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What to do if in a bird flu prone area
* Travelers should avoid all contact with poultry (e.g., chickens, ducks, geese, pigeons, turkeys, and quail) or any wild birds, and avoid settings where H5N1-infected poultry may be present, such as commercial or backyard poultry farms and live poultry markets. Do not eat uncooked or undercooked poultry or poultry products, including dishes made with uncooked poultry blood.* As with other infectious illnesses, one of the most important preventive practices is careful and frequent handwashing. Clean your hands often, using either soap and water (or waterless, alcohol-based hand gels when soap is not available and hands are not visibly soiled) to remove potentially infectious materials from your skin and help prevent disease transmission.
* CDC does not recommend the routine use of masks or other personal protective equipment while in public areas.
When Preparing Food
* Separate raw meat from cooked or ready-to-eat foods. Do not use the same chopping board or the same knife for preparing raw meat and cooked or ready-to-eat foods.* Do not handle either raw or cooked foods without washing your hands in between.
* Do not place cooked meat back on the same plate or surface it was on before it was cooked.
* All foods from poultry, including eggs and poultry blood, should be cooked thoroughly. Egg yolks should not be runny or liquid. Because influenza viruses are destroyed by heat, the cooking temperature for poultry meat should reach 70°C (158°F).
* Wash egg shells in soapy water before handling and cooking, and wash your hands afterwards.
* Do not use raw or soft-boiled eggs in foods that will not be cooked.
* After handling raw poultry or eggs, wash your hands and all surfaces and utensils thoroughly with soap and water.
If you believe you might have been exposed to avian influenza, take the following precautions:
* Monitor your health for 10 days.* If you become ill with fever and develop a cough , sore throat, or difficulty breathing or if you develop any illness with fever during this 10-day period, consult a health-care provider. Before you visit a health-care setting, tell the provider the following:
1) your symptoms,
2) where you traveled, and
3) if you have had direct poultry contact with poultry.
The embassy or consulate also can provide names and addresses of local physicians.
* Do not travel while ill, unless you are seeking medical care. Limiting contact with others as much as possible can help prevent the spread of an infectious illness.
* Resource:Outbreak Notice Update: Guidelines and Recommendations, Interim Guidance about Avian Influenza A (H5N1) for U.S. Citizens Living Abroad. This information is current as of today, November 6, 2005, 03:00:52 PM
Pandemic Hits - The Hypothetical - or a taste of things to come.
Pandemic versus Influenza versus the Common Cold Courtesy Dr Chris Hogan
| Symptoms | Pandemic Influenza | Annual Influenza | Common cold |
| Onset of symptoms | Sudden onset of symptoms which worsen within hours. Patients can often remember the exact time the illness began. Previous history of travel or exposure to travellers from bird flu affected countries important. |
Sudden onset of symptoms which worsen within hours. Patients can often remember the exact time the illness began. | Gradual onset of symptoms. |
| Sore throat | Extremely sore throat 'like a lion clawing at your tonsils' | Extremely sore throat 'like a lion clawing at your tonsils' | A scratchy throat, less severe. |
| Temperature | High temperature, up to 41°C as the body seeks to overheat and kill off the virus. | High temperature, up to 41°C as the body seeks to overheat and kill off the virus. | Usually small increase in temperature. |
| Headache | Always associated with severe headache | Always associated with severe headache | Minor headache occasionally. |
| Aches and pains | Sudden onset. Causes the whole body to ache,particularly the joints. Fatigue and weakness present. | Sudden onset. Causes the whole body to ache,particularly the joints. Fatigue and weakness present. | Mild aching, usually confined to the legs. |
| Coughs and sneezes | Coughing is usual but sneezing is rare. | Coughing is usual but sneezing is rare. | Sneezing and nasal congestion is common because the cold virus concentrates in the nose. |
| Course of illness | The Avian Flu is a severe form of Influenza While mainly a respiratory illness it can also present as encephalitis or diarrheal illness. It can also kill by effect on diabetes & on pre-existing heart lung liver & kidney disease The current thinking on quarantine period be after apparent recovery from Avian Flu is 7 days for adults and 21 days for children under 12. This is from DHS |
Unwell for 1-2 weeks, chest problems common. | Rapid recovery. |
| Complications | While mainly a respiratory illness it can also present as encephalitis or diarrheal illness. It can also kill by effect on diabetes & on pre-existing heart lung liver & kidney disease. | Severe eg. pneumonia, sinusitis, bronchitis and otitis media in children.
Aggravation of cerebrovascular & CAD, diabetes & renal disease While mainly a respiratory illness it can also kill by effect on diabetes & on pre-existing heart lung liver & kidney disease. |
Mild. |
| Those at risk | All are at risk. There is significant morbidity and mortality in both high-risk and normal-risk children and adults | Those at risk are the old & the frail | Everyone |
| Treatment | Should be prevented or treated by Tamiflu or Relenza. It depends on the type of outbreak 1. Mild - Tamiflu to those in quarantine with priority for the new pandemic vaccine 2 Moderate & severe- Tamiflu to essential services; Those in essential services will start on 1 Tamiflu a day with priority for the new pandemic vaccine & stay on Tamiflu until vaccine has had a chance to work |
Can be prevented or treated by Tamiflu or Relenza | colds run their course |
| Vaccine availability | A vaccine can only be prepared once the pandemic virus has been detected- This takes 6 weeks to start & then time to produce the vaccine in sufficient | The annual strain can often be anticipated & a vaccine prepared from existing viruses. | Not available |
| Immunity | Population has no or minimal immunity | Population has partial immunity from regular exposure to previous strains or previous vaccination | Population has partial immunity from regular exposure to previous strains |
| Virus spread | Influenza A virus can undergo major genetic variation by re-assortment of its genetic material from two different viruses in an animal host to give rise to a new strain antigenic shift. In the past century, pandemics of influenza occurred in 1918, 1957 and 1968. Pandemic flu took 6 mths to spread before the advent of planes, current talk is spread will be faster but could take 3 mths. GENEVA (Reuters) - Poultry workers, cullers and veterinarians should wear special clothing and take antiviral drugs to protect them from bird flu, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Thursday, 27th Oct, 05 All those at "high risk of exposure," working on farms with bird flu outbreaks or at risk of them, should wear coveralls, rubber gloves, surgical masks, goggles and rubber boots, and could take an antiviral drug, it said. "These measures are particularly important during veterinary investigations and extensive and urgent culling operations," the United Nations agency said in a statement posted on its site www.who.int . Humans suspected of having caught the lethal H5N1 strain of bird flu should be placed in immediate isolation, investigated, and checked for signs such as fever for 14 days, it added. The WHO also urged countries to share samples and viruses isolated from infected humans with its network of laboratories to permit quick analysis and guide national disease control strategies. |
Minor changes in virus every 2-3 years by a process called antigenic drift cause a minor outbreak in Northern &Southern Hemisphere winter/ spring. In tropics may occur twice a year | Constantly affecting people |
