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What Is Being Done About The Bird Flu?

With the news media scaring everyone about the bird flu, there is no doubt that many people are wondering just what is being done to stop it from spreading and infecting more people. It is commonly thought to be a deadly virus, which is true. But, what people do not realize is that there are many people working to develop antivirals to help ward off the strain of the flu that is so deadly. The bird flu, as of yet, has not been able to be spread from one person to another person. It can only be transmitted from an infected bird to a person.

But, that is something that could easily change. There are several groups that are working together to produce help for those that are likely to be exposed, at some point, to the bird flu. The problem with this, though, is that the virus mutates quickly. That means that if they make a medication that could help in the strain of bird flu that is currently available, it may have enough time to mutate into another strain. This new one may be immune to the medications. This is where the problem lies.

The World Health Organization, The World Organization for Animal Health, and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations are all working on developing a method of treatment and quarantine of the bird flu. There are over 88 different governments of various nations working on it as well. They are all working on the same basic things. They are working on monitoring the virus, on planning for what to do if something should happen, and they are working on treatments for it.

Here are the goals of the US Government.

• They are working to minimize the spread of the bird flu in animal populations.

• They are working on reducing the number of humans that are becoming infected.

• They are also working on being prepared for it through planning if the bird flu becomes a pandemic.

There are many drug companies working on producing a vaccine for the bird flu. They have to continuously monitor the strains of the bird flu that are present though. While there is no sure fire 100% guarantee that the bird flu will actually be able to be stopped from becoming a pandemic, there are many people that are working on helping this to happen.