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Bird Flu »

Bird flu facts

• Bird flu refers to strains of influenza that primarily affect wild and domesticated birds.
• Bird flu is also known as avian flu or avian influenza.
• Although bird flu is contagious and spreads easily among birds, it is uncommon for it to be transmitted to humans.
• In the late 1990s, a new strain of bird flu arose which was unusually severe ("highly pathogenic"), resulting in the deaths of hundreds of millions of birds, including poultry.
• Control efforts, including culling infected flocks and vaccinating healthy birds, have limited the spread of highly pathogenic bird flu.
• In 2011, a mutated strain of highly pathogenic bird flu appeared, which is concerning because the existing poultry vaccines are not very effective against the new strain.
• Human infection with the highly pathogenic strain of bird flu is uncommon, with fewer than 600 cases reported since 1997.
• Huma...

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