Bird Flu - Answers to 10 Important Questions
Most people know that bird flu is beginning to emerge as a serious health threat to the world.
There are real concerns and in this article we give answers to 10 questions which many individuals are asking about bird flu.
1. What is Bird Flu?
Avian influenza or 'bird flu' is a highly contagious disease of birds, caused by influenza A viruses. In birds, the viruses can present with a range of symptoms from mild illness and low mortality, to a highly contagious disease with a near 100% fatality rate.
The bird flu virus currently affecting poultry and some people in Asia is the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain of the virus.
As the virus can remain viable in contaminated droppings for long periods, it can be spread among birds, and from birds to other animals, through ingestion or inhalation.
All bird species are thought to be susceptible to avian influenza. Migratory birds such as wild ducks and geese can carry the viruses, often without any symptoms of illness, and show the greatest resistance to infection.
Domestic poultry flocks are particularly vulnerable to epidemics of a rapid, severe and fatal form of the disease.
2. Can Bird Flu Infect People?
People are rarely infected with bird flu viruses. Those who have become infected have had close direct contact with infected birds.
The first documented cases of bird flu infecting people occurred in Hong Kong in 1997 and this was also the H5N1 strain of virus. Investigation showed that close contact with live infected poultry was the source of the infection.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there is mounting evidence that the H5N1 strain has a unique capacity to jump the species barrier and cause severe disease, with high mortality, in people.
3. Can Bird Flu Travel From Person to Person?
There is no firm evidence that the H5N1 strain which caused the outbreaks in South East Asia has acquired the ability to pass easily from person to person or to sustain transmission.
So far, while some instances of spread from one person directly to another have been reported, these have been isolated one-off occurrences with no further spread to people, and the route of transmission remains unconfirmed.
4. Have There Been Previous Outbreaks of Bird Flu Affecting People?
The first documented cases of bird flu in people appeared in Hong Kong in 1997, when 18 people infected with an H5N1 virus strain were admitted to hospital, six of whom died. The source of infection in most cases was traced to contact with diseased birds on farms, and in live poultry markets.
As of 13 October 2005, 117 reported cases of H5N1 infection in people have occurred in four countries - Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Indonesia. Sixty of these have been fatal.
5. What is the Source of the Current Outbreak of Bird Flu?
The outbreak now concerning health experts began in poultry in South Korea in mid-December 2003, and has affected birds in many countries in Asia, Russia, and most recently Turkey and Rumania. It involves a variant of the same virus subtype as that associated with the 1997 Hong Kong outbreak.
6. What is the Risk of a Human Influenza Pandemic?
A pandemic can be broadly described as a massive epidemic. It occurs on a much greater scale than an epidemic, spreading around the world and affecting many hundreds of thousands of people across many countries.
Experts are concerned that the virus could adapt, giving it greater affinity for humans. Or that it could exchange genes with a human flu virus, thereby producing a completely new virus strain capable of spreading easily between people, and causing a pandemic. By necessity, if a new strain were to occur then few people, if any, would have a natural immunity to it.
7. What Can I Do to Protect Myself and my Family?
There is some evidence that recent H5N1 viruses are susceptible to a class of antiviral drugs called neuraminidase inhibitors.
The UK Government is expanding its stockpile of antiviral drugs against the contingency of a flu pandemic, whether due to an H5N1 or another new strain. On 1 March 2005, the Health Secretary announced the procurement of 14.6 million treatment courses of the antiviral, Tamiflu - enough to treat a quarter of the UK population.
Individuals can purchase Tamiflu privately. The manufacturer, Roche, is working hard to supply what is required. World-wide demand, however, has increased dramatically recently and there may be shortages.
8. Is a Vaccine Currently Available for Bird Flu?
The present position is that there is no vaccine for bird flu.
There are, however, several potential vaccines at various stages of testing and production. Whether these will be suitable for use against a new pandemic flu strain depends on how much the pandemic strain may have mutated and changed from the original H5N1 virus strain used to create the vaccine.
9. What is the Advice for Travellers?
Travellers to areas experiencing outbreaks of the disease in poultry are recommended to avoid contact with live animal markets and poultry farms.
Travellers should not attempt to bring any live birds or poultry products back to their own country.
10. How Can I Keep up-to-date With Bird Flu Matters?
The following organisations have sections on avian influenza which provide useful and regularly updated information:
Health Protection Agency
http://www.hpa.org.uk/infections/topics_az/avianinfluenza/menu.htm
DEFRA
http://www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/diseases/notifiable/disease/avianinfluenza.htm
World Health Organization
http://www.who.int/csr/disease/avian_influenza/en/index.html
UN Food and Agriculture Organization
http://www.fao.org/ag/againfo/subjects/en/health/diseases-cards/special_avian.html
Bird flu has the potential to be the basis of an influenza pandemic. The experts are predicting that there will be a pandemic, although it is not possible to say when it will occur.
The message is to be alert and be aware of the advice being given by your government.
