 |
 |
Home |  |
Overview | |
The Disease | First Aid and Tips | About Us | |
Bibliography | |
Inside The Web |
||
|
The Disease |
||
Avian Influenza (H5N1) Avian Flu , also known as bird flu, an infectious disease of wild and domestic birds, caused by a range of viruses known as Type A influenza viruses. Variants of avian influenza viruses have also infected humans and a number of other mammals. Avian influenza viruses exist in wild populations of seabirds, shorebirds, and other wildfowl, but do not usually cause illness in wild bird species. When wild birds contaminate ponds and fields with fecal droppings containing the virus, however, domesticated birds such as chickens, turkeys, and ducks can be infected. For these species, avian influenza is often fatal, afflicting the respiratory system and nervous system, and opening the way for dangerous bacterial infections. With their nasal and fecal secretions, sick individuals can rapidly spread illness to other poultry in the close confines of a farm enclosure or live animal market. Avian influenza was not known to directly infect humans until 1997, when an outbreak in Hong Kong, China, caused by infected poultry, sickened 18 people, killing 6 of them. Death was caused by pneumonia or other respiratory ailments, kidney failure, or related complications. Symptoms of avian flu resemble those of other influenzas: fever, cough, sore throat, and muscle aches. Although humans have a degree of immunity to the influenza subtypes that circulate during the winter flu season, the human immune system is unaccustomed to recognizing and fighting off avian influenza. This makes the avian viral strains all the more dangerous. After the 1997 Hong Kong episode, other outbreaks of avian influenza followed. Press next to open the H5N1 Viruses
|
