Avian Flu - Symptoms And Treatments

An avian flu virus primarily affects birds. Occasionally an avian flu virus may infect humans or pigs. But, in most cases humans are not infected by the avian flu. Pandemic literally means worldwide epidemic. The fear over an avian flu pandemic arises from the concern that the H5N1 avian flu virus currently spreading throughout the continents of Asia, Africa and Europe has the potential to adapt into a strain that is highly contagious among humans. That is to say it could be spread by coughing and sneezing from human to human in the same way that seasonal flu viruses spread.

Avian flu updates concerning human cases reported by WHO from Indonesia in August 2006 tell us that of the 60 confirmed cases to date, 46 have been fatal. Avian flu updates from China; 21 confirmed cases including 14 fatalities. The WHO's 2006 bird flu watch reports H5N1 presence in wild birds and poultry. Thus far, the virus has been found only in wild birds in Europe, but outbreaks continue to occur in poultry throughout the continents of Asia and Africa.

Symptoms

Bird flu symptoms in humans have been similar to typical flu-like symptoms such as fever, sore throat, cough and muscle aches. But, in some confirmed human cases the bird flu symptoms have included eye infections, pneumonia, severe respiratory diseases, acute respiratory distress and other severe and life-threatening complications. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) believes that the wide range of bird flu symptoms in humans may depend on which strain of avian bird flu virus the person was infected with.

Avian bird flu symptoms alone are not sufficient to make the diagnosis of avian influenza in humans or birds, because bird flu symptoms are so similar to typical flu symptoms and other viral infections. In order to make a confirmed diagnosis of avian bird flu in humans, a swab of the nose or throat must be taken within the first few days of illness and sent to a lab for evaluation. Blood tests may also be used to confirm the diagnosis of avian bird flu in humans. A specific influenza virus (H5N1) will be present if it is a true case of avian bird flu. There are numerous flu viruses among birds and humans, some causing no or few symptoms. Only the H5N1 virus is believed to cause severe avian bird flu symptoms.

Avian Bird Flu Tips

1. The single most important thing than can be done for an epidemic, such as avian bird flu, is to have well-prepared local health care systems. People should be prepared in ways that are sustainable and will remain useful even if the epidemic does not occur.

2. Preparation of social norms and emergency procedures that would limit or delay the spread of the avian flu epidemic. Regular hand washing, and other beneficial cleanliness custom may save more lives than all other medicines combined.

3. The proper recognition and prizes should be given to those who have come up with effective vaccines for the avian bird flu disease. On the same note, vaccine makers should be given the freedom to make use of state materials needed for the vaccines. It can be noted that some parts of the government are discouraging these activities rather than encouraging them.

Treatments

Many people are concerned about avian flu treatment supply and availability. The only antiviral that has shown any promise as an avian flu treatment is oseltamivir, more commonly referred to as Tamiflu. As a method of preparing for bird flu epidemics, researchers funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), a branch of the National Institutes of Health, found that Tamiflu boosted the survival rate of mice infected with the H5N1 strain of avian flu. This is the strain that has infected humans in Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Eastern Europe.