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February 28, 2006
Two suspected casualties in Indonesia
A health official in Jakarta said a 29-year-old woman who had a history of contact with poultry died Wednesday night and samples have been sent to a World Health Organization-sanctioned laboratory in Hong Kong to confirm the cause of her death.
That's according to Hariadi Wibisono, a senior official at the Indonesian health ministry.
Indonesia is also waiting on results from the Hong Kong lab on a 39-year-old man who died recently and for whom local tests indicated he had bird flu.
If both results are confirmed, the country's human toll from the disease would climb to 13, said Wibisono.
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H5N1 virus of bird flu detected on Russian poultry farm - Xinhua
 MOSNEWS | H5N1 virus of bird flu detected on Russian poultry farm Xinhua, China - 28 (Xinhuanet) -- The H5N1 virus of bird flu that can kill humans has been detected on a poultry farm in the southwestern region of Krasnodar, the region's ... H5N1 bird flu virus detected in southwest Russia poultry farm Russia sets up HQ to fight bird flu Putin Calls For New Task Force |
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Sweden investigating suspected H5N1 case in wild ducks - Westmeath Independent
| Sweden investigating suspected H5N1 case in wild ducks Westmeath Independent, Ireland - Sweden has become the latest EU country with a suspected outbreak of the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu. The country said the avian ... Veterinary experts meet in Paris to discuss fight against bird flu |
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Pak poultry tests positive for H5N1 strain of bird flu - Mumbai Mirror
 Mumbai Mirror | Pak poultry tests positive for H5N1 strain of bird flu Mumbai Mirror, India - Peshawar: Workers killed 15,000 chickens in northwestern Pakistan after poultry at two farms tested positive for the H5N1 strain of bird flu, an official said ... At least 15,000 chickens killed at Pak farms |
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B2B reaches Sweden
Here's the Guardian Unlimited on B2B H5N1 reaching Sweden. The story includes a good survey of other flu-related news.
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B2B H5N1 "endemic" in UK?
BBC News Online reports a potentially serious difference of opinion in Britain over the future of H5N1 in the UK, and how to deal with it: Farmers surprised by flu comments.
le article. We may be hearing similar disputes in the Americas before long.Professor Sir David King, the government's chief scientific adviser, told the BBC it may become "endemic" and remain for "five years plus".
He also ruled out using the existing vaccine against the H5N1 strain.
The National Farmers' Union said it "simply did not accept" his view that the virus would become prevalent.
"If someone is saying we are going to see this endemically within the UK commercial flock that is a surprise," the NFU's chief poultry adviser said.
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Bird Flu in Ethiopia - Kenya Testing Dead BirdsfluFactor
The Ethiopian government confirmed the presence of bird flu in the country today but the strain of flu is unknown. Local tests have confirmed that 6,000 chickens that have died since February 16, were victims of avian flu. Additional samples have been sent to Italy to determine if they suffered from or another strain of the flu.The government plans to cull an additional 9,000 birds on the government owned farm that is experiencing the outbreak.country-region place Kenya is also conducting tests on 400 chickens that have died there over the past week.Posted by dymaxion at 09:36 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Bird Flu Survival: Old Friend, New EnemyRoman Wilderness
German officials say a dead cat has tested positive for the H5N1, the first case found outside of birds in Europe.Authorities say the cat was found on the island of Ruegen, where dozens of birds died from the virus earlier this month.
Experts note that cats in Asia have been infected by eating contaminated birds. But there have been no cases of humans acquiring the illness from cats.
Meanwhile, Russian officials quarantined a poultry farm, where more than 100,000 birds died from the H5N1 strain.
In Paris, the World Organization for Animal Health warned that the H5N1 virus will likely spread across Europe, after the deadly strain was found on a French poultry farm.
Several nations, including the United States, have banned poultry imports from the affected Ain region of France.
And Pakistani authorities slaughtered at least 15,000 chickens infected with the H5 strain in North West Frontier province.
