The Bird Flu

The Bird Flu

In the next few paragraphs I will be talking about the bird flue, how this virus evolves, how the evolution of the bird flu is related to the fear of “The Bird Flu Pandemic’. I will also be talking about how Evolution is related to Genetics.

The Avian Influenza also called the Bird Flu is any flu caused by any virus adapted to birds. This virus was first found in Europe Italy in the 1900’s and is now known to exist world wide.

The way this virus can evolve so that it effects humans is by natural selection. All the virus would need is a Genetic variation, Inheritance, selection and time. When all of the above occur to the virus it will Evolve allowing the virus to spread from birds to humans. If this flu starts to evolve rapidly at a certain point it will be able to be passed from human to human. Virus evolve quickly, part of the reason is because they acquire genetic variation I n various ways. Part of the worries is that H5N1 could acquire genes for human-human transmission directly from a human flu strain. Each case in which someone is infected by H5N1 it has an opportunity to human host via random mutation or by directly acquiring genes directly from other viruses.

The way this is related to “the bird flu pandemic” is that if this virus evolves and is able to be passed from human to human it will turn into a flue that can spread throw out the world and kill millions of people.