Take Steps To Curb Growth Of Bird Flu Virus

In the recent years, Avian Bird Flu has come out as one of the most deadly diseases, troubling the domesticated birds in large. Till date no vaccination or medication is ready against this life threatening viral disease. Scientists from all over the world are working in direction of formulating a flu vaccination. The vaccination if developed would be very effective against any of the strains of the bird flu virus.

Through various studies it has been found that there are various strains and subtypes of these deadly viruses which are solely responsible for causing a havoc in healths of the birds. All the viruses differ from each other. They vary in their genetic composition and thus cause varying effects after multiplying in the host body. Some of them show minute symptoms like high fever, vomiting and nausea while the others can cause organ failure or even the death of the host body.

These viruses are found to mutate very rapidly and thereby take the shape of more deadly and harmful viruses. Generally bird flu virus does not infect the human body. But H5N1 is a kind of virus that is known to exist in the mucous membranes of the human body. This is responsible for making humans the victim of bird flu.

The bird flu virus is carried by the wild and the migratory birds like water fowl and ducks. But these carriers are not at all affected by this harmful virus. Strange but its true. The mutation rate of this virus is very fast. They can mutate in seconds to give rise to a new form of virus, which can be even more deadlier than its parent cells.

Prevention is always better than cure. That is, taking a few steps you can fight against the bird flu and prevent it from spreading further. Of them the most easiest one is to maintain cleanliness in your surrounding areas. Even proper cooking of chicken can kill the virus causing bird flu.

To read more articles on bird flu, bird flu virus 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/

Bird Flu Vaccine is Almost Ready to Go on the Market

A spokesman of World Health Organization announced that scientists have finally created a possible effective flu vaccine.

Clinical tests have been carried out with a flu vaccine made by Sanofi Pasteur. The conclusions were that there are needed two shots of the vaccine, administered four weeks apart, to immunize at least 50% of human organisms.

The director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Anthony S. Fauci declared to be very enthusiastic about the new vaccine and its immunizing properties, also saying that he considers the tests to be a key step in the world's attempt to stop a possible global pandemic.

Currently the US government stockpiled only four million doses of the H5N1 vaccine, but this quantity is not enough to cover up all the people in case a pandemic starts.

A solution for stretching vaccine stores are administering along with the vaccine an immunity boosting substance (an adjuvant), and so, this will reduce the amount of the vaccine needed for immunizing the human body, and will improve the vaccine's effects.

Now, there are made clinical tests with adjuvant substances to see how the immune response to the vaccine is.

John Treanor, MD, director of the vaccine and treatment evaluation unit at the University of Rochester in New York, said that when it was discovered that it will be needed a higher dose of H5N1 vaccine to stimulate the wanted immunity, than a regular flu shot no one was taken by surprise, scientists suspecting this when first testing the vaccine.

The high-dose of bird flu vaccine stimulated a kind of antibody response that was known to have protected people in 1997 during an outbreak of H5N1 virus in Hong Kong.

Scientists do not know whether this vaccine will be effective in case of a human to human transmission of the virus and they are not willing to expose any study volunteers to potentially lethal bird flu.

In the process of developing much faster new bird flu vaccines, the US government is supporting the producers to move from growing vaccine virus in chicken eggs, to faster cell-culture techniques.

It is very important that producers accelerate the manufacture of new vaccines, because the H5N1 virus is fast mutating to more aggressive forms that might cause a human pandemic.

One good news is the governments are considering stockpiling H5N1 vaccine and that scientists are ready to create new improved vaccines in case of a development of the virus.

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

An Answer To All Your Questions On Bird Flu

1. What is Bird Flu?

Bird flu is a virus infection that normally occurs in wild birds and pathologically in poultry, its forms causing mild symptoms or even death within 48 hours. It can also infect humans.

2. What virus is responsible for Bird flu?

There are many subtypes of influenza "A" virus, which affect in a different way poultry, causing mild or serious diseases to birds.

The most lethal subtype of influenza "A" virus is H5N1, also known to be very dangerous to humans.

3. How can birds get infected?

Wild birds are a reservoir of the virus and they spread the disease among the poultry which gets into close contact to contaminated dirt, water, food and wild bird excrements.