Read Source Artical: VOA
Posted by dymaxion at 09:32 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Se está complicando el asunto de la gripe a las aves, ahora, ha muerto un gato, afectado por el mismo virus....hum, toy chivo.Lo Mejor del cable
(PD/Agencias).- Se ha encontrado un gato muerto en la isla de Rügen, en el noreste de Alemania, infectado con el virus H5N1 de la gripe aviaria. Aunque en Asia ya se había registrado este tipo de contagio entre felinos, es la primera vez que se confirma un caso en Europa.
Según ha informado el Instituto Friedrich Loeffler -la autoridad competente en este país para esta enfermedad- el virus se detectó en un felino muerto, hallado el pasado fin de semana en las inmediaciones del puerto de Wittow en la isla de Rügen, la zona más afectada por la gripe aviar en Alemania.
"El que los gatos puedan contagiarse al cazar aves es algo que se conoce de casos habidos en Asia", ha señalado la citada fuente. En este sentido, el presidente del instituto veterinario, Thomas Mettenleitner, ha declarado que "en Asia ya se sabe que los gatos que comen aves infectadas se pueden contagiar".
En este sentido, este centro ha pedido a los propietarios de gatos de la zona en torno a Wittow que mantengan a sus mascotas dentro de sus casas.
"Pese a que la mayoría de los cadáveres de las aves han sido retirados de la costa, siguen muriendo animales a causa de la infección de H5N1, que podrían ser a su vez un foco de infección".
De momento se han detectado focos de gripe aviaria en cinco estados federados de Alemania: Mecklemburgo-Antepomerania, Schleswig-Holstein, Brandeburgo, Baden-Württemberg y Baviera, donde se han confirmado alrededor de 130 casos. Todas las aves infectadas por ahora eran salvajes.
En 2004, tras haberse dado algún caso de contagio entre felinos, un estudio publicado en la revista 'Science' mostraba que los gatos domésticos son vulnerables a la cepa H5N1 del virus de la gripe aviaria.34 humedales con riesgo en España.
El Ministerio de Agricultura y las Comunidades Autónomas añadirán nueve humedales más a la lista de 25 considerados como las zonas de máximo riesgo de contagio de gripe aviaria en España. También tomarán medidas excepcionales de bioseguridad, como la prohibición de aves al aire libre.
El secretario general del Ministerio de Agricultura, Josep Puxeu, ha destacado que el riesgo de entrada del virus en España está directamente relacionado con las migraciones de aves procedentes de África y con la proximidad de los focos registrados en Suiza y Francia.
El virus ha infectado a 173 personas y ha causado la muerte de 93 personas en Asia y Oriente Medio desde finales de 2003. La infección en aves salvajes o domésticas se ha extendido en 17 nuevos países de África, Asia, Europa y Oriente Medio. La Organización Mundial de la Salud (OMS) insiste en que ninguno de estos casos se ha producido por el consumo de carne o productos avícolas.
En un comunicado, este organismo vuelve a confirmar que cuando estos alimentos son manejados de forma segura y cocinados adecuadamente los humanos no están en riesgo de adquirir la infección por el H5N1 a través de estos productos.
"Globalmente, la evidencia demuestra que no hay riesgo de infección cuando aves y huevos son bien cocinados, ya que así se mata al virus. Los productos avícolas son importantes fuentes de proteínas en todo el mundo".
La OMS insiste en que el principal riesgo para la salud es que las personas estén en estrecho contacto con aves enfermas, como las familias que tienen en sus hogares aves de corral y los trabajadores de mercados donde se venden estos animales. No obstante, ésta continúa siendo una enfermedad animal.
Posted by dymaxion at 09:30 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 27, 2006
A Winning Strategy?
Unless we act now, bird flu may win is the title of a thought-provoking article in the International Herald Tribune written by Laurie Garrett, a senior fellow for global health at the Council on Foreign Relations and Pulitzer Prize-winning author of "The Coming Plague." Garrett argues that all of the billions of dollars being spent around the world will be wasted unless more drastic action is taken by the world community. She points out that nearly all of the activity taking place in the various countries, such as the culling of flocks and the stockpiling of Tamiflu, is reactive and defensive. She concludes:
"Rather than waiting for a tide of H5N1 to wash over the world's birds, mutate, and then move in a tidal wave over humanity, we should create lines of defense that start with the wild animals, move next to protect poultry, and then rely on rapid screening of human beings to determine who is, and is not, infected with the virus.
