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Avian Flu Q & A
...Q. What is bird flu, or avian influenza?A. A type of flu that normally infects only birds. But sometimes the virus changes and jumps to other species, including pigs and humans. Scientists are calling this strain hitting Asia H5N1. Q. Where and when was H5N1 first detected? A. In Hong Kong in 1997. But it reappeared in Asia in late 2003. Q. How many people have been infected with H5N1 since 2003? A. At least 92, killing 36 Vietnamese, 12 Thais and four Cambodians. Q. How many birds have died of H5N1 or have been culled? A. More than 100 million. Q. How many people have caught H5N1 from other people? A. Scientists have been able to confirm only two cases — involving an 11-year-old Thai girl who infected her mother and aunt. Q. Why are officials so worried about H5N1? A. It is showing signs of mutating into a strain that could cause a worldwide epidemic, or pandemic, in people. It has also been found in pigs, which can carry both human and avian viruses. This means pigs can act as mixing vessels where the two types can swap genes and create virulent new strains. Q. How many flu pandemics have there been in the past century? A. Three. The 1918 Spanish flu killed 20 million to 50 million people. The 1957 Asian flu killed 1 million to 4 million. The 1968 Hong Kong flu killed about 1 million. All three pandemics were caused by viruses that originated in birds. Posted by: Anonymoose 2005-05-22 |
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