H5 virus - Avian Influenza (Birds Flu) Outbreak in the United States

HPAI (Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza) are common in US poultry, flocks and wild bird. This had been in spreading highly in the period of December 2014-June 2015. In a total of 21 states, 15 states with outbreaks in domestic poultry and 6 states with H5 detections in only wild birds. Now, this outbreak may be possible in the United States once again and hence surveillance for H5 had been started. There is a possibility of human infections because of these infected birds.

The Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, which is a federal agency for the Human Health are taking precautionary steps to control this disease from affecting human.  Proper masks, gloves, goggles, footwear during morning walks or walks in the areas where most of the birds migrate could help to prevent this bird influenza to spread to man.

There has been evidence in Hong Kong that a strain of influenza virus that affected birds previously occurred in a 3-year old child who died from respiratory failure in May 1997. In China too, avian influenza had affected human during February and March 2013. 

The two classes of drugs that are effective against influenza are adamantanes (amantadine and rimantadine, also known as M2 ion channel inhibitors) and neuraminidase inhibitors (oseltamivir, zanamivir, and peramivir). H5N1 viruses isolated in Thailand and Vietnam have amino acid substitutions within the M2 protein that confer resistance to amantadine and rimantadine. However, these viruses are susceptible to the neuraminidase inhibitors.