In the absence of these sound footings, everything else is just wasted billions of dollars".
Until May of last year, Avian Flu appeared to have been limited geographically to East Asia where it was diagnosed in domestic poultry and a relatively small number of humans. Most scientists believed it was being spread through contact among domestic poultry Then a large number of wild birds were found dead in a northern Chinese lake. Since then the spread of the disease has followed predictable flyway patterns of wild birds, first across Siberia and then into the Caucuses, across the Danube and now into western Europe and south into Africa.
Garrett predicts that it is just a matter of time before migrating wild birds reach North America either via Iceland and Newfoundland or down a Pacific flyway crossing the Baring Strait into Alaska and then south. When this happens, awareness of the virus's potential lethality will be no doubt greatly raised in Canada and here in the US.
Garrett is right in calling for a quick, sure, portable test. Two or three days delays could be critical in stopping an outbreak. Interestingly, she did not call for a concerted campaign for a next generation vaccine, as advocated by Michael Osterholm of CIDRAP and others.
The spread of B2B (bird to bird) Avian Flu is already having enormous economic impacts around the world. However, we should keep our eyes on the real danger, and that remains, in our mind, the spread of the highly lethal virus in parts of the world where there is little public health infrastructure and where people live cheek to jowl with their poultry. This is most likely the cauldron in which a mutated virus that is geared to the ready transmission from H2H (human tohuman) will appear.
Many of the countries where H2H is most likely to develop already have chronic problems in their domesticated birds. We know from experience that humans get the virus from poultry yet we still hear about human cases in China, Indonesia and now possibly Malaysia that seem to come out of areas where we have gotten no prior reports of infected birds. This indicates that the authorities are either uninformed about outbreaks among poultry in their districts or are purposely downplaying such events. Both conclusions are disturbing.
Recent events in Nigeria and now Niger seem to be following the same pattern. These sub-Saharan countries have even weaker public health and sanitary systems than does Vietnam, the weakest link in Asia.
We agree with Garrett that the situation is dire and calls for concerted action. But it will most likely not be the wild bird flyways that spread the disease worldwide should an H2H strain evolve, it will be the network of commercial airlines that follow no such seasonal patterns and bring every corner of the globe in contact within hours. Detection is important but a Manhattan-like project to quickly develop an effective, next generation, innoculation program may in the end be the only possible winning strategy.
Technorati Tags: H5N1 Avian flu, Bird flu
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Korea confirms antibodies in four people
The KCDC said it sent blood samples of 11 Koreans who took part in the cull of chickens and ducks during the bird flu outbreak between December 2003 and March 2004 to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which found that four of them - a soldier and three workers -- produced antibodies. The 11 had tested positive when the KCDC conducted its own tests last year of blood samples of 318 owners and workers at 19 poultry farms countrywide as well as of public servants and soldiers who disposed of dead birds. A KCDC official said the four took the antiviral drug Tamiflu at the time, did not show symptoms for 10 days and remain in good health.
Source. (Thanks HyeYoon.)
Posted by dymaxion at 01:43 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
China's bird flu samples
China's efforts to maintain control over samples of avian flu taken on its soil, as well as the research done on them, have put it at odds with international health officials trying to defeat the disease.
The standoff pits a high-ranking veterinarian in China's Ministry of Agriculture named Jia Youling against international health authorities leading the fight against bird flu. Their conflict surfaced after wild birds began dying by the thousands last spring in a remote region of western China. At the ministry's headquarters in Beijing, officials from the World Health Organization and the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization asked Dr. Jia to share with them the samples of bird flu that scientists under his ministry had collected from the birds.
He didn't provide them. Instead, Dr. Jia -- a professorial-looking 58-year-old who had risen steadily through the ministry's ranks since he joined it in 1979 -- began to talk about a recent research paper he had noticed on avian flu. According to Julie Hall, the WHO's top communicable-disease expert in Beijing and a participant at the meeting, he had a complaint: Months earlier, a team led by American scientists published a paper in an academic journal using China's samples, but without crediting or consulting their Chinese counterparts. The occasion, Dr. Hall says, "was used to express their deeper concern about ensuring that Chinese scientists were duly recognized." Dr. Jia declined to comment, saying, "I don't want to mention those things because they are all in the past."
