Bird flu was detected at a poultry farm in Hekendorp in South Holland on Saturday, November 15, 2014. The Latin name for this bird flu is avian influenza. However, avian influenza is a highly contagious viral disease. This bird flu is the H5N8 type. The H5N8 is a highly contagious variant of bird flu. This variant of bird flu is also dangerous for humans. This is the first time that this highly contagious variant of bird flu has been detected at a company in the Netherlands. The bird flu variant H5N8 was previously detected in South Korea and Hong Kong, but since the beginning of November 2014, bird flu has also been detected in Germany. This variant of bird flu also appears to be transmissible to poultry and is also highly contagious to a number of other bird species. It is being investigated whether people can also become infected with the bird flu virus and how humans can protect themselves against infection.
What actually is bird flu?
Bird flu or avian influenza is a serious disease. Avian influenza mainly occurs in gallinaceous birds. Galliform birds, for example, are chickens. For example, the first symptoms of bird flu are visible in chickens. Chickens get flu-like symptoms. Flu-like symptoms include drowsiness, watery eyes and swollen throats. In addition, the flu can also be recognized in another way in comb-haired birds. For example, birds that have a comb experience discoloration of the comb. This serious bird disease, which appears to occur in many variants, is fatal in chickens, turkeys and ducks.
Variants
It has already been scientifically established that there are many different variants of bird flu. This concerns mild, the so-called late pathogenic variants, and the dangerous variants, the so-called hope pathogenic variants. The hope pathogenic variants also include the bird flu now diagnosed in Hekendorp. The bird flu identified in Hekendorp is type H5N8. When birds are infected with the bird flu variant H5N8, it takes 4 to 15 days before the bird actually becomes ill. As soon as a large number of birds in a certain area are infected with bird flu, it is called bird flu. However, this bird flu is not to be confused with the plague that raged among people in the Middle Ages.
Bird flu and the risks for humans
Very dangerous and contagious variants of bird flu are in some cases also contagious to humans. According to the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), this is also the case with variant H5N8. H5N8 was first detected in the Netherlands in November 2014. For the contagious variants of bird flu, this means that they can only be transmitted to humans through direct contact with the dead animal or through manure or dust particles. People can only become infected with bird flu through exposure to manure or fertilizer particles. Bird flu cannot be transmitted to humans by eating chicken or eggs from animals infected with bird flu.
Symptoms in humans
When people become ill due to infection with the bird flu variant H5N8, they are dealing with a mild variant of flu. In most cases, this form of flu is not dangerous to humans. Only people who already have respiratory complaints can become seriously ill if they become infected with bird flu. If you become ill due to bird flu, fortunately you cannot transmit the bird flu virus to someone else. Only when people already have the flu and are subsequently infected with bird flu, there is a small chance that these people will develop a new flu variant. However, this new flu variant that has now emerged can be transmitted by humans and subsequently cause a flu epidemic. In addition, this flu variant could, in certain cases, be very dangerous.
Each bird flu variant is recognizable by its own symptoms. The symptoms that may occur with the bird flu variant H5N8 are;
- eye inflammation,
- fever,
- cough,
- runny nose,
- a sore throat,
- muscle strain,
- headache
If someone suspects that there is a bird flu infection, they are advised to consult their doctor as soon as possible.
Vaccine H5N8
There is currently no vaccine against the H5N8 virus. People cannot yet be vaccinated against this bird flu variant. However, the annual flu shot currently does not provide sufficient protection against the H5N8 virus.