Source: Free Articles
Brian McGregor is author of the ebook 'What You Need to Know About Bird Flu'. This publication outlines the bird flu issue in much more detail, and is available free from: http://www.workwinners.com/bird-flu/d-bird-flu.htm
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What is Organic Chicken?
People must have heard about the nasty conditions which broiler chickens - which are bred for their meat - are raised in? These chickens have no more floor space than a sheet of A4 paper. Chickens are over-fed to reach slaughter weight in six weeks, when it would normally take four months.
Modem intensive systems of poultry production have produced cheap meat for the consumer - but at a price. Inside the intensive chicken houses, which are appearing in increasing numbers in the countryside, up to 40,000 birds are crammed, at 2 birds to the square foot, into a single windowless building, with almost continuous low levels of artificial light, they are then given drugs to speed up their rate of growth. Keeping so many animals packed together in such a stressful environment can only contribute to their rates of infection. It seems logical that the Chinese flu infections that we were seeing transmitted to humans comes from this same intensive farming. It isnt necessary to produce food in this way.
Organic farmers do a number of things to ensure that chickens are reared as naturally as possible. For starters, antibiotic growth promoters cannot be used but sick organic birds must be treated with appropriate veterinary medicine, so they can be given antibiotics if theyre very poorly. But they cannot be given drugs on a regular and routine basis, something that almost all non-organic poultry have to endure. Organic poultry is reared on a specially formulated feed containing only cereals, vegetable protein, a small amount of fish meal, and a vitamin/mineral supplement. These chickens are often guaranteed to be fed on feed which is free from genetically modified feedstuffs (GMOs). To be fully organic, chickens must be fed a diet containing grain which has been grown organically, without artificial fertilisers or sprays. Such feed is expensive, and therefore organic chicken is more expensive as well.
Also, on Soil Association registered farms, the number of chickens housed in a single shed is restricted to 1,000. A non-organic intensive chicken farm may have as many as 40,000 in the same shed. Organic birds are kept free-range, having continuous daytime access to clean pasture, except in adverse weather. Non-organic birds are almost always locked up night and day.
In addition, the Soil Association insists on full and clear labeling of processed chicken products. They are able to trace back to the farm all ingredients used in any Soil Association chicken products. Their organic certification standards state that food must undergo as little processing as is practical.
Organic standards are legally binding. All organic businesses must be licensed by law, and are fully inspected at least once a year. So if you want to see for yourself how organic animals are reared, why not visit an organic farm?
Find Organic Farms in the Organic Directory.
Source: Free Articles
Davinos Greeno works for the organic food and ethical clothes directory that lists 100s of Organic and Ethical Companies and we also have Health Articles for you to read or publish.
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=7fa87666-cb37-4ac6-9907-3c8423590f17)
What is Organic Chicken?
People must have heard about the nasty conditions which broiler chickens - which are bred for their meat - are raised in? These chickens have no more floor space than a sheet of A4 paper. Chickens are over-fed to reach slaughter weight in six weeks, when it would normally take four months.
Modem intensive systems of poultry production have produced cheap meat for the consumer - but at a price. Inside the intensive chicken houses, which are appearing in increasing numbers in the countryside, up to 40,000 birds are crammed, at 2 birds to the square foot, into a single windowless building, with almost continuous low levels of artificial light, they are then given drugs to speed up their rate of growth. Keeping so many animals packed together in such a stressful environment can only contribute to their rates of infection. It seems logical that the Chinese flu infections that we were seeing transmitted to humans comes from this same intensive farming. It isnt necessary to produce food in this way.
Organic farmers do a number of things to ensure that chickens are reared as naturally as possible. For starters, antibiotic growth promoters cannot be used but sick organic birds must be treated with appropriate veterinary medicine, so they can be given antibiotics if theyre very poorly. But they cannot be given drugs on a regular and routine basis, something that almost all non-organic poultry have to endure. Organic poultry is reared on a specially formulated feed containing only cereals, vegetable protein, a small amount of fish meal, and a vitamin/mineral supplement. These chickens are often guaranteed to be fed on feed which is free from genetically modified feedstuffs (GMOs). To be fully organic, chickens must be fed a diet containing grain which has been grown organically, without artificial fertilisers or sprays. Such feed is expensive, and therefore organic chicken is more expensive as well.
Also, on Soil Association registered farms, the number of chickens housed in a single shed is restricted to 1,000. A non-organic intensive chicken farm may have as many as 40,000 in the same shed. Organic birds are kept free-range, having continuous daytime access to clean pasture, except in adverse weather. Non-organic birds are almost always locked up night and day.
In addition, the Soil Association insists on full and clear labeling of processed chicken products. They are able to trace back to the farm all ingredients used in any Soil Association chicken products. Their organic certification standards state that food must undergo as little processing as is practical.
Organic standards are legally binding. All organic businesses must be licensed by law, and are fully inspected at least once a year. So if you want to see for yourself how organic animals are reared, why not visit an organic farm?
Find Organic Farms in the Organic Directory.
Source: Free Articles
Davinos Greeno works for the organic food and ethical clothes directory that lists 100s of Organic and Ethical Companies and we also have Health Articles for you to read or publish.
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