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 together to find a cure to this soon to be pandemic because the results could be so bad that we may never recover. Using Epidemiology, solving the influenza problem is possible because through extensive analysis of the data given and seeing who contracted the disease and what ethnic groups, ages, or genders are more susceptible to the virus.
Because it is a virus it is almost impossible to predict what will happen, for all we know the virus could just disappear and no longer be a threat to the inhabitants of Earth. But to be on the safe side a few antiviral drugs have been developed. Currently there are four drugs that are approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the attempt at treating the Avian Flu; these drugs are Amantadine, Rimantadine, Oseltamivir, and Zanamivir. All four have shown good results when put up against the viruses. However, virus' can become resistant to drugs such as these, thus the drugs may not always be effective. For example, Amantadine and Rimantadine have already been proven useless against earlier strains of H5N1. While monitoring of avian flu viruses for resistance is a big job, it has been assigned to the Center for Disease Control (CDC). A way to help prevent the contraction is to take some cautious measures when handling poultry. For example washing your hands and utensils after cutting chicken, using a plastic cutting board because wooden ones absorb juices from what ever you place on it and any thing that touches a wooden cutting board after that could carry salmonella or transfer the virus, label the board so you won't mix it with other cutting boards. Also cooking your poultry fully can kill the virus; thus rendering it harmless.
At the beginning in June 2004 many countries have reported cases of the influenza virus, and as of January 9th, 2006 this is the most recent list. Cambodia, China, Croatia, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Mongolia, Romania, Russia, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, Vietnam. These are only the outbreaks contained in Asia. The virus has also appeared in the United States. In February of 2004 as part of a regular check made by the state of Texas for hints of the Avian Flu, 7,000 turkeys that resided on a turkey farm in south west Texas were found to be infected. This was the first outbreak the U.S. has seen since 1984. Since then many numerous counts have been announced however none have been found in humans, only poultry. Again in February 2004, an outbreak of H7N2 was reported on 2 chicken farms in Delaware and in four live bird markets in New Jersey supplied by the chicken farms. Even before that, in November of 2003, a patient with "serious underlying medical conditions" was admitted to a New York hospital with symptoms of a respiratory illness. One of the laboratory tests identified the illness as an influenza virus that was thought to be H1N1. The patient recovered and went home after a few weeks. Later tests in March of the following year showed that the patient had been infected with an H7N2 avian flu virus.
In these cases, The Avian Flu is brought about by birds, turkeys to be more specific. The farming techniques used in China are quite primitive. For example, in the average farm the owners can only afford one building to house all their chickens, turkeys, and other animals in. That is usually fine, however that building also just so happens to be where the farm workers live. This results in constant (almost 24/7) contact with the farm animals, including poultry, which results in a possible contraction of the virus.
One thing that made my mind boggle during this report was why has a more devastating affect not taken place on the people living in Asia? From what I have gathered, it seems that only recently the virus has mutated to become even more serious than ever before. So travelers, mostly Europeans and Americans need to be cautious when visiting foreign countries. The CDC has a notice out that holds some preliminary things that should be done for people that travel such as creating a travelers first aid kit, getting up to date with all vaccinations, and seeing what you health care does about extracting patients from other countries.
Preventive measures have been set up for eliminating the influenza. One such example
-H5N1-
How people at risk could be notified and treated if necessary
How the food became tainted in the first place
What steps could be taken to prevent other people from eating tainted food
It seems Avian influenza viruses do not normally infect species other than birds and pigs. The first documented infection of humans with an avian influenza virus occurred in Hong Kong in 1997, when the H5N1 strain caused severe respiratory disease in 18 humans, of whom 6 died. This infection of humans coincided with the potential scenario of a pandemic involving the highly pathogenic avian influenza requires much attention and care. For without this care, it could have devastating affects on us all.