Most Americans are aware of the H1N1 (aka swine flu) and seasonal flu shots, and hopefully have gotten them, if recommended. However there is another flu virus that you should be aware of as a potential threat. The “Bird Flu”

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:

Stay away from poultry farms and live animal markets.

Wash hands with soap and water regularly

If soap and water are not available, use alcohol based hand sanitizers.

Make sure that all poultry and eggs are thoroughly cooked. If the eggs are runny, then cry ‘fowl’!

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 bring home feather products for souvenirs from high risk regions. Buy a postcard instead.

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.

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