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August 03, 2005
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Species Jump Of Disease Gets Help
... of Sciences says the H5N1 virus could kill some ducks after causing only mild symptoms — which... the flu strain H5N1. The strain has killed 51 people in Asia since 2003, and experts fear it could kill ...
Hump Day
.. tested positive for the bird flu virus strain H5N1, local newspaper Labor reported on Wednesday 3 Aug... viruses, including H5N1, on a trial basis. It will vaccinate some 43 million poultry, including... Nam. Interesting. . .they're saying that 70% of the waterfowl test positive for H5N1. . .talk about ...
鳥インフルエンザの話
... 笹山登生氏の主催する掲示板で、「ヴェトナムのメコン・デルタの水鳥の70パーセントが、すでに、鳥インフルエンザに感染との情報」というショッキングな話が紹介されていた。以下、笹山氏の訳文をそのまま以下に引用： ヴェトナムの地方紙Lao Dong紙が水曜日に伝えたところによると、ヴェトナム南部のメコンデルタにいる水鳥の70パーセントが、すでにH5N1鳥インフルエンザに感染していることが、わかった。7月になって、ヴェトナムでは、ハノイ市のほかに、 Dong Thap市、 Ben Tre 市、 Can Tho 市の各市で、鳥インフルエンザの感染が確認されている。 この感染拡大を最小化 ...
August 3 Flu Update
Today 12:07:26 PM... on the new case. He reminds us that there are two H5N1 in Vietnam--a milder version in the north, where ...
Avian Flu Migration
... The Register reports: tease “Russia’s Emergencies Ministry is warning that the H5N1 strain of the bird-flu virus, the strain dangerous to humans and responsible for the deaths of more than 50 people in Asia, could spread into mainland Europe from farms in Siberia.” tease “The H5N1 strain ...
Chinese Government's Answer to Containing H5N1 and Recombinants - "Make Villages Disappear!" Three Villages Razed In Qinghai Af
.. Chinese Government's Answer to Containing H5N1 and Recombinants - "Make Villages Disappear!" Three Villages Razed In Qinghai After H5N1 Bird Flu Riots? ...
Did H5N1 Ebola Recombinant Come From China's Plum Island?
... Did H5N1 Ebola Recombinant Come From China's Plum Island? ...
Star Wars Animal
Today 2:19:43 AM... Star Wars Animal Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease Episode I:the Cows Menace H5N1 Episode II: Attack of The Chickens Streptococcus suis Episode III: Revenge of Pigs ...
asiapundit
Thousands of wild birds in north-west China may have been infected by a bird flu virus closely related to the one that has devastated poultry farms in south-east Asia. The birds might carry the virus as far as India, Australia and Europe.
That is the warning from two teams of scientists in China. They report in Nature and Science this week that a massive die-off of birds at Qinghai Lake in north-west China, a major summering spot for migratory waterfowl, is due to H5N1.
The RNA sequence of the Qinghai virus reveals that three of its eight genes are almost identical to those of a virus isolated from a chicken in Shantou in 2003. The other five genes resemble those of viruses found in southern China earlier in 2005, which belong to the “Z genotype” virus circulating across east Asia.
This means the Qinghai virus was not, as first claimed by officials, brought into China from other countries by migrating birds. The bird that started the outbreak might have picked up the virus in southern China or from poultry closer to Qinghai, say Guan and Gao.
The latest issue of New Scientist reports that the Chinese officials are rejecting the research.
The head of the ministry of agriculture's veterinary bureau, Jia Youling, has rejected research on bird flu published in the journal Nature last week by Yi Guan and his colleagues at the universities of Hong Kong and Shantou.
Ominously, Jia added that Guan's group did not even go to Qinghai or have permission to do the research, and that his lab does not meet safety standards. Yet Guan's BSL3 lab complies with international standards, and his team collected samples from Qinghai before the government introduced rules last month saying no one could study dead animals or bird flu, or even report an outbreak of animal disease, without permission. "They are trying to close everyone's lab," Guan told reporters.
CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 3,
2005--Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: ALNY),
a leading RNAi therapeutics company, today reported
its consolidated financial results for the quarter
ended June 30, 2005 and company highlights.
"We continue to report steady progress against our overall clinical and business objectives for 2005," said John Maraganore, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Alnylam Pharmaceuticals. "During the second quarter, we continued to advance our pipeline of RNAi therapeutic programs, including our lead Direct RNAi programs for RSV infection and age-related macular degeneration. The pace of our development program for RSV infection has accelerated, with IND enabling toxicology and manufacturing activities currently underway. In recent weeks, we also have executed a number of licensing agreements, such as the InterfeRx(TM) license with Nastech Pharmaceutical Company Inc. and multiple reagent licenses, all of which create value in the near term and provide external validation for the strength of our intellectual property estate in RNAi."
Net Loss
The net loss attributable to common stockholders according to accounting principles generally accepted in the U.S. (GAAP) for the quarter ended June 30, 2005 was $11.1 million, or $0.54 per share, as compared to $7.7 million, or $1.10 per share, in the second quarter of 2004, which included $0.8 million of accretion of redeemable convertible preferred stock. The net loss for the second quarter of 2005 included a $2.1 million non-cash charge resulting from the issuance of 270,000 shares of Alnylam's common stock in connection with the June 2005 amendment to the Company's license agreements with Garching Innovation GmbH, which provided Alnylam with operating flexibility for its wholly owned subsidiary, Alnylam Europe AG, as well as $0.9 million of non-cash stock-based compensation expenses. In addition, the Company incurred higher external research costs related to the advancement of Alnylam's respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection program.
