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Bird FluRecently...

 Israel was investigating an outbreak of avian flu after they found 18 birds dead at a kindergarten.  "This morning, 18 ducks, chickens, and pigeons were found dead among a total of 25 birds held in a petting corner in a kindergarten in Binyamina," and Israel Agriculture Ministry spokesman told the AFP.

The test they ran discovered the pre-send of the H5 virus category which only kills birds and was different than the highly pathogenic H5N1 type of virus that is dangerous to humans.

 

December 7th, 2007

 

Bird Flu spreads through family in Beijing, China.  The father of a Chinese man who died last week from the H5N1 Bird Flu has been diagnosed with the virus.

 

The National Disease Authority has confirmed that a 52 year old man was feverish with the H5N1 strain on Thursday, the Ministry of Health reported on its Web site (www.moh.gov.cn).

 

This case raises a lot of very troublesome questions about how the man was infected. Humans can contract H5N1 from close contact with infected birds, but scientists fear the disease could mutate into a version that spreads from person-to-person, risking wider outbreaks or even a global pandemic.

 

November 14, 2007

More than 6,000 poultry were ordered to be slaughtered at the site in Suffolk England after a suspected outbreak was found. The deputy chief veterinary officer Fred Landeg said: "I can now confirm that the strain of avian influenza found in the infected premises is the highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 strain."  Ducks and geese were not displaying symptoms, Landeg added.

   

Thursday April 19, 2007 

This week the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved a vaccine for the H5N1 Bird Flu. Currently there are different product vaccines for different levels of development for the avian flu strains.

The new vaccine was developed by drug maker Sanofi Aventis.  It is noted though that it is far from perfect and was described as an "interim measure" by Norman Baylor, director of the FDA's Office of Vaccines Research and Review. According to the FDA, only 45 percent of people who received the vaccine produced infection-fighting antibodies to the virus.  The United States Government has been stockpiling the vaccine.

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What about the H5N1 Bird Flu? 

In the past two years, the H5N1 strain of avian flu has infected poultry throughout Southeast Asia, Central Asia, Africa and Europe, prompting millions of birds to be killed and destroyed. So far a little more than 100 people have died worldwide from H5N1 infection, which has been spread through close contact with birds.

A big fear among health officials is that the virus will acquire the ability to jump easily between humans, leading to a pandemic and millions of deaths. Unlike the seasonal flu that we have endured and survived for years, humans have no immunity to bird flu.

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What are Bird Flu Symptoms?

The symptoms of bird flu have changed from year to year. Humans who have caught the bird flu from chickens start out with normal flu-like symptoms. Since it appears like the normal flu, it worsens to become a severe respiratory disease that has been fatal in a high percentage of cases.

In February 2005, researchers in Vietnam reported human cases of bird flu in which the virus infected the brain and digestive tract of two children. Both died. These cases make it clear that bird flu in humans may not always look like typical cases of flu.

No human cases of bird flu have been seen in the United States or North America. But as a precaution, the United States Center for Disease Control (CDC) is asking people who have traveled to East Asia to see a doctor if they develop flu-like symptoms. If so, it's important to tell the doctor about which areas you have visited so that the proper tests can be done.

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• Highly contagious hosts
• Highly pathogenic avian influenza isolates have been obtained primarily from chickens and turkeys
• It is reasonable to assume all avian species are susceptible to infection

Bird Flu Transmission
• Direct contact with secretions from infected birds, excretion especially feces
• Contaminated feed, water, equipment and clothing
• Clinically normal waterfowl and sea birds may introduce the virus into flocks
• Broken contaminated eggs may infect chicks in the incubator
Sources of Virus
• Feces, respiratory secretions
• Highly pathogenic viruses may remain viable for long period of time in infected feces, tissues and water.

Avian Bird Flu

Human health risks during the H5N1 outbreak

Of the few avian influenza viruses that have crossed the species barrier to infect humans, H5N1 has caused the largest number of detected cases of severe disease and death in humans. However, it is possible that those cases in the most severely ill people are more likely to be diagnosed and reported, while milder cases go unreported. For the most current information about avian influenza and cumulative case numbers, see the World Health Organization (WHO) avian influenza website.

Of the human cases associated with the ongoing H5N1 outbreaks in poultry and wild birds in Asia and parts of Europe, the Near East and Africa, more than half of those people reported infected with the virus have died. Most cases have occurred in previously healthy children and young adults and have resulted from direct or close contact with H5N1-infected poultry or H5N1-contaminated surfaces. In general, H5N1 remains a very rare disease in people. The H5N1 virus does not infect humans easily, and if a person is infected, it is very difficult for the virus to spread to another person.

While there has been some human-to-human spread of H5N1, it has been limited, inefficient and unsustained. For example, in 2004 in Thailand, probable human-to-human spread in a family resulting from prolonged and very close contact between an ill child and her mother was reported. Most recently, in June 2006, WHO reported evidence of human-to-human spread in Indonesia. In this situation, 8 people in one family were infected. The first family member is thought to have become ill through contact with infected poultry. This person then infected six family members. One of those six people (a child) then infected another family member (his father). No further spread outside of the exposed family was documented or suspected.

Nonetheless, because all influenza viruses have the ability to change, scientists are concerned that H5N1 virus one day could be able to infect humans and spread easily from one person to another. Because these viruses do not commonly infect humans, there is little or no immune protection against them in the human population. If H5N1 virus were to gain the capacity to spread easily from person to person, an influenza pandemic (worldwide outbreak of disease) could begin. For more information about influenza pandemics, see PandemicFlu.gov.

No one can predict when a pandemic might occur. However, experts from around the world are watching the H5N1 situation in Asia and Europe very closely and are preparing for the possibility that the virus may begin to spread more easily and widely from person to person.

Treatment and vaccination for H5N1 virus in humans

The H5N1 virus that has caused human illness and death in Asia 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 influenza caused by H5N1 virus, but additional studies still need to be done to demonstrate their effectiveness.

 

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