The virus causing record cases of avian influenza in birds across the world is changing rapidly, experts have warned, as calls increase for countries to vaccinate their poultry.
Jun 3, 2023
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Two poultry workers in the U.K. have tested positive for bird flu, but they had no symptoms and there's no evidence of transmission between people, the Health Security Agency said Tuesday.
May 16, 2023
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Avian flu cases have spiked around the globe in recent weeks, devastating bird populations and making headlines. The spread of the illness, caused by the H5N1 virus, has resulted in 58 million bird deaths since last fall—driving ...
Apr 27, 2023
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A woman has died from H3N8 bird flu in China, the World Health Organization reported Tuesday—the first known human fatality from the avian influenza strain.
Apr 11, 2023
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From COVID-19 to monkey pox, Mers, Ebola, avian flu, Zika and HIV, diseases transmitted from animals to humans have multiplied in recent years, raising fears of new pandemics.
Apr 7, 2023
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A recent outbreak of H5N1 at a mink farm in Spain caused international concern that the avian influenza virus might be creeping closer to achieving pandemic potential.
Feb 27, 2023
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The World Health Organization expressed concern about bird flu on Friday after the father of a 11-year-old Cambodian girl who died from the disease also tested positive, raising fears of human-to-human transmission.
Feb 24, 2023
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A top World Health Organization official, reacting to the death of an 11-year-old girl in Cambodia infected by bird flu, said Friday the recent global spread of the virus and human infections are "worrying."
Feb 24, 2023
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Cases of the H5N1 strain of avian influenza are increasing and spreading to mammals. In the last 20 years, more than half the people who have caught the virus have died. A leading testing expert is now urging the U.K. to ...
Feb 23, 2023
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Right now, the average person has very little risk of contracting bird flu, but whether that could change at some point depends on whether two viruses meet in the wrong animal.
Feb 22, 2023
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Avian influenza, sometimes avian flu, and commonly bird flu, refers to "influenza caused by viruses adapted to birds." Of greatest concern is highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI).
"Bird flu" is a phrase similar to "swine flu," "dog flu," "horse flu," or "human flu" in that it refers to an illness caused by any of many different strains of influenza viruses that have adapted to a specific host. All known viruses that cause influenza in birds belong to the species 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").
Adaptation is non-exclusive. Being adapted towards a particular species does not preclude adaptations, or partial adaptations, towards infecting different species. In this way strains of influenza viruses are adapted to multiple species, though may be preferential towards a particular host. For example, viruses responsible for influenza pandemics are adapted to both humans and birds. Recent influenza research into the genes of the Spanish flu virus shows it to have genes adapted to both birds and humans; with more of its genes from birds than less deadly later pandemic strains.
This text uses material from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA
