The Basics about Bird Flu

Avian influenza is a natural infection in wild birds, which are actually carriers without ever being affected by the disease. Never the less, the avian flu can be passed to domestic poultry through various types of contact such as sharing the same food and water or coming in contact with excrements and cages of contaminated birds. A fairly easy way of determining whether poultry such as chicken, ducks, turkeys has bird flu is microscope examination of their saliva and nasal secretions.

Bird flu caused by influenza A viruses does not have a spontaneous effect on humans. The possibility is rather low to many because we are not as susceptible to it as birds. Though rare, cases of human infection have been outlined by the press. The virus that spreads among humans is known as the human influenza virus and has three branches: H1N1, H1N2, H3N2. The viruses vary through the different types of proteins that form their genetic coat: Hemagglutinin and Neuraminidaze. Parts of the virus affecting humans have also been found in birds, but the main concern is that the virus is in permanent replication and may one day evolve into a more potent form.

Furthermore, there are two forms of influenza, differing through pathogenic capacity. The low form is usually not easily spotted and can cause minor derangements, while the high extremes of virulence are much more dangerous leading to high death ratio and damaging vital body parts.

Moreover, the H5N1 virus or the influenza A virus has affected a number of people. For this reason, it is becoming a nuisance in undeveloped regions of Asia and Africa where poverty is widespread and living conditions are at a limit. In these places transmission between different species of birds and bird to human transmission is very likely because people live in very close contact with their poultry. Generally the following manifestations are present: conjunctivitis, pneumonia, breathing disorder, fever, cough, sore throat, muscle aches.

Although researchers are trying to come up with a vaccine as fast as possible, further experiments with the genetic coat of the virus are a must for the cure to be efficient. However, medication does exist. The likes of Zanamavir and Oseltamavir are currently on the market but it is not known whether they work or not.

At present time nobody can tell 100% if bird flu can cause a pandemic, but the H5N1 virus is closely monitored by experts worldwide.

For more information about bird flu or even about bird flu treatment please review this page http://www.bird-flu-info-center.com/bird-flu-treatment.htm

Bird Flu Manifestations In Poultry And Wild Birds

The avian flu is a specific bird condition that affects all kind of birds but wild ones seem to be more resistant and carry the virus without showing any obvious signs. Poultry is most sensitive to the virus and develop the disease; mild cases evolve with respiratory symptoms, low egg production ruffled feathers. The second type of illness is the rare but lethal infection and was first discovered 1878 in Italy. The severe symptoms appear sudden and the mortality can reach 100% in less than 48 hours; the viral strain affects the respiratory tract but also produces damages to other tissues and organs and causes massive hemorrhages.

There are 16 haemaglutinins known and 9 neuraminidases and all can be found in wild birds. This makes the permanent reserve of avian flu as many of the infection viruses cause no harm in normal conditions. Most severe cases of bird flu have been caused by the subtypes H5 and H7 containing a set of basic amino acids.

All low pathogenic virus types have the possibility to become most dangerous after mutations. If earlier it was thought that waterfowls carry the low pathogenic virus, today we know they are able to transmit the most dangerous H5N1 to the visited countries. Highly pathogenic viruses can be transmitted from farm to farm by live birds, contaminated clothing, equipment, feed or cages. Very contagious virus types survive long periods of time in the environment if the temperature is low. H5N1 remains in feces for 35 days at 4 degrees Celsius. At 35 degrees the virus can survive 6 hours in faecal samples.

In cases of high pathogenic strains immediate measures such as quarantine, disinfection, proper disposal of carcasses and rapid culling of the infected birds. Strict biosecurity and sanitary measures oblige large poultry farms to isolate birds and stop the movements of live poultry. The control is easier to be done in big commercial poultry farms than in small private flocks in rural and per urban areas.

If the culling method proves unsuccessful a vaccination campaign can be recommended in high risk areas. The vaccines however must be certified by the National health organization and should be of high quality. Poor quality vaccines lead to dangerous viral mutations and can expose humans to an apparently healthy poultry population.

Backyard flocks expose humans to the infection as birds usually roam free and share water places with wild birds. These situations place humans at risk especially when birds are brought inside the household and in direct contact with children. Most common, house owners tend to sacrifice birds with illness signs and consume the meat with their families instead of alerting the authorities. Many persons especially in the country side hide their poultry during culling operations.

For more information about bird flu or even about bird flu vaccine please review this page http://www.bird-flu-info-center.com/bird-flu-vaccine.htm

Is a bird flu vaccine really effective?

Bird flu is still a hot subject at the World Health Organization meetings, due to the fact that is still considered a threat for humanity.

Scientists believe that the H5N1 virus could mutate and then transmit from human to human causing a global pandemic, for which humanity is not yet prepared.

We have not developed a drug or a vaccine that might kill this evil virus, and so we are exposed to it. Lately there have been debates about the usefulness of the annual flu vaccines. Some scientists declare that if you get annually a flu vaccine, you are making yourself more susceptible to the flu in subsequent years, by weakening your immune system, instead of enforcing it.

Dr. Haim Danenberg of Hadassah University Hospital in Jerusalem says that one who did not get annual flu shots is possible to poses a better immune system then the annually vaccinated ones.

Some even say that flu vaccines create a pattern of dependence and once you begin taking them you will need to take them every year because your immune system gets weaker every year.

Phyllis Balch, an author of herbs and health does not recommend flu shots and suggests that the solution of getting rid of flu is by strengthening the immune system.

Every year a new strain of virus develops and we can not be sure that the flu shot we took will match for this new virus too, and the antibody response will only be protective if we are luckily enough to get infected with the right virus.

A study from Netherlands made on elderly people concluded that flu shots only give you one percent lower chance of getting the flu after all, so we ask ourselves why doctors and governments make all this propaganda for flu shots if they are only1% helpful.

In the case of bird flu things might not be like this, because if a virus strain is isolated and used to manufacture a bird flu vaccine, it may turn out to be more effective than 1%. Studies have not concluded yet.

It seems that flu shots contain toxic substances too, like mercury which is connected with the Alzheimer disease and could contribute to a mercury poisoning.

There is a law that indemnifies vaccine manufacturers from the harm caused by their products in case of a viral pandemic, even if the vaccine kills people.

You could find more about this law at: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d109:s.01873:

So, the vaccine producers are protected in case of a mass murder, and they even get money for it (they sell their vaccine to health authorities). This proves that vaccines are not safe and that is why the vaccine companies have assured their legal protection.

Before getting a shot, people should first find out mere about the side effects given by the vaccines and to reconsider whether they want to risk taking it or try a different solution like the real anti-viral medicines.

So, if you want to find out more about bird flu prevention or even about symptoms of bird flu please click this link http://www.bird-flu-info-center.com/

A Step By Step Guide On How To Prevent Bird Flu

Bird Flu is one of the greatest threats to our modern civilization and if at all a pandemic strikes our planet earth, we are not at all prepared to face it. Bird flu spreads and multiplies in unhygienic conditions. In fact the carriers of this deadly virus are the wild birds, which remain unaffected by the outcome of the virus infiltration.

Bird flu is just an influenza virus. Generally this virus does not infect the humans. But a single strain of this virus, known as H5N1 can show infection symptoms in humans, dogs and pigs. Many of the viruses of this deadly disease has a common route to enter. They are found in our finger nails and enter through the mucous membrane of our nose and eyes.

However, the bird flu virus can be easily prevented. Some of the preventive measures are:

1.Maintaining proper personal hygiene. For that it is advisable that you wash your hands frequently, particularly while taking meals. And if you are looking for more safety use gloves while stepping out of your homes.

2.Apart from personal hygiene, proper sanitation is also very important. Unhygienic sanitation places are the best breeding grounds for the flu virus.

3.As it has been said earlier that the virus spreads through the mucous membranes so it is advisable for you to take some extra precautions. While traveling out in crowded places, make sure that you cover your eyes with a pair of goggles. And also try to cover your mouth and nose with the clinical masks available.

4.This is an advise both for the doctors and the general family members. While addressing a patient suffering from the virus, you should always cover your nose and mouth with a mask or an handkerchief. Because the mucous dropping by the patients carries the bird flu virus that might infect you.

