by Joseph Kelley

Created on: December 06, 2008

The Avian Flu, also known as H5N1, could by far be the most unexpected and disastrous pandemic this world has seen since the Black Death. The Avian Flu, also commonly referred to by scientists as H5N1, is a single strain that began as a disease, which was commonly spread among wild birds. There are also two other strands that can affect humans, H1N1 and H1N2. However, very recently, the virus has mutated to be able to transfer from wild birds to domestic birds that are eaten (mostly poultry) to humans. However the transfusion of the virus to and from humans has not been apparentyet. But it is only a matter of time, many flu virus', such as seasonal flu's, can be transferred just by coughing in a crowded area. Therefore, if H5N1 were to be contracted by a mammal, this could potentially change the chemical structure of Avian Flu into an influenza virus that could be contracted from human to human.

What is H5N1? The H and N stand for Hemagglutinin and Neuraminidase, respectively. These are enzymes that are part of the outer coat of the influenza virus. Their function is to help the new viral particles break free of host cells. Thus, they are key determinants of how pathogenic a particular virus strain is for a given organism. There are 16 hemagglutinin and 9 neuraminidase variants, so a popular way to characterize flu strains is to name them according to what hemagglutinin and neuraminidase variants they contain. There are 3 distinct hemagglutinins (H1, H2, and H3) found in human flu viruses - 13 others have been found in animal flu viruses. There are 2 distinct neuraminidases (N1 and N2) in human viruses - 7 others in other animals.

Traces of the flu have only been found in Asia and the Middle East. Only a few months ago, traces of the virus had been found in Iraq, in which are located US Troops. If you would recall World War One, after the signing of the Treaty of Versailles, all US Troops returned to Fort Devens in Ayer, Massachusetts. However little known to the US government many of the soldiers while located over seas had contracted the Spanish flu. With the incoming soldiers the Spanish flu created an epidemic in the United States and more people ended up dying in one year of this disease as compared to in 4 years during the Black Death. All the people who died in this epidemic total greater than all of the death totals in WWI.

This just goes to show that we can learn something from our past that how important it is that we as a global community should work

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