H5N1 Avian Influenza, Better Known as The Bird Flu

China has reported more than 30 bird flu outbreaks in poultry since October, 2005.  And, the Bird flu has killed at least 131 people worldwide since it began attacking Asian poultry in late 2003. It has been found in 9 different countries thus far.

Symptoms of the Bird flu in humans include:

• Fever
• Sore throat
• Muscle aches
• Headache
• Lethargy
• Conjunctivitis (eye infections)
• Breathing problems
• Chest pains

The World Health Organization has found a slight mutation in the dangerous H5N1 bird flu virus. It infected 8 members of an Indonesian family in May of 2006 and killed seven of them. Officials say the virus mutated slightly  in a 10-year-old boy, but that it isn't an indication of a pending pandemic.

An additional 30+ countries and territories in Africa, Europe, India and the Middle East have reported infections in 2006.  These are mostly in wild birds. This area is comparable to the previous 2-1/2 years growth, when only 15 countries, most in Asia, reported the Bird flu.

Experts worry that a virulent strain of Bird flu could appear in the United States in the next few months. Homeland Security Director Michael Chertoff said "there will be a reasonable possibility of a domestic fowl outbreak" as birds migrating back from infected nations birds mix with ducks, chickens and other birds in the U.S. The Agriculture Department has dealt with other strains of bird flu for years and Congress has already appropriated $3.8 billion in funding for U.S. preparations.  This is about half of President George W. Bush's $7.1 billion original request. The $7.1 billion included $1.2 billion to immunize 20 million Americans against the current strain of bird flu.  The administration has released its 234-page National Strategy For Pandemic Influenza Implementation Plan a comprehensive approach to addressing the threat of pandemic influenza.

World Health Organization officials and many other experts have been warning that the virus could mutate into a form that spreads easily among humans. If this happens, they say millions of people could die. Countries around the world are preparing in the event of a pandemic by stockpiling existing vaccines and also staging mock drills.

Nigeria is Africa's most populous nation. In February 2006, officials reported that the H5N1 infection had been found in birds. Bird flu has also reached Western Europe, with Italy and Greece in February, 2006, that they had detected H5N1 in dead swans. A few days later, Egypt reported its first cases in birds. In all, 14 more countries have reported their first cases of the H5N1 infection in birds since February, 2006.  These include Iraq, Nigeria, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Greece, Italy, Spain, Slovenia, Iran, Austria, Germany, Egypt, India and France.

The 1918 "Spanish" flu (H1N1) epidemic, which struck towards the end of World War I, also originated in birds.  It claimed an estimated 20 to 40 million lives which is nearly twice that killed due to the war.  Scientists have found many similarities between it and the current Bird flu.

It is thought that the virus may have been a reason for ending the Great War as soldiers were too sick to fight, and by then, more men on both sides died of flu than were killed by weapons. Some died within 24 hours of infection.

Military hospitals failed to disclose the true scale of the SARS outbreak in 2003. Their failure to release timely information about SARS has been thought to have aided the spread of the SARS outbreak.  SARS, which has very similar symptoms to bird flu, eventually killed 774 people worldwide.

Initial tests on the young man failed to find the SARS virus.  Later tests on the man's lung tissue showed traces of a flu virus. Genetic sequencing showed it to be a mixed virus, with genes similar to two different types of bird flu seen in northern and southern China.  This could mean that other cases determined to be SARS may have actually been H5N1 infections.