Bird Flu
Yahoo, bird flu has reached Europe! Finally, I thought I had taken my flu shot for nothing.
I found out yesterday in the news that the H5N1 Bird flu virus is quite similar to the Spanish Flu virus which killed millions in 1918. That Spanish Flu was in fact a predecessor of todays bird flu. Yesterday on TV I saw how the disease is spreading among livestock in Nigeria and how farmers kill the chicken without any protective gear (such as boots, gloves or such). In Africa many people are frail due to drought, hunger, thirst, AIDS and tropical diseases and of course the normal human flu. It can well be that this will once again be the breeding ground for a world-wide flu epidemic.
I just read that a few hundred thousand birds have died in Dagestan. I am worried whether masses of endangered bird species will become extinct due to bird flu. I am thinking about rare wild goose, rare types of wild pheasants, swans etc.
Learning from 1918 it is probably only a matter of time until the virus - that clever but highly sophisticated particle - adapts to jump from mammals to mammals (cats and dogs also get flu) including humans. The fascinating thing about the flu 1918 was that no matter how remote people were on this planet (Inuits in the arctic ice were just as much affected as a couple in the mountains of Canada who had ceased to have contact to civilisation for 3 years!). Now with the investigations on bird flu and comparing data to the 1918 epidemic and comparing the viral strains, virologists have confirmed that today's birdflu is the Spanish flu's great-grandson. The WHO estimates that a severe outbreak of birdflu among humans will take a toll of about 200 Million people worldwide. The funny thing about the 1918 Spanish flu was, that not the old, frail and children who usually are high risk groups were affected most badly, but the young between 18 and 40. It may be that this is due to the hardships of the first world war, that these people - at least the men - were weak already from war. Still it can't be ruled out why it was primarily young people who perished most.
I found out yesterday in the news that the H5N1 Bird flu virus is quite similar to the Spanish Flu virus which killed millions in 1918. That Spanish Flu was in fact a predecessor of todays bird flu. Yesterday on TV I saw how the disease is spreading among livestock in Nigeria and how farmers kill the chicken without any protective gear (such as boots, gloves or such). In Africa many people are frail due to drought, hunger, thirst, AIDS and tropical diseases and of course the normal human flu. It can well be that this will once again be the breeding ground for a world-wide flu epidemic.
I just read that a few hundred thousand birds have died in Dagestan. I am worried whether masses of endangered bird species will become extinct due to bird flu. I am thinking about rare wild goose, rare types of wild pheasants, swans etc.
Learning from 1918 it is probably only a matter of time until the virus - that clever but highly sophisticated particle - adapts to jump from mammals to mammals (cats and dogs also get flu) including humans. The fascinating thing about the flu 1918 was that no matter how remote people were on this planet (Inuits in the arctic ice were just as much affected as a couple in the mountains of Canada who had ceased to have contact to civilisation for 3 years!). Now with the investigations on bird flu and comparing data to the 1918 epidemic and comparing the viral strains, virologists have confirmed that today's birdflu is the Spanish flu's great-grandson. The WHO estimates that a severe outbreak of birdflu among humans will take a toll of about 200 Million people worldwide. The funny thing about the 1918 Spanish flu was, that not the old, frail and children who usually are high risk groups were affected most badly, but the young between 18 and 40. It may be that this is due to the hardships of the first world war, that these people - at least the men - were weak already from war. Still it can't be ruled out why it was primarily young people who perished most.
gothmala - 16. Feb, 19:10
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