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World Health Organization still assessing bird flu threat.
Bird or Avian Influenza has killed more than 68 people in
several Asian countries, according to the World Health
Organization (WHO) and news reports. Although health officials
say panic isn't warranted at this point, the evidence is ample
to create serious concerns.
Whether the potentially-lethal H5N1 strain of the disease has
made the leap from bird-to-human to human-to-human transmission
has yet to be determined, said Daniel Epstein, information
officer with the WHO's Washington, D.C.-based regional office.
WHO is the United Nations specialized agency for health and
among the foremost organizations dealing with the infectious
illness.
"I think we're at the stage of still assessing the threat,"
Epstein said. On the WHO's scale, the Avian Flu situation ranks
at a No. 3, with the least problematic threats coming in at No.
1 and the most serious at No. 6.
That No. 3 rating is based on no or limited human-to-human
transmission of the disease, Epstein said, adding health
officials worldwide are studying whether human-to-human
transmission is occurring. People living on the same farms in
some areas of the world have come down with the disease, but
it's uncertain whether they picked up the illness from each
other or from fowl on those same farms, Epstein explained.
If evidence surfaces that the "unpredictable" Avian Flu virus
has started moving through human-to-human transmission, the
seriousness of the situation will rise to a No. 4 ranking, he
said. There are other, conflicting reports as to whether
human-to-human transmission has occurred. Even so, those reports
point to limited transmission only.
Generally, the disease attacks birds or, less commonly, pigs,
However, it continuously mutates and is spread through bird
migration, ultimately attacking humans, making it more of a
potential threat outside Asia.For example, the disease was
recently reported as appearing in the Arab world for the first
time.
In addition, a subtype of H5N1 has turned up in North America,
at a west-coast Canadian poultry farm. Even though the virus
found in a commercial duck there was deemed to be a "low
pathogenic North American strain," according to the Canadian
Press, that find prompted the slaughter of 60,000 birds as a
precaution against the disease's spread. The U.S. has also taken
trade action against the Canadian province of British Columbia
as a result, although far bigger and costly bird culls have gone
ahead in other jurisdictions to prevent the spread of the virus
in the past.
"This confirmation means we're looking at a virus capable of
causing only a mild disease (in birds), if any at all,"
Cornelius Kiley, a veterinarian and Canadian Food Inspection
Agency worker, said of the British Columbia situation. The
expanding geography associated with H5N1 is one of the reasons
many are concerned a pandemic - a worldwide spread of the
disease - is possible.
But the lack of available information on bird migration pathways
and the influenzas that hit avian populations is, among other
things, making it tough for public health experts to battle the
disease. "We would be so far ahead of the game right now if we
knew more about the actual natural history and what the
wild-type viruses actually
do in these waterfowl populations or
bird populations in general,'' David Stallknecht, a Bird Flu
specialist at the University of Georgia's college of veterinary
medicine in Athens, told the Canadian Press. "The lack of
funding and the lack of appreciation for knowing what these
wild-type viruses do, I think has put us behind," he said. The
maintenance of general good health through nutrition, vitamins
and exercise to ward off the Avian Flu has been recommended by
health officials. Even getting a regular flu shot - available
for free from some public health groups in North America - has
been suggested as a way to help ward off the flu.
For people who eat chicken or other fowl, cooking it at a
minimum of 70 C or 158 F will kill any virus it contains, health
officials on both sides of the Canadian-American border have
said. In addition, laboratory studies suggest that prescription
medicines including Oseltamivir (commercial name: Tamiflu) and
Relenza, which were licensed in the United States and Europe in
1999, could ward off the disease. Even so, the Atlanta-based
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDCP) warns that flu
viruses might become resistant to these drugs. More studies are
needed to prove the medicines' effectiveness, according to the
organization's Web site.
As for the WHO, it isn't pushing either medication to combat the
Bird Flu, Epstein said. "(The drugs) will ease (Avian Flu)
symptoms," he said, but they're not a cure for the disease.
However, other WHO officials have recommended that some
countries stockpile Tamiflu in particular, as it prevents
viruses from spreading from one infected group to another.
"(Tamiflu) is a broad spectrum drug," Dr. Frederick Hayden, a
clinical virologist at the University of Virginia, said in the
Canadian edition of Reader's Digest magazine. Flus can have nine
different NA proteins and Tamiflu "has been shown to be
effective against all of them. It reduces the duration of
illness and the risk of complications and hospitalization,"
Hayden said.
The drawbacks to Tamiflu are its relative high cost and short
supply, Dr. Bruce Gellin, director of the U.S. National Vaccine
Program Office, said in the magazine. But since 2003, Roche - a
Swiss firm and the world's only manufacturer of the drug - has
stepped up Tamiflu production, boosting its output of the
medication eightfold in the past two years. In addition,
U.S.-based manufacturing facilities to produce the drug are in
the works, according to the magazine.
The WHO is not recommending the use of virus-fighting face
masks, which cover the nose and mouth, at this time to prevent
the spread of the illness, Epstein said. Such masks were used in
Toronto, Canada in 2003 to combat the spread of the Severe Acute
Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) virus in that city. SARS also
emerged in several other cities throughout the world. The WHO is
working with public health agencies globally regarding the Bird
Flu, Epstein said, to help ensure such things as communications
plans - to keep the public informed in the event of a major
outbreak - are in place.
About the author:
Eric Schmiedl is a freelance journalist and a contributor to www.avian-flu-symptoms.c
om
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