Officials in southern Vietnam have confirmed that the recent bird flu outbreak is the lethal H5N1 strain.
6,000 domestic birds, mostly ducks and chickens in the Ca Mau and Bac Lieu provinces of the Mekong Delta have died from the infection over the last two weeks. The dead birds were all hatched illegally, according to health officials, and had not been vaccinated.
The risk of spreading to other regions is extremely high because farmers are throwing the dead birds into rivers and streams, and this has been going on for some time.
The last bird flu outbreak in Vietnam, which coincided with human bird flu infections, was this time last year.
Vietnamese officials are very worried about this new outbreak because this time of year is much cooler, ideal conditions for the virus which spreads more quickly during the colder season.
Avian flu is a range of viruses that occur naturally in wild bird populations. Most wild birds carry them in their gut. The problem arises when they come into contact with domestic birds which are more vulnerable. Also, humans are more likely to handle domestic birds and that is where the risk to us comes from.
H5N1 is a deadly strain of the bird flu virus that has emerged in recent years and is the subject of much controversy about whether we are on the verge of a worldwide pandemic or not.
H5N1 is present in many bird populations, particularly in Southeast Asia. There is very little evidence of human to human or airborne transmission of the virus. Bu this could be because the only incidents that tend to be reported are those that result in death. Nearly all known incidents of human infection were linked to people who had daily physical contact with the birds, for instance by handling many of them every day.
October 2004 was a key point in our knowledge of H5N1, because that’s when researchers discovered that the virus was increasing its ability to infect mammals. Since then, the opinion of experts has changed from being no longer a case of prevention, but of how long we can delay a pandemic.
The World Health Organization keeps a watch on the state of the spread of H5N1. There are six phases of preparedness for a world pandemic. They say we are currently at phase 3, which is defined as “a virus new to humans is causing infections, but does not spread easily from one person to another”.
Written by: Catharine Paddock
Writer: Medical News Today