Avian Influenza Essay

Influenza is an infectious illness that can be spread from one individual to the next. It can be transmitted by means of saliva, nasal secretions, feces and blood. It can also be spread by coming in contact with the virus on contaminated surfaces. Influenza is responsible for an average of 36,000 deaths and for more than 226,000 hospitalizations each year in the United States. (Davidson, 2007-2009, Davis, 2007).

First of all, the name “Influenza” is derived from the Latin word for “influence”, and it is an infectious disease that is caused by the RNA viruses from the Orthomyxoviridae family:

Awareness  and   availability  will  impact  the  incidence  of  an  outbreak.     The  China  outbreak  was  not   well  understood;  therefore,  preventative  measures  were  not  yet  in  place.  Many  were   exposed  and  infected  but  were  not  developing  clinical  disease,  and  only  seven  of  the   18  cases  had  direct  or  indirect  contact  with  poultry.  Universal  precautions  and   practicing  good  hygiene  is  the  best  way  to  prevent  the  spread  of  influenza.

This influenza occurred at the latter point of “World War 1” coming at a vulnerable time for the world. Many people have already died due to the war, and many resources and money has already been consumed. So when the pandemic hit, it hit with a charge that left a great wound in the economy and health of the people not just in the U.S. but the world. People responded by taking more precautions in health and safety, and took radical response in the exterminating of animal populations.

Influenza is very contagious and spreads rapidly from person to person. Influenza causes worldwide yearly epidemics. According to World Health organization Influenza affects 5-15% world’s population and resulting in 500,000 deaths yearly. Ottenberg stated that, in United States, an average of 200,000 were hospitalized and 36,000 died each year from influenza complications. Influenza is the sixth leading cause of death among US adults and is related to 1 in 20 death in persons older than 65 years. Disease control and prevention estimates indicate that infections like H1N1 which is one of the types of influenza, have resulted in an estimated 42 to 86 million cases and 8520 to 17620 deaths. As I mentioned earlier that infections like

Influenza, also known as the flu, is a contagious respiratory illness caused by the influenza virus that infects the nose, throat, and lungs (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,

     Influenza has been around almost as long as people have walked the earth. Its roots draw back as far as 412 B.C., when a man named Hippocrates wrote of an uncontrollable outbreak of a disease that closely resembles influenza. This pandemic devastated an entire

Among the easiest ways to protect yourself from influenza every year is to get a flu vaccine regularly. So many programs exist to make it convenient and inexpensive, and more come out every year, and the consequences can be life-threatening.

One can claim that influenza is an infection that has victimized people from just about every generation that we have known. The term Influenza comes from the Latin word "influentia", first used by the Italians in the 1600's. It is a highly contagious infection particulary of the respiratory tract.In addition to us humans, influenza can occur in pigs, horses, and several other mammals as well as in certain wild and birds. It can also jump from specie to specie as observed in late 1997 when influenza from chickens was having its effects on people in Hong Kong. Because influenza is highly contagious and spreads easily, it has appeared in our history many a times as epidemics. Influenza is caused by an

Influenza, an innocent little virus that annually comes and goes, has always been a part of people’s lives. Knowing this, one would not believe that it has caused not one, not two, but three pandemics and is on its way to causing a fourth! The Spanish flu of 1918, the Asian flu of 1957, and the Hong Kong

There are there types of influenza A and C or the most severe types and B which is the most common, Luckily not the to severe. The virus works by first attaching to the outside of a host cell. It injects its RNA into the cell. Unfortunately our cells treat the RNA like they should. It translates the viral genes using the cell’s ribosomes and enzymes. Now the virus can take the cell over and use it to reproduce more viruses. Sooner or later it releases the new nauseating viruses and they search for another cell to raid.

Wild aquatic fowl, ducks in particular, serve as a reservoir for the Influenza virus to transmit into poultry and then to humans. Infected birds shed flu viruses in their saliva, nasal secretions, and feces (CDC, 2004). The current virus seen in Asia is denoted as H5N1 and was first seen in terns in South Africa in 1961 (CDC, 2004). The first human seen infection of the avian H5N1 viruses was in 1997 in Hong Kong in a three- year old boy (Ruben, 2005). The outbreak involved 18 cases and killed 6, one third of the confirmed infected population (Rueben, 2005). In three days 1.5 million birds were killed in order to prevent further spread. A new pandemic is now on the horizon with recent outbreaks in poultry in the eight Asian countries of Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, South Korea, Thailand, and Vietnam since 2004 (CDC, 2005). As of July 5, 2005, there have been 108 reported human cases of the H5N1 virus with 54 deaths (CDC, 2004). In wake of a

Illnesses have long haunted the human race. As long as these illnesses have existed, humans have developed ways to cure themselves, beginning with simple herbs and proceeding as far as vaccines and complex medicines. One cure that long eluded scientists was that of the influenza virus. Now, the influenza vaccine, or flu shot, saves thousands of lives a year and helps prevent serious complications resulting from influenza infection.

Influenza is a virus that is transmitted mainly via airborne process, which is one of the fastest mode of transmission. It is transmitted though airborne due to symptoms such as coughing and sneezing of the host (the infected). The host sneezes and coughs, influenza can easily be transmitted the agent via droplets and small microorganism, therefore entering the uninfected though the respiratory system (mouth and nasal) (WHO, 2016). Another way the virus can lead to pandemic, is due to the fact that the number of human and animals continue to grow and interact. Thus, the pandemic of influenza type A is possible. This mode of transmission is both and; the airborne (respiratory system) and physically (hand contamination). The customarily begins in rural areas (farms) as the virus can be found in hosts such as horses, pigs, chickens and birds. There has been an undetected interchange of the disease among animals and humans in rural environments which then eventually grows to become a global pandemic (Webster, RG & Monto, AS et al 2013, Textbook of influenza). The virus may continue to spread physically due to hand contamination in public; these may include door handles, public transport and other hand held hold objects. The last mode of transmission is genetically, this may then lead to asthma or even death (WHO,

Restate Thesis: Influenza is a common virus that is present in almost every part of the world. Studies show that influenza causes people to be prevalent to other diseases, especially respiratory diseases. According to an article on The Lancet, August 14th, 2009 by Jamieson, the virus caused the widespread outbreak of respiratory infection