Posts Tagged avian influenza
Overview On Bird Flu H5N1 Virus
The bird flu viruses are mostly subtypes of Influenza Virus A. There are several H5 and H7 subtypes of the ‘influenza A’ virus that cause bird flu among the birds. The wild fowls are considered to be the reservoir of the bird flu virus since ages. The migratory birds carry the pathogens from place to place and in turn infect the local population of the birds causing wide spread deaths.
Till 1997, the virus was restricted to the arboreal species and pigs. They never infected humans. But, the deaths in Hong Kong and other parts of the south east Asian countries have raised alarm throughout the medical world. Though it was a known fact that bird flu viruses mutate to different kinds but this was the first time that the viruses adapted themselves to be strong enough to attack mammals including humans and dogs. This bird flu virus has been identified as the H5N1 virus, a subtype of the H5 viruses.
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