Show Bit Bird d fl flu U 1 threatens h feat nS' nS Utah u ta h do Provo travelers traveler S bring the infection close to home Huang Contributing Writer As of October 20 2005 cases of human infection resulting in 61 deaths have been confirmed Thirteen countries across Asia an and d Europe have been affected b by bythe bythe y the bird flu More than 12 0 million birds have died fro from m infection Bird Flu epidemic c of this year slightly resembles resemble s the outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome SARS in 2003 According to Bulletin of th the e World Health Organization n WHO 2003 in less than si six x months SARS' SARS total cases case s were in 30 countries an and I areas of which resulted d in death WHO has warned that bird bir d flu could be more serious than tha n SARS Some experts have hav e written articles to support t WHO's warning Provo Daily Herald reported that a group of Utah Uta h County friends traveled d together on a week long tour tou r of Southeast Asia Laos Cambodia and Vietnam last las t month When they returned one tour member a Provo resident res res- ident fell ill with what wha t appeared to be an aggressive debilitating flu Several days day s later other members of hi his s family and several workers co s were stricken with the same flu Later ater lab results returned d an alarming answer It was wa s bird fu one of the most malignant malig malig- nant viruses on the planet These positive tests are th the e first global proof that th the e aggressive flu strain ha has s mutated to efficiently pass pas s from human to human the th e report said The American Centers fo for forI r I Disease Control ad advis advis- vises vis- vis es travelers visiting areas of Asia where outbreaks of bird flu have occurred to avoid poultry farms and animals in live food markets Travelers should also avoid surfaces that appear to be contaminated ed from any kind of animal especially poultry Bird flu is also known as avian influenza It is a type of influenza virulent in birds It was first identified in Italy in 1878 and is now known to exist worldwide The bird flu virus is medically called is a highly pathogenic pathogen pathogen- ic is strain of avian influenza bird flu The first known appearance of this type of influenza in humans was in Hong Kong during 1997 The infection of humans coincided with an epidemic of avian influenza caused by the same strain in Hong Kongs Kong's poultry population The name nam 1 refers to to the subtypes of surface surface sur sur- face antigens present on the virus type 5 and type 1 Usually these flu viruses are transported worldwide in inthe inthe the intestines of wild birds and are non However this variant has mutated into the most fatal strain of avian influenza ever recorded Such occurrences are natural and have happened in the past as in the influenza pandemic caused by the 1918 Spanish flu a variant of HIN HINl 1 The current method of of- prevention prevention pre pre- prevention in animal populations is to destroy infected animals as s well as animals suspected of being infected In Southeast Asia millions of domestic birds have been slaughtered to prevent the spread of the virus In August 2005 scientists said they had successfully tested in people a vaccine that they believe can protect against the strain of avian i influenza that is spreading ding in birds buds through Asi Asia and Russia Because is an influenza virus the early symptoms similar to those of the common flu such as fever running nose nose congestion congestion congestion tion cough sore throat and sore muscles It can develop in infected humans In more severe cases pneumonia and respiratory failure can develop develop develop devel devel- op and eventually cause death While bird flu treatments are still being tested New Insider announced the US U.S. governments government's plan to contract with Chiron Corp for 62 million million million mil mil- mil mil- lion to create a vaccine for avian influenza |