5.There is some special care to take if you are a worker in a poultry farm. You need to protect all your body parts. So for that reason wear clinical masks and gloves for a complete protection. Keep separate clothes for the workplace and for home.

6.And if you find any bird suffering from the symptoms of the flu, you should immediately seclude it from the others. Do not allow the nasal discharge, fecal matter and the blood droplets of the infected chicken to come in contact with the healthy chickens.

7.There are certain vaccines for the bird flu disorder. But these vaccines sometimes fail to show positive results. So it is better to look for prevention than the cure.

8.While disposing the things used, like the gloves and the masks used while monitoring a bird or a human suffering from the virus, you should take some extra care. Dispose them as indicated on their manufacturing boxes.

9.The other natural way to prevent encounter with a flu virus is by improving your immune system. A strong immune system helps you fight this deadly virus. More over if you try to keep your general health fine, there are less chances of you being infected.

Preventing bird flu virus from spreading is not a difficult task. All you need to do is to be a little more careful about your surroundings and your health. An efficient immune and health system can fight any disease. The same is true with the prevention of the bird flu virus.

To read more articles on bird flu, bird flu prevention and bird flu vaccine visit http://www.isitbirdflu.com/

The author writes articles on different topics. To get more bird flu articles visit http://www.isitbirdflu.com/

It Is A Must To Identify The Early Symptoms Of Bird Flu

Some of the bird flu symptoms are identified. As regards the other symptoms the usual guess work is going on. In birds, the virus H5N1 causes diarrhea, excessive shedding, a swollen head and difficulty in breathing.

?but how will you take note of these symptoms unless you are a bird expert?

Some more symptoms are, fever, sore throat, muscle ache, chest pain, lethargy, cough and headache. If the infection has taken a serious turn in you, the following symptoms would indicate the state:

eye infections
acute respiratory problems
pneumonia
inflammation of the heart
inflammation in the brain.

Immediate hospitalization in the case of severe symptoms is not only advisable but absolutely necessary. Human to human help is most welcome in most of the adversaries, but not at this time when your H5N1 virus is waiting for the opportune moment to take hold of the person who is coming to help you.

So, avoid all contacts and let a trained health worker handle the precious cargo!

This virus is actually found in the bird's intestines. Even in the birds, the symptoms are not severe as such. But the way in which the birds are handled in the poultry farms (they are packed closely together with chicken and turkeys) helps the cause of rapid spread of bird flu.

A general alert was sounded in health circles all over the world, when the mutated variety of the bird flu virus, H5N1 showed its teeth. That was in the year 2003. The infected poultry led to several human infections. About 50 % of the affected died. The other 50% turned temporary vegetarians and inspired many others to follow the suit.

The mode of infection is simple. Come into contact with the bird?s saliva, face or nasal secretions and you certainly have it instantly. The other birds which come into similar contacts have no chance of survival. As for human beings, if protective measures are not taken, become susceptible to the disease.

To get more information on bird flu, bird flu symptoms and bird flu prevention visit http://www.isitbirdflu.com/

How a Little-Known Science Might Protect You From Bird Flu

You can use a little-known branch of science to help protect yourself and your loved ones from the bird flu pandemic.

It's called evolutionary epidemiology. Basically, it means that microorganisms evolve in ways that encourage the survival and spread of their species.

How this works in each human disease, depends on the nature of how the disease spreads.

The common cold irritates but does not kill us -- so we feel well enough to go to work and sneeze and cough on other people, thus spreading the virus. However, malaria is a killer disease because weak, bed-confined malarial patients allow more mosquitoes to suck up their blood and then go infect other people.

There's currently a scientific debate going on about what this means in connection with bird flu.

Some scientists say that bird flu will not evolve into a highly contagious killer such as the 1918 virus because there is no World War I going on. Trench warfare conditions made that flu virus evolve into a fast killer, because the fast transmission of diseases causes them to evolve into virulent forms.

Other scientists say that the A/H5N1 virus could still mutate or re-assort into a highly contagious and highly mortal killer of people, even without a brutal war to encourage such evolution.

As the recent author of a book telling people how to protect themselves and their families from bird flu, I worried that maybe the first camp are right and I was wasting people's time.

Then I realized something -- my book was perfectly in tune with evolutionary principles.

It's true that there's no world war raging in Europe, but so far, I have not seen anybody in this debate bring up the subject of megacities in the developing world. Mexico City, Jakarta, Bangkok, Calcutta . . . and more are intensely crowded with humanity. Whole extended families sleep together on floors of corrugated iron.

These overcrowded megacities are home to millions of people around the world. If bird flu spreads into one of these neighborhoods, it will find many victims.

They will not seek medical treatment, because they can't afford it. They will lie down at home -- which means being in close contact not only with the many family members they live with, but all the neighbors who stop in and visit. They do not have separate bedrooms or even beds. So they will just have to lay in a corner and struggle for breath.

It seems quite logical to me that in such areas, bird flu could rapidly evolve into a killer flu on a par with 1918, in accord with evolutionary biology principles.

The clear call to action from evolutionary epidemiologists is therefore that isolating victims encourages microorganisms to evolve into nondangerous forms.

If we could isolate everybody in mosquito areas behind solid walls and screened windows, we would force malaria, yellow fever and dengue to evolve into mild forms.

If we could provide everybody in the world with safe drinking water we would force cholera to evolve into a mild form.

If we could force every drug user to give up needles and everybody to give up all but one lifetime sexual partner, HIV would have to become more benign.

I have always recommended that during a bird flu pandemic everyone isolate themselves and family members as much as possible. That's the flip side of isolating victims. As much as possible, bird flu patients should be isolated from non-infected people.

And during a pandemic when large numbers of people will be infected? Non-infected people should isolate themselves.

I advise to do that for personal protection, but if everybody isolated themselves, then A/H5N1 would have to evolve into a much less lethal flu virus.

However, we cannot wait for that eventual evolution to save us. It did happen to the 1918 flu, but not before wiping out whole Eskimo villages near the Arctic Circle -- far from the European war.

Once bird flu becomes both highly contagious and highly lethal, it will eventually change. I've never believed it would wipe out all humanity.

But you don't want to be one of the millions who do die while waiting for bird flu to evolve into a "nice" virus.

Resolve to isolate yourself and your family if necessary -- and all other ways to fight bird flu.Richard Stooker Richard discusses how to avoid H5N1 bird flu in his book How to Protect Yourself and Your Family From H5N1 Bird Flu -- And check out his H5N1 Bird Flu blog

Bird Flu -- How the Nightmare Begins

Somewhere in Southeast Asia (or Africa, the Mid-East, Europe etc) . . .

A hen clucks and shifts around in her perch. She sniffs and sneezes.

Inside the lining of her respiratory tract and lungs, millions of influenza viruses -- commonly called A/H5N1 or bird flu -- are infecting her cells and forcing them to replicate millions more of the virus.

This is the same virus that's deadly to chickens. People can catch it through close contact with chickens, but they can not spread it to other people.

The hen excretes. Her white waste material -- full of A/H5N1 -- falls to the floor below, mixing in with the dirt and other chicken manure.

The pig below the hen also feels ill. Several days ago, the farmer who owns them both sneezed on the pig while feeding her. Now the pig has a case of ordinary human flu. It's not life-threatening to the farmer or the pig, but it is highly contagious.

Hungry despite her flu, the pig gobbles down some chicken manure, including some which contains A/H5N1.

A/H5N1 works its way through the pig's body to the pig's respiratory system. There, it starts drilling into the pig's cells with its spikes of hemagluttinin.

There it meets up with a virus of ordinary flu infecting the pig -- just like two bank robbers who enter the same vault from two sides.

It's not true love, but it's not bad. They combine genetic material and soon have an offspring who's the best of both of them.

As contagious between human beings as ordinary flu.

As lethal to human beings as A/H5N1.

Soon Junior uses the neuraminidase protein spikes on his surface to cut himself loose from the pig's cell he calls home, and makes his way out into the world . . . to infect his very own cell.

He takes over its genetic material and soon has instructed the cell to replicate millions more of himself.

