North Georgia Conference

The Bird Flu virus, first detected in 1997, has gradually become stronger and more diverse as it has spread across parts of Asia, Europe, and North Africa with the most recent human case in Egypt (1-July 2007), Indonesia (1-July 2007), and Viet Nam (2-June 2007). So far this virus has shown the potential of becoming a very deadly virus with some further mutation but is not currently found in North and South America or Australia.

The Bird Flu virus apparently started in wild Asian waterfowl populations and spread to chicken populations. From there, it has spread to cats, pigs, and minks. As far as humans, the disease is usually associated with individuals that have been near or handled sick or dead birds or eaten disease birds without properly cooking. So, the bird to human transference is occurring but a sustaining human-to-human transference has not. However, it is expected to happen any time and one will see World Health and the US Public Health to immediately ramp up defenses with tight border screenings and quarantines once such an outbreak occurs.

The term, pandemic, refers to a public health emergency where a virus is out of control and sweeping through a population. There have been several outbreaks since 1900 such as smallpox and polio; however with influenza there have been three: Spanish Flu (1918-1919), Asian Flu (1957-1958) and Hong Kong Flu (1968-1969). Both the Hong Kong and Asian Flu targeted infants, elderly, pregnant, and the sick. However, the Bird Flu parallels the Spanish Flu, which targeted healthy 15-35 year-old and created a significantly greater number of deaths than the other two.

Influenza (flu) is a disease that attacks the respiratory tract in humans. It arrives suddenly and may include, fever, headache, tiredness, dry cough, sore throat, nasal congestion, and body aches, and may result in complications such as pneumonia. The virus is generally heavier than air because it is attached to moisture droplets, so they will eventually settle on flat surfaces such as counter tops, desks, tables, banisters, etc. Other points of contact include phone handles, computer keyboards, grocery carts handles, restaurant tabletops, door push plates, and doorknobs.

Note that the above symptoms, other than high number of people experiencing complication, is true also for the more common seasonal winter influenzas and may be fought or prevented in the same manner that are listed here.

The virus enters the body through the mouth, nose, eyes, or any open cut or sore. If one needs to be around someone that has contracted the virus of this nature, your protection will a face mask (N95 or N100) and goggles such as safety glasses with side shields. This seems a bit extreme for most situations but in the case of a deadly virus such as the bird flu in your home, it is quite necessary.

The hands often become involved in transporting the virus and are then used to rub an eye or scratch a nose and, thus infected you. Hands should be kept clean by wearing gloves, using a strong sanitizer, or frequently washing. The washing should take at least 20 seconds to scrub with soap and running water. Washing should include through rinsing of the soap, as the soap will contain trapped pathogens.

The virus is initially transmitted by direct or indirect contact with infected areas or persons and by airborne droplets (sneezing and coughing). These airborne droplets may remain in the air for as long as 30 minutes and long since the person who has coughed or sneezed as left the area. For this reason, our society has to actively encourage blocking of sneezing and coughs which will greatly impact the transference of the seasonal flu and the more deadly varieties, such as Bird Flu.

Yes, there is a risk of a pandemic but implementing the above procedures will go a long way to preventing the flu from reaching that out-of-control level.