What is the Bird Flu?

Bird Flu, also called avian influenza, is a virus carried by wild birds. The virus is carried in their intestines and is very contagious to whatever comes in contact with an infected carrier. An infected bird can spread the disease through their saliva, nasal secretions, and feces. If domesticated birds, such as chickens, ducks, or turkey’s, come in contact with an infected birds secretions or excretions they too will contract the virus and may die. There are two forms of this disease in domestic birds, low pathogenic form which only causes mild symptoms such as ruffled feathers and low egg production and may go unnoticed and high pathogenic form which spreads rapidly through flocks and affect their internal organs with a morality rate of 90 to 100%, often within 48 hours.

Human infection with avian influenza or bird flu viruses
There are many subtypes of the type A influenza viruses as well as different combinations of these subtypes. However, all subtypes of influenza A viruses can be found mostly in birds, however, these viruses can also occur in humans although chances of a human actually contracting this virus is low. The confirmed cases of humans contracting the bird flu virus have been from being in contact with infected poultry (e.g. domesticated chickens, turkey’s and ducks). The risk of contracting the bird flu from someone already infected is very rare and the transmission has never been observed to continue beyond the infected person. The flu A viruses are continually changing and adapting over time so the potential of more humans contracting bird flu viruses may be high.

Symptoms of the bird influenza virus in humans
There have been over 100 cases of human infection with the bird flu since 1997, but none within the U.S. and even then nothing like human-to-human contact was detected. These cases of bird flu in humans are thought to have been from direct contact with infected poultry or contaminated surfaces. Symptoms of the bird flu are basically the same as with any flu virus such as sore throat, muscle aches. The less common symptoms of bird flu are eye infections, pneumonia, severe respiratory diseases and other potentially life threatening complications, the symptoms of bird flu may depend of which virus caused the infection.

Treatments for the bird flu
There are four antiviral drugs approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. They are amantadine, rimantadine, oseltamivir (Tamiflu), and zanamivir (Relenza), these drugs help fight the bird flu, however, doctors prescribe them sparingly because they worry about the flu viruses becoming resistant to these drugs.