The agriculture ministry of Japan has confirmed the third outbreak of avian influenza also known as bird flu on Monday.
It detected a harmful subtype of the bird flu, H5N8 strain in a poultry farm with around 11,000 chickens. The farm is located in Izumi city of the southwestern province of Japan. Many such outbreaks were reported in Europe and other parts of Asia also. This comes as a concern to epidemiologists as the world is still recovering from the effects of Covid 19.
In February, Russia reported its first case of avian flu that spread from birds to humans and reported the same to the World Health Organisation. There was no sign when the spread took place. Anti-viral treatments are available against the bird flu but there isn’t any vaccine available for humans against the bird flu.
Though the cases of transmission to humans are on a rise this year, Japan ignores that avian flu is transmitted to humans when they consume poultry products and derivatives. The bird flu is a viral infection mostly affecting the birds, but recent findings suggest it may affect even humans. The first bird flu infection was discovered in 1997 and killed around 60% of those that were affected by it. WHO and researchers in the UK agree that contact and consumption of birds affected by the H5N1 and its strains can cause the same in humans also.
Symptoms of bird flu:
- Cough
- Fever
- Muscle pains, headache
- Breathlessness
- Sore throat and cold
Avian flu has a life span of 10 days in all that it affects. Poultry farmers, meat consumers are warned to stay safe and avoid eating undercooked food. Washing hands often, using masks can work as better protection.
Content Writer (Erakina By RTMN)
18-11-2021
