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Can Humans Pass the Bird Flu to Another HumanWhen something as potentially deadly as the bird flu shows up on the health scene, it is cause for concern for many people. No one wants to get sick, let alone with a virus that is potentially fatal. The biggest concern is how they could catch it from an infected person.
There are several reasons why people are concerned with the bird flu. The bird flu has been known to cause very serious illness and even death in humans with about a 50% mortality rate. The concern is that it could recombine with a regular flu bug to create a new version of the bird flu that is capable of being spread from person to person. If it were to do so, there is no known vaccine or medication that would stop it, and the death toll
could be in the millions. Even in birds, the bird flu is very severe, spreading rapidly and causing epidemics and mass deaths of infected birds. This is particularly a concern for those who work in the poultry industry, as it could mean the loss of much needed revenue.
At the moment, though, bird flu can only be transmitted to human via infected birds. The person has to come in contact either with the infected bird itself, or through handling contaminated surfaces. The people most at risk are those who work in the poultry industry and come in direct contact with the animals, or where they can inhale particles of dried discharges and feces that are contaminated with the virus. This includes positions such as slaughtering, removing feathers, butchering and other preparation of infected birds for consumption. In some instance, infection has been linked to exposure to feces from infected birds, free ranging domestic or wild, in school yards and bodies of water. However, while the disease spreads easily from one bird to another, it is slow to spread to the human population despite tens of millions of domestic poultry birds becoming infected, there are fewer than 200 documented human cases with laboratory confirmation.
The biggest fear of scientists and health professionals is that the bird flu virus will eventually make the leap to human to human transmission, similar to what the SARS virus did. This could occur gradually over time, where each new strain of the virus is gradually stronger and more transmittable. Or it could be a single event, where a person or an animal that has a regular flu virus comes down with the bird flu virus and the two merge and mutate. Should this occur a fast moving pandemic is a possibility. This could have dire consequences on the economy of the areas that it infects, as the potential numbers of ill persons could overwhelm local hospitals and shut down business and commerce.
Following basic health practices will help to protect you should a pandemic situation occur. Wash your hands frequently with soap and water, particularly before you eat and after close contact with strangers or animals. If soap and water are not readily available, consider carrying a bottle of waterless, alcohol-based hand sanitizer for in between washings. Cover your nose and mouth whenever you need to cough or sneeze. Avoid crowds as much as possible, particularly those in close confines such as a plane or subway. Get all illnesses looked at by a doctor, and if you are sick, do everyone else the courtesy of staying home. Follow all vaccination schedules as recommended by your local health department.
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, so taking precautions now will help to ensure that the bird flu never makes the jump to person to person transmit ion, and if it does, to limit the spread as much as possible.
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