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November 30, 2005
Indonesia says bird flu killed woman - Reuters
 ITN | Indonesia says bird flu killed woman Reuters - ... "We have conducted the test and the results show positive," Mamahit told Reuters, adding that the presence of the deadly H5N1 virus had to be confirmed by a ... WRAPUP 1-Indonesia says woman dies of bird flu Indonesia May Report Ninth Avian-Flu Fatality, Officials Say Indonesia reports bird flu death |
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Their eye is on the sparrow
Via CIDRAP, the abstract of an article in the Journal of Virology: four H5N1 viruses have been found in tree sparrows in China. All four were highly pathogenic to chickens, but not to ducks or mice.
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Vietnam doesn't plan total cull
VietNam News reports the national bird flu prevention plan of the ministry of agriculture and rural development.
Hoang Kim Giao, deputy head of MARD's Animal Husbandry Department, said that culling of all poultry would not ensure safety since wild birds could carry the avian flu virus.
It could, on the other hand, pollute the environment and water resources, and put a massive financial burden on the Government in way of compensating farmers, he added.
For preventing another outbreak, the ministry has decided to destroy all poultry raised in infected areas, cordon off such areas and spray disinfectants on poultry farms.
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Americans And Europeans Migrating To Canada For Tamiflu Roche Sales Skyrocket1.3 PRNN e-Commerce (PR NEWS NOW)
( mp3 players ) This week the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) reported a 10-fold increase in Tamiflu orders from Canadian Pharmacies in the past month Tamiflu is the only drug known to treat the deadly H5N1 Avian Flu virusWorldwide orders for Tamiflu are coming ...Posted by dymaxion at 01:44 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
L'aviaria fa una nuova vittima in IndonesiaCorriere.it - Esteri
L'aviaria fa una nuova vittima in IndonesiaManca ancora la conferma dell'Oms ma i test eseguiti dall'ospedale di Giakarta indicano il virus H5N1 come responsabile del decesso
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Kina: Još dva žarišta ptičjeg gripaB92 Vesti
Vlasti Kine su saopštile da su otkrivena još dva žarišta ptičjeg gripa, u provincijama Sinđang i Hunan.
Sinđang je na severozapadu, a Hunan na jugu zemlje. U Sinđangu je u poslednjih nedelju dana uginulo 288 kokošaka, od virusa H5N1 ptičjeg gripa, a od 18. novembra u Hunanu više od 400 kokošaka.
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Thailand To Soon Become Bird Flu Free Zone
... BANGKOK, Nov 30 Asia Pulse - The Thai government will soon declare Thailand as a bird flu free zone with no more poultry in the kingdom infected with the H5N1 avian flu virus. The Ministry... to Government Spokesman Surapong Suebwonglee. "After November 29, if there is no more H5N1 virus found ...
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新疆で新たな鳥インフルエンザ 中国
... 中国農業省は３０日、新疆ウイグル自治区の新源県で新たに高病原性鳥インフルエンザ（Ｈ５Ｎ１型）の家禽（かきん）への感染を確認したと発表した。 農業省によると、新源県で１１月２４日に家禽３００羽が死んでいるのが見つかり、３０日に感染が確認された。地元衛生当局は周囲３キロ以内の家禽約１１万８０００羽を処分した。新疆ウイグル自治区では同月２８日にも鳥インフルエンザの感染が確認された。中国で感染が確認された地域は７省４自治区に上っている。（共同） http://www.sankei.co.jp/news/051130/kok101.htm IMG IMG ...
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Interim Guidance for Airline Flight Crews and Persons Meeting Passengers Arriving from Areas with Avian Influenza (Updated)
. Since December 2003, outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenzamostly influenza A (H5N1)among chickens and ducks have been reported in several countries in Asia. During 2005, outbreaks of H5N1..., Kazakhstan, Turkey and Romania. Mongolia and Croatia have reported outbreaks of H5N1 in wild, migratory birds . Outbreaks of H5N1 among poultry were also reported in Malaysia and Laos during 2004. For additional information about H5N1 and other avian influenza outbreaks among animals, visit the WorldPosted by dymaxion at 01:36 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Onion's Lack of Seriousness Deplored by NIAID Director Anthony Fauci
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Health's National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) since 1984, stated today (Wed Nov 23) that in his opinion "the continuing ridicule and satire by the weekly paper, The Onion, of the strenuous efforts of our institution to raise the alarm regarding the greatest threat to US national security and world order in history, H5N1 bird flu, is now beyond a joke." Asked by New AIDS Review what he objected to most, FauciPosted by dymaxion at 12:57 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
H5N1: Spreading Within A Family?
While they know there is no widespread outbreak, this very well could be a human to human transmission. Exactly what we don t want at this stage of the game. A 16-year-old boy confirmed as Indonesia s 12th human case of bird flu had two brothers who died from similar symptoms days before he was taken to hospital, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday. The brothers died on November 11 after being diagnosed with typhoid fever, but they were never tested for the deadly H5N1Posted by dymaxion at 12:57 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
gazet van antwerpen
China heeft dinsdag twee nieuwe uitbraken van vogelpest gemeld: ??n in Shanshan in de westelijke regio Xinjiang en de ander in Yongzhou in de centrale provincie Hunan. In beide gebieden waren vogels besmet met de ook voor mensen gevaarlijke vogelgriepvariant H5N1. Om verdere verspreiding te voorkomen zijn in een gebied met een straal van drie kilometer om de beide ziektehaarden 65.000 vogels afgemaakt. printversie Een abonnement op 'Gazet van Antwerpen' is altijd een cadeau. U kanPosted by dymaxion at 12:55 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
radio australia - news - indonesia suspects an eighth death from bird flu
Indonesian government officials prepare containers of disinfectant to spray areas affected by bird flu. [Reuters] A 25-year-old Indonesian woman suspected of suffering from bird flu has died in a Jakarta hospital. A hospital spokesman says Sri Wahyuni returned positive results to initial tests, carried out by the Indonesian Health Ministry, for the deadly H5N1 strain of the virus. Further tests are being conducted at the World Health Organisation laboratory in Hong Kong to confirm whetherPosted by dymaxion at 12:54 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
indonesian woman dies of bird flu -health official - boston.com
, adding that results testing for the presence of the H5N1 flu virus have to be confirmed by laboratory... confirmed to have contracted the virus but have survived. The highly pathogenic H5N1 strain... H5N1 could mutate into a form that passes easily among people, just like human influenza. If it doesPosted by dymaxion at 12:54 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
The Becker-Posner Blog: Economics, Politics, and Psychology: The Case of Avian Flu--Posner
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November 29, 2005
General Knowledge on Avian Influenza ( Bird Flu)
Avian influenza, or “bird flu”, is a contagious disease of animals caused by viruses that normally infect only birds and, less commonly, pigs. Avian influenza viruses are highly species-specific, but have, on rare occasions, crossed the species barrier to infect humans.
In domestic poultry, infection with avian influenza viruses causes two main forms of disease, distinguished by low and high extremes of virulence. The so-called “low pathogenic” form commonly causes only mild symptoms (ruffled feathers, a drop in egg production) and may easily go undetected. The highly pathogenic form is far more dramatic. It spreads very rapidly through poultry flocks, causes disease affecting multiple internal organs, and has a mortality that can approach 100%, often within 48 hours.
Which viruses cause highly pathogenic disease?
Influenza A viruses1 have 16 H subtypes and 9 N subtypes2. Only viruses of the H5 and H7 subtypes are known to cause the highly pathogenic form of the disease. However, not all viruses of the H5 and H7 subtypes are highly pathogenic and not all will cause severe disease in poultry.
On present understanding, H5 and H7 viruses are introduced to poultry flocks in their low pathogenic form. When allowed to circulate in poultry populations, the viruses can mutate, usually within a few months, into the highly pathogenic form. This is why the presence of an H5 or H7 virus in poultry is always cause for concern, even when the initial signs of infection are mild.
Do migratory birds spread highly pathogenic avian influenza viruses?
The role of migratory birds in the spread of highly pathogenic avian influenza is not fully understood. Wild waterfowl are considered the natural reservoir of all influenza A viruses. They have probably carried influenza viruses, with no apparent harm, for centuries. They are known to carry viruses of the H5 and H7 subtypes, but usually in the low pathogenic form. Considerable circumstantial evidence suggests that migratory birds can introduce low pathogenic H5 and H7 viruses to poultry flocks, which then mutate to the highly pathogenic form.
In the past, highly pathogenic viruses have been isolated from migratory birds on very rare occasions involving a few birds, usually found dead within the flight range of a poultry outbreak. This finding long suggested that wild waterfowl are not agents for the onward transmission of these viruses.
Recent events make it likely that some migratory birds are now directly spreading the H5N1 virus in its highly pathogenic form. Further spread to new areas is expected.
What is special about the current outbreaks in poultry?
The current outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza, which began in South-east Asia in mid-2003, are the largest and most severe on record. Never before in the history of this disease have so many countries been simultaneously affected, resulting in the loss of so many birds.
The causative agent, the H5N1 virus, has proved to be especially tenacious. Despite the death or destruction of an estimated 150 million birds, the virus is now considered endemic in many parts of Indonesia and Viet Nam and in some parts of Cambodia, China, Thailand, and possibly also the Lao People’s Democratic Republic. Control of the disease in poultry is expected to take several years.
tyle="font-size:8.5pt;color:black;font-family:Verdana">The H5N1 virus is also of particular concern for human health, as explained below.
text-align:left" align=left>Which countries have been affected by outbreaks in poultry?
From mid-December 2003 through early February 2004, poultry outbreaks caused by the H5N1 virus were reported in eight Asian nations (listed in order of reporting): the Republic of Korea, Viet Nam, Japan, Thailand, Cambodia, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Indonesia, and China. Most of these countries had never before experienced an outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza in their histories.
In early August 2004, Malaysia reported its first outbreak of H5N1 in poultry, becoming the ninth Asian nation affected. Russia reported its first H5N1 outbreak in poultry in late July 2005, followed by reports of disease in adjacent parts of Kazakhstan in early August. Deaths of wild birds from highly pathogenic H5N1 were reported in both countries. Almost simultaneously, Mongolia reported the detection of H5N1 in dead migratory birds. In October 2005, H5N1 was confirmed in poultry in Turkey and Romania. Outbreaks in wild and domestic birds are under investigation elsewhere.
Japan, the Republic of Korea, and Malaysia have announced control of their poultry outbreaks and are now considered free of the disease. In the other affected areas, outbreaks are continuing with varying degrees of severity.
What are the implications for human health?
The widespread persistence of H5N1 in poultry populations poses two main risks for human health.
The first is the risk of direct infection when the virus passes from poultry to humans, resulting in very severe disease. Of the few avian influenza viruses that have crossed the species barrier to infect humans, H5N1 has caused the largest number of cases of severe disease and death in humans. Unlike normal seasonal influenza, where infection causes only mild respiratory symptoms in most people, the disease caused by H5N1 follows an unusually aggressive clinical course, with rapid deterioration and high fatality. Primary viral pneumonia and multi-organ failure are common. In the present outbreak, more than half of those infected with the virus have died. Most cases have occurred in previously healthy children and young adults.
A second risk, of even greater concern, is that the virus – if given enough opportunities – will change into a form that is highly infectious for humans and spreads easily from person to person. Such a change could mark the start of a global outbreak (a pandemic).
Where have human cases occurred?
In the current outbreak, laboratory-confirmed human cases have been reported in four countries: Cambodia, Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam.Hong Kong has experienced two outbreaks in the past. In 1997, in the first recorded instance of human infection with H5N1, the virus infected 18 people and killed 6 of them. In early 2003, the virus caused two infections, with one death, in a Hong Kong family with a recent travel history to southern China.
here>How do people become infected?
Direct contact with infected poultry, or surfaces and objects contaminated by their faeces, is presently considered the main route of human infection. To date, most human cases have occurred in rural or periurban areas where many households keep small poultry flocks, which often roam freely, sometimes entering homes or sharing outdoor areas where children play. As infected birds shed large quantities of virus in their faeces, opportunities for exposure to infected droppings or to environments contaminated by the virus are abundant under such conditions. Moreover, because many households in Asia depend on poultry for income and food, many families sell or slaughter and consume birds when signs of illness appear in a flock, and this practice has proved difficult to change. Exposure is considered most likely during slaughter, defeathering, butchering, and preparation of poultry for cooking.
Is it safe to eat poultry and poultry products?
Yes, though certain precautions should be followed in countries currently experiencing outbreaks. In areas free of the disease, poultry and poultry products can be prepared and consumed as usual (following good hygienic practices and proper cooking), with no fear of acquiring infection with the H5N1 virus.
In areas experiencing outbreaks, poultry and poultry products can also be safely consumed provided these items are properly cooked and properly handled during food preparation. The H5N1 virus is sensitive to heat. Normal temperatures used for cooking (70oC in all parts of the food) will kill the virus. Consumers need to be sure that all parts of the poultry are fully cooked (no “pink” parts) and that eggs, too, are properly cooked (no “runny” yolks).
Consumers should also be aware of the risk of cross-contamination. Juices from raw poultry and poultry products should never be allowed, during food preparation, to touch or mix with items eaten raw. When handling raw poultry or raw poultry products, persons involved in food preparation should wash their hands thoroughly and clean and disinfect surfaces in contact with the poultry products Soap and hot water are sufficient for this purpose.
In areas experiencing outbreaks in poultry, raw eggs should not be used in foods that will not be further heat-treated as, for example by cooking or baking.
Avian influenza is not transmitted through cooked food. To date, no evidence indicates that anyone has become infected following the consumption of properly cooked poultry or poultry products, even when these foods were contaminated with the H5N1 virus.
Does the virus spread easily from birds to humans?
No. Though more than 100 human cases have occurred in the current outbreak, this is a small number compared with the huge number of birds affected and the numerous associated opportunities for human exposure,
ont-size:8.5pt;color:black;font-family:Verdana">especially in areas where backyard flocks are common. It is not presently understood why some people, and not others, become infected following similar exposures.
text-align:left" align=left>What about the pandemic risk?A pandemic can start when three conditions have been met: a new influenza virus subtype emerges; it infects humans, causing serious illness; and it spreads easily and sustainably among humans. The H5N1 virus amply meets the first two conditions: it is a new virus for humans (H5N1 viruses have never circulated widely among people), and it has infected more than 100 humans, killing over half of them. No one will have immunity should an H5N1-like pandemic virus emerge.
All prerequisites for the start of a pandemic have therefore been met save one: the establishment of efficient and sustained human-to-human transmission of the virus. The risk that the H5N1 virus will acquire this ability will persist as long as opportunities for human infections occur. These opportunities, in turn, will persist as long as the virus continues to circulate in birds, and this situation could endure for some years to come.
What changes are needed for H5N1 to become a pandemic virus?
The virus can improve its transmissibility among humans via two principal mechanisms. The first is a “reassortment” event, in which genetic material is exchanged between human and avian viruses during co-infection of a human or pig. Reassortment could result in a fully transmissible pandemic virus, announced by a sudden surge of cases with explosive spread.
The second mechanism is a more gradual process of adaptive mutation, whereby the capability of the virus to bind to human cells increases during subsequent infections of humans. Adaptive mutation, expressed initially as small clusters of human cases with some evidence of human-to-human transmission, would probably give the world some time to take defensive action.
What is the significance of limited human-to-human transmission?
Though rare, instances of limited human-to-human transmission of H5N1 and other avian influenza viruses have occurred in association with outbreaks in poultry and should not be a cause for alarm. In no instance has the virus spread beyond a first generation of close contacts or caused illness in the general community. Data from these incidents suggest that transmission requires very close contact with an ill person. Such incidents must be thoroughly investigated but – provided the investigation indicates that transmission from person to person is very limited – such incidents will not change the WHO overall assessment of the pandemic risk. There have been a number of instances of avian influenza infection occurring among close family members. It is often impossible to determine if human-to-human transmission has occurred since the family members are exposed to the same animal and environmental sources as well as to one another.
ng=EN-US style="font-size:8.5pt;color:black;font-family:Verdana">How serious is the current pandemic risk?
ont-size:8.5pt;color:black;font-family:Verdana">The risk of pandemic influenza is serious. With the H5N1 virus now firmly entrenched in large parts of Asia, the risk that more human cases will occur will persist. Each additional human case gives the virus an opportunity to improve its transmissibility in humans, and thus develop into a pandemic strain. The recent spread of the virus to
tyle="font-size:8.5pt;color:black;font-family:Verdana">poultry and wild birds in new areas further broadens opportunities for human cases to occur. While neither the timing nor the severity of the next pandemic can be predicted, the probability that a pandemic will occur has increased.
Are there any other causes for concern?
Yes. Several.
• Domestic ducks can now excrete large quantities of highly pathogenic virus without showing signs of illness, and are now acting as a “silent” reservoir of the virus, perpetuating transmission to other birds. This adds yet another layer of complexity to control efforts and removes the warning signal for humans to avoid risky behaviours.
• When compared with H5N1 viruses from 1997 and early 2004, H5N1 viruses now circulating are more lethal to experimentally infected mice and to ferrets (a mammalian model) and survive longer in the environment.
• H5N1 appears to have expanded its host range, infecting and killing mammalian species previously considered resistant to infection with avian influenza viruses.
• The behaviour of the virus in its natural reservoir, wild waterfowl, may be changing. The spring 2005 die-off of upwards of 6,000 migratory birds at a nature reserve in central China, caused by highly pathogenic H5N1, was highly unusual and probably unprecedented. In the past, only two large die-offs in migratory birds, caused by highly pathogenic viruses, are known to have occurred: in South Africa in 1961 (H5N3) and in Hong Kong in the winter of 2002–2003 (H5N1).
Why are pandemics such dreaded events?
Influenza pandemics are remarkable events that can rapidly infect virtually all countries. Once international spread begins, pandemics are considered unstoppable, caused as they are by a virus that spreads very rapidly by coughing or sneezing. The fact that infected people can shed virus before symptoms appear adds to the risk of international spread via asymptomatic air travellers.
