However, avian influenza is very contagious among birds and can make some domesticated birds including chickens, ducks and turkInfected birds shed influenza virus in their saliva, nasal secretions and feces.
Causes of bird flu and aftermaths
Infection with avian influenza viruses in domestic poultry causes two forms of disease that are distinguished by low and high extremes of virulence.
The low pathogenic form may go undetected and usually causes only mild symptoms such as ruffled feathers and a drop in egg production, however, the highly pathogenic form spreads more rapidly through flocks of poultry. This form may cause disease which affects multiple internal organs and has a mortality rate that can reach up to 50% too.
Current Situation
Outbreaks of avian influenza among poultry are ongoing in several countries in Asia, including Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia. Reports of sporadically occurring human cases of influenza are continued through January 2005. Thailand reported five human cases of influenza H5N1 with four deaths in September and October 2004 but no additional cases to date. Thirteen human cases of influenza A (H5N1) infection with 12 deaths have been reported by Vietnam since mid-December 2004. WHO has reported that 10 of these cases with 9 deaths have been confirmed?
How much in control?
One instance of probable limited the human transmission of influenza A (H5N1) virus was reported in Thailand between a child and her mother and aunt in September 2004. Health authorities in Vietnam are into investigating two possible instances of limited human-to-human transmission in family clusters.
One instance involves two brothers in Vietnam with confirmed influenza A (H5N1) infections and third brother was hospitalized for observation only and did not become ill. In the second instance, a daughter developed symptoms within 6 days of her mother's onset of illness which was confirmed as influenza A (H5N1).
Few more updates
In addition, the first human case of influenza H5 infection is in Cambodia has been confirmed in a woman who was hospitalized in Vietnam and died in few days. A joint mission between the Cambodian Ministries of Health and Agriculture and WHO in Cambodia investigating the circumstances surrounding this case.
To date, nine Asian countries have reported outbreaks (listed in order of reporting): the Republic of Korea, Viet Nam, Japan, Thailand, Cambodia, the Lao People's Democratic Republic, Indonesia, China, and Malaysia. Of these, Japan, the Republic of Korea, and Malaysia have controlled their outbreaks and are
Cases Of Bird Flu
Bird flu is a problem that in most of the cases affects birds. Caused by a virus developed in wild birds, bird flu, also known as avian flu may affect people. Not like in the past when the risk of catching the virus from an infected bird was high, nowadays we may say that bird flu in humans is a very rare phenomenon. We also know that the virus cannot spread too easy from one human to another. It is believed that if the virus mutates or a global flu pandemic begins the risk for humans to be affected by bird flu increases.
It is known that a flue pandemic killed in the last year of the First World War more than 20 million people all over the world. Experts believe that another flu pandemic could trigger at any time.
The possibility for people to catch a type of flu that usually affects wild birds, make specialists wonder about the ways viruses are mutating or changing and how these changes may affect people all over the globe.
The viruses named influenza A usually and normally occur in wild birds. Pretty strange is the fact that these birds are not affecting by carrying the virus while domestic birds and even people might be affected.
H5N1 was first noticed in Asia. It is known that a high percentage of birds that get H5N1 die. This high percentage of mortality is admitted in humans too.
The first case of H5N1 in humans was registered in 1997 after an outbreak of avian flu among the domestic birds in Hong Kong. The virus caused death in six cases, while other 12 infected persons developed severe respiratory problems.
The virus was spreading and all Asia was affected by the virus. Many cases were seen especially in rural areas where the birds share the same water supply. In this way the virus spreads faster and may affect humans too.
Statistics say that until October 2006 in Asia 256 people caught the infection. 156 people died. The problem is even more severe because specialists believe that H5N1 can affect not only birds, but mice and cats too. If H5N1 will be able to transmit from a human to another the situation is as worst as it can get. The first case of human to human virus transmission was registered in Thailand in September 2004.
The symptoms caused by bird flu are fever, sore throat, headache, lethargy, breathing problems and chest pain.
The three types of influenza viruses cause problems gradually. The C type of influenza only causes easygoing problems for humans. More affective is the B type of influenza viruses that may cause serious illnesses and seasonal epidemics, but the most threatening is the A type of influenza viruses.
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