There is one very important fact that you need to understand.
And sadly it is a fact that is not adequately explained by the media: THERE ARE 3 DIFFERENT TYPES OF BIRD FLU (Yes, 3)
I'm not just talking about the terms "Bird Flu" and "Avian Flu" and "H5N1".
No, those are all just different terms for basically the same thing.
If you want the jargon explained then click the blue text above to link to a page that explains...
No, what I mean is that there really are 3 different types of Bird Flu!
It is important to understand what these 3 types are:
There is the type of Bird Flu that birds suffer from, and which birds give to each other
There is a type of Bird Flu that birds give to people
There is a type of Bird Flu that people give to each other
There, not too difficult is it?
But every media broadcast that I have heard so far has talked generally about “Bird Flu” without making much attempt to distinguish between theses 3 types.
The result is that they have scared a lot of people when it hasn't been necessary. Even worse, people are going to be fed up and bored with scare stories about "Bird Flu" if it does ever become necessary to warn them that something really nasty is going to happen.
UNDERSTAND "FLU"
Many of the illnesses that afflict the human race can also infect other animals.
Sometimes, our illnesses are shared by dozens of other species. (Mostly other mammals.)
And that is the case with Influenza, or “Flu”.
Flu affects ducks, geese, chicken, cats and pigs as well as humans.
And therein lies the problem…
You see, viruses like the Flu virus change very rapidly.
They constantly mutate to try to find a way to avoid the defences of our immune system.
All the time, there are new strains of Flu arising as the viruses change their characteristics and test out different species to infect, or different ways to spread.
Every time that a significantly new strain arises that can affect humans, we have an epidemic that spreads very quickly because no-one has any immunity to it.
What has happened in recent years is that a new strain has developed in ducks and other wildfowl…
Because it evolved in birds, it is known as “Bird Flu”.
It is a type known as H5N1 that hasn't affected humans for nearly 100 years – so few of us are going to have any immunity to it if it starts to infect people.
So far, it has mostly just caused sickness in birds,
The real concern is that it will find a way to pass from people to people…
UNDERSTAND THE 3 DIFFERENT TYPES OF BIRD FLU
The type of Bird Flu that is just passed from one bird to another is not something that you need to get too scared about. It makes many birds ill, it can even kill them, but it does not pass from birds to people very easily. It has been around for several years in the Far East, and even spread as far as chickens in Holland on one previous occasion. And because it causes illness in domestic poultry, it is of concern to farmers – but there is no great reason for any of the rest of us to fear that illness in our chickens will affect us.
And this is the type of Bird Flu that the media has mostly been talking about recently - the one that doesn't harm us...
This present strain called H5N1 can jump from an infected bird to a human being. However, it does not manage this very easily, so we really don't need to worry that Bird Flu in our chickens represents any great health hazard to the human population. You certainly cannot catch Bird Flu from eating the meat of a bird that was ill. It is only the workers who might be responsible for disposing of infected birds who might become infected. This might happen because they have come into close contact with so many sick birds. Even if workers do become infected, they cannot then pass this disease on to friends and family.
Again, this is the type of Bird Flu that has gained some coverage by the media - and again it is one that presents little real danger to to most of us...
The only type of Bird Flu that we really need to worry about is the one that can be passed from person to person – and that doesn't exist yet!
To repeat, the H5N1 strain of the influenza virus that is infecting birds, and that occasionally infects people in contact with them, has not yet developed a way to pass from person to person. That is the only type of Bird Flu that we need to be really scared of – and it doesn't exist yet! But you do need to be concerned that it might develop soon...
So now you have a better understanding of what the news stories are going on about.
Read some more about what are, and are not, the likely dangers for you:
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