Soon those viruses are spreading through the pig.

Several days later, the farmer's oldest son comes to feed the pig. Heavily infected with the contagious form of lethal bird flu, the pig snorts and sneezes onto the boy.

Who later rough houses with his friends at school, including Pim.

Pim takes the virus home to his father, Yu.

The next day, Yu takes a bus to Bangkok to buy some supplies and equipment for his farm. He spends much of the day talking over his order with Mr. Chen, the owner of The White Lotus Farm Store.

Mr. Chen goes home that evening and spends a lot of intimate time with his wife, who is leaving tomorrow to spend two weeks visiting relatives in Chicago, U.S.A.

When Mrs. Chen boards the early morning Thai Airways flight to Los Angeles, she is not aware that 145 kilometers away from her, a chicken and a pig are dead . . . and a farmer's son and his friend are too sick to go to school.

Neither do the other 200 passengers who spend 11 hours breathing the same air as Mrs. Chen.

The farmers have taken their children to the nearby clinic, which has taken throat samples and sent them to the United Nations World Health Organization laboratories to be tested.

The doctor is worried, because the other family members are also feeling poorly and many of their farm animals have died. He's feeling weak himself.

After landing at Los Angeles International Airport, some of Mrs. Chen's fellow passengers go into Los Angeles. Some of them go on to flights to Canada, Latin America and New York City. A few plan to continue on to London and Paris. Mrs. Chen finds her gate to a American Airlines flight to Chicago.

A few days later, WHO and CDC workers fly to the small farming village and the Thai government imposes a travel ban on the entire province.

In Chicago, Mrs. Chen has taken to her bed and her relatives are sneezing on their jobs . . .

Learn How to Protect Yourself and Your Family From the Bird Flu H5N1 Virus

Latest news and immune info at: Bird Flu H5N1 Virus Updates

Bird Flu Protection and Prevention

Bird flu prevention and protection can help prepare you for an influenza pandemic if it were to occur right now. You should become knowledgeable about the magnitude of what can happen is there were a pandemic outbreak. Certain actions can help lesson the impact on your family.

You should prepare yourself for an outbreak by gathering certain information and necessities in case your town comes down with a pandemic. These necessities will help you if you need to protect yourself from an outbreak and stay inside your home.

Put away a supply of food and water for you and your family. While the pandemic is taking place, you may have a hard time getting to the store or the store can be out of supplies, hence the importance for you to have extra supplies put away.

Make sure you carry non-prescription drugs and health supplies to your storage spot. You should have pain relievers, stomach remedies, cough medicines, fluid with electrolytes, and vitamins. This is necessary to provide relief in the event you come in contact with the flu.

Help other family members by explaining to them the necessity to store these items as well. Other people should be informed of what is needed in the event a pandemic happens in their area too. Each home should have somebody designated to help care for the sick.

You can help by volunteering your time with groups in your area to help prepare and assist in emergency situations. You can make a difference for people who have already come into contact with this deadly flu virus.

You can limit the spread of dangerous flu and prevent others or yourself from being infected. You need to teach your children to wash their hands often with soap and water, and you should be a model person in this rule and use the correct behavior as well.

Everyone in your family or home should make sure they cover their mouths with tissues while they are coughing or sneezing. This helps to prevent the spread of this flu by obstructing the germs from getting into the air around you.

Educate your children to keep away from anyone who seems like they could possibly be ill. Your children should also stay at home if they possess any of the symptoms of this flu to prevent contamination to other people.

You can both prevent and protect yourself from a deadly outbreak by following these simple guidelines. Don't risk your own life or the lives of others and help keep this flu under control.

Bird Flu Prevention and Protection - Get the facts about the Avian Flu Virus - http://www.avianstocks.com

The Problems We May Still Face Even Though A Bird Flu Vaccine Is Introduced

The bird flu virus undergoes constant changes as it mutates genetically. This makes identification of one particular virus type as the culprit absolutely impossible. For the same reason any pharmaceutical preparation targeting one particular type of virus would be useless in case flu is caused by a changed virus derived from the old known one.

WHO leads a Global Influenza Surveillance Network with 110 influenza centers in 83 countries and four WHO Collaborating Centers. Representative samples of patients having bird flu like symptoms are collected and investigated for bird flu viruses. The latest strains circulating across the world are identified and recommendations are made about the flu vaccine's composition. This is done in February and September every year.

After the WHO gives guidelines for the strains to be put into the vaccine from the selection of the strains to be used in the vaccine, all the way to the final vaccine, is a lengthy process that may take up to 6-8 months. Production of the new vaccine strain starts immediately after the WHO announces the strains. The strains then undergo quality testing. Then only all the three different strains, two influenza A and one influenza B strain, are mixed into a single vaccine. It is now that the vaccine is packaged and shipped for sale and administration.

The bird flu vaccine has its own side effects too. Usually the injection site shows some redness and swelling; fever, vomiting, headache, sore throat and minute physical discomforts are also noticed in about 5% of the cases.

Currently the total production capacity of the world is about 300 million influenza vaccines per year. And the world population is about 6.5 billion! So it is quite apparent that in the case of a pandemic not everyone can be vaccinated unless we either stockpile vaccine or produce it at war footing; the former being not possible since the composition of vaccine keeps changing every year and would not be possible in the near future. For these reasons if a pandemic occurs, then for a few starting months we won't have bird flu vaccines at our disposal and our only saving grace would be non-medicinal measures.

Even for the amount of vaccine that is available, it would need the world's healthcare system to have a well defined distribution plan and an extremely reliable supply chain system, in order to cope with demands. Such level of distribution and administration of the vaccines is simply not feasible today.

It is clear by now that the stock of vaccines produced every year gets wasted if the flu virus changes, which it does from year to year. But still these drugs are manufactured so as to test and demonstrate the technological capability of the system which is in place. WHO reports that the usage of antiviral drugs and vaccination are the most effective measures against a bird flu threat. But then again it is quite evident that only the vaccination cannot help the 6.5 billion population of earth. It is just one of the desperate measures we can rely upon. Alongside we will have to keep upgrading public knowledge about the preventive measures, keep taking all the precautions to curtail the spread of influenza and keep researching for better ways to fight the virus.

Clive Jenkins recommends the Bird Flu Helpsite which will provide you with comprehensive information on all aspects of the Bird Flu Virus. To find articles, tips and free advice check out the site here:
http://www.birdfluhelpsite.com

How to Protect the Mentally Challenged From Bird Flu

A bird flu pandemic is going to be a great disruption and test of humanity, but even more so to people who are mentally challenged, whether mentally retarded (MR) or who have psychiatric mental/emotional disorders.

Of course, all the physical ways of protecting ourselves from bird flu by remaining as isolated as possible, not physically touching people unless necessary, wearing Nanomasks and so on, apply to the mentally challenged as well as to everybody else.

Their extra risk comes from the impaired ability to adjust to a world where the bird flu virus is killing millions around the world, and the many consequences of that.

They may not understand that they should not go out, should not visit with friends, should not attend any adult day care, cannot go to work at their sheltered workshop and so on. Or that food can no longer be cooked but must come out of a can. Or that the lights may not work again for months. Or that the grocery store where they work is closed or that their job coach died from the flu. Or that batteries should be saved to operate the portable radio rather than a video game.

They may require patience and retraining in learning how to use a manual can opener, wash their bodies from a bucket or to keep a Nanomask snugly on their face at all time when out in public.

Schizoprenics may easily over-react to a bird flu pandemic. Imagine it's the end of the world, incorporate it into their own mental fantasies etc.

Paranoids may make the best adjustment to the realities of a bird flu pandemic. Although the bird flu virus is not out to get them personally, it is out to get all of us. During a bird flu pandemic, avoidance techniques are practical.

Depressed people will require close observation, since a bird flu pandemic will only encourage this emotion. Many people around the world will be feeling event-linked depression over the state of the world and grief for deceased friends and family.

Everybody will be feeling stressed out, so people who're already having problems coping emotionally will be all the more likely to look for a way out through suicide. Those who make the threat or attempt in an effort to get further help may not fully understand that a fully equiped ambulance and trained Emergency Medical Technicians are not a quick phone call to 911 away.