The severity of disease and the number of deaths caused by a pandemic virus vary greatly, and cannot be known prior to the emergence of the virus. During past pandemics, attack rates reached 25-35% of the total population. Under the best circumstances, assuming that the new virus causes mild disease, the world could still experience an estimated 2 million to 7.4 million deaths (projected from data obtained during the 1957 pandemic). Projections for a more virulent virus are much higher. The 1918 pandemic, which was exceptional, killed at least 40 million people. In the USA, the mortality rate during that pandemic was around 2.5%.
Pandemics can cause large surges in the numbers of people requiring or seeking medical or hospital treatment, temporarily overwhelming health services. High rates of worker absenteeism can also interrupt other essential services, such as law enforcement, transportation, and communications. Because populations will be fully susceptible to an H5N1-like virus, rates of illness could peak fairly rapidly within a given community. This means that local social and economic disruptions may be temporary. They may, however, be amplified in today’s closely interrelated and interdependent systems of trade and commerce. Based on past experience, a second wave of global spread should be anticipated within a year.
tyle="font-size:8.5pt;color:black;font-family:Verdana">As all countries are likely to experience emergency conditions during a pandemic, opportunities for inter-country assistance, as seen during natural disasters or localized disease outbreaks, may be curtailed once international spread has begun and governments focus on protecting domestic populations.
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Avian Flu Over the Cuckoos Nest
If the H5N1 virus has existed for three or four years, as scientists claim, ... The H5N1 strain of bird flu seen in human cases in China has mutated as ... Chinese labs have found that the genetic order of the H5N1 virus seen in humans ...Posted by dymaxion at 12:57 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Many H5N1 cases bunched in families, report says - CIDRAP
| Many H5N1 cases bunched in families, report says CIDRAP, MN - Nov 28, 2005 (CIDRAP News) – More than a third of the human cases of H5N1 avian influenza that occurred over a 19-month period were clustered within families ... |
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Briefing: Study eases one bird flu worryNews: Nation/World -- TwinCities.com
WASHINGTON — Vaccines can keep chickens from dying of bird flu, but can immunized birds still silently spread infection? It's an important question, as China and Vietnam vaccinate millions of chickens in an effort to stamp out a worrisome strain of bird flu called H5N1. Scientists in the Netherlands put the question to a test — using vaccines against a different strain — and concluded that vaccinating poultry can block viral spread between birds. "Vaccination...Posted by dymaxion at 12:42 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Stand on Guard for thee: ethical considerations in preparedness planning for pandemic influenzaConnotea: Bookmarks matching tag AvianFlu
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PLoS Medicine: A Systematic Analytic Approach to Pandemic Influenza Preparedness PlanningConnotea: Bookmarks matching tag AvianFlu
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H5N1 from WiKi
甲型流感毒H5N1亞型（influenza A virus subtype H5N1，也稱H5N1毒、H5N1禽流感）是甲型流感毒的一個高致性亞型，具有血凝素（hemagglutinin）第5型，神經氨酸酶（neuraminidase）第1型。H5N1毒於1961年首次在非的燕（tern）中發現，主要感染鳥類並導致禽流感。H5N1毒在鳥群中的傳染性很強，發突然、嚴重、死亡快速，死亡率可高達100%。1997年在香港首次報告了H5N1毒感染人類的例。截至2005年10月24，全世界已向世界衛生組織報告121例人感染例，其中62例死亡，死亡率超過50%；這些報告例都發生在越、泰國、印度尼西亞、柬埔寨四個東亞國家。
H5N1毒在人類的感染
傳播及
H5N1毒從鳥直接傳到人的首次例是於1997年在香港發現。迄今（2005年10月24），絕大多數的人類感染例都直接來自鳥，只有個別的例被認為是來自被感染的人，不過H5N1毒尚未能在人與人之間建立持續的傳播鏈。
傳播途徑主要有下兩種：
- 通過生禽或其污染物直接傳到人
- 通過中間宿主（如：豬）傳到人
E5.9C.A8.E5.85.A8.E7.90.83.E7.9A.84.E6.93.B4.E6.95.A3_2">
在全球的擴散
| 國家或地區 | 發期 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003年12月26— 2004年3月10 |
2004年7月19— 2004年10月8 |
2004年12月16— 迄今 |
合計 | ||
| 柬埔寨 | 例 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| 死亡 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4 | |
| 印度尼西亞 | 例 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 |
| 死亡 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4 | |
| 泰國 | 例 | 12 | 5 | 2 | 19 |
| 死亡 | 8 | 4 | 1 | 13 | |
| 越 | 例 | 23 | 4 | 64 | 91 |
| 死亡 | 16 | 4 | 21 | 41 | |
| 總計 | 例 | 35 | 9 | 77 | 121 |
| 死亡 | 24 | 8 | 30 | 62 | |
| 死亡率：51.2% | |||||
1997年香港爆發H5N1禽流感時，亦首次報告了H5N1感染人類的例，共有18人感染，6人死亡。
2003年，一個香港家庭的兩名成員到中國大陸行返回後，發現感染H5N1毒，其中一人康復，另一人死亡。他們在何地並如何感染到H5N1毒沒有被確定。該家庭的另一名成員在中國大陸因呼吸道疾死亡，沒有檢測是否曾感染H5N1毒。
2003年12月，H5N1毒感染人的例在越及泰國被報告。截至2005年10月24，全世界已向世界衛生組織報告121例人感染例，其中62例死亡，死亡率超過50%；這些報告例都發生在越、泰國、印度尼西亞、柬埔寨四個東亞國家。
疫情
世界卫生组织公布的资料显示，从2003年12月底至2005年10月20，已经有118人感染禽流感，其中61人死亡。
- 希腊：2005年10月17宣布，该国卫生防疫专家在对9例火鸡血样进行初检，发现其中1例禽流感毒体呈阳性，禽流感登陆欧盟。
- 俄斯：政府2005年10月19宣布在位于莫斯科以约200公里的图拉地区的延多伏卡村发现了致命的H5N1型禽流感毒的基因片断，220只家禽在10月14神秘死亡。
- 克地亚：农业部2005年10月21发表声明证实，专家当天对6只死亡的天鹅进行了化验分析，并发现它们身上携带有H5N1型禽流感毒。欧盟禁止从克地亚进口家禽。
- 英国：环境、食品和农村事务部2005年10月21证实，一只在隔离检疫过程中死亡的美洲鹦鹉经检测被证实感染了H5N1型禽流感毒。面对逐步逼近的禽流感形势，欧洲国家出现抢购和囤积流感药品风潮。能有效治流感的专利药物“达菲”的制造商瑞士氏制药公司同决定限量供应这种药物，以首先满足流感人的需求。
- 瑞典：农业部2005年10月23发表声明说，一只死鸭身上检验出一种轻微的H5型禽流感毒，不是高治性H5N1禽流感毒。
- 中国大陆：2005年10月24，国家禽流感参考实验室确诊，安徽省天长市一个村发生一起感染H5N1亚型禽流感疫情，500多禽隻死亡。10月25，中国大陆国家农业部的通知表示，湖省湘潭县射埠镇湾塘村出现确诊H5N1禽流感个案，共有687隻鸡、鸭发，当中545隻死亡。当局销毁的禽鸟共有2,487隻。11月3，国家禽流感参考实验室确诊，辽宁省黑山县八道壕镇冮台村养殖户饲养的鸡出现死亡的疫情为H5N1亚型高致性禽流感。11月9，中国国家禽流感参考实验室确诊，辽宁省阜新市阜新蒙古自治县大阪镇朝阳寺村，以及锦州市站新区大岭村养殖户饲养的鸡出现的疫情为H5N1亚型高致性禽流感。11月10，国家禽流感参考实验室确诊，辽宁省锦州市宁市养殖户饲养的鸡出现死亡的疫情为H5N1亚型高致性禽流感。11月11，国家禽流感参考实验室确诊，湖省京山县养殖户饲养的家禽出现死亡的疫情为H5N1亚型高致性禽流感。11月14，国家禽流感参考实验室确诊，安徽省淮市田家庵区曹庵镇范圩村养殖户饲养的800只家禽出现死亡的疫情为H5N1亚型高致性禽流感。11月16，中国卫生部通报证实，湖和安徽各一确诊H5N1禽流感个案，以及一例怀疑个案，三人之中两人已死亡。确诊患者一是9岁的贺姓男孩，湖省湘潭市湘潭县人，愈。确诊患者二是24岁的周姓女子，她是安徽省安庆市枞阳县农民，死亡。怀疑个案是12岁的贺某女孩，系贺姓男孩的姐姐，死亡。[1]同，经中国国家禽流感参考实验室确诊，湖省孝感市、新疆维吾尔自治区和田市及乌鲁木齐市天山区发生了H5N1禽流感疫情。[2]11月17，国家禽流感参考实验室确诊，山西省孝义市的疫情为H5N1亚型禽流感。[3]11月22，国家禽流感参考实验室确诊，新疆乌鲁木齐市达坂城区、宁夏银川市兴庆区，以及云省楚雄市的疫情为H5N1亚型禽流感。[4]同，安徽省休宁县发生一例人感染H5N1禽流感死亡例，死者为一名姓许的女性农民。[5]11月24，国家禽流感参考实验室确诊新疆吐鲁番市的疫情为H5N1亚型禽流感。[6]
- 科威特：2005年11月11，官员证实在海滩对一只迁徙的野生火烈鸟进行的化验发现了H5N1毒。
- 印尼：政府2005年11月14證實，一名16歲少年感染H5N1，另兩少女死於疑似狀。[7]農業部11月24証實，在亞齊省的3個地區已經有好幾百隻雞，確定因為感染禽流感H5N1毒死亡。[8]
參見
80.A3.E7.B5.90>
外部連結
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November 28, 2005
Carbon Dioxide Level Highest in 650,000 Years
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Solar energy costs differ (San Jose Mercury News)
... renewable energy, according to a new study. Solar Power for North Bay Homeless Shelter... & Geothermal Energy (SPG) installed a 22 kW solar system on the roof of Petaluma's Mary Isaak... renewable energy. Interested in solar power? How much you'll pay in city fees to put solar panels ...
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The Origins of Pandemic Influenza -- Lessons from the 1918 Virus
Posted by dymaxion at 01:36 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Vietnamese toddler has H5N1
I don't find the story yet on my usual Vietnamese sources, but Xinhua has it: Vietnamese boy infected with bird flu.
consolation that Vietnam's H5N1 mortality rate has fallen to a mere 45 percent.A three-year-old boy from Vietnam's southern Tien Giang province has been contracted with bird flu, local newspaper Youth reported Monday.
Initial test showed that the boy from Cai Lay district has been infected with the disease, the paper said, adding he is now in need of respiratory assistance.
The boy was admitted to a hospital in Ho Chi Minh City on Nov. 26, after having fever, cough and respiratory illness.Vietnam's Health Ministry on Sunday announced that the country has detected 66 human cases of H5N1 infections, including 22 fatalities, in 25 cities and provinces since December 2004, bringing the total infection cases and death tolls since December 2003 to 93 and 42 respectively.
Posted by dymaxion at 01:33 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Indonesia awaits WHO test results on possible 13th bird flu patient
Thanks to the reader who sent the link to a story on Yahoo! News about a possible 13th bird flu patient in Indonesia.
The story has a sting at the end:
b>Should the WHO tests come back positive, the 25-year-old woman would be the country's 13th confirmed bird flu case.
The latest confirmed case was that of a 16-year-old boy admitted to a state hospital in West Java's provincial capital Bandung on November 15.
Local radio reported that health officials on Sunday took blood and mucus samples from 24 of the boy's relatives and neighbours.
Two of his brothers, showing symptoms associated with bird flu, died of as yet undetermined causes a few weeks before he was taken to hospital, the report said.
This story from AsiaNewsNet offers more details on the 16-year-old, but doesn't mention his brothers.
Posted by dymaxion at 01:32 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Indonesia: 12th and 13th cases
First we get a story from The Jakarta Post - Indonesia confirms 12th human case of bird flu.
time, we get another story from Asia News Network, saying that on Friday a 25-year-old woman has tested positive, making her the 13th WHO-confirmed H5N1 case in Indonesia.A 16-year-old Indonesian boy has tested positive for the H5N1 avian flu virus, making him the 12th confirmed case among humans in the country, a health official said on Saturday.
"We have received a laboratory test from Hong Kong and the results were positive," said Hariadi Wibisono, a senior official at the Health Ministry, adding the patient was being treated at a hospital in Bandung in West Java province.
It's getting harder to keep up.
Posted by dymaxion at 01:30 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Ministry rebuts human infection cover-up allegation
The "300 deaths" story grows even more interesting. China Daily has published a story: Ministry rebuts human infection cover-up allegation. And the Chinese aren't just saying Masato Toshiro is wrong; they're saying he wasn't even there.
ve new questions: Was Masato Toshiro indeed in Hunan, and if so, was he there on behalf of WHO? If he wasn't, why would he—an established and respected virologist—make such claims?"The Ministry of Health has checked with the WHO and verified that there was not a single Japanese virologist among the specialists sent by the WHO to investigate the bird flu epidemic in Hunan," a ministry spokesman said.
The Japanese virologist's allegation that several hundred Chinese people died of bird flu was not based on facts, the ministry said in a statement made available to China Daily Friday night.
A WHO spokesperson said at a press conference in Geneva that China and the organization have co-operated well on bird flu, and China has not concealed any human infections, said the statement.
And maybe it's just a quirk of translation, but the ministry of health seems to choose its words very carefully: The reports are "rumors," not "false," and a Japanese virologist may well have been in Hunan without being part of a WHO-sponsored group.
And who was the WHO spokesperson, and why didn't that spokesperson clearly state whether Masato Toshiro was or was not part of the Hunan team?
Update: The China blog EastSouthWestNorth has some interesting comment on this issue, with a link to an earlier post about Boxun News. The blogger is pretty skeptical about the whole story.
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Hanoi food prices surge in wake of poultry losses
The Viet Nam News Agency reports food prices surge in Hanoi because of bird flu. The city normally consumes over 50 tons a day of poultry meat. Now no one touches it, so prices for pork and beef have risen and the price of rabbit meat has doubled. The pinch will no doubt worsen as the lunar new year approaches, when Asian families traditionally spend a lot on special meals.
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More China rumors
A respected Japanese scientist, who works with the World Health Organization, has told New Scientist he fears that China’s official tally of laboratory-confirmed human bird flu fatalities – just three – is only the tip of the iceberg.
Masato Tashiro, head of virology at Tokyo’s National Institute of Infectious Disease – a WHO-collaborating centre for bird flu – showed a slide at a meeting of virologists in Marburg, Germany, on 19 November listing “several dozen” outbreaks in people, 300 deaths, 3000 people placed in isolation, and seven human-to-human transmissions. The meeting was reported in the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.
Tashiro has now told New Scientist that the figures were examples of the “unauthorised information” circulating in China, where he was recently helping investigate the outbreak in Hunan for the WHO.
Earlier reports suggested that Tashiro believed 300 to be the true death toll from bird flu in China. “I do not know whether the numbers were based on any evidence,” he says.
But the message is that “we do not know how many cases actually occurred in China”, due to poor disease surveillance. “If surveillance is done more extensively, more cases may be detected.” He says the international community should assist China with monitoring. He describes the situation as an "iceberg phenomenon" – with most cases unreported...
The potential problem of underreporting may not only be technical. There are also claims that Chinese medical personnel have been arrested for trying to report cases. China enforced severe restrictions on the investigation and reporting of suspected cases of bird flu in June 2005.
Here is the full story. Effect Measure offers useful commentary on the scientist's "retraction."
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Experts ponder N.Korea's statements on bird flu - Reuters AlertNet
| Experts ponder N.Korea's statements on bird flu Reuters AlertNet, UK - ... state, experts said on Monday. North Korea had an outbreak of the H5N1 avian flu virus earlier this year. Initially it did not announce ... |
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Romania sacks chief vets after birds burned alive - Reuters AlertNet
 CTV.com | Romania sacks chief vets after birds burned alive Reuters AlertNet, UK - ... Samples have been sent to Britain to determine whether it is the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain which has killed more than 60 people in Asia since 2003. ... Romania quarantines village and kills birds Two Romanian officials fired over burning of live poultry Romania culls fowl to halt bird flu spread |
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Hong Kong, Singapore stocking up for H5N1 testing - Reuters AlertNet
| Hong Kong, Singapore stocking up for H5N1 testing Reuters AlertNet, UK - HONG KONG, Nov 28 (Reuters) - Health authorities in wealthier parts of Asia are stocking up on diagnostic kits and chemicals to detect the deadly H5N1 bird flu ... |
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China Confirms 2nd Bird Flu Deathimmun bird flu
China Confirms 2nd Bird Flu Death CBS News - Wednesday reported its second confirmed human death from bird flu, while tests showed a teacher who fell ill does not have the H5N1 bird flu virus. China’s Health Ministry said NZ urged to make our own flu vaccine The [...]Posted by dymaxion at 12:50 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Doctors examine the chest X-ray results of an infant suffering ...Health Photos - AFP on Yahoo! News Photos
(AFP/File) - Doctors examine the chest X-ray results of an infant suffering from bird flu. The H5N1 strain of bird flu seen in human cases in China has mutated as compared with strains found in human cases in Vietnam.(AFP/File/Hoang Dinh Nam)
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H5N1 hallado en humanos es una nueva mutaciónDeutsche Welle: DW-WORLD.DE Titulares
Médicos chinos dijeron hoy que el H5N1 hallado en organismos de tres pacientes es una mutación diferente a la de los virus hallados en humanos en la vecina Vietnam.Posted by dymaxion at 12:35 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Bird Flu Virus Mutating in Humans, According to Chinese Scientists
... Bird Flu Virus Mutating in Humans, According to Chinese Scientists The H5N1 strain of bird flu seen in human cases in China has mutated as compared with strains found in human cases in Vietnam. Continue reading "Bird Flu Virus Mutating in Humans, According to Chinese Scientists ...
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Govt warns against buying bird flu drugs on internet
... of a flu pandemic, which experts fear could be sparked by the bird flu virus H5N1 currently sweeping ...
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Thailand, Philippines free to make Tamiflu - Roche
... . Indonesia, which has confirmed 12 cases of human infection with the H5N1 avian flu virus, said on Saturday ...
