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Avian-Bird-Flu.comIs the world heading towards a global pandemic in the form of the the avian bird flu virus?
The increasing cases of the avian flu virus and the global spreading of the disease has made many scientists believe that it is just a matter of time before the virus develops the ability to get passed among humans -- triggering a global pandemic.
Why do so many believe that this is highly probable?
To answer that question we first need to examine what the avian bird flu is, and some of its history.
Avian Influenza, also known as bird flu, is an illness that is caused by avian influenza viruses. These viruses occur naturally amongst wild birds and are carried in their intestines. They are very contagious but normally will not make wild birds sick. However, they can be extremely dangerous to domestic birds such as Turkeys, Chickens, and Ducks making them extremely sick and often leads to death.
The avian bird flu was first recorded in Italy more than 100 years ago in 1878. It caused a large amount of deaths in poultry and, for this reason, became known as “Fowl Plague”. This disease was recorded in the United States in 1924-25 and again in 1929. In 1955, it was determined that the virus causing Fowl Plague was one of the influenza viruses.
The official designation for the bird flu is Influenza-A H5N1. This strain was originally first isolated in birds from South Africa in 1961.
Originally thought only to infect birds this flu received unprecedented publicity in 1997 when for the first time the virus was transmitted to humans. During this period 18 people were hospitalized and 6 died. Authorities, in an attempt to control the outbreak by removing the source of the virus, killed approximately 1.5 million chickens.
Since 1997 there have been more confirmed cases of humans infected with the virus. Two children from Hong Kong were infected that year but, fortunately, both recovered fully.
In 2003 two members of a Hong Kong family were infected after traveling to China. One of them died. It was never determined where or how these two people were infected. Later, back in China, another member of the same family died of a respiratory illness. No testing was done at that time so it can't be verified if the cause of death was the avian bird flu.
Also in 2003, the Netherlands reported more than 80 cases of avian flu among poultry workers and their families. One patient died. At that time there seemed to be some evidence of human to human transmissions. These outbreaks tapered off in the spring of 2004 but then re-emerged in the summer.
As of Sept 19, 2005 there have been 114 confirmed human cases of bird flu with 59 of them being fatal. Human cases of the disease have been reported in Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, and Indonesia.
Sustained person to person transmission has not occurred but there was another report of suspected human-to-human transmission in Thailand in fall of 2004.
The avian flu virus has recently shown the ability to jump from species to species with cats, pigs, tigers and leopards becoming infected.
Areas affected by the avian flu virus in poultry include: Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, South Korea, Thailand, Vietnam, Russia, Kazakhstan and Mongolia.
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List of Pages in this Report...
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Overview of
the Avian Bird Flu
Is the world heading towards a global pandemic in the form of the the avian bird flu virus?
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Avian Bird Flu Pandemic?
What is a pandemic and why is the avian bird flu virus considered a likely 'trigger' for the next one?
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Where Do We Stand at the Moment?
What would happen if we faced a pandemic from the avian flu virus today?
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Symptoms of the Avian Bird Flu Virus
What are the symptoms of the avian bird flu and what can you do to help yourself in the event of a pandemic?
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What Does the Future Hold?
Without wishing to sound like a doomsday prophet, there's one thing we know for sure...
- Additional Information and Resources on the Avian Flu Virus
