Right now, the people must vulnerable to bird flu are those who come into close and frequent contact with infected chickens and other poultry.

Therefore, the main danger is to rural farmers and chicken sellers in Asia and Africa. Anybody who slaughters chickens, plucks their feathers, eviscerates and cooks chickens. Anybody who sells their raw meat in a market. Anybody who attends a cockfighting match, because fighting cocks spray blood into the air.

Their children seem to be most at risk. That’s probably because they play and pet the chickens that run wild in their villages, they play in the dirt that’s infected with chicken droppings and they have undeveloped immune systems.

Anybody who eats raw or undercooked chicken or eggs from infected chickens is at risk. That is why Vietnam is discouraging its people from preparing a traditional dish of raw duck blood soup.

Right now, this applies to people in rural Asia, Africa and Europe. When H5N1 spreads to North and South America, it could apply also to small farmers who raise chickens the traditional way.

Modern chicken factory farming protects chickens from contact with wild fowl and other outside birds, so they’re unlikely to catch bird flu — though it’s not impossible. People who work in the U.S. poultry industry are also the most now at risk, so they should follow all guidelines to limit contact with live and raw chicken and wash themselves thoroughly after work.

If bird flu mutates into a form that is easily contagious from human to human, we’re all vulnerable to catching the virus. We should all avoid nonessential contact with people. We should be careful who we physically touch, since even shaking hands can spread the virus. We should be careful about touching objects that have been used by others. We should wash our hands well and often.

But some groups are particularly vulnerable to bird flu:

Children, because they have underdeveloped immune systems

Pregnant women

Seniors, because they have lowered immunity

People with AIDS, because their have low CDC4 counts

People who’re HIV+, though it’s not yet known just how much more at risk they are of catching bird flu, it’s only logical that any stress on their immune systems will increase the risk that the HIV in their bodies will replicate more quickly

People undergoing radiation or chemo therapy for cancer

People who’re taking immune-suppressing drugs because of organ transplants

People with chronic breathing or respiratory problems such as asthma or chronic pulmonary disorder

People with heart disease, because they’re more at risk from the stress of fighting a case of bird flu

If you fall into any of the above groups, avoid all contact with anybody who could be carrying the bird flu virus. Wash your hands well and often. Consult with your doctor.

During 1918, the flu was particularly fatal to young adults who did not fall into any of the above groups. They had the problem that their immune systems were strong enough to overreact to the infection and destroyed their lung tissues in order to save them.

This “cytokine storm” does seem to be a danger with H5N1 also.

However, personally I’d rather have a healthy immune system to fight H5N1 with, and then use Vitamin C, Omega 3, over the counter NSAIDs and Cox-2 inhibitors (such as aspirin, Aleve, Ibuprofin, Advil or Motrin) or even hydrogen peroxide to reduce the inflammation.

Right now, people exposed to infected chickens are most at risk. If bird flu becomes highly contagious, we’re all at risk, but people with weak immune systems are most at risk.

A government report says an outbreak could kill 2 million people and lead to quarantines, travel restrictions and an economic downturn.

The White House on Wednesday unveiled a foreboding report on the nation’s lack of preparedness for a bird flu pandemic, warning that such an outbreak could kill as many as 2 million people and deal a war-like blow to the country’s economic and social fabric. It urged state and local governments to make their own preparations beyond the federal efforts.

In the government’s first detailed look at the potential effects on public health and U.S. society as a whole, the report said a full-blown pandemic could lead to travel restrictions, mandatory quarantines, massive absenteeism, an economic slowdown “and civil disturbances and breakdowns in public order.”

It warned that the healthcare system – including doctors, nurses and suppliers of pharmaceuticals – was inadequate to meet the country’s needs in a flu pandemic. “In the event of multiple simultaneous outbreaks, there may be insufficient medical resources or personnel to augment local capabilities,” the report warned.

More broadly, state, local and tribal governments should “anticipate that all sources of external aid may be compromised during a pandemic,” it said, meaning that “local communities will have to address the medical and non-medical effects of the pandemic with available resources.”

