Are you worried about Avian or "Bird" Flu?
The headlines are pretty grim:
- U.S. bird flu plan outlines worst-case scenario
- Draft report warns states, cities shouldn’t count on federal rescue
- Avian Flu Shows Resistance to Tamiflu
- Herald Sun: Bird flu claims five more lives
- U.S. not ready for flu crisis - Asia outbreak could hit U.S. within weeks or months
- As many as 1.9 million Americans could die in a pandemic (a global outbreak of a deadly flu strain)
- Health experts fear the H5N1 strain of bird flu could spark a deadly pandemic and kill millions worldwide
- Bird flu vaccine not up to scratch
- Bird flu invades Europe
What can you do to protect yourself and your family from this or any other infectious virus? There is a natural and best solution, but first we must understand the problem in detail.
What is avian flu?
There are approximately 15 different strains of avian flu that infect birds around the world. The current outbreak is caused by a strain known as H5N1, which is highly contagious and rapidly fatal. Unlike many other strains of bird flu, it can be transmitted to humans, causing severe illness and death and cannot be readily contained.
Why should I be worried about it?
Flu viruses have the ability to mutate rapidly, potentially jumping from one species to another. Scientists fear the bird flu virus could evolve into a form that is easily spread between people, resulting in an extremely contagious and lethal disease. This could happen if someone already infected with the human flu virus catches the bird flu. The two viruses could produce a hybrid that could readily spread from person to person. The resulting virus would be something humans have never been exposed to before. With no immune defenses, the infection could cause devastating illness.
How is bird flu transmitted?
So far in this outbreak, human cases have been blamed on direct contact with infected chickens. People who catch the virus from birds can pass it on to other humans. If the virus mutates, it could be spread from person-to-person in the same way the ordinary flu virus is spread.
What are the symptoms of avian flu?
Bird flu can cause a range of symptoms in humans. Some patients report fever, cough, sore throat and muscle aches. Others suffer from eye infections, pneumonia, acute respiratory distress and other severe and life-threatening complications.
Can you prevent avian bird flu?
Flu drugs exist that may be used both to prevent
people from catching bird flu and to treat those who have
it. The virus appears to be resistant to two older generic
flu drugs, amantadine and rimantadine. However, the newer
flu drugs Tamiflu and Relenza are expected to work – though
supplies could run out quickly if an outbreak occurs. Currently
there is no specific vaccine, although scientists are working
to develop one. The H5N1 bird flu virus is showing resistance
to even the newest generic flu vaccines.
According to an article in the Oct. 14 online issue of Nature, a strain of the H5N1 flu virus that infected a Vietnamese girl in February is resistant to Tamiflu (oseltamivir). One expert said this mutation of the virus was not unexpected, and warned against the overuse of Tamiflu.
According to experts, if the avian flu acquires the ability to pass easily from person to person, it could kill millions in the space of a few months. Currently, we do not have enough vaccine to fight off regular annual flu, let alone a pandemic of bird flu. In a letter to the President, Senator Harry Reid and colleagues wrote, "While other nations have ordered enough antiviral medication to treat between 20 and 40 percent of their populations, the federal government has only ordered enough to treat less than 2 percent of Americans."
According to a report in The New York Times, a draft of the government's final plan for dealing with a likely pandemic outbreak shows the United States is woefully unprepared for the potential disaster. The document says a large outbreak that began in Asia would likely reach the United States within “a few months or even weeks,” and that more than 1.9 million people could die. If that occurred, according to the draft, hospitals would be overwhelmed with 8.5 million being hospitalized, riots would engulf vaccination clinics and costs would exceed $450 billion. The plan calls for production of 600 million vaccines within six months, which is more than 10 times the current capacity.
Some scientists are saying that an epidemic from the current strain of bird flu does not appear to be imminent or inevitable. However, most agree that there will be some type of pandemic in the future. The President has called on drug companies to step up production of general flu vaccine. However, no specific vaccine exists and in fact cannot exist until the virus mutates and becomes contagious from human to human. There is currently an experimental vaccine that appears to be effective against the virus because it produces a "robust immune system response" that may be potent enough to neutralize the virus. According to www.naturopathicassoc.ca, "The best way to ensure that the avian flu does not cause signs and symptoms in humans is to ensure an optimal innate immune system..."
This is the right approach - to empower your own immune system to ward off this or any other virus. But why risk an experimental and costly drug when there is a proven safe and natural solution that has been listed in the Physician's Desk Reference for years?
Sources: AP, CDC, New York Times & WHO