Key Facts
Avian Flu: At a Glance
Cause
Viruses that normally infect only birds (chicken, ducks, geese, quails, and wild birds) and, less commonly, pigs and other mammals.
Symptoms in humans
Fever, headache, cough, muscle pain, eye infections, pneumonia, and severe respiratory diseases such as acute respiratory distress.
Forms
(i) no symptoms at all in some species such as domestic ducks.
(ii) mild illness, which might be barely noticed.
(iii) highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), which is extremely contagious and rapidly fatal for birds.
Modes of transmission
(i) among birds
(ii) close contact of people with sick birds or their feces
Prevention
(i) Avoid farms with infected poultry.
(ii) Avoid contact with contaminated surface or animal secretions.
(iii) Cook meat and other poultry products thoroughly.
(iv) Observe proper hygiene.
Treatment
Tamiflu is a medicine to treat flu by attacking the influenza virus and preventing it from spreading inside the body.
Vaccine
No vaccine for the avian flu exists. Developments are under way.
Outbreaks of H5N1 avian flu in birds
The countries with reported outbreaks of H5N1 avian flu in birds are Afghanistan, Albania, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Cameroon, People’s Republic of China (including Hong Kong), Cote d'Ivoire, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Djibouti, Egypt, France, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Republic of Korea, Kuwait, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Niger, Nigeria, Palestinian Autonomous Territories, Pakistan, Poland, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Serbia and Montenegro, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sudan, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom, and Viet Nam.
Confirmed human cases of H5N1 avian flu
The countries with confirmed human cases of H5N1 avian flu are Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, People's Republic of China, Djibouti, Egypt, Indonesia, Iraq, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Nigeria, Pakistan, Thailand, Turkey, and Viet Nam. Human cases have been linked to direct exposure to dead or diseased poultry during slaughtering, defeathering, and food preparation.
Recommendations for Travelers
Adapted from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
During Travel
• Avoid all direct contact with poultry, including touching wellappearing,
sick, or dead chickens and ducks.
• Avoid places, such as poultry farms and bird markets, where live
poultry are raised or kept.
• Avoid handling surfaces contaminated with poultry feces or secretions.
• As with other infectious illnesses, one of the most important preventive practices is careful and frequent hand washing. Cleaning your hands often, using soap and water (or waterless alcoholbased hand rubs when soap is not available and hands are not visibly soiled), removes potentially infectious material from your skin and helps prevent disease transmission.
• Influenza viruses are destroyed by heat; therefore, as a precaution, all foods from poultry, including eggs and poultry blood, should be thoroughly cooked.
• If you become sick with symptoms such as a fever, difficulty in breathing, or cough, seek medical attention as soon as possible. In severe cases, call International SOS (
http://www.internationalsos.com).
After Your Return
• Monitor your health for 10 days.
• If you become ill with fever and develop a cough or difficulty in breathing, or if you develop any illness during this 10-day period, consult a doctor and report the following: (i) your symptoms, (ii) where you traveled, and (iii) if you have had direct contact with poultry or contact with a known or suspected human case of influenza A (H5N1) in an H5N1-affected country.
credits: adb.org
