A.V.A.C.
Strategies To Stop Spread
H5N1, at this time, is not a virus that
spreads easily through humans. A
strand of this virus, though, could
easily mutate into a virulent strand
that easily spreads through humans. If
this happens you need to make sure
you and your family are in the best
positions to avoid the epidemic. One
of the main precautions you should
take is to wash your hands often.
Make sure before you eat or handle
food you wash your hands. Another
precaution to take is to handle poultry
products with care. Make sure they
are cooked thoroughly and do not let
raw poultry come in contact with other
foods. Be cautious around birds of any
type because you cannot tell if they
are carriers or not. Avoid areas
contaminated with bird feces and
avoid the areas where birds reside.
Following these few simple
precautionary measures will help you
be the best protected when this virus
arrives.
Avian Virus Awareness
Campaign
Remember our Jingle!!
Keep your hands washed
and a keen eye out,
H-FIVE-N-ONE is what we’re
talkin’ about.
Be careful traveling to other
sides of the map,
Cook all of your poultry and
avoid bird crap.
A pandemic’s on the rise all
around the globe,
It’s a virus always changing
and it never gets old.
‘Cause birds are getting sick
and they’re gonna fly,
So AVAC is here so that you
don’t get sick and die!
Avian Virus Awareness
Campaign
Representing the Center for
Disease Control
Spreading knowledge of the H5N1 virus
and its dangers
.
A.V.A.C.
This shows the H5N1 virus attacking
and taking over a cell.
Overview of H5N1
H5N1, or the avian flu, is an
influenza that is considered highly
pathogenic in birds. This disease
does not normally infect humans
but it has a 60% mortality rate
when humans are infected. People
can become infected when they
have been in contact with dead or
sick birds. This flu does not
normally spread human to human
but it can evolve to be able to do
that. This virus is on high alert for
the Center for Disease Control just
in case the disease develops into a
deadly and fast-spreading form.
Potential of H5N1
Transmission
In labs across the world scientists
study H5N1 and the potential it
has to become a pandemic. The
labs found out that they could
produce a virulent strand of
H5N1 with only a few changes to
its genetic code. The virus right
now cannot travel from human to
human very easily. If it combines
code with another virus or a
random mutation occurs that
could give it a better ability to
spread from human to human, it
could easily become a global
pandemic. This makes it hard to
develop a vaccine quickly
because it can change so much
by the time it reaches pandemic
capacity. It may take up to a
year or more to develop a
vaccine when a pandemic breaks
out.
The H5N1 virus is spread into
humans in three main pathways.
The virus can be contracted
through birds directly or indirectly
through a contaminated bird site.
The last way you can contract
H5N1 is through an intermediate
host, another animal that contracts
the virus from birds, and passes it
along to you. Some major ways
birds can infect humans is through
their saliva, feces, and nasal
secretions.
H5N1 virus in the bloodstream.
This is after it has infected an
organism
A.V.A.C. Research
Section 1Main Question: The common flu is not life threatening for much of the world's population. If that is the case, then why does the
avian influenza pose such high risks?
-The avian flu is such a risk because nobody is immune, and it has mutated so it is very deadly (60% mortality rate).
Sub-Question Answers:
-Influenza infects the host cell with spikes on it that pick the best cells to reproduce in. It then infects it by releasing its genetic information in the
host’s DNA, so that the infected DNA will make more of the virus.
-In order to transmit to different species, the virus must mutate to transmit better. Some common mutations are a change in the hemagglutinin gene
or neuraminidase gene.
-Person-to-person transmission of the virus is very rare because the avian influenza typically is unable to infect humans in the first place. It does
not have a mutation yet that has a mode of transmission to easily infect humans.
-H5N1 is typically found in Southeast Asia, but there are also some cases in Europe and sub-Saharan Africa. People in crowded areas with a lot of
birds or poultry farmers are most at risk.
