10/27/97-11/03/07 Bird Flu Thread: Preparing for a Pandemic

HEALTH - - 10/27/97-11/03/07 Bird Flu Thread: Preparing for a Pandemic
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Link to Last Weeks Thread:

http://www.timebomb2000.com/vb/showthread.php?t=262097


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Johns Hopkins on influenza:

http://www.iom.edu/Object.File/Maste... Chotani.pdf

National Avian Influenza Surveillance Information:

http://wildlifedisease.nbii.gov/ai/

CDC

http://www.cdc.gov/flu/avian/index.htm

WHO

http://www.who.int/csr/disease/avian.../en/index.html

CIDRAP

http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/

Official U.S. Government Web site

http://www.pandemicflu.gov/

FAO

http://www.fao.org/ag/againfo/subjec...ial_avian.html

Public Health Agency of Canada

http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/influenza/avian_qa_e.html

European Union

http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/health_consu...country_en.htm

The World Bank

http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTE...793593,00.html

http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/113-10282007-1431161.html


Preparing for a pandemic

By JENNIFER CONWAY
The Intelligencer

You wake up in a cold sweat with a burning cough and aching muscles. All the symptoms point to the flu, which you seem to pick up every year. But while finding your way to the medicine cabinet, you turn on the local news broadcast. It seems that you're not alone - there's been an outbreak of a new, highly lethal virus and you might just have it.

Although the example may seem like a scene ripped from an apocalyptic movie, the Bucks County Department of Health and Human Services spent Saturday preparing its volunteer organizations and local residents for such a disaster.

During the county's second pandemic flu drill, a requirement of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention regulations, more than 4,300 people were vaccinated for seasonal influenza, according to Bucks County spokesman Chris Edwards.

The drills took place in four locations: Tohickon Middle School in Plumstead, Holland Middle School in Northampton and at firehouses in Quakertown and Tullytown, both of which served as drive-in points of distribution or PODs.

All healthy residents 9 years and older were invited to receive a free vaccination during the four-hour practice, which was supported by medical and non-medical volunteers.

Last November, at three locations, 3,325 residents were inoculated. This year's numbers were impressive considering the shorter hours and rainy weather, Edwards said.

"This continues to be a work in progress. But it's an opportunity to test our preparedness and execution should a real disaster occur," said Edwards, who noticed a lot more carpooling this year.

Because the drill was designed to replicate a real health crisis, volunteers, Red Cross crews, health department employees and members of the Bucks County Major Incident Response Team, which includes 21 police departments, acted quickly to set up each of the PODs. This involved everything from bringing in vials of vaccines and preparing the medical stations to hanging signs for proper traffic flow and calling into the county emergency operation center in Ivyland, which coordinated the training exercise. Once set up, the police worked with volunteers to handle crowd control, and medical crews were readily available to handle emergencies.


A Homeland Security grant through the Department of Health and Human Services paid for the events, Edwards said.

At Tohickon Middle School, the setup took one hour, and by 10 a.m., when the doors opened, people were lined up into the school's parking lot. According to Juliet Kelchner, a spokeswoman for Bucks County, nearly 200 flu shots were given in the first hour. By the end of the drill, that number had climbed to 1,000, including 100 T-dap vaccinations also had been given out for tetanus toxoid-diphtheria-acellular pertussis.

"The day is running smoothly," she said. "Despite the weather, we've had a fair turnout. It's great that the public gets involved in these drills."

At Tohickon, once people filled out the registration papers, it only took them five minutes, on average, to receive a shot and exit.

"In a real situation, people might panic," said Sharita Washington, an HIV project coordinator at the county health department and acting line manager for the day. "But there still would be a plan-you would know the county got you prepared."

Volunteer Janice Baehr, of Warminster, a registered nurse, estimated she vaccinated more than 80 people in nearly four hours. "This has really been a well organized event," she said, while relaxing during a break in the crowd.

In the case of a true epidemic, Bucks County health officials would need to provide more than 600,000 vaccinations to residents against the flu, which infects from 5 to 20 percent of the U.S. population each year.

The four sites used Saturday are among 30 locations the county has identified as potential PODs. The county also has a database of more than 400 trained volunteers who would be mobilized to work at these locations.

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<B><center>650,000 would die from bird flu, says Govt.

David Harrison
Last Updated: 1:04am GMT 28/10/2007
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/10/28/nflu128.xml </center>
It is a grisly scenario: 650,000 deaths, with bodies piled up in shipping containers before being buried in mass graves all over the country.