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radio australia - news - indonesia confirms 12th human case of bird flu
Indonesian health officials say a16-year-old boy has tested positive for the H5N1 avian flu virus, making him the 12th confirmed case among humans in the country. The health ministry says samples sent to a laboratory in Hong Kong were positive. The patient is being treated at a hospital in Bandung in West Java province. Indonesia has had seven confirmed deaths from bird flu. Meanwhile, authorities in Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh City are poisoning pigeons and other wild birds to prevent avianPosted by dymaxion at 12:18 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
emol.
NOTICIAS INTERNACIONAL Gripe aviar: Virus H5 detectado en pavo en Rumania S?bado 26 de Noviembre de 2005 14:20 ANSA BUCAREST.- El virus H5 de la gripe aviaria fue detectado hoy en un pavo en Scarlatesti, este de Rumania, donde se prev? para ma?ana abatir a cientos de aves de corral, dijo el ministerio de Agricultura. Es la primera vez que el virus H5 -que no es altamente pat?geno como el H5N1, el m?s letal de la enfermedad- es detectado en Rumania en aves de corral. El virus yaPosted by dymaxion at 12:16 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Turkey in Romania tests positive for bird flu
with the deadly H5N1 strain. "We think the virus was brought by migratory birds," Flutur said. Romania has already confirmed the H5N1 strain of avian flu in three villages in the Danube Delta... people in parts of Asia since 2003. In Europe, birds have tested positive for H5N1 in RomaniaPosted by dymaxion at 12:13 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
November 23, 2005
New quarantine rules sought in the US
Federal health officials are seeking to update quarantine regulations, hoping changes such as easier access to airline passenger lists could better protect Americans from foreign infectious diseases, including bird flu.
The proposed changes, announced Tuesday by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, include easier CDC access to airline and ship passenger lists, a clearer appeals process for people subjected to quarantines and explicit authority to offer vaccinations and medical treatment to quarantined people.
The changes are part of a multi-pronged attempt to guard against infectious agents from abroad. In the last 1-1/2 years, the CDC also has increased the number of quarantine stations at airports, ship ports and land-border crossings from eight to 18.
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C.D.C. Proposes New Rules in Effort to Prevent Disease Outbreak - New York Times
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Sick teacher in Hunan negative for H5N1: WHO - China Daily
 Xinhua | Sick teacher in Hunan negative for H5N1: WHO China Daily, China - Blood tests on a schoolteacher who fell ill in Hunan Province that suffered a bird flu outbreak show he doesn't have the virulent H5N1 strain of the virus, a ... China Confirms New Human Case of Bird Flu Suspected Bird Flu Case in Hunan Ruled Out China tightens bird-flu measures further |
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Reduction of H5N1 toxicity in Vietnam - VietNamNet Bridge
 VietNamNet Bridge | Reduction of H5N1 toxicity in Vietnam VietNamNet Bridge, Vietnam - H5N1 virus has changed slightly in terms of heredity and pathogenesis since appearing in Vietnam. Research of the Central Hygiene ... Bird flu virus losing virulence: Vietnamese scientists |
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China's third case and second fatality
Sometimes it's a shock to open up NewsNow in the morning, eight hours behind Greenwich Mean Time, and find some disaster splashed all over the Web. Today it's the news that China has confirmed a third human case of H5N1—and its second fatality.
he Xinhua news agency, quoting the Health Ministry, said a 35-year-old woman farmer in Anhui province had developed fever and pneumonia-like symptoms on November 11 after contact with sick and dead poultry. She died on November 22.
Xinhua said tests by China's Center for Disease Control and Prevention had proved positive for the deadly H5N1 strain of avian influenza.
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China Has 2nd Human Death From Bird Flu (Associated Press)
China on Wednesday reported its second confirmed human death from bird flu, while tests showed a teacher who fell ill elsewhere in the country does not have the H5N1 bird flu virus.Posted by dymaxion at 12:30 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Simulated birdflu outbreak staged in AustraliaRadioLive News Room
Australia's to stage a simulated bird flu outbreak next week, after officials warned the country faces a small but real risk of the H5N1 virus breaking out.
Up to a thousand people, across 19 towns and cities, will be involved in the staged response to an outbreak in chickens.
Observers from Britain, New Zealand and the World Organisation for Animal Health will monitor the three-day exercise.
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Chart of those Chinese quarantined, ill, and dead from H5N1 avian influenza, broken down by province (Source: Boxun News)Avian Flu Watch Photo Pool
Quip has added a photo to the pool:
There are detailed but unconfirmed reports that have come out of China, that the number of people ill and dead from the H5N1 avian influenza virus is far, far more than just the official count of 2 ill, 1 dead. If true, it means that the avian influenza pandemic may already have begun within China's borders.
----------start quote----------
Statistics on Avian Flu, which is spreading in many parts of China, including the actual number of the infected and the dead, were published on Nov. 14 at Boxun.com, a China-related news site.
According to their expose, the number of fatalities in this year up to Nov 12, totals 310 from 13 different provinces, and the number of the quarantined people is 5,554 in total, contrary to the official announcement from Chinese authorities.
Moreover, the numbers in the statistics are lower than the actual ones. These numbers were 'approved' by the Cabinet. The data were provided by an high-level official of Chinese Health Ministry, and it was not revealed the manner in which they came to receive this statistic.
According to the source, since 2004, deadly epidemics are breaking out in many parts of China, including Avian Flu. Since 2005, military was put in charge of epidemic control, leading to tightened information blackout. This kept the accurate report on epidemic situation from coming out to the international community.
The source also said that, the announcement by Chinese Health Ministry is also masking the real situation by resorting to 'technical treatment' or 'unique academic modification and interpretation.' Even when they allow foreign experts or international organizations into China for inspection, they can do it only under Chinese authorities' supervision, which made it almost impossible to uncover the real truth.
Right now, the spread of Avian Flu has become the serious situation in many places of China, and each provincial government is given clear instruction on handling the crisis and keeping out the information.
Currently, Chinese Cabinet and Supreme Military Command issued an instruction, "Anyone suspected to be infected by Avian Flu, or really infected ones should be all confined to designated medical facilities and its report be made to higher government immediately. It is strictly prohibited to reveal information on (Avian Flu) infection without approval of the Cabinet. Any violators will be disciplined and fired or held accountable by further means."
The source also mentioned another authorities' instruction, which says, "If a patient dies (of Avian Flu), you cannot record Avian Flu or H5N1 as a cause of death. A patient suffering infectious respiratory disease, but who did not get treatment at designated medical facilities will not receive assistance such as health insurance. The medical facility which treated this patient will also receive stiff sanction.
(Source of quote) (link to original Chinese Boxun report with chart pictured above, of people quarantined, ill and dead broken down by province)
----------end quote----------
Then, Dr. Masato Tashiro, director of the WHO Collaborating Center on Influenza at the National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Tokyo, and head of the Department of Virology of Japan's National Institute of Infectious Disease, reported almost 100% identical information at a virologists' meeting, which he said had been given to him by a reliable source while he was travelling to China a few days ago: "What you see here is an inofficial, unpublished report from China about the H5N1 infections in China." (link to full German text)
The German news media are all over this story, which was first published the respected and widely-read newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
Posted by dymaxion at 12:27 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Hai Phong teenager tests positive for avian flu
Van Hoa, tested positive for the H5N1 virus after his sample was sent to the Central Hygiene and Epidemiology Institute in Ha Noi. The patient, from Tien Lang District, the site ofPosted by dymaxion at 12:22 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
予防接種の時期？？
... SARSの10%を上回る。 2003年末から2004年初めにかけ韓国・香港・ベトナムと東アジアで大きな被害を出しつつある鳥インフルエンザはH5N1型である。日本でも、2004年1月に山口県で感染ニワトリが見つかったのを皮切りに、各地で鳥類への感染が報告されている。 2003年末から2004年初めにかけ韓国・香港・ベトナムと東アジアで大きな被害を出しつつある鳥インフルエンザはH5N1型である。日本...型と言われている。 人には感染しないといわれている、毒性の高いインフルエンザが今回のH5N1型です。 同じく、簡単には人に感染しないといわれているH7型が流行し大きな被害を出したという可能性。 ...
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November 22, 2005
LED Hugger
Treehuggers know that the best new source of electricity is conservation- that money invested there beats nuclear, coal, solar and wind. ... So much energy is completely wasted right now, we could certainly shut down many coal power ...Posted by dymaxion at 07:08 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
More than 67000 BC birds to be culled
... and did not present a threat like the H5N1 version currently circulating in Asia. Mr. Evans said: "I want to emphasize that the H5N1 subtype detected in ... In fact, H5N1 is the first documented case of flu transmitted directly from ...Posted by dymaxion at 06:37 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Canadian outbreak leads to U.S. import bans
states that it was not the H5N1 strain currently so prevalent in Asia. In response, the United States banned imports of poultry from British Columbia, but may scale back the banPosted by dymaxion at 06:26 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Under-reporting of human Bird Flu infections poses worldwide threat
130 people have been infected with H5N1 avian flu and under 70 have died worldwide. These numbers may give a false sense of security, because there are enormous problems gettingPosted by dymaxion at 06:26 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
ratcliffebloguro;”mitch's open notebook: world bank sees $800 billion bird flu costs
The World Bank says a flu pandemic lasting a year could cost the global economy up to $800 billion and health experts say it is imperative to control the spread of the H5N1 avian flu virus in animals before it mutates and spreads easily among people. The World Bank number is a GDP estimate, which does not take into account speculative losses, such as stock declines that result from lower productivity, spending, etc. caused by the bird flu. I stand by my assertion that an unchecked pandemicPosted by dymaxion at 06:22 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
la tribune.fr - d??p??che reuters - un adolescent vietnamien contamin?? par le h5n1
HANOI (Reuters) - Les autorit?s sanitaires vietnamiennes ont confirm? mardi qu'un adolescent de quinze ans, soign? ? Haiphong, dans le nord du pays, avait ?t? contamin? par le virus H5N1 de la grippe aviaire. En revanche, des analyses effectu?es sur quatre autres patients, dont un v?t?rinaire qui avait ?t? en contact avec des poules malades et pr?sentait des sympt?mes de grippe, n'ont r?v?l? aucune trace de ce virus. Depuis 2003, le H5N1 a tu? 67 personnes en Asie, dont 42 au Vietnam. LesPosted by dymaxion at 06:21 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
AMÉRICA LATINA: Gripe aviar
... asiático donde más se ha cebado la virulencia de la gripe aviar con la presencia del virus H5N1, el... permanente de riesgo en la avicultura regional. "Dada la agresiva forma de diseminación del virus H5N1 ...
Antón INFO (español) La COMUNIDAD en el mundo 
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Vietnamese teen contracts bird flu - Yahoo! News
... Vietnamese teen contracts bird flu - Yahoo! News Vietnamese teen contracts bird flu 21 minutes ago HANOI (Reuters) - A Vietnamese teenager has been confirmed with the H5N1 ... ...
Posted by dymaxion at 01:21 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
November 21, 2005
European Medicines Agency update on the safety of Tamiflu
Posted by dymaxion at 12:03 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
World organizations to develop avian flu early warning system
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Tamiflu Safety - How do tell if your Tamiflu is fake?
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Pricing bird flu
Beijing Minsheng Life Insurance on November 7th was first to launch a policy that would pay the insured if they are infected by the H5N1 virus. Four days later, Shenzhen based Hua-an Property Insurance followed. ...Posted by dymaxion at 11:27 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Another suspected human death over bird flu occurs in Indonesia - People's Daily Online
 Washington Post | Another suspected human death over bird flu occurs in Indonesia People's Daily Online, China - ... Local tests showed he had contracted the deadly H5N1 strain of avian influenza, the Website of Jakarta Post quoted her as saying. ... Hygiene will reduce risk of flu pandemic-HK expert Indonesia records eighth bird flu death What’s so scary . . .? |
Posted by dymaxion at 11:26 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
NYT: Bush plan inadequate
The New York Times has blocked off most of its content from Web surfers, but here's an editorial you can access: The Perplexing Pandemic Flu Plan. It confirms Leavitt's warnings (see below) about national unpreparedness:
Local health departments and hospitals would have to rely on isolating infected people to limit spread of the disease and using standard medical care to reduce death and suffering. Yet this is precisely where the plan is at its weakest. The voluminous document is mostly a laundry list of things state and local health agencies and hospitals should consider in getting ready. Professional groups and academic experts who have pored over the details find them disturbingly incomplete as a guide to action.
The chain of command is unclear, with myriad agencies and multiple levels of government playing a role. Medical or public health interventions are sometimes suggested without enough information to judge their likely effectiveness or downsides. Liability protection for health workers and compensation for those injured by vaccines are not addressed, nor is the issue of how the United States would respond to requests from other countries for vaccines and medicines. Health departments and medical institutions would be left to scramble for extra vaccines or drugs from private suppliers once stockpiles have been exhausted, setting off a race that should be averted by centralized purchases.
Posted by dymaxion at 11:25 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
A conference on avian flu
Many thanks to the reader who sent me the link to the Council on Foreign Relations' Conference On The Global Threat Of Pandemic Influenza.
It's the transcript of a day-long conference last Wednesday, where a number of well-known persons including Laurie Garrett and Michael Osterholm looked at:
•Where we stand now
•Containment and control
•The US government's role
•The business community's role
•What would the world look like after a pandemic?
The transcript is quite long, and worth reading in its entirety.
Posted by dymaxion at 11:20 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Vaccination could backfire on China
The International Herald Tribune quotes American experts as saying bird flu plan could backfire on China.
carrying the disease would be a good example of one of my favourite words: "iatrogenic" means a disease caused by efforts to heal.Vaccination teams could easily carry the virus from farm to farm on their shoes, clothes and equipment unless they changed or sterilized them each time, the experts said last week. That practice could be particularly difficult in a country like China, where the veterinary care system is underfinanced and millions of birds are kept in small flocks by families.
Also, experts said, the task is likely to be overwhelming because the Chinese eat about 14 billion chickens a year, so mass vaccinations would have to be repeated again and again, while the risk of the disease being reintroduced by migratory birds, in which it is now endemic, would be constant.
Posted by dymaxion at 11:18 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Bird Flu Survivors May Not Be All That Safe The Immune System Blog
Bird Flu Survivors May Not Be All That Safe RedNova - Nov 18 6:15 AM By Tan Ee LynHONG KONG — Deadly strains of the H5N1 bird flu virus have killed about half of all people known to have been infected and most people assume that survivors should be protected by antibodies and so immune to [...]Posted by dymaxion at 11:05 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
ONU revela criação de sistema de alerta para gripe das avesNotícias Publico.PT
Através de mapas de migrações das aves
Vários especialistas começaram a criar um sistema de alerta para a gripe das aves, através do mapeamento das rotas das aves migradoras que, segundo os cientistas, estão a espalhar o vírus H5N1 da Ásia para outras partes do mundo, revelaram hoje as Nações Unidas.
Posted by dymaxion at 11:04 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Grippe aviaire : le virus H5N1 confirmé en Roumanietf1.fr - Actu Sciences
Le virus "hautement pathogène" de la grippe aviaire a été confirmé sur quatre poules retrouvées mortes la semaine dernière dans le delta du Danube. Deux nouveaux foyers ont été identifiés lundi dans cette même région. En Chine, les autorités évoquent une situation "toujours grave".Posted by dymaxion at 11:04 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
全國家禽免疫年底完成
... ，預計要到年底，才可做到全國家禽免疫。另外，早前三宗內地確診人類感染H5N1禽流感病例，其中兩名死者死前曾進食病死家禽。 內蒙自治區莫力達瓦達斡爾族自治旗漢古爾河鎮烏蘭村本月十五日，共一百七十六隻飼養的家禽死亡，十六日湖北省石首市天鵝洲經濟開發區死亡家禽達三千五百隻，國家禽流感參考實驗室昨日確診兩地的疫情為H5N1亞型高致病性禽流感。農業部即時派出專家組赴疫區指導防控工作，兩疫區亦按照有關應急預案要求...，並引發敗血症、胃出血等，多種臟器功能衰竭其後不治。同樣吃過病雞的九歲弟弟賀俊堯經治療後，日前康復出院。 此外，加拿大政府昨日證實，中部馬尼托巴省驗出多隻候鳥感染H5N1禽流感病毒 ...
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Romania confirms H5N1 virus in Danube delta poultry
Romania confirms H5N1 virus in Danube delta poultry http://za.today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=topNews storyID=2005-11-21T093252Z_01_ALL129725_RTRIDST_0_OZATP-BIRDFLU-ROMANIA-20051121.XML Laboratory tests in Britain confirmed the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu in samples taken from Romanian hens found dead last week in a Danube delta village, the agriculture ministry said on Monday.Posted by dymaxion at 10:51 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
November 18, 2005
Congress rejects emergency funding for bird flu
Emergency money that President George W. Bush requested to combat a looming influenza pandemic has been deleted from a U.S. health-funding bill after conservative Republicans insisted it would have to be paid for by cutting other government programs.
The U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday was set to debate the massive health-funding bill. After days of intensive talks between the House and Senate, negotiators dropped a plan for $8 billion in funds that Democrats pushed through the Senate last month.
Following that Senate vote, Bush on November 1 asked Congress for $7.1 billion in emergency money.
The funding fight erupted after conservative Republicans in the House insisted that an emergency U.S. effort to stockpile vaccines and anti-viral drugs that could be effective against the deadly flu would have to be paid for by cutting other government programs.
Republican leaders in the House said that instead of attaching the bird flu money to a massive $602 billion health and labor spending bill that is rapidly moving through Congress, they would try separate legislation later this year or early next year.