4. How can the infection spread within the country?

Contaminated vehicles, clothes, cages and shoes can carry the virus from place to place. Birds that roam freely and those sold in markets can also to that.

5. How can Bird flu infect humans?

Getting in close contact with an infected bird can lead to human contamination. People that take care or sell in markets such infected birds, like chicken, turkey and ducks, inhale particles from dried excrements, or feathers which are contaminated.

Eating cooked chicken is not dangerous because heat kills the H5N1 virus.

6. Why worry about Bird flu?

- H5N1 virus has caused by now millions of bird deaths, and hundreds of humans only in Asia;
- If the virus mutates it will spread from human to human, causing a global pandemic;
- Chicken industry will be seriously affected.

7. How can I know if I have Bird flu?

If you have been lately in close contact with one ore more infected birds, you could develop one or more of these symptoms: fever, lethargy, sore throat, muscle aches, cough, breathing problems, and multi-organ failure.

8. How does it manifest on birds?

Chicken are not as productive as before, they suffer muscle paralysis, diarrhea, they gasp for breath, and even die suddenly.

9. How can we treat bird flu?

Usually doctors use antiviral drugs for treatment, some are also used for prevention. Scientists are researching a vaccine against H5N1 virus and the results seem to be promising.

10. What measures does the Government take in case of Bird flu?

The government will prohibit selling chickens in the markets while there is a threat of bird flu; will advise people to stay away from any kind of birds; will ask farmers to report any suspect deaths observed on poultry.

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

The Bird Flu: Protecting Yourself

The bird flu is another name for the Avian flu, which is a flu that could wipe out large amounts of people around the world. This flu is quite unique over the other types of flu that are usually the ones that people get. This flu, which currently has not made the leap that it must make in order to be deadly, can be something of a large worry to those that are ill. You see, the bird flu is one of the most deadly flues in animals. To this point, the mortality rate of any animal that has gotten the bird flu has been 100 percent. The fear is that if the bird flu makes its move so that it can move from one person to the next person that these high rates of mortality will happen in the human population too.

The question is, then, what can you do to help protect yourself about the bird flu, or any flu for that matter? You should use the same approach for all flu type illness. Although the bird flu has only killed a handful of people around the world, the standard types of flu that are out there every year kill some 130,000 Americans each year. Here are some things you can do to help improve your lifestyle so that you can avoid the bird flu.

* Use good sanitary cleanliness. For example, wash your hands before touching your eyes, mouth and before eating. Teaching children how to prevent germs from moving from one person to the next is also quite important. * Use an air purifier. These units can help to pull out the bacteria and other germs lurking in the air that ends up leading to these conditions. * Stay in touch, but stay home. Those that stay home from school and work when they are ill are less likely to spread the condition to others.

All of these things, as well as common sense, can help you to avoid the bird flu or any other flu that will make you ill.

Kerry Rodden is an expert on air purifiers, and has written many articles on air purifiers, fans, vacuum cleaners, air fresheners and a lot more.

You can read more of Kerry's articles about air purifiers at http://www.lowplaces.net

Is There Any Vaccination For Fighting Bird Flu?

The outbreak of the pandemic flu in the South East Asian countries created a wave of terror through out the world. There were evidences of the bird flu being spread to West and infecting some of the African countries. The possibility of a strike in the western world cannot be neglected since the pathogens or viruses of the bird flu are carried by the migratory birds.

The death of people in certain countries has raised an alarm about the incompetence of science and technology to create a vaccination for bird flu.

The preparation of the bird flu vaccine is not an easy task. The most important fact is that a vaccine for a virus cannot be prepared beforehand since the strain of the virus is not known till it attacks.

The bird flu viruses go on mutating through antigenic shift or drift. The mutation cannot be traced to find out what form it is taking. So, the scientists cannot prepare the vaccine before a pandemic occurs.

Thus, there lies the problem in formulating a vaccination for bird flu. The world is totally unaware of the kind of virus that is going to infest the humankind. Next problem in the line is, the preparation of the vaccination will take a long time after the outbreak. That is, it will take almost six months to prepare a vaccine and a year for its mass distribution.

At present, prototypes of the H5N1 virus vaccination have been prepared by the scientist which are able to provide some kind of protection to the body. The prototype vaccine is not a complete protection against the bird flu. All the health organizations of different countries are still working on it and China has claimed that they have prepared two types of vaccines for the H5N1 bird flu virus.

