Avian Flu---Time's A-Tickin'...Part 2

Today we discuss the current world status of the bird flu.

In the meantime, there is reason to hope. Apparently, at present, most of the strains of the H5N1 avian influenza virus are unable to reside in human upper respiratory tracts. This makes human-to-human transmission through sneezing and coughing unlikely so far.

Read the account in Scientific American: Bird Flu Resides Deep in Lungs, Preventing Human-to-Human Transmission

Only one H5N1 strain, the A/Hong Kong/213/03, has shown the ability to latch onto receptors on cells in the upper respiratory tract as well as deep in the lungs. Most strains attach only to receptors in the deepest regions of the lungs, not a good condition for efficient transmission.

However, experts continue to monitor H5N1. Strains with the ability to recognize human receptors could bring us one step closer to a pandemic.

The current status....

Health experts have been watching this influenza for almost eight years. The H5N1 strain first infected humans in Hong Kong in 1997, causing 18 cases, including six deaths. Since mid-2003, this virus has caused the largest and most severe outbreaks in poultry on record. In December 2003, infections in people exposed to sick birds were identified.

Since then, over 100 human cases have been laboratory confirmed in four Asian countries (Cambodia, Indonesia, Thailand, and Viet Nam), and more than half of these people have died. Most cases have occurred in previously healthy children and young adults.

Fortunately, at the current time, the virus does not jump easily from birds to humans or spread readily and sustainably among humans. Should H5N1 evolve to a form as contagious as normal influenza, a pandemic could begin. (World Heath Organization, October 2005)

Since the October report from WHO, the H5N1 virus has moved along what are thought to be migratory bird paths to Turkey, Romania, China, Croatia, Ukraine, Kuwait, Iraq, Nigeria, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Greece, Italy, Slovenia, Russia, Iran, Austria, Germany, Egypt, India, France, Hungary, Malaysia, Slovakia, Bosnia, Georgia, Niger, Sweden, Switzerland, and Serbia. Extensive efforts are being made across the world to stop the spread of this virus.

The World Health Organization has developed an alert system to communicate the current situation in the evolution of this virus.

The present situation is categorized as phase 3: a virus new to humans is causing infections, but does not spread easily from one person to another.

We do not know when the H5N1 virus will infect birds in the US. We do not know when the virus will change to be able to infect humans on a greater scale.

Scientists say it will happen.

Are you prepared?

Next:
What you can do to prepare now.

For more information on the history and current status go to: http://www.cdc.gov/flu/pandemic/keyfacts.htm