Healthy Life

Posts Tagged ‘Flu’

How is bird flu transmitted to humans?

Until 1997 it was believed that the disease affects only birds, but that year, the first cases in humans in Hong Kong.
People become infected through contact with sick birds.
Birds excrete the virus in their feces. When they are dried and pulverized, the virus can be inhaled.
Symptoms are similar to those of other types of flu: fever, malaise, sore throat and cough. Some people can also get conjunctivitis.
The 18 people infected in the outbreak of 1997 had come into contact with live animals on farms or markets.
Researchers who studied a case in Vietnam found the virus can affect all parts of the body, not just the lungs.
This could mean that many illnesses and even deaths attributed to other causes may have been due to bird flu.

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