Avian influenza is a virus infection that normally occurs in wild birds and pathologically in poultry, its forms causing mild symptoms or even death within 48 hours. It can also infect humans.
Wild birds are a reservoir of the virus and they spread the disease among the poultry which gets into close contact to contaminated dirt, water, food and wild bird excrements.
The avian influenza viruses can cause a mild form of the disease that does not kill the infected birds, and it only reduces the egg production, and a highly virulent form that can lead to death within 48 hours by multiple internal organ lesions.
Until 1997 nobody knew that the virus can affect humans, but it has happened to those who have been in close contact with infected poultry. Until now, no cases of human to human transmission of the infection were registered.
Getting in close contact with an infected bird can lead to human contamination. People that take care or sell in markets such infected birds, like chicken, turkey and ducks, inhale particles from dried excrements, or feathers which are contaminated.
Eating cooked chicken is not dangerous because heat kills the H5N1 virus.
If you have been lately in close contact with one ore more infected birds, you could develop one or more of these symptoms: fever, lethargy, sore throat, muscle aches, cough, breathing problems, and multi-organ failure, meaning that you have been infected with avian influenza.
Some people say: Why worry about Bird flu?
We should worry because:
- H5N1 virus has caused by now millions of bird deaths, and hundreds of humans only in Asia;
- If the virus mutates it will spread from human to human, causing a global pandemic;
- Chicken industry will be seriously affected.
Until now, in treating avian influenza, doctors have used antiviral drugs obtaining good results, and they are waiting for the accreditation of a H5N1 vaccine. Doctors have discovered that H5N1 virus is resistant amantadine and rimantadine, two antiviral drugs used for treating human influenza. There remain oseltamavir and zanamavir to be tested.
If you have a flock of chickens it is not necessarily to remove them because in the US no cases of bird flu were registered among poultry. But you need to be careful and report any sudden deaths you observe in your poultry to the Minister of Agriculture.
Hunters are also advised not to eat sick game, to wear some plastic or rubber protection when handling the game, and to cook very well their game.
In case of a bird flu infection, the government will prohibit selling chickens in the markets while there is a threat of bird flu and also will suspend the imports of chicken from the infected countries; will advise people to stay away from any kind of birds; will ask farmers to report any suspect deaths observed on poultry.
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Avian Influenza first occurred in Italy, but nowdays is spread along the world.It is an infectious disease caused by type A strains of the influenza virus.
All birds are supposed to be susceptible to the avian influenza, but particularly domestic poultry. The only subtype that can cause severe illness to people is Influenza A /H5N1 virus, initially it affects chickens, ducks and other birds by the process of mutation they can become highly pathogenic. If the bird flu virus recombines with a human flu virus and mutate it may become possible the transmission from human to human as happened in Asia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Cambodia Thailand. The disease may affect the birds in two form: a mild one and a highly lethal one.
The lethal form manifests as a severe disease, rapid contagious and a high mortality rate in 48 hours. It has been named”chicken Ebola” because of the massive internal haemorrhaging. All 16 HA and 9 NA subtypes are known to infect waterfowl, but in wild birds routine testing will always find new viruses those are inactive viruses. Highly pathogenic viruses have a genetic mark which distinguishes them from other viruses, by combining sets of amino acids the low pathogenic viruses transform in highly pathogenic ones.
Avian influenza viruses are easily transported from farm to farm even to new geographical areas by migratory birds and by contaminated people, vehicles, equipment, feed, and cages. Viruses survive for quite long in low temperatures, in high temperatures viruses have been shown to survive fewer days. The World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) recommends vaccination against outbreaks. Control measures are of all infected or exposed birds, proper disposal of carcasses, the quarantining and rigorous disinfection of farms, and the implementation of strict sanitary, or biosecurity, measures.
Outbreaks are difficult to control and present a high risk of infection, poverty is a determining factor for transmission of bird flu when butchering and preparation of poultry meat for cooking. Restrictions on the movement of live poultry, both within and between countries, are another important control measure. In small rural areas an outbreak is hard to be detected because usually people are disinformed and tend to think that thing aren’t so bad and that it could only be a natural death, not even thinking of avian influenza so they do not alert the authorities. The owners may even want to protect their birds when culling because if the avian influenza virus is found the birds will be killed and the farmers won???t be recompensated. Control is far more difficult under poultry production systems in which most birds are raised in small backyard flocks scattered throughout rural or periurban areas.
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Tamiflu, whose common technical name is oseltamivir, is part of a family of influenza fighting medicines called neuraminidase inhibitors. Tamilflu is used in the healing of infections caused by both the flu A and influenza B viruses. Tamiflu, which requires a prescription, can be used both to treat the influenza if taken soon after symptoms become visible, or to stop the flu. The difference between Tamiflu and a vaccine is that Tamiflu helps your immune system be in a position to fight off the progress of the viral infection, whereas a vaccine is just a straight injection of dead influenza that causes your immune system to produce antibodies to fight off the virus itself.
