Bird Flu a growing concern.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Free-Press-Release.com) November 18, 2005 -- Avian or Bird Influenza has killed more than 60 people in several Asian countries, according to the World Health Organization�s Web site. WHO is the United Nations specialized agency for health and among the foremost organizations battling the infectious disease.

Generally, the disease attacks birds or, less commonly, pigs, However, it continually mutates and is spread through bird migration, ultimately attacking humans, making it more of a potential threat outside Asia.

For example, the disease was recently reported as appearing in the Arab world for the first time.
The expanding geography associated with the disease is one of the reasons health officials are concerned a pandemic � a worldwide spread of the disease � is possible.

But the lack of available information on bird migration pathways and the influenzas that hit avian populations is, among other things, making it tough for public health experts to battle the disease.

�We would be so far ahead of the game right now if we knew more about the actual natural history and what the wild-type viruses actually do in these waterfowl populations or bird populations in general,'' David Stallknecht, a Bird Flu specialist at the University of Georgia's college of veterinary medicine in Athens, told the Canadian Press.

�The lack of funding and the lack of appreciation for knowing what these wild-type viruses do, I think has put us behind,� he said.
The maintenance of general good health through nutrition and exercise to ward off the Bird Flu has been recommended by health officials.
In addition, laboratory studies suggest that prescription medicines including Tamiflu and Relenza, which were licensed in the United States and Europe in 1999, could ward off the disease.

Even so, the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warns that flu viruses might become resistant to these drugs. More studies are needed to prove the medicines� effectiveness, according to the organization�s Web site.

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More information can be found online at http://www.avian-flu-symptoms.com

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