Since that meeting, China hasn't provided a single sample from its infected flocks, despite repeated requests by WHO amid the roughly 30 outbreaks the country has reported in the past 12 months.
That is from an article written by Nicholas Zamiska for the Wall Street Journal (subscription required). Revere reacts here.
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Fowl play: The poultry industry's central role in the bird flu crisis
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Unless we act now, bird flu may win - Editorials & Commentary - International Herald Tribune
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Reuters AlertNet - France starts poultry vaccination against bird flu
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Irish labs testing birds for H5N1 virus - Irish Times
| Irish labs testing birds for H5N1 virus Irish Times, Ireland - A number of dead birds were rounded up by the Department of Agriculture at the weekend and have been sent for examination to laboratories where bird flu can be ... New outbreak heightens rapid global spread fear after turkey farm ... |
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Bosnia says H5N1 bird flu found in two wild swans - Reuters AlertNet
 ITN | Bosnia says H5N1 bird flu found in two wild swans Reuters AlertNet, UK - ... Reuters) - Bosnia's veterinary office said on Monday tests at the European Union reference laboratory had confirmed its first case of the deadly H5N1 bird flu ... Georgia Finds H5N1 Virus in Wild Swans First case of deadly H5N1 bird flu in Bosnia Georgia becomes latest country to report H5N1 outbreak |
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Bird flu H5N1 strain discovered in Ukrainian resort zoo - TV - RIA Novosti
| Bird flu H5N1 strain discovered in Ukrainian resort zoo - TV RIA Novosti, Russia - KIEV, February 27 (RIA Novosti) - The lethal H5N1 strain of the bird flu virus has been identified in a zoo in Odessa, a port and resort city on the Ukrainian ... Tests confirm H5N1 strain in dead swan in Georgia Tests confirm H5N1 strain in dead swan in Georgia |
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Five Malaysians hospitalized with suspected B2H
Via Channelnewsasia: Five people quarantined in Malaysia for suspected bird flu.
Five people have been quarantined in Malaysia with suspected bird flu virus as chicken sales plunged 30 percent following a new outbreak of the deadly H5N1 virus, officials said Saturday.
Ramlee Rahmat, director of the health ministry's disease control division, said five people were admitted to hospital for observation late Friday.
"Five people with symptoms - high temperature and respiratory infection - were taken in for observation late Friday. The results will be known Sunday," he told AFP.
Ramlee said the five - three children and two adults - were aged between four and 44.
"They live some 300 metres (yards) from one of the outbreak areas," he said.
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Greece: 16 B2B, "more to come"
Thanks to my Greek reader, who sent the following story:
Yet another six swans found dead in northern Greece were tested positive to the H5 virus. So far, a total of 16 cases has been tested positive to the deadly H5N1 avian flu virus in Greece.Veterinary professor Spyros Kyriakis underlined that more cases are to follow, therefore, seriousness in handling the situation is a prerequisite.
In the meantime, a 20-year-old illegal immigrant of Afghan descent who developed high temperature and said he came from Turkey has been admitted to Mytilenes hospital. The young Afghan was handled as a suspected avian flu case, and is being treated in an isolation ward, while the room where he had been hospitalised along with other illegal immigrants was disinfected.
The patient said he had no physical contact with a bird, while the Pasteur Institute is due to yield the test results, which are to show whether he has been infected with the H5N1 virus or not, in three days time.
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World bank plans $50,000,000 bird flu aid for Nigeria
Reuters reports: World bank plans $50 mln bird flu aid for Nigeria.
World Bank's news release about the $50 million. While Kyrgyzstan is getting a grant, it's not clear whether Nigeria is to get a grant or just a loan.The World Bank is planning a $50 million project to help Nigeria, the first African country to be infected with the avian flu virus, the bank said on Friday.
Funding for the project will come from the bank's new global financing facility for avian flu, worth up to $500 million. Under that program, the bank has already given the go-ahead for a $4 million grant to Kyrgyzstan to help prepare for possible outbreaks. The bank said it is also drawing up plans to help Niger, which borders Nigeria.
