It is always said that awareness can keep you away from danger. And when the scare is as threatening as bird flu, most people would not dare to take any chances. As the bird flu virus strike different parts of the world, the latest entrant been India, poultry industry is naturally the worst casualty. Though recent studies have confirmed that the flu virus is not food-borne and the poultry meat cooked at 70 degrees eliminates all possibility of the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu virus, yet people are reluctant to take chances. Such is the extent of the scare that hundreds of people with cold and cough were turning up at medical camps in bird flu-hit areas for a check-up as precautionary measures.
Bird Flu, medically termed avian influenza is a contagious disease of animals caused by viruses that are highly species-specific and normally infect only birds but on rare occasions crossed the species barrier to infect humans as well. It spreads very rapidly through poultry flocks, causes disease affecting multiple internal organs, and has a mortality that can approach 100%, often within 48 hours. Symptoms of bird flu are very specific:
• In birds: Birds that sit still for unusually long spell, have dirty feathers, swollen necks and red spots on their feet
• In meat: Pink spots in the usually white chicken meat and runny yolk in eggs.
The bird flu virus spread-theory across the world has nailed the migratory birds as the possible suspect. Sick migratory birds shed the flu virus with their saliva, faeces and nasal secretions which in turn infect domestic birds when in contact with secretions or contaminated surfaces. Influenza viruses are highly unstable and have the ability to mutate rapidly, potentially jumping from one animal species to another. Direct contact with infected poultry, or surfaces and objects contaminated by their faeces, is presently considered the main route of human infection. The disease caused by H5N1 follows an unusually aggressive clinical course where primary viral pneumonia and multi-organ failure are common, with rapid deterioration and high fatality.
Though there has been no breakthrough in developing a vaccine for bird flu, yet the FDA has approved Tamiflu (generic Oseltamivir phosphate), an oral anti-viral drug for the treatment of uncomplicated influenza in adults whose flu symptoms have lasted more than two days. It belongs to a group of medicines called neuraminidase inhibitors. Their main task is to attack the flu virus and prevent it from spreading to other parts of the body. Tamiflu has since been used to treat type A and B influenzas but it has also been found effective against the avian flu virus H5N1 strain. Further Tamiflu information is available from health practitioners, print media and online information sites. So do not panic, bird flu is no scare if you are aware of all eventualities.
