New Study Showed That Bird Flu Can Spread Through Cats

According to a new research, the scientists have said that there is a more likely chance that the bird flu, which can be a horrendous nightmare for the entire world. The scientists have learnt that the cats can be the ones who are more likely to catch this disease and can pass on the bird flu to the humans and there can be a lot greater chances of mutation in the cats, which would make the situation go much more worse than it is now.

The researchers have said that the spread of this infection is something that the world does not know as of yet and as of now is really underestimated. It was also found that cats can catch the bird flu pretty easily that can get transferred through either eating the infected birds or coming in close contact with them.

The researchers said that it is pretty important that keeping in view of the hazard that the bird flu can pass on so rapidly, the cat owners are asked to keep their cats indoors so that there is a least chance that the cats come in contact with the birds, so that it can be made sure that the cats do not catch the bird flu.

It has also been notified that none of the human cases of bird flu where the ones that had contracted the bird flu from cats. The researchers also mentioned that since the cats shed very less of the virus than do the birds, but the close contact of the cat owners with their pets can put them at risk too.

The researchers also mentioned that after the wild birds and the poultry, the next ones to catch this disease are the cats. So it is a must that the cats must be kept indoors in the endemic areas to prevent the spread of the bird flu infection.

The cats can get infected through their respiratory tracts if they eat the infected food or if they come in contact with the infected cats as well. The cats can also be responsible for the spread of the H5N1 virus to the other species. The cats can provide this virus a ground to mutate and change to a more dangerous type, which can put the humans at more risk.

This is the time that we must understand the grave nature of this disease and the potential risk and hazards that it holds and the effects that it can cause on the humans all around the world. If for any reason this becomes a pandemic, then the world will be going through a very huge crisis and there are a lot of deaths that can be reported throughout the world. In UK, the authorities are getting ready for this pandemic by digging mass graves because they think that if this spreads, then there would not be much time to make the graves and prevent the catastrophe from rising high.

[tags]bird flu,health care information[/tags]


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Fortifying Bread

There was a recent mandatory step that was taken in terms of fortifying the bread with folic acid in UK so that the incidence of pregnancies that are affected by the neural tubes defect can be prevented.

The most common neural tube defects are spina bifida and anencephaly and these are the conditions that present in the early stages of pregnancy. There was a survey conducted that showed that there are about 900 pregnancies that are affected by the neural tube defects each year, which result in termination of the pregnancies when these defects are being detected.

It is being studied that the dietary folate reduces the risk of these conditions. Folate is found in the natural foods such as grains, green leafy vegetables, peas. lentils etc. In the countries where there was fortification of the flour with folic acid were known to have a reduction in about 30 to 50 percent of the neural tube defects.

The amount or the level of the fortification that is being done in the proposed food groups have been up to about 100 and 450 mcg per 100 gm. It is important to mention here that in US there is about 140 mcg of folic acid being added to about 100 gm of grain. There are people who have been wanting to have an increase in the fortification amount to about 250 to 350 mcg per 100 gm.

It is being recommended that the adults must consume about 200 mcg of folate per day by men and the women must consume about 400 mcg during the early weeks of their pregnancy. It is sad to say, but there are about only 1/4th of the women who follow this advice.

These steps will prevent a lot of children that are being terminated in the womb because of the neural defects and that is going to prevent the mothers from getting into psychological problems and the concerns that the couple have regarding the children that they will birth to in the future.

[tags]bread,health care information[/tags]


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