Avian Bird Flu - A Possible Pandemic

Avian bird flu, often referred to as Avian influenza, is an infectious disease found usually in birds which is caused by A strains of the influenza virus. This influenza virus occurs naturally in the intestines of wild birds and usually does not cause them sickness.

Avian influenza, or influenza A, is chiefly found in animals, but a virus infection of this type could occur in humans. Although cases of human infection have been on the rise since 1997, risk from this virus to humans is considered mild. In most cases, humans have caught this disease by coming in contact with contaminated surfaces like water bowls and cages, and with infected birds.

Cases of transmission of this virus from an infected human to another human have not been recorded officially. Some human influenza viruses are known to be subtypes of the avian bird flu influenza. Influenza A is continuously changing and it is possible that subtypes may adapt over time to infect and spread among humans.

Migratory waterfowl, most notably wild ducks, are the natural reservoir of avian influenza viruses, which is very contagious among them. When passed on to domestic birds like chicken, ducks and turkeys, the virus can make them very sick and even result in their death.

Infected birds transmit the influenza virus through their saliva, nasal secretion and feces. Domestic birds can contract the sickness when they come in contact with food containers, cage bars, water bowls, floors or with material such as feed and water that has become contaminated with this virus.

There is an extensive number of influenza viruses potentially circulating in bird populations, due to the fact that there are over a dozen subtypes of the influenza virus that infect birds. To date, all outbreaks of avian influenza have been caused by influenza A viruses of subtypes H5 and H7.

The sickness caused by this virus often take two stages. The first is a mild stage which often goes undetected. Symptoms for this stage are ruffled feathers and a drop in egg production. The second stage is where the internal organs of infected birds stop functioning and ultimately results in the death of the bird within 48 hours.

Humans who become infected with influenza A show symptoms similar to human influenza virus, and they may suffer from fever, muscle aches, sore throat, cough and eye infections.

In severe cases, they may have pneumonia and other life-threatening diseases. Death is a possible outcome of the infection.

What can we do to try to prevent a world-wide pandemic? While the efficacy of vaccines is no sure protection, many are trying to get their hands on these, since there is a chance that vaccines might help. The Australian government, not unlike many other governments, have stockpiled vaccines such as Tamiflu to prepare themselves for a possible outbreak of avian influenza, even though the exact virus that causes influenza A in humans has not yet been identified.

Another point to remember is that these viruses often become resistant to vaccines so by the time they are used, the particular influenza strain might not react to the present vaccines.

So I would say that your best bet would be to get a huge immune system boost. Glyconutrients will give you a maximum potential on your immune system, as well as many other health benefits. I have decided to help my family get a good supply of these everyday and have researched the most potent, active, and cost effective form of it.

Spencer Hunt is a wellness consultant from Oregon, who recommends a balanced diet, with high quality vitamins, minerals, and glyconutrients products. Visit the site to see how glyconutrition can help you, http://www.ifoundhealth.com

Bird Flu In Britain - We Are All Going To Die

Bird flu has reached Britain. One hundred and sixty thousand turkeys have recently been called in Suffolk, England. This was after the local farmers looking after the birds decided that some of the birds looked unwell and called in the inspectors. After appropriate testing it was found that the birds were suffering from the dangerous strain of bird flu virus and that an exclusion zone needed to be kept around the bird habitat and the birds were killed.

Time for panic or at least so it would seem.

The first mention of bird flu, especially in Western countries, is usually met with the blind assumption that we?re all going to die. Nothing, of course, can be further from the truth and facts show that only 160 people have died around the world from bird flu. All of these have been in close proximity to infected birds. Try explaining this to the general population and you will be met with disbelief.

As yet we have not been subjected to true human bird flu. The virus, at the moment, is contained within birds, although it can spread to humans, there is not yet any known human spread. That is to say there is no reason to suspect that humans have passed on the mutated virus to other humans. When it does, it is highly likely that this spread will be quite rampant. And, of course, there will be deaths?there are deaths in normal flu epidemics. But the deaths will be mainly due to general debility or other intercurrent illnesses which have been affected by the flu virus itself.

