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Understanding the H5N6 Virus
Today, people face an alarming increase in infectious diseases, like influenza, that is directly affected by rapid demographic, environmental, social, technological, and lifestyle changes.
Influenza or flu is an infectious disease caused by an influenza virus that can sometimes be deadly. Influenza viruses are categorized into four subtypes: A, B, C, and D. Although several varieties of influenza A usually affect wild aquatic birds, it also causes avian flu has that has affected backyard flocks for centuries. The influenza A virus had never been found to evolve into highly pathogenic and deadly forms before the discovery of the H5N1 strain. The most recent strain of the influenza A virus, also known as avian influenza, is the H5N6 which is now affecting chickens and ducks in Korea, resulting in the culling of more than 30 million chickens and ducks.
According to a paper published on the US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health, avian viruses coevolved with migratory birds. Climate change causes extreme weather changes which affect the interaction of different species including birds, especially wild birds, whose migratory patterns are largely affected by weather patterns. Additionally, water and ice bodies contain large concentrations of bird flu viruses. Rises in temperature also changes the conditions of the survival of such viruses and their ecology and transmission cycle thereby affecting their ability to survive outside the host.
During fall, most bird species migrate to avoid the harsh winter, resulting in higher number of bird species in areas with warmer temperatures. Movement, population changes, and distribution of birds affect the redistribution of avian influenza. A good example of this is when swan populations are believed to have spread the H5N1 virus, another type of influenza A virus, in Western Europe through the eastern Caspian Sea basin as they escaped the frost in 2006.
Another study was done on ruddy stones and resident ducks of Delaware Bay, where many species of birds flock together as they travel between continents, demonstrates the impacts of climate change on the transmission of avian viruses. According to the study, as climate change upsets the interaction of birds in the area, the timing of interaction between these birds and crabs, their food supply, is also affected. As a result, the infection rate, also known as prevalence levels, increases.
Korea is currently experiencing a massive setback in the supply of poultry products because of the avian flu outbreak. Other countries also need to be vigilant since poultry is one of the major sources of meat in many countries around the world.
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