Research topic:bird flu

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Global spread of bird flu, 2006. (Image by Shizhao, GNU)
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bird flu

Britannica Concise Encyclopedia

[or avian influenza] viral respiratory disease, mainly of birds including poultry and waterbirds but also transmissible to humans. Symptoms in humans include fever, sore throat, cough, headache, and muscle aches. Severe infections can result in life-threatening complications such as pneumonia and acute respiratory illness. The first known human cases occurred in Hong Kong in 1997, resulting in six deaths. Deadly outbreaks among poultry in several countries in eastern and central Asia between 2003 and mid-2005 were accompanied by more than 100 human cases, about half of them fatal. The causative agents are virus subtypes related to the human influenza type A viruses, the most virulent and contagious being the H5N1 subtype. A specific protective vaccine for this virus remains to be developed. Studies suggest that some antiviral drugs that work against human influenza may be effective in treating bird flu in humans.


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Chinese seek bird flu testing on humans.(News)
; ...outside help to test three possible cases of bird flu in humans, and reported that its latest...Chinese girl last month was caused by bird flu. There have been four outbreaks of the deadly and virulent H5N1 strain of bird flu among poultry in China in the past three... Read more
Asian bird flu fear flies in face of news.(Arts and Lifestyle)
; ...Chianca You may have heard about the Asian bird flu and wondered if it was time to panic...I read on the Internet that the Asian bird flu could cause a pandemic that would decimate...one else was particularly worried about bird flu and nobody had any plans to become so... Read more
DISEASE: Bird flu scare here 'inevitable'.
; ...hatches to protect his his birds as the bird flu crisis creeps closer to the UK. Geoff...Personally, I feel it is inevitable that bird flu will arrive here. What its effect will...France has already been found to have bird flu and there are fears it may reach the UK... Read more
Questions and answers on avian influenza ("bird flu") and food safety.(from United States. Food and Drug Administration)
; What is avian influenza ( bird flu )? Bird flu is an infection caused by avian...not get sick from them. However, bird flu is very contagious among birds...sick and kill them. The current bird flu virus that is causing concern around... Read more
Carried away by bird flu
; ...Straits Times 02-08-2004 Carried away by bird flu Edition: New Sunday Times; 2* Section...understand what is going on. Certainly, the bird flu epidemic now flapping across Asia must...evidence to suggest that you can catch bird flu from humans or from eating chicken, although... Read more
ALERT AS BIRD FLU ARRIVES IN BRITAIN; Tests after parrot dies in quarantine.(News)
; ...Turner A PARROT which died in British quarantine had bird flu, officials confirmed last night. An H5 strain of...as a precaution. It is the first confirmed case of bird flu on British soil since 1992. Scientists believe up to 150million people could die in a global bird flu epidemic ... Read more
Bird flu spreads to Azerbaijan
; ...reported a woman killed by a deadly strain of bird flu. Azerbaijan became the latest country...virus had spread there, too. The spread of bird flu has increased the chance that the virus...pandemic, said Dr. David Nabarro, the U.N. bird flu chief. He said there is no evidence yet... Read more
Chinese scientists develop bird flu vaccines
; ...the spread of the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu to birds, mammals and humans. They also...Hualan, director of the China National Bird Flu Reference Laboratory, based in Harbin...which in less than 10 hours can confirm a bird flu epidemic. In the past, it took 72 hours... Read more
Fed: Govt to urge Aussies to return home in bird flu outbreak
; ...Govt to urge Aussies to return home in bird flu outbreak By Belinda Tasker CANBERRA, Oct...federal government to return home if a bird flu outbreak threatens to spread among humans...drugs in case of a sudden outbreak of bird flu. "If the threat of sustained human-to... Read more
Bird flu spreads to Britain, Croatia
; ...Britain and Croatia confirmed cases of bird flu on Friday as countries around the world...Ministry said the country's first cases of bird flu were confirmed in six swans found dead...been imported from South America died of bird flu in quarantine. In both cases, authorities... Read more

Related entries from encyclopedias, dictionaries, and thesauruses

bird flu
bird flu • n. an often fatal flu virus of birds, esp. poultry, that is transmissible from them to humans, in whom it may also prove fatal. Read more
bird flu
see influenza . Read more
The Great Influenza Epidemic of 1918-1919
...EPIDEMIC OF 1918-1919 A Little Bird America was still at war on...Navy Receiving Ship had 106 flu cases. In September an estimated...single day: I had a little bird And its name was Enza. I opened...and troop transports, the flu would spread all over the... Read more
avian influenza
a·vi·an in·flu·en·za • the technical name for bird flu . Read more
influenza
or flu, acute, highly contagious disease caused by a virus; formerly...not commonly due to influenza infection, and the term stomach flu is a misnomer. Influenza is usually self-limiting, but complications...Some H5 and H7 strains of avian influenza (also called avian flu or bird flu) are ... Read more

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BIRD FLU - M.I.A.

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