Posted by dymaxion at 01:34 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Bird Flu Survivors May Not Be All That Safe
By Tan Ee LynHONG KONG -- Deadly strains of the H5N1 bird flu virus have killed about half of all people known to have been infected and most people assume that survivors should be protected by antibodies and so immune to repeat infections.But experts say that may not always be the case.The virus, which has infected 130 people in Asia and killed 67 of them since late 2003, is changing constantly and repeat infections by new strains could still leave a birdflu survivor in peril, just as people can catch a new form of the flu every year."Infected people with antibodies (to H5N1) should be protected for years against the same virus.Posted by dymaxion at 01:33 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Vietnam plans human bird-flu vaccine trials
Amid concerns that the bird flu virus is mutating and experts’ warnings that developing a specific H5N1 vaccine would be futile in such a case, Vietnamese health officials are planning to start testing a potential human vaccine against the H5N1 bird flu virus in early 2006. The vaccine, developed in 2004, has been tested successfully on chickens and monkeys. Human trials would begin as soon as the World Health Organization and the Vietnamese government approve the tests.
The vaccine has been developed by Hanoi-based researchers using cell culture technique. A sample of a weakened form of the virus was taken from a patient who had died of the disease and then grown in monkey kidney cells, a process the group claims can produce the best results within the shortest time.
Besides the human bird flu vaccine, Vietnam has also disclosed plans to produce poultry vaccine to stem the rapid spread of the disease among its estimated 220 million birds. An official from Vietnam’s Institute of Biotechnology said that the agriculture ministry had given permission to two enterprises, one close to Hanoi and another in the southern business hub, Ho Chi Minh City, to produce the vaccine.
Meanwhile, an FDA advisory panel is reviewing a proposal by pharmaceutical companies to base production of bird flu vaccines on cell cultures in a laboratory rather than chicken eggs. Although the new method is quicker, the FDA is cautious about giving it its go-ahead as vaccines grown from the cell line carry the risk of creating tumors.
In the latest update on bird flu, WHO has confirmed two more human bird flu deaths in Indonesia. Four other Indonesians have been confirmed as infected with the H5N1 strain of bird flu but are still alive. On Wednesday, China reported its first three confirmed human cases of bird flu—two of them fatalities— as the government raced to vaccinate billions of chickens, ducks and other poultry in a massive effort to stop the spread of the virus.
Posted by dymaxion at 01:30 PM
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Chicago Tribune | FDA to Examine Deaths of Tamiflu Patients
Chicago Tribune | FDA to Examine Deaths of Tamiflu Patients (info)http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/sns-ap-fda-tamiflu,1,4085200.story?c oll=chi-business-hed&ctrack=1&cset=truePosted by Declan on Fri Nov 18 2005 at 14:59 UTC
Posted by dymaxion at 01:28 PM
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WHO: Ptačí chřipka časem vyvolá epidemii u lidí
Posted by dymaxion at 01:28 PM
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Tamiflu Safety - the FDA Responds
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China confirms two more bird flu cases - Outlook (subscription)
China confirms two more bird flu cases
Outlook (subscription), India - 2 hours ago
Highly pathogenic H5N1 bird flu epidemic was found in Xiaoyi city of Shanxi Province and Urumqi city of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, the Chinese ...
China to vaccinate entire poultry Times of India
all 2 related
Posted by dymaxion at 01:22 PM
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Recent Avian Influenza Outbreaks in Asia and Europe - Community Dispatch (press release)
Recent Avian Influenza Outbreaks in Asia and Europe
Community Dispatch (press release) - 11 hours ago
The World Health Organization (WHO) maintains situation updates and cumulative reports of human cases of avian influenza A (H5N1). ...
US BioDefense, Inc. Explores Strategic Response to Bird Flu ... Yahoo! News (press release)
all 4 related
Posted by dymaxion at 01:21 PM
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China's poultry industry gets a break
China Daily reports on the latest government plans to cope with bird flu.
At a meeting of the State Council, or Cabinet, led by Premier Wen Jiabao, poultry processing and marketing businesses were ordered exempt from 2005 corporate taxes. They will get value-added tax rebates and export tax rebates, and breaks on land use, real estate and vehicle taxes, Xinhua News Agency reported.
Banks, meanwhile, were ordered to relax terms on loan payments and poultry workers who lose their jobs are to get unemployment insurance or subsistence allowances, the Xinhua report said.
The government earlier set aside 2 billion yuan, or $250 million, to finance its campaign against the disease, which includes vaccinating all domestic fowl and compensating farmers for their losses. According to state media reports, farmers are due to get between 10 yuan to 30 yuan ($1.23) to 30 yuan ($3.70) for each bird lost to culling or disease.
is help comes not a minute too soon. The story also describes the implosion of the poultry market in Shanghai, where chicken is now cheaper than some vegetables.
Posted by dymaxion at 01:20 PM
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New Zealand considers "telebanking"
New Zealand really does seem to be taking H5N1 seriously. Now the country's reserve bank governor is disclosing the bank's plans for a "Code Red" scenario.
This would include cutting interest rates by one or two percent to keep the economy going. The bank would also operate in part over the Internet:
Under the worst-case scenario of a full scale pandemic, the central bank would send staff home and key functions would be conducted remotely.
The bank has already begun enacting plans to increase the amount of money in its vaults, to counter panic hoarding.
eputy governor, Adrian Orr, said that New Zealand households are vulnerable because of high debt levels, while the country's current account deficit "was running at an unsustainable 8 percent of GDP." Even if H5N1 could be kept out of New Zealand, the economic impact would be severe.
And since not every bank employee could work from home, "The Reserve Bank is issuing staff with face masks, gloves, tissues, handwash liquid and paracetamol."
Posted by dymaxion at 01:17 PM
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Ho Chi Minh City braces for human flu
The hospitals in Ho Chi Minh City (once known as Saigon) are preparing for a human pandemic of avian flu, according to Thanh Nien Daily.
At the Pediatric Hospital I, a special unit has been set up comprising of 20 doctors and 20 nurses. Yesterday, the hospital conducted a mock exercise to respond to bird flu cases.
Its director, Tang Chi Thuong, said the hospital was making emergency preparations for a possible pandemic. Since the hospital was always full of children, he said the flu could spread quickly if H5N1 victims came in waves and he did not have appropriate measures in place.
Another children's facility, the Pediatric Hospital II, has trained all its staff, from drivers to guards, to protect themselves against infection. It also has more than 1,000 tamiflu pills.
Pham Ngoc Thach Hospital, a newcomer in the fight against the epidemic, even has a separate toilet for bird flu patients.
Posted by dymaxion at 01:16 PM
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Two Women Who Died of Avian Flu in Indonesia Had No Contact With Birds
said in an interview today. The H5N1 virus has infected at least 130 people and killed 67 since December 2003 in Vietnam, China, Cambodia, Indonesia and Thailand, the World Health
Posted by dymaxion at 01:14 PM
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BAD NEWS
... 接了个电话，她告诉我，她受了伤。。。。 有些事，原本可以避免，却总是意外地发生， 有某些人的降临，可以是天使，亦可以是魔鬼， 说不出安慰的句子，很多事，痛过才知痛。。。 痛过才懂得如果更爱自己。。。 很庆幸，她没有太沮丧， 就算痛，还有人陪她呼吸痛的空气。 原来生命不是可以自己自主的， 这样也好， 不会怕有H5N1； 不会怕恒星某日会撞上地球； 我对她说 很快过去的。。。 IMG IMG ...
Posted by dymaxion at 01:13 PM
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Tamiflu Futures To Trade at the Merc
... having already peaked and with the news of H5N1 spreading in China, there is said to be a raging ...
Posted by dymaxion at 01:13 PM
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中国在APEC的领导作用正超过美国
... ，中国和美国都在其中扮演著重要角色。同时中国在对抗禽流感疫情方面也发挥著举足轻重的作用。 过去一个月中，中国爆发了9起禽流感疫情，对候鸟可能在不同国家传播H5N1型禽流感病毒的恐惧已经增强了中国和其他APEC成员国进行合作的紧迫性 ...
Posted by dymaxion at 01:12 PM
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【国際】中国で感染地域拡大 新たに2カ所で鳥インフルエンザ感染を確認したと発表
... 【国際】中国で感染地域拡大 新たに2カ所で鳥インフルエンザ感染を確認したと発表 ◇中国で感染地域拡大 鳥インフルエンザ、山西省でも 中国農業省は１８日、山西省孝義市と新疆ウイグル自治区ウルムチの２カ所で 高病原性鳥インフルエンザ（Ｈ５Ｎ１型）の家禽（かきん）への感染を それぞれ確認したと発表した。 山西省での感染確認は今年初めて。これで中国の計３１の省、 直轄市、自治区のうち、感染が確認された地域は６省３自治区に及んだ。 孝義市では１０日に鶏約８１００羽が死に、１７日に感染を確認。 ウルムチ天山区では１２日に鶏８羽が死に、１６日に確認した。 いずれも発生場所から３キロ以内の家禽を ...
Posted by dymaxion at 01:11 PM
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radio australia - news - chinese authorities lock down village after bird flu death
Chinese authorities have locked down a village in eastern Anhui province after a pregnant woman died of bird flu last week.
The 24-year-old from the small village of Lingtan became the nation's first confirmed human fatality from the virus.
China's health ministry in Beijing says the H5N1 virus also likely claimed the life of a 12-year-old girl in Hunan province.
back
Posted by dymaxion at 01:09 PM
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Avian Flu: Is Humanity on the Razor?s Edge?
Anyone who supposes that evolution doesnt happen, or doesnt matter, should spare a thought for H5N1... to H5N1 for most of the past decade.
It is part of the natural order for viruses to mutate, and the H5N1 flu strain associated with the deadly form of avian flu is no exception. Indeed, random mutation... the dreaded human transmissible form of H5N1 could result from an even simpler method --- recombination..., the fact that H3 and H4 viruses are co-infecting birds that also have H5N1 creates new opportunities
Posted by dymaxion at 01:08 PM
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November 17, 2005
HoustonChronicle.com - Medicine man: The government's point man on pandemic flu has no medical, public health or emergency management experience. But is he an effective manager?
HoustonChronicle.com - Medicine man: The government's point man on pandemic flu has no medical, public health or emergency management experience. But is he an effective manager? (info)http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/editorial/3466666"The government's point man on pandemic flu has no medical, public health or emergency management experience. But is he an effective manager?"Posted by Declan on Thu Nov 17 2005 at 12:07 UTC
Posted by dymaxion at 11:29 AM
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WSJ map of flu outbreaks
WSJ MAP
WSJ map of flu outbreaks (info)http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/info-flash05a.html?project =avianflumap05&h=500&w=780&hasAd=1Posted by Declan on Thu Nov 17 2005 at 09:38 UTC
Posted by dymaxion at 11:28 AM
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More on the mutation discovered in VietnamAvian Flu - What we need to know
H5N1 has already been mutating rapidly in Vietnam, where few chickens are vaccinated. Cao Bao Van, head of the Pasteur Institute in Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam, told the Vietnamese press this week that 24 isolates of H5N1 from poultry and humans, taken between December 2003 and March 2005, show “significant variation”.
Cao was also quoted as saying a mutation had been observed in the PB2 gene of a virus isolated from a human case in March, which “allows more effective breeding of the virus in mammals”. PB2 codes for part of the polymerase enzyme which replicates the virus.
That mutation, at amino acid number 627 of the protein, changes the glutamic acid of bird flu to the lysine typical of human flu. The change allows the virus to replicate in the human respiratory tract, which is cooler than the bird guts where bird flu normally replicates.
The same mutation has been turning up since 2004 in several isolates of H5N1 from humans and other mammals in east Asia and shows the virus is adapting to mammals while infecting them. It was also a feature of the 1918 pandemic virus, which was a bird flu virus that adapted to humans.
From a New Scientist article that also informs us of a Chinese plan to vaccinate all poultry against bird flu.
Posted by dymaxion at 11:25 AM
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grippe aviaire et conflit sud thailandeasiareports
Grippe aviaire : Bangkok sous la menace
Un petit garçon de dix-huit mois est devenu le 5 novembre la première victime de la grippe
aviaire dans la capitale thaïlandaise. Il a probablement été
infecté par l'un des trois poulets élevés à
son domicile et retrouvés morts quelques jours avant que ne se
déclare la maladie. Le district de Klong Sam Wa, proche du zoo
Safari World, a été mis sous surveillance. La présence,
dans Bangkok, de centaines, voire de milliers d'élevage de
volailles familiaux ou tout simplement clandestins rend difficile
toute campagne d'éradication, d'autant que les autorités
se livrent à un combat de coqs pour savoir qui a la charge de
lutter contre l'épidémie. Le mois de novembre a en
effet vu une sérieuse prise de becs entre le gouverneur Apirak
Kosayodhin, élu de l'opposition démocrate, et la
ministre de l'Agriculture, Sudarat Keyuraphan, toute dévouée
au Premier ministre Thaksin. Cette dernière a accusé la
municipalité de ne pas transmettre au gouvernement les
rapports sur les cas de mortalité aviaire.
Une vingtaine de « zones à
risque » restent sous haute surveillance dans le pays,
alors que le gouvernement vient d'annoncer un plan d'éradication
de la grippe aviaire sur trois ans. La plupart des observateurs,
notant l'absence de mesures sérieuses dans trois pays voisins
(Cambodge, Laos et surtout Birmanie), doutent cependant de
l'efficacité de toute mesure strictement nationale.
Pendant ce temps-là, sur le
front de la recherche, un laboratoire de Hanoi vient d'identifier des
modifications de la structure du virus H5N1 qui pourraient favoriser
une transmission entre mammifères. Le cauchemard a-t-il déjà
commencé ?
Nouvelle escalade dans le Sud
Ce pourrait être juste un chiffre
de plus dans les terribles statistiques du conflit qui fait rage
depuis bientôt deux ans dans les trois provinces du Sud du
royaume. Mais c'est surtout le symbole d'un durcissement de la
situation. Une famille de neuf personnes a été
assassinées à l'arme automatique, le 16 novembre, dans
un village de la province de Narathiwat. Pour la première fois
depuis janvier 2004, les rebelles indépendantistes musulmans
ont opéré une action de représailles
collectives. Le chef de la famille en question, ancien rebelle, avait
semble-t-il choisi de retourner sa veste et de se ranger du côté
des autorités thaïlandaises. Ce multiple assassinat ciblé
n'a épargné ni la femme ni les sept enfants du
défecteur, âgés de huit mois à vingt ans.
C'est un avertissement brutal aux musulmans de la région qui
seraient tentés de trouver un compromis dans un conflit qui a
déjà fait mille morts. C'est aussi une fin de
non-recevoir envoyée à un gouvernement qui n'a su
conquérir ni les coeurs ni les âmes de ses citoyens en
danger.
Posted by dymaxion at 11:23 AM
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Dos nuevas muertes por gripe aviar en Indonesia20Minutos
Los análisis revelan la presencia del mortal virus de la cepa H5N1. Ya son siete los muertos en ese país a causa de esa enfermedad.
Posted by dymaxion at 11:23 AM
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La Chine confirme ses premiers cas humain de grippe aviaire [17/11/2005 11:29]Sciences : actualité scientifique - NouvelObs.com
Le ministre de la santé chinois a confirmé mercredi soir que trois personnes ont été contaminées par le virus H5N1 pour la première fois en Chine. Il sagit dune jeune femme de 24 ans travaillant dans une ferme dans la province de Anhui, qui est morte le 10 novembre.
Posted by dymaxion at 11:22 AM
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WHO Expects Human Cases of Bird Flu to Rise in China
Anhui province died from the deadly H5N1 avian flu strain. A 12-year-old girl in southern Hunan is suspected of having died from the disease last month. Her nine-year old brother,
Posted by dymaxion at 11:21 AM
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Eerste sterfgeval vogelgriep in China
... de bestrijding van H5N1 niet adequaat aanpakt. ,,Het is voldoende om de vogels in een omtrek van ...
Posted by dymaxion at 11:20 AM
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AIDS may help spread of bird flu
... systems, could harbour the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu. This would potentially give it the opportunity... at a conference organised by the Council on Foreign Relations in New York. At present, H5N1 cannot pass easily... the key could be when H5N1 reaches East Africa, where HIV/Aids is rife. Cannot clear virus He ...
Posted by dymaxion at 11:20 AM
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WHOが感染拡大警告(共同通信)
... 2005年11月17日 (木曜日) WHOが感染拡大警告(共同通信) 【北京･共同】 世界保健機関(ＷＨＯ）北京事務所の ベケダム代表は17日記者会見し、 中国で高病原性鳥 インフルエンザ(Ｈ５Ｎ１型）の人への感染が 初めて確認されたことについて、 鳥や人への感染が拡大する可能性があると警告、 中国政府と協力し、 感染拡大防止に全力を挙げる姿勢を表明した｡ 冬へ向けて日に日に寒さが増しています。 朝晩の寒さに気を付けるのもそうですが、 出掛けたらウガイ、手洗いも忘れず、 予防に努めましょう。 投稿者 na-mi- 時刻 22時07分 in ニュース | ...
Posted by dymaxion at 11:20 AM
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中国大陆人染禽流首证实 揭中共瞒情
... ，即将在各口岸恢复为入境旅客探测体温。 据中共卫生部公布，内地确定2宗人感染高致病性禽流感H5N1病例中，湖南1宗，安徽1宗，另1宗在湖南的个案即贺姓女孩，因为患者已死，同时缺乏确切的实验室检测证据... 中共卫生部的通报对3宗个案有所说明： 确诊的第1名患者贺某某，男，9岁，湖南省湘潭市湘潭县人。10月10日发病，临床有发热、肺炎表现。患者发病前有病死家禽接触史，其居住的村发生H5N1高致病性禽流感疫情。对该患者标本的实验室检测，H5N1病毒阴性。实验室检测患者发病后急性期和恢复期双份血清，H5特异性抗体呈4倍以上增高，表明患者近期有高致病性禽流感病毒H5N1感染。根据患者流行病学史、临床表现和实验室结果 ...
Posted by dymaxion at 11:19 AM
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reformatorisch dagblad - internet editie
JAKARTA (ANP/RTR) De gevaarlijke vogelgriepvariant H5N1 heeft in Indonesi nog twee slachtoffers ge ist. Een meisje en een jonge vrouw overleden als gevolg van de griep afgelopen week in Jakarta, zo bevestigde het ministerie van Volksgezondheid donderdag.
De twee hadden contact gehad met dode kippen. Het brengt het aantal pati nten van dit virus dat is overleden in Indonesi op zeven. Vier pati... in het zuidoosten van Azi .
