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Although I am no expert on the matter, by any means, I am in the medical field, and am actually working on a research project involving these 2 Influenzas. I will give basics only, because if not, I could type forever.

1) Avian Flu, H5N1, is but one type of "bird flu" and is the subtype of influenza that initially created a panic of public concern, as it has roughly a 50% - 60% mortality rate in humans. This kind of avian influenza is only spread from bird to human, through DIRECT contact with a bird, its saliva, or feces that carry the virus particles. It has not mutated or evolved, yet, to make the jump to be able to transfer from human to human (except in extremely rare and unique circumstances), which is the main thing preventing another massive and deadly pandemic, as was seen in the 1918 "Spanish" Flu pandemic, and the 2009 pandemic of H1N1/09.

In 2013, a new type of avian flu (H7N9) has been found circulating in China. As of April 2013, there have been 18 deaths from this new bird flu in China. It is yet to be seen what its total effect will be.

2) Spanish Flu (included in the subtype of H1N1) could quite possibly be viewed as the worst disaster in human history, as far as diseases go. First identified in 1918 as a new infectious disease (although viruses as the cause were an unknown pathogen to science at the time), Spanish Flu killed more people in 1 year than the Bubonic Plague did in 4 years. It caused very high fevers, delirium, and eventually excess fluid in the lungs, sometimes with hemorrhaging... where the individual eventually can "drown" in his own body fluids. It is believed that a severe immune response called "Cytokine Storm" reaction in many people with this flu added to the excess fluid build up and to the numbers of deaths.

It only took a matter of hours after the first symptoms were noted for some to die. It contributed to anywhere from 40 million to 100 million deaths from 1918 to 1920. To put it into perspective, and for comparison sake--- most people who caught the Spanish flu died from it. It killed 15 million in the first 25 weeks, while AIDS has killed 25 million people in 25 years.

While the 2 viruses H5N1 (the original "bird flu") and H1N1 (the original "Swine Flu") are related (both are Type A influenzas, the type of flu that has caused all human flu pandemics to date), we can now help to avoid another such deadly pandemic like Spanish flu, thanks to the advances in medicine since 1918 (including most of our current antibiotics to use for secondary bacterial infections that were just being developed at the time, and the understanding of and treatment for "Cytokine Storm," thought to be a factor in the numbers of deaths).... but at the same time, we also must consider the growth in population, and our advances in transportation and frequent world-wide travel which could make it a lot easier to spread the disease faster and farther.

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12y ago

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