In their emotional state they may not understand that the local hospital and medical personnel are already too overloaded with bird flu patients. The extra help they need and want may simply not be there.

That leaves you to give them the emotional attention the need.

One major challenge during a serious and protracted pandemic will be obtaining prescription drugs. Check with their doctor about stockpiling an extra month or two of their medicine, in the event of a pandemic or other emergency.

You should also check with their doctor about care through the pandemic. Do they plan to stay available? They're first trained as regular physicians, so it is possible they would be pressed into service at a local hospital tending flu patients? Do they have any back up?

Check with their medical provider, but I suggest giving them some useful task that is not critical but which is important enough for them to understand they are contributing to the household during a situation that is difficult for everybody. Make it their job to put the tubs outside at night to catch any rainfall, or to help with the cooking, or to keep the dog chained in the backyard.

As much as possible, keep their minds on accomplishing the small but useful day to day tasks that survival depends on.

Richard Stooker is the author of How to Protect Yourself and Your Family From Bird Flu and Bird Flu Blog

Worried About Bird Flu? Pest Birds Cause More Problems Than You May Know

Birds are beautiful, wild creatures of nature and most reside in rural environments that provide natural shelters for them. However, some bird species have successfully adapted to our urban environment. The pigeon, starling and house sparrow -- among others -- thrive in our buildings and on our food. Their adaptation to our communities has brought them into close proximity to humans, often conflicting with us in our cities and suburbs. Although there are many different problems associated with pest birds, they can generally be grouped into two main categories: damage and disease.

How Pest Birds Harbor and Spread Disease

Headlines scream of late about the spread of bird flu, encephalitis, salmonella and among other diseases, raising the public's awareness about the role pest birds play in the spread of disease. Yet, there are still many who underestimate the health risks associated with birds.

Birds are a perfect mechanism for spreading disease as they travel great distances, harbor a variety of parasites and can host internally a plethora of infectious diseases. While in general human interaction with most bird species is minimal, as more birds like pigeons, sparrows, starlings and gulls, become urbanized and we develop further into the suburbs (their natural habitat), they come into contact with humans more frequently, thus increasing the potential for the spread of diseases.

Diseases are carried by birds in several ways: 1) they are contained inside the bird and passed on through defecation, 2) they are present in the bird's nesting materials or droppings, and spread wherever these materials are left, and 3) the disease is inside a parasite the bird hosts.

The most common way a disease is transferred from bird to human is when a diseased bird directly defecates into a human food or water source. In the summer of 93, New York faced a health crisis when several hundred people came down with a mysterious ailment. The illness was traced to seagull droppings in an old city reservoir. Even if the feces are not dropped directly onto exposed food or water, airborne spores from drying feces in air ducts and vents or anywhere nearby can settle on exposed food and transfer disease. Several thousand cases of food poisoning (salmonella) every year can be attributed to this disease transmission route.

As bird droppings and/or the contaminated soil it rests on dries or is disturbed, microscopic pieces break off and become airborne. The airborne particles can contain dormant fungi and/or bacteria. When breathed into the lungs, the warm, moist lung lining provides a breeding ground for the infectious agents. Generally this infection lasts a few days, is flu-like in nature and the body's defenses contain the invaders before minor symptoms appear. However, in some cases, major infections cause long term disability and, in the extreme cases, death. An example of this occurred after the Northridge earthquake, when several thousand people came down with flu-like respiratory symptoms called Valley Fever, caused by breathing in dust and airborne debris filled with histoplasmosis spores and related fungal agents stirred up by the earthquake. It is important to note there is no known medical cure for internal fungal infections.

Direct contact with feces can also cause infections, such as when fecal dust or droppings get inside a wound or cut. The wound site becomes red, puffy and pus-filled. Antibiotics are often needed to cure the infection. In some rare cases, infection of the blood (septis) or internal infection can also occur, causing serious illness or death. Proper attire must always be worn around bird droppings, and special care used when cleaning a bird site or installing bird control products. If a cut or injury occurs, thoroughly wash and disinfect the wound and cover with a sterile bandage to minimize risk of infection.

Parasites harbored by pest birds like ticks, fleas, mites and mosquitoes, etc., are a key component in the spread of infectious diseases. Parasites transfer diseases by biting an infected animal and sucking in blood containing the germ, then passes the germ along when it bites its next victim. Over forty types of parasites often live either on birds, in their nests or in places they roost. They are responsible for the transmission of several hundred viral and bacterial agents including: plague, encephalitis, pox and meningitis. Paradoxically, this threat can be aggravated when bird control products are installed if the installer does not thoroughly clean and disinfect the site with a hospital-grade disinfectant to eradicate the parasites. If they do not clean the site when the birds are excluded, mites, fleas, ticks, etc., will seek a new host, often the human inhabitants in the area. Therefore, a proper bird control project will always include parasite extermination and thorough cleaning of the entire site.

Damage Caused by Pest Birds

Pest birds are responsible for tens of millions of dollars of damage every year to buildings, machinery, automobiles, roofs, ventilation systems and much more. Accumulated bird droppings and nesting materials cause a host of physical problems, sometimes very serious in nature, if not corrected immediately. Besides the liability concern of people slipping and falling on droppings that gather on walkways, bird droppings and nesting materials are responsible for a host of other types of property and structural damage as well.
Bird droppings are very acidic in composition and "eat" away at many substrates, especially tar-based roofing materials. Piled bird droppings on roofs can wear through many types of material, eventually causing leaks. The life expectancy of a composite roof can be cut in half by just a light, but continuous, application of bird droppings. Pigeon, starling and sparrow nests are often built in rain gutters, drains and the corners of roofs where drains are located. Each year buildings of all types experience damage and occasionally, in extreme cases, roof collapses, when drainage systems are blocked with bird nests and droppings and standing water rises to a level the roof cannot support.

Bird droppings and nesting materials frequently cause damage to air conditioning equipment, machinery, siding, insulation, etc. Besides damaging equipment, people around these areas are exposed to a potentially dangerous health-risk any time they work on or around the machinery. Nesting materials are often very flammable due to their construction of straw, twigs and dried droppings and when birds build their nests near air conditioning units and other machinery there is a definite risk of fire. Most bird droppings, especially pigeon and sea gull, fade automobile and other paint finishes by eating into the protective coating and the paint itself. The longer the droppings are allowed to sit on the paint, the more damage is done.

Chimneys and ventilation systems are favorite nesting spots for some birds and can potentially spread diseases through the air duct system, as well as blocking airflow. This can have horrible consequences like in 1995 when a family of five in Cleveland was killed by carbon monoxide poisoning when their fireplace exhaust was blocked by bird nests.

Attics of houses, apartments, and other buildings are favorite nesting places for many birds, especially pigeons. They enter through openings broken or never sealed off in the first place, and set up home in these protected areas, building nests and defecating. These areas have little or no exposure to sunlight or airflow, magnifying the potential spread of disease since bacteria harbored in the birds' excrement and nesting materials thrive under these conditions. Damage to the structure, insulation and any items stored in the vicinity can be costly, and often the foul odors that develop can be overwhelming. More than once the weight of droppings from a large number of resident birds has become so great that the ceiling has actually collapsed. In addition, droppings and nesting materials on or around a building send a message to neighbors that building is not properly maintained.

How to Handle Pest Bird Problems

First and foremost, bird infestations should be taken seriously, but not irrationally. When evaluating a health risk potential, look for the following: droppings or nesting materials inside air vents, birds around food or water containers/areas, or large amounts of droppings in enclosed areas. These are the types of situations where disease can spread. Remember, pigeons walking around a park bench is not necessarily cause for panic, but twenty birds living inside an attic could pose a health and damage concern requiring action.

Second, permanent barriers that actually deter birds from remaining at the site should be installed to keep birds from returning to the area. Examples of these products would be: bird netting, bird spikes, post & wire products, etc. Audio/ visual products such as screech owls, balloons, and audible sound products (not ultrasonic -- birds hear the same way humans do) can be effective against certain species (but not pigeons!) that are not nesting at the site. There are a number of companies and websites out there that specialize in bird control products such as Bird Barrier America, BirdSpikes.net and BirdBusters to name a few.

