Bird Flu Overview

Unless you've been living under a rock for the past 5-6 years, the words "bird flu" will strike you as familiar. Ever since the first dangerous cases of bird flu appeared in Southern Asia, the subject has been intensely covered and different speculations and theories have been made as to how dangerous the disease could be for humans, what needs to be done to stop it and how to treat it once contracted by a human being. The following article will present the bird flu from this point of view, trying to be as objective as possible, demystifying it where it's the case.

First of all, it should be noted that bird flu is also called avian influenza, avian flu or bird influenza, so if we use these names further on (or if you see them in a different informational source), you should know that they basically mean the same thing: a form of flu that has adapted to birds. Similarly, other animals have a distinctive type of flu virus, adapted to them and them only. So, for example, if a virus contained by the bird flu would reach a horse's organism, there's an extremely low risk that it would produce any symptoms whatsoever, since it's not "adapted" to that kind of body.

Recently, however, there have been cases of human beings contracting the disease, which was thought of as highly improbable until now. Not only this, but the virus has proven to be symptomatic in some cases, causing severe health problems and even fatalities. The fast evolution of the bird flu virus has caught us a bit off-guard, hence the high amount of attention that the subject has been given worldwide. Following the death of several people that have contracted bird flu in Southern Asia, it was feared that a new flu pandemic could outburst, similar to the one known as the "Spanish flu" that broke out early in the 20th century, causing over 50 million deaths across the globe.

Extreme measures have been taken in order to put an end to any possible risk, thousands of flocks of birds diagnosed as potentially having bird flu, being quarantined or eradicated up until now. To the same extent, travelers coming in from areas of the globe where the bird flu has caused severe damage (Southern Asia for example) have to undergo a few special steps and tests in order to make sure they don't spread the virus further on, in other areas.

As of last year, the "bird flu panic" has been toned down a bit, but health institutions and governments all across the globe still keep a keen eye on the evolution of the virus and the disease. At the same time, medicine is developed that will greatly reduce the fatality risks of bird flu for humans, but the progress rate is slower than with other diseases, since the bird flu virus is constantly mutating and evolving, giving scientists a hard time predicting when (or if) this evolution will stop.

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  • Bird Flu Treatment

    Over the last decade, bird flu has become a major medical concern, on a global scale, although its effects haven't yet been extremely destructive towards the human population. The risk of a pandemic outburst (one that is estimated to have a death toll of several million lives) is still out there, for which reason international health institutions and governments have been urged to find a treatment for the bird flu as quickly as possible. Some important advances have been made in this regard, however there are still a lot of unanswered questions and problems that are quite worrying.

  • Bird Flu FAQ

    Flu pandemics have a relatively predictable rate of occurring, statistics showing that they appear around 3 times per century. Their intensity depends on the power of the virus, as well as the speed with which humanity combats it. The last such pandemic, the bird flu (also known as avian influenza) has not yet fully developed, greatly due to the fact that hasty measures have been taken in order to lower its effects. The more informed we are, the higher the chance of stopping the bird flu before it expands to an uncontrollable rate. For this matter, we have compiled a FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) about the bird flu, hopefully doing our small part in informing you about it.

  • Bird Flu Symptoms

    A lot of people wonder why such a big deal has been made about the bird flu, even though it's still a disease that's incomparable in damage to others such as AIDS or cancer. In 10 years, ever since the first cases of bird flu were discovered, only approximately 100 cases were diagnosed on humans, from which a high number were treated with success. Fortunately for us, we discovered the disease in time and started taking the required decisions to stop it from spreading for now, but with the constant (and fast) mutation of the bird flu virus into more adaptable forms and with the first documented cases of human-to-human transmission of the bird flu virus, we can never be sure when we're fully safe from a world scale pandemic. That's why we need to be prepared and know the disease's symptoms on humans, in order to treat it as quickly as possible.

  • Bird Flu And H5N1

    Although the disease in itself has been known of for quite a while, bird flu has only recently come to our attention, with the remote, yet extremely dangerous, cases of "species swapping" that the disease showed in the last decade. Usually, a particular type of flu only affects the creature it adapts to, so the virus from a bird would have no affect on a different animal, but there's a small chance that the disease will jump and adapt to a new species, such as it has been the case in several occasions with bird flu jumping and adapting on a human being.

  • Precautions Against Contracting Bird Flu

    We're all aware of the spreading Avian Influenza, or bird flu. Did you know there are some precautions you can take to avoid contracting it? There really isn't an immunization drug you can take to prevent bird flu. There were a few, but the virus developed a resistance to them. Take these precautionary measures to avoid the bird flu:

  • Six Reasons To Travel Despite The Threat Of Avian Bird Flu

    Over the past few years, the media and governments have gone really overboard in covering the avian or "bird" flu. It seems not a month goes by where we don't hear about a tainted bird found in one country or another. If you are considering a vacation or a business trip, you may have concerns about the bird flu. Don't let those concerns ruin a trip or make them cancel a trip. Go ahead and take your trip and let these tips make you feel better about it:

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