That is the nightmare envisaged by the Government in what it describes as the "very likely" event of a bird flu pandemic.

The alarming prediction is contained in a confidential Home Office document drawn up to help councils and other organisations deal with a catastrophic outbreak of the deadly H5N1 strain of the virus.</b>

It says that an estimated 650,000 people in England and Wales could die from the virus in a "reasonable worst-case scenario" – more than double the 320,000 estimated in the "prudent worst-case scenario".

The document warns: "The possibility of a worldwide influenza epidemic (a pandemic) presents a real and daunting challenge.

"There has been an unprecedented increase in avian influenza amongst domestic and wild birds in Asia and Europe… History and science suggest that we are very likely to face influenza pandemics this century."

With such a huge death toll, it says cemeteries would be under enormous pressure.

"Inflatable structures" and containerised storage "like those used at ports and freight terminals" could be used as makeshift mortuaries to store bodies before they are buried. The Department of Health advises that refrigerated vehicles and trailers should not be used – but admits that this may not be possible during a pandemic.

Large-scale "common graves" would be needed to accommodate the mountain of bodies, and ensure burials were carried out swiftly.

However the document, called "Planning for a Possible Influenza Pandemic – A Framework for Planners Preparing to Manage Deaths", says the process "would still allow for individual burial plots and marking of graves".

The wishes of families should be considered when planning the graves, the draft guidance says.

They should be "deep enough to allow for additional family burials – but not too deep or densely used to make difficult the removal and re-interment of the remains elsewhere, if this is requested at a later date".

In addition, the choice of coffins and types of funeral services will be limited in an attempt to help manufacturers meet the demand, and chapel services will be "basic and shorter".

Coffins for cremations will have to be re-used if there is a shortage.

The report is being sent out to all organisations that will be involved in preparing for a pandemic, including faith groups.

Other proposals contained in the paper include suspending exhumation powers and coroner's juries and cancelling inquests into deaths from natural causes in prisons.

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<B><center>October 27, 2007

Flu season is here, area health officials prepare for the worst

By Krista Brown
of The Northwestern
http://www.thenorthwestern.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071027/OSH0101/710270344/1128/OSHnews </center>
Every health department in the state of Wisconsin has an influenza pandemic preparedness plan.


So does every state. And also the federal government.


The bases are covered, said Doug Gieryn, director of the Winnebago County Health Department. But is a pandemic ever coming? </b>


Flu season is upon us, and the seasonal flu is something we're going to see every year, Gieryn said. But an influenza pandemic is entirely different.


"A vaccine is developed every year for the seasonal flu because we always have some idea of what the make up of the strand will be," he said. "The seasonal flu is a predictable event. We cannot predict a pandemic."


According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, scientists believe it's only a matter of time before the next influenza pandemic occurs. The last pandemic occurred in 1968. A pandemic, the CDC says, occurs when a new influenza A virus emerges for which there is little to no immunity in the human population. It spreads easily from person-to-person, worldwide.


"We're not going to have any defense against a flu like that," Gieryn said.


Health departments are doing continual surveillance right now, particularly in regards to H5N1 influenza virus, or bird flu, which has come the closest to becoming a pandemic flu, he said.


A pandemic flu may not be on the horizon, but health departments are doing their best to stay on top of things.


"We're kind of on an alert stage right now," Gieryn said.


He also said it's important for people to understand that the seasonal flu and pandemic flu are completely separate. And although there is a vaccine for the seasonal flu, the illness shouldn't be taken lightly.


"The vaccine is the best defense against the seasonal flu, but it still results in 36,000 deaths each year," Gieryn said.


Nationwide, about 65 percent of people over the age of 65 receive a flu vaccination each year, but less than 30 percent of the younger population receive one.


"Our goal is to vaccinate as many people as we can," he said. "I think the vaccine shortage in 2004 turned many people off, and they thought they should opt against the vaccine and save it for higher priority people. But now there's more than enough to go around. We've had mild flu seasons the past couple years."


Other people are turned off because they may have gotten the flu even though they were vaccinated.


Julie Fries, flu shot coordinator for the Valley Visiting Nurses Association, said many people have the misconception that the flu shot protects against the stomach flu, or gastroenteritis, but that's not the case. Rather, the shot protects against the respiratory illness that causes muscle aches, high fever, sore throat, headache, and extreme fatigue.