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B2B moves south in Germany
Expatica.com reports Bird flu spreads to two more German states.
Bird flu spread to two more German states on Friday as authorities stepped up measures to stop the outbreak from reaching domestic poultry. The new cases of the H5N1 strain were found in three wild ducks in the northern state of Schleswig Holstein and in Baden-Wuerttemberg in the south. Authorities immediately set up exclusion zones in a three- kilometre radius around the areas were the dead birds were found. The transport of poultry and poultry products was banned for 21 days in the affected area of Schleswig Holstein.
The original outbreak on Ruegen Island was in the state of Mecklenburg-West Pomerania.
Posted by dymaxion at 01:21 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Bird flu returns to Cambodia
Bad news from Reuters: Bird flu returns to Cambodia, official says.
correctly, Cambodia had just four B2H cases, and all four died.The deadly H5N1 bird flu virus has returned to Cambodia, found in dead ducks near the border with Vietnam, a senior official government said on Friday.
"The dead ducks were found near a lake where wild birds live and test results showed it is the H5N1 bird flu virus," Yim Vanthon, the number two at the Agriculture Ministry, told Reuters.
The virus has killed four people in Cambodia since it first arrived in late 2003 and its reappearance was the first in months in a region experts believed could generate a mutated virus which might trigger a global human pandemic.
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Indonesian officials take cages from a resident's house during ...Health Photos - AFP on Yahoo! News Photos
(AFP) - Indonesian officials take cages from a resident's house during a door-to-door inspection for the avian influenza virus in Jakarta. Indonesia's bird flu toll hit the 20 mark with confirmation that a 27-year-old woman had succumbed to the H5N1 virus, the health ministry said(AFP/Adek Berry)
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New bird flu cases in Cambodia and GermanyBiopeer
Indian health officials have declared that the virus has not infected any human beings as was confirmed by test reports. The results revealed no presence of the deadly H5N1 strain of virus in the blood samples sent for tests. This has put all fears of human infections to rest. Meanwhile, a team of experts has declared the famous Point Calimere bird sanctuary near Vedaranyam, about 50 km from Nagapattinam district in Tamilnadu, free from avian flu. The team carried out an intensive survey and collected samples of blood, saliva and fecal matter of birds for testing before reaching this conclusion.
Cambodian officials have discovered three ducks on a family farm in eastern Cambodia infected with the H5N1 bird flu virus. The sick ducks were found during a routine check of poultry in the Kompong Cham province. Though the mystery of the ducks contracting the virus still remains to be tracked, officials have already triggered the culling process. All the 223 ducks in the farm have been culled to avoid all probabilities of a bird flu outbreak.
Agricultural authorities in Germany have confirmed 110 cases of the deadly H5N1 bird flu strain among wild birds. The dead wild birds, tested positive for the H5N1 virus, were found in the eastern German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Apparently, six new cases of H5N1 were confirmed on the basis of the sample test conducted on dead wild birds found on Ruegen Island. In a different part of the state, a wild duck has also tested positive for bird flu.
