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Home > News & Events > MAARSianChronicles > Issue 14: February 2006 > Avian Health & Wellness: Avian Influenza: Get The Facts!

Avian Health & Wellness

So far, human cases of Avian Influenza have been limited to people in Asia and Eastern Europe who have had direct contact with infected domestic poultry. (Photo by Angela Grimes, Wildlife Rescue & Rehabilitation)

So far, human cases of Avian Influenza have been limited to people in Asia and Eastern Europe who have had direct contact with infected domestic poultry.

(Photo by Angela Grimes, Wildlife Rescue & Rehabilitation)

Avian Influenza: Get the Facts!

by Eileen McCarthy, Executive Director & CEO

The recent flood of media coverage on Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (AI) has incited a great deal of public alarm that began last fall with Asian and Eastern European outbreaks of the disease in poultry and the deaths of humans who contracted the disease from close contact with sick birds.

The highly pathogenic AI strain, H5N1, which has spread rapidly through poultry flocks and been detected in some flocks of wild migratory birds in Asia and Eastern Europe seems to have been transmitted along common poultry transport and trade routes. Flu viruses mutate quickly, over relatively short time periods. This capability has caused concern amongst virologists, governmental agencies, and public health officials about the potential for the AI H5N1 strain to develop into a human epidemic or pandemic. However, for an epidemic or pandemic to emerge, the disease must be easily transmitted form human to human. Currently this is not the case.

MAARS closely monitors all of the latest information on AI, including the progression of H5N1 outbreaks, vaccine research, public health information and relevant publications. MAARS is also is working with state health agencies and a veterinarian who is a graduate student at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health to develop an Emergency Plan for non-agricultural avian care facilities like the MAARS shelter, The Landing. Should a highly pathogenic strain of AI be detected in birds or humans in the U.S. and/or Minnesota, we will be prepared to implement this plan to protect the health of the public, as well as MAARS birds and Volunteer Staff. The Emergency Plan will call for strict quarantine of The Landing premises, a moratorium on intakes and visitors, and rigorous biosecurity protocols for essential Volunteer Staff.

If you share your life with birds, your family, friends, and coworkers have probably asked you about AI and you, yourself most likely have questions. Below are a few excellent resources to help you stay well-informed.

Avian Influenza Resources

Avian Influenza ("Bird Flu") Fact Sheet

by the World Health Organization (WHO)

Avian Influenza Frequently Asked Questions

by the World Health Organization (WHO)

Avian Influenza

by the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP), University of Minnesota

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