Home
| Health
| Viruses
| Avian Flu
| The Impact of Avian Flu Research
The Impact of Avian Flu Research
by Douglas Christian Larsen
-
Overview
65183482-aaed-b19f-1870-b27bd64cf772400300
The impact of research into avian influenza (bird flu) has been significant. Research has progressed rapidly in the new millennium thanks to the cooperation of intrepid investigators, researchers, doctors and scientists. The World Health Organization (WHO) in particular has made great progress in bringing together international governments and scientists to address the global threat of the bird flu pandemic.
-
The World Health Organization (WHO)
As reported on its website, the WHO has been actively vigilant since 1968 in researching, investigating and preparing for an eventual worldwide pandemic of avian flu. The WHO has established early warning systems as well as a database shared by international scientists, both of which report and study avian flu breakouts as they occur.
fc079963-8210-2fdb-6058-ac2ec9d7fef3400300
-
Flu in Wild Fowl
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), bird flu is carried by wild fowl in the intestines. The virus is generally benign in wild birds, but it is very contagious and can easily spread and prove malignant to domesticated birds, such as ducks and chickens.
1721279e-05dd-3b8a-4796-383630a558d3400300
-
Isolating the H5N1 Virus
The lethal H5N1 virus was first isolated in 1996 from a domestic goose in the Guangdong Province of China, explains the WHO. As early as 1997, the first known bird-to-human infection was reported. In 2004, the first cluster case of limited human-to-human infection was reported.
32d1dd8f-5155-f5b9-a03d-fc5776efdbb9400300
-
Five Points
The WHO is actively engaged in a plan for containing the virus. This is the WHO's five-point strategic action plan:
1. Reduce H5N1 exposure to humans.
2. Make a stronger early-warning system.
3. Intensify rapid containment of outbreaks.
4. Implement pandemic-coping capabilities.
5. Cooperate globally in research and development.
-
The Fatal Strain
As Alan Sipress writes in his book, "The Fatal Strain: On the Trail of Avian Flu and the Coming Pandemic," the greatest danger is in the factory farming of birds, in which tens of thousands of birds are crammed together. The birds are unhealthy, and they share their germs. The avian flu infection can be passed via chicken feces, blood and other secretions. Currently, this is how avian flu is most commonly contracted.
