All About Bird Flu

http://www.all-about-bird-flu.net/bird-flu-info.php ^

[Grendel9]

Avian influenza (also known as bird flu, avian flu, influenzavirus A flu, type A flu, or genus A flu) is a flu due to a type of influenza virus that is hosted by birds, but may infect several species of mammals. It was first identified in Italy in the early 1900s and is now known to exist worldwide. A strain of the H5N1-type of avian influenzavirus that emerged in 1997 has been identified as the most likely source of a future influenza pandemic and is known to have infected 146 people in Asia since 2003, killing 76. *** In humans

In humans, avian flu viruses cause similar symptoms to other types of flu. [15] These include fever, cough, sore throat, muscle aches, conjunctivitis and, in severe cases, severe breathing problems and pneumonia that may be fatal. The severity of the infection will depend to a large part on the state of the infected person's immune system and if the victim has been exposed to the strain before, and is therefore partially immune. In one case, a boy with H5N1 experienced diarrhea followed rapidly by a coma without developing respiratory or flu-like symptoms, suggesting non-standard symptoms.

The avian influenza subtypes that have been confirmed in humans, ordered by the number of known human deaths, are: H1N1 caused Spanish flu, H2N2 caused Asian Flu, H3N2 caused Hong Kong Flu, H5N1, H7N7, H9N2, H7N2, H7N3, H10N7.

[Slings and Arrows]

It looks like dogs are not susceptible, but cats are.

See post #4 for details. Yikes!

[Thanks to LucyT for the heads-up.]

[Grendel9]

At this point, I have no idea!
But it's pretty obvious that we
do have to start taking this
transition of the "flu" seriously.
The articles don't say, but I get
the idea that the wild birds'
droppings fall onto the feed
yards of the poultry/zoos/pens.
The infected poultry have to be
scratching the ground, causing the
virus to fly up into their lungs.
They describe humans contracting
the disease...by handling/ruffling
the feathers of the diseased birds.

[Grendel9]

Now you've hit upon another debatable
point. I've read/heard on the news
repeatedly that the disease is NOT
transferred through eating cooked
poultry, but only through close contact
while the birds are fully feathered.
Would the zoo have fed their tigers
whole uncooked chickens? Well, come
to think of it, they feed them uncooked
horse meat, so maybe they would.

[Kaylee Frye]

Lots of people feed their cats and dogs raw meat - it's called the raw food diet:

http://cats.about.com/cs/nutrition/a/rawfooddiet.htm

Personally, I don't have the time or inclination, but I look at it as a fascinating trend.

And yes, I do believe that zoos feed animals a majority of raw food. Here's an example:

http://www.bigcatrescue.org/white_tigers.htm

Unfortunately, you have to scroll way down to find this:

Tigers live for up to 20 years, Yates said. They're noisy even after being spayed or neutered. They eat 15 to 20 pounds of raw meat a day.