Avian Bird Flu: The Next Smallpox?


Defined Tag: Avian Bird Flu.

Avian bird flu is all over the news these days, but it means very little to the average American, divorced as they are from all aspects of food growing and preparation. At the moment, avian bird flu spreads only from bird to bird or from bird to human, which makes the likelihood of the disease reaching your average American, who may never have handled a live chicken in their lives, extremely remote.

But that could change. Viruses can change, or 'mutate', their form, so that not *only* could they spread from bird to bird and bird to human, they could also begin to spread from human to human, and at that point, anything could happen.

Could avian bird flu become the next smallpox? At the present time, there is no vaccine for avian bird flu, but researchers at the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and elsewhere are working to develop one. In the meantime, the threat of avian bird flu hangs over our head, like smallpox did to the early Americans, a vague and shadowy threat, but one that always seems present.

The good news is, prevention is as simple for bird flu as it is for any form of influenza; wash your hands! Always wash your hands after coming in contact with poultry. Keep coops, feeders, and cages clean and sterilized at all times; clean out the manure at least once a week, and keep feed stored in airtight containers. Because bird flu is started primarily by poultry that comes in contact with contaminated droppings from wild birds, make sure that the area around your poultry coops is kept as clean and safe as possible. Whenever you can, make sure that chicken runs as well as chicken coops have some form of roofing over them. Avian bird flu need not become a problem if proper attention is given to hygiene in the first place.