Third, when cleaning the site and installing bird control products, the proper precautions must be taken. Respirators, goggles and protective clothing should always be used when cleaning up bird sites, particularly in enclosed areas out of the sun with large amounts of droppings and nesting material.

Finally, once the birds are removed it is crucial to exterminate all the ectoparasites and thoroughly disinfect the site to prevent the migration of bacteria and parasites. Then you can be sure they will not move to a new host, like other animals in the area or even humans, once the birds are gone.

Bird control is something that should be planned in the budget if possible by building managers, as are other types of pest control. Generally, the earlier a problem is detected, the easier it is to solve, since the birds have not had a lot of time to become committed to the site. Control methods are available on the market that are effective and affordable, and installing them generally saves you time and money long-term, as it reduces the clean-up time and associated replacement costs which can mount quickly when a number of birds are present. Companies like Bird Barrier offer toll free phone consultations at (800) 503-5444 and have certified bird control product installers across the nation to assist in solving any bird problem.

With over 10 years of experience researching and documenting bird control problems and solutions, Monique Thorsell is considered an expert consultant for companies in the bird control industry like Bird Barrier America, Bird Busters and others.

Will the ChimigenTM Vaccine Stop Bird Flu, Anthrax and Hepatitis?

We interviewed Dr. Rajan George, Adjunct Faculty of the University of Alberta's Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences Department. Dr. George is also Vice President of Research and Development for the Division of Infection Diseases of ViRexx Medical Co.

Interviewer: Can you describe ViRexx Medical's Chimigen? therapeutic vaccine?

Dr. Rajan George: Chimigen therapeutic vaccine is used to produce immune responses in a host against infections which are difficult to produce immune responses, by targeting the vaccine to dendritic cells. The Chimigen platform can be extended to develop therapies for difficult-to-treat chronic infectious diseases.

Interviewer: Does that mean the Chimigen platform can be used to treat any infectious disease?

Dr. Rajan George: Yes, except in cases where the immune system is non-functional, as in the case of HIV.The Chimigen platform can be used to produce either a therapeutic vaccine or a prophylactic vaccine. This depends on the disease target and the antigen plugged into the platform. Some antigens have a use in treating infection, while others have a use in preventing an infection. Either one would be targeted to the dendritic cells. The therapeutic vaccine generates a cytotoxic T cell response. A prophylactic vaccine would generate a B cell response and antibody production.

Interviewer: How broad are the applications for the Chimigen? vaccine

Dr. Rajan George: We should be able to use this platform for cancer therapy, depending upon the cancer antigen we use. We can plug in a specific cancer antigen into this platform, and the vaccine targeted to dendritic cells. The dendritic cells would process and present the right antigen, then generating immune responses against the cancer.

We are also evaluating some bioterrorist viruses, the biological weapons terrorists would use, and are looking at one of those viruses to see if we can come up with the prophylactic vaccines against bioterrorism

Interviewer: Would the Chimigen? vaccine be effective as a prophylactic against avian flu, H5N1?

Dr. Rajan George: It could work for bird flu if we just plugged in the bird flu antigen into the platform. Then we can use it as a prophylactic. It generates antibody to generate B-Cell response. You can produce a prophylactic vaccine using this platform. The Chimigen? platform is quite adaptable.

Interviewer: How high is your confidence level in producing a prophylactic vaccine for the avian flu virus?

Dr. Rajan George: My thinking is that it is quite high. I think very highly of having a vaccine like that. But, the ultimate proof has to come from humans. Our HepaVaxx B clinical trial will give us a lot of information on how the technology really works. Until then, our optimism is based on laboratory results.

Interviewer: Can you describe what comprises the Chimigen platform?

Dr. Rajan George: The platform has two components. The first one is from the infectious agent. The second component is from a murine monoclonal antibody. Part one is fused with a fragment of part two by recombinant technology to produce a new entity, the Chimigen? vaccine. We are recombining one thing with another. We have a virus which has certain antigens. We take one of those, and we produce a recombinant molecule with the fragment we have taken from a murine monoclonal antibody. Chimigen is the term we came up with to include the meaning of the full phrase, chimeric antigen. Chimeric means it comes from two different sources. We put them together and create a new molecule. One is from the virus. The other one is from the mouse, the monoclonal antibody. Now we have by recombinant methods produced a protein which is a chimeric protein.

Interviewer: How do you produce such a flexible vaccine, one that appears capable of treating nearly any infection?

Dr. Rajan George: To produce a Chimigen? vaccine to treat nearly any infection, we start with an antigen (protein) from the infectious agent. We fuse it with a fragment called Fc of a mouse monoclonal antibody. This is done using recombinant methods. We end up with a new protein. This protein is made in a cell culture of commercially available insect cells. The protein is produced by the insect cells. From the culture, we purify this particular protein that we made. The insect cell system is just a tool. By virtue of its production in insect cells, the protein attains special properties which are useful in generating better immune responses. Producing this protein in insect cells gives it some very peculiar properties, which are different from our own mammalian proteins. Once we have it coming out of the cell, we purify it and make it really pure. Now we have a protein with the virus antigen murine monoclonal antibody with modified properties.

Interviewer: What do you mean when you say, "useful in generating better immune responses"?

Dr. Rajan George: When a person has a chronic virus infection, his or her body ignores the virus and associated proteins. The body treats the virus as part of itself. The body does not recognize this virus as something foreign to it. Therefore the immune system does not attack the virus. But, by combining the virus antigen with a foreign protein such as the murine antibody fragment, the whole chimeric protein now is recognized by the body's immune system as "foreign," different from something of its own. In essence, this is a re-education of the immune system to switch its recognition of the virus from "self" to "foreign".

Interviewer: From where did the scientific model come, and does it have similarities to another ViRexx Medical product, OvaRex MAb??

Dr. Rajan George: This scientific model arose from discussions among the three lead scientists of the company, Dr. Tony Noujaim, Dr. Lorne Tyrrell, both founders of the company and myself. The collective thoughts of all of us went into the design of the Chimigen? platform. One major similarity between Chimigen and OvaRex is that both involve a murine monoclonal antibody. Another similarity is that both target dendritic cells. The Chimigen model came from thoughts about targeting dendritic cells, but without the use of antibodies. OvaRex is a murine monoclonal antibody against the cancer antigen CA-125. The Chimigen? vaccine has a fragment of a murine monoclonal antibody. OvaRex needs the CA-125 antigen in a cancer patient to bind to. The bound complex goes to the dendritic cells. The Chimigen? vaccine does not need to look for the antigen in a patient because it already has the relevant antigen built in it.

Interviewer: How is the Chimigen? vaccine different from OvaRex? in dealing with a hostile threat to the body's health.

Dr. Rajan George: OvaRex binds to the antigen CA-125. Then, the CA-125/Ovarex complex binds to the dendritic cells. The complex is internalized and processed. The peptides generated from the antigen are presented to the T cells, and the chain of events in the immune system gets stimulated. The activated cytotoxic T cells eliminate the cancer cells which contain the CA125 antigen.

In the case of the Chimigen? vaccine, the vaccine itself contains the antigen. It goes through the dendritic cell pathway and triggers the CTL response to clear the virus-infected cells. The system also produces antibodies to viral antigens, which bind virus and viral antigens and accelerate their removal. Because of the presence of the murine monoclonal antibody fragment, which is foreign to humans, along with the antigen from the virus, the body's immune system treats this as a new threat and takes action.

Interviewer: How would this work in treating Hepatitis B?

Dr. Rajan George: Developing a treatment for Hepatitis B chronic infection, for someone who already has the infection, would involve re-educating the immune system to react differently than it previously has. The infected person already has this virus and the derived antigens. If you put some more of the same antigens into the person, the person's immune system is not going to know the difference His body is going to say, "Well, what's the difference? I already have it. I am not going to do anything with it." The body will ignore it. That's what is called tolerance. With the Chimigen? therapeutic vaccine, we have changed the body's immune response to the virus.

Interviewer: How then have you changed the body's response to the infection?

