When most people hear the word “flu” they tend to think there is only one strain and that they affect everyone the same. However; there are multiple strain of the flu, one strain being HN51 flu. The HN51 flu, which is also known as a specific strain of the bird flu which was discovered in 1996. The H stands for Hemagglutinin and the N stands for Neuraminidase. There are eighteen different types of Hemagglutinin subgroups and eleven different type of the Neuraminidase subgroup. The first strain of this type of flu that emerged was identified in geese, in southern China. These geese, which carry this disease usually do not get sick themselves that is why they call these birds “reservoirs.” A reservoir is a carrier of a virus. The virus does not affect them they just carry it from one place to the infection site. The Avian flu does not usually infect humans; however some strains such as the A (H5N1) and A (H7N9) have cause severe cases in some people. Occasionally, a person infected with avian flu has passed it on to someone else. There is a wide range of unresolved questions regarding this disease since it first emerged.
The Avian influenza is divided into groups based on their ability to cause disease in poultry; high pathogenicity and low pathogenicity. Pathogenicity meaning how serious the virus is, and how easily it can affect an animal. The high pathogenicity results in high death rates and the low results in low death rates. The HN51 has had a big impact on producers and on certain backyard producers. The flu has cause large market shocks, which were largely driven by misplaced public fears that regarded the safety of the poultry products. The media helped fuel these concerns and it led to market falls in sales and prices f...
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...man body. It is very rare of the H5N1 flu strain to spread through the human population but it is not unknown. It is hard to detect this virus within poultry, you just have to watch for symptoms. If your poultry develops the symptoms of the H5N1 flu it is best to start treatment of the entire flock of birds. Detecting the virus in an animal after it has already been processed is hard to do as well. In order to avoid contracting the disease it is best to make sure the meat is cooked all the way through and to avoid contaminating cutting boards and knives. The United States have put bans on specific countries poultry importing. This way it limits the spread of disease from country to country. The symptoms of the bird flu in poultry are sudden death within a flow for no apparent reason. Another symptoms is unlikely neck posture and abnormal egg laying within the hens.
It has not taken human to human transmission yet, that we know of. So far all cases of the virus result from people coming into close contact with bird blood or droppings. If the transmission of the virus does take human to human form, it could unleash a global pandemic. This is the first time in history that humans have been able to prepare themselves for an epidemic. The bird flu virus travels with migrating birds.
However due to globalization, import and export viruses is more easily transmitted. Over the past century the global community especially Asian has been affected with new strains of the influenza virus. The changes in the virus can occur in two ways “antigenic drift” which are gradual changes in the virus over time. This change produces new strains that the antibody may not recognize. “Antigenic shift” On the other is a sudden change in the influenza virus which ‘’ results in a new influenza A subtype or a virus with a hemagglutinin or a hemagglutinin and neuraminidase combination that has emerged from an animal population,” as seen with H5N1 virus. This change leaves people defenseless against this new virus. (CDC, 2013) Currently there is no vaccine to combat all strains therefore “Planning and preparedness for implementing mitigation strategies during a pandemic requires participation by all levels o...
--------------------------------------------------------------------- [1] Essen, G. A., "The Socio-Economic Impact of Influenza". http://www.eswi.org/Bulletin_October_1997.cfm [2] Frayha, Husn. " Influenza Vaccination: A Call for Action" http://www.kfshrc.edu.sa/annals/176/97-248R.html [3] "Influenza". http://www.caw.ca/whatwedo/health&safety/factsheet/hsfssubstanceno37.asp
Previous influenza epidemics had a mortality rate less than 0.1%, but this virus had a mortality rate of 2.5%. The virus was extremely devastating and killed many people, but there were some good things that came out of it. Influenza caused the United States Public Health Service (PHS) to expand and develop. The PHS has provided financial assistance to hospitals; developed sanitation programs; conducted surveillance of infectious diseases; and delivered high-quality healthcare to those that needed it. After the years of the disease, the American public health policy improved a lot, and the virus taught America important lessons which proved essential to the maintenance of a healthy population.
http://www.healthpolitics.com/program_transcript.asp?p=bird_flu#1> MayoClinic.com -.
Influenza is a major public health problem which outbreaks all over the world. Resulting in considerable sickness and death rates. Furthermore, it is a highly infectious airborne disease and is caused by the influenza virus. Influenza is transmitted easily from one person to another person which has a great impact on society. When a member of society becomes sick, it is more prone to spread to other people. In the United States, every year between 5 to 20 percent of the population is affected by influenza. As a result of this, between 3,000 and 49,000 deaths have occurred per year (Biggerstaff et al., 2014). Therefore, the influenza vaccine is the most effective strategy to prevent influenza. This essay will examine two significant reasons for influenza vaccination which are the loss of workforce and economic burden as well as one effect regarding herd immunity.