The vaccination can produce high accentuated antibodies in the immune system that can target the H5N1 virus and remain longer in the immune system. The WHO has acclaimed this effort and will provide China with a prototype vaccine for humans, for developing a more effective vaccine.

It's a good news that vaccines are soon going to be available for the deadly H5N1 virus which is the present threat to the world. The CDC and WHO are providing instruction to the Health Departments of the countries throughout the world to teach people how to prevent the infection of the bird flu.

There are some antiviral medicines like Tami flu, Relenza, and alike that can be taken to reduce the intensity of the attack and help the immune system of your body to fight.

Let's hope for better that the vaccines are made available, as soon as possible. Maintain personal hygiene for preventing the virus, because it cannot attack you if you are clean and healthy to beat it.
The author writes about a number of different topics. For more information on bird flu vaccination visit http://www.isitbirdflu.com/ and also visit the article pages: http://www.isitbirdflu.com/bird-flu-vaccine/ and http://www.isitbirdflu.com/bird-flu-virus/

Why We Cannot Depend on a Vaccine to Save Us From Bird Flu

With current vaccine technology a vaccine cannot save us from a pandemic of contagious bird flu.

Although criticized as fearmongering, the ABC made for TV movie First Contact: Bird Flu in America was overly optimistic. Neither us nor the French nor anybody else is going to development and manufacture a vaccine within two months using the technology of the past 50 years.

First, work on a highly targeted vaccine against a specific strain of contagious bird flu cannot even begin until that specific strain of bird flu comes into existence.

Researchers are working on vaccines against current strains of H5N1, and these may have some effect on curbing a contagious strain, because they'd be similar, but not the same.

After getting samples of the contagious form of H5N1, the virus makers begin creating the vaccine from dead viruses. It must be tested for safety and approved for use in humans. This takes time.

After the vaccine is ready, doses of it must be produced. Each dose of the vaccine is grown inside one egg.

The entire process takes 6 to 8 months to produce ordinary winter flu shots. And we know from 2004 that sometimes batches of vaccine are contaminated, and there's a shortage of the ordinary flu vaccine.

Bird flu will create other problems. It's believed that people will need two doses of a vaccine against it for full protection. Therefore, to vaccinate everyone in the United States will require 600 million eggs.

Where will all those eggs come from? The world is destroying chickens by the millions now, to control the spread of H5N1 in the chickens. It could take months to come up with enough eggs to grow the vaccine doses in sufficient quantity to stop the spread of the pandemic just in the United States.

And of course the rest of the world will also be clamoring for the vaccine, and overseas companies will also be manufacturing it, using up all the eggs they have available.

Therefore, Health and Human Services head Michael Leavitt has said it would be six months before an effective and precisely target bird flu vaccine would be ready after the pandemic began.

And remember that the 1918 flu spread throughout the world and killed from 20 to 100 million people in the days before jets connected countries and four-lane highways connected cities within countries. People travel much more and much farther and much more quickly now than in 1918.

And yet the worst of the 1918 flu happened in just three months.

And remember also that H5N1 will remain a virus that mutates quickly. After it becomes highly contagious, it will not stop mutating.

By the time we've designed and approved a vaccine against the original contagious form of the virus, there'll be slightly different strains infecting people.

Six months later, the H5N1 virus will be much different than it was at the beginning of the pandemic.

Producing and distributing to millions of frightened people a vaccine that's precisely targeted toward the virus killing people right now is like shooting at a moving target.

Only we cannot guess where the target is going to go to next.

And it's moving faster than we can re-aim.

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

Bird Flu - The basic facts.

Could there ever be a Bird Flu Pandemic'
This is a crucial question being asked by Scientists around the Globe.
Regarding a Bird Flu Pandemic. No-one is really sure if a Pandemic will happen but there are relevant facts that "seem" to indicate a Bird Flu Pandemic is 'possible'.
To date, very few viruses like the Bird Flu have crossed from one species to another and infected Humans on a Pandemic scale.
Regarding those viruses that have crossed from one species to another, H5N1 strain of Bird-Flu has created the largest number of 'severe cases'.
Across Europe, the outbreak of this strain of Bird Flu has been held responsible for the death of 50% of those infected.
Horrifyingly, the majority of the reported cases have been children and the elderly.
To date, this deadly strain of Bird Flu has not spread from person-to-person in any great numbers, BUT all flu viruses CAN mutate!
If this happened and the deadly form of Bird Flu, H5N1 , was readily passed from Human-to-Human we would see a declaration of a Pandemic!
This is a fear long-held by Scientists, that a Flu Virus as deadly as the Bird Flu, strain H5N1, could readily pass from Human to Human.
It would be Globally devastating...