It is highly likely that the mutated flu virus?the one that travels between humans---will be much less dangerous than the bird flu virus itself.

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How Bird Flu Is Manifested In Humans

Professor Peter Openshaw, head of respiratory infections at National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College, London answered some questions regarding bird flu symptoms.

Which are the symptoms of the bird flu in humans? The symptoms of bird flu in humans are similar with those of an ordinary flu with fever, cough, muscle aches and short breath. Pay attention if your temperature goes up to 38 degrees, it might be bird flu but, if the temperature is lower it might be only a common flu. In almost half of the cases bird flu seems to be like an abdominal flu with diarrhea, abdominal pain, vomiting. So, to be sure you should perform some tests, if you hadn?t been in contact with sick poultry then you don?t need to worry for sure it?s only an ordinary flu.

How to be sure that is bird flu and not any other common flu? After the exposure in 3-7 days the symptoms develop. By the time patients get to the hospital it is too late to follow a treatment with antiviral agents.

How quickly is manifested the disease ? Bird flu should be treated within two days after developing fever of 38 degrees, that?s why is so important to measure your temperature. Severe symptoms that lead to death: The organ which is most affected is the lung and that?s why most people die. Some are developing kidney problems and more than a half bone marrow deficiency, so the bone is not producing cells to deal with the infection so the body is overwhelmed.

What is to be done if someone suspects that he is infected? It is very important to get close to a medical facility that can provide artificial ventilation if necessary and antiviral drugs, especially in the early stages of the disease. Next, the treatment is supportive and needs to overcome the kidney or lung failure and the spreading of the virus. The only subtype that can cause severe illness to people is Influenza A /H5N1 virus, initially it affects chickens, ducks and other birds by the process of mutation they can become highly pathogenic. Because highly pathogenic viruses can survive for long periods in tissue, water and in the environment, especially when temperatures are low is transmitted very easily in chickens and other birds through direct contact with feces and secretions from infected birds, eggs, feed, water, cages equipment, vehicles and clothing. Public health authorities monitor human illnesses associated with avian influenza. In Hong-Kong occured for the first time infection both in humans and poultry and were killed about 1.5 million chickens. In China and Hong-Kong avian influenza A (H9N2) virus infection affected two children who recovered. The source was unknown, but suspected the poultry.

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

General Information Regarding Avian Influenza (Bird Flu)

The World Health Organization (WHO) makes reports and updates regarding new human cases of infection with bird flu. The only subtype that can cause severe illness to people is Influenza A /H5N1 virus, initially it affects chickens, ducks and other birds by the process of mutation they can become highly pathogenic. Because highly pathogenic viruses can survive for long periods in tissue, water and in the environment, especially when temperatures are low is transmitted very easily in chickens and other birds through direct contact with feces and secretions from infected birds, eggs, feed, water, cages equipment, vehicles and clothing. Public health authorities monitor human illnesses associated with avian influenza. In Hong-Kong occured for the first time infection both in humans and poultry and were killed about 1.5 million chickens.

In China and Hong-Kong avian influenza A (H9N2) virus infection affected two children who recovered. The source was unknown, but suspected the poultry.

In Virginia, 2002 an outbreak of H7N2 among poultry was descovered but,with no human victims. Canada, 2004: human infections among poultry workers with H7N3.

