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June 27, 2006
First cases found of avian flu caught from wild
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WORLD HEALTH ORGANISATION CONFIRMS BIRD FLU VIRUS MUTATED VIRUS ...
After weeks of downplaying the fact that the bird flu virus had passed from one human to another in Indonesia, when seven family members became infected and died with ten days, the World Health Organisation has now confirmed the H5N1 ...Posted by dymaxion at 10:41 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Massive H5N1 Bird Flu Die-off in Tuva, Siberia - Recombinomics
| Massive H5N1 Bird Flu Die-off in Tuva, Siberia Recombinomics, PA - The Siberian office of the Russian emergencies ministry Tuesday said the outbreak of the H5N1 strain of bird flu in the constituent Tuva Republic was ... H5N1 Bird Flu Spreads to Tomsk Siberia |
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WHO concludes H5N1 likely spread within family - CIDRAP
 Pravda | WHO concludes H5N1 likely spread within family CIDRAP, MN - Jun 22, 2006 (CIDRAP News) – The World Health Organization has concluded that Indonesia's recent family cluster of H5N1 avian influenza cases probably ... Malaysia declares itself free of bird flu AVA evaluating M'sian disease control measures before lifting ... Malaysia pronounces itself free of bird flu following three months ... |
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June 19, 2006
Avian flu cases confirmed in Indonesia, China - CIDRAP
| Avian flu cases confirmed in Indonesia, China CIDRAP, MN - Jun 15, 2006 (CIDRAP News) – The World Health Organization (WHO) today reported Indonesia's 50th human case of H5N1 avian influenza, while Chinese ... New evidence of cytokine storm in avian flu cases |
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Canada Investigates Second Backyard Poultry Flock For Bird Flu
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Bird flu protection from health-appearing chickens
... A 31 year old truck driver who lives in Shenzhen, in the south of China near Hong Kong -- is upsetting believers in bird flu protection. He's got a bad case of the disease -- yet nobody is sure how or why. The best clue they've got is that his wife bought a live chicken from the local wet market in the Longgang District, though nobody else who ...Bird Flu Protection
Posted by dymaxion at 10:50 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
H5N1 Testing in Maine/Possible Canadian Presence
Two reports about H5N1. BOSTON (Reuters) - Maine, the closest US state to migration routes for birds coming from Europe, has begun testing for avian flu as the United States steps up preparations for its possible spread to North America ...Posted by dymaxion at 10:42 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Hedging against a pandemic
Thanks to the reader who sent the link to this Forbes.com story: Hedging Against A Bird Flu Pandemic. Excerpt:
read the whole article.Based on an assessment of present evidence, the World Health Organization has concluded that the current level of global pandemic alert (Phase 3) is appropriate.
This phase describes a situation in which occasional human infections with a novel influenza virus are occurring, but there is no evidence that the virus is spreading in an efficient and sustained manner from one person to another.
We are encouraged by these results and the professionalism with which the World Health Organization is handling the situation. That said, the moment the WHO shifts the alert level to Phase 4, expect a literal overnight collapse of the Asian markets similar to the currency crisis of 1997. That crisis started in July 1997 in Thailand, but it caused a global financial domino effect.
That is what we are looking at with a Phase 4 warning.
Posted by dymaxion at 10:25 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Guangzhou: H5N1 case isn't spreading
Via News Guangdong: Contacts of suspected human bird flu patient test clear.
All 98 people who had close contact with a suspected human case of bird flu in south China have tested clear of the disease, the local health bureau on Thursday.
The contacts included relatives of the patient, a 31-year-old man surnamed Jiang, medical workers in a local clinic and in Shenzhen People's Hospital, where Jiang had been treated, and the patients in the same ward.
Tests on the 98 contacts all proved negative for the H5N1 strain of the bird flu virus, but doctors would continue observations of them, according to the health bureau of Shenzhen, a city in Guangdong Province.
A bureau source said Jiang was still in a critical condition and being treated in Donghu Hospital in the city.
Posted by dymaxion at 10:19 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Experts descend on Jakarta to sort out bird flu outbreaksMedical and health information and tools from Armenian Medical Network
An international team of experts are meeting in Jakarta this week to assess the avian flu situation in Indonesia.
Experts from the World Health Organisation (WHO), the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), UNICEF and agencies including the US and European centres for disease control will meet in Jakarta to look at the introduction of measures to reduce bird flu in Indonesia, where human cases of H5N1 infection have risen at a disturbing rate over the past year.