Recent History - Bird Flu.

During 1918 and 1919 around 50 million people from around the world died during a pandemic, which was named Spanish Flu.
Because victims drowned in their own 'fluids', Doctors mistakenly diagnosed a Respiratory Illness
Now we know it was a form of Bird Flu, which had mutated to humans. It was a variant strain of H1N1.
Today we are faced with a more aggressive strain of Bird Flu known as H5N1, which if it mutates to humans, has the potential to kill hundreds of millions of people worldwide.
To date there is no known vaccine. No known cure!
Scientists say that, if left uncontrolled, Bird Flu, strain H5N1, could wipe out more than half the worlds population!!
This current form of Bird-Flu could mutate at any time.
We have no remedy. It could become the most deadly viruses known to mankind.


Protection / Sensible Safe-Guards.

As with all infectious illnesses, Bird Flu in particular, basic precations are the first and most important 'line of defence'.
Avoid large crowds. Avoid all places where many people congregate and move on. Avoid Public Meetings.
This is, of course, impossible in the main because of the very nature of todays World.
Airports. Train Stations. Bus Stations. Surgeries. Schools. Offices with Air Conditioning.
The list is endless..
So that brings us neatly to the next level of precaution against contracting the Bird Flu.
The next, and most sensible precaution, is to wear Face Masks.
These are an imperative if one needs to be in a Public Area for whatever reason.
The W.H.O. made these following suggestions for the wearing of Face Masks to prevent being infected by H5N1 or Bird Flu.
1. When one comes into direct contact with infected animals or people, the wearing of a P3, or highest category filter, Face Mask is essential!
2. If, on examination, there is no apparent infection the wearing of a P2 Face Mask is recommended.
3. Unfortunatley the wearing of medical masks offer ONLY minimal protection agaist the Bird Flu so, therefore, are NOT recommended.
4. When one is wearing a mask as protection against Brid Flu, one must make sure the mask fits prefectly.
5. One must also be aware that the Bird Flu is a biologically active virus and can enter the body via contact of any sort with the skin or eyes etc so other means of protection must be employed to totally protect one against the invasion of the Brid Flu infection.


The Future - Bird Flu

Around the Globe, Countries, Institutions and Scientists of every 'ilk', are hunting down a Vaccine to prevent - then cure - the Bird Flu.
In the US, the NAIAD issued a very encouraging report on March 29th 2006 regarding a possible treatment for Bird Flu.
Clinical trials showed "" that high doses of an experimental H5N1 avian influenza vaccine can induce immune responses in healthy adults. Approximately half of those volunteers who received an initial and a booster dose of the highest dosage of the vaccine tested in the trial developed levels of infection-fighting antibodies that current tests predict would neutralize the Bird Flu virus. ""
This is a major step and ALL the study cases and notes are readily available should the need arise to fight a Global Pandemic of Bird Flu.
To reach this 'place', Countries around the Globe have contributed a variety of crucial resources and co-operated in a manner not known before.
'Red-Tape' has been cut to expedite the final solution for Bird Flu and, as a side effect, new channels have been found that will vastly speed up the exchange of information needed for a variety of Emergency Situations.
With this level of co-operation we can breathe slightly more easily today but we must never relax! The next Pandemic is just around the corner.


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Two Questions To Ask About Bird Flu Vaccines

 

The results of a government-funded study show that very high doses of an avian influenza vaccine, supplied by Sanofi-Aventis, are needed to produce an immune response that should guard against the virus. 54% of the volunteers received two shots of 90 micrograms each, 28 days apart. A typical flu shot is 15 micrograms.

Based on the requirements seen in the study, the U.S. government's current stockpile of vaccines would provide enough for only about four million people, according to Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy & Infectious Diseases.

