New deadly H3N8 bird flu virus appears in the US

In a study published on July 31, American scientists said that a new strain of bird flu virus, H3N8, caused pneumonia that killed 162 seals under 12 months old in the northeastern coast of the United States and that this could be a new danger to humans.

(Source: usatoday.com).

Scientists at Columbia University, New York, warn that this variant of the bird virus could affect humans like the H5N1 flu virus.

Professor W. Ian Lipkin, from the university's School of Public Health, said all viruses such as West Nile, Nipah, influenza, and the viruses that cause HIV/AIDS and SARS all originated in animals and all have serious effects on humans.

Scientists have established a complete genetic map of the above influenza virus strain and confirmed that this virus originated from the avian influenza virus, which has existed in waterfowl in North America since 2002. Over the years, this virus has been able to infect mammals by destroying their respiratory systems.

Wildlife experts first raised the alarm in September 2011 when the number of people infected with the disease increased in a coastal area stretching from Maine to Massachusetts in the US. The first symptoms of infection with the H3N8 virus are rapidly progressing pneumonia and skin lesions.

Since the flu pandemic broke out in Hong Kong (China) in 1997, the H5N1 bird flu virus has killed half of the people infected.

According to a report released by the World Health Organization (WHO) last June, of the 606 cases of avian influenza infection since 2003, 357 have died. Meanwhile, the H1N1 swine flu virus broke out in Mexico in 2009 and spread into a global pandemic, killing 17,000 people.

According to Suckhoe & Doisong - MD