GULBARGA: P.S. Shankar, who has won the B.C. Roy Award and teaches medicine, has said there is no need to push the panic button in tackling bird flu. The focus should be on creating awareness among the people about the disease and simple preventive measures.

Dr. Shankar told The Hindu here on Tuesday that an influenza virus possesses an unusual ability to swap proteins with other influenza viruses to create a new lethal strain. If a person is infected with both avian and human flu viruses at the same time, RNA (ribonucleic acid) from one virus could reconfigure itself with RNA from the other to create a highly contagious and deadly "superflu" virus. Human beings have no immunity against such a virus, which can cause severe respiratory distress, pneumonia and death. At present there are no anti-viral agents to treat such an infection, Dr. Shankar said.

The virus can jump from birds to pigs and human beings, usually through contact with bird faeces. Efforts are on to contain the current bird flu outbreak before the emergence of a lethal mutant strain. Pigs are particularly susceptible to both the human and avian flu virus. In Asia, where people, pigs and poultry live in close proximity, the risk of infection and spread of the disease is high, he said.

Prevention

Persons with common flu who are exposed to the bird flu virus can provide a medium for the avian flu virus to mutate and spread to others. Hence, influenza has to be prevented with a flu vaccine. Washing hands is another effective infection control measure against flu, he said.

Although migratory waterfowl are the natural carriers of the bird flu virus, they have high resistance against the virus. Domestic poultry such as chicken and turkeys have little resistance against the virus.

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