While warning that as a last resort, mandatory travel restrictions may be necessary, such limits alone “are unlikely to reduce the total number of people who become ill or the impact the pandemic will have on any one community.”

Some observers welcomed the report’s blunt tone.

Michael Osterholm, an expert on disease control who has long warned that the nation is ill-prepared for a bird flu pandemic, praised the 234-page report as “a very important step forward.”

“This was a brutally honest but very fair … assessment of where we’re at,” Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, said in a telephone interview. He said he had no role in preparing the report.

The document includes the White House Homeland Security Council’s plan to implement a national strategy in the face of a flu pandemic, for which Congress appropriated $3.8 billion in December.

The strategy is built around three elements: preparation, surveillance and detection, and containment. And the report listed more than 300 steps that it said the administration would take, had already begun to take, or would recommend that state and local governments pursue.

In a cover letter, President Bush said the government had made “major investments in vaccine and antiviral development, research into the influenza virus, surveillance for disease in animals and humans, and the local, state and federal infrastructure necessary to respond to a pandemic.”

But the report indicated that only a bare beginning had been made thus far on preparing for the kind of large-scale, months-long disaster a flu pandemic would represent.

And critics were quick to attack what they said was the administration’s slow response.

As Frances Fragos Townsend, the president’s domestic security advisor, presented the report, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, the senior Democrat on the Senate Health Committee, issued a report of his own that chastised the administration for what it said was a failure to prepare the country for a flu pandemic.

Speaking on the Senate floor, Kennedy said the administration suffered from “competence-deficit disorder,” and said the White House report represented the third attempt to write a flu plan.

“No amount of revision can disguise the fact that other nations have been implementing their plans for years, while we are waiting to read ours for the first time today,” Kennedy said. “The United States is at the back of the line in ordering essential flu medicines, and we’re at the bottom of the international league in having a coordinated national strategy.”

There have been no verified incidences of bird flu in either wild birds or domestic poultry in North America, and spread of the disease from human to human has not been documented.

But, the report said, scientists believe birds played a role in two global influenza pandemics in the last 50 years that killed millions of people. It said that since the influenza strain known as H5N1 appeared in humans in Hong Kong in 1997, it has spread across Asia and into Africa and Europe and has infected more than 200 people, killing more than 50% of them.

For the Bush administration, the report represents an opportunity to demonstrate an effort to prepare for a potential catastrophe after the criticism it suffered for its response to Hurricane Katrina at the start of its second term, and, four years earlier, the intelligence failures that were blamed for not securing the nation against the Sept. 11 attacks.

Looking at specific demands that a pandemic would impose on the nation, the report said that workplace absenteeism could reach 40%.

To illustrate what the effect of such high levels of absenteeism could mean, Osterholm said that the oil industry had reported in one preparedness seminar that its refineries could not function if 30% of workers were absent – a figure suggesting that a pandemic could have a domino effect across the economy.

Although praising the study for “educating the government and hopefully the public that the pandemic is not just a health emergency,” Kim Elliott, deputy director of the health policy nonprofit Trust for America’s Health, said it failed to address the cost of implementing it.

She said Congress’ appropriation covered barely half of the $7.1 billion that Bush said last year would be needed.

To make sure you are fully prepared for the crisis check out : Bird Flu Preparations

culosis creeps ?nto Eastern Europe – A danger for an ep?demy ?s apparent.

Tuberculosis, or TB, was once considered to be on track for global eradication, along with smallpox. By the late 1980s, however, a disturbing upswing in the number of new cases was detected worldwide. A report by the World Health Organization released in March 2005 shows the number of new TB cases stabilizing or even declining in most regions of the world, but not in Africa or Eastern Europe. Today:

Every second, a person is newly infected with TB. Around 1/3 of the world’s population—nearly 2 billion people—have TB. An active, untreated TB case can infect up to 15 more people each year.

