Analysis of avian influenza with special focus on Pakistan.
Over the centuries, many pandemics have come and gone, ranging from plagues to the recent waves of influenza, and have left swathes of destruction all over the world. Most recently, a relatively new pandemic, Avian Influenza, has emerged and is resulting in innumerable amounts of damage on a global scale. Already responsible for the deaths of tens of millions of livestock and wild birds, billions of dollars in damages, and hundreds of human deaths, the pandemic has spread through Asia and is continuing its move westward. With new cases being presented in various countries, the continuous loss of animal life, and the increasing vulnerability to the disease of human populations, governments worldwide have begun taking initiatives to prevent the spread, transmission, and deaths resulting from Avian Influenza. In late 2007, the Federal Government of Pakistan created the National Program for the Control and Prevention of Avian Influenza (NPCPAI). Following the completion of two focus group discussions involving 51 women from the Mansehra District, data indicated that with the recent outbreak of such a dangerous disease, many communities were not informed as to how to prevent the spread and transmission of Avian Influenza. As a result of government-sponsored interventions, through the use of training sessions involving the dissemination of all necessary information regarding Avian Influenza, the individuals who had taken part in the training were much more likely than the uninformed groups to be able to spot the disease, prevent its transmission to other livestock, decontaminate infected areas, and prevent contraction of the disease by themselves and their families. As a result of the success of this program, recommendations for the future include widespread awareness campaigns using mass media resources, training sessions dispersed throughout the regions, and increased funding for current and future projects involving research on prevention and treatment for Avian Influenza.
Haider
Muhiuddin
M
University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, USA. mhaider@umd.edu
Frank
Jared
J
Noreen
Shahzia
S
D000818:Animals; D001717:Birds; D004196:Disease Outbreaks / Q000517:prevention & control*; D005260:Female; D017144:Focus Groups; D006266:Health Education; D006801:Humans; D053124:Influenza A Virus, H5N1 Subtype; D005585:Influenza in Birds / Q000635:transmission; D007251:Influenza, Human / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000401:mortality / Q000517:prevention & control*; D010154:Pakistan / Q000453:epidemiology