Avian Flu Symptoms

Unlike a cold, which comes on gradually, the flu (any flu) hits you suddenly. A person who has contracted the Bird Flu can start to feel ill at noon and be flat on his back by 4 p.m. The symptoms get worse within hours, and treatment needs to begin immediately.

Photo courtesy of Tragopodaros

However, it's a bit tricky to tell because, in the very beginning, a person who is getting sick with the Bird Flu can also have the same flu symptoms as someone who is just getting the seasonal flu .

Please note that viruses are continually changing. As we are seeing in Asia and Eastern Europe, the H5N1 virus continues to mutate and change. At the present time, there may be 4 strains affecting people; so the symptoms probably will change again over time.

The Very First Symptoms of Bird Flu

A person who has been exposed to a sick person or a sick bird or animal can start to show symptoms of the bird flu anytime from 2-10 or more days later. However, usually the incubation period is about 5 days.

The following symptoms for H5N1 avian flu were taken from the WHO (World Health Organization) website.

Early Avian Flu Symptoms

• High fever (100.4 degrees F or 38 degrees C). Some patients in Indonesia have had fevers of 40 degrees C (104 degrees F).
• Watery diarrhea without blood
• Vomiting
• Abdominal pain
• Chest pain
• Bleeding from the nose and gums
• Extreme weakness and fatigue
• Headache
• Nausea
• Occasionally there are no respiratory symptoms

Later Symptoms of Bird Flu

• Nasal or sinus congestion
• Difficulty breathing – usually about 5 days after getting sick
• Respiratory distress – hoarse voice and a crackling sound when breathing in
• Coughing up mucous, which may be bloody
• Blood tinged liquid from the nose
• Pneumonia – almost all Bird Flu patients get viral pneumonia. It does not respond to antibiotics.
• Eye infections – not seen with everyone

The Most Severe Symptoms
of Avian Flu H5N1

• Multi-organ dysfunction – More than 1 organ, usually heart, spleen, lungs and kidneys, do not function normally.
• Respiratory failure (the person can't breathe) – usually occurs 3-5 days after getting sick
• Encephalitis – inflammation of the brain (occasionally seen)
• Bleeding from the mouth, nose, eyes, ears and rectum
• Cyanosis – the body turns blue

Why are Scientists
Still Concerned about Bird Flu?

More recently, small “clusters” have appeared. This means that small groups of people are getting the avian flu—from other people. The virus can now be transmitted, person to person, on a limited basis.

So, for the most part, very few people are getting Bird Flu. And that brings us to the most important point: Bird Flu has very severe symptoms and the death rate for people who get it is over 60%!

If the current swine flu, that is circulating and threatening to become a pandemic, were to combine forces with Bird Flu, and/or the seasonal flu, we could end up with:

• a pandemic flu (spreading fast worldwide), that is very easy to catch (swine flu characteristic), that has
• avian flu symptoms
• resistant to flu medicines - like the seasonal virus circulating in 2008-2009.

It could become the Mother of All Pandemics!

That, my friends, is what the scientists are most concerned about!

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