The virus has been on the move from Southeast Asia to China, Russia and the Balkan region of Europe. Even so, U.S. experts aren't worried about the disease infiltrating their borders because migratory birds, which are believed to be the chief carriers of the virus, fly north and south, not east and west.
Lexington nurse practitioner, Dr. Mary Winston said she is more worried about the regular flu. There are no inflected fowl in the U.S., so there is no threat of an outbreak of bird flu, she said.
The majority of chickens and turkeys in the United States are raised in isolated conditions and have little contact with humans, according to the National Chicken Council. There is a higher chance of the disease spreading in Asia, where chickens are allowed to interact more frequently with other animals and humans.
Strict quarantine procedures would be put into place if the virus was found in the states, according to experts interviewed by The New York Times.
The disease has not yet moved from person to person, but there is a chance that it will mutate into a form that can be easily passed among humans.
This can happen if a person who already
has the human flu gets the avian flu virus from a bird. According to a
British health organization's Web site, the two viruses could meet and
swap genes with each other inside the person's body. This might result
in a mutation that allows bird flu to transfer from human to human,
which could cause
a flu pandemic.
Common symptoms of bird flu are similar to human flu. They include fever, cough, sore throat, muscle aches, conjuctivitis, and possibly severe breathing problems and pneumonia.
The U.N. Food & Agriculture Organization issued a warning for the Middle East and Africa, where there is an increased chance of being affected by the bird flu.
Romanian health workers remove domestic birds from
a container after gassing the. AP Phtoto Archive
Europe isn't taking any chances. The EU plans to have a simulation of a human flu pandemic to improve their preparedness.
More than 60 people have died of bird flu since 2003, all of whom lived in Asia. Most of these cases are linked to contact with sick birds.
China has killed 91,000 birds in an
attempt to stop the spread of the disease. The H5N1 strain of the virus
has already killed 2,600 birds in Mongolia.
Story compiled by Bibeka Shresthe and John Allgood using AP wire services.
Countries that have banned imports on US poultry
How worried are Europeans about the bird flu?
*files are in .pdf fomat
Produced by Washington and Lee journalism students.
Lead supervisor: Prof. Claudette Artwick
Reporting supervisor: Prof. Doug Cumming
Editing supervisor: Prof. Pamela Luecke
Technical supervisor: Michael Todd