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Chicken and Bird Flu

Birds in general are thought to be susceptible to the avian flu, though some birds such as wild ducks are better capacitated to resist the flu virus than the others. Domestic poultry like the chickens, fowl and turkey are especially prone and susceptible to the deadly virus. The infection can be mild and may not reveal all the symptoms and sometimes it can be highly contagious leading to a rapid fatality rate.

Normally it has been observed that humans are spared by the virus infection which proves very dangerous for avian and also that the infection rarely passes from one person to the other. Humans are infected only with the H5N1 strain observed in 1997, that brought about some deaths in its’ wake but this number is increasing alarmingly.

Close contact with the infected birds increased the toll and in areas where poultry farming and meat rearing is the prime industries the number of birds and humans getting infected is on the increase by the day.

Humans who are already carriers of the human flu virus become a mixed bag carriers if they are also infected the bird flu virus and this can trigger a major pandemic. Man to man passing of the infection is rare but the infection spreading from birds to humans is growing in large proportions.

Hong Kong’s entire poultry produce estimated to around 1.5 million was destroyed just within a span of three days and could avert a major catastrophe. Chicken sales have drooped to an al time low despite officials’ assurances and denials of an outbreak of an endemic. Also the assurance that cooked chicken is harmless and does not carry the virus is failing to gain back the confidence of even the die-hard chicken eaters.

The severity and the deadly potential of the bird flu virus are keeping away the regular chicken eaters trying in other food varieties. The sales in Asian countries dipped and saw an all time low.