Section 2 Main Question: The Spanish Flu epidemic of 1918 demonstrates why microbial evolution is a concern of scientists everywhere.
What needs to happen for H5N1 to become a threat to public health?
-H5N1 needs to evolve to have a quick mode of transmission from person to person before it can become a major threat.
Sub-Question Answers:
-Microbes evolve through natural selection. The weaker microbes/strains of disease die and the stronger, more virulent strains grow and spread.
-The Spanish Flu was a concern in terms of microbial evolution because it mutated quickly, and the second strain was much more deadly and very
different from the first.
-Resistant strains develop when antibiotics kill the weak, susceptible strains and the stronger strains survive and multiply.
-With our knowledge of microbial evolution, we know that if H5N1 develops the right characteristics, it could spread across the world quickly and
be a big threat to humans.
Section 3 Main Questions: Each year a new seasonal flu vaccine is produced to fight the different strains of the virus that threaten to
dominate in that particular period. What does this indicate about efforts to develop a vaccine for H5N1?
-This tells us that the government is not very concerned or working very hard to develop a vaccine for the H5N1, considering that they do not
develop a new one every year.
Sub-Question Answers:
- A vaccine is the method used to give people an immunity to a specific disease by giving the person a weakened or dead form of the disease.
-Vaccines use a dead or weakened form of the virus to let the body’s B-cells create antibodies for the disease and get immunity.
-Vaccines are made by isolating the disease and weakening or putting it in an inactive state so that it poses no threat to healthy individuals. It is
then put in a vaccine.
-Vaccines create an immunity for the people that get them. Immune people do not get the disease and do not spread the disease around, thus
preventing outbreaks. Establishing herd immunities also reduces the risk of a susceptible person getting the disease.
-There are some antivirals and vaccines in development, but these are not fully ready yet. H5N1 is constantly mutating, though, and it could take
up to a year to produce a pandemic vaccine. The virus first needs to be isolated to test any antivirals or vaccines.
Section 4 Main Question: Many will argue that public health measures are the best way to control and prevent the spread of infectious
disease. How can we learn from past experiences dealing with pandemics?
-From past experiences, we know that while other public health measures do help, vaccinations are the best way to handle a pandemic. Vaccines
may be expensive to develop, but they are much more efficient and less of a hassle than a bunch of public health measures when a pandemic does
break out.
Sub-Question Answers:
-Vaccination, the best way to prevent infectious disease, saves about 33,000 lives a year and prevents about 14 million cases of disease per year in
the U.S.
-Besides vaccinations, administering antibiotics to those who do get sick and health screenings and testing have also had a great impact on
reducing death.
-Epidemiology is the study of the spread and causes of disease, as well as how to control disease.
-Vaccines have been used in the past to eradicate or nearly eradicate many diseases. For example, through a global effort to get people
vaccinated, smallpox was eradicated in 1977 (official 1980). Polio and other diseases are also nearly eradicated due to widespread vaccinations.
-The avian flu is spread by infected birds, especially wild birds and poultry. However, the disease is not believed to be spread when the poultry is
fully cooked.
-Using this information, we can control the spread of this disease by telling people to stay away from wild birds, by telling poultry farmers to get
rid of sick poultry, and by telling people to fully cook their poultry.
-The avian flu spreads so quickly in some regions just like other influenzas. Regions with a dense population, warmer climate, and poor sanitation
conditions tend to spread it more rapidly.
Works Cited
"Avian Influenza: Current H5N1 Situation." cdc.gov. Department of Health and Human Services: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
27 Oct. 2008. Web. 22 May 2013.
"Disease Eradication." Historyofvaccines.org. The College of Physicians of Philadelphia, n.d.
Web. 22 May 2013.
"FAQs: H5N1 Influenza." Who.int. World Health Organization, n.d. Web. 22 May 2013.
"H5N1 Avian Flu (H5N1 Bird Flu)." Flu.gov. Department of Health and Human Services, n.d.
Web. 22 May 2013.
