Avian or Bird Influenza has killed more than 60 people in
several Asian countries, according to the World Health
Organization's Web site.
WHO is the United Nations specialized agency for health and
among the foremost organizations battling the infectious
disease. Generally, the disease attacks birds or, less commonly,
pigs, However, it continually 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.
The expanding geography associated with the disease is one of
the reasons health officials 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
and exercise to ward off the Bird Flu has been recommended by
health officials.
In addition, laboratory studies suggest that prescription
medicines including
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 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.
For more information on
avian influenza,
please visit
www.avian-flu-symptoms.com.
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