In Ukraine many factors fuel the TB epidemic. The number of TB strains that are resistant to multiple drugs is higher in parts of Eastern Europe than almost anywhere else, making treatment difficult. The rising rates of HIV infection also are beginning to influence the number of new TB cases (TB is the most common opportunistic infection and the leading cause of death among AIDS patients). In addition, the country’s health systems suffered a setback during years of political, social, and economic transition. As a result, TB detection in Ukraine is based on an outdated screening technique—miniature chest x-rays instead of simpler, less expensive lab tests. Finally, infected individuals who do not get treated may pass the disease to others.

There ?s a need for accurate information to health care providers, patients, the public, and policy- and decision-makers. Ukra?n?an author?t?es need to onduct surveys and focus group discussions with these groups to help better understand their knowledge and attitudes ?n order to g?ve information they need.

Many individuals with TB experience discrimination because TB is considered a disease of poverty, associated with the homeless, drug users, alcoholics, and prisoners. Infected individuals fear that if they are officially diagnosed, they may lose their job. Some women are afraid that their husbands will abandon them. Many also wrongly believe that TB is incurable or that treatment is expensive.

Doctors feel hampered by poor diagnostic equipment, supply shortages, and lack of funding. They also have trouble finding up-to-date information in their native language. Many of them do not have all the information they need about DOTS, a strategy for TB control recommended by the World Health Organization.

 

Data from Wikipedia are from 2003 ?llustrates the ?ncrease ?n numbers and ?t has become worse s?nce th?s stat?st?cs was revealed to the publ?c.

22 August 2006 ( ranked by 137 nations ) the percentage of adults (aged 15-49) living with HIV/AIDS. The adult prevalence rate is calculated by dividing the estimated number of adults living with HIV/AIDS at year end by the total adult population at year end.

- rank 50 : Ukraine 1.4%

- rank 55 : Estonia 1.1%

- rank 57 : Russia 1.1%

- rank 69 : Latvia 0.6%

- rank 71 : USA 0.6%

- rank 84 : Belarus 0.3%

- rank 94 : Kazahstan 0.2%

- rank 96 : Moldova 0.2%

- rank 100 : Belgium 0.2%

However, it is certainly true that diagnosed cases of AIDS are increasing throughout the FSU. The Russian figures are almost certainly swelled by the high genuine incidence of TB. TB is known to generate large numbers of false positives for HIV tests and is one of the illnesses which is used as a part of the diagnosis of AIDS. (It is almost as simple as stating that if you have TB, you lose weight and show a tendency toward an immune deficiency then one has AIDS. At that point all the symptoms are listed as being AIDS and not the underlying and genuine illnesses. This is the real economic value of AIDS to health systems and why many health services are not unhappy to be told by UNAids that prevalence is high and rising.)

Don’t forget that HIV and AIDS are different things. HIV is a retrovirus that can be detected and AIDS is a cluster of symptoms that is usually, but not always associated with a high count of HIV in the blood.

All the above noted, a concern that we have in Estonia is that up until recently HIV has been almost totally confined to injecting drug users from the very poorest strata of society and also to have been geographically confined. Recently, for the first time ever, the number of cases of HIV/Aids diagnosed in Tallinn was the same as Narva. This may be a serious development. What I do not yet know is whether the geographical change accompanies a socio/economic change as well. If it does, then no matter what the real incidence of HIV, we do have a problem, if one accepts the hypothesis that HIV is a causaton of the symptoms called AIDS.

 

USAID has Ukraine as one of ?ts top-priority countries in Europe for improved tuberculosis (TB) control. Ukraine’s estimated TB case rate of 106 cases per 100,000 population is the eighth highest in Europe and Eurasia. According to the World Health Organization’s (WHO’s) Global Tuberculosis Control Report 2008, Ukraine had an estimated 49,308 TB cases in 2006, an increase of 4.6 percent from the previous year. Of these, about 44 percent were cases of sputum smear-positive (SS+) TB.

In 2005, WHO called for redoubled efforts to scale up effective TB control using DOTS (directly observed treatment, short course) throughout the European region. In November 2005, the Ministry of Health (MOH) issued an order adopting DOTS as the basis for national TB control policy. The new National TB Control Program (NTCP) for 2007–2011 now supports rapid expansion of DOTS coverage, with the goal of moving from 29 percent in the USAID-supported pilot regions in 2007 to 100 percent by 2011. Although Ukraine currently reports 100 percent DOTS coverage, the quality of DOTS services requires significant improvement in many areas; at present, only approximately 50 percent of the population has access to quality DOTS.

