Medical staff also vulnerable to H5N1 threat

After people who work in poultry farms, if bird flu has a better chance of affecting humans, then healthcare professionals are the next vulnerable lot and can spread the disease further.

“The H5N1 virus does not have to mutate in order to affect human beings, it spreads through high concentration. If there are a large number of poultry affected by this virus, then it spreads due to faecal contamination in the air. If they inhale it and the virus reaches the lungs, then they contract it,” said Dr V Ravi, head of Neurovirology department, Nimhans.

If contracted, the disease is deadlier than swine flu with its high mortality rate, he added. “We are lucky that there was no human case of bird flu even during the 2005 breakout. About 3040% who contract it, die within a week if left untreated. When a person inhales the virus, it takes about 2-3 days to show symptoms which manifest as cold and flu," he said.

"Then, within a week it goes on to respiratory failure. However, this disease is not a threat to ordinary people. Even if you eat chicken, as long as you have cooked it well, you will be fine. What we have noticed from other countries where they have been human cases, is that it next spreads through health care professionals. So health care professionals should take care,” he added.

But Ravi added that given the fact that the government has already cordoned off the area and culled the birds, the likelihood of the virus spreading to humans is slim at best.

Shashidhar Buggi, director of the Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Chest Diseases, the institute that has been made in-charge of all bird flu related cases by the government, said that the hospital has taken every necessary precaution to ensure the safety of physicians and patients.

“Right now, there have been zero cases that have been brought to us. We were in-charge of such cases even back in 2005 and the government has taken all necessary precautions. The good news about this virus is that unlike the H1N1 virus, we don’t think it can survive in the atmosphere for too long," he said.

"This virus seems quite susceptible and the fact it has not spread to humans is by itself proof of this. Even then, we are prepared for any suspected cases and have also provided personal kits for healthcare professionals for anyone who has to treat cases, if any,” he added.