Sarah\'s husband Steve has not been feeling well for the past 10 days. He has be

Question

Sarah's husband Steve has not been feeling well for the past 10 days. He has been extremely tired and his lungs are congested. He went to the doctor a week ago when he had a temperature of 101 degrees F. The doctor gave him Amoxicillin and he took all of the prescription faithfully, but is still not feeling better. In fact he is feeling worse and has been too sick to work the last three days,   Steve is a Park Ranger and loves the outdoors and has recently moved into Ohio from Arizona. It has been a rainy spring and there are lots of birds in the trees around his home.    What do you think he has? What supports this hypothesis?   Why is the antibiotic not working? Is it contagious? How is it transmitted?

Explanation / Answer

1) Steve may have been infected with influenza A that causes bird flu (avian influenza).

2) Steve's inablity to recover after taking the antibiotics, his congested lungs and the presence of birds in large numbers nearby his home support this hypothesis.

3) Antibiotics work only against bacterial infections. Since bird flu is caused by influenza type A virus, the antibiotic is not effective.

4 and 5) Bird flu is a zoonotic disease. The virus spreads within a bird population and it is contagious to human when they come in contact with an infected bird or its droppings or any other secretions of the infected bird. Spread within human occurs only after prolonged contact. Integrated indoor commercial poultry, range-raised commercial poultry, live poultry markets, backyard and hobby flocks, and bird collection are the ecology of this virus.

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