What is the disease?
Bird flu is also known as Avian flu, effects many birds caused by a virus called avian influenza. H5N1 is the most common configuration of the Bird Flu. This flu spreads among many species of birds including chickens, ducks, turkeys and geese. This happens when birds are in close contact with contaminated excrement’s, infested livestock, foul water and farming requirements. Since 1997, over 100 people were infected with transmission of the bird flu, it began in Southeast Asia around the middle of 2003.
The strain of bird flu that is affecting Asia is called the H5N1 strain. Since 2003 this strain has killed around more than 130 people around Asia including
- Indonesia
- Vietnam
- Cambodia
- Thailand
- Turkey
- Azerbaijan
- Egypt
- China
- Iraq since
The main two types of viruses bird flu that has been caused in recent years, are H5N1 and H797.
H5N1 (since 1997) and H7N9 (since 2013) viruses.
Both these viruses don't infect people efficiently, but infrequent amount of people have been infected all over the world, which this has lead to a number of deaths.
The other bird flu viruses (mainly H7N7 and H9N2) have also infected people, these viruses have caused relentless illness.