Pigeon virus 'poses no risk to people'

Pigeon virus 'poses no risk to people'

www.news.com.au

THE discovery of a rare but highly contagious virus which has killed pigeon flocks in Victoria does not pose a major risk to humans, experts say.
Several pigeons have died and a number of properties in northern Victoria have been quarantined amid Australia's first outbreak of avian paramyxovirus (APMV) in pigeons.

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While people who handle infected birds and those with suppressed immune systems face the greatest risk of contracting APMV, it usually causes only mild flu-like symptoms or conjunctivitis.

"It rarely transmits to humans, and when it does only causes mild illness ... possibly a bit of conjunctivitis.
"But it's very rare to be a human infection and rare to be anything but trivial.
"So it's in a different ballpark from avian flu."

There are believed to be nine different known types of APMV, ranging from APMV-1 to APMV-9, and scientists are yet to determine the one involved in the Victorian outbreak.
The group of viruses that make up APMV-1 includes Newcastle disease, a highly contagious ailment which affects all birds and has previously infected Australian poultry.

While avian paramyxoviruses are not considered dangerous to people, the death of a 42-year-old man in the US was linked to Newcastle disease.
A study published in the Journal of Virology by American health authorities in 2007 said APMV-1 was found in lung tissue taken from the man during an autopsy.

"This is the most completely documented case of a systemic human infection caused by APMV-1, and it is the first report of an association of this virus with a fatal disease in a human," the study said.


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Indeed, the world witnessed a devastating pandemic in 1918-1919 when the Spanish flu claimed the lives of 20 to 40 million people, one third of the world population at the time.
Interestingly, the H5N1 virus has been shown to have structural similarities with the 1918 virus, a bad omen if the virus ever mutates into a pandemic strain.
Only time will tell if the latest developments on the bird flu stage have set wings in motion for a bird flu pandemic. But one thing is certain: the world cannot afford to let its guard down. Bird flu may have fluttered in and out of the news recently but you never know when it may end up in your backyard.

If this is possible of mutating with the new strain of bird flu found in Cambodia this could potentially create something very bad.
Also the debate about this virus being a form of life makes me wonder
Link
Mimivirus

Hopefully it won't mutate with the Bat Hendra virus, strange things are happenning in Qld also with strange smells emanating from unknown sources on the Gold Coast, near the waterways ect.
Could viruses be planted in swamps?

"1918-1919 when the Spanish flu claimed the lives of 20 to 40 million people, one third of the world population at the time. "

and 2011 = 7 Billion... WOW

And 1925 = World war 1? And 1938 = World War 2?