Avian Flu: Do You Want the Good News or the Bad News?
Avian Flu: The bad news first
Well, it’s flu season again. Only this time, we hear everyone talking about avian fluthe Super flu which is expected to wreck havoc across our land in the not so distant months.
So what is avian flu? Avian flu is bird flu. Yes, you read that right, “Avian flu is bird flu.” And why might that be such bad news?
If you pursue the news much, you will read that the deadliest disease in history is widely regarded as the Spanish Flu epidemic which killed 40 million people in just months. Scientists now believe the epidemic was an avian flu pandemic. In other words, the virus came from birds – it is believed – and a virus similar to this one -called the “H5N1” (a form of avian flu virus). Its origins? Most scientists agree it originated in Asia, as this one.
Flu comes every season. It comes in one of two forms, Type A or Type B influenza. Type A is the more potent of these kinds of flu, and avian flu is Type A. These strains kill.
The current avian flu bug is infecting and spreading throughout the poultry industry in...