What You Should Know About The Bird Flu

Hopefully, all Americans who are advised to receive the seasonal flu and H1N1 (formerly known as swine flu) vaccines, have done so. There is another flu virus that is a potential threat to international travelers. Is 'Bird Flu' on your itinerary?

The "bird flu", Avian Influenza H5N1, generally infects poultry and birds. However, there is also a risk to international travelers. The disease has a high mortality rate, and people traveling internationally should speak with their doctors about ways to reduce the risk of contracting it. There is no commercially available vaccine for the bird flu, unlike meningitis, typhoid, yellow fever and hepatitis, and it is typically resistant to most anti-flu medications. In most cases, humans get the disease from contact with live infected bird and poultry, or their droppings. It is rare for there to be transmission between two humans.

There have been reports of a severe strain of bird flu in places such as Africa, the Middle East, Europe and Asia. This strain has affected numerous humans. There have been bird flu outbreaks in Cambodia, Vietnam, Indonesia,Egypt and China within the last year. health authorities in Egypt have recently reported a case of the bird flu in an 18 year old woman, which proved to be fatal. She was reported to have had contact with infected poultry. Here are a few precautions for travelers:

Avoid poultry farms and contact with live animal markets. Do not regard these sites as 'petting zoos'.

Wash hands with soap and water regularly

Use alcohol based hand sanitizers in a situation where soap and water is not available.

Make sure that all eggs or poultry has been thoroughly cooked before eating them.

Use soap and hot water to scrub clean any surface that has been in contact with raw poultry. This includes utensils and cutting boards.

Do not purchase feathers or feather products from high risk areas.

If a traveler develops flu-like symptoms in a high risk bird flu region, seek medical attention.

Many diseases abroad can be prevented by effective travel vaccinations. Other diseases, such as malaria, traveler's diarrhea, norovirus and bird flu have no available travel vaccines. This means that travelers need other strategies to stay safe to make sure that bird flu is kept securely in its cage.