Het zouden er veel meer kunnen worden indien H5N1 zich onder mensen
Posted by dymaxion at 11:18 AM
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Indonesia confirms two new bird flu deaths
for the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus, according to the World Health Organization in Jakarta.
Those....
The Ministry confirmed that a 24-year-old poultry worker was killed by the H5N1 virus.
A nine-year-old boy... she died of the H5N1 influenza virus, but the case could not be confirmed because no samples were... were compatible with H5N1, for us it's not a case because we don't have that laboratory confirmation..., in an effort to contain the virus.
The H5N1 bird flu virus has killed more than 60 people in Asia
Posted by dymaxion at 11:17 AM
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November 16, 2005
H5N1: Asian Development Bank on pandemic consequences
Posted by dymaxion at 01:13 PM
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Vietnamese researchers to test vaccines on themselves
Thanh Nien, a good Vietnamese source, says researchers will test vaccines on themselves.
According to the Hanoi-based Central Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology, Vietnam will produce H5N1 vaccines by culturing the bird flu strain for lengthy periods in monkey cells, yielding a deactivated form of the virus. When the deactivated form is delivered to the human system, it should kick start the immune system, allowing it to recognize and fend off the real virus.
The Vietnam-produced vaccine samples are now in the hands of the World Health Organization for analysis prior to the human test.
Posted by dymaxion at 01:11 PM
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Bird flu could cut US poultry demand by 50%
Yahoo! News reports that bird flu could cut US poultry demand by 50 percent. It's another reminder that avian flu is a serious economic problem even if it never infects another human being:
In 2006, the United States is forecast to produce nearly 36 billion pounds of chickens, according to USDA.
Poultry exports from the United States range between $1.7 billion and $2.5 billion annually, or 8 percent to 15 percent of total production, according to USDA figures. The rest is consumed domestically.
beef industry has taken a beating in recent years because of exactly one case of mad cow disease, which shut down our exports (especially to the US). And that was a problem even though Canadians continued to chow down on burgers and steaks.
Imagine the impact of a domestic boycott of poultry products in the US, coupled with a ban on exports.
Posted by dymaxion at 01:11 PM
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310 dead from bird flu in China?
Thanks to the reader who supplied the link to iFlu.org: 310 dead from bird flu in China? It's a remarkable story. The question is whether it's true or not.
First, some background. Last spring and summer Boxun News was the source of remarkable information from China's Qinghai Lake. Dr. Henry Niman of Recombinomics was using computer translations of Boxun's news stories, which included transcripts from Chinese-language bulletin boards.
These accounts suggested a raging epidemic of avian flu in the region of Qinghai Lake, with a presumably successful suppression of the story by Chinese authorities. (Machine translation, alas, also made the reports sound like something from the I Qing.)
Boxun is hard to assess as a reliable source. It's a news service run out of the US by Chinese dissidents, some of them refugees from the Tiananmen Square events of 1989. While they might well have access to domestic Chinese online communications, they might equally want to discredit the Beijing government by any means possible.
By the end of the summer Boxun seemed to have lost interest in avian flu. I still check it fairly often, but most of its recent English-language translations have to do with specific dissidents and with problems in Burma (Myanmar).
I still don't know whether to trust Boxun or not. You'd think that if they were just out to whip up anti-Beijing feeling, they'd have leaned hard on H5N1 as a topic that scares a lot of westerners who honestly don't care about Myanmar. Instead, they've ignored H5N1—at least in their English-language items, a small fraction of what they post.
I'm also surprised and a little shocked that, with all the Chinese speakers in the world outside China, we have so little access to the Chinese Internet—including translations of Boxun news stories. The anglocentric nature of the Internet is a real disadvantage here.
Given the number of western journalists, teachers, tourists, and business persons in China today, it's also surprising that such a story (310 avian-flu deaths!) could go unnoticed until Boxun got around to reporting it.
The story may well be true. But for now I'm sticking with the Scottish verdict: "Not proven."
Posted by dymaxion at 01:10 PM
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Chinese media stand up and speak up
Here's an absolute must-read from China Daily: Why must Chinese press take a detour for virus info? The author is Hu Shuli, editor-in-chief of Caijing Magazine. Her article is both a demand for more transparency in Chinese media, and an indication that such transparency is actually happening. Here's an excerpt, but read the whole thing:
When other domestic press, including Caijing, sent journalists to Xiangtan [where 12-year-old He Yin died], they met many obstacles in gaining access to the case. Apparently, local government agencies do not quite see eye to eye with Beijing on the matter of transparency.
Admittedly, the situation has improved immensely over what we witnessed in the early days of the SARS epidemic in 2003, when the question of the virus's very existence in China was deemed a state secret.
But if we want to further improve the situation, we must also acknowledge that officials still are not open and efficient enough in disclosing virus information to the public.
Millions of Chinese farmers, with their lives and property directly threatened by the virus, deserve to receive information first-hand the minute it becomes public. Better informing farmers means granting greater freedom to the domestic media. At very least, they should be allowed to stand on the same starting line as their foreign counterparts.
you stand is where all journalists should be standing.
Posted by dymaxion at 01:10 PM
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中国で鳥インフルエンザ、3人感染
... 【北京＝飯野克彦】新華社電によると、中国衛生省は16日夜、鳥インフルエンザの人への感染を3例確認したと発表した。中国で人への感染を確認したのは初めて。政府は感染拡大を防ぐため、同国のすべての家禽（かきん）約142億羽へのワクチン接種に乗り出した。 人への感染を確認したのは湖南省で2例、安徽省で1例。いずれも10月に鳥インフルエンザ（Ｈ５Ｎ１型）の家禽への感染を確認、人への感染も疑われていた地域。 世界保健機関（ＷＨＯ）北京事務所は同日、感染した3人のうち2人が死亡したと中国当局から連絡を受けたことを明らかにした。 地元の衛生当局や衛生省は当初、人への感染を否定していたが、15日までに「 ...
Posted by dymaxion at 01:09 PM
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Gripe aviar en humanos se extiende a China con 2 casos, 1 mortal
... gripales poco después de ingerir pollo en una zona afectada por uno de los brotes de H5N1, y aunque en... señaló hoy a EFE que se encontraron altos niveles de anticuerpos del virus H5N1 en análisis ...
..::Guillermo Coalla Suárez::..BLOG
Posted by dymaxion at 01:09 PM
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禽流感常識問答
... 路透華盛頓電---全球領導人都在採取行動，試圖控制H5N1禽流感病毒的繼續爆發，該病毒已在某些亞、歐國家造成家禽感染。以下是一些有關該病毒的常見問題及其答案。 **為什麼我們如此擔心H5N1病毒？** H5N1禽流感病毒不僅會使家禽迅速死亡，現在還能感染人類。世界衛生組織(WHO)已經確認有126人被感染，有64人因此死亡，另外還有九個疑似病例或被當地確認的病例。 感染人數聽起來似乎不多，但令衛生官員和科學家擔心的是，H5N1與其它流感病毒一樣會不斷變異，它現在只是缺少在人際傳播的能力。如果它具備了這種轉移性，會有數百萬人在幾個月之內被感染，而且由於其本身的致病性和人類對其缺乏免疫力 ...
Posted by dymaxion at 01:08 PM
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More on the mutation discovered in Vietnam
H5N1 has already been mutating rapidly in Vietnam, where few chickens are vaccinated. Cao Bao Van, head of the Pasteur Institute in Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam, told the Vietnamese press this week that 24 isolates of H5N1 from poultry and humans, taken between December 2003 and March 2005, show “significant variation”.
Cao was also quoted as saying a mutation had been observed in the PB2 gene of a virus isolated from a human case in March, which “allows more effective breeding of the virus in mammals”. PB2 codes for part of the polymerase enzyme which replicates the virus.
That mutation, at amino acid number 627 of the protein, changes the glutamic acid of bird flu to the lysine typical of human flu. The change allows the virus to replicate in the human respiratory tract, which is cooler than the bird guts where bird flu normally replicates.
The same mutation has been turning up since 2004 in several isolates of H5N1 from humans and other mammals in east Asia and shows the virus is adapting to mammals while infecting them. It was also a feature of the 1918 pandemic virus, which was a bird flu virus that adapted to humans.
From a New Scientist article that also informs us of a Chinese plan to vaccinate all poultry against bird flu.
Posted by dymaxion at 01:07 PM
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Avian flu alert service
Here is the link, courtesy of Tim Faught.
Posted by dymaxion at 01:07 PM
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China Confirms First Human Bird Flu Cases
H5N1 has killed more than 60 people since it reappeared in Asia two years ago. In all or almost all human cases reported thus far, transmission has been from animals to people. Scientists fear the strain could mutate and become passable ...
Posted by dymaxion at 01:05 PM
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Bird Flu Marches On
The H5N1 virus was detected in two patients in the central province of Hunan and one sick person in the eastern province of Anhui, the ministry said. All three were believed to have caught the virus through contact with sick birds. ...
Posted by dymaxion at 01:03 PM
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Bird Flu In China
China is now admitting that H5N1 antibodies have been found in the brother of the girl who died of mysterious pneumonia. Today they said they have three ... Boxun is reporting that there have been over 300 fatalities from H5N1 in China. ...
Posted by dymaxion at 01:03 PM
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Bird Flu raging in Vietnam
Link: Thanhnien News. Vietnam’s animal health agency said Friday that bird flu had spread to 30 communes in nine provinces and cities where nearly 30000 fowls died or were culled. The provinces are Bac Lieu and Dong Thap in the...
Posted by dymaxion at 01:02 PM
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H5N1 running rampant - batten down the hatches!
The Chinese government is now warning of the H5N1 outbreak running out of control in the Liaoning, with 3 fresh cases in 24 hours. The new scientist article on it is nothing but alarming, and for the Chinese government, that light of ...
Posted by dymaxion at 01:02 PM
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November 15, 2005
The latest from China
[A] team of WHO experts traveled to China's central region where a bird flu outbreak was reported among poultry. Three people fell ill in the same village in Hunan, including a 12-year-old girl who died, after the government reported 545 chickens and ducks died of bird flu last month. The H5N1 bird flu virus has not been ruled out as the cause of the human infection.
The six-member WHO team is expected to stay a week, working with Chinese officials to investigate the outbreak, said Roy Wadia, WHO spokesman in Beijing.
China also reported a new bird flu outbreak in poultry in Huainan, a city in the eastern province of Anhui its ninth outbreak since Oct. 19, China Central Television said.
Another report said China had developed its own version of Tamiflu, an antiviral drug believed to be the best treatment available for bird flu in humans.
Zhong Nanshan, director of the Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Diseases, said the Chinese drug has some effect against the virus, according to an interview published Sunday in the Information Times newspaper. It did not give any details about the drug or when it might be available.
China also announced it will close the Xianghai National Nature Reserve to prevent tourists from getting infected with bird flu.
Today there were reports of a suspected human case in Liaoning:
"They said that there is a female poultry worker who's been diagnosed with pneumonia and she's regarded as a possible human case (of bird flu) -- they've not excluded her," said Roy Wadia, the WHO's China spokesman.
Posted by dymaxion at 12:56 PM
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Bird Flu raging in Vietnam
Link: Thanhnien News. Vietnam’s animal health agency said Friday that bird flu had spread to 30 communes in nine provinces and cities where nearly 30,000 fowls died or were culled. The provinces are Bac Lieu and Dong Thap in the...
Posted by dymaxion at 12:54 PM
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Птичий грипп стал ближе к человечеству
... Птичий грипп стал ближе к человечеству Ноябрь 14th, 2005 Штамм H5N1 мутировал, и теперь вирус... гриппа (тип А H5N1). Всего пало и забито 7407 птиц», – сказали в пресс-службе. Вьетнамские ученые, занимающиеся изучением птичьего гриппа, пришли к выводу, что вирус типа H5N1 мутировал в более ...
Posted by dymaxion at 12:47 PM
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Hazard in Hunt for New Flu:
"Some experts like Dr. Peter Palese of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York say the A(H5N1) flu viruses are a false alarm. He notes that studies of serum collected in 1992 from people in rural China indicated that millions of people there had antibodies to the A(H5N1) strain.
That means they had been infected with an H5N1 bird virus and recovered, apparently without incident.
Posted by dymaxion at 12:42 PM
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My avian flu policy piece
It is about forty pages, here is the pdf link. Your comments are welcome, either on the blog or by email (tcowen-at-gmu.edu) and thanks to all of those who extended help. Here is the Executive Summary:
To combat a possible avian flu pandemic, we should consider the following:
1. The single most important thing we can do for a pandemic—whether
avian flu or not—is to have well-prepared local health care systems. We
should prepare for pandemics in ways that are politically sustainable
and remain useful even if an avian flu pandemic does not occur.
2. Prepare social norms and emergency procedures which would limit
or delay the spread of a pandemic. Regular hand washing, and other
beneficial public customs, may save more lives than a Tamiflu stockpile.
3. Decentralize our supplies of anti-virals and treat timely distribution as more important than simply creating a stockpile.
4. Institute prizes for effective vaccines and relax liability laws
for vaccine makers. Our government has been discouraging what it should
be encouraging.
5. Respect intellectual property by buying the relevant drugs and
vaccines at fair prices. Confiscating property rights would reduce the
incentive for innovation the next time around.
6. Make economic preparations to ensure the continuity of food and
power supplies. The relevant “choke points” may include the check
clearing system and the use of mass transit to deliver food supply
workers to their jobs.
7. Realize that the federal government will be largely powerless in
the worst stages of a pandemic and make appropriate local plans.
8. Encourage the formation of prediction markets in an avian flu
pandemic. This will give us a better idea of the probability of
widespread human-to-human transmission.
9. Provide incentives for Asian countries to improve their
surveillance. Tie foreign aid to the receipt of useful information
about the progress of avian flu.
10. Reform the World Health Organization and give it greater autonomy from its government funders.
We should not do the following:
1. Tamiflu and vaccine stockpiling have their roles but they should
not form the centerpiece of a plan. In addition to the medical
limitations of these investments, institutional factors will restrict
our ability to allocate these supplies promptly to their proper uses.
2. We should not rely on quarantines and mass isolations. Both tend
to be counterproductive and could spread rather than limit a pandemic.
3. We should not expect the Army or Armed Forces to be part of a useful response plan.
4. We should not expect to choke off a pandemic in its country of
origin. Once a pandemic has started abroad, we should shut schools and
many public places immediately.
5. We should not obsess over avian flu at the expense of other
medical issues. The next pandemic or public health crisis could come
from any number of sources. By focusing on local preparedness and
decentralized responses, this plan is robust to surprise and will also
prove useful for responding to terrorism or natural catastrophes.
Posted by dymaxion at 12:07 PM
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Susilo: Seven Indonesian flu deaths, not five
Via the Jakarta Post: Susilo puts bird flu death toll at 7.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said on Monday that seven people had died in the country from bird flu, announcing a higher death toll than the World Health Organization, which puts the number of confirmed fatalities at five.
"I have paid special attention to the greater Jakarta area. From what I have gathered there are 11 (positive) sufferers and out of those seven have died," Susilo told a news conference after a cabinet meeting to discuss the deadly virus.
Posted by dymaxion at 12:01 PM
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Novosti: New bird flu outbreak reported in western China
The Russian news agency Novosti says a Hong Kong paper has reported New bird flu outbreak in western China.
A fresh outbreak of bird flu has been registered in China's western Xinjiang-Uighur Autonomous region, a Hong Kong-based newspaper reported Tuesday.
According to Ta Kung Pao, the outbreak was registered November 11, when about 1,400 chickens died in two areas not far from Urumchi, the capital of the province, which has a population of about 19 million people and borders on Russia, and other countries.
other side of China from Liaoning and Hunan. The story notes that this is the tenth avian-flu outbreak in China in the past six weeks.
Posted by dymaxion at 11:57 AM
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Bird Flu Panic
If you're absolutely, totally convinced that you'll be the only person in your block left alive after the inevitable H5N1 pandemic then don't bother to read this Weekly Standard article by Michael Fumento. His well researched and documented piece puts the fear mongering and scare tactics of the popular media into perspective and should be required study for anyone who is prone to mass hysteria fueled by Breaking News Headlines IN ALL CAPS!.
For the rest of us, Fumento does an excellent job of posing and answering the pertinent questions ("How likely is avian flu to become readily communicable between humans? How contagious would it be? What interventions could be taken if it did become pandemic? How deadly would it be?") as well as providing a historical overview of various recent flu outbreaks and pandemics.
My advice is to take two cups of coffee and read the article. Call or write if you don't feel better almost immediately.
Thanks to Michelle Malkin.
Posted by dymaxion at 11:44 AM
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Fågelviruset har muterat säger mediaJinges Web- och fotoblog
Det är en uppgift som jag tror obetingat på. Detta virus muterar tämligen snabbt och det sker sannolikt fler än en gång per dygn…
Men är det över huvud taget en nyhet? Det är svårt att bedöma det för en lekman. Så här skriver DN/TT:
Forskare i Vietnam säger att fågelinfluensaviruset H5N1 har muterat till en [...]
Posted by dymaxion at 11:34 AM
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53 Finches Die of Bird Flu In British Quarantine Center
... Fifty-three finches from Taiwan have died at a British quarantine centre because of an outbreak of the most deadly strain of avian flu, the government said. The birds, southeast Asian mesias, also described as finches, died last month of the highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 strain ...
Infectious Disease News | Bird Flu News
Posted by dymaxion at 11:24 AM
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Burmese Migrant Worker in Bangkok Suspected Bird Flu Victim
... infected with the H5N1 bird flu virus. More Flu season tempered by bird flu fears CNN - 47 minutes ago concern. The H5N1 strain of the avian flu has infected 126 people and killed 64 since 2003, according to the World Health Organization. Akzo Nobel developing human H5N1 vaccine Medical News ...
Posted by dymaxion at 11:22 AM
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China to vaccinate 14bn poultry - BBC News
Malaysia StarChina to vaccinate 14bn poultry
BBC News, UK - 1 hour ago
... cases are being investigated. The H5N1 strain of bird flu has killed more than 60 people in South East Asia since 2003. Mr Jia made ...
