Vaccine

The bird flu is one of the infections that have affected millions of birds and hundreds of individuals all around the world during different outbreaks ever since 2004. It is said that most at risk to develop this condition are the birds in Southern Asia, the region of the world where the first outbreak actually started. Usually avian flu is not passed from bird to humans but it has been shown and actually proved by the history that these viruses can mutate quite quickly and they can be transmitted to humans. This can occur through the meat of an infected bird or through direct contact with its bodily fluids. The last is the main transmission possibility when talking about birds-to-birds transmission.

The fact that the viruses mutate makes it more difficult to come up with an efficient vaccine or treatment that could be 100%effective against the virus. This is why vaccines are developed at the time of the outbreak and depending on the exact strain that is causing the infection. Research in this area is constantly carried out by national government and international organizations such as the WHO or the FAO as well as the OFFLU. Once an epidemic starts it is difficult to slow it down by not killing the infected birds and this can be damaging for economies around the world. Yet, prevention is preferred to treatment.

Nowadays most farmers are required to vaccinate their birds in order to make sure they do not get sick. At the same time, the opportunity to create a pandemic vaccine is also taken under consideration because this is thought to help decrease the number of individuals who get sick, and especially of those who experience complications which may prove lethal. This research is continuously carried out because as mentioned above, the viruses keep on mutating and this makes it difficult to come up with a viable solution.