How is bird flu spread?
It appears that the H5N1 avian infection in birds is spread primarily through migratory birds and through infected poultry. However, there have been documented cases of H5N1 being transmitted to other animals as well as humans, especially cats and even dogs. Many countries have surveillance systems for identifying H5N1 in migratory birds and poultry, but surveillance of other animals is lacking.
In the bird flu epidemic of 1918, known as the “Spanish Flu,” it is believed that the bird flu H1N1 virus was transmitted to humans from pigs which had been infected by birds or bird feces. Transmission from mammals, especially pigs, to humans occurs more easily than transmission from birds to humans.
H5N1 avian flu is spread in two ways. The first, called “reassortment,” is caused by an exchange of genetic material between the bird flu virus and a human, or even a pig, as appears to have been the case in the 1918 flu. Reassortment can cause a sudden surge of cases resulting in an explosive pandemic spread of H5N1 in humans.
The second way of spreading bird flu is more gradual, one of adaptive mutation. In this scenario the ability of the H5N1 virus to attach to human cells increases through mutation. In adaptive mutation, small clusters of human cases occur with some evidence of human-to-human transmission. There have been human clusters confirmed in Iraq, Azerbaijan, and Indonesia. Since June, 2006 a cluster in Indonesia infected three generations, a cause for serious alarm. Other clusters were verfied in Indonesia in August and September, 2006. While human-to-human transmission has not been confirmed in these cases, infected birds were not identified, making the matter an open question. Adaptive mutation gives the world some time to take defensive action and appears to be occurring at this time.
I trust everyone is aware that this individual’s choice of nickname in no way indicates that I’m no longer around.
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I want to include: how will pandemic flu be spread?
OK_ Bluntly: if anyone knows anyone who died in the pandemic of 1918…then how did they die? Not what it looked like…how did they get it? <How do the people that die from these pandemic viruses catch them?> …Is there a pattern? Can we avoid it?
My father-in-law first contracted the spanish flu from a relative he visited, several miles from his home. He then gave it to his father (they were the only two living in the house), my father-n-law obviously survived but his father died. He said,”he coughed his lungs up on the wall”. He also said that though he was very weak he had to dig his fathers grave and bury him himself, everyone else was either sick or dead or to afraid to help. They must have been some tough old souls back then!!! I guess we can all do what we HAVE to do!!!