Tamiflu demand has skyrocketed over the past year for several reasons. There was a shortage of available flu vaccine during influenza season 2005, with in some cases barely enough for senior citizens or those with more susceptible immune conditions being able to get vaccinated. Also, the U.S. government was concerned that an outbreak of bird influenza in the United States could leave the U.S. short on influenza vaccines, causing them to hold back provisions just in case of an outbreak. However, the bird flu is different form human influenza. This is exacly the same scenario as swine influenza these days.
Bird flu is much harder to transmit than human influenza, requiring very close physical contact to spread the virus. Bird flu has been observed in countries where humans and animals are in close contact. There have been approximately 70 deaths worldwide and just about 130 infections since 2005. The primary concern of health officials around the planet is that bird flu will infect a person already carrying the human flu strain, and that the two viruses will somehow swap genetic material, causing the bird influenza to mutate into a virus that spreads much faster through the air, like human flu, only this bug would be more deadly. A highly virulent strain of mutated bird flu could create a pandemic for the world, as did the Spanish influenza virus of the early 1900′s that killed 20 to 50 million people worldwide.
Unfprtunately, swine flu is much closer to the spanish flu than the bird influenza was. We did however learn alot from the bird influenza outbreak that prepared us for what is certain to be a sever pandemic of the swine influenza.
The bird influenza is linked with the influenza A strain H5N1 influenza bug. Although not the same as the Spanish flu virus, the current avian flu strain does share many similarities with the Spanish flu strain. Initial studies have shown that Tamiflu may be effectual in helping to fight the effects of this flu virus if the medicine is taken very early after flu symptoms become visible. As a result, the demand for Tamiflu has skyrocketed as customers have rushed to their doctors to obtain prescriptions and gone on the internet to buy the drug from online pharmacies.
Comparable findings have been recognized with the swine influenza. When Tamiflu is taken very early on it does appear to have a popsitive effect in combating the bug.
A Swiss drug maker, F. Hoffman La-Roche Ltd., at present has a tight hold on the manufacturing of Tamiflu. Biolyse Pharma Corp., when turned down in its bid to try to enter the Tamiflu marketplace, had decided as of December of 2005 to attempt to mass produce several tons of shikimic acid, which is the main ingredient in Tamiflu, from the needles of discarded Christmas trees, as well as other pine, fir, and spruce trees. Such trees are the main source of shikimic acid.
Oseltamivir, sold under the brand name Tamiflu, is one of several medications approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the healing and prevention of influenza. The CDC has announced that a swine flu vaccine should be available fall 2009.
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Avian Influenza first occurred in Italy, but nowdays is spread along the world. It is an infectious disease caused by type A strains of the influenza virus. All birds are supposed to be susceptible to the avian influenza, but particularly domestic poultry.
Recombined with the human influenza viruses form a totally new influenza virus to which people do not have protection that spreads in the population and that causes serious illness and death in humans. Bird Flu is an infectious disease of birds that can also affect people. It can present mild or severe forms of illness.
The only subtype that can cause severe illness to people is Influenza A /H5N1 virus, initially it affects chickens, ducks and other birds by the process of mutation they can become highly pathogenic. If the bird flu virus recombines with a human flu virus and mutate it may become possible the transmission from human to human as happened in Asia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Cambodia Thailand, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Eygpt, China, and Iraq where people died.
Bird flu affected Australia in 1997 but, was eradicated. Water birds are supposed to carry the avian influenza type A virus inside their intestines and to distribute it in the environment through bird faeces. In highly contagious forms results in severe epidemics and rapid death. In Hong-Kong it has been declared pandemic.
H5N1is considered to be dangerous because it mutates rapidly and aquires genes from viruses infecting other animal species and human. The more affected were the birds of avian influenza the more dangerous was the infection for human beings, transmited by migratory birds. This could be the start for influenza pandemic.
Symptoms and treatments
Patients usually develop fever, sore throat, cough, severe respiratory distress and viral pneumonia. The people which were affected are of all ages in different states of health. Luckily, there are rapid tests for diagnosing all influenza strains. Antiviral drugs have some limitations, although they are effective in the treatment and prevention of influenza A virus strains. If a new virus subtype occures, it takes some time to produce a new vaccine to be efficient.
The World Health Organization (WHO) makes reports and updates regarding new human cases of infection with bird flu. It is also important to question patients if they had direct or indirect contact with sick chickens or other birds. Not allowing chickens to roam freely, correctly informate the community, advise public not to catch, get near or keep in captivity wild birds are important requirements in order to prevent a catastrophal pandemic.We must wash hands with soap and water before and after handling chicken meat. Cook chicken well, not to let chickens roam freely, do not place chickens, ducks and pigs together in one area.
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