Intensified measures are needed to contain Ukraine’s growing TB problem, which is exacerbated by increasing cases of multidrug-resistant (MDR) TB and one of the fastest-growing HIV epidemics in the world. According to WHO, nearly 16 percent of new TB patients have MDR-TB, the third highest proportion in the world. ¹ By the beginning of 2008, extensively drug-resistant (XDR) TB was also reported in Ukraine. Both TB and HIV are concentrated in the southern and eastern oblasts (provinces) of the country, and TB-HIV co-infection is a growing challenge. Results of surveillance in 2006 in Donetsk Oblast indicate that 16 percent of TB patients in the civil sector are co-infected with HIV. Among prisoners, nearly 24 percent of TB patients are co-infected. More than 60 percent of AIDS deaths are attributable to TB. While outdated practices still exist, recent policy changes indicate a growing government commitment to improved TB treatment standards and coordination with HIV services.

Key USAID partners include PATH, WHO, the World Bank, the MOH, the F.G. Yanovsky Institute of Tuberculosis and Pulmonology of Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine, oblast and city authorities in the target regions, the All-Ukrainian Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS, Futures Group International, and numerous local nongovernmental organizations.

The most difficult thing, before preparing for a trip, is to come up

with the right ideas of what you should actually do. If you have never been to

Chinabefore, things might be a little

bit confusing for you. Here are some of the most important tips on how to

prepare yourself before going to this country.

1.Arrange your flight tickets

The first thing you should do is arrange your flight. Almost every major

airline flies to China. It is usually possible to book a flight on line, either

through the airline directly, or through a third party travel agency.

Approximate fares from Europe or North America will be around US$ 800 in low

season , rising to nearer US$ 1,600 in high season (summer months, around

Christmas and Chinese New Year).

2.Apply for a visa

After arranging your tickets will be able to apply for a Chinese visa.

The necessary documents needed to apply for a tourist visa are flight tickets,

original passport with a validity of at least 6 months and a completely filled

application form with photo. If you do business in China you need an invitation letter by a company to get a F-Visa. In order to obtain a visa it is not necessary to

submit the documents personally to the embassy. You may ask a third person.



3.Take out an insurance

Before going to a place like China you should remember to take some kind

of insurance, that can be used abroad, like accident or medical insurance. The

cost of travel insurance may vary depending on the cost and length of your

trip, your age or your health. Purchase insurance from a broker, or directly

from an on line insurer, as it is much cheaper than that sold by travel

agents.

4.Get vaccinated

Although there are no obligatory vaccinations before going to China, it

is highly advisable to see your doctor in this matter. Different vaccinations

are being recommended for certain travel destinations. This is because there

are several climatic zones in this country. The most common vaccination is

against hepatitis and typhoid. Information is available either the health

insurance information packs or at pharmacies that offer vaccination advice.



5.Take some medicines

For a trip to China, it is a good idea to bring a first aid kit. In

addition to typical travel supplies (band-aids, bandages, laxatives, etc.),

include insect repellent especially for the summer and if you go to the south

of China, make sure you’ve got some kind of topical anti fungal agent, and

sunscreen. In winter an additional supply of moisturizer is recommended because

it can get very dry.

6.Bring some cash

Before going to China make sure that you have some money in cash,

either in US Dollars or Euro. These currencies can easily be converted into the

Chinese currency RMB. In some places like smaller towns or villages around the

country, it might be quite difficult to find a bank or a cash dispenser. The

Bank of China is believed to be the most trustworthy place to change money.

7.Check your cellphone

All Europeans and many North Americans operating on GSM can use their

ordinary mobile phones. But North Americans, who operate on a different

frequency, need to have a more expensive tri band model. You may also need to

call your cellular operator to “unlock” your phone if you want to use it with a

local provider.

