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Amongst
the culling of thousands of birds in Romania and Turkey recently, emerges
renewed fear of the avian influenza, this time nearer to Europe and the Middle
East.
Affected
regions in Romania have been quarantined as well as persons suspected to be
infected with the lethal virus in Turkey.
Fears
of an oncoming pandemic have been sparked, but it may still be too soon to tell.
The
first avian flu pandemic dates back to 1918 which resulted in the death of 40
million people, known in history as the ‘Spanish Flu’. Two other pandemics
occurred in 1957 and 1968 from different strains of the avian flu virus.
However, the recent H5N1 avian influenza virus first appeared in Hong Kong
in 1997 resulting in the death of six humans from 18 infected and the culling
of more than one million poultry.
Until
now, there have been sporadic incidents globally, mostly in Asia, of avian flu outbreaks. However, with recent outbreaks outside the Asian
borders, the World Health Organization believes that given enough time this
strain of avian flu might evolve into another pandemic.
What
Is Avian Flu?
The
H5N1 virus strain is just one out of 15 different subtypes of avian influenza,
but until now, only two subtypes have been highly pathogenic causing major
outbreaks; those being subtypes H5 and H7.
The
H5N1 has not yet become a human influenza virus; it is a species-specific virus
which has crossed the species barrier to infect humans in some cases.
According
to the World Health Organization, the method of transmission from poultry to
humans is by direct contact with infected poultry, or objects contaminated with
their feces as well as exposure while slaughtering. Luckily, transmission from
person to person contact has not been established significantly, thus the virus
is not a human influenza virus as yet.
The
avian virus’s current threat on human health consists of two main factors.
One, when it is transmitted from poultry to humans it causes severe disease such
as viral pneumonia and multi-organ failure which may be fatal. Two, if the virus
is given a chance to mutate and evolve into a highly infectious form to humans,
which is spread easily from person to person, this could result in a pandemic.
Read
more facts about the avian influenza virus:
The
difference between an influenza pandemic and bird flu:
In
order for a pandemic to be declared, three conditions must be fulfilled:
-
A
new influenza subtype emerges
-
It
infects humans causing serious illness
-
It
spreads easily and sustainably among humans
The
first two of these conditions are applicable to the current avian influenza. As
long as this virus continues to infect birds with sporadic incidents of human
infection, the threat of a pandemic is possible.
Find
out how you can be more prepared:
More
news on the current situation:
Learn
more:
See
the Historical Timeline of Avian Influenza (including past pandemics):
Past
news on IslamOnline.net:
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