Scientists Seeks Reason Why Bird Flu Kills Some Animals And Affect Others With Moderate Illness

(Photo : Getty Images/ ADITYA AJI / AFP)

Researchers are trying to discover what makes bird flu fatal to some animals in a matter of days and yet causes only mild symptoms in others.

In the last few years, many wild and domestic birds are thought to have died from bird flu worldwide. There have also been reports of sickness in some other animals such as dogs, cats, seals or cows

Avian Influenza

The virus known as avian influenza (H5N1) and has for the most part spared humans.

However, H5N1 has caused 463 deaths and as many as 900 cases of human infection since 2003, based on the recent data released by The World Health Organization (WHO).

Direct contact between humans and infected birds was a factor in the majority of human cases. In human-to-human examples of the virus spreading, the affected individuals were found to have had prolonged and close contact within households.

The present bird flu strain was first discovered in 1959, yet it was not until 1997 that officials got concerned because it hit a large number of birds in Hong Kong. From this outbreak, some people lost their lives while others were left very sick.

There are ongoing investigations to establish why the H5N1 virus has not effectively infected the humans. Nonetheless, there are some researchers who think this could as well change.

According to Dr. Tom Frieden, who was the former director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there are so many things about the virus that we did not understand.

"I think we have to get over the 'hope for the best and bury our heads in the sand' approach," he added.

Potential Vaccine

Experts said that the virus that is now circulating is unlikely to spread globally and cause widespread death, but some governments are preparing to counter it.

Finland will become the first country in the world to provide preventive bird flu vaccinations as early as next week to some personnel who have contact with animals.

As part of a cooperative EU procurement of up to 40 million doses for 15 countries, the Nordic nation purchased vaccines for 10,000 individuals, each of which consists of two injections. The vaccine is manufactured from CSL Seqirus.

"The vaccine will be offered to those aged 18 or over who are at increased risk of contracting avian influenza due to their work or other circumstances," the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) said.

American health experts are also creating potentially necessary vaccines in anticipation of such a scenario, however, they do not currently have any more actions planned. This is due to the fact that there is insufficient proof of the virus spreading from person to person and that it is not seriously infecting humans.

According to the US Department of Agriculture, over 1,000 groups of poultry and several dairy cow farms have reported animal outbreaks in the US. There have been reports of at least four human infections among the hundreds of thousands of workers on American dairy and poultry farms.