China vows flu vaccinations for billions of birds Reuters AlertNet
China tries to vaccinate all its poultry as bird flu spreads ... Forbes
More bird flu found in eastern China Monsters and Critics.com
Sify - Shanghai Daily - all 51 related
Posted by dymaxion at 11:19 AM
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H5N1 suspect shows negative - Nhan Dan
Nhan DanH5N1 suspect shows negative
Nhan Dan, Vietnam - 6 hours ago
The test of a student in Hanoi suspected of contracting H5N1 virus gave negative result, said the Central Epidemic Hygiene Hospital. ...
Student suspected of contracting H5N1 Nhan Dan
all 2 related
Posted by dymaxion at 11:17 AM
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November 14, 2005
The politics of pandemics in history
Here is yesterday's feature article from The Boston Globe. In the nineteenth century, the debate was between "miasmatism" and "contagionism."
Posted by dymaxion at 01:27 PM
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Chinese rumor of bird flu found in pigs
I cannot confirm this report:
Bird-flu virus has been found in pigs bred in China's Hunan province, which means the virus could be closer to infecting humans on a large scale, reports said yesterday. Ming Pao Daily News quoted an interview on China's Phoenix Satellite TV in which a deputy agricultural minister in Hunan said that bird-flu virus had been found in pigs for the first time. A spokesman from the farm ministry said officials had not gathered enough information to disclose further details.
That is from today's Washington Times, p.A17. Do leave more information in the comments if you have it.
Posted by dymaxion at 01:26 PM
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Definitive Briefing Document re Medical aspects of Bird Flu
Link: 1374.pdf (application/pdf Object). This is a very detailed over view of Bird Flu deaths to date and factors related to the possible pandemic. It comes form the World Health Organisation...
Posted by dymaxion at 01:25 PM
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New Scientist News - The bioweapon is in the post
New Scientist News - The bioweapon is in the post (info)http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=mg18825252.900"YOU might think it would be difficult for a terrorist to obtain genes from the smallpox virus, or a similarly vicious pathogen. Well, it's not. Armed with a fake email address, a would-be bioterrorist could probably order the building blocks of a deadly biological weapon online, and receive them by post within weeks."Posted by Declan on Sun Nov 13 2005 at 16:05 UTC
Posted by dymaxion at 01:24 PM
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H5N1 in poultry breaks out in Hubei province
Bloomberg reports first outbreak of H5N1 among poultry in Hubei province.
China reported an outbreak of avian influenza after 2,500 poultry died in the central province of Hubei, the Ministry of Agriculture said today on its Web site.
The new outbreak of bird flu, the first in Hubei, is in two townships in the Jingshan county, the ministry said in a statement. China has reported four bird flu outbreaks in the northeastern province of Liaoning and one in Inner Mongolia this month.
The outbreak in Hubei province was found on Nov. 2, the statement said. China's National Avian Flu Reference Laboratory confirmed on Nov. 11 that the domestic fowl were infected with the H5N1 virus. Local authorities have culled 31,313 poultry within a 3-kilometer (1.9-mile) radius to control the spread of the disease.
ce is in central China. Jingshan is some 150 km west of Wuhan, one of Hubei's major industrial cities.
Posted by dymaxion at 01:20 PM
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Vietnam: H5N1 in 9 provinces
Here in its entirety is a story from Vietnam's Thanh Nien Daily:
Vietnam's animal health agency said Friday that bird flu had spread to 30 communes in nine provinces and cities where nearly 30,000 fowls died or were culled.
The provinces are Bac Lieu and Dong Thap in the south, Thanh Hoa in the center, Bac Giang, Quang Nam, Hai Duong, Hung Yen, and Ninh Binh in the north, besides the capital Hanoi.
Two hundred fighting cocks belonging to a family in Quang Nam died Thursday of suspected bird flu.
The province's Department of Animal Health culled 1,500 chickens later the same day.
fighting cocks? In one family?
Posted by dymaxion at 01:19 PM
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The cost of culling
Xinhua has an excellent article on the cost of culling poultry as China battles avian flu.
Culling poultry for bird flu prevention has proven a double-edged sword. While it could help curb the rampage of the deadly virus, it has had a huge impact upon farmers' incomes.
This was a big concern for Vice-Minister of Agriculture Yin Chengjie, who said slaughtering poultry has brought huge losses to farmers.
He told a seminar on Friday in Beijing the government has compensated farmers 10 yuan (US$1.2) for each bird killed, but "it cannot make up for the huge losses for farmers, as in some provinces, nearly half of their income derived from poultry rearing."
Last year, per capita net income of Chinese farmers reached 2,936 yuan (US$362), up 6.8 per cent year on year the highest increase rate since 1997.
ttention to that last paragraph: It means the average Chinese farmer is living on about one US dollar a day. A chicken sold in the open market would presumably earn more than $1.20, so government compensation isn't enough.
And that in turn means Chinese farmers are really in trouble. People won't buy their chickens, the government won't pay them enough, so they aren't going to have the money they need to feed their kids—unless they feed them chicken.
When hundreds of millions of farmers are living on a dollar a day, and they can't even make that dollar, China is in big trouble even if H5N1 never goes human-to-human. And if China is in big trouble, we are all in big trouble.
Posted by dymaxion at 01:19 PM
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APEC expected to make pandemic a priority
Via canada.com: APEC leaders will cooperate on fighting bird flu.
Fears that recent bird flu outbreaks in Asia and Europe could trigger a global human pandemic have pushed the issue of health security high onto the agenda of the 21-member Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation forum, whose leaders will hold their annual summit later this week.
A statement expected to be adopted by foreign ministers on Wednesday notes "the threat that the highly pathogenic avian influenza posed to the APEC region as well as to the world," according to a draft obtained by The Associated Press.
Posted by dymaxion at 01:18 PM
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Avian flu and the haj
A thoughtful article from Riyadh, in Saudi Arabia, raises issues about Bird Flu and the Haj.
We in the Kingdom have a real problem because Haj is on our doorstep. From the beginning of November, we will be receiving pilgrims. This Haj season happens to coincide with the season when birds migrate and also with the winter flu season. The usual cases of winter flu could somehow become linked to bird flu and the results could be catastrophic.
Our borders will be open for all pilgrims to enter— many of them from areas where bird flu has appeared. It is also common for pilgrims to bring birds with them to sell when they come to the Kingdom. It is very important to take all necessary precautions. We should set up a higher administration that involves all government bodies that are related to Haj and the environment and the monitoring of bird flu. We need to establish advanced medical centers very quickly in order to monitor bird flu. The next war is going to be against viruses.
Posted by dymaxion at 01:15 PM
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Vietnam: Two new cases suspected
Radio Australia reports that Vietnam raises fresh concerns about bird flu as new cases suspected.
Bird flu may have infected two more people in Vietnam, where scientists say it has mutated into a more dangerous form which could spread in mammals, and cause outbreaks in poultry. State newspapers report a student was being tested in hospital after eating chicken eggs.
Samples from a 78-year-old woman who died from serious pneumonia in the central province of Quang Binh on Friday, are also being tested.
Posted by dymaxion at 01:15 PM
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Influenza A H5N1 Avian Flu
Human-to-human transmission of influenza A (H5N1) has been suggested in several household clusters16 and in one case of ... There have already been a couple of cases of deaths from H5N1 where the only logical pathway is human-to-human. ...
Posted by dymaxion at 01:14 PM
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November 12 Flu Update--Tamiflu side effects in Japan?
Although media reports have suggested that H5N1 control is hampered by use of ... Clearly H5N1 is rapidly evolving and previous control efforts are failing. ... H5N1 is rapidly changing in many regions, and the exploding geographical ...
Posted by dymaxion at 01:12 PM
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Woman health - Jakarta says local tests show woman died of bird flu
Jakarta says local tests show woman died of bird flu AlertNet - 1 hour, 30 minutes ago JAKARTA, Nov 14 (Reuters) - Indonesian tests on a 20-year-old woman who died at the weekend show she had the H5N1 strain of bird flu, ...
Posted by dymaxion at 01:11 PM
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Bird flu detected in Japan, believed to be not H5N1 strain that ... - Pravda
Coos Bay WorldBird flu detected in Japan, believed to be not H5N1 strain that ...
Pravda, Russia - 2 hours ago
Authorities have detected bird flu at a poultry farm in northern Japan but don't suspect it to be the deadly H5N1 strain that has killed at least 64 people and ...
Saudi Arabia Hosts Int'l Conf. on Bird Flu Islam Online
Summary box: Poultry industry says it's prepared for bird flu Miami Herald
Bird flu in two Kuwait birds a far weaker strain News-Medical.net
People's Daily Online - Arab News - all 168 related
Posted by dymaxion at 01:09 PM
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Student suspected of contracting H5N1 - Nhan Dan
Student suspected of contracting H5N1
Nhan Dan, Vietnam - 7 hours ago
... for tests. The new outbreaks of bird flu killed two Vietnamese people, one of whom contracted H5N1 and the other contracted H3N0.
Posted by dymaxion at 01:08 PM
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Rapid Flu Test Helps Target Avian FluMedical News Today RSS/XML Feed
A rapid test for the detection of influenza type A and B viruses is now available from Oxoid Limited. The Xpect™ Flu A & B test not only detects infuenza A and B viruses from clinical samples within 15 minutes, but it also distinguishes between these two virus types. Distinguishing between influenza types A and B helps virologists to target investigations for the H5N1 strain (a type A virus), which is responsible for the avian flu epidemic that is currently sweeping through poultry and wild bird populations in many Asian countries1,2... click link for more info.
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是爱 促使呼吸频繁
... 少年剑客 据说你又开始行刺 你在一条小道上止住 随手血洒了身后的土地 以前你是那么孤独 你从来从来都不说话 只伸手去摸剑鞘里的语言 图书馆出来，已经是六点了，呵呵。一条黑颜色皮肤松弛的狗向我迎面而来，它的鼻子眼睛耳朵甚至是尾巴发出疑惑的光芒，我识趣地绕开。禽流感啊。H5N1亚型高致病性禽流感啊。一想到这些词汇，腿上的毛孔紧张得微微张开。今天是海霞同学的生日，友好的发了条短信祝福。荷英还在厦门流连往返呢，丫头明天就回来了，应该带有特产回来，因为我特别嘱咐过她。其实也并不清楚她为什么去厦门，玩吧。开心些。对于周期性势场单电子的薛定谔方程本征函数是按布拉维格子周期性调幅的平面波 ...
Posted by dymaxion at 01:01 PM
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Bangkok toddler confirmed as bird flu victim
A Bangkok toddler has tested positive for bird flu, a senior official said on Saturday, the first human case in the Thai capital since a fresh flare-up of the deadly disease a month ago.
The one-year-old boy probably contracted the H5N1 virus from playing around chickens at his home which later died of the virus, said Paijit Warachit, director-general of the Department of Medical Science.
His grandmother was under surveillance.
From Reuters .
Posted by dymaxion at 01:00 PM
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Bird flu 10 times worse for lungs than regular flu
Scientists say the H5N1 Bird Flu strain is ten times more powerful at inducing inflammation in the lungs than the normal human flu virus - this is why it is so deadly to humans. The inflammation is so fast that it causes serious destruction of the cells that line the lungs. 50% of humans infected with this bird flu strain die.
Source . Here is another article in today's press reminding us that bird flu often kills by causing an overreaction of the immune system.
Posted by dymaxion at 01:00 PM
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reformatorisch dagblad - internet editie
BANGKOK (ANP/RTR) Een baby in de Thaise hoofdstad Bangkok is besmet met het dodelijk vogelgriepvirus H5N1. Dat hebben de medische autoriteiten in Bangkok zaterdag bevestigd. Het jongetje van een jaar oud zou de ziekte hebben opgelopen omdat hij bij zijn huis tussen besmette kippen had gespeeld.
In Thailand zijn sinds een grote uitbraak van de vogelgriep in 2003 13 mensen overleden aan de ziekte. Het zieke kind in Bangkok is de eerste besmetting in de Thaise hoofdstad van de afgelopen maanden.
Posted by dymaxion at 01:00 PM
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China-Three Suspected Bird Flu Cases
China has requested help in determining if three cases of the Flu are of the H5N1 strain
2. Indonesia-new death confirmed Read Story
Posted by dymaxion at 01:00 PM
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berlingske tidende - fugleinfluenzaen h5n1 muterer og bliver farligere
Berlingske E-avis L?s den trykte avis som du kender den.
Lagt p? www.berlingske.dk s?ndag den 13. november 2005 kl. 12:53
Vietnamesiske videnskabsfolk meddelte s ndag, at fugleinfluenzaen H5N1 er... sagde s ndag, at fugleinfluenzaen H5N1 er muteret til en mere farlig form, som mere effektiv kan... en markant farligere form.
Cao Bao Van siger, at unders gelsen ikke viser, om H5N1's evne til... resistent over for influenzavacciner.
Vietnam er det land, der er h rdest ramt af H5N1. Hidtil er 92
Posted by dymaxion at 12:59 PM
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vietnam’da ku? gribi yay??l??yor
Vietnam'da ku? gribinin iki eyalete daha s??rad??? bildirildi. Bu arada, Vietnaml? bilimadamlar?, ku? gribinin ?ld?r?c? H5N1 tipi vir?s?n?n de?i?ime u?rayarak daha tehlikeli bir tipinin ortaya ??kt???n? belirlediler.
HANO? - Vietnam'da ku? gribi iki eyalete daha s??rad?. Ulusal Hayvan Sa?l... ba??nda ?lmeye ba?lad??? ve ge?en cuma g?n? yap?lan testlerin, ?len hayvanlar?n H5N1 vir?s? ta??d...
edildi.
V?R?S?N DAHA TEHL?KEL? T?P?
Bu aradaVietnaml? bilimadamlar?, ku? gribinin ?ld?r?c? H5N1
Posted by dymaxion at 12:59 PM
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indonesia says local tests show youth has bird flu - boston.com
JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesian tests on a 16-year-old youth show he is suffering from the H5N1 bird flu virus, but the results have to be confirmed by a laboratory in Hong Kong, a hospital spokesman... been confirmed to have contracted the virus but have survived.
The highly pathogenic H5N1 strain is endemic in poultry in Asia, where it is known to have killed 64 people.
Experts fear H5N1 could... are still waiting for confirmation from Hong Kong.
The H5N1 virus has also been found in birds
Posted by dymaxion at 12:58 PM
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Pasteur Institute: Bird Flu Virus in Vietnam has Mutated - More Virulent
HANOI (Xinhuanet) Vietnam s Ho Chi Minh City Pasteur Institute has found that the bird flu virus strain H5N1 in the country has mutated to make it more dangerous, local newspaper Youth reported... segments of bird flu virus type A subtype H5N1 in Vietnam in early 2005, which indicates that the virus... of Amantadine and Rimantadine. Therefore, it is necessary to keep close surveillance on H5N1..., warning that people will be likely to have to face the human-to-human transmission of H5N1.
E6:12
Posted by dymaxion at 10:51 AM
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H5N1 Avian Flu Causes Dangerous Cytokine Storm
and evolution.
Scientists might have identified one of the reasons why the bird flu virus H5N1 is so... caused by H5N1 in humans, which can escalate into life-threatening pneumonia and acute respiratory...', induced by the virus H5N1 in human lung cells, in vitro. The authors compared protein levels induced by strains of the H5N1 virus that had appeared in Hong Kong in 1997 (H5N1/97) and Vietnam in 2004 (H5N1/04), with levels induced by the human flu virus H1N1.
Their results show that H5N1 is a much
Posted by dymaxion at 10:45 AM
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Bird Flu Reaches Middle East
The Chinese government says the spread of the deadly H5N1 bird flu in one of its provinces is not under control and has warned of a potential disaster there. There have been three fresh outbreaks of the avian virus in the north-eastern province of Liaoning in 24 hours, and a new suspected human infection.
And the Middle East has now seen its first definite case of H5N1 bird flu. The authorities in Kuwait have confirmed that a migratory flamingo found on a beach died of the lethal strain
Posted by dymaxion at 10:44 AM
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Avian Flu Update X
H5N1 is reported in pigs in China .
Zoology experts at Hunan Agriculture University say that since pig genes are similar to human genes, and that viruses of many animals can live and mutate in pigs, it becomes dangerous for humans once the virus has been found its way to pigs. Therefore..., said the deadly H5N1 influenza virus had mutated into a more dangerous form that could breed more... being prepared may have a political price, but not being prepared would be lethal if H5N1 mutates
Posted by dymaxion at 10:42 AM
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excite italia - news - aviaria: una morte sospetta in indonesia
(ANSA) - GIAKARTA, 13 NOV - Una ragazza indonesiana di 20 anni e' morta in un ospedale di Giakarta con sintomi che riconducono all'influenza aviaria. L'ipotesi potra' essere confermata solo dopo i test di laboratorio. Lo ha reso noto il portavoce dell'ospedale rilevando che 'tutte le indicazioni' portano a pensare che la ragazza sia morta per aver contratto il virus H5N1. Finora i casi sospetti in Indonesia sono una dozzina mentre solo 5 quelli attribuiti ufficialmente dall'OMS all'influenza
Posted by dymaxion at 10:41 AM
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November 10, 2005
Geneva conference
Read the latest press release from the Geneva conference on bird flu.
Posted by dymaxion at 04:17 PM
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New flu strain in Vietnam?
Vietnam, the country worst hit by bird flu, will send soldiers and police to help contain the spread of the virus as more outbreaks erupt and the sudden death of ducks in two provinces hints at a more virulent strain.
[...] The urgency was reinforced by Veterinary Institute head Truong Van Dung, who told a government meeting that bird flu may have become more virulent.
He cited the death within three to four hours of a flock of ducks in Bac Giang province. Even though none showed symptoms of the virus while alive, all 15 samples taken after their deaths were positive for the H5N1 strain of bird flu.
Dung could not be reached for further comment and there was no proof that H5N1 had become more virulent, but many ducks also died quickly in a field in Hai Duong province, the Nong Nghiep Vietnam newspaper said.
