Bird flu - Simple English Wikipedia

# Bird flu

### From Wikipedia, a free encyclopedia written in simple English for easy reading.

Bird flu (also called avian influenza, avian flu, bird influenza, or grippe of the birds), is an illness caused by a virus. The virus, called influenza A or type A, usually lives in birds, but sometimes infects mammals, including humans. It is called influenza when it infects humans.

There are many types of influenza A, which was first found in a bird in Italy in 1878. Most types have weak symptoms, such as breathing problems, similar to the common cold.

But some types kill birds, and a few kill humans and other mammals. One type of bird flu, called Spanish flu, killed about 50 million people in 1918/1919. Another type, called Asian Flu killed one million in 1957, and another one, called Hong Kong Flu, also killed one million people in 1968.

A new type, called H5N1, killed six people in Hong Kong, in 1997, but didn't kill again until 2003, this time in China. Until the middle of 2005, it was primarily found in southeast Asia, and nearby island countries such as Indonesia. As of March 2006, almost people have died of H5N1, and it has spread to parts of Africa and Europe.

In early 2006, H5N1 was found in a dead cat in Germany. This made people fear that in the future, it could infect humans in the area.

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Category: Diseases

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