When I first heard someone mention bird flu, my first inclination was to laugh. I thought he was kidding. However, being ignorant of events never suited me well, so I did some research. Many of you may not be familiar with avian flu and its future implications for the United States; take a moment to learn a little something and decide for yourself whether we have anything to worry about.
Although it is believed to have been in the area previously, in 2003 Korea publicly announced the first cases of avian flu. Since that time, 150 million birds have died; some killed by the disease, some slaughtered in an attempt to halt the flu’s spread. More than 100 people have been struck by the virus, and 67 have died. Vietnam has been hit the hardest, suffering 44 of the 67 deaths.
The avian flu’s origin is in Asia; however, it has now spread into Europe. Birds migrating from Asia to Africa have carried the virus into more than 10 countries, including Turkey, Romania and Russia. The cases found in these countries have been confirmed as the H5N1 strain.
H5N1 is the deadly strain of avian flu that is being carefully tracked by health officials. There is no cure for this virus. Although presently it can only be transmitted through birds, health experts believe that a human flu pandemic is imminent. A pandemic is an epidemic spread over a wide geographic area.
Health experts fear that if the H5N1 strain mutates into a flu that can be transmitted from person to person, then the disease will catastrophically affect humans. The World Health Organization (WHO) has stated that the greatest threat will be to Asia because the disease is already widespread in that area. There have been efforts with containment in Asia, but they have not had much success. In that region, the lives of people are closely bound to livestock, thus rendering disease prevention difficult.
Although Asia is at highest risk for a bird flu outbreak, other countries are also preparing for epidemics. “There’s no question that we will expect further outbreaks of avian disease in different countries,” said Dr. Michael Ryan, director of the department of epidemic and pandemic alert and response at the WHO. “The Americas, Africa and the Middle East are also very much in our minds.”
The more this virus is allowed to spread, the greater chance it has at mutating into a person-transmitted disease. Therefore, the general prevention method when bird flu enters a country is to eradicate mass numbers of birds. This lessens the virus’ opportunities for growth.
Although precautions are being taken, health experts believe that a human pandemic will unavoidably develop. Viruses mutate to survive. This does not necessarily mean that the mutated strain will be the deadly H5N1. Also, it does not mean that every country will be affected. Asia is at the most risk because of its containment failures.
Flu epidemics happen ever so often as new viruses develop. Humans do not have natural immunity to these mutated diseases, and therefore they spread quickly. Do not let the words epidemic or pandemic scare you, though. Just because a disease is widespread does not immediately mean that it is deadly.
The U.S. government has already begun preparing for a flu pandemic. President Bush met with drug companies earlier this month, persuading them to increase their vaccine production. In September, the Senate approved $3.9 billion to go toward getting ready for a flu outbreak. Other preparations include stockpiling antiviral drugs such as Tamiflu. This may not cure the flu, but they can contribute to treatment or prevention of the disease. Also, vaccines are being developed for the bird flu. These are still in the trial stage, though.
This news may come as a surprise, but there have recently been cases of avian flu in the United States. In February 2004, a flock of 7,000 chickens in Texas had a case of bird flu. Later that year, there were instances of bird flu in Delaware and New Jersey. These outbreaks were quickly identified and contained.
Avian flu is certainly a serious issue; however, panicking about a cataclysmic worldwide pandemic would be ridiculous. Precautions are being taken to track and halt the avian flu. We can prepare for the worst; that does not mean that we should expect it. Unreasonable fear is an enemy to both you and those around you.