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Avian influenza

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Influenza (flu)
H1N1 virus
Types
Vaccines
Treatment
Pandemics
Outbreaks
See also

Avian flu (also "bird flu", "avian influenza", "bird influenza"), means "flu from viruses adapted to birds", but is sometimes mistakenly used to refer to both other flu subsets and the viruses that cause them. (Example: from any flu virus rather than ones adapted to birds, e.g. Dog flu, Horse flu, Human flu, Swine flu), or (also incorrectly) even the virus itself.

All known avian flu viruses belong to the species of virus called Influenza A virus. All subtypes (but not all strains of all subtypes) of Influenza A virus are adapted to birds, which is why for many purposes avian flu virus is the Influenza A virus (note that the "A" does not stand for "avian").

As of 2006, "avian flu" is being commonly used to refer to infection from a particular subtype of Influenza A virus, H5N1, which is currently the world's major flu pandemic threat.

A few examples of correct and incorrect usage of the term "avian flu" itself follow. For more scientific information about avian flu, see the subtype links towards the bottom of this article, H5N1 flu, Flu, Influenzavirus A, and other linked articles.

Illustrative examples of correct usage

H5N1
Swans can carry highly pathogenic avian H5N1 and other avian flu viruses

In technical contexts, correct usage of terms is necessary because precise distinctions are the essence of the communication.

  • "Avian influenza strains are those well adapted to birds"
  • "An outbreak of influenza A (H5N1), also known as 'avian flu' or 'bird flu,' has been reported in several countries throughout Asia."
  • "Avian influenza virus usually refers to influenza A viruses found chiefly in birds, but infections can occur in humans."
  • "Of the few avian influenza viruses that have crossed the species barrier to infect humans, H5N1 has caused the largest number of cases of severe disease and death in humans. Unlike normal seasonal influenza, where infection causes only mild respiratory symptoms in most people, the disease caused by H5N1 follows an unusually aggressive clinical course, with rapid deterioration and high fatality." Seasonal influenza is human flu.
  • "avian influenza HA bind alpha 2-3 sialic acid receptors while human influenza HA bind alpha 2-6 sialic acid receptors. Swine influenza viruses have the ability to bind both types of sialic acid receptors."
  • Sometimes a virus contains both avian adapted genes and human adapted genes. Both the H2N2 and H3N2 pandemic strains contained avian flu virus RNA segments. "While the pandemic human influenza viruses of 1957 (H2N2) and 1968 (H3N2) clearly arose through reassortment between human and avian viruses, the influenza virus causing the 'Spanish flu' in 1918 appears to be entirely derived from an avian source (Belshe 2005)."

Illustrative examples of imprecise usage

In nontechnical contexts, imprecise usage of terms is typical when discussing complex things.

  • "A 1,000 square mile quarantine zone to combat an outbreak of bird flu was lifted in Scotland today - despite the spread of a similar disease south of the border." Here "bird flu" is used to mean "Asian lineage HPAI A(H5N1) flu" (which is a bird flu) and contrasted with flu from an avian adapted strain of H7N3 (which is also a bird flu). (Click the links for details.)

See also

Timeline data on avian flu
Subtypes of the causative agent species of avian flu include
Information concerning research about it can be found at

Sources and notes

  1. ^ "Avian influenza strains are those well adapted to birds"EUROPEAN CENTRE FOR DISEASE PREVENTION AND CONTROL.
  2. ^ Chapter Two : Avian Influenza by Timm C. Harder and Ortrud Werner from excellent free on-line Book called Influenza Report 2006 which is a medical textbook that provides a comprehensive overview of epidemic and pandemic influenza.
  3. Large-scale sequencing of human influenza reveals the dynamic nature of viral genome evolution Nature magazine presents a summary of what has been discovered in the Influenza Genome Sequencing Project.
  4. Full HTML text of Avian Influenza A (H5N1) Infection in Humans by The Writing Committee of the World Health Organization (WHO) Consultation on Human Influenza A/H5 in the September 29, 2005
  5. The Threat of Pandemic Influenza: Are We Ready? Workshop Summary (2005) Full text of online book by INSTITUTE OF MEDICINE OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES
  6. Here is the tree showing evolution by antigenic drift since 2002 that created dozens of highly pathogenic varieties of the Z genotype of avian flu virus H5N1, some of which are increasingly adapted to mammals.
  7. Evolutionary characterization of the six internal genes of H5N1 human influenza A virus
  8. OSHA
  9. CDC Avian Influenza (Bird Flu)
  10. WHO Avian influenza frequently asked questions
  11. Greninger Paper (PDF)
  12. News Avian flu quarantine zone lifted published May 1, 2006.
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