Thailand and Vietnam human infections with H5N1. Azerbaijan, Cambodia, China, Djibouti, Egypt, Indonesia, Iraq, Thailand, Turkey, 2006: Human infections with H5N1 occurred as a result of contact with infected poultry and with infected death swangs. Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam, 2005 two persons have been infected with H5N1 as result of consuming uncooked duck blood. China two cases of patogenic infections with avian influenza A (H5N1) have been confirmed in a family travelling through China. Netherlands, 2003 were reported outbreaks of influenza A (H7N7) in several farms, after which in pigs and people, 90 people were confrmed with bird flu virus H7N7 in association with cases of eye conjunctivitis, one death occured at a veterinarian with acute respiratory distress syndrome and other complications after having direct contact with infected poultry. In New York, 2003 there has been registered one case a patient with respiratory symptoms which recovered in few weeks and tests confirmed it had been avian influenza A (H7N2) virus. Signs and symptoms of bird flu in humans are similar to other influenza viruses: sore throat and cough, fever, muscle weakness and/or pain, eye infections, with life-threatening complications such as: severe viral pneumonia, respiratory distress syndrome, multi- organ failure.

U.S. Food and Drug Administration suggests the following antiviral agents supposed to prevent and treat avian influenza: amantadine, rimantadine, oseltamivir, and zanamivir. They may be not always effective it has been demonstrated that viruses are resistent to amantadine and rimantadine. In the United States they are not in use any more for the treatment or prevention (prophylaxis) of influenza A. Specialists are monitoring the resistence of avian influenza A viruses to influenza antiviral medications.

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

How?s And Why?s Of Bird Flu Attack

Bird flu attacked many Nations. How and why it actually happened no one knows! The speed with which it spread all over the world was a mystery and confusion confounded. With its universal ?influence? it crippled many, without the distinction of race, color and nationality.

This bird-flu has the capacity to make such a big kill, the casualties of World War I and II put together will be a kindergarten stuff before the possible number of deaths due to bird flu.

With the drugs, antibiotics and vaccines developed so far to combat bird flu having proved ineffective, the alternative is now to search whether the nature has in store some natural herbs. If they are there, how to make their effective use is another matter for the researchers and scientists.

Can the Governments do something for the people to provide a protective cover in such emergent situations? What could do they do during Hurricane Katrina? At the time of Tsunami? That was just a small fraction of the world that was affected. What if the whole world were to be engulfed in bird flu?

Many Nations are at present attacked by bird flu but the damage is limited. As of now, the disease is not transmitted from human to human. Millions of birds and fowl are culled and destroyed in a desperate effort to contain it. But the virus of bird flu is evolving and changing. Sooner or later it will not spare the human beings, why should it? And why should the Nature come to the rescue? Have you been kind to the nature? We continue to exploit it to the hilt! Less said the better about the treatment human beings mete out to the animal kingdom!

The answer to the specific question-how did bird flu happen, I know will draw blank responses from you. I don't blame you. Human history, for that matter human health history is full off such ambiguities. But the projections about the possible consequence of a mass attack of bird-flu will be catastrophic! None has the solution. Nature has varied methods of population control. And when it uses those methods, it uses them ruthlessly.

It is indeed a no-win win situation. The question would no more be how did bird flu happen, the question then would be why did bird flu happen??
To get more information on bird flu, bird flu virus and bird flu vaccine visit http://www.isitbirdflu.com/

How to Protect Yourself From Bird Flu and Other Infections by Washing Your Hands -- the Right Way

OK, so I sound like your mother -- I accept that. Only I'm worse than your mother, because I want you to wash your hands more often than your mother did.

And for a longer time and more thoroughly.

If and when bird flu mutates into a virus that's contagious between people, we can expect it to spread as easily as ordinary influenza, and the same way ordinary flu does

Ordinary flu (and colds too) spreads primarily in two ways: contact spread and airborne spread.

Airborne spread means that somebody sheds virus by coughing or sneezing, and the small droplets containing the virus hang in the air, and you breath them in. They can hang there for fifteen minutes or more before drifting to the ground.

Experts disagree about whether contact spread or airborne spread causes more new infections of colds and flu.

It's a fact that you can dramatically reduce your chances of catching bird flu, ordinary flu, colds and other commons infections such as caliciviruses which causes nausea (stomach flu) by washing your hands to eliminate the risk of contact spread.

It's true washing your hands won't help you if a bird flu patient sneezes into your face, so avoid that!