This follows the confirmation by the Ministry of Health in Indonesia of the country’s 50th case of human infection with the H5N1 avian influenza virus.
Posted by dymaxion at 10:04 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
China fears bird flu becoming more infectious
China’s latest human bird flu infection indicates that the H5N1 virus may have mutated and become as infectious in warm months as it is in cooler ones, Hong Kong’s health minister said....Posted by dymaxion at 10:00 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Hong Kong fights poultry smuggling
Via Reuters: HK fights poultry smuggling to keep out bird flu. Authorities in Hong Kong stepped up customs checks at the weekend to stamp out poultry smuggling after a truck driver was found infected by the H5N1 bird flu virus across the border in mainland China. More officers were deployed at Hong ...Posted by dymaxion at 09:59 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
China: New B2B outbreak in Shanxi
Via Xinhuanet: New bird flu outbreak in Shanxi. Excerpt: A new bird flu outbreak has been reported in north China's Shanxi Province, said sources with the Ministry of Agriculture here Monday. The outbreak was identified after chickens died in poultry farms in Changzi County of Changzhi City. Samples...Posted by dymaxion at 09:56 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Indonesia: Cat contracts H5N1
Via Thanh Nien Daily, a good Vietnamese news source on avian flu: Cat infection by bird flu detected in Indonesia. A case of cat infection by the H5N1 strain of bird flu has been detected in Indonesia, a World Health Organization medical officer in Jakarta said Monday."We have evidence of one cat in...Posted by dymaxion at 09:56 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Hong Kong: 23 more pneumonia cases reported
Via the Hong Kong government's Health & Community page: 23 more pneumonia cases reported. The Hospital Authority has received 23 pneumonia cases of unidentified cause, involving 11 men and 12 women who visited Guangdong, Hunan, Hubei and Fujian provinces before the onset of symptoms. The figure brin...Posted by dymaxion at 09:56 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Scientists Go to Iowa for Bird Flu School
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June 12, 2006
Bird Flu Blues: Wild Birds Contribute but Commercial Poultry Trade is Main Culprit
Link: Wild Birds Only Partly to Blame in Spreading H5N1 Science reports that the Rome FAO meeting of experts studying the H5N1 avian influenza epidemic reached a consensus: Wild birds play a role in the virus's huge geographic jumps, but the main means of transmission is the commercial poultry trade...Posted by dymaxion at 10:24 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Bird 'flu hits domestic fowl in Hungary for first time - Caboodle.hu
| Bird 'flu hits domestic fowl in Hungary for first time Caboodle.hu, Hungary - Tests being conducted in Weybridge, England, will determine whether the variant is the feared H5N1 strain, which poses a risk to humans. ... |
Posted by dymaxion at 10:08 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
First case of bird flu found in Ukraine - Independent Online
 World Fitness | First case of bird flu found in Ukraine Independent Online, South Africa - ... Krol said he had no information about what strain had been found, but Ukrainian media reported that it was the H5N1 strain, which is potentially deadly for ... First bird flu cases in northern Ukraine Bird-Flu Cases Reported In Northeastern Ukraine |
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Hungary: Is the vaccine a bluff?
Via the Budapest Sun, an English-language Hungarian news source: Fresh doubts over flu vaccine.
Hungary's vaccine for bird flu came under yet more criticism last week, days before the EU extended its ban on neighboring Romania's live poultry and poultry products across the country.ys nothing about the reports of H5 in the country, but mentions an outbreak of Newcastle disease.The Hungarian vaccine against H5N1 (the virulent strain of avian influenza), was accused of being "nothing but a bluff," according to daily Népszabadság, reporting on an article published by the Bloomsberg news agency.
Bloomsberg raised doubts over the vaccine, saying no scientific evidence to corroborate its effectiveness had been presented in the seven months following the announcement of its development.
Posted by dymaxion at 09:55 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
New bird flu outbreak in ChinaNews-Medical News Feed
Health authorities in China have revealed that a new outbreak of the H5N1 bird flu virus discovered in the western region of Xinjiang has been contained by the culling of more than 17,100 poultry.Posted by dymaxion at 09:49 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Paris Anti-Avian Influenza 2006 World Congress- Latest Advances on Prevention, Therapies and Protective Measures - Institut Pasteur, Paris, France, June 29-30 2006PR Newswire
PARIS, June 12 /PRNewswire/ -- For the first time, more than two hundred international specialists (ministry of health, police and army, crisis management, transports companies, public association, mayors, researchers, pharmaceutical laboratories) will gather on June 29-30 2006 at the Institut Pasteur in Paris, France, to discuss about the latest advances on Avian Influenza, especially on new therapeutic targets for treatment and prevention in humans, and plan the strategies to avoid or stop a human pandemic. A special session will be reserved to discuss the management of a catastrophic scenario, in the case of a pandemic outbreak.
