Bird Flu

Avian influenza (also known as bird flu) is a type of influenza virulent in birds.

It was first identified in Italy in the early 1900s and is now known to exist worldwide. The causative agent is the avian influenza (AI) virus. AI viruses all belong to the influenza virus A genus of the Orthomyxoviridae family and are negative-stranded, segmented RNA viruses. Avian influenza spreads in the air and in manure. Wild fowl often act as resistant carriers, spreading it to more susceptible domestic stocks. It can also be transmitted by contaminated feed, water, equipment and clothing; however, there is no evidence that the virus can survive in well cooked meat. The incubation period is 3 to 5 days. Symptoms in animals vary, but virulent strains can cause death within a few days.

Human cases of bird flu are incredibly alarming, and raised the concern of virologists and government agencies in China, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Canada, and other countries.

This imminent pandemic could only be controlled by the vast slaughter of millions of fowl to contain the virus that spreads by air, water, and soil. The bird flu is especially dangerous because our immune systems don’t have any antibodies to handle something that used to be relegated to animals. Thus, it takes hold with unprecedented force, settles in the lungs, and resists anti-viral and anti-bacterial medication. Most health experts researching and fighting the incidence of human bird flu do not have an optimistic outlook. They point out that the pathogen has not appeared to evolve such that human-to-human contact is contagious, yet it remains that people working with fowl, swimming in infected rivers, playing in an area where carcasses were buried, or breathing air near a poultry processing plant, can lead to infection.

A strain of the H5N1 bird flu virus that may unleash the next global flu pandemic is showing resistance to Tamiflu, the antiviral drug that countries around the world are now stockpiling to fend off the looming threat. Washington is abuzz with efforts to avoid an avian flu pandemic: President Bush is meeting vaccine industry officials and the State Department is convening 65 countries to discuss international prevention efforts. But lawmakers from both parties say preparations are not happening fast enough.

Southeast Asia is the perfect starting point for a bird flu pandemic.

Millions of people are in close proximity to each other and to the birds that can carry the deadly virus. Vietnam is the hardest-hit nation, where wandering domestic chickens have spread the bird flu from farm to farm. Villagers who catch the virus complain of fever one day and are dead the next. The United States and China have sent money to Vietnam to help vaccinate 260 million birds, but the disease is spreading faster than the vaccine.  If one bird is sick, the entire flock is destroyed, but not the ones on neighbouring farms, a situation some experts believe is helping to perpetuate the disease.

Is a bird flu pandemic inevitable?

Hong Kong is clear of the virus for now, but health officials are resigned to the fact that an outbreak is coming.

“We cannot stop that from happening,” said Dr. Ronald Lam, in charge of Hong Kong’s emergency medical response. “Definitely pandemic will come.”

Hospitals, nursing homes and clinics are monitored for signs of influenza. Every incoming passenger at the airport is electronically scanned for fever.

Experts fear that if the disease becomes contagious among people, someone boarding a plane in a place like Hong Kong could spread the virus around the world in a matter of hours.

"You'd be surprised how fast that virus can travel from a Third World, backward country farm into New York City,” said Dr. Frederick Leung of Hong Kong University, who has studied the avian virus for years. "I bet it is faster than a terrorist can arrive."

“Viruses observe no country boundaries,” added Leung, whose lab is often called upon to verify and track the deadly flu. “The virus doesn’t apply for a visa to go travel.”

Can Noni Juice help?

We can not and will not promise you that Noni juice will cure bird flu or prevent you from getting the bird flu. But what we can tell you is, that Noni juice is boosting your immune system  to help your body fighting  everything weakening your system.

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