AVIAN INFLUENZA A (H5N1) VIRUS: A BRIEF REVIEW

Sudden emergence and re-emergence of new viral diseases in human beings has surprised the medical scientists from time to time. “Avian influenza” or “Bird flu” caused by H5N1 epidemics is one such surprise. Since their reemergence in 2003, highly pathogenic avian influenza A (H5N1) viruses have reached endemic levels among poultry in several Southeast Asian countries and have caused a still increasing number of more than 100 reported human infections with high mortality. These developments have ignited global fears of an imminent influenza pandemic. Scientific data to date showed some strains of avian influenza viruses including H5N1 are capable of going through mutations to develop into a novel, pandemic strain of influenza virus. This article reviews information about the morphology, genes and proteins, receptor specificity, epidemiology, transmission, clinical features, laboratory diagnosis, treatment and vaccination of human influenza H5N1 virus.