Bird Flu Rears its Head Again
By Donald A. Donahue, Jr., DHEd, FACHE
The United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization urged heightened readiness and surveillance against a possible resurgence of the H5N1 highly pathogenic Avian Influenza amid signs that a mutant strain of the deadly bird flu virus is spreading in Asia and beyond. Since 2003 H5N1 has killed or forced the culling of more than 400 million domestic poultry and caused an estimated $20 billion of economic damage across the globe before it was eliminated from most of the 63 countries infected at its peak in 2006. However, the virus remained endemic in six nations, Bangladesh, China, Egypt, India, Indonesia and Vietnam.
See: http://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/87196/icode/
This “bird flu” headline is deceiving. The H5N1 strain has not reappeared; it never went away. Influenza is one of the most resilient and adaptable of nature’s viruses. The ability of the flu to change is such that there is not a single immunization against it, but a combination of three – one version for the northern hemisphere and another for the southern hemisphere – that is adjusted annually against the prevalent strains. A potential pandemic of H5N1 is cause for detailed monitoring by world health authorities. This poses a threat to the global economy, but one not nearly as grave as the danger of a deadly outbreak among humans. While it may appear comforting that H5N1 is endemic to only six nations, it should be noted that these six countries contain 45% of the world’s population. The minimal impact of the 2009 H1N1 pandemic was both a blessing and a curse. It was a blessing in that fewer people succumbed to that strain than to seasonal flu. This is also a public health curse, because people may be less likely to avail themselves of readily available and safe countermeasures such as immunization given the 2009 outbreak turned out to be a “non-event.” Anything that can kill – and has killed – millions should be taken very seriously. H5N1 falls into that category.