Smallpox is a disease from the variola virus. Smallpox has caused an estimated number of 300 million deaths in the 1900s alone. Smallpox is said to have been around since the ancient Egyptian times. The disease was eradicated in the late 20th century and two samples are still kept, one in U.S.A and one in Russia. Smallpox creates bumps and blisters all over the body and has been one of the most fatal epidemics the world has seen.
A few years before 1918, in the height of the First World War, a calamity occurred that stripped the globe of at least 50 million lives. (Taubenberger, 1918) This calamity was not the death toll of the war; albeit, some individuals may argue the globalization associated with the First World War perpetuated the persistence of this calamity. This calamity was referred to the Spanish Flu of 1918, but calling this devastating pestilence the “Spanish Flu” may be a historical inaccuracy, as research and historians suggest that the likelihood of this disease originating in Spain seams greatly improbable. Despite it’s misnomer, the Spanish Flu, or its virus name H1N1, still swept across the globe passing from human to human by exhaled drops of water that contained a deadly strand of RNA wrapped with a protein casing. Individuals who were unfortunate enough to come in contact with the contents of the protein casing generally developed severe respiratory inflammation, as the Immune system’s own response towards the infected lung cells would destroy much of the lungs, thus causing the lungs to flood with fluids. Due to this flooding, pneumonia was a common cause of death for those infected with Spanish Flu. Due its genetic similarity with Avian Flu, the Spanish Flu is thought to be descended from Avian Flu which is commonly known as “Bird Flu.” (Billings,1997) The Spanish Flu of 1918 has had a larger impact in terms of global significance than any other disease has had because it was the most deadly, easily transmitted across the entire globe, and occurred in an ideal time period for a disease to happen.
Childhood vaccinations have received a lot of media in the past few years, and parents continue to question whether or not they should have their children vaccinated. This topic is a very important issue because it seems to be a trend in our society where parents are not vaccinating their children. This then leads their children becoming more susceptible to unnecessary diseases/viruses that can be prevented with vaccines. The focus of the following articles was on the association of the specific vaccines measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR), and vaccines containing thimerosal, which has been a speculated reason for the cause of autism. This contentious hypothesis has many parents failing to vaccinate their children; this is especially true of many friends and family members of mine. They believe that vaccines can cause autism, and I want to prove otherwise.
Hvistendahl, M, Cohen, J et. al. 2013. ‘New Flu Virus in China Worries and Confuses’ Science 340: 129-130
This disease was first diagnosed in 1918 and it was referred to as the “Spanish Flu” or “La Grippe.” To this day it is thought to of been the same strain as the swine influenza however it is still unclear. For this particular outbreak it’s not exactly know whether humans contracted the virus from pigs or vice versa. Either way between 20-40 million people died from it. The first confirmed case of H1N1 in the U.S. was diagnosed on April 15th, 2009. The CDC quickly began developing a vaccine due to the fact that it was declared a public health emergency about a week later by the government. It tu...
The Flu was first founded in Seattle September, 1918. The avian flu can also be known as the “Bird Flu”. The bird flu is being passed around by migratory birds. It can be transmitted from birds to mammals and in some limited circumstances to humans. The flu will also be known as the H5N1 virus. The H5N1 virus has raised concerns about a potential human pandemic because its virulent (deadly; extremely dangerous) and it can evolve like other influenza viruses. As many other viruses and illnesses the flu can be a lot more deadlier. When you get the flu the lungs are severely harmed from infected cells called macrophages and T-cells. The virus can spread way beyond the lungs but generally do not. Many people catch the flu and think they have the common cold because of some of the same symptoms. But actually the flu can be more dangerous if you don’t treat it immediately.
Recent concerns regarding the risks of Avian flu and other exotic diseases prompted some local poultry farmers to adopt strict biosecurity protocols in order to keep their birds safe. ...
(39) World Bank. Projects - Haiti: AVIAN INFLUENZA CONTROL AND HUMAN INFLUENZA EMERGENCY PREPARDNESS AND CONTROL. 2010; Available at: http://web.worldbank.org/external/projects/main?pagePK=64283627&piPK=73230&theSitePK=40941&menuPK=228424&Projectid=P111667. Accessed 6/27/2010, 2010.
According to the Swine flu investigation team on April 15 and April 17, 2009, novel swine-origin influenza A (H1N1) virus (S-OIV) was isolated from two epidemiologically unlinked patients in the United States. The same strain was identified in other countries such as Mexico and Canada. In the United States 60% of patients were 18 years of age or younger suggesting that the younger population was more susceptible to the transmission of S-OIV or the possibility that the older population had developed a small amount of antibodies from the 1976 swine influenza vaccine (H1N1). 18% of the patients had recently traveled to Mexico, and 16% were identified from school outbreaks. (France, Jackson & Schrag, 2010) The most common presenting symptoms were fever (94% of patients), cough (92%), and sore throat (66%); 25% of patients had diarrhea, and 25% were experiencing emesis. Therefore, the criteria characterizing the S-OIV infection are comparable to the ...