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| __NOTOC__ | | __NOTOC__ |
| {{Avian influenza}} | | {{Avian influenza}} |
| {{CMG}} | | {{CMG}}; {{AE}} {{YD}} |
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| | ==Overview== |
| ==Epidemiology and Demographics== | | ==Epidemiology and Demographics== |
| ===Influenza Pandemic=== | | ===Incidence=== |
| {{details more|Influenza pandemic}}
| | ===Age=== |
| [[Pandemic]] flu [[virus]]es have some avian flu [[virus]] [[gene]]s and usually some [[human flu]] [[virus]] [[gene]]s. Both the [[H2N2]] and [[H3N2]] [[pandemic]] strains contained [[gene]]s from avian [[influenza virus]]es. The new subtypes arose in pigs coinfected with avian and human [[virus]]es and were soon transferred to humans. Swine were considered the original "[[intermediate host]]" for [[influenza]], because they supported reassortment of divergent subtypes. However, other hosts appear capable of similar [[coinfection]] (e.g., many poultry [[species]]), and direct [[transmission]] of avian [[virus]]es to humans is possible. The [[Spanish flu]] [[virus]] strain may have been [[transmission|transmitted]] directly from birds to humans<ref>[http://www.influenzareport.com/ir/ai.htm Chapter Two : Avian Influenza by Timm C. Harder and Ortrud Werner]</ref>.
| | ===Race=== |
| | | ===Gender=== |
| In spite of their [[pandemic]] connection, avian [[influenza virus]]es are non[[infectious]] for most [[species]]. When they are [[infectious]] they are usually [[asymptomatic]], so the [[carrier]] does not have any disease from it. Thus while [[infect]]ed with an avian flu [[virus]], the animal doesn't have a "[[flu]]". Typically, when illness (called "flu") from an avian flu [[virus]] ''does'' occur, it is the result of an avian flu [[virus]] strain adapted to one [[species]] spreading to another [[species]] (usually from one bird [[species]] to another bird [[species]]). So far as is known, the most common result of this is an illness so minor as to be not worth noticing (and thus little studied). But with the domestication of chickens and turkeys, humans have created [[species]] subtypes (domesticated poultry) that can catch an avian flu [[virus]] adapted to waterfowl and have it rapidly [[mutation|mutate]] into a form that kills in days over 90% of an entire flock and spread to other flocks and kill 90% of ''them'' and can only be stopped by killing every domestic bird in the area. Until [[H5N1]] [[infect]]ed humans in the 1990s, this was the only reason avian flu was considered important. Since then, avian flu [[virus]]es have been intensively studied; resulting in changes in what is believed about flu [[pandemic]]s, changes in poultry farming, changes in flu [[vaccination]] research, and changes in flu [[pandemic]] planning.
| | ===Developed Countries=== |
| | | ===Developing Countries=== |
| [[H5N1]] has evolved into a flu [[virus]] strain that [[infect]]s more [[species]] than any previously known flu [[virus]] strain, is deadlier than any previously known flu [[virus]] strain, and continues to evolve becoming both more widespread and more deadly causing [[Robert Webster]], a leading expert on avian flu, to publish an article titled "The world is teetering on the edge of a [[pandemic]] that could kill a large fraction of the human population" in ''[[American Scientist]]''. He called for adequate resources to fight what he sees as a major world threat to possibly billions of lives.<ref name=webster>
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| {{cite journal
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| | author=[[Robert Webster|Webster, R. G.]] and Walker, E. J. | title=The world is teetering on the edge of a pandemic that could kill a large fraction of the human population | journal=American Scientist | year=2003 | pages=122 | volume=91 | issue=2 |url=http://www.americanscientist.org/template/AssetDetail/assetid/17221?fulltext=true | id={{DOI|10.1511/2003.2.122}}
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| }} </ref> Since the article was written, the world community has spent billions of dollars fighting this threat with limited success.
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| ==References== | | ==References== |
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| {{Reflist|2}} | | {{Reflist|2}} |
| [[Category:Needs content]] | | [[Category:Needs content]] |