bird flu (Page 4)

Here at unknowncountry.com, we bring you regular reports about bird flu?and also about Alaska. Now it turns out that one of the most dangerous bird flu threats is coming FROM that state.

Jia-Rui Chong writes in the Sunday, October 22 Los Angeles Times that members of an isolated Alaskan native tribe called the Yup’iks are receiving regular medical checkups from physicians who fly in from government public health departments. The reason: Wild birds, which are one of their main food sources, may carry the deadly bird flu virus which they have brought from their migrations into Asia.
read more

Scientists who are warning us about a possible bird flu epidemic are comparing it with the 1918 Spanish flu influenza epidemic which killed somewhere between 40 and 100 million people worldwide during the 18 months it lasted. Researchers are analyzing that virus to try to figure out why it was so lethal. Other researchers have discovered a compound that gives broad protection against influenza viruses, including the deadly avian influenza. Bird flu may soon become one less thing for us to fear.

An analysis of mice infected with the reconstructed 1918 influenza virus has revealed that although the infection triggered a very strong immune system response, the response failed to protect the animals from severe lung disease and death.
read more

Sometimes we discover the information we’re looking for by accident, while we’re searching for something else. A detailed analysis of flu patterns shows that the sharp dip in air travel after 911 slowed the spread of flu and delayed the beginning of the 2001-2002 US flu season. If there’s a bird flu epidemic, would it be a good idea to curtail air travel?

Researcher John Brownstein says, “The post-September 11th flight ban was a natural experiment on the effect of flight restrictions on disease spread. For the first time we’ve been able to show, using real data, that air travel spreads the flu, suggesting that reducing the number of air passengers might ameliorate a flu pandemic.”
read more

Wearing light solar-powered GPS satellite transmitters, wild swans from Mongolia are flying across Eurasia, scientists below them are tracking their journeys on computers in order to figure out how wild birds may be involved in the spread of bird flu.

This research, being carried out by US and international groups of scientists, is providing information on migration routes so governments can learn about when the potential threats of H5N1 bird flu virus could be landing in their areas. UN spokesman Dr. Scott Newman says, “We are working to understand the role wild birds may play in the spread of H5N1. Although poultry and bird trade are probably the primary routes of movement, migratory birds are likely involved in some areas.”
read more