8.Buy a phrase book

You have to remember that not all people in China know how to speak a

foreign language. Even some employees at typical touristic places, like museums

or famous temples often do not speak English. It is highly advisable to buy a

decent phrase book before you come, just to make sure that you will be able to

communicate with the locals by asking them essential things such as directions,

food etc.

You want a natural sleep aid for natural sleep. You want something safe and perhaps not too heavy duty for your sleep problems. However, there are just so many different types of natural sleep aids you don’t quite know where to start. There are natural sleep aids in the form of supplements and there are others found in your own kitchen or food.

So here’s a summarized guide to help you get started with 5 popular natural sleep aids. They are not to be confused with natural sleep therapies also loosely referred to as natural sleep aids.

1.    Melatonin

What is melatonin?

It’s a hormone secreted from the pineal gland in our brain. Thought to help our bodies’ circadian rhythms or internal clock i.e when it’s time to go to sleep and when it’s time to wake up. Melatonin decreases the time it takes to fall asleep (”sleep latency”), and may increase the duration of sleep.

Melatonin Fast Facts

- The most popular natural sleep aid for jet lag or effects of shift work.

- Side effects: daytime drowsiness headaches, dizziness, a “heavy-head” feeling, stomach discomfort

- Safe with short-term use (three months or less). As little as 0.1 to 0.3 milligrams may be enough for most people.

- Being a popular OTC sleep aid, pharmaceutical grade synthetic form is available in many brands; AVOID natural forms that are basically melatonin derived from animal’s pineal glands due to possible contamination

2. Valerian

What is valerian?

It’s a plant; its active ingredient is still unclear therefore how it works is unclear too. Generally thought to help reduce the time to get to sleep and possibly improve sleep quality.

Valerian Fast Facts

- Using valerian over a period of time (> 4 weeks) is believed to be more effective than taking it one night only. People who are poor sleepers may find more benefit that those who are normally good sleepers.

- Side effects: headache or “hangover” feeling, excitability or uneasiness, heart disturbances. Most people feel no morning grogginess after taking valerian unlike many sleep medications

- A natural sleep aid that is also one of the top 2 popular OTC sleep aids, it is available in many brands but hard to compare as the potencies of various ingredients vary from preparation to preparation.

2.    Tryptophan

What is tryptophan?

It is an amino acid that your body converts to melatonin and serotonin, neurotransmitters that exert a calming effect and regulates sleep.

Tryptophan Fast Facts

-    You can get this natural sleep aid through your own diet of tryptophan-containing foods like oats, bananas, poultry, peanuts and milk.

-    Not available as a natural dietary supplement. Previously, some people who took tryptophan as a natural supplement developed a syndrome with features of a disease called scleroderma. They also developed anxiety, depression, and difficulty learning. Some deaths were believed to be due to the tryptophan supplement.

3.    5-HTP

5-HTP is a derivative of the amino acid tryptophan. It is therefore, a precursor to the neurotransmitter serotonin and the hormone melatonin.

-5-HTP supplements became popular natural sleep aids because the logic goes that taking 5-HTP in pill form can boost the body’s serotonin levels, similar to the antidepressants that are thought to increase the amount of serotonin available to the brain.

- May also ease symptoms of depression and anxiety; may help in controlling appetite and pain. On the other hand, there are studies that show no benefit with supplementation of 5-HTP.

4.    Chamomile

What is chamomile?

It’s a popular herb used for centuries as a natural sleep aid. It also has anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial properties. Chrysin is chamomile’s flavonoid component that is attributed to relieve anxiety thereby making people feel more relaxed and more prepared to sleep. Chrysin can also be found in passion flower, another plant also popular as a natural sleep aid.

Chamomile Fast Facts

-    Can be taken as German or Roman chamomile tea.

-    Fast natural sleep aid that can be used on the spot to provide quick relief for sleeplessness and anxiety. The bonus is that you don’t have to use it on a regular basis for it to work as an effective insomnia treatment.

-    Most effective when chamomile tea sipped a half an hour to forty-five minutes before going to bed.

