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How do you get bird flu?

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People don't catch the virus from eating fully cooked chicken or eggs. There have been a few cases where one infected person caught the bird flu virus from another person -- but only after close personal contact. read more

Bird flu, or avian influenza, is a viral infection spread from bird to bird. Currently, a particularly deadly strain of bird flu -- H5N1 -- continues to spread among poultry in Egypt and in certain parts of Asia. Technically, H5N1 is a highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) virus. It's deadly to most birds. read more

Although avian influenza A viruses usually do not infect people, rare cases of human infection with these viruses have been reported. Infected birds shed avian influenza virus in their saliva, mucous and feces. Human infections with bird flu viruses can happen when enough virus gets into a person’s eyes, nose or mouth, or is inhaled. read more

In 2011, one strain of the highly pathogenic avian influenza virus mutated in this way, making the existing vaccine used against avian flu ineffective against the new strain. Sometimes a flu virus will mutate in a way that makes it able to infect a new species. read more

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