Bird Flu

Key Facts

Cause

Viruses that normally infect only birds (chicken, ducks, geese, quails, and wild birds) and, less commonly, pigs and other mammals.

Symptoms in humans

Fever, headache, cough, muscle pain, eye infections, pneumonia, and severe respiratory diseases such as acute respiratory distress.

Forms

• no symptoms at all in some species such as domestic ducks.
• mild illness, which might be barely noticed.
• highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), which is extremely contagious and rapidly fatal for birds.

Modes of transmission

• among birds
• close contact of people with sick birds or their feces

Prevention

• Avoid farms with infected poultry
• Avoid contact with contaminated surface or animal secretions
• Cook meat and other poultry products thoroughly
• Observe proper hygiene

Treatment

Tamiflu is a medicine to treat flu by attacking the influenza virus and preventing it from spreading inside the body.

Vaccine

No vaccine for the avian flu exists. Developments are under way

Countries with reported outbreaks of H5N1 avian flu in birds

Cambodia, People’s Republic of China, Croatia, Indonesia, Japan, Kazakhstan, Republic of Korea, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Mongolia, Thailand, Romania, Russia, Turkey, and Viet Nam

Countries with confirmed human cases of H5N1 avian flu

Cambodia, Indonesia, Thailand, and Viet Nam - Human cases have been linked to direct exposure to dead or diseased poultry during slaughtering, defeathering, and food preparation.

Cumulative Number of Confirmed Human Cases of Avian Flu

Since the beginning of the East Asian outbreaks in December 2003, the cumulative number of confirmed human cases of avian influenza (H5N1) as of 19 February 2007 totaled 274, with 167 deaths, according to WHO's data*. The breakdown is as follows:

• Azerbaijan - 8 cases with 5 deaths
• Cambodia - 6 cases with 6 deaths
• People's Republic of China - 22 cases with 14 deaths
• Djibouti - 1 case with 0 deaths
• Egypt - 22 cases with 13 deaths
• Indonesia - 81 cases with 63 deaths
• Iraq - 3 cases with 2 deaths
• Nigeria - 1 case with 1 death
• Thailand - 25 cases with 17 deaths
• Turkey - 12 cases with 4 deaths
• Viet Nam - 93 cases with 42 deaths

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