Contact spread means the passing along of germs by simple touch. Influenza viruses can live outside a human body for hours. H5N1 bird flu can possibly survive on the outside for days.

So it's entirely possible that one of your co-workers can be infected but not even know it yet. They work at a computer keyboard. They shed some H5N1 viruses onto the keys. You sit down at the keyboard several hours later and do some work. You don't know it, but bird flu is on your hands.

Now, at this stage, the H5N1 is harmless. It cannot pass through the skin of your hands. That's the good news.

The bad news is that most of us touch our hands to our faces every 30 seconds or so. You put your hand on your chin to think. You scratch your nose. You rub your eyes. You chew your fingernail.

That's when the bird flu virus can infect you. It goes from your hands into your body through your mouth, nose and eyes. Then infects your respiratory tract and in a few days you're coughing.

That's why it's so important to wash your hands often in the best of times, more often during ordinary cold and flu season, and compulsively during a bird flu pandemic.

You may think there's no need for this article. Think again. Researchers once ran an experiment in the public restrooms of Grand Central Station. They installed cameras to observe how many people washed their hands after doing their business. They observed hundreds of men and women of every social class, economic class, race and ethnicity -- from the homeless to the wealthy.

60% failed to wash their hands at all!

Under 10% washed their hands thoroughly.

Almost nobody washed their hands thoroughly and then avoided touching the rest room surfaces before leaving.

You should wash your hands after using the bathroom and before meals, as your mother taught you. You should also wash your hands occasionally during the day. Especially after shaking hands with someone (when it's polite to do so, of course), after you've been handling anybody else's things (such as using someone else's pens or computer keyboard), after you've coughed or sneezed, after preparing dishes while cooking -- and even more often during the regular flu and cold season and throughout a bird flu pandemic.

Don't become as crazy as Howard Hughes in old age, but do wash your hands often, the proper way.

Use soap and water. Water should be a comfortable temperature. When it's too cold it won't dissolve the soap as easily. Too hot and of course it'll burn you.

Lather up well and rub the soap all over your hands and fingers, including under your fingernails, for twenty to thirty seconds. Rinse. Repeat.

In public restrooms, don't touch any surfaces with your now clean hands. Turn off faucet with paper towel. Push door open with paper towel.

In some places (such as where I work), there's no soap available, only a lotion of the germicide triclosan.

Scientists disagree about using triclosan. Some believe it's a harmful chemical. Some believe it encourages resistance to germicides in the germs. Some believe it upset the balance of natural germs on our skin.

If you have a choice, scrub your hands thoroughly with soap and water. If you have no choice, just use the triclosan. Chances are you won't even notice.

Some of the same arguments apply to germicide hands lotions made from isopropyl alcohol, which you find stores full of during the Fall beginning of flu season. Except that some people say that when the alcohol evaporates it dries the skin of your hands creating small cracks that allow more dirt inside your skin.

Therefore, I use my hand lotion of isopropyl alcohol only when I feel my hands are so dirty that I want some extra protection besides a thorough scrubbing of soap and water. Hey, sometimes that happens after I use the toilet.

And during a bird flu pandemic -- I'm applying that germicide hand lotion ten times a day, cracks in the skin or no cracks in the skin. Especially if I've touched anyone or handled any objects that may have been exposed to anybody else.

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

How Many People Would a Bird Flu Pandemic Kill?

You see a lot of wild and crazy estimates for this. Yet, the truth is, there's no simple answer. It depends on a lot of things -- and the most important factors are still unknown.

First of all, I don't put any stock in the simplistic estimates that are based on 1918. We're living in a much different world. H5N1 is a different virus.

Some estimates are based on more sophisticated mathematical models. The only problem is, right now critical variables are still unknown.

First variable is known as the lethality rate. That is, what percentage of infected people will bird flu kill?

Right now, based on known victims, it's consistently killing just over half. However, the numbers of patients are still quite small, so that may not be statistically accurate. Plus, many of those patients are receiving good medical care. It may kill a higher percentage of those who don't make it to hospitals.

