How The Avian Flu Spreads From Birds To Humans
September 6th, 2008

The avian flu has infected many human beings, and has become a threat to many nations. Avian flu is usually spread from birds to human beings. However, it’s not commonly known how the bird flu is spread from birds to humans. The spreading of bird flu essentially begins with migratory birds. It is possible for migratory birds to introduce low pathogenic flu viruses to poultry flocks, which then mutate the virus into a highly pathogenic form. The virus can then be passed on to humans. It is also possible for the wild birds to spread the virus to humans directly.

The H5N1 virus is the most dangerous of the bird flu viruses. This virus has caused the largest number of cases of severe disease and death in humans, than any other form of avian influenza. The H5N1 virus has a severe effect on humans’ respiratory systems; there is usually an aggressive clinical course, with rapid deterioration and high fatality. The most common outcomes of the disease are viral pneumonia and multi organ failure. More than half of the humans infected with the H5N1 virus have died, and millions of infected birds have been slaughtered. Birds can easily spread the disease to healthy children and adults. Avian flu can mutate and be spread from birds to humans, but it is not able to mutate within humans and be spread human-to-human. If the disease mutates in humans, it can become even more infectious, and may cause a pandemic.

The bird flu virus has infected many people in many countries, such as Hong Kong, Indonesia, and China. The disease is usually spread to humans that have close contact with birds, and that live on farms and are often close to birds. Spreading of the infection usually occurs, when a human has direct contact with an infected bird. Contact with surfaces and objects contaminated with bird feces, is presently the main route of human infection. Opportunities for exposure to infected feces or to environments contaminated by the avian flu virus, are abundant in farm and rural conditions. Many households in Asia use poultry for income and as a source of food, and many families sell, slaughter and consume infected birds. Although this practice can cause human infection, many families in Asia are unwilling to change this. In these cases, humans will most likely be infected during slaughtering, de-feathering, butchering and preparation of poultry.

It is also possible for humans to become infected by touching surfaces that are contaminated with the saliva and nasal secretions of infected birds. Many health officials believe that people infected with the H5N1 virus, were infected through direct contact with poultry. Airborne secretions are also a means of bird flu transmission to humans. Inhalation of these types of mucus membranes is highly effective in spreading the bird flu virus from birds to humans. The transfer of eggs from infected birds also has the potential to cause transmission of the bird flu virus to humans. Currently, it’s not very likely that human beings that don’t have close contact with birds will be infected with the virus. The bird flu virus is dangerous to humans, and humans have not built immunity to the disease yet. The virus can be spread from birds to other animals than onto humans, but it is most commonly spread from birds to humans. There is no way to stop the spreading of the disease from birds to humans, but many of the common ways of transmission can be stopped. Fewer occurrences of the disease in human beings can happen, if humans don’t allow their birds to roam free, and if humans clean their animals’ living quarters frequently.

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