H5N1 survived more than a month in the cold season

The avian influenza virus can "live " over 30 days in poultry drops in cold weather and nearly 1 week under the heat of summer, the World Health Organization (WHO) said.

Droplets are considered a source of transmission for both humans and poultry. In that environment, such as feces, "the H5N1 virus can survive at least 35 days at about 4 degrees Celsius. At temperatures of 37 degrees Celsius, the virus lives for six days," WHO said.

Poultry farming is the main source of virus."They are often roamed for food and are very easy to contact wild birds or share water with them. These situations create endless opportunities for human infection, especially when birds enter the house or "They are locked in the house to avoid extreme weather. Sometimes they are close to where children play or sleep," WHO explains.

Iranian mothers bring chickens to destroy.(Photo: Reuters / Vnexpress)

H5N1 has many different characteristics from the regular influenza virus, the most frightening is that the incubation period is longer than the regular influenza virus (about 2-3 days). According to recent H5N1 data, "the incubation period of the virus lasts from 2 to 8 days, even longer than 17 days".

Early signs of bird flu are high fever (usually over 38 degrees Celsius), accompanied by flu symptoms. Diarrhea, vomiting, abdominal and chest pain, nasal bleeding and gums also appear early. When infected with the virus, all patients develop pneumonia. The current situation shows that breathing signs are difficult to appear about 5 days after the first symptoms. In addition, some other manifestations are hoarseness, hissing when breathing and bloody phlegm.

"A very common characteristic of bird flu is the multiple organ disorder, mainly related to kidney and heart . " WHO confirmed. The organization recommends taking Tamiflu as soon as possible in the treatment of bird flu.

However, H5N1 also holds many mysteries. Scientists are still unable to explain why "most bird flu patients appear in rural and peri-urban families. For some reason, very few cases are detected in risk groups." High levels of industrial poultry production, working in live poultry markets, destruction, veterinarians and health workers who directly take care of patients are not well protected, and why the disease is concentrated in children and young people who are healthy ".

My Linh (according to Reuters)