 Hello and welcome to Chanakya IS Academy. I am Priya Kumari. Today's topic of the day is bird flu outbreak. Today's point of discussions are why this topic is in news? Then what is bird flu? How does the bird flu spread? When and how did the bird flu start infecting humans? Does it spread easily to humans? Why does bird flu impact India? And what are the economic implications of bird flu? So let's deconstruct today's topic one by one. So this is in news recently because some states are on high alert as tall rises, center issued advisory or states on alert as bird flu spreads tall source. So the topic is in news because this is the bird flu is spreading and causing huge impact on some states. So what is this bird flu? So it is a type of influenza virus that causes a highly infectious severe respiratory disease in birds called avian influenza or bird flu. Human cases of H5N1 avian influenza occur occasionally but it is difficult to transmit the infection from person to person. When people do become infected the mortality rate is about 60%. So here we have seen that bird flu is a type of influenza virus that causes a highly infectious disease. So how does the bird flu spread? Initially it was in 1997 when humans are first known to have contracted bird flu following an outbreak in a live bird market of Hong Kong. It was the H5N1 strain of the virus and 6 out of 18 infected humans died of the disease. It was contained but re-emerged a few years later in various other parts of the globe and caused hundreds of human deaths particularly in Southeast Asia. The movement of infected poultry and migratory birds and an illegal bird trade are believed to be the causes of the spread. So some mammals such as cats and lions were also infected. Then subsequently what happened that other several strains of this virus such as H5N2 and H9N2 spread from animals to humans thus becoming a global public health concern. I hope this much is clear to you all. Now the bird flu infecting humans. Does this bird flu infects human or should human should be scared of this bird flu just like COVID-19. So generally people coming in close contact with infected alive or dead birds have contracted the H5N1 bird flu and it does not usually spread from person to person as per the World Health Organization. There is also no evidence that WHO says that the disease can be spread to people through properly prepared and cooked poultry food. That is WHO says that there is no evidence that the disease is spread from people to people. The virus is sensitive to heat and dies in cooking temperature. What strains have been found in India recently? So recently Bhopal based National Institute of High Security Animal Disease the lab who is aggrided to confirm bird flu has detected two strains of influenza virus so far. They are H5N8 a subtype of avian influenza found in poultry and wild animals has been found in crows in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. Human cases of H5N1 are rare but if infected the mortality rate is about 60% and this fact is according to World Health Organization. So the strain poses a low risk to people and is highly lethal to wild birds and poultry and the second strain found that is H5N1 in ducks in Kerala and migratory birds in Himachal Pradesh. This strain is highly infectious and causes severe respiratory disease in birds. So why this is causing a concern for India? Does India should be concerned? So let me tell you here that according to Bombay Natural History Society, India is the epicenter as flight parts of distant birds crisscross the country's skies and India is also a terminal destination for many such streams making India a biological hot spot for bird disease. Nearly 370 species of birds from the northern veteer to yellow rummed flycatcher crisscross India from Europe, Russia, Mongolia each year. So this fact is actually represented by the Bombay Natural History Society. So this time bird flu came from Siberia, Mongolia, China and some other Central Asian countries. So what are the economic implications of bird flu? The central government records show nearly Rs 400 crore have been paid to poultry farmers till 2016 as compensation for mass killing of birds. Across the world, the loss estimated globally was US $200 billion in 2016. Now in its recent report, WHO said that bird flu hampers the poultry industry in a big way and let me tell you here that India does have this poultry business and the share of poultry industry is way more than anybody else in the world. So yes, economically bird flu does impact India severely. So that's all for today's video, we will meet you in the next video till then take care and have a nice day. Don't forget to like share and subscribe to our channel and press the bell icon to never miss an update.