"Usually if someone comes down with Influenza chances are they came in contact with someone who transmitted the illness to them before their body was able to build up those antibodies to fight the flu," she said. "There are different flu viruses that circulate around as well. I still tell people though that an annual flu shot is still the best prevention there is along with good handwashing."


Gieryn said even if you're not in a priority group, chances are you will come into contact with someone who is. And it's better to be safe than sorry.


"When people have the flu, they know it. It's very serious and has a rapid onset," he said. "The vaccine sure beats the flu."

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<B><center>Tamiflu orders fill pharmacy shelves

By KIM THOMAS - The Press | Monday, 29 October 2007
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4253690a11.html </center>
Thousands of doses of bird-flu medication are languishing on pharmacy shelves nationwide after the public ordered them in a state of pandemic hysteria but never bothered picking them up.


A year to 18 months ago, New Zealanders were gripped with fear over the possibility of an outbreak of the deadly H5N1 bird-flu virus.

People clamoured to join waiting lists for the best-known defence against it, the drug Tamiflu. </b>

In November 2005, The Press reported many of the 900 pharmacies nationwide had hundreds of people on the waiting list for Tamiflu and the drug was selling on international internet trading website eBay for up to $NZ260.

However, New Zealand experts say since then the public's fears about bird flu seem to have dimmed – even while the threat of a pandemic remains as real as ever.

Latest international research into the H5N1 virus shows it has mutated and is now present in a form which more readily infects humans.

The H5N1 virus has infected more than 330 people worldwide, including many cases in countries close to New Zealand such as Vietnam and Indonesia, which has the highest number of cases with almost 90 fatalities.

Calculations based on New Zealand's 1918 Spanish Flu outbreak show that more than 160,000 people in Canterbury would get the bird-flu virus in the event of a pandemic and an estimated 3200 people would die.

Pharmacy Guild Canterbury representative Steve Thompson told The Press there were possibly tens of thousands of dollars worth of Tamiflu, or thousands of doses, sitting in pharmacies nationwide.

He had about $2000 worth of the prescription drug in his pharmacy alone.

Between 12 and 18 months ago, people had rushed to place orders for Tamiflu, saying they would wait up to six months for the drug to arrive.

However, interest in bird flu seemed to have waned, Thompson said.

Tamiflu costs about $70 for one course.

Pharmacy Guild of New Zealand president Steve Wise said ironically about a year ago you could not get Tamiflu "for love nor money", but there was now a surplus.

This month, most New Zealand stocks of Tamiflu powder, which is mixed with water for children to take, would expire, he said.

Most Tamiflu capsules would then expire about 2010.

Christchurch virologist Dr Lance Jennings said people should not ignore the threat of avian flu.

Last week, another two people died in Indonesia. The virus was continuing to mutate and spread faster than when it was first contracted by a human in 2003, he said.

"Viruses don't read the newspapers or listen to the radio. Just because people aren't hearing about H5N1 as much as before, that doesn't mean it has gone away."

Jennings believed people could be tired of worrying about the threat of a pandemic.

Tamiflu could be prescribed between May and September to treat seasonal influenza. However, the drug was expensive and there was a good argument for the Government to subsidise it for this purpose.

Because Tamiflu was untested, when a pandemic hit people would be unsure how and when to use the drug, he said.

Canterbury Medical Officer of Health Dr Alistair Humphrey told a pandemic planning meeting in Christchurch last week that a strain of Tamiflu-resistant form of H5N1 had been recorded.

However, Humphrey said the drug was definitely worth taking and advised people to get stocks for themselves and their family if they could afford to.

The New Zealand Government has stockpiled more than 1.2 million courses of Tamiflu in case of a pandemic.

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<B><center>Planned Flu Shot Clinics Serve Double Duty In State

Saturday, October 27, 2007 7:07 PM CDT in News
By Mary L. Crider
THE TIMES RECORD
http://www.nwaonline.net/articles/2007/10/28/news/102807trflueshots.txt </center>
FORT SMITH — A blitz of one-day influenza immunization clinics planned throughout Arkansas for Nov. 8 to 10 will serve a double function — to vaccinate as many residents as possible against the flu and to practice Health Department and emergency agencies’ response to any pandemic or bioterrorism incident.

There will be no out-of-pocket expense for residents receiving the flu vaccine during the Mass Dispensing Exercise, said Don Murray, Arkansas Department of Health.</b>

Residents who have health insurance are asked to bring their insurance cards. Their insurance companies will be billed, Murray said. People without insurance coverage will get the vaccination free during the clinics. Uninsured people seeking flu shots later at local county health units will be charged $20, Murray said.

