Avian influenza and its causes

Posted by editor2 on Monday 06 Apr 2009

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Avian influenza is flu infection found in birds. Avian influenza is very infectious among birds and can make some domesticated birds, including chickens, turkeys and ducks very sick and kill them. The disease affects humans, those who have no immunity against it. The virus is the causative of this infection in birds and that can easily infect humans. Such changes can start a deadly worldwide epidemic.

Causes
In the past, avian influenza viruses affected pigs and mixed with pig influenza viruses. The viruses changed genetic information, which resulted in the formation of a new virus. This new virus became efficient enough to infect humans and could easily spread from person to person. Previous flu epidemics have started this way.

During an avian flu epidemic on the island in Hong Kong the first avian influenza virus to infect humans directly developed. This outbreak was connected to chickens and classified as avian influenza A or H5N1.

The wider the area over which, the avian flu virus circulates, the greater the chances of a worldwide outbreak. There is enormous concern that H5N1 poses a tremendous pandemic threat. Household contacts of patients and health care workers with avian influenza may also be at an increased risk of the bird flu.

Farmers and other people work with domestic fowls, and in addition travelers visiting affected countries, have a greater risk for getting the bird flu. Handling an infected bird can also cause infection.

People who eat undercooked or raw poultry meat are also at a higher risk for avian influenza. Highly infective avian flu viruses, such as H5N1, have been shown to survive in the environment for a very long period of time, and infection may be spread simply by touching polluted surfaces. Birds who retrieve from the flu can continue to shed the virus in their feces and saliva for as long as 10 days.