The following topics will be approached: 1) Overview about the Avian Influenza propagation in the world 2) Focus on H5N1 3) Treatments and perspectives 4) New detection tools and kits 5) Prevention of influenza
6) Alternative Solutions and Pathways in Influenza Prevention and Treatments
7) Disaster management response
Dr Marvin Edeas, Chairman of the Organising Committee of Paris Anti-Avian Influenza 2006 announced that, "Our aim is to launch the discussion between the different actors involved in the fight against Avian Influenza starting from medical and scientific specialists to government crisis management specialists and we will try to answer many questions: is the medical profession ready to fight against a pandemic? Is the world ready to face a human avian flu pandemic? How to manage the crisis at all levels and sectors? "
Paris Anti-Avian Influenza 2006 will also gather: government members of several foreign countries, the different international organisations involved in he fight against human and avian influenza (WHO, OIE, World Bank, EISS, GROG), the world specialists in the field (A. Osterhaus, S. Van der Werf, M. De Jong, E. DeClerq, D. Swayne, E. Hoffmann)
Paris Anti-Avian Influenza 2006 will also provide the opportunity to scientists and industrials to present their work on H5N1, new targets, new tracks or products that have shown their efficiency in the fight against influenza or new tools and kits to detect the virus.
Many International Companies will be present at this meeting: Applied Biosystems, Battelle, Baxter, Biomerieux, Biorad, Boeing, Combimatrix, GSK, Green Hills Biotechnologies, Procter and Gamble, Roche, Rockeby Biomed, Sanofi Pasteur, Solvay Pharma, Triosyn.
Programme and useful information on www.isanh.com/avian-influenza
Paris Anti-Avian Influenza 2006 World Congress
CONTACT: Contact: Dr Sandra Huguenin, Phone: +33-1-55-04-77-55, Email:influenza2006@wanadoo.fr
Content copyright PR Newswire Association LLC. All rights reserved. This content may not be redistributed or retransmitted.
Posted by dymaxion at 09:46 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
June 05, 2006
Animal health body reports bird flu in Ivory Coast
Monday - By Loucoumane CoulibalyABIDJAN Ivory Coast has detected its first outbreaks of the H5N1 strain of bird flu in two populous neighborhoods of its main city Abidjan making it the sixth African nation to report continue... Recomended Link: glucosamine studies...Posted by dymaxion at 11:14 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Japan to nominate WHO regional chief as new director general
Via Yahoo News, an AFP story: Japan to nominate WHO regional chief as new director general. Japan said that it would nominate the World Health Organization's Western Pacific chief to become the next director general of the UN agency and lead the fight against bird flu.Shigeru Omi's record of oversee...Posted by dymaxion at 11:13 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Bird Flu Dance Craze Sweeps Ivory Coast
a DJ in Ivory Coast has invented a bird flu dance that is sweeping the nation (much like H5N1), imitating chickens' death throes when they are culled to stop the virus from spreadingPosted by dymaxion at 11:12 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Namibia: More deaths from mystery disease
When I first posted on this a couple of days ago, I said it was certainly not H5N1. But whatever it is, it's killed two more people and the symptoms don't look good: Namibia: Virus Baffles Officials.
thorities have ruled out Guillain-Barré syndrome and polio. This will bear watching.Five people have died and at least 17 others have been hospitalised as Namibia and the Geneva-based World Health Organisation (WHO) try to identify the mystery virus affecting people.
One of the 17 people, a pregnant mother, is on a ventilator in Windhoek Central Hospital's acute care unit, according to Dr Helen Kandi-Shiimi, Senior Medical Superintendent of that hospital.The others were in a stable condition in Ward 5A yesterday.
On Friday, Health Deputy Minister Petrina Haingura called for calm and said the Government was in contact with WHO head office in Geneva as the wait for the results of stool, urine and blood specimens send to South Africa continued.
Victims typically suffer from lower-limb weaknesses, acute paralysis, breathing difficulties, chest pain, cold and flu, neck stiffness, headache and dizziness.
