1. Recognize Symptoms Early
Successful treatment of bird flu begins with early detection and diagnosis. Bird flu, otherwise known as avian influenza, is most often identified by swabbing the nose or throat and performing a laboratory test. Since your signs and symptoms will be similar to other influenza types, you'll need to be specially tested after exposure to wild birds or domestic poultry that appears to be sick. The strain of most concern to humans is the H5N1 virus.
2. Use Antiviral Flu Drugs
Once you receive an accurate diagnosis, your initial treatment will usually consist of prescription medications used for other human influenza viruses. One of these medications is oseltamivir. The main action of treatment by oseltamivir is to interfere with the ability of the virus to replicate itself. Zanamivir is another drug that has applications for the treatment of bird flu and further studies into its potential are already underway.
Since there is no vaccine to prevent the spread of avian influenza, you'll need to seek treatment that contains the disease and stops you from passing it on to others. The most common antiviral medications, amantadine and rimantadine, are resisted by the H5N1 virus. While using either drug may provide some relief of your symptoms, resistance has been shown to develop very rapidly in many cases.
3. Treat Secondary Infections
You must begin antiviral treatment within 48 hours of the onset of your symptoms to have any chance of successfully treating bird flu. Since many of the symptoms such as sore throat and acute respiratory distress are similar to other influenza types, precaution to prevent secondary infections will often be prescribed to you. For instance, antibiotics may be given to reduce the chances of a bacterial infection forming in your lungs. The antibiotics will not cure the virus, but they may prevent potentially deadly complications from developing.
