What are the facts about bird flu?

Here are the most important facts about bird flu:

• It was in 1997 – just 13 years ago – when a person contracted the bird flu. That was the time when people got to know about bird flu for the first time. However, the history of bird flu is much older than that. Before 1997, birds – both wild and domesticated (including turkeys, ducks and chickens – were known to be the only creatures vulnerable to bird flu. That’s why the disease was named as bird flu. Later, pigs and humans were also found to be affected by the influenza virus.
• Humans contract bird flu by touching or eating birds that are infected with the virus. In this case, the virus easily spreads from the bird to the human. Similarly, if the infected human then comes near to a healthy person, the latter will develop the flu.
• People have not yet developed any immunity to the bird flu since they have never suffered from this condition. As a result, they may face the most adverse symptoms of this disease.