Don Adams, Southwest Public Health Region team leader, said the department recommends everyone get a flu shot.

About 36,000 people a year die from influenza, making it the sixth-leading cause of death among U.S. adults, and another 114,000 are hospitalized, Adams said.

Health Department communicable disease nurse JoAnn Yother said the vaccine is not recommended for children younger than 6. Children and elderly persons are most at risk from flu because their lungs don’t function as well, Yother said.

Having seen increased incidence of children hospitalized for flu, the Centers for Disease Control have put a push on children being vaccinated, Yother said.

A pandemic is a disease outbreak that occurs over a large area, affecting a large proportion of the population. According to the Arkansas Influenza Pandemic Response Plan dated August 2006, the 1918 global flu pandemic killed up to 40 million people. The report predicts that the next pandemic could cause from 89,000 to 207,000 deaths in the United States alone.

“(The Mass Dispensing Exercise) will test our ability to vaccinate the citizens of Arkansas in case of a flu pandemic, ... and we’re going to test our ability for our public health response to anything requiring vaccination,” said Dr. Bill Mason, director of the Health Department’s Preparedness and Emergency Response Branch.

Mason said, given all the disasters happening recently — such as the massive California wildfires and hurricanes Katrina and Rita — officials want to be able to vaccinate people quickly should a pandemic arise.

The state’s Mass Dispensing program got its start in 2003 with one mass flu clinic in Mountain Home, Mason said.

In the 2004 flu season, when the vaccine was scarce, the Health Department was able to vaccinate between 55,000 and 58,000 people, Mason said.

The clinics were available then only to high-risk groups like the elderly, Adams said.

Last year, the clinics were held in 27 locations. This year, marks a broadening of the program to all the counties, Mason said. To better track response, people are encouraged to attend the clinic in their county of residence, but if they go to a clinic in another county, they won’t be turned away, Mason said.

The state’s flu season can run from mid-December to March.

Yother said the season usually hits in late January and early February, giving people plenty of time to get immunized. Yother said the vaccine’s protection usually lasts six to 12 months. It takes about two weeks for the shot to fully immunize the body, she said.


Mason said he knows the cost of the Mass Dispensing Exercise is significant, but he doesn’t know the actual cost. Hundreds of people work over the three days, thousands of shots are given each day, and many volunteers help too, he said. The state set aside 60,000 courses of vaccine for the exercise, Mason said.

It is receiving 231,830 doses for use in local public health clinics this season. Call ahead. A representative of the Sebastian County-Fort Smith Public Health Unit said Friday that unit had not yet received the vaccine.

No area sites were among last year’s clinics.

This year, Polk County will have a drive-through clinic set up Nov. 9 at the Polk County Fairgrounds in Mena, Adams said. County Judge Ray Stanley and local Office of Emergency Management Coordinator James “Jamie” Reeves have been very involved in the planning, Adams said.

Mason said county judges, mayors, and public health programs statewide have responded enthusiastically to the program.

“We want everyone immunized,” Mason said.

Yother said caution is urged in some rare instances. People should check with their doctors before taking the vaccine if they have a severe, life-threatening allergy to eggs; if they had a large swelling of their arm after receiving a vaccine; or if they have Guillain-Barre Syndrome, an immune system disorder. In addition, Yother said, people who are moderately to severely ill should wait until they are over that illness before taking the vaccine.

According to the Health Department, flu vaccines cannot cause the flu because they are made from dead viruses.

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<B><center>October 28, 2007

Health in Brief

<font size=+1 color=purple>WHO: Pandemic flu vaccine won't keep pace with need</font>

http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071028/NATIONWORLD/710280358/1012/NATIONWORLD </center>
The amount of pandemic flu vaccine available will surge more than 40-fold during the next three years, and it still won't be enough to protect the global population, the World Health Organization said.


About 4.5 billion courses of vaccine a year will be made by 2010, helped by new scientific techniques, the United Nations health agency said.</b>

Manufacturers this year increased production capacity of seasonal influenza vaccines to about 565 million doses, from 350 million doses in 2006, the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers & Associations said.
Governments are stockpiling pandemic flu shots to prepare for the possibility that H5N1, a virus that has spread in birds to at least 56 countries, will adapt to easily infect humans and spark a global outbreak.

