Bird
Flu Poses Serious Danger. Why?
Author: Aliza Adar
Levine
News
Reports about Bird Flu are becoming alarmingly frequent. More
and more cases of human contamination are being reported. What
exactly is "bird flu" anyway? And how does it pose a risk?
As
more reports of Bird Flu spread, the risk of a World wide epidemic(Pandemic)is
quite frightening. Consider the following to get a glimpse as
to the complexity:
* Domestic
ducks carrying the virus can now excrete huge quantities of highly
toxic, contagious virus without even showing signs of sickness.
This is acting as a "silent" transmitter of the virus, to other
birds. This is one reason it's difficult to control. The birds
spreading it don't seem ill!!
* Bird
flu is caused by the H5N1 virus. The strain thats spreading is
one of the deadliest versions known. When compared with H5N1 viruses
from 1997 and early 2004, H5N1 viruses now spreading are more
lethal to experimentally infected mice and to ferrets (a mammalian
model) and survive longer in the environment.
* H5N1
virus appears to have expanded its host range, infecting and killing
mammals previously considered resistant. People are now coming
down with it.
*
The behaviour of the virus in its natural reservoir, wild waterfowl,
may be changing. The spring 2005 die-off of upwards of 6,000 migratory
birds at a nature reserve in central China, caused by highly pathogenic
H5N1, was highly unusual and probably unprecedented. In the past,
only two large die-offs in migratory birds, caused by highly pathogenic
viruses, are known to have occurred: in South Africa in 1961 (H5N3)
and in Hong Kong in the winter of 2002-2003 (H5N1).
Why
are pandemics such dreaded events? Influenza pandemics are horrible.That
can rapidly infect virtually all countries. Once international
spread begins, pandemics are considered unstoppable, caused as
they are by a virus that spreads very rapidly by coughing or sneezing.
The problem is that when a person is the most contagious and dangerously
spreading the virus, there are no symptoms yet. The fact that
infected people can shed virus before symptoms appear adds to
the risk of international spread via air travellers who don't
yet know they are sick.
The
severity of disease and the number of deaths caused by a pandemic
virus vary greatly, and cannot be known prior to the emergence
of the virus. During past pandemics, attack rates reached 25-35%
of the total population. Under the best circumstances, assuming
that the new virus causes mild disease, the world could still
experience an estimated 2 million to 7.4 million deaths (projected
from data obtained during the 1957 pandemic). Projections for
a more virulent virus are much higher. The 1918 pandemic, which
was exceptional, killed at least 40 million people. In the USA,
the mortality rate during that pandemic was around 2.5%.
Pandemics
can cause large surges in the numbers of people requiring or seeking
medical or hospital treatment, temporarily overwhelming health
services. High rates of worker absenteeism can also interrupt
other essential services, such as law enforcement, transportation,
and communications. Because populations will be fully susceptible
to an H5N1-like virus, rates of illness could peak fairly rapidly
within a given community. This means that local social and economic
disruptions may be temporary. They may, however, be amplified
in today's closely interrelated and interdependent systems of
trade and commerce. Based on past experience, a second wave of
global spread should be anticipated within a year.
As
all countries are likely to experience emergency conditions during
a pandemic, opportunities for inter-country assistance, as seen
during natural disasters or localized disease outbreaks, may be
curtailed once international spread has begun and governments
focus on protecting domestic populations.
What
can you do? How can you protect yourself? Well, surprisingly enough
you can take herbs! Many herbs are Scientifically documented to
Boost the body's ability to withstand and fight viral illness.
Some of the herbs that strengthen immunity are Astragalus, Ginseng,Codnopsis,
Garlic, Reishi, Spirulina, Shilajit, Suma and many more. Other
herbs like Echinacea, GoldenSeal, and Coptis fight infection,
when ill.
A wise
Herbal protection plan would be to take Astragalus Root as a daily
protective tonic. This TCM(Traditional Chinese Medicine)root is
well known and researched to dramatically boost Immune Protection
and even fight infection. Known as HuangQi(pronounced "WongChi"),
Astragalus is a TCM Herb, prescribed as a tonic, for centuries,
for strength and vitality. Taken as a tea or tincture, two to
three times daily, Astragalus can boost your ability to protect
and fight flu in general. A TCM botanical that fights viruses
is Honeysuckle(Lonicera, in Latin). Yes, the pretty ,sweet smelling
yellow, or pink flower is a serious antiviral medicine. The Chinese
have used the unopened buds, known as JinYinHua for centuries
to combat infection.
About
the author: A.LevineRNMH is a Nurse and medical Researcher for
over 20 years. |