Dr. Rajan George: In a Hepatitis B chronic infection, let's say I have the infection. My system is tolerating the virus. It's ignoring the presence of the virus. While that is happening, the virus may be causing disease in with my liver. With time, it's going to get my liver into trouble and my immune system has not responded adequately to remove the threat. We inject the protein - the one we just produced, which we call the Chimigen? Therapeutic Vaccine - into the HBV chronic carrier, a person who has a chronic hepatitis B virus infection. What happens is when our protein is administered, the dendritic cells are going to look for anything new which enters the body. Those cells are the immune system's first-line surveillance. The dendritic cells are going to see this new foreign protein, and they are going to think that this is different from what was previously inside. Their recognition of the molecule has changed from what it was before. Before the virus protein was recognized as a "self" protein. Now it is being recognized as a "foreign" protein. In chronic hepatitis B virus infection, the dendritic cells saw the virus as part of the "self" of the host, the vaccine changes the recognition of the virus protein as "foreign" to the host. Because the viral antigen is linked to the fragment of the mouse monoclonal antibody the direct the chimigen to dendritic cells it will enter the dendritic cell and be processed and stimulate an immune response.

Interviewer: And after the vaccine injection, what does the body see?

Dr. Rajan George: The body's immune system see a new foreign antigen composed of a portion of the mouse monoclonal antibody linked to the viral antigen. It's a foreign antigen." The new "chimigen" stimulates an immune response to the antigen as well as the viral antigen. This is very important because the virus antigen was previously being ignored. Now, it's being recognized as foreign through linked recognition of the mouse antigen as being foreign.

Interviewer: How do the dendritic cells react after they recognize this foreign threat?

Dr. Rajan George: The dendritic cells are the sentries of the immune system. They guard what comes in. When they recognize a "foreign situation," what does the immune system do? It treats the whole molecule, the whole protein including the virus antigen, as foreign. The dendritic cells chop up this protein into small pieces called peptides. These peptides also are called "epitopes." There are T cell epitopes which are smaller, and B cell epitopes which are longer. These small peptides bind to MHC I and activate Cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs). The dendritic cells have a system where they put the T-cell epitope on another protein, MHC Class I, and bring it to the surface of the dendritic cell. They are presented as a complex on the surface of the dendritic cell to attract the T-cells. The T-cells come and see this, then get activated. Now, the activation is also specific to the virus protein. There are different varieties of T-cells, but the cytotoxic T-Cells are the most important in eliminating infections that already exist. The activated cytotoxic T-cells are the ones who do the attacking. They are the ones who start killing the virus infected cells.

Interviewer: And what about the B Cells?

Dr. Rajan George: That is the other side to this story. The dendritic cells can present another kind of peptide epitope. There is a second class of peptides, which are also produced when the protein is chopped up. The dendritic cells stimulate the B-Cells, B-Lymphocytes. And B-lymphocytes produce antibodies. The longer peptides bind to MHC II and activate B lymphocytes (B cells). B cells produce antibodies against the peptides. The antibodies are specific to the antigens we put in the Chimigen? Therapeutic Vaccine. Antibodies bind to viral proteins that are on the surface of and block the ability of the virus to bind to a target cell to cause an infection and prevent the infection. This is the basis of a prophylactic vaccine. The antigen can bind to the invading virus and form a complex that the body eliminates.

The B-Cells produce antibodies against the virus antigen, which we have put in the Chimigen? vaccine. What do these antibodies do? The antibodies are specific to the antigen and bind to the viruses because they have the antigen. The system removes the virus by binding with the antibody. Also, the system removes infected cells using cytotoxic T-lymphocytes. Both of these actions are achieved by the Chimigen? vaccine.

Interviewer: Why would your vaccine work where others have tried and failed?

Dr. Rajan George: The reason is because of the novelty of the technology. We are re-educating the body's own immune system to do the work by using the Chimigen? technology. When you inject a xenotypic antibody , that is a non-human antibody that is linked to a specific antigen. The body recognizes the whole molecule as foreign and produces immune responses with both T- and B-Cell immunity. We believe that this enhanced immune response will be helpful in controlling the viral infection in the case of viral chimigens.

Interviewer: Much of the research has been within the laboratory. How much of this is hypothetical?

Dr. Rajan George: Our experiences so far have been mostly with isolated systems, meaning experimental systems outside of the body. For example, ViRexx's Chimigen? vaccine for treating chronic hepatitis B infection is what we call HepaVaxx B. This is waiting to go into Phase I clinical trials. We have done a lot of ex vivo experiments in the lab to evaluate the immune responses it can produce. We showed what we had predicted in theory has been true. We have also done some animal experiments, where the vaccine showed similar effects, again, as predicted. For HepaVaxx B, the animal results are also showing great progress and promise. We believe the Phase I studies will show safety and maybe some immunological data. The advanced clinical trials, Phase II and III, will tell us exactly what happens in humans (efficacy) with a chronic infection of Hepatitis B.

James Finch contributes to StockInterview.com and other publications. His archived articles can be found at www.stockinterview.com. Please contact James Finch with your feedback and comments by emailing him at: jfinch@stockinterview.com

How effectual is Tamiflu for Bird flu?

You are a part of the flu; try Tamiflu

With the last rays of the purple sun fading into the misty sea the last of the birds fly towards you with the flu. The night has lots of discomfort to offer; the best of it being the half awakened state at which you brood around the light to look for a solution. The rooster calls early the neat day to remind you of the fear; and fear you should as the wonderful life of yours is at risk with the avian flu. What prompts you further to prepare the concoction of the risky ingredients that could add to your getting attracted to Bird flu, starts with the passion that you enjoy in devouring the fowl. The H5N1 goes down along the throat, cuts the larynx and mixes with the juices of your stomach to be part of the weakening system. You are now a part of Influenza; you are under the mercy of the virus. Is there a solution? What about Tamiflu? What about Amantadine?

Before the requiem is heard aloud

When the start has been marked, Tamiflu has an offer for you; before the requiem becomes heard aloud; Tamiflu marks the beginning of the magic. The magic then flows with the pipe of the piper; you are pulled out from the advent of misery, you are shown the daylight.An alternative can be Amantadine. Bird flu symptoms starts without much of a panic; you are under the spell of a fever, cough, sore throat and muscle ache. But mark the incidence of such simple symptoms; they are bound with a ramification, culminating with acute respiratory diseases and other sever life threatening complications. So if someone asks about the strength of Bird flu, it is with regret that we agree to its fatality. Whether it be Tamiflu or Amantadine, both comes of best use at the initial stages.

Forty eight hours to destiny

The brand name Tami flu has oseltamivir phosphate as its active ingredient and the process of intake has strengths varying with the form of intake. From capsule to powder for oral suspension, this prescription drug has the charm to ward off the flu. With the viral attack and the flu symptoms popping up, Tami flu gives a chance for survival; it's a short time but still the forty eight hours becomes crucial. More to this is the fact that Tamiflu can reduce the chances of attracting the H5N1 viruswhen the flu out break looms freely around you. So the myth has at least a vent for fresh air; blow hard, ward out the spirit, take a deep breath and live life to the best extent, you have the support of Tamiflu.

Emily Purles is an associated editor to the website http://www.checkflu.com, a Roche Tamiflu Online site, is committed to provide visitors with complete information on Roche Tamiflu, Treatment of Influenza, Tamiflu, Influenza, Avian Influenza, H5N1 Virus, Human Transmission, Bird Flu, Mutating Virus, Neuraminidase Inhibitors, Oseltamivir Phosphate, Treatment of Flu, Types of Influenza virus and other related topics. Your feedback & comments

How effectual is Tamiflu for Bird flu?

You are a part of the flu; try Tamiflu

With the last rays of the purple sun fading into the misty sea the last of the birds fly towards you with the flu. The night has lots of discomfort to offer; the best of it being the half awakened state at which you brood around the light to look for a solution. The rooster calls early the neat day to remind you of the fear; and fear you should as the wonderful life of yours is at risk with the avian flu. What prompts you further to prepare the concoction of the risky ingredients that could add to your getting attracted to Bird flu, starts with the passion that you enjoy in devouring the fowl. The H5N1 goes down along the throat, cuts the larynx and mixes with the juices of your stomach to be part of the weakening system. You are now a part of Influenza; you are under the mercy of the virus. Is there a solution? What about Tamiflu? What about Amantadine?