Posted by dymaxion at 10:51 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Local tests negative for Indonesian nurse
Thanks to the reader who sent the link to this Jakarta Post story: Local tests negative for Indonesian nurse who treated bird flu patients.
uraging news. Let's hope Hong Kong confirms the negative test.Local tests have come back negative for an Indonesian nurse who fell ill after treating two siblings infected with bird flu, amid a surge in deaths from the virus.
"Thank God, the result came back negative," Hariadi Wibisono, a senior Health Ministry official said on Sunday.
He said specimens would be sent to a World Health Organization-approved laboratory in Hong Kong for confirmation.
The 25-year-old nurse was isolated and given the antiviral drug Tamiflu when she developed a fever and other flu-like symptoms. She fell ill about 10 days after treating a 10-year-old girl and her 18-year-old brother from West Java province, who died hours apart last month of bird flu.
She is improving and will likely be released this week after finishing the full course of Tamiflu, said Dr. Hadi Jusuf of Hasan Sadikin Hospital in Bandung, where the nurse is being treated.
Posted by dymaxion at 10:40 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
US and others not following throughH5N1
Via Reuters, a disturbing story: Less than $300 mln spent on bird flu - World Bank.
ling. Why make an empty promise for the sake of a day's good headlines, and then lose the world's good will and respect when you turn out to be a deadbeat? Worse yet, it's in the interests of the US and other deadbeat nations to stamp out avian flu overseas before it reaches them.Just $286 million has been spent to fight bird flu out of nearly $1.9 billion pledged last January by nations and organizations that said they wanted to make a "massive effort" against the virus, according to a World Bank report.
Only Japan, Switzerland and the Czech Republic have fully spent the money promised at a meeting of big donors in Beijing last January, according to the report, a copy of which was obtained by Reuters.
Africa in particular needs more money, the report said.
"Japan has fully committed its pledge in Beijing of $158 million to a range of countries and organizations at the regional and global level," the report reads. Switzerland pledged and has spent $4.7 million while the Czech Republic promised and has spent $200,000.
The report, prepared for a meeting of senior officials in Vienna on June 7, also singles out the United States, which pledged and committed $334 million, but which has spent $70.95 million. Of $500 million in loans promised by the World Bank, just $113 million has been committed and only $1.97 million sent out.
Since that meeting in January, the H5N1 avian influenza virus has spread out of Asia, across Europe and into Africa. It has not always affected commercial poultry but has killed or forced the culling of tens of millions of more birds.
And what about the World Bank itself? Why aren't those checks in the mail?
Posted by dymaxion at 10:29 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
June 01, 2006
Indonesia H5N1 Death Toll Reaches 37
While attention has been focused on the tragic damage caused by last week's earthquake and the potential for a volcano eruption, reports of Bird Flu deaths continue to pour in from Indonesia. Indonesia now ranks second only to Vietnam in the number of deaths caused by the H5N1 virus. However, while the situation in Vietnam has been quiet, new H5N1 related death reports in Indonesia have been recurring at a steady rate since he beginning of this year.
CIDRAP reports that "the 15-year-old boy, who was from Tasikmalaya, West Java, was admitted to a hospital May 29 and died yesterday, according to a Reuters story today. If his death is confirmed by a WHO laboratory in Hong Kong, his will be the 49th case and 37th death in Indonesia. About two thirds of those cases have occurred this year."
"Government officials said that the teen had contact with infected poultry and that his own chickens died about 2 weeks ago, according to Reuters. In addition, the report said, the boy's grandfather was a chicken farmer who had 40 chickens that died recently."
"The boy represents the third recent H5N1 fatality from West Java province. A 10-year-old girl and her 18-year-old brother died last week in Bandung, which is about 55 miles northwest of Tasikmalaya."
The ratio of reported deaths to reported cases is nearly 50% higher in Indonesia than it has been in prior reported cases around the world.
Today in H5N1Drome, we've reblogged several articles emphasizing how little is still known about this scourge. At a recent meeting hosted by the FAO in Rome, specific data on the role of particular migrating bird species in the transmission of the virus was reported for the first time. There is still an ongoing suspicion that many cases of the Avian Flu are going unreported in a number of countries.
In many ways, however, for us the most troubling news is the recurring incidences of H5N1 outbreaks in poultry flocks in Sub-Saharan Africa. Many countries in the region have experienced widespread pandemic AIDS for many years. A large segment of the population already suffering from immune deficiency could provide the H5N1 virus with an optimum environment for possible mutation to a form that is more easily transmissible from human to human.
Technorati Tags: h5n1, avian flu, bird flu
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