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The bird flu in Spain

Bird flu is a contagious disease, which is caused by a flu virus type A. All kinds of bird can be infected, although it seems that some species are more endangered than others. The desease can develop differently with the animals; some forms have a high mortality rate.
The president of the vets association informed, that Spain is on the migrating bird´s route from the north to the south, which will come in march from Africa. The contact between household flock, domestic birds and migrating birds is seen as a possible way of infection between the animals.
The virus is highly contagious between the birds, the infection from chicken and other species can happen via direct contact with other infected birds from farm to farm or on the mecanical way via infectious tools, cloths, chow, cages etc. The virus can live very long, specially by low tempratures; although it cannot stand high tempratures.

In many countries of Europe cases of the bird flu are detected, but until today there has been no case reported in Spain, neither with birds nor with human beeings.
The risk of an infection is very low, but we have to be alert. Bird flu was thought only to infect birds and only in exceptional cases humans catch the disease through close contact with live infected birds.

For the most part, humans have contracted the virus following very close contact with sick birds. There may have been examples of human-to-human transmission, but so far not in the form which could fuel a pandemic. Once the virus gained the ability to pass easily between humans the results could be catastrophic. All countries in the world and all international health organizacions are preparing for that emergency case.
The World Health Organisation is coordinating the international cooperation to avoid a possible pandemia and has installed precautions all over the world to detect the illness as quickly as possible and to start early with the adequate treatment - specially in the areas that are most afected at the moment.

Spanish government presented a national plan for prevention and reaction on a possible pandemia in May 2005. The aim of this plan is to garantee that the reaction and the precaution taken by the health organisations reduces the panic in the population, and makes an effective intervention of the social and health services possible. This plan will be actualized and upgraded according to the increasing knowledge about the virus.

Sources: Homepage of the "Ministerio de Sanidad y Consumo" y
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