Before the requiem is heard aloud

When the start has been marked, Tamiflu has an offer for you; before the requiem becomes heard aloud; Tamiflu marks the beginning of the magic. The magic then flows with the pipe of the piper; you are pulled out from the advent of misery, you are shown the daylight.An alternative can be Amantadine. Bird flu symptoms starts without much of a panic; you are under the spell of a fever, cough, sore throat and muscle ache. But mark the incidence of such simple symptoms; they are bound with a ramification, culminating with acute respiratory diseases and other sever life threatening complications. So if someone asks about the strength of Bird flu, it is with regret that we agree to its fatality. Whether it be Tamiflu or Amantadine, both comes of best use at the initial stages.

Forty eight hours to destiny

The brand name Tami flu has oseltamivir phosphate as its active ingredient and the process of intake has strengths varying with the form of intake. From capsule to powder for oral suspension, this prescription drug has the charm to ward off the flu. With the viral attack and the flu symptoms popping up, Tami flu gives a chance for survival; it's a short time but still the forty eight hours becomes crucial. More to this is the fact that Tamiflu can reduce the chances of attracting the H5N1 viruswhen the flu out break looms freely around you. So the myth has at least a vent for fresh air; blow hard, ward out the spirit, take a deep breath and live life to the best extent, you have the support of Tamiflu.

Emily Purles is an associated editor to the website http://www.checkflu.com, a Roche Tamiflu Online site, is committed to provide visitors with complete information on Roche Tamiflu, Treatment of Influenza, Tamiflu, Influenza, Avian Influenza, H5N1 Virus, Human Transmission, Bird Flu, Mutating Virus, Neuraminidase Inhibitors, Oseltamivir Phosphate, Treatment of Flu, Types of Influenza virus and other related topics. Your feedback & comments

Bird Flu: The Next Plague?

Are you afraid of the infamous bird flu (H5N1)? If not, you should be. Did you know there is no working vaccine yet? Many manufacturers advertise that they have vaccine, but that is not simply true. This is because it hasn't mutated yet to form where it can spread from human to human. Only with that virus, it is possible to create fully functional vaccine. Vaccines what are being advertised are unreliable to deliver results because it's the wrong vaccine for wrong virus. Initially bird flu only infected birds with 100% mortality. Now it has started to spread to humans.

The H5N1 Bird Flu virus mainly reproduces in lung tissues. The H represents a protein found on the virus that helps it to enter cells. The N represents a protein that helps the virus escape the host cell. The H5N1 Bird Flu virus is a new type of influenza, a virus that originated in birds. Most individuals in a target population will have very little immunity from this new virus.

Bird flu is spreading all over Europe and Asia. At the moment it is enough if you stay away from the birds, but when virus mutates that won't be enough. On July 23, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned that the world could at any time be faced with a massive flu outbreak like those of 1918 or 1968 that killed tens of millions of people.

"The flu pandemic is more likely to occur in the next 12 months than in any time in the past decades. I hope it never happens but almost certainly it will happen. Australians are unused to contemplating death on a large-scale ...since WW2." says the Australian Federal Health Minister, Mr. Abbott on July 30, 2005.

At the moment H5N1 has mortality rate of at least 50% in cases of bird to human infections. Some scientists expect this high mortality to drop if this virus becomes pandemic but this is only an assumption and may not occur. Even with a 5% mortality rate at least 160 million people will die directly from the pandemic and this does not include the possible following deaths because of the likely breakdown of essential services, such as food, water, and medical supplies.

I suggest everybody to find out RIGHT NOW what they are dealing with. There is much information floating in Internet. Australian biologist Stephen Jones has collected complete bird flu information package what deals with subjects like 'how to care infected person', 'how to survive' and everything else you possible need to know about bird flu. You can find Bird Flu Survival Guide at www.survivebirdfluguide.com.

Check out Stephen's complete information package of bird flu! Bird Flu Survival Guide: www.survivebirdfluguide.com

Bird Flu Hits Close To Home.

What then?When the first outbreak of H5N1 was found on the tourist island of R?gen in Germany the country took action. Here's a look at how Germany reacted.

January 2006: more and more carcasses from birds were being found in Eastern Germany. The Parks Board reckoned that was normal during a long and relatively hard winter.

14 February: a tourist reported finding four dead swans on the east coast island of R?gen. A quick test indicated this could be H5N1, Avian Influenza (Bird Flu). Later that was confirmed.

15 February: More dead birds were found. All domestic birds were immediately required to be in stalls. Government officials called an emergency meeting.

16 February: It?s official! H5N1 is the cause of death of more and more birds on the island of R?gen.

17 February: Country-wide birds are required to be in stalls or under protective cover. All hens, ducks, geese and turkeys must be in stalls. Politicians discuss ways to better or refine their action plan.

18 February: The Island of R?gen is placed under alarm. That means a security zone of 3 kilometers (2 miles) around the dead birds is in place and 10 km (6 miles) zone of observation is put in place. All cars, trucks and buses are disinfected and the selling of birds is stopped. All birds within the 3 km security zone are disinfected. Locals are asked to immediately report to the police, fire or veterinarian clinics any dead animals. They are told not to touch any bird, just to report it.

19 February: Dead birds are now found on the German mainland.

20 February: The whole east-coast of Germany is put under alarm and all counties of Germany were getting themselves prepared.

In the mean time, fire-fighters, soldiers, experts and even volunteers are on the island of R?gen. Some are in masks, some are in full-protective suits to disinfect while others simply are there to watch and report on birds and answer questions of the locals. 1,280 protective masks were brought in, 1,550 disposable protective suits and 150 non-disposable suits, 1,200 safety glasses, 1,150 pair of rubber boots, 1,700 pair protective gloves and 1000 liters of disinfectant. Around the zone a further 11,780 masks, 11,560 disposable suits, 10,072 protective goggles, 9,140 pairs of boots and another 5,000 liters of disinfectant were brought into reserve not to mention 39 special epidemic cots. By now there were 370 people there to help.

The moral of this story? First, don?t panic. When H5N1 Avian Influenza breaks out, there is much which can be done. Tests are getting better and faster for dead animals and as more and more countries are affected, so too is the reaction process checked and re-checked. Note at the beginning it was a tourist who reported the dead swans. Your responsibility is to keep a watch out and report anything strange ? such as four or five dead birds together. Also noteworthy is the reaction of the people in Germany. There was no panic ? remember that this is an ongoing battle ? and there was lots of help. Although the Minister of Agriculture Dr. Till Backhaus had hoped for even a faster response time, there is no doubt that this was well handled. It was also an excellent example for other countries when Bird flu hits close to home.
 

Bird flu: Europe to slaughter Israel!

ISRAEL TO BE SLAUGHTERED BY THE EUROPEANS!
They've let the European fox into the chickencoop

Deuteronomy 28:15
15 However, if you do not obey the LORD your God and do not carefully follow all his commands and decrees I am giving you today, all these curses will come upon you and overtake you...

Israel has been suffering from the "bird flu" for years, as a consequence of NATIONAL SIN (Daniel 9:11). Now it's coming to it conclusion since the Israeli people have rejected Kahane (the biblical ideals he represented) for Arafat and his Amalekite heirs: Israel is about to be slaughtered, having been sold out to EU interests by chickens, doves, turkeys and hawks (who prey upon their own people - not against Arab enemies).

The bloody vulture Shimon Peres must be caged, quarantined at least, since his unclean kind - symptoms of Israel's disease - have unleashed this sickness upon the Jewish homeland.

The Israeli sins are coming home to roost and the treacherous leaders who have prostituted themselves, who have sold out Israel, who imagine themselves immune from the EU plague, will soon suffer and die for it too.

Isaiah 28:14-15
14 Therefore hear the word of the LORD, you scoffers
who rule this people in Jerusalem.