Study: Young newlyweds prone to pack on pounds

Marriage may bring a spare tire as well as a wedding band, a study found.
Married people younger than 28 gained 6 to 9 pounds more over five years than single individuals the same age, according to researchers at the University of North Carolina.
Newlywed women gained an average of 24 pounds, while their spouses added 30, the study found. During the same period, single women gained an average of 15 pounds, and bachelors 24.
Crib bumper pad study: Risks outweigh benefits

The risk of accidental injury or death linked to crib bumper pads outweigh their benefits, pediatric researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis say.

The researchers reviewed U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission data from 1985 to 2005 and found 27 accidental deaths of children, ages 1 month to 2 years, attributed to suffocation or strangulation by bumper pads or their ties. They also found 25 nonfatal injuries related to bumper pads.

The study was published in the September issue of the Journal of Pediatrics.
-- Star news services

http://www.news.com.au/travel/story/0,23483,22235554-27977,00.html?from=mostpop


Possible bird flu outbreak in Bali

AUSTRALIAN health authorities say they are closely monitoring a possible outbreak of bird flu on the Indonesian tourist island of Bali.

Balinese officials are investigating whether a 29-year-old woman and her five-year-old daughter died from the deadly H5N1 strain of influenza.

If confirmed, these will become the first cases of the disease for the island, a popular tourist destination for Australians.

A spokeswoman for the federal Department of Health and Ageing said the "situation is being closely monitored".

Doctors at Bali's Sanglah Hospital are awaiting test results after the death of Ni Luh Putu Sri Windani early last week, according to media reports today.

They are also reinvestigating her daughter's death earlier this month.

Several birds have apparently died near the Windani home, strengthening the case for bird flu.

The virulent Indonesia strain has killed more than 190 people since it surfaced in 2003 and the World Health Organisation fears it could mutate to a human flu strain, potentially threatening millions of people.

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/10/29/europe/EU-GEN-Ukraine-Canada-Poultry-Ban.php


Ukraine bans imports of Canadian poultry over bird flu fears

The Associated PressPublished: October 29, 2007



KIEV, Ukraine: Ukraine banned imports of Canadian poultry Monday following an outbreak of bird flu there, veterinary officials said.

The ban on all poultry and poultry products will be lifted when "the situation is brought under control," Agriculture Ministry official Anatoliy Osadchiy said.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency said last month that a bird flu strain that is not harmful to humans had been confirmed at a large chicken farm in a central province.

The Saskatchewan strain is not the H5N1 virus that has caused worldwide alarm, but officials say the H7N3 virus is a considerable threat to commercial poultry farms.

The move follows similar bans by the United States, Japan and China.

Tamiflu and the Flu shot.

Great way for the sheep to prep....

http://www.cantonrep.com/index.php?ID=377951&Category=23&fromSearch=yes&subCategoryID=0

Financial institutions nationwide are undergoing a 3-week test of a fake flu pandemic

UPDATE: 7:31 PM, Monday, September 24, 2007
By MARTIN CRUTSINGER

WASHINGTON Don’t be alarmed if your local bank teller is looking a bit sickly over the next three weeks. It is only a cyber-illness.

Hundreds of banks and other financial institutions are participating in the largest test of its kind ever conducted to ensure the nation’s financial system can keep functioning in case of an outbreak of pandemic flu.

The test began today and is scheduled to run for three weeks. More than 2,700 financial institutions have signed up to participate, about five times the number the Treasury Department expected.

“This shows how much the business sector is focused on pandemic flu planning,” Valerie Abend, Treasury’s deputy assistant secretary for critical infrastructure protection, said in an interview with The Associated Press. Treasury, aided by other federal agencies and the private sector, has devised a three-week script for how a serious outbreak of bird flu might affect operations at banks, from the very biggest to the smallest, as well as at credit unions, securities firms and insurance companies.

The exercise also covers companies that provide critical behind-the-scenes processing to keep the flow of checks and money circulating around the country.

According to the doomsday scenario devised by Treasury, a number of cases of bird flu in humans are reported overseas and the illness spreads quickly to the United States by people traveling on international flights.

From that beginning, the Treasury scenario presents financial institutions with a number of challenges over the course of the three-week exercise. The financial institutions got the first week’s scenario during the weekend from an Internet site where the test is being conducted.

The whole exercise is part of a plan unveiled by President Bush in May 2006 directing various government agencies to upgrade their planning for pandemic outbreaks. The Government Accountability Office earlier this month criticized the administration for failing to conduct sufficient tests to make sure that the agencies understand their responsibilities.