"Immunization and Infectious Diseases." Healthypeople.gov. U.S. Department of Health and
2013.
Human Services, 10 Apr. 2013. Web. 22 May
Avian Virus Awareness Campaign (AVAC) Government Preparedness Recommendations
1.
The United States government should be very concerned about the avian flu (H5N1). Presently, the avian flu does not spread easily to
humans; however, like all other microbes, the H5N1 undergoes constant genetic change. It could soon mutate to spread to humans.
Some vaccines for the avian flu have been developed but are not fully effective yet and are not available for widespread use. Should H5N1
start spreading in the human population, no vaccine would be available to give to those susceptible. The only drug that is known to reduce
symptoms is oseltamivir, and the flu could develop a resistance to this as well.
Although there are currently more prevalent strains of flu at this point in time, the government should be preparing for it by creating
vaccines and findings new drugs to fight the avian flu. If an outbreak does occur, the U.S. would be well prepared to combat the disease if they
had a vaccine ready and stockpiled. With such a high mortality rate from this strain (60%), the government should put research for H5N1 as one of
the top priorities, right up there with the seasonal flu.
As discussed above, oseltamivir is the only drug known to help those infected. However, this drug only serves to reduce symptoms and is
not very effective at getting rid of the avian flu. Early vaccines developed showed poor results in immunizing humans and still need to be
perfected.
2.
With state of the federal budget in mind, we still believe that federal government should be working harder and faster to develop and
stockpile a vaccine for H5N1. they do not need to spend a ton of money on this, but they should start putting some more funds in to pick up the
pace. Current development of the vaccine is slow and pitiful. Hardly any funds are being put towards it.
Presently, most breakouts of the avian flu are coming from Southeast Asia (i.e. China, Thailand). However, there have also been some new
cases in Europe and sub-Saharan Africa.
In the past, pandemics have been best dealt with by widespread use of vaccines. Developing a herd immunity with the vaccine helps to
bring down the amount of new infections and to end the pandemic as quickly as possible. Other health/safety precautions are also helpful, such as
quarantining infected people and developing widely available drugs to work against the disease.
If an effective vaccine were developed for the avian flu, the target groups for immunization would be similar to those targeted with the
normal seasonal flu vaccine: children, elderly, people with other pre-existing conditions (e.g. cardiac, renal), and anyone else with a weaker
immune system. In a pandemic situation, the vaccines would first be administered to emergency personnel, children, and young adults.
Besides the development of vaccines, the government should take the following steps to prepare: - Track and research the patterns of the
flu
-Quarantine those that get infected
If a pandemic occurs, also do the following: -Have regular health screenings
-Issue a curfew
-Close unnecessary public areas
-Spread awareness of the disease
Overall, we believe it would be wiser for the federal government to be spending its money on the development of vaccines rather than on
future health measures. Vaccines have proven to be effective at preventing or ending pandemics. Having complicated health measures if a
pandemic breaks out can be a hassle with the public and is much more difficult to stop the pandemic. Also, immunization protects people from
the disease in the future where as other health measures leave the public susceptible still to future outbreaks.
3.
We do agree that the government should be doing surveillance of the avian flu overseas and start preparedness planning, but they should
also be making a vaccine right now. If they wait on a vaccine until the virus starts to spread rapidly to humans, it will already be too late; a
vaccine can take a year or more to fully develop and distribute.
At this point, most of the money for the avian flu should be focused more globally. The U.S. has not had any outbreaks, so we are safe for
now. We should focusing our funds at the flu's origins, like Southeast Asia. If we put in a global effort like we did with the eradication of
smallpox, we can contain or get rid of the virus there, so it does not turn into a pandemic and we have nothing to worry about here.
As stated previously, vaccines are the most effective way to deal with epidemics. We should use most of our funds on a vaccine that we
can give to the people of outbreak areas. This will develop the needed herd immunity to prevent an epidemic or pandemic.