5.    Kava or kava kava

-An ancient crop of the western Pacific (Hawaii, Papua New Guinea, etc)

-Active ingredients are called kavalactones that induce relaxation without hindering memory or motor function. It is also not addictive. These are reasons why kava is popularly used for stress and anxiety relief and insomnia

- However, it is now considered unsafe. Reports in Europe of more than 20 cases of cirrhosis, hepatitis, and liver failure suggest the possibility of liver toxicity associated with its use.

These 5 popular natural sleep aids, like sleeping medications, can have side effects and risks. They are not approved nor regulated by the FDA. Hence, long-term use in humans are not well documented or clinically tested upon. If in supplement form, the ingredients may vary by manufacturer and the actual content may greatly differ from what is listed on the product label.

Therefore, the right approach to natural sleep aids is always to first consult your doctor familiar with your health profile to rule out any unnecessary risks. Also, as with all sleeping medications, natural sleep aids should only be used short term. Everyone deserves a good night’s sleep. Everyone deserves to know what sleep aids are available that can work for him/her.

Valerian root, a natural sleep aid, has been impressing scientists around the world with its remarkable sleep benefits. This herbal sleep remedy has been used for thousands of years to reduce anxiety, calm the emotions and promote a deep and restful sleep. Just exactly what is valerian root and how do you get your hands on some? What does the science say about it? Could it possibly work for you?

Valerian root comes from a perennial plant (perennial means it keeps growing from year to year) that was originally native to Europe and Asia, but can now be found growing wild in the northeastern United States. It has been used as a medicinal plant since ancient times. Originally, valerian grew wild, but is now cultivated specifically for medical use in England, Germany, Holland and America. Valerian is an approved herb in Germany (supplements do not require government approval in the United States).

The name of the plant, valerian, comes from the Latin word “valere,” which means “to be strong” (think “valor”). There are two reasons why the plant was given this name. First of all, it is a relatively potent herbal medicine. Unfortunately, the other reason it was named thus is its odor. Valerian has a strong, distinctive and relatively unpleasant odor. If you’ll be keeping valerian root in your cabinet, you might want to opt for a double layer of Ziploc bags.

Valerian root has been used primarily to treat insomnia, but has also been found helpful for other conditions as well, especially anxiety. In addition to inducing sleep, valerian also appears to decrease the occurrence of nightmares. The herb seems to work by affecting the action of GABA, which is an amino acid that regulates states of anxiety. Researches believe that valerian binds to GABA receptors in the brain, which results in a lower anxiety level. It doesn’t really eliminate anxiety, it just changes the way that your brain and body physiologically react to it.

Valerian has been subjected to quite a bit of testing. Researchers have determined that valerian is effective at reducing the amount of time it takes to fall asleep (scientists call this “sleep latency”). This herbal sleep remedy also has been found to improve the quality of sleep throughout the night.

Valerian truly is a natural sleep aid champion, with enhanced effectiveness for people who consider themselves poor sleepers as well as those who take a long time to go to sleep. Valerian is generally safe to use, but you shouldn’t make it a long-term solution. Also, it could interfere with anesthesia or interact with other medications, so make sure you tell your doctor if you’re taking valerian.

The Persian Cat is one of the oldest breeds of cat. In Britain, it is called the Longhair or Persian Longhair . A Persian without an established and registered pedigree is classed as a domestic longhair cat.

Persian Cat Origin

As their name suggests, Persians originate from Persia, now known as Iran, in the Middle East. Persian cat is one of the most popular breeds in the world, and one of the oldest.

Iranian domestic cats experts believe that today’s domestic cat is the descendent of Felis libyca, a cat that is still found in Africa and Asia. It’s not clear when longhair cats (in general) first appeared, as there are no African Wildcats (believed to be ancestors of domesticated cats) with that kind of fur. There have been claims that the gene responsible for long hair was introduced through hybridization with Pallas cat . Recent research however refutes this theory

The Persian cat was once traded for goods and valued for its beauty and temperament, aiding the beautiful, longhaired cat’s journey across the world. The cats were introduced into Europe by the Phoenicians and Romans in the 1500s as highly valued items of trade.

