Tag Archives: bird flu

Preparing for Bird Flu

The recent coverage of the possible coming pandemic of Avian (bird) flu has been wide spread. Many are frightened by the threat of this dangerous illness. Others do not seem to take the possibility seriously. This is a rather frightening illness, which does have a high fatality rate. However, currently it is not spread from person to person. You can contract the disease from the infected birds themselves. You can learn more about bird flu here. There are steps that we can take in order to protect our families from a possible outbreak of bird flu. One site that you … Continue reading →

What Is Bird Flu?

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If you watch or read the news regularly, you’ve probably heard of bird flu, otherwise known as avian influenza. Bird flu is a contagious disease of animals; the viruses infect mainly birds and occasionally pigs. On rare occasions, the virus has crossed over to infect humans. There are 23 different variations of the influenza A virus. Only a few of these subtypes can cause serious illness in poultry. The variety that is causing the most upset is the “highly pathogenic” form, which can cause high mortality rates in a domestic flock of poultry in a very short amount of time. … Continue reading →

What Is An Influenza Pandemic?

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An epidemic is a disease that attacks many individuals in a particular area at the same time. A pandemic is a global disease outbreak. In just the last century, we have seen three influenza pandemics: 1918: 500,000 deaths in the United States; 40 million deaths worldwide 1957: 70,000 deaths in the United States; between one and two million deaths worldwide 1968: 34,000 deaths in the United States; 700,000 deaths worldwide As medicine, education, and communication abilities advance, the death toll has gone down dramatically. What causes a pandemic? Viruses are constantly changing. A new strain of the influenza virus may … Continue reading →