Posted by dymaxion at 04:17 PM
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France's Sanofi-Aventis to produce H5N1 vaccine - Xinhua
France's Sanofi-Aventis to produce H5N1 vaccine
Xinhua, China - 54 minutes ago
... pharmaceutical group announced Thursday that it has signed a deal with French Health Ministry to produce prototype vaccine for humans to treat H5N1 virus. ...
France's Sanofi-Aventis to produce H5N1 vaccine TODAYonline
Sanofi to provide France with bird flu vaccine International Herald Tribune
Sanofi signs French deal for bird flu vaccine Reuters
Reuters - Biotech Intelligence (press release) - all 12 related
Posted by dymaxion at 04:07 PM
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Bird flu spreads further in Asia - Reuters.uk
Malaysia StarBird flu spreads further in Asia
Reuters.uk, UK - 3 hours ago
... China, Vietnam and Thailand said they had more outbreaks as the region heads into the northern winter, when the H5N1 avian flu virus seems to thrive. ...
Three nations report new bird flu outbreaks NEWS.com.au
Vietnam to send army, police to fight bird flu Reuters.uk
Vietnam to send army, police to fight bird flu Malaysia Star
Reuters AlertNet - all 133 related
Posted by dymaxion at 04:06 PM
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Scramble for Tamiflu, scientists work on vaccine - Asia Times Online
Washington PostScramble for Tamiflu, scientists work on vaccine
Asia Times Online, Hong Kong - 1 hour ago
... Since autumn this year, the H5N1 bird flu strain has been reported in Central China's Hunan province, east China's Anhui province and the Inner Mongolia ...
Manufacturers crank out Tamiflu at a fever pitch San Francisco Chronicle
More bird flu in China as cost estimates soar Ireland Online
Bird flu on the wing People's Weekly World
Bloomberg - Monsters and Critics.com - all 462 related
Posted by dymaxion at 04:05 PM
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Saudis deny avian flu outbreak
Via Arab News, the Saudi Ministry of Agriculture Denies Bird Flu Outbreak.
Muhammad Al-Sheiha, assistant deputy minister for animal resources, said that the report in Al-Riyadh Arabic daily of poultry deaths from bird flu in Surat Obaida in southern Asir were "totally baseless."
"Veterinarians have ruled out that the poultry died of bird flu; they had no symptoms of the disease," he said.
Posted by dymaxion at 04:04 PM
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Growing transparency in China?
Not only is the Chinese premier touring the flu scene (see post below), but China Daily is also quoting from the Beijing Youth Daily on the need for transparency and open reporting if avian flu is to be stopped: Bird flu must be reported.
The Ministry of Health has issued an open warning by saying there is a chance bird flu could spread between human beings.
This demonstrates the power of a responsible government faced by a natural disaster.
With an increasing number of bird flu cases being reported throughout the world, there is no reason for us not to be on high alert.
Facing a possible outbreak of bird flu, the public has the right to be informed about the virus, given that information transparency serves as the key to conquering the disease.
Posted by dymaxion at 04:01 PM
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China Quarantines 116 People After Two New Bird Flu Outbreaks in Northeast ProvinceKeralaNext:
SHANGHAI, China - Authorities in China said Thursday they have quarantined 116 people in northeastern Liaoning province after two new outbreaks of bird flu there. The province has now suffered three outbreaks in less than three weeks despite a massive campaign to contain the virus.
Kuwait reported the first two cases of bird flu in the Gulf region but said it would not do the tests to determine whether they were caused by the deadly and virulent H5N1 strain.
China did not make clear the extent to which the 116 people in Liaoning were being isolated. The country has imposed quarantines in other bird-flu afflicted areas but in at least one case residents were restricted only from leaving their village.
Posted by dymaxion at 03:58 PM
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World Health Officals Agree on Bird Flu Urgent Action Plan - Environment News ServiceGoogle News Australia
RTE Interactive
World Health Officals Agree on Bird Flu Urgent Action Plan
Environment News Service -
GENEVA, Switzerland, November 10, 2005 (ENS) - Health officials from more than 100 nations have outlined the key elements of an urgent $1.35 billion global action plan to control the H5N1 avian influenza virus which is now circulating in animals in Asia ...
Health Experts Agree on Plan to Combat Flu Pandemic Voice of America
Fighting bird flu to cost up to $1bn Mail & Guardian Online
People's Daily Online - Reuters.uk - Canada.com - Japan Today - all 596 related
Posted by dymaxion at 03:56 PM
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Fugleinfluenza i ItalienDR's RSS Feed
Italiens sundhedsministerium oplyser, at første tilfælde af fugleinfluenza er konstateret i en vildand i den norditalienske by Padua. Der er tale om den farlige variant H5N1.
Posted by dymaxion at 03:54 PM
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Bird flu efforts could cost $1 billionHealth & Science - International Herald Tribune
The World Bank said Wednesday that up to $1 billion would be needed over the next three years to fund a global strategy to tackle the spread of the H5N1 bird flu.
Posted by dymaxion at 03:50 PM
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Pandemic Flu: Lawmakers Question $7.1B Emergency Spending Request
of an experimental vaccine against the H5N1 avian flu virus. In addition, the plan earmarks $1 billion to purchase antiviral medications, including Tamiflu and Relenza, and $583
Posted by dymaxion at 03:50 PM
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Kuwait reports two cases of birds with avian flu
ry bird, was found in southeast coastal part of the country where Kuwaitis maintain weekend residences. He said farms were all being monitored for the deadly H5N1 avian flu strain.
Posted by dymaxion at 03:50 PM
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Major database on flu virus genetics runs out of cash
... the H5N1 virus has killed more than 60 people might be unable to afford the proposed fee of US$10,000 ...
Posted by dymaxion at 03:48 PM
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Primer caso de gripe aviar en Italia
... Las autoridades italianas han confirmado la presencia del virus H5N1 en un pato salvaje en la... encontrado una sola muestra (pato salvaje) positiva al virus H5N1", según una nota ministerial. La... las aves. A su juicio, fueron estas aves quienes trajeron la cepa H5N1 a las puertas de Europa, y en ...
Posted by dymaxion at 03:47 PM
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ITALIAN health ministry confirms first case of H5N1 virus
... Forbes - USA ‘In the context of the follow-up plan (concerning migratory birds), put in place by the health ministry, the national reference centre ...
Posted by dymaxion at 03:47 PM
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edicom: news - br??ves on-line
SHANGHAI (AP) - La Chine a signal deux nouveaux foyers d' mie de grippe aviaire dans des levages de volailles dans la province du Liaoning (nord-ouest du pays), portant six le nombre de foyers d s au cours du dernier mois.
La pr sence de la souche mortelle H5N1 de la maladie a signal e dimanche et confirm e mercredi dans les villes de Jinzhou et de Fuxin, selon un rapport du minist re chinois... rapport.
La Chine n'a pour l'instant rapport aucun cas d'infection humaine au H5N1, qui a d tu au
Posted by dymaxion at 03:45 PM
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china gibt neue vogelgrippe-f??lle bekannt - lübecker nachrichten
Peking (dpa) - Die chinesische Regierung hat das Auftreten des gef?hrlichen Vogelgrippevirus H5N1 in zwei Regionen im Nordosten des Landes best?tigt. Rund 1100 H?hner seien dort an der Krankheit verendet, teilte das Agrarministerium mit. Vorsorglich seien 500?000 V?gel vernichtet worden. Damit sind in China insgesamt sechs Ausbr?che der Vogelgrippe bekannt geworden. Inzwischen hat Kuwait als erster Golfstaat Vogelgrippe-F?lle gemeldet. Noch ist unklar, mit welchem Erreger sich die zwei
Posted by dymaxion at 03:41 PM
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reformatorisch dagblad - internet editie
ROME (ANP/AFP) Het eerste geval van de H5N1 variant van vogelgriep is donderdag vastgesteld in Itali . Dat meldde het Italiaanse ministerie van Volksgezondheid. Het virus werd aangetroffen bij een wilde eend, die werd gevangen bij de noordelijke stad Padua.
Volgens het ministerie gaat het om een zogenoemde laag pathogene variant van de ziekte, die niet gevaarlijk is voor de volksgezondheid.
Posted by dymaxion at 03:40 PM
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poor countries' needs on bird flu outlined
international meeting.
About $500 million will be required to fight the H5N1 influenza strain... antiviral drugs and an experimental H5N1 vaccine.
Track the latest developments in the spread of the deadly H5N1 influenza virus.
The Bush administration last week proposed a $7.1 billion pandemic flu..., where the H5N1 strain has circulated for about two years. The U.S. government has already spent... and chickens together. Unlike chickens, many ducks survive H5N1 infection and excrete the virus
Posted by dymaxion at 03:40 PM
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excite italia - news - aviaria: test bassa patogenicita'
(ANSA)-ROMA, 10 nov- E' un virus a bassa patogenicita' quello identificato dal centro di referenza per l'influenza aviaria di Padova su di un' anatra selvatica. Lo afferma il professor Donato Greco, direttore del Centro per il controllo delle malattie del Ministero della salute.'Anche se gli antigeni esterni del virus H5N1 sono uguali a quelli patogeni - ha aggiunto Greco - ci sono differenze genomiche molto importanti, che lo fanno divergere profondamente dal ceppo aggressivo per l'uomo'.
Posted by dymaxion at 03:39 PM
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China reports 2 new avian flu cases - Reuters
China on Thursday reported two new incidents of avian flu among chickens in its northeastern province of Liaoning , bringing the total number of reported outbreaks in the past month to six.
The discovery of the virulent H5N1 virus in Liaoning's cities of Jinzhou and Fuxin was made Sunday and confirmed Wednesday, according to a report by the Agriculture Ministry posted on the Web site of the World Organization for Animal Health .
Posted by dymaxion at 03:39 PM
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Outlook (subscription), India -
Highly pathogenic H5N1 bird flu epidemic was found in Xiaoyi city of Shanxi Province and Urumqi city of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, the Chinese ...
China to vaccinate entire poultry
Community Dispatch (press release) -
The World Health Organization (WHO) maintains situation updates and cumulative reports of human cases of avian influenza A (H5N1). ...
US BioDefense, Inc. Explores Strategic Response to Bird Flu ...
At a meeting of the State Council, or Cabinet, led by Premier Wen Jiabao, poultry processing and marketing businesses were ordered exempt from 2005 corporate taxes. They will get value-added tax rebates and export tax rebates, and breaks on land use, real estate and vehicle taxes, Xinhua News Agency reported.
Banks, meanwhile, were ordered to relax terms on loan payments and poultry workers who lose their jobs are to get unemployment insurance or subsistence allowances, the Xinhua report said.
The government earlier set aside 2 billion yuan, or $250 million, to finance its campaign against the disease, which includes vaccinating all domestic fowl and compensating farmers for their losses. According to state media reports, farmers are due to get between 10 yuan to 30 yuan ($1.23) to 30 yuan ($3.70) for each bird lost to culling or disease.
Under the worst-case scenario of a full scale pandemic, the central bank would send staff home and key functions would be conducted remotely.
The bank has already begun enacting plans to increase the amount of money in its vaults, to counter panic hoarding.
At the Pediatric Hospital I, a special unit has been set up comprising of 20 doctors and 20 nurses. Yesterday, the hospital conducted a mock exercise to respond to bird flu cases.
Its director, Tang Chi Thuong, said the hospital was making emergency preparations for a possible pandemic. Since the hospital was always full of children, he said the flu could spread quickly if H5N1 victims came in waves and he did not have appropriate measures in place.
Another children's facility, the Pediatric Hospital II, has trained all its staff, from drivers to guards, to protect themselves against infection. It also has more than 1,000 tamiflu pills.
Pham Ngoc Thach Hospital, a newcomer in the fight against the epidemic, even has a separate toilet for bird flu patients.
... 接了个电话，她告诉我，她受了伤。。。。 有些事，原本可以避免，却总是意外地发生， 有某些人的降临，可以是天使，亦可以是魔鬼， 说不出安慰的句子，很多事，痛过才知痛。。。 痛过才懂得如果更爱自己。。。 很庆幸，她没有太沮丧， 就算痛，还有人陪她呼吸痛的空气。 原来生命不是可以自己自主的， 这样也好， 不会怕有H5N1； 不会怕恒星某日会撞上地球； 我对她说 很快过去的。。。 IMG IMG ...
... having already peaked and with the news of H5N1 spreading in China, there is said to be a raging ...
... ，中国和美国都在其中扮演著重要角色。同时中国在对抗禽流感疫情方面也发挥著举足轻重的作用。 过去一个月中，中国爆发了9起禽流感疫情，对候鸟可能在不同国家传播H5N1型禽流感病毒的恐惧已经增强了中国和其他APEC成员国进行合作的紧迫性 ...
... 【国際】中国で感染地域拡大 新たに2カ所で鳥インフルエンザ感染を確認したと発表 ◇中国で感染地域拡大 鳥インフルエンザ、山西省でも 中国農業省は１８日、山西省孝義市と新疆ウイグル自治区ウルムチの２カ所で 高病原性鳥インフルエンザ（Ｈ５Ｎ１型）の家禽（かきん）への感染を それぞれ確認したと発表した。 山西省での感染確認は今年初めて。これで中国の計３１の省、 直轄市、自治区のうち、感染が確認された地域は６省３自治区に及んだ。 孝義市では１０日に鶏約８１００羽が死に、１７日に感染を確認。 ウルムチ天山区では１２日に鶏８羽が死に、１６日に確認した。 いずれも発生場所から３キロ以内の家禽を ...
H5N1 has already been mutating rapidly in Vietnam, where few chickens are vaccinated. Cao Bao Van, head of the Pasteur Institute in Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam, told the Vietnamese press this week that 24 isolates of H5N1 from poultry and humans, taken between December 2003 and March 2005, show “significant variation”.
Cao was also quoted as saying a mutation had been observed in the PB2 gene of a virus isolated from a human case in March, which “allows more effective breeding of the virus in mammals”. PB2 codes for part of the polymerase enzyme which replicates the virus.
That mutation, at amino acid number 627 of the protein, changes the glutamic acid of bird flu to the lysine typical of human flu. The change allows the virus to replicate in the human respiratory tract, which is cooler than the bird guts where bird flu normally replicates.
The same mutation has been turning up since 2004 in several isolates of H5N1 from humans and other mammals in east Asia and shows the virus is adapting to mammals while infecting them. It was also a feature of the 1918 pandemic virus, which was a bird flu virus that adapted to humans.
aviaire dans la capitale thaïlandaise. Il a probablement été
infecté par l'un des trois poulets élevés à
son domicile et retrouvés morts quelques jours avant que ne se
déclare la maladie. Le district de Klong Sam Wa, proche du zoo
Safari World, a été mis sous surveillance. La présence,
dans Bangkok, de centaines, voire de milliers d'élevage de
volailles familiaux ou tout simplement clandestins rend difficile
toute campagne d'éradication, d'autant que les autorités
se livrent à un combat de coqs pour savoir qui a la charge de
lutter contre l'épidémie. Le mois de novembre a en
effet vu une sérieuse prise de becs entre le gouverneur Apirak
Kosayodhin, élu de l'opposition démocrate, et la
ministre de l'Agriculture, Sudarat Keyuraphan, toute dévouée
au Premier ministre Thaksin. Cette dernière a accusé la
municipalité de ne pas transmettre au gouvernement les
rapports sur les cas de mortalité aviaire.
risque » restent sous haute surveillance dans le pays,
alors que le gouvernement vient d'annoncer un plan d'éradication
de la grippe aviaire sur trois ans. La plupart des observateurs,
notant l'absence de mesures sérieuses dans trois pays voisins
(Cambodge, Laos et surtout Birmanie), doutent cependant de
l'efficacité de toute mesure strictement nationale.
front de la recherche, un laboratoire de Hanoi vient d'identifier des
modifications de la structure du virus H5N1 qui pourraient favoriser
une transmission entre mammifères. Le cauchemard a-t-il déjà
commencé ?
de plus dans les terribles statistiques du conflit qui fait rage
depuis bientôt deux ans dans les trois provinces du Sud du
royaume. Mais c'est surtout le symbole d'un durcissement de la
situation. Une famille de neuf personnes a été
assassinées à l'arme automatique, le 16 novembre, dans
un village de la province de Narathiwat. Pour la première fois
depuis janvier 2004, les rebelles indépendantistes musulmans
ont opéré une action de représailles
collectives. Le chef de la famille en question, ancien rebelle, avait
semble-t-il choisi de retourner sa veste et de se ranger du côté
des autorités thaïlandaises. Ce multiple assassinat ciblé
n'a épargné ni la femme ni les sept enfants du
défecteur, âgés de huit mois à vingt ans.
C'est un avertissement brutal aux musulmans de la région qui
seraient tentés de trouver un compromis dans un conflit qui a
déjà fait mille morts. C'est aussi une fin de
non-recevoir envoyée à un gouvernement qui n'a su
conquérir ni les coeurs ni les âmes de ses citoyens en
danger.
... de bestrijding van H5N1 niet adequaat aanpakt. ,,Het is voldoende om de vogels in een omtrek van ...
... systems, could harbour the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu. This would potentially give it the opportunity... at a conference organised by the Council on Foreign Relations in New York. At present, H5N1 cannot pass easily... the key could be when H5N1 reaches East Africa, where HIV/Aids is rife. Cannot clear virus He ...
... 2005年11月17日 (木曜日) WHOが感染拡大警告(共同通信) 【北京･共同】 世界保健機関(ＷＨＯ）北京事務所の ベケダム代表は17日記者会見し、 中国で高病原性鳥 インフルエンザ(Ｈ５Ｎ１型）の人への感染が 初めて確認されたことについて、 鳥や人への感染が拡大する可能性があると警告、 中国政府と協力し、 感染拡大防止に全力を挙げる姿勢を表明した｡ 冬へ向けて日に日に寒さが増しています。 朝晩の寒さに気を付けるのもそうですが、 出掛けたらウガイ、手洗いも忘れず、 予防に努めましょう。 投稿者 na-mi- 時刻 22時07分 in ニュース | ...
