It’s pretty hard to escape the recent headlines about the latest disease epidemic, dubbed “the chicken flu” or “bird flu” (flu burung). Chickens are dying in droves, farmers are losing millions of dollars in stock and international health organizations are telling us that they are on high alert and battling to control the spread of the disease throughout Asia. So what’s all the hoo haa about?? Chicken is not the only meat on the menu, and the chicken farmers could perhaps turn to soya bean farming or some other alternative venture?
The concern, according to experts in the field of viral epidemiology, is that should this virus with the capability to spread faster than wildfire and an extremely high fatality rate, mutate to become a disease that is transmissible human to human, then we could be in for the flu to end all flu’s. Based on historical patterns, influenza pandemics can be expected to occur, on average, three to four times each century when new virus subtypes emerge and are readily transmitted from person to person. However, the occurrence of influenza pandemics is unpredictable. In the 20th century, the great influenza pandemic of 1918–1919, which caused an estimated 40 to 50 million deaths worldwide, was followed by pandemics in 1957–1958 and 1968–1969.
So let’s look a little closer at this perplexing disease and find out how best to protect ourselves against any possible exposure.
What is Bird flu? – The virulent avian influenza other wise known as H5N1 is a highly contagious viral disease, which may cause up to 100% mortality in domestic fowls. The disease is caused by a type virus belonging to the family Orthomyxoviridae.
1. Transmission – Transmission of the disease in the bird population seems to be via direct or indirect contact (likely through drinking water) with migratory waterfowl as the most likely source of infection in poultry – this would explain why the disease has spread so rapidly throughout Asia. The virus is highly concentrated in the manure and in nasal and eye discharges of the infected birds, and the most common route of transmission to humans is via inhaling the virus from dried chicken dung or by handling the birds or eggs directly. The single most important thing to realize is that so far (at the time this article was written), there is no evidence of human-to-human transmission. Most of the people who have contracted the disease have been working closely with the birds and have had sick fowl on their farms.
2. Symptoms - The reported symptoms of avian influenza in humans have ranged from typical influenza-like symptoms (e.g., fever, cough, sore throat and muscle aches) to eye infections. In several of the fatal cases, pneumonia, and acute respiratory distress secondary to viral pneumonia developed. (In birds the signs of the disease are variable. In very severe forms the disease appears suddenly and birds die quickly. Some may appear depressed, egg production falls and soft-shelled eggs produced. There may be watery diarrhoea, combs and wattles may become blue and respiration may be laboured. In less severe forms, the clinical signs may include decreased egg production, depression, respiratory signs suggestive of a cold, swelling of the face, possibly some nervous signs and diarrhoea).
3. Treatment - Studies to date suggest that the prescription medications approved for human influenza strains would be effective in preventing avian influenza infection in humans. Antiviral drugs, some of which can be used for both treatment and prevention, are clinically effective against influenza A virus strains in otherwise healthy adults and children.
4. Prevention – Workers involved in poultry flocks must be protected, by proper clothing and equipment, against infection. Caution should be used when preparing poultry for consumption, and all chicken meat should be thoroughly cooked before serving. Keep knives and chopping boards separate from those used for fresh fruit and vegetables. All utensils used in the preparation of meat should be soaked in a mild bleach solution. Eggs should be washed thoroughly in a mild bleach solution (2 ml or half a teaspoon of bleach “sunlight” to one bucket of water), and cooked.
5. Travel - At this time CDC & WHO have not issued any travel alerts or advisories for the region in response to the H5N1 outbreak. However, travellers to countries in Asia with H5N1 outbreaks are advised to:
a. avoid poultry farms,
b. avoid contact with animals in live food markets and any surfaces that appear to be contaminated with faces from poultry or other animals
c. Eat chicken only when it is well cooked and only eat cooked eggs
d. Anyone developing fever, muscular aches and severe respiratory problems should report to health professionals
e. Farm workers should wash their hands thoroughly and anyone working with poultry should wear masks and gloves
f. The practice of marketing live poultry directly to consumers should be discouraged in areas currently experiencing outbreaks of highly pathogenic H5N1 avianinfluenza among poultry.
6. Vaccination –The vaccination of people at high risk of exposure to infected poultry, using existing vaccines effective against currently circulating human influenza strains, can reduce the likelihood of co-infection. As yet there is no specific vaccine against the Avian flu. It will take approximately 6 months to commercially produce a specific vaccine.
So there you have it, the low down on the bird bug!
Information in this article has been extracted from sites
CDC (http://www.cdc.gov/flu/avian/index.htm),
WHO (http://www.who.int/csr/disease/avian_influenza/en/),
Intl SOS (http://wwwinternationalsos.com/members_home/avianflu) and current information on the Avian flu may be viewed on these sites.
Information in Indonesian for cautions regarding the Avian flu (courtesy Trishia Melosh R.N.)
Informasi untuk diketahui oleh semua
Resiko tertular “Avian flu” terhadap umat manusia lebih besar terutama bagi tenaga kerja yang bekerja di peternakan ayam berskala besar, dimana ayam-ayam hidup dalam peternakan itu dapat menularkan penyakit tersebut. Daging ayam yang sudah dibekukan atau dimasukkan kedalam lemari es tidak berbahaya untuk dikonsumsi, terutama bila sudah dimasak dengan panas sampai dengan 70derajat C. Telur telur ayam harus dicuci sebelum dipergunakan atau diolah. Sebagian besar dari telur-telur ayam yang dijual dalam kemasan di supermarket biasanya sudah dicuci tetapi lebih baik dicuci kembali.
Selalu mencuci tangan anda setiap selesai memegang daging ayam mentah atau produk sejenisnya. Talenan yang dipakai untuk memotong daging ayam harus dicuci bersih dengan cairan pemutih dan hanya digunakan untuk memotong ayam atau daging. Sayur2an dan buah2an tidak boleh dipotong menggunakan talenan yang sama yang dipakai untuk memotong daging.
Sampai dengan saat ini, WHO belum mempunyai bukti terjadinya
penularan antar manusia.
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Kim Patra is a qualified Registered Nurse and Midwife that has been living and working in Bali for almost twenty years. She now runs her own private practice and medical referral service from her Kuta office. Kim is happy to discuss any health concerns with you and she may be contacted via e-mail at info@chcbali.com”.
