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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.
On August 9, the Colorado Department of Public Health reported bird flu in domestic cats, including indoor-only cats. [90] In late August, H5N1 had spread to dairy cow herds in California. [91] On August 22, the first person in the U.S. who didn't work with poultry or dairy cows was hospitalized with the H5 influenza virus.
In 2012, the NIHE provided the H5N1 bird flu virus to researchers who transformed it and used the product to infect ferrets. [2]On March 22, 2017, the Japan International Cooperation Agency signed an agreement with the government of Vietnam so that the Japanese could transfer BSL3 technology to, among others, the NIHE.
Influenza A virus subtype H5N1 (A/H5N1) is a subtype of the influenza A virus, which causes the disease avian influenza (often referred to as "bird flu"). It is enzootic (maintained in the population) in many bird populations, and also panzootic (affecting animals of many species over a wide area). [ 1 ]
Pigs can harbor influenza viruses adapted to humans and others that are adapted to birds, allowing the viruses to exchange genes and create a pandemic strain. Avian influenza virus H3N2 is endemic in pigs (" swine flu ") in China and has been detected in pigs in Vietnam, increasing fears of the emergence of new variant strains.
Avian flu virus can last indefinitely at a temperature dozens of degrees below freezing, as is found in the northernmost areas that migratory birds frequent. [citation needed] Heat kills H5N1 (i.e. inactivates the virus). Influenza A viruses can survive: Over 30 days at 0 °C (32.0 °F) (over one month at freezing temperature)
In Japan, H5N2 virus was isolated or an anti-H5 antibody was identified from chickens in 40 chicken farms in Ibaraki Prefecture and in one chicken farm in Saitama Prefecture from June through December 2005. The strain was named as A/ chicken /Ibaraki/1/2005(H5N2). [7] About 5.7 million birds were destroyed in Ibaraki following the H5N2 outbreaks.
Infected birds shed the virus in their saliva, mucus, and feces. The virus was first detected in poultry in 2013, since then spreading among wild bird populations and poultry around the world. Humans can be infected through unprotected contact with infected birds or contaminated surfaces. The virus transmits by getting into a person's eyes ...