... ，即将在各口岸恢复为入境旅客探测体温。 据中共卫生部公布，内地确定2宗人感染高致病性禽流感H5N1病例中，湖南1宗，安徽1宗，另1宗在湖南的个案即贺姓女孩，因为患者已死，同时缺乏确切的实验室检测证据... 中共卫生部的通报对3宗个案有所说明： 确诊的第1名患者贺某某，男，9岁，湖南省湘潭市湘潭县人。10月10日发病，临床有发热、肺炎表现。患者发病前有病死家禽接触史，其居住的村发生H5N1高致病性禽流感疫情。对该患者标本的实验室检测，H5N1病毒阴性。实验室检测患者发病后急性期和恢复期双份血清，H5特异性抗体呈4倍以上增高，表明患者近期有高致病性禽流感病毒H5N1感染。根据患者流行病学史、临床表现和实验室结果 ...
According to the Hanoi-based Central Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology, Vietnam will produce H5N1 vaccines by culturing the bird flu strain for lengthy periods in monkey cells, yielding a deactivated form of the virus. When the deactivated form is delivered to the human system, it should kick start the immune system, allowing it to recognize and fend off the real virus.
The Vietnam-produced vaccine samples are now in the hands of the World Health Organization for analysis prior to the human test.
In 2006, the United States is forecast to produce nearly 36 billion pounds of chickens, according to USDA.
Poultry exports from the United States range between $1.7 billion and $2.5 billion annually, or 8 percent to 15 percent of total production, according to USDA figures. The rest is consumed domestically.
When other domestic press, including Caijing, sent journalists to Xiangtan [where 12-year-old He Yin died], they met many obstacles in gaining access to the case. Apparently, local government agencies do not quite see eye to eye with Beijing on the matter of transparency.
Admittedly, the situation has improved immensely over what we witnessed in the early days of the SARS epidemic in 2003, when the question of the virus's very existence in China was deemed a state secret.
But if we want to further improve the situation, we must also acknowledge that officials still are not open and efficient enough in disclosing virus information to the public.
Millions of Chinese farmers, with their lives and property directly threatened by the virus, deserve to receive information first-hand the minute it becomes public. Better informing farmers means granting greater freedom to the domestic media. At very least, they should be allowed to stand on the same starting line as their foreign counterparts.
... 【北京＝飯野克彦】新華社電によると、中国衛生省は16日夜、鳥インフルエンザの人への感染を3例確認したと発表した。中国で人への感染を確認したのは初めて。政府は感染拡大を防ぐため、同国のすべての家禽（かきん）約142億羽へのワクチン接種に乗り出した。 人への感染を確認したのは湖南省で2例、安徽省で1例。いずれも10月に鳥インフルエンザ（Ｈ５Ｎ１型）の家禽への感染を確認、人への感染も疑われていた地域。 世界保健機関（ＷＨＯ）北京事務所は同日、感染した3人のうち2人が死亡したと中国当局から連絡を受けたことを明らかにした。 地元の衛生当局や衛生省は当初、人への感染を否定していたが、15日までに「 ...
... gripales poco después de ingerir pollo en una zona afectada por uno de los brotes de H5N1, y aunque en... señaló hoy a EFE que se encontraron altos niveles de anticuerpos del virus H5N1 en análisis ...
... 路透華盛頓電---全球領導人都在採取行動，試圖控制H5N1禽流感病毒的繼續爆發，該病毒已在某些亞、歐國家造成家禽感染。以下是一些有關該病毒的常見問題及其答案。 **為什麼我們如此擔心H5N1病毒？** H5N1禽流感病毒不僅會使家禽迅速死亡，現在還能感染人類。世界衛生組織(WHO)已經確認有126人被感染，有64人因此死亡，另外還有九個疑似病例或被當地確認的病例。 感染人數聽起來似乎不多，但令衛生官員和科學家擔心的是，H5N1與其它流感病毒一樣會不斷變異，它現在只是缺少在人際傳播的能力。如果它具備了這種轉移性，會有數百萬人在幾個月之內被感染，而且由於其本身的致病性和人類對其缺乏免疫力 ...
H5N1 has already been mutating rapidly in Vietnam, where few chickens are vaccinated. Cao Bao Van, head of the Pasteur Institute in Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam, told the Vietnamese press this week that 24 isolates of H5N1 from poultry and humans, taken between December 2003 and March 2005, show “significant variation”.
Cao was also quoted as saying a mutation had been observed in the PB2 gene of a virus isolated from a human case in March, which “allows more effective breeding of the virus in mammals”. PB2 codes for part of the polymerase enzyme which replicates the virus.
That mutation, at amino acid number 627 of the protein, changes the glutamic acid of bird flu to the lysine typical of human flu. The change allows the virus to replicate in the human respiratory tract, which is cooler than the bird guts where bird flu normally replicates.
The same mutation has been turning up since 2004 in several isolates of H5N1 from humans and other mammals in east Asia and shows the virus is adapting to mammals while infecting them. It was also a feature of the 1918 pandemic virus, which was a bird flu virus that adapted to humans.
[A] team of WHO experts traveled to China's central region where a bird flu outbreak was reported among poultry. Three people fell ill in the same village in Hunan, including a 12-year-old girl who died, after the government reported 545 chickens and ducks died of bird flu last month. The H5N1 bird flu virus has not been ruled out as the cause of the human infection.
The six-member WHO team is expected to stay a week, working with Chinese officials to investigate the outbreak, said Roy Wadia, WHO spokesman in Beijing.
China also reported a new bird flu outbreak in poultry in Huainan, a city in the eastern province of Anhui its ninth outbreak since Oct. 19, China Central Television said.
Another report said China had developed its own version of Tamiflu, an antiviral drug believed to be the best treatment available for bird flu in humans.
Zhong Nanshan, director of the Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Diseases, said the Chinese drug has some effect against the virus, according to an interview published Sunday in the Information Times newspaper. It did not give any details about the drug or when it might be available.
"They said that there is a female poultry worker who's been diagnosed with pneumonia and she's regarded as a possible human case (of bird flu) -- they've not excluded her," said Roy Wadia, the WHO's China spokesman.
... Птичий грипп стал ближе к человечеству Ноябрь 14th, 2005 Штамм H5N1 мутировал, и теперь вирус... гриппа (тип А H5N1). Всего пало и забито 7407 птиц», – сказали в пресс-службе. Вьетнамские ученые, занимающиеся изучением птичьего гриппа, пришли к выводу, что вирус типа H5N1 мутировал в более ...
To combat a possible avian flu pandemic, we should consider the following:
1. The single most important thing we can do for a pandemic—whether avian flu or not—is to have well-prepared local health care systems. We should prepare for pandemics in ways that are politically sustainable and remain useful even if an avian flu pandemic does not occur.
2. Prepare social norms and emergency procedures which would limit or delay the spread of a pandemic. Regular hand washing, and other beneficial public customs, may save more lives than a Tamiflu stockpile.
3. Decentralize our supplies of anti-virals and treat timely distribution as more important than simply creating a stockpile.
4. Institute prizes for effective vaccines and relax liability laws for vaccine makers. Our government has been discouraging what it should be encouraging.
5. Respect intellectual property by buying the relevant drugs and vaccines at fair prices. Confiscating property rights would reduce the incentive for innovation the next time around.
6. Make economic preparations to ensure the continuity of food and power supplies. The relevant “choke points” may include the check clearing system and the use of mass transit to deliver food supply workers to their jobs.
7. Realize that the federal government will be largely powerless in the worst stages of a pandemic and make appropriate local plans.
8. Encourage the formation of prediction markets in an avian flu pandemic. This will give us a better idea of the probability of widespread human-to-human transmission.
9. Provide incentives for Asian countries to improve their surveillance. Tie foreign aid to the receipt of useful information about the progress of avian flu.
10. Reform the World Health Organization and give it greater autonomy from its government funders.
We should not do the following:
1. Tamiflu and vaccine stockpiling have their roles but they should not form the centerpiece of a plan. In addition to the medical limitations of these investments, institutional factors will restrict our ability to allocate these supplies promptly to their proper uses.
2. We should not rely on quarantines and mass isolations. Both tend to be counterproductive and could spread rather than limit a pandemic.
3. We should not expect the Army or Armed Forces to be part of a useful response plan.
4. We should not expect to choke off a pandemic in its country of origin. Once a pandemic has started abroad, we should shut schools and many public places immediately.
5. We should not obsess over avian flu at the expense of other medical issues. The next pandemic or public health crisis could come from any number of sources. By focusing on local preparedness and decentralized responses, this plan is robust to surprise and will also prove useful for responding to terrorism or natural catastrophes.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said on Monday that seven people had died in the country from bird flu, announcing a higher death toll than the World Health Organization, which puts the number of confirmed fatalities at five.
"I have paid special attention to the greater Jakarta area. From what I have gathered there are 11 (positive) sufferers and out of those seven have died," Susilo told a news conference after a cabinet meeting to discuss the deadly virus.
A fresh outbreak of bird flu has been registered in China's western Xinjiang-Uighur Autonomous region, a Hong Kong-based newspaper reported Tuesday.
According to Ta Kung Pao, the outbreak was registered November 11, when about 1,400 chickens died in two areas not far from Urumchi, the capital of the province, which has a population of about 19 million people and borders on Russia, and other countries.
If you're absolutely, totally convinced that you'll be the only person in your block left alive after the inevitable H5N1 pandemic then don't bother to read this Weekly Standard article by Michael Fumento. His well researched and documented piece puts the fear mongering and scare tactics of the popular media into perspective and should be required study for anyone who is prone to mass hysteria fueled by Breaking News Headlines IN ALL CAPS!.... Fifty-three finches from Taiwan have died at a British quarantine centre because of an outbreak of the most deadly strain of avian flu, the government said. The birds, southeast Asian mesias, also described as finches, died last month of the highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 strain ...
... infected with the H5N1 bird flu virus. More Flu season tempered by bird flu fears CNN - 47 minutes ago concern. The H5N1 strain of the avian flu has infected 126 people and killed 64 since 2003, according to the World Health Organization. Akzo Nobel developing human H5N1 vaccine Medical News ...
Malaysia Star
BBC News, UK -
... cases are being investigated. The H5N1 strain of bird flu has killed more than 60 people in South East Asia since 2003. Mr Jia made ...
China vows flu vaccinations for billions of birds
China tries to vaccinate all its poultry as bird flu spreads ...
More bird flu found in eastern China
Nhan Dan
Nhan Dan, Vietnam -
The test of a student in Hanoi suspected of contracting H5N1 virus gave negative result, said the Central Epidemic Hygiene Hospital. ...
Student suspected of contracting H5N1
Bird-flu virus has been found in pigs bred in China's Hunan province, which means the virus could be closer to infecting humans on a large scale, reports said yesterday. Ming Pao Daily News quoted an interview on China's Phoenix Satellite TV in which a deputy agricultural minister in Hunan said that bird-flu virus had been found in pigs for the first time. A spokesman from the farm ministry said officials had not gathered enough information to disclose further details.
China reported an outbreak of avian influenza after 2,500 poultry died in the central province of Hubei, the Ministry of Agriculture said today on its Web site.
The new outbreak of bird flu, the first in Hubei, is in two townships in the Jingshan county, the ministry said in a statement. China has reported four bird flu outbreaks in the northeastern province of Liaoning and one in Inner Mongolia this month.
The outbreak in Hubei province was found on Nov. 2, the statement said. China's National Avian Flu Reference Laboratory confirmed on Nov. 11 that the domestic fowl were infected with the H5N1 virus. Local authorities have culled 31,313 poultry within a 3-kilometer (1.9-mile) radius to control the spread of the disease.
Vietnam's animal health agency said Friday that bird flu had spread to 30 communes in nine provinces and cities where nearly 30,000 fowls died or were culled.
The provinces are Bac Lieu and Dong Thap in the south, Thanh Hoa in the center, Bac Giang, Quang Nam, Hai Duong, Hung Yen, and Ninh Binh in the north, besides the capital Hanoi.
Two hundred fighting cocks belonging to a family in Quang Nam died Thursday of suspected bird flu.
The province's Department of Animal Health culled 1,500 chickens later the same day.
Culling poultry for bird flu prevention has proven a double-edged sword. While it could help curb the rampage of the deadly virus, it has had a huge impact upon farmers' incomes. This was a big concern for Vice-Minister of Agriculture Yin Chengjie, who said slaughtering poultry has brought huge losses to farmers.
He told a seminar on Friday in Beijing the government has compensated farmers 10 yuan (US$1.2) for each bird killed, but "it cannot make up for the huge losses for farmers, as in some provinces, nearly half of their income derived from poultry rearing."
Last year, per capita net income of Chinese farmers reached 2,936 yuan (US$362), up 6.8 per cent year on year the highest increase rate since 1997.
Fears that recent bird flu outbreaks in Asia and Europe could trigger a global human pandemic have pushed the issue of health security high onto the agenda of the 21-member Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation forum, whose leaders will hold their annual summit later this week.
A statement expected to be adopted by foreign ministers on Wednesday notes "the threat that the highly pathogenic avian influenza posed to the APEC region as well as to the world," according to a draft obtained by The Associated Press.
We in the Kingdom have a real problem because Haj is on our doorstep. From the beginning of November, we will be receiving pilgrims. This Haj season happens to coincide with the season when birds migrate and also with the winter flu season. The usual cases of winter flu could somehow become linked to bird flu and the results could be catastrophic.
Our borders will be open for all pilgrims to enter— many of them from areas where bird flu has appeared. It is also common for pilgrims to bring birds with them to sell when they come to the Kingdom. It is very important to take all necessary precautions. We should set up a higher administration that involves all government bodies that are related to Haj and the environment and the monitoring of bird flu. We need to establish advanced medical centers very quickly in order to monitor bird flu. The next war is going to be against viruses.
Bird flu may have infected two more people in Vietnam, where scientists say it has mutated into a more dangerous form which could spread in mammals, and cause outbreaks in poultry. State newspapers report a student was being tested in hospital after eating chicken eggs.
Samples from a 78-year-old woman who died from serious pneumonia in the central province of Quang Binh on Friday, are also being tested.
Coos Bay World
Pravda, Russia -
Authorities have detected bird flu at a poultry farm in northern Japan but don't suspect it to be the deadly H5N1 strain that has killed at least 64 people and ...
Saudi Arabia Hosts Int'l Conf. on Bird Flu
Summary box: Poultry industry says it's prepared for bird flu
Bird flu in two Kuwait birds a far weaker strain
Nhan Dan, Vietnam -
... for tests. The new outbreaks of bird flu killed two Vietnamese people, one of whom contracted H5N1 and the other contracted H3N0.
... 少年剑客 据说你又开始行刺 你在一条小道上止住 随手血洒了身后的土地 以前你是那么孤独 你从来从来都不说话 只伸手去摸剑鞘里的语言 图书馆出来，已经是六点了，呵呵。一条黑颜色皮肤松弛的狗向我迎面而来，它的鼻子眼睛耳朵甚至是尾巴发出疑惑的光芒，我识趣地绕开。禽流感啊。H5N1亚型高致病性禽流感啊。一想到这些词汇，腿上的毛孔紧张得微微张开。今天是海霞同学的生日，友好的发了条短信祝福。荷英还在厦门流连往返呢，丫头明天就回来了，应该带有特产回来，因为我特别嘱咐过她。其实也并不清楚她为什么去厦门，玩吧。开心些。对于周期性势场单电子的薛定谔方程本征函数是按布拉维格子周期性调幅的平面波 ...
Vietnam, the country worst hit by bird flu, will send soldiers and police to help contain the spread of the virus as more outbreaks erupt and the sudden death of ducks in two provinces hints at a more virulent strain.
[...] The urgency was reinforced by Veterinary Institute head Truong Van Dung, who told a government meeting that bird flu may have become more virulent.
He cited the death within three to four hours of a flock of ducks in Bac Giang province. Even though none showed symptoms of the virus while alive, all 15 samples taken after their deaths were positive for the H5N1 strain of bird flu.
Dung could not be reached for further comment and there was no proof that H5N1 had become more virulent, but many ducks also died quickly in a field in Hai Duong province, the Nong Nghiep Vietnam newspaper said.
Xinhua, China -
... pharmaceutical group announced Thursday that it has signed a deal with French Health Ministry to produce prototype vaccine for humans to treat H5N1 virus. ...
France's Sanofi-Aventis to produce H5N1 vaccine
Sanofi to provide France with bird flu vaccine
Sanofi signs French deal for bird flu vaccine
Malaysia Star
Reuters.uk, UK -
... China, Vietnam and Thailand said they had more outbreaks as the region heads into the northern winter, when the H5N1 avian flu virus seems to thrive. ...
Three nations report new bird flu outbreaks
Vietnam to send army, police to fight bird flu
Vietnam to send army, police to fight bird flu
Washington Post
Asia Times Online, Hong Kong -
... Since autumn this year, the H5N1 bird flu strain has been reported in Central China's Hunan province, east China's Anhui province and the Inner Mongolia ...
Manufacturers crank out Tamiflu at a fever pitch
More bird flu in China as cost estimates soar
Bird flu on the wing
Muhammad Al-Sheiha, assistant deputy minister for animal resources, said that the report in Al-Riyadh Arabic daily of poultry deaths from bird flu in Surat Obaida in southern Asir were "totally baseless."
"Veterinarians have ruled out that the poultry died of bird flu; they had no symptoms of the disease," he said.
The Ministry of Health has issued an open warning by saying there is a chance bird flu could spread between human beings.
This demonstrates the power of a responsible government faced by a natural disaster.
With an increasing number of bird flu cases being reported throughout the world, there is no reason for us not to be on high alert.
Facing a possible outbreak of bird flu, the public has the right to be informed about the virus, given that information transparency serves as the key to conquering the disease.
RTE Interactive
... the H5N1 virus has killed more than 60 people might be unable to afford the proposed fee of US$10,000 ...
... Las autoridades italianas han confirmado la presencia del virus H5N1 en un pato salvaje en la... encontrado una sola muestra (pato salvaje) positiva al virus H5N1", según una nota ministerial. La... las aves. A su juicio, fueron estas aves quienes trajeron la cepa H5N1 a las puertas de Europa, y en ...
... Forbes - USA ‘In the context of the follow-up plan (concerning migratory birds), put in place by the health ministry, the national reference centre ...