Bird Flu: A Chicken Raiser’s Nightmare

Since its outbreak, every poultry owner had become aware of the consequences that can happen if this deadly disease is not prevented. Bird flu or what is also known avian (meaning bird) influenza (flu), is the number one killer of poultry chickens in Asia and some parts of the world.

Bird flu started in China and became a widespread disease for their chickens thus wiping out over millions of poultry businesses and dropping the chicken industry to a devastating point. The thing about avian flu is that, not only can it affect birds but also humans which makes the illness more dangerous to various lives. It can be passed from chicken to chicken, chicken to person, person to person, person to chicken, and so on. That is why authorities in the health sectors are taking this serious matter in their hands and are making strict surveillance.

Avian influenza is not just a disease underlying a typical cold. It is more than that. In fact, it can kill an entire poultry habitation within a week. If passed onto a person, it can be more lethal as a person can interact with hundreds of people in a day without even noticing that they have become the perfect carrier of the disease. Worse, this sickness is not a picky disease. It could affect everyone including children.

The incubation period, if passed to a human, is not exact but as record shows, it may take about three to five days from the exposure to the disease-causing virus. Till then, the person will experience signs and symptoms that are similar with the common cold like fever, cough, sore throat, and aching of the muscles. Sometimes, the only thing that could indicate if the person has bird flu is if they are having conjunctivitis.

If the person who was affected and has experienced the signs and symptoms stated above ignored the indications, it may lead to severity of the disease. The person now will start to experience viral pneumonia and eventually, acute respiratory distress which is the most common cause of deaths among bird-related diseases.

But this pandemic crisis can be pretty much prevented if certain precautions are practiced if everyone who is involved will cooperate with the measures that were given out by the authorities.

Through thorough surveillance, WHO (World Health Organization) supports in eliminating the disease. Through this, they can trace the source of infection and track down those who were affected by the flu. They will confirm instances of the disease and how many deaths were known. Once WHO officials find out the extent of the disease’s proximity, they will contain the area under quarantine.

Those who are in the zone will not be allowed to go beyond it and those who wanted to enter will be prohibited. That is why the concerned officials must be responsible enough to bring in reliable data otherwise there would be miscalculations that can result to more chickens and people being affected instead of being saved.

With the word spread out all across the globe, the government is also having strict participation for the observance if there are any occurrences of the virus in their community. Residents are the one who have to be more watchful because they will be the one more affected.

Their communication and participation is the most important tool to evacuate the presence of this disease and make raising chickens safer to both chickens and owners.