Bird flu medicine

Bird flu can be defined as a disease that is caused by the virus called avian influenza virus. It is named bird flu because the word avian means bird. So the avian influenza virus can also be called as bird flu virus. The bird flu does not originally generate in the humans it is a bird disease. The avian influenza virus is carried by wild birds in their intestine. The wild birds that carry the virus do not generally get sick from them.

This virus can contaminate other domesticated birds such as chickens, ducks, and turkeys. The virus can make them very sick and kill them. Other birds can be infected with this virus. The virus spreads when they contact with the contaminated secretions or excretions of the infected birds. There are also some other methods by which this virus can spread. The domesticated birds may also become infected with bird flu virus. The most common cause of the infectivity is through direct contact with infected waterfowl or other infected poultry materials such as water, feed, dirt or cage that have been contaminated with the virus. The virus can also be transmitted to the humans. Bird flu is a very dangerous disease. This disease has caused many human lives previously.

The medication available:

There is no proven vaccine has been developed until now to fight the Bird Flu virus, but it is not far away. Until then the treatment of the Bird Flu is limited to a limited number of anti-viral drugs and medications. These medications are not primarily developed to fight against the bird flu but to fight other strains of influenza. There are some anti viral drugs available that are effective in slowing the growth of the Bird Flu virus and prevent the infection becoming worse.

There are two classes of drugs to fight against the bird flu- Amantadines and Neuraminidase inhibitors. "Amantadines, Amantadine and Rimantadine" are some of the tested medicines for the treatment and prophylaxis of Influenza A only. The Neuraminidase inhibitors Relenza (Zanamivir) and "Tamiflu" (Oseltamivir) are the most accepted medicines used for the treatment of avian influenza A and B.