The Bird Flu Strikes Japan Again

Current report # 4

The Next pandemic?

The bird flu strikes Japan again

What is disease? A disease is an abnormal change in the body’s condition that impairs important physical or psychological functions. The bird flu affects humans like a disease. The virus has killed 164 people since 2003, according to the WHO. (Reuters) "These might not be large numbers but we cannot let that lull us into a false security," Henk Bekedam, the WHO's representative in China, said in a speech at the meeting, a copy of which was obtained by Reuters on Tuesday. "Right now, a growing public health challenge is overcoming effects of 'bird flu fatigue'," he said.

Environmental health focuses on external factors that cause disease, including elements of the natural, social, cultural, and technological worlds in which we live. Next in line is disability adjusted life years(DALYs) is a measure of disease burden. DALYs combine premature deaths and loss of a healthy life resulting from illness or disability. According to the WHO, chronic diseases now account for nearly 60 percent of the 56.5 million total deaths worldwide each year and about half of the global disease burden. (Stated from the book pg. 160)

TOKYO - A new outbreak of bird flu is suspected in Japan after 23 birds died at a poultry farm in the southwestern prefecture of Miyazaki, the Agriculture Ministry said on Tuesday.

Authorities are conducting preliminary tests on chickens at the farm, which keeps about 93,000 birds for their eggs, the ministry said in a news release. If confirmed, it would be the fourth bird flu case reported in Japan since the beginning of the year.

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