H5N1 Bird Flu: Details

• H5N1 originated from a virus outbreak on a goose farm in China in 1996 and has since evolved into a highly pathogenic strain.
• The virus quickly spread from Europe to Africa, Asia, North America, and South America, and most recently, it reached mainland Antarctica.
• H5N1 is a subtype of the influenza A virus that causes severe respiratory disease in birds, known as avian influenza or “bird flu”.
• Influenza A viruses are classified by subtypes based on the properties of their surface proteins, with H5N1 being one subtype.

How widespread is it?

• The virus has affected birds in over 80 countries, resulting in mass culling of poultry and wild birds.
• Furthermore, it has now begun infecting mammals, including seals, sea lions, and marine mammals.
• While humans rarely contract bird flu, those at risk are typically individuals who have extensive contact with infected birds at poultry farms.
• Bird flu first broke out in Maharashtra in 2006.
• The H5N1 virus led to the culling of millions of poultry so as to contain the virus. But it has resurfaced from time to time.

PYQ:

[2014] Which one of the following pairs of islands is separated from each other by the ‘Ten Degree Channel’?

(a) Andaman and Nicobar

(b) Nicobar and Sumatra

(c) Maldives and Lakshadweep

(d) Sumatra and Java