H7N9 Avian Flu In 2013 – Should We Be Worried Yet?

It appears that the CDC here in the US is paying attention to the upcoming flu season. In fact, we have several threats on the horizon; two strains of influenza and MERS virus from the Middle East. Not a very good virus, to put it mildly, lethal enough in every way, not nearly 100% ebola virus mortality rate, but still frightening for anyone who’s unlucky enough to get infected with it.

I’m not writing this article to scare anyone. If you want to be scared, you should read one of Richard Preston’s books or maybe John M. Barry’s the Great Flu. It turns out that MERS and the deadly strain of H7N9 avian influenza are not easily transmitted from person to person, but are transmitted, which in itself is frightening.

In August 2013, News China published a rather disturbing article with a headline; “Bird Flu – Chicken Game” written by Cian Wei and Xie Yan; “Given ineffective government oversight and the shocking lack of mandatory hygiene measures in China’s poultry production, the ever-evolving avian influenza virus remains a significant threat.”

In New Scientist Weekly, they seem to have a different theme, based on several new research papers now coming out in the summer of 2013, and their article in the August 17, 2013 issue is entitled; “H7N9 is no longer sold on the poultry market. The deadly bird flu, discovered in China in February this year, was first transmitted from person to person.” Obviously, it’s not fair. Although it is not easily transmitted, keep in mind that influenza viruses have changed rapidly in the past.

Do we have the best information in our population here in the United States? Whether the Saudis shared everything they know about MERS, whether it’s caused or vectorized by an Egyptian burial bat, if that’s the case, it sounds a little alarming in itself, not that I’m one of those who follow the ancient myths of the Egyptian past, but we know that we live on a planet that from time to time presents real problems for human life.

So far, we look good for the 2013 season, but the problem is so serious that our team must stay out of the way to mitigate any possible negative events of a large-scale deadly pandemic in the current period. Think about it and think about it all.