Just recently, a travel advisory cautioned our health authorities to be on the watch for persons entering the country suspected of harboring feverish temperatures. This is because a case of bird influenza had been detected in Hongkong, This flu is spread through avian carriers, hence the term bird flu, and human infection may turn out to be fatal. No vaccine or cure had yet been produced. Ordinary influenza is quite harmless today. It may cause a little discomfort but it was not so to the Polynesians centuries ago. Due to isolation, ocean islanders were never exposed to white man's ailments. Long exposed to flu, sailors in whaling ships carried flu virus without being affected. However, when the virus was transmitted to natives it almost wiped them out. Even up to this time it has been said that Hawaii has not recovered its “kanaka” population. The bird flu, like the cold virus may be contacted through air by inhaling droplets from the sneeze or cough or even the respiration of an affected person or introduced to the body through touch. Precautions could be made by avoiding crowds and frequent and proper washing of the hands. The present strain of the bird flu is not yet severe but it has always the tendency to evolve into a more virulent strain' The teeming millions of Asia may prove to be a fertile breeding ground...
The ease of travel, especially air travel, helps the spread of the ailment. Airports, which are international ports of entry, are equipped with thermal scanners to detect incoming passengers with feverish temperatures. Once detected, they are asked to undergo check up and when proven to be sick with the flu, are quarantined until the threat is gone. Though all airports are effectively guarded, this does not guarantee that the bird flu is kept out. During fall and spring seasons, migratory birds pass the countryside. The Philippines is in the middle of the Asia – Palauan flyway. From September to October, birds from northern, central and southern China as well as those from Southeast Asia pass the country on their route to their winter grounds in the mid to south Pacific islands... Waterfowl stay like wild ducks geese and herons stay in out of the way places but farm birds like th3 shrikes, “tibalas” in Visayan and :tarat: in Tagalog usually visit garden, farms and parks. These birds may carry infection. During March to May, they will retrace their flight.
So far, there has only been one case reported in Hongkong. Hopefully, this will not spread. However, precautions had been taken to isolate this case. Bird flu has the notorious reputation of spreading like the proverbial wild fire. It may be centuries for men to acquire immunity to this illness. As in most cases, when a vaccine for a certain strain is developed, the virus had mutated into another strain, which cannot be affected by the vaccine. At least, we can be thankful that migratory birds avoid populous areas in our country. Developed countries in the west birds of all kinds congregate in urban parks, they are so tame that they may be approached easily and contact is always possible. However, strict game laws prevent people from molesting wildlife even in parks thus birds are kept away fro humans.
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