It's also true that we probably don't know the true number of infected people. Just a few days ago Indonesia announced that it just learned that a little girl who died there last year had bird flu, even though several of her family members were known to have died of it.

If a relatively advanced country isn't getting around to testing an obviously suspect child patient until 8 months after her death -- what's happening in sub-Saharan Africa?

How many more victims are going undetected? That's unknown. On the bright side, it's possible that some or many victims are recovering without being tested so the actual lethality rate might be lower than we think.

If and when H5N1 mutates into a highly contagious form, its lethality rate could go lower. Until it actually happens, we just don't know.

But it is frightening to compare H5N1 to the 1918 flu, because the 1918 flu had a lethality rate of 2.5% -- so if contagious bird flu retains anything like its current apparent lethality rate, it could be much deadlier than 1918 flu. Which would make comparisons between them way over-optimistic.

To measure the spread of a disease, scientists use the contagion rate.

This is -- how many other people on average does one infected person spread the flu to?

Partly this is based on the virus itself, so we just can't know this until it does mutate. However, right now H5N1 is a tough virus -- it can survive for hours outside a human body and in water. This means that you could be infected by an A/H5N1 virus left on a doorknob by someone who opened that door several hours before you.

Overall contagion rate must be affected by population density. Bird flu will infect more people in a crowded Calcutta slum than in rural Wyoming.

And here's a great difference between now and 1918. The world's population is over 6 times higher. But since some areas of the world are so densely crowded, it's possible that chicken flu would spread through them very quickly and kill even more than 6 times as many people as in 1918.

Plus, in 1918 various areas of the world defended themselves by closing themselves off from the outside world. Some places can still do this, but most of the world is much less self-sufficient. Unless you're on an island that supplies its own food and water, you can't isolate yourself from other people.

And even if you can -- there's still the risk of contagion from animals. So your island better not be under a duck migration route. Because duck manure does contain the active virus.

Plus, the world's population may be more susceptible to infection than in 1918. Everybody infected with HIV is at risk, for example.

Bird flu would likely travel around the world more quickly today because we have much more international travel. We go places by jet instead of steam ships.

There's another advance in transportation -- not usually mentioned -- which will affect transmission of bird flu: the automobile. Only a very few people in 1918 had cars, and there was no system of highways.

Now cars and highways connect the entire developed world. And are common and widespread in the developing world.

Of course, riding alone in a car during a lethal flu pandemic is safer than riding in a bus, train or other mass transit vehicle with many other people. Yet if you're the one infected, a car can help you spread the virus farther and faster than you could have in 1918.

There's another risk of death the world's population faces from A/H5N1, which is not being addressed.

That's the risk of the consequences of the pandemic.

If the pandemic causes many deaths the world's economy will be disrupted.

There'll be shortages of food, water, medicine, energy and other necessities. This could last for a year or more, if agriculture is greatly affected.

In many places there's likely to be problems with both law and order and civil unrest.

In a pandemic of any significant seriousness there will death caused by a large number of various groups seeking to take advantage of the situation: ordinary criminals, terrorists, organized crime, renegade groups of soldiers and police, ethnic/racial hate groups, political/religious extremists of all stripes -- and just any old mob looking to loot and kill just because they can get away with it, or to scapegoat some other group for the pandemic.

In some cases there's bound to be organized armed battles and wars between countries and between competing groups within countries.

My personal belief is that there'll be great civil unrest but ultimately society as we know it will prevail -- though the world's map may change in many places.

With central governments weakened by deaths and lack of resources, many disaffected ethnic groups will seize the opportunity to become independent.

On the other hand, many ethnic majorities will seize the opportunity to blame ethnic minorities for the pandemic -- and kill them in riots.

The severity of events will likely fall somewhere between the temporary default of law and order in New Orleans during the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and the total anarchy of Stephen King's novel THE STAND.

