Biology/diffrence between bird flu and ordinary one
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Dear sir
we are agroup of teachers in the world -links organization in syria .
We would like to ask you the following quistion :
What is the diffrence between bird flu and ordinary one?
Thanks for using AllExperts. The bird flu is a particular strain of the flu (specifically, Influenza A subtype H5N1) that is especially virulent in humans. That is, it causes very severe disease very easily; bird flu is nonetheless an influenza virus, and as such is not hugely different in any genetic or physical way from all the other influenza viruses in existence. A similar strain of flu caused the 1918 pandemic; the concern is that the H5N1 flu will cause widespread outbreak of disease. It is hard to describe this more without getting into fairly technical descriptions, as bird flu is so virulent because of specific genetic characteristics. Let me point out the two biggest ones, though: the bird flu virus is able to stick to and thus infect human cells more easily that many other strains of the flu; the virus also has genetic features that induce what's known as a cytokine storm in an infected person--the infected person's immune system badly overreacts to the point of causing death. That does not generally occur with other strains of the virus. The websites below describe what is currently known about H5N1 in greater detail:
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v437/n7062/full/nature04239.html
http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/353/13/1374#T3
http://www.influenzareport.com/
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Answers by Expert:
John Locke
Expertise
I will answer all biology-related questions through the undergraduate level. I will explain unclear concepts and suggest approaches to solving problems, but would prefer not to completely solve homework problems for you. If you are completely stumped on homework, tell me what you already know and I will help you as much as possible. Please do not ask me for ideas on school research projects; part of research is determining a suitable area of investigation, and that's not a task that should be completed by someone else. Please don't simply send me your homework for solutions. If you are having difficulty after you have started an analysis, I will be happy to direct your thinking; in particular, I would prefer to not simply solve pedigrees for students, but I will be happy to assist in solving pedigrees that you have already started. If you don't understand how to analyze a pedigree, I'd highly recommend watching this video, in which a biology professor explains the basic concepts of pedigree analysis: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HbIHjsn5cHo
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I have a BS in Bioengineering with a concentration in Chemical Engineering (which included a heavy focus on biology), and have taught biology, biochemistry, and related subjects for some time now.
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BS Bioengineering, Penn State University
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