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GRIPE DAS AVES FAZ PRIMEIRA VÍTIMA EM PORTUGALO al...:::::: O PAMPILHO ::::::
O alerta foi comunicado na noite de Domingo pelos serviços da Protecção Civil de Lisboa. E a confirmação aconteceu já esta manhã por fonte próxima da família. O jovem Vítor, de trinta e poucos anos e natural do norte do país, é a primeira vítima (confirmada oficialmente) do H5N1, vulgarmente conhecido como Bird Flu.Posted by dymaxion at 01:08 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Ducks and chicken wait to be taken away by Hong Kong agriculture ...Health Photos - AFP on Yahoo! News Photos
(AFP/File) - Ducks and chicken wait to be taken away by Hong Kong agriculture officials on February 13. Health authorities in Hong Kong confirmed that three more birds had died from the H5N1 strain of bird flu and said tests were under way on another suspected case.(AFP/File/Samantha Sin)
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Bird Flu Widens Two More Human Cases In China Niger And Pakistan Report Bird Infections
... As Chinese authorities confirm two new human cases of H5N1 Bird Flu virus strain infections, Niger and Pakistan have confirmed their first outbreaks of infections among birds. In China, a girl, aged 9 and a farmer, aged 26, became infected with H5N1. The girl is from Zhejiang and the farmer from Annhui... click link for more info. ...News from the web
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Niger Becomes Third African Country to have Bird Flu
... Today, Niger confirmed that it has become the third country in Africa where H5N1 bird flu is present. The disease was confirmed to be present in Nigeria and Egypt earlier this month. Niger shares a border with areas of Nigeria that were already known to have bird flu. It is not surprising that H5N1 has been able to cross the border which is ...fluFactor
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Deadly Strain of Bird Flu Found in India
... A second state in India reported an outbreak of the H5N1 strain of bird flu on Saturday. The deadly virus was discovered earlier this month among chickens in the western state of Maharashtra, leading officials to slaughter more than half a million birds ... ...Linemd.com - Buy Tramadol, Fioricet, Cialis, Soma, Levitra, Viagra and more.
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February 23, 2006
French Poultry Producers Circulate Flyers in Paris Mailboxes
According to a tip from a French language reader in Paris, mailboxes today were stuffed with flyers from the French Association of Meat Producers reassuring Parisians that there is no danger from eating cooked poultry that has been brought to over 71 degrees centigrade. The campaign comes on the heels of announcements today that a second wild duck has been certified to have died from the H5N1 virus and of suspicions that the virus has entered into domesticated poultry flocks in France and Germany.
There was further word today, that a French turkey farm has reported a suspected case. The farm was quarantined, according to French authorities. Another report out of Germany of a suspected case in a domesticated poultry farm, has also been confirmed by German authorities. These would mark the first reported cases of the spread of the deadly H5N1 virus from wild birds to domesticated flocks in the E.U.
According to official numbers, poultry consumption in France is said to have dropped by less than 15% since the reports of H5N1 virus first surfaced in the country. The same reader reported that she noted sales prices for poultry when she visited her local market this morning, even before the turkey story hit the news.
Technorati Tags: Avain Flu, H5N1, Bird Flu, France
Posted by dymaxion at 05:31 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
India reports results of latest tests
R.K. Srivastava, director general of health services, announced Thursday that all but one of 95 samples collected from residents of the Navapur area had tested negative for avian influenza.
Srivastava said the remaining sample would be sent to the National Institute of Virology in western Pune city for further testing, the Press Trust of India reported.
Officials in Navapur were taking no chances, stopping poultry workers from leaving town until they had been tested for bird flu. They were also discouraging people from attending weddings and other public events.
They stopped short of a complete halt to people travelling to and from the town as they tried to prevent the virus from spreading outside of the affected area, the officials said.
"Their movements have been restricted but not banned," said Dr P. Doke, director of health for the state, adding that the checkpoints were being set up seven kilometres (four miles) from the heart of the outbreak.
"We are discouraging people from gathering and people shouldn't invite guests into this area," he said.
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Reuters AlertNet - France has suspected farm bird flu case - ministry
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India investigates claims of bird flu cover-up
Via SciDev.net: India investigates claims of bird flu cover-up.
sonal follow-up: Yesterday, while checking my stats, I noticed that someone in India had googled their way to this site, and one of the terms they were looking for was "Venkateshwara Hatcheries." Well, if they're searching again today, here's another hit.India is investigating media reports that a major poultry producer suppressed evidence of the nation's first bird flu outbreak by paying local people to bury dead chickens.
Upma Chawdhry, a senior agriculture ministry official, told reporters in Delhi yesterday (21 February) that chicken deaths were first observed in Navapur in Marahashtra state as early as 27 January, but the government only found out on 8 February through a local newspaper report.
With commercial poultry farms in the area under scrutiny, the Maharashtra state government yesterday charged Pune-based poultry producer Venkateshwara Hatcheries with concealing chicken deaths.
The claims, if true, would mean that India lost 12 days that could have been used to contain the outbreak and raise awareness of the threat. In addition, anyone burying dead birds risked being infected with the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus.