How can anybody predict the number of dead from these events?

Richard Stooker Richard discusses how to avoid the bird flu virus in his book How to Protect Yourself and Your Family From the Bird Flu Virus -- And check out his Bird Flu Virus blog

Bird Flu Explained

Bird Flu or more correctly, avian flu, is much in the news and causing a lot of anxiety. Many people are worried that they may get it, and the papers are full of horror scenarios.

There are over 100 strains of avian flu, but most of them do not infect humans. The current strain H5N1 can infect humans, but not easily. The number of cases of avian flu in humans in the current outbreak is very small, and almost all have come about by direct contact with infected or dead birds ? something that most of us are unlikely to experience. So far, the spread of H5N1 virus from person-to-person has been rare and has not continued beyond one person. In fact according to The Times (London, 23rd March 2006) only 184 confirmed cases have been reported worldwide so far from this strain, with 103 deaths. These have been in Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, and most recently, several cases in Turkey.

What the authorities are much more concerned about is the strain mutating into a variation that can be transmitted between human beings, rather than just from bird to human. This has been designated as influenza A/H5N1. Humans do not have any resistance to this strain, because these viruses do not commonly infect humans. If a strain developed that could infect the human population, a pandemic would be likely with many people being infected and dying. The 1918 ?Spanish flu? is estimated to have killed 50 million people worldwide. At least four of the eight genes of H5N1 avian flu now contain mutations seen in that deadly strain.

Jeffery K. Taubenberger, a molecular pathologist at the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology in Rockville, USA has said:

"These H5N1 viruses might be acquiring the ability to adapt to humans, increasing their pandemic risk ... there is a suggestion there may be some parallel evolution going on."

Scientists still do not understand completely how a bird virus becomes a human virus, but H5N1 is already showing some of the mutations necessary for it to become a human flu, but at the moment, in spite off all the panic, there is no pandemic flu strain.

Research in the Netherlands and the USA has shown that while human influenza viruses are able to bind with receptors in the windpipe, H5N1 binds only much deeper inside the lungs. This makes it more difficult for the virus to infect humans, because the virus is less likely to reach the inner lungs than the windpipe. The H5N1 virus is also less likely to spread from human to human. Coughing and sneezing easily transmits viruses that have multiplied in the windpipe, but not those located deep in the lungs. If H5N1 manages to mutate so that it can replicate in the upper respiratory tract, a pandemic becomes more likely. Scientists are constantly monitoring the virus for this mutation.

So should we be concerned? There have been many scares over the years that have not come to anything, and this could turn out to be one of those too, but it is worth taking some sensible precautions rather than just relying on the scientists to find a powerful enough solution. Having a strong immune system has to be the first line of defence. Eating a good diet, taking exercise, getting plenty of sleep, and reducing stress can all lead to a stronger immune system that can fight more effectively against the bugs of this world and any dangerous mutations.

References:
Daily News Central: Bird Flu on Similar Evolutionary Path as 1918 Killer Virus

Centers For Disease Control & Prevention: Key Facts About Avian Influenza (Bird Flu) and Avian Influenza A (H5N1) Virus

The Times (London) 21 January 2006 and 23 March 2006

The Guardian (London) 1 March 2006

Jane Thurnell-Read delights in making information on health more understandable and accessible. Visit her web site http://www.healthandgoodness.com for more ideas and information.

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

Questions To Ask Your Employer Before A Bird Flu Pandemic

Bird flu? Have you heard of it? You have probably been hearing more about it in the news lately. What is it and why should you be worried about it? Avian influenza affects poultry and wild game birds. It has been mainly in Southeast Asia but is spreading to other countries. Since 2003 160 people worldwide have become ill and about 82 have died. It is deadly to poultry and can be lethal in humans as well. The people who have contacted bird flu have been in close contact with infected birds. At this time it is not transmitted by human-to-human contact. But scientists fear, and health experts agree, that it is only a matter of time that the virus will change into a form that can be easily passed from person to person. When that happens there will be an increased risk of a worldwide pandemic.