15 You boast, "We have entered into a covenant with death,
with the grave we have made an agreement.
When an overwhelming scourge sweeps by,
it cannot touch us,
for we have made a lie our refuge
and falsehood our hiding place."

Will the Israelis undergo a cleansing coup and experience a heartfelt NATIONAL REPENTANCE? Will the Jews get rid of the filth in their lives and cull the foul leaders that pollute the nest and imperil the land? Will the Israelis insist upon Europe's new crusade to bring them to their knees and encourage them to clean up their act?

2 Chronicles 7:14
14 ...If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

David Ben-Ariel is a Christian-Zionist writer in Ohio and author of Beyond Babylon: Europe's Rise and Fall. With a focus on the Middle East and Jerusalem, his analytical articles help others improve their understanding of that troubled region. Check out Beyond Babylon.

Bird Flu: H5N1 Influenza Status Briefing Natural Protection

The Bird Flu has a defined area of infection and has found a host that has kept it alive for millenniums. Pigs are in the mutation chain as the virus transitions to people. The next bird flu step could be an overnite pandemic or a wimpering gasp of disappearance.

The virus H5N1, has a few similarities with the Spanish flu of 1918 that resulted in one of the largest pandemics in the last 200 years. Both of these contagious outbreaks cause high fever, lower respiratory tract failure symptoms, prostration, myalgias, and a postviral weakness that could last up to 6 weeks.

Twenty-four hour access channels have warned of a coming pandemic that may arrive in the form of H5N1 avian influenza, more commonly referred to as ?bird flu?. The market for poultry products has decreased internationally because of a lack of consumer confidence in a safe supply.

In Eastern Asian countries entire flocks of chickens have been destroyed because of an outbreak that easily spreads from bird to bird, infecting the entire flock.

Proactive Steps

Current laboratory research currently indicates existing flu prescriptions should be an active and readily available treatment should the ?bird flu? H5N1 make its presence felt. While this is good news, there is a second wave effect that has historically been seen in such a widespread influenza outbreak. The second wave may occur when the flu strain alters just enough to render existing medications ineffective.

Knowledge is a primary key in the battle of any communicable disease. Understanding symptoms can provide both peace of mind as well as the information you need to know should a doctor?s visit be required.

Defining Bird Flu

Like the more common flu strains, ?bird flu? may include fever, sore throat, muscle aches and eye infections. However, ?bird flu? may also include pronounced lethargy, acute breathing difficulties and chest pain. In more extreme cases pneumonia may make an appearance as well as potential organ failure.

This virulent strain of flu virus has, to date, been spread primarily through poultry and water fowl. The limited human fatalities that have been reported have all been a result of close interaction with infected birds.

The incubation period for humans who do contract ?bird flu? may be as few as two days or as many as 17.

Industry Protection

Chicken farmers are taking radical steps to keep their investment safe. Disinfectant sprays are beginning to be applied and sterile clothing is becoming common when entering poultry facilities. Symptoms that include bird inactivity and decreased egg production are routinely reviewed and monitored.

What If?

Members of the World Health Organization have worked to develop a plan that could be implemented on a global scale to address both current issues as well as those that may be forthcoming in the event of a ?bird flu? pandemic. Steps are currently being taken to address the issues surrounding ?bird flu? and partner countries are gaining assistance from the findings of the World Health Organization.

Flu Shot

It is unclear if the annual flu shot will assist in the reduction of ?bird flu? cases should a pandemic occur. However, there is evidence to suggest they it may in fact do so.

It may be that ?bird flu? will never reach epidemic proportions, but knowing what it is and what it is capable of doing is a help in preparing for a flu strain that could join the ranks of some of the world?s greatest viral killers.

The best prevention of the bird flu is a strong immune system. Exercise the body and the lungs. Look for a natural antiviral supplement. While modern scientist search for a vaccine, we have natural remedies that we can employ. Colloidal silver is known to kill bacteria and virus.

James Zeller is the new "Euell Gibbons" for natural supplements. For more information about Bird Flu Protection or his choice for natural immune support for the "50 and Over" Baby Boomers.

Bird Flu - Are You Ready For The Outbreak?

 

The Bird Flu or Avian Flu is creating panick in the world! Here's all the Bird Flu info you need to decide for yourself!

Bird Flu is caused by Avian flu viruses which naturally occur in birds. Birds in the wild, all over the world, carry the virus in their intestines, although they rarely become ill from it.

The Bird Flu however, is very contagious among birds and can spread to domesticated birds such as ducks & chickens and kill them. The Bird Flu is transmitted though saliva, nasal secretions and feces. Usually the Bird Flu is only transmitted from bird to bird, but cases have now been widely reported since 1997 of the flu being transmitted from bird to human, with cases reported of human to human transmission, although the virus has not infected more than one person in those cases. Bird Flu viruses are always changing, and over time may develop into a strain that can be transmitted from human to human to human, in which case we would be faced with a global pandemic of devastating proportions.

Symptoms of Bird Flu in humans can be anywhere from norman flu-like symptoms such as sore throat, cough, fever & muscle aches, to respiratory diseases such as acute respiratory distress, eye infections, pneumonia and other severe life-threatening complications.

As of January, 2006, cases of the Bird Flu in humans have been reported in several countries including China, Thailand, Indonesia, Cambodia, Vietnam, with several cases in Turkey in recent months. Over 140 cases have been reported by the WHO since 2004. Most of the people infected had been in close contact with birds that were infected with the Bird Flu.

Scientists are not able to predict if or when a Bird Flu pandemic will occur, but have been keeping a close eye on the virus in Asia and Europe and are preparing for the worst possible scenario.

If you need more information on the Bird Flu, treatment for the flu with Tamiflu, or where to Buy Tamiflu we have supplied plenty of information links that can help you answer your questions about the Bird Flu.

Writer, author, publisher, Charles Dumont has always written mostly on current affairs and day to day issues affecting human kind. Lately he's been very passionate due to the launch of his Avian Bird Flu blog. http://avian-bird-flu-crisis.blogspot.com

How Bird Flu Respirator's Should Be Used

There are two kinds of bird flu wear protection that a person who will come into contact with infected poultry or just poultry or an infected person. The person should consider wearing either a bird flu respirator or a bird flu mask.

A bird flu masks only helps prevent particles or droplets to be discharged in the environment the wearer is in. The mask is not generally used to filter efficiently or to seal the face tightly. A bird flu respirator is what is considered helpful in reducing the wearer's chances of exposure to airborne particles such as bird flu. A bird flu mask is often confused like a bird flu respirator because both look alike.

The bird flu mask or respirator should be used by people who think they will come in contact with persons or birds infected with the H5N1 strain. The people who use this should just consider it to be one way of being hygienic way of prevention.

A patient who thinks he or she has been feeling symptoms and knows has been in contact with infected birds should wear a bird flu mask as well. People who often travel a lot, especially to those infected places should also consider bringing a bird flu respirator.

If a bird flu respirator is not present, the bird flu mask will have to do. The mask or the respirator should also be fitted in properly to make it work. However, wearing the mask is still not a guaranteed way you won't contact the viral disease.

The only time a person working closely with infected birds or persons or just birds is when they are away from the contaminated or possible contaminated area. Then after removing the equipment, remember to thoroughly wash your hands. Then dispose the equipment immediately after going on a safer area. The effectiveness of the respirator last only for 8 hours.

When buying the bird flu mask or respirator, it always has directions or instructions how to properly use it. Always remember when transporting the equipment to protect it from any kind of damage.

The bird flu respirator should be sealing the face very tightly. If the breathing becomes difficult, the respirator might have been damaged. If it is, go to a safe place and change the respirator.

The right way to wear it to know how effective it is, is to fit it snuggly in the face, the metal strip should be atop and the colored part outside. The mask should be firmly placed by positioning the strings right. The metallic strip should be molded at the nose's bridge.

A bird flu mask or respirator is only a part to help prevent the further damaging of implications of bird flu. It is not a sure fire way to prevent the outbreak, but it is a way to reduce the potential damage.

Michael Colucci is a technical writer for Bird Flu Facts - A free site that offers facts on the history, prevention, vaccines and more on the Bird Flu Virus.