More importantly, charges of cover-up in India and bureaucratic bungling in Indonesia need quick investigation. If true, the malefactors should be dealt with very promptly. As H5N1 spreads, governments and corporations alike need to know that honesty is not just the best policy, but the only policy that will save their lives.
Posted by dymaxion at 05:08 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
India Begins Mass Slaughter of FowlABC News -
... India Begins Mass Slaughter of Fowl ABC News - NAVAPUR, India Feb 19, 2006 (AP) Health officials and farm workers in protective clothing began slaughtering hundreds of thousands of chickens in western India on Sunday, hoping to prevent the spread of the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus. Europe Source: abcnews.go.com Louisville Slugger Softball ...Info Links
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grippe aviaire dans un élevage allemand
... grippe aviaire dans un élevage allemand jeudi 23 février 2006 (Reuters - 11:14) HAMBOURG - L'Allemagne a annoncé un premier cas suspect de grippe aviaire dans un élevage de canards de l'île de Rügen, dans le nord du pays. Selon les premières analyses, le virus H5N1 a été retrouvé chez un animal provenant d'une ferme de l'île de la mer ...la grippe aviaire : le nouveau risque mondial ?
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OMS: les changements du virus H5N1 peuvent favoriser la contamination des oiseaux
... OMS: les changements du virus H5N1 peuvent favoriser la contamination des oiseaux L’OMS a indiqué que la grippe H5N1 a infecté des oiseaux dans 14 pays supplémentaires depuis le début de ce mois [ février 2006 ], et les changements génétiques récents du virus peuvent avoir quelque chose à voir avec sa diffusion rapide dans les oiseaux. L'agence ...la grippe aviaire : le nouveau risque mondial ?
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slovakia says finds first cases of h5n1 flu virus - boston.com
BRATISLAVA (Reuters) - Initial tests in Slovakia showed the H5N1 strain of bird flu in a wild falcon and a grebe, the first two cases of the virus found in the country, Agriculture Minister Zsolt Simon said on Thursday. The samples will now be tested in EU's reference laboratory in Weybridge... expect that the samples will be delivered sometime today," Simon told reporters. He said the H5N1.... "The (initial) tests showed H5N1 type of virus," Simon said. The dead grebe was found near the DanubePosted by dymaxion at 05:02 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Hungary - British tests confirm first
British tests confirm first H5N1 case in Hungary (AlertNet) BUDAPEST, Feb 21 (Reuters) - A British laboratory detected the deadly H5N1 bird flu strain in three dead swans found in Hungary last week... swans found in Hungary 'infected with H5N1' (Irish Examiner) Test results from the European Union???s laboratory have confirmed that three dead swans found in Hungary were infected with the H5N1 strain... (The Australian) A BRITISH laboratory detected the deadly H5N1 bird flu strain in three dead swans foundPosted by dymaxion at 04:58 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 22, 2006
Malaysia, India await test results in suspected human cases
Seven Malaysians living near an area with bird flu were being treated in hospital on Wednesday, while India anxiously waited to see if a group of 12 in quarantine were the country's first human victims of the virus.
The seven, including five children aged between 2 and 12, all had respiratory problems and test results would be available within a day, Malaysia's health minister said. India is hoping results of its tests might come later on Wednesday.
Alarm is growing at the sudden resurgence of the H5N1 virus as it spreads rapidly across Europe, into Africa and now India, where hundreds of millions of people live in rural areas side-by-side with livestock and domestic fowl.
Posted by dymaxion at 01:03 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
WHO comments on H5N1 mutations
Since 1997, when the first human infections with the H5N1 avian influenza virus were documented, the virus has undergone a number of changes.
These changes have affected patterns of virus transmission and spread among domestic and wild birds. They have not, however, had any discernible impact on the disease in humans, including its modes of transmission. Human infections remain a rare event. The virus does not spread easily from birds to humans or readily from person to person.
Influenza viruses are inherently unstable. As these viruses lack a genetic proof-reading mechanism, small errors that occur when the virus copies itself go undetected and uncorrected. Specific mutations and evolution in influenza viruses cannot be predicted, making it difficult if not impossible to know if or when a virus such as H5N1 might acquire the properties needed to spread easily and sustainably among humans. This difficulty is increased by the present lack of understanding concerning which specific mutations would lead to increased transmissibility of the virus among humans.
