H5N1 Influenza A
Etiology/Bacteriology
Taxonomy
| Domain = Viruses
| Class = ssRNA viruses
| Order = ssRNA negative strand viruses
| Family = Orthomyxoviridae
| Genus = Influenzavirus A
| species = Influenza A virus
NCBI: [1] Genome: Influenza A Virus H5N1 [2] |
Description
Avian Influenza A (H5N1) is a type of influenza virus responsible for causing severe respiratory disease in birds, generally waterfowl and humans. However, researchers have yet to definitively document human-to-human transmission and victims of avian-to-human transmission generally spend substantial amounts of time around birds (like poultry farm workers, migratory duck herders, etc.) There is a growing amount of concern about the virus because of its high mortality rate and its disposition to mutation, which renders the human adaptive immune response fairly limited and the virus would be devastating if it were to mutate to a strain capable of human-to-human transmission. Symptoms of infection include high fever (>38°C), malaise, cough, sore throat, muscle aches, abdominal or chest pain, and diarrhea. The sequelae of H5N1 infection are often severe respiratory illness including pneumonia and acute respiratory distress syndrome as well as neurological changes like altered mental state and seizures. Treatment often involves implementation of the antiviral medication oseltamivir. At this stage, all vaccinations are still experimental (3).
Pathogenesis
Clinical features
Diagnosis
Treatment
Prevention
Host Immune Response
References
References
Created by {Marrett Hild}, students of Tyrrell Conway at the University of Oklahoma.