The problem isn't just a matter of dosage. It is also a matter of production. Flu vaccines are produced using hen's eggs,a 50-year old technology, if it can be called that. Automated machines inject hundreds of thousands of eggs, then an 11-day waiting period begins while the eggs incubate, brewing viruses that are then killed and bottled. To produce millions of the the final product takes about six months.

Then there's the question no one seems to be asking: if we plan to rely upon chicken eggs to incubate an H5N1 virus, how do we know the H5N1 virus won't kill the eggs? H5N1 already kills chickens. Shouldn't we assume it also kills a high percentage of chicken eggs? Sanofi-Aventis is spending $150 million of its own money building a new vaccine-making plant based on the theory that H5N1 won't kill the eggs. By the way, eggs have to be ordered many months in advance for this antiquated process.

And where does Sanofi-Aventis plan to get all these egg-laying chickens anyway? Millions of chickens have been slaughtered worldwide already and a pre-pandemic scenario could kill off whole U.S. chicken farms at once.

However, there is a new vaccine technology on the horizon. It's called cell-based vaccine. Giant vats of living cells, such as dog kidney cells, multiply and then are inoculated with the virus. There are two companies already in the marketplace, one in Holland, one in Germany, but the technology won't be widely available for years. The FDA must review the entire method before any equipment can be imported to the U.S.

Clearly, the U.S. has waited for a new virus to come along to spur vaccine research. We may have waited too long. H5N1 isn't waiting. It's figuring out how to mutate into human-to-human transmission. In fact, the rate of mutation is alarming. Dr. Robert Webster, Ph.D., Member, St. Jude Faculty Rose Marie Thomas Chair, calls H5N1 "the most frightening virus I've ever seen in 40 years of research."

If you and your family are counting on a vaccine to protect you against H5N1 (Avian Influenza), don't bet on it. There are still too many unanswered questions and too many risks.

Mr. Hart is a medical journalist/researcher, and the author of "Killer Bird Flu...Get Ready Now!" a paperback that outlines what families can do to get prepared for the coming pandemic. Learn more at http://www.buynanomask.com.

How Bird Flu Respirators 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 http://www.bird-flu-facts.org - A free site that offers facts on the history, prevention, vaccines and more on the Bird Flu Virus.

Why Bird Flu Is Not A Pandemic

Most people are aware of the threat of bird flu and the possibility of it creating a pandemic, a worldwide epidemic of an infectious disease breaking out and affecting a large geographic region. Although the virus affects an extensive geographic region, this virus has not yet reached pandemic proportions.

According to the World Health Organization, in order for a pandemic to occur, three conditions must be met: the emergence of a disease new to a population, the agent affects humans and causes serious illness, and the agent spreads easily and sustainably among humans.

The first of these three, "the emergence of a disease new to a population" has occurred. Although bird flu is in no way a new disease, as it was first identified in the early 1900's, it was not infectious to humans until the late 1990's. Therefore, this particular strain has emerged "new to a population", being the human population, which was previously unaffected by the disease.

Likewise, the second criterion has been met, "the agent affects humans and causes serious illness". The virus has infected 131 people and killed 68. Therefore, the severity of the disease is apparent. H5N1 causes an exaggerated response in cytokines, hormones that regulate the immune system, therefore, limiting the effectiveness of the body's ability to fight the infection. This virus is also partially resistant to other cells of the immune system, making it especially resilient.

The third condition has not been met, however. At this point, the virus does not spread easily and sustainably among humans. Currently, the H5N1 virus is only transmitted from poultry to humans, and is not able to pass through human contact. Unfortunately, the virus is mutating and may be able to do so in future months, increasing the speed and efficiency in which it spreads.

Human to human transmission has been suspected, though not confirmed. Several isolated cases in which the cause of infection was not clear have prompted questions of the virus being passed through human contact. In particular, cases of nurses becoming infected after treating patients, children being infected with no poultry contact, and parents being infected after treating children with the disease. However, until confirmation is attainable that the virus has mutated to the point human transmission is possible, the third criterion will not be satisfied and H5N1 will not be classified as a pandemic. Likewise, the fatality rate will also have to increase to change the classification of bird flu.

Sarah is an acclaimed writer on medical matters, and has written extensively on the subjects of Attention Deficit Disorder, Bird Flu and Cohn's Disease. For more of her articles, go to http://www.imedicalvillage.com now.