandemic?
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