We will not have immunity to this form of the flu and it can be deadly. It may be similar to the 1918 flu that killed 40-50 million people around the world. If it starts to spread, life as we know it will change. Millions will become ill and millions will die around the world. This flu could last for months at a time and up to three years. More than likely schools and businesses would be closed, public events canceled, transportation shut down and travel severely limited. Meaning your only choice is to stay home with your family.

Your business or company may have anywhere from 30-60% of the employees out sick, or out to take care of ill family members.

A bird flu pandemic could last for weeks or months at a time. You may be out of work for several months. You may want to start taking some measures now so you are prepared for being out of work and loss of income.

You need to ask your employer how they will be handling a pandemic crisis. What will their policies be? How are they going to provide a healthy work environment so that it will minimize the spread of the flu? How is your health insurance? Does it need to be updated? Will they offer additional sick time or paid leave of absence? Can you get a wage or salary advance or partial advance? Who will fill in for you, if you are out sick or need to stay home with family members who are ill? Are your co-workers crossed trained? What happens if you need to stay home with your children because schools are closed? Can your business run with 50% of employees out sick? What happens if the business needs to shut down completely? How do they plan on communicating with employees who are at home? Are there options for working at home? What if you need to leave the area to go somewhere safer? Will you have a job when you return? These are the type of questions you need to start asking today before a bird flu pandemic.

You will want to make copies of your employment agreements, health and life insurance policies and other employee documents including investment plans, stock options and other benefits. If we enter a pandemic and you need to stay home and be out of work for several months, you may want to consider tapping into any investment plans to find available cash to carry you through. A global influenza pandemic will have catastrophic consequences worldwide that will affect your business, career, investments, home, family and community. Stay informed about the bird flu and start planning for a possible pandemic.

To stay up to date on avian influenza, bird flu and the h5n1 virus visit The Bird Flu Index http://www.birdfluindex.com Find links to bird flu websites, blogs, forums, official medical and government sites and full information about how the bird flu could turn into a global pandemic

Can A Respirator/Mask Really Help Against Bird Flu?

Surgical masks and respirators are forms of personal protective equipment used to guard against the spread of infectious diseases. With the increased onset of bird flu, many manufacturers and distributors of various protective equipment have touted incredible results from the use of their products. Do they hold water? Do these respirators and masks actually protect against bird flu?

For many years, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has recommended the use of various forms personal protective equipment to safeguard against spreading diseases. Of these are surgical masks. These masks are manufactured to block the passage of tiny particles such as the influenza virus and keep the particles from reaching the eyes, mouth, and nose of the wearer, therefore preventing infection.

However, all masks are not developed to guard against infection. Masks for healthcare use are regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which ensures certain standards and criteria are met by all personal protective equipment. Therefore, if a mask is FDA approved, you can be assured the mask protects against the spread of infection. However, if a mask is not approved by the FDA, you should consider purchasing a different type.

Many manufactures are specifically guaranteeing bird flu protection; it should be understood that the FDA does not test for specific forms of disease, and therefore, companies are not allowed to make such allegations. If similar claims are made, you should be skeptical of the company's validity and the quality of their products. There is a website to search for approved FDA masks, http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/devicesatfda/index.cfm?st=fxx+or+(surgical+mask). On the other hand, the CDC determines which type of equipment is appropriate for varying conditions.

You do not need a prescription or any special information to buy these masks and they can be bought at most pharmacies, medical supply stores and on the internet. However, if you are buying from the internet, be certain you are dealing with a reputable company to be certain you are purchasing quality products.

For the most part, personal protective equipment has proven to be a very effective way to prevent against infection. However, the CDC does not suggest or imply the use of these masks is appropriate for common use to keep from becoming infected. They suggest, instead, staying home when you are sick and simply staying away from sick people to prevent the spread of illnesses. However, with the threat of bird flu, many are seeking any means available to guard against infection.

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.