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Avian influenza, also known as avian flu or bird flu, is a disease caused by the influenza A virus, which primarily affects birds but can sometimes affect mammals including humans. [1] Wild aquatic birds are the primary host of the influenza A virus, which is enzootic (continually present) in many bird populations.
Usually other differences also exist. Currently, there is no human-adapted form of H5N1 influenza, so all humans who have caught it so far have caught avian H5N1. Human flu symptoms usually include fever, cough, sore throat, muscle aches, conjunctivitis and, in severe cases, severe breathing problems and pneumonia that may be fatal.
H5N1 influenza virus is a type of influenza A virus which mostly infects birds. H5N1 flu is a concern because its global spread may constitute a pandemic threat. The yardstick for human mortality from H5N1 is the case-fatality rate (CFR); the ratio of the number of confirmed human deaths resulting from infection of H5N1 to the number of those confirmed cases of infection with the virus.
While other H5N1 influenza strains are known, they are significantly different on a genetic level from a highly pathogenic, emergent strain of H5N1, which was able to achieve hitherto unprecedented global spread in 2008. [1] The H5N1 strain is a fast-mutating, highly pathogenic avian influenza virus (HPAI) found in multiple bird species. It is ...
A/H5N1 virus can also infect mammals (including humans) that have been exposed to infected birds; in these cases, symptoms are frequently severe or fatal. [2] A/H5N1 virus is shed in the saliva, mucus, and feces of infected birds; other infected animals may shed bird flu viruses in respiratory secretions and other body fluids (such as milk). [3]
On November 7, the CDC reported asymptomatic bird flu infection in 4 workers at dairy farms. The workers didn't recall ever being sick but had antibodies showing that they had been infected with bird flu. [98] On November 22, the CDC confirmed the first case of bird flu in a U.S. child, being the 55th case of bird flu in humans in the U.S.
[11] [2] Humans can rarely become infected with strains of avian or swine influenza, usually as a result of close contact with infected animals; symptoms range from mild to severe including death. [12] [13] Bird-adapted strains of the virus can be asymptomatic in some aquatic birds but lethal if they spread to other species, such as chickens. [14]
H5N8 is a subtype of the influenza A virus (sometimes called bird flu) and is highly lethal to wild birds and poultry. [1] H5N8 is typically not associated with humans. However, seven people in Russia were found to be infected in 2021, becoming the first documented human cases. [2] [3]