All we've been hearing about for the past year is H1N1. While Swine Flu has become a very prominent issue in our society, another deadly disease has surfaced in animals in Asia, Europe, the Near East, and Africa. This disease is H5N1, or Avian Influenza.
According to The Center for Disease Control's acticle, Avian Influenza: Current H5N1 Situation, written in October of 2008 (http://www.cdc.gov/flu/avian/outbreaks/current.htm) infections have broken out among "domestic poultry". These "epizootic" infections are expected to affect humans as well if contact is made with the infected animals. This strand of H5N1 is not particularly deadly however due to the lack of immunity in humans to Avian Flu, this disease could pose a serious problem to the contries where the outbreak is occurring.
Unfortunately for anyone who has been infected with the H5N1 disease, there is no vaccine currently available however two antiviral medications were deemed effective at the time this article was published. While there are some medications for humans, there is no help for the animals that are being infected at a much higher rate than humans. These animals include ducks, cats, dogs, tigers, leopards, and wild stone martens (weasel-like rodents). The high rate of animals being affected increases the possiblity for humans to become infected.
The main countries that have experienced outbreaks of the Avian Flu in the past 5 years include Thailand (2004), Vietnam (2004, 2005, and 2006), Azerbaijan (2006), and Indonesia (2006). Mortality at the time of this article was reported at 60% and the highest mortality among humans was in the 10-19 age bracket.
Several things are being done in an attempt to prevent further spread of H5N1. A ban was placed on bird importation to any affected countries, efforts to develop a vaccine are in motion, and monitoring of the situation by the CDC.
This article was very informative. It's main purpose seemed to be just that, to inform people of what is going on across the sea and that this is a serious problem. While there is no author named, I found the article on the Center for Disease Control website and since we have used the CDC as a resource in class I believe this source is credible and reliable. There were no evident biases as the article provided no one-sided arguments or viewpoints.
I found this article very interesting. We briefly talked about the Avian Flu at the beginning of the school year and I'm glad that I was able to learn more about it. While I don't see any direct connections to things we have done or studied in class, this article is very much related to other articles and blogs written by other people in the class. This information, similar to the information on other people's blogs, demonstrates an issue overseas that we would otherwise have been oblivious to. This information lacks direct connection to our class because it differs greatly from the units we have studied. While some would say it is like the outbreak of Swine Flu here, the strain of Avian Flu today is closer to the original Avian Flu strain and therefore unlike the new and unknown strain of H1N1 today. However if anyone sees any connections to class I would love to hear them!
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Great article Natalie! I was unaware of any of the information in the article. We do not hear much about the Avian Influenza, so I think this article was good because I learned about something that I did not know much about. Although the United States is not affected as much as the other countries mentioned in the article, we should still be careful. In the article it said that the disease can be transmitted from animals to humans. I think this is scary because so many of us have dogs, cats, and other animals. If the Avian Flu were to find its way to the U.S. we would have to be really careful.
ReplyDeleteI thought this was a very good article. It introduced a another deadly disease other than H1N1, which seems like all we have been hearing about. It brought more awareness that there are diseases that we should also be aware of and not just to focus on H1N1 because its all over the media. This article taught me new things that i did not know before. It is never really brought up but many animals are affected too. It seems that this really is not on the news very much. It makes me sad to hear that cats and dogs are dying so easily. If that ever happened here it would not be so good. So i think that this article is telling us to just be more aware of other diseases because even though they may not be in the united states, they still exist in other places.
ReplyDeleteThis article was great. It did creep me out though. As Jack said, even though the avian flu is not really seen in the US, if it did find its way to the US, alot of us would be in big trouble. Since the majority of Americans live close with animals, the flu could spread incredibly quick, causing alot of panic, and theirfore allowing the flu to spread very quickly.
ReplyDeleteGood article. I think that the Swine flu has been highly overexaggerated however, and gave a much greater sense of fear than necessary. The strand of the swine flu should probabaly be seen just as important as the H1N1, but just the fact that it isnt in the United States at the moment doesnt mean we shouldnt be ill informed about it
ReplyDeleteI like this article. I'm glad people were focusing on another kind of flu other than the H1N1. While that flu is serious and should be taken seriously, it is not the only disease affecting people. Although the flu in this article is not common in the United States, it is good to learn about it now before it hits us (if it ever does) hard so that we ca be prepared and know how to handle it the best way possible. I was surprised and saddened when I saw how affected cats, dogs, and other animals were by this disease. I think this article does a good job of making the readers aware of diseases we might not be fully aware of.
ReplyDeleteI really liked this article. It forces people to open their eyes and realize that there are other diseases that are killing people worldwie. We can't just focus on the H1N1 disease because that is what the media focuses on, we need to expand our knowledge of other diseases. It is sad to think that there is no vaccine to prevent this disease. I would not be surprised if there was an outbreak of the Avian Flu in humans, considering that animals such as cats, dogs and rodents (hamsters, mice) who are held as pets are greatly affected by the disease. Also, I would not be surprised if the Avian Flu begins to appear in the United States because of travelers. Due to the fact that this disease could easily show up in the U.S. the people of the United States need to be aware of it, and we should try to find a vaccine to prevent it.
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