[...] Assessments of the outbreak in Turkey, conducted by WHO investigative teams, have produced no convincing evidence that mutations have altered the epidemiology of the disease in humans, which was similar to the pattern consistently seen in affected parts of Asia. There is no evidence, at present, from any outbreak site that the virus has increased its ability to spread easily from one person to another.
Read the full press release on the WHO site. Effect Measure wonders what the un-"convincing" evidence from Turkey may be.
In another statement by a WHO official quoted by Nicholas Zamiska for the WSJ (subscription required) we get an update on the situation in Indonesia:
There is no evidence that the bird-flu virus in Indonesia has mutated to a form that is readily transmissible among humans, the World Health Organization said, despite increasingly alarmed reports from Indonesian health officials.
Clusters of the disease among Indonesians may well indicate human exposure to the same sick birds, the WHO said, rather than the transmission of the disease from human to human, an event scientists fear could spark a pandemic.
"Should we be more worried? Not at this stage," Sari P. Setiogi, a spokeswoman for the WHO in Jakarta, said in an interview, adding that as health-care workers in the field become more aware of the disease, the number of reported cases may rise.
Posted by dymaxion at 01:02 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Bird Flu Outbreak - Iraq I've meant to write abou...
Bird Flu Outbreak - IraqI've meant to write about bird flu for some time now. When the outbreak in Turkey started in January I had a renewed impetus however my schedule has been all enveloping since the beginning of the year. Because of it's importance both in terms of human health as well as potential impacts on wild bird populations I will devote some time to this topic. This is a significant departure to my usual posts on Iraqi natural history.
With two confirmed deaths, several more reported including one from outside of the Kurdish region there is sufficient evidence that certain precautionary measures should be taken including the slaughter of flocks in areas where bird or human infections have been confirmed and people changing behaviors to limit contact with domestic or wild birds such as the use of a mask when tending flocks in areas where no cull has been ordered and stopping all activities like hunting where a person might handle dead birds.
The large scale cull of poultry will cause significant hardship for those who rely on small subsistence flocks of poultry for food. It will also put a strain on the commercial poultry and egg producers.
The main message is to avoid close contact with domestic or wild birds. Most cases to date of Avian Influenza H5N1 have been associated with this risk factor, especially handling birds that are sick or dead. I'll pull together as much useful information as I can for those on the ground. Worldwide there has been no evidence of widespread person-to-person contact. In January the human disease broke out of East and Southeast Asia when human cases started to be reported from Turkey. Several viral mutations noted in the Turkish outbreak are cause for concern and might make the virus more adapted to humans.
I don't claim to be a world expert on bird flu, however my civilian job involves keeping an eye on emerging infectious diseases and how they could potentially affect human health. I write this only to note that keeping an eye on these types of diseases are part of my job and I have closely followed the sporadic outbreaks since 1997 when the first cases of Avian flu were identified in Hong Kong. I wrote my first threat assessment 8 years ago. All opinions expressed are mine not those of the the Department of Defense or any other agency and are base solely on open source material.
If H5N1 were to remain static as it exists today, most people would have little or no reason to be concerned about a virus that spreads from bird to people less than 200 times in the last 9 years out of tens of millions of potential contacts during that period. If it remains the same, bird flu will be a rare disease in humans that causes huge agricultural losses and has a significant impact on some wild bird species. We can pray that this happens, however we cannot afford to assume it. Bird Flu today is simply a potential source of the next Influenza pandemic that is currently causing massive problems among poultry.
Background
Avian Influenza Viruses are common pathogens in a variety of bird species including domestic birds. Humans with close contact with infected birds very rarely were infected and the result was often a mild disease like conjunctivitis.
In 1997 something alarming happened that told the world there was a potential problem with global implications. Avian Influenza viruses in the H5 subgroup (named after a surface protein) were known to cause mild disease in poultry (ruffled feathers, decreased egg production). In March 1997, in Hong Kong, one particular strain designated H5N1 broke