The first documented ancestors of the Persian were imported from Persia into Italy in 1620 by Pietro della Valle, and from Turkey into France by Nicholas-Claude Fabri de Peiresc at around the same time. From France they soon reached Britain.

The Europeans were impressed by the Persian’s long silky coat and purposefully bred the cats to perpetuate the trait. The longhaired cats from Persia were interbred with Turkish Angoras. Their appearance then differed greatly from today’s standard. Hundreds of years of selective breeding made Persians cobbier cats with drastically shorter muzzle.

The Persian was first registered with the Cat Fanciers Association (CFA) in 1871 when the association first kept records.

By the 1900s the cats were being exported to the United States and since then their popularity has spread throughout the world.

Persian Cat Appearence

The most common characteristics of the Persian cat are:

*Long, soft hair

*Strong, cobby build

*Large, expressive eyes

*Chubby cheeks

*High nose, which creates the “smushy” face type

*Low, rounded ears

*Wide, round head

A show-quality Persian has an extremely long thick coat, short legs, a wide head with the ears set far apart, large eyes, and an extremely foreshortened muzzle. Their eyes are often gooey, and the owner should clean their eyes at least once every day. The breed was originally established with a short (but not non-existent) muzzle, but over time this feature has become extremely exaggerated, particularly in North America, and Persians with the more extreme brachycephalic head type are susceptible to a number of health problems (specifically affecting their sinuses and breathing) caused by it. Their short muzzle also causes them to have dust and debris cover the inside of their nostrils more often, which makes it very difficult for them to breathe.

Photographic records indicate that Persians, up until the 1960s, show a difference in appearance to cats of the early 1980s onwards (i.e., from the Traditional “doll face” to the “extreme”, “ultra”, “flat-faced” or “snubby” face of today). However, the Persian Breed Council’s standard for the Persian had remained basically unchanged over this period. The Persian Breed Standard is by its nature somewhat open ended and focused on a rounded head.

It is generally accepted (and by the Breed Council) that through selective breeding, in an attempt to develop the ideal Persian appearance, the Ultra Face came about. This has been called ultra-typing. The Persian Breed Council’s standard was changed during the late 1980s to limit the development of the extreme appearance. In 2007 the Persian Breed Standard was altered to reflect the flat face and it now states that the forehead, nose, and chin should be in vertical alignment.

Conscientious breeders take into account and minimize health issues by careful choice of breeding stock with more moderate head type, as the stated goal of most breeders is first and always healthy cats.

Persian Cat Colors and Coats

The Persian has an extremely long thick coat. Since Persian cats have long, thick dense fur that they cannot keep clean themselves, they need daily grooming. To keep their fur in its best condition, they must be bathed regularly, dried carefully afterwards, and brushed thoroughly every day.

Persian cats can have any color or markings including pointed, golden, tortoiseshell, blue, and tabby. Tipped varieties are known as Chinchilla. Point varieties are called Himalayan in the United States and Colorpoint Persian in Europe.

In the USA, there was an attempt to establish the Silver Persian as a separate breed called the Sterling, but it was not accepted and Silver and Golden longhaired cats, recognized by CFA more specially as Chinchilla Silvers, Shaded Silvers, Chinchilla Goldens or Shaded Goldens are judged in the Persian category of cat shows . In South Africa , the attempt to separate the breed was more successful: the SA Cat Council (SACC) registers cats with 5 generations of pure bred Chinchilla as a Chinchilla Longhair.

The Persian Cat Temperament

These beautiful cats have a sweet, gentle personality, with a quite melodious voice. They make wonderful family pets because they adapt so easily to their environment. The Persians are tremendously responsive and communicate with their large expressive eyes. Their cobby body style keeps them from high jumping (usually). This breed is the most calm and docile of all cat breeds but is also loving and affectionate. Playful but not demandingly so, and although not shy, they do tend to be undemonstrative. Their gentle temperament allows then to adjust to new environments with ease, making them ideal show cats. Persians tend to be accepting of other animals in the family.