Chicken Flu: The Threat of Animal to Human Transmission
Individuals who have shut or direct contact to infected poultry can contract the disease after coming in touch with chicken secretions or feces.
When hen flu hit most Asian international locations, it prompted the World Health Group (WHO) to urge China to test its wild birds, notably geese that migrate from its waters through the harsh winter. The disease spread so fast from one hen to another that about 5,000 birds had been killed in a single season. People who have shut or direct contact to infected poultry can contract the illness after coming in contact with fowl secretions or feces.
Though many are divided on the potential of direct human to human transmission of the virus, this chance has not been ruled out. Viruses, usually, are known to mutate. Within the case of chook flu, family members infected with it might present different severity of signs, prompting a misdiagnosis. Also, if a person who has the widespread flu turns into infected with chicken flu at the similar time, it could possibly lead to the mutation of the fowl flu virus.
On the University of Leicester in Nice Britain, it was found that a full-blown fowl flu pandemic could cause an eighty% mortality rate. A crew led by Karl Nicholson is growing the chicken flu vaccine with the purpose of lowering the fatality should a fourth major pandemic occur. Within the last century, there have been three recorded major pandemics: the Spanish Flu in 1918, the Asian Flu in 1957 and the Hong Kong Flu in 1968. In whole, the three pandemics claimed a minimum of 20 million people.
The bird flu virus, which could be transmitted via direct contact with a chook’s infected saliva, nasal secretions and feces, can survive for up to per week at 22 levels Celsius. At freezing temperatures, the virus can survive indefinitely. It's no surprise that the hen flu virus tends to last in colder climates and is pronounced to be nearly as deadly as SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome). In addition to the transmission of the disease from the migration of untamed birds touring nice distances, the illness can also be unfold when contaminated birds are exported and imported within the international market.
By way of safety in food dealing with and preparation, a cooking temperature of about 70 degrees Celsius is enough to kill the chicken flu virus. It is necessary, nevertheless, to keep away from raw birds and other raw markets meats from being contaminated. Prepare dinner eggs properly and test that the yolks usually are not runny. The straightforward act of washing your hands thoroughly with soap and water after dealing with raw meats may spell the difference. Needless to say transmission of the hen flu virus to people normally happens through the slaughtering course of and handling of contaminated hen fluids. After slaughtering infected poultry, the virus usually stays in the intestinal and respiratory tracts, not within the meat itself. Cooking at right temperatures can help keep away from the virus from spreading.
The symptoms of hen flu are very similar to human flu. However, the severity of a illness can typically give approach to announcements of a pandemic, which may trigger political issues. In Asia where the incidence and actual cases of human transmission of chicken flu occurred, WHO and the United States instantly took precautionary measures. The British Medical Journal, alternatively, declared that a pandemic continues to be far from happening.
No travel advisory has been issued proscribing anybody from going to nations affected by bird flu though WHO has issued a warning to travelers. Vacationers are suggested against going to reside poultry markets, getting shut contact to any farms and having direct exposure to feathers, feces or droppings, eggs and poultry meat products. Vacationers coming from troubled nations are also not being screened. Nevertheless, precautionary measures are in place, notably within the media. Data is being disseminated to be able to make folks conscious of the chicken flu, its effects and what to do to avoid getting infected.
Viruses are consistently mutating and evolving. Well being watchers, practitioners and scientists are involved about this because if a pandemic happens, there gained’t be enough time to organize and develop a vaccine. They fear that we are once once more on the point of one other major pandemic threat. Nevertheless, with the strides being made by know-how daily, hopefully the casualty gained’t be practically as excessive as the casualty of the previous three major pandemics that claimed not less than 20 million lives worldwide.
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