Revenues
Revenues in the second quarter of 2005 were $1.1 million, an increase from the $0.1 million reported in the quarter ended June 30, 2004. The increase in revenues is primarily the result of $0.6 million of cost reimbursement revenues related to Alnylam's June 2004 collaboration and license agreement with Merck & Co., Inc. for the co-development of RNAi therapeutics for ocular diseases (Merck Ocular Collaboration). Also contributing to the increase in revenues was the amortization of $1.0 million of maintenance payments received by Alnylam in 2004 from Merck, under the companies' September 2003 strategic alliance for the development of in vivo RNAi technology and therapeutics (Merck 2003 Collaboration), as well as the amortization of $3.0 million of up-front payments earned by Alnylam from Merck in June 2004 under the Merck Ocular Collaboration. Alnylam has recorded these payments as deferred revenue and is amortizing the associated revenues over the estimated periods of performance under the agreements. The increase in revenues in the second quarter is also attributable, in part, to $0.2 million of revenues earned as a result of Alnylam's March 2005 collaboration agreement with Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Therapeutics, Inc.
....
Today 4:00:00 PM -
Cloudy Thinking by Ron K. Jeffries
[tease]
“Russia’s Emergencies Ministry is warning that the H5N1 strain of the bird-flu virus, the strain dangerous to humans and responsible for the deaths of more than 50 people in Asia, could spread into mainland Europe from farms in Siberia.”
[tease]
“The H5N1 strain of the bird-flu virus
can be passed from bird to human, but in Russia no
cases of human infection have been officially
registered. The greatest fear is that the virus will
mutate and a strain will emerge that can be passed
from human, to human, triggering a global epidemic.”
The Register
Russia issues warning
Russia's Emergencies Ministry is warning that the H5N1 strain of the bird-flu virus, the strain dangerous to humans and responsible for the deaths of more than 50 people in Asia, could spread into mainland Europe from farms in Siberia.…
PR Newswire
HONG KONG, Aug. 3 /PRNewswire/ -- PRB Pharmaceuticals and Lee's Pharmaceuticals announced today that a recent study by Taiwan researchers from the National Health Research Institutes demonstrates TF2b and TF3, two components of v38 AMF-1, inhibit the 3C-like protease encoded by SARS-CoV. v38 AMF-1, a fraction of the flu medication VIRA 38, is best known for its ability to inhibit bird flu virus (H5N1) infections.
...
About VIRA 38
VIRA 38, PRB Pharmaceuticals' over-the-counter broad-spectrum anti-viral medication, is known for its effectiveness in treating and preventing influenza. VIRA 38 has recently been shown to contain compounds that inhibit the bird flu (H5N1) virus. Researchers at the Chinese University of Hong Kong have previously discovered these same compounds to be effective against a variety of pathogens including SARS-CoV, the virus responsible for causing severe acute respiratory syndrome.
About PRB Pharmaceuticals
PRB Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (http://www.prbpharmaceuticals.com) is based in Irvine, California and Hong Kong. PRB Pharmaceuticals is a fully integrated biopharmaceutical company that develops unique and highly efficacious anti- viral treatments and preventative therapies.
About Lee's Pharmaceuticals
Lee's Pharmaceutical Holdings Ltd (http://www.leespharm.com/EN) (Hong Kong Exchange GEM Stock: 8221) distributes VIRA 38 to the Hong Kong market. Lee's is an integrated research-driven and market-oriented pharmaceutical company engaged in the development, manufacture and sales of quality biopharmaceutical products that focus on combating cardiovascular and viral diseases.
Gates of Vienna
The Indonesian government is waging a campaign to exterminate pigs alleged to be infected with the deadly bird flu virus. The Taipei Times published this account:
 When
government workers in white
anti-contamination suits descended on Ceng
Kim’s farm to slaughter his pigs, claiming
they were infected with the bird flu virus
that killed three people nearby, he hid
inside his house.He couldn’t bear to watch, but the rest of Indonesia saw the dramatic images on television that night: Squealing pigs electrocuted one by one and tossed into a fire. |
|
| “My pigs didn’t kill anyone,” said Kim. “But if the government says they’re sick, what can I do?” |
| “There is some historical data from China and Vietnam as well as Indonesia where this particular virus has been identified in pigs,” he said. “But we don’t have evidence that the pigs were diseased or were actually infected by the virus.” | |
| Meanwhile, the country’s top veterinarian came out against the Agriculture Ministry policy, saying it appeared to be “political.” Indonesia is the world’s most populous Islamic country and many Muslims consider pigs to be unclean. | |
| “There is no proof that any humans have been infected by pigs,” said Dr. Trisatya Putri Naipospos, adding, “We have to control the disease at the source, and the source is birds and chickens infected by the H5N1 virus, not pigs.” |
From the evidence available, it seems that the positive readings for the virus in the pigs may be due to the droppings from infected birds, which inhabit the same farmyards as the pigs.
Epidemiologists now believe that the 1918 influenza epidemic originated in domestic fowl and then spread to farmyard mammals. The disease jumped to humans via the Allied soldiers who were in close contact with farm animals on the Western Front, living in cramped conditions that were ideal for the spread of the disease.
Given the high stakes in the avian flu outbreak, some people simply refuse to take any chances:
| In May, an Indonesian scientist said he found H5N1 in blood samples taken from pigs, which are genetically similar to people and often carry the human influenza virus, raising concerns that the animals could help fuel a devastating flu outbreak. | |
| Experts worry that pigs infected with both bird flu and its human equivalent could act as a “mixing bowl,” resulting in a more dangerous, mutant virus that might spread to people more easily — and then from person to person. |
