KRISTIE MOSS / Scroll
Health officials say that wearing a medical mask can help slow the spread of the flu virus.

Avian flu could cause killer pandemic in America

Brittani Lusk LUS04002@BYUI.EDU Senior Writer

Because Avian flu has infected birds and humans from Asia and into Easter Europe, World Health officials are worried about a possible pandemic for which the world is not prepared.

“Despite an advance warning that has lasted almost two years, the world is ill-prepared to defend itself during a pandemic. [The World Health Organization] has urged all countries to develop preparedness plans, but only around 40 have done so,” according to the WHO.

This outbreak of avian flu began in 2003 and has become the most severe ever recorded, according to the WHO.

Avian influenza is a disease in birds caused by a strain of the influenza virus. The disease was identified in Italy more than 100 years ago, according to the WHO.

The WHO wrote that this outbreak is dangerous to humans because strains that only infect birds could change and gain the ability to infect humans.

“The feeling is that it will mutate and that it will spread,” said Dr. Jud Miller, medical director of the BYU-Idaho Student Health Center.

Miller explained that this strain of Influenza has killed 50 percent of humans infected.

“It can go like wildfire,” Miller said.

“In the present outbreak, more than half of those infected with the virus have died. Most cases have occurred in previously healthy children and young adults,” according to the WHO.

Someone can be infected for 24 to 48 hours before they know they are sick, Miller said.

He said when the flu infects surrounding areas, people should assume all the people they meet just came from an infected area and have the flu.

“We may be living in masks,” Miller said.

If the pandemic comes, masks can block vapors from entering the respiratory system, Miller said. The pandemic isn’t here yet, and according to the WHO, no one knows when it will strike, but students can prepare now.

Part of preparing is stocking up on supplies, said Peter M. Sandman, a risk management expert. Supplies include food, reading material, masks and things that will be impossible to get when a pandemic slows supply chains, like prescription drug refills.

People can prepare by staying healthy — eating right, washing their hands and getting rest.

“One of the fastest ways to lower your resistance is to miss sleep,” Miller said.

For more information, preparation checklists are available from the department of Health and Human Services at www.pandemicflu.gov.

Preparation is important. Miller said if the flu is as dangerous as it may be, “your life may depend on [preparation].”