One of the biggest challenges financial institutions will face is how to cope with absenteeism. In week one, the Treasury exercise directs the financial organizations to assume that 25 percent of their work force is not coming to work, either because of illness or because of fear of being infected or because they are staying home to take care of children who can’t go to school because the schools have closed.

To decide who is absent, the Treasury directs the institutions to assume that everyone whose last name begins with certain letters, which could cover the bank president down to the local teller, cannot come to work. The 25 percent absentee rate will jump to 49 percent in week two.

Abend said the various projections were compiled with the help of government scientists. Government financial regulators also helped put together scenarios on how the stock market will behave as well as what the value of the dollar and various commodities such as oil will be doing.

The dollar is projected to rise as investors seek a safe haven with the spreading global illness while stock prices are projected to fall because of worries about what the pandemic will do to economic activity.

Absent employees won’t be the only troubles facing the financial institutions. Under Treasury’s scenario, they also will have to cope with shrinking Internet bandwidths as more and more people try to work from home. Cash withdrawals from ATM machines are expected to rise sharply and getting the machines refilled will present problems because of rising absentee rates at the armored car companies and the difficulty of getting fuel for the armored trucks as gasoline refineries curtail their production.

By the end of the three weeks, Abend said the government and the institutions participating will have a much better idea of just what a flu pandemic will mean in the United States. She said the test should get the institutions thinking about where they need to improve their contingency plans.

“What would you do if you don’t have access to key people? Have you cross-trained enough employees to sufficiently cover that?” she asked. “We want to do a really robust test.”

Of the more than 2,700 organizations participating, two-thirds are banks, 20 percent are securities firms and 10 percent are insurance companies. The size of the firms ranges from the very largest with more than 100,000 employees to small institutions with fewer than 250 employees.

After the three-week exercise is completed, Treasury plans to write a report detailing how institutions performed and where planning needs to be upgraded. The organizations will also be given the opportunity to make suggestions on any areas where they believe government regulations need to be amended to allow for a better response to a pandemic.

“The after-action report will allow institutions to benchmark their capabilities against other institutions,” Abend said.

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http://www.northkitsapherald.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=95&cat=23&id=1092380&more=0


Mass bird death raising questions

By Annie Tietje

Oct 27 2007

INDIANOLA — The Suquamish Tribe and the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife are working in concert to determine why 209 common murres and Pacific loons washed up dead on the Indianola beach Monday.

While there had been no apparent oil or gasoline spills in the area, residents started noticing the carcasses earlier this week, and tribal officials reported their findings to the state crews.

Suquamish Tribal Fisheries Biologist Paul Dorn said there could be a number of different reasons for the mass death, among them drowning, pollution, poisoned food or fishing via purse seining. He and other tribal workers helped collect the bodies and samples to send to the Fish and Wildlife laboratories to establish the cause of death.

“This is a hugely sad event,” he said. “These were not endangered birds, but they are not common either... We received calls Monday morning. We’re responding, but we don’t know the cause yet.”

Fish and Wildlife District Wildlife Biologist Greg Schirato said this is definitely not a case of bird flu, but there is a hotline open for residents to call if they see a large die-off similar to this one.

“This particular case is unusual,” he said. “In quite a few years, I’ve dealt with bird wash ups for quite a few years on this beach, and this one is different.”

Dorn said the bird carcasses he saw appeared to be in perfect health, without ruffled feathers or other signs of a struggle or contamination. An immediate reaction was to ascertain whether the birds ingested something that could prove to be fatal to other species in the area, and sound a warning to address it, he said.

Schirato said if the birds were poisoned, or ate something unusual, it would be found during the necropsy of the carcasses. If poisoning was the cause of death, steps would be taken to protect other species in the area.

“That is very, very rare though,” he said. “Birds die at a pretty high rate, and people always assume it’s poisoning, which is very rare.”

Birds can also get caught in storms, causing them to starve to death, which will also be reviewed during the necropsy. Results from the tests were returned Friday.

“Sunday or Monday are the next purse seining,” Dorn said of another reason the birds washed ashore dead. He said he would go along to see if there was anything about the process that could have killed the birds. Purse seining is a way of fishing by casting a rectangular net weighted at the bottom and buoyed at the top. It could have caused the birds to drown. Schirato said the Grover’s Creek Hatchery and Fishery had just opened for fishing, which can sometimes cause birds to drown going after bait in nets, but he has never seen something on this scale before.

“Since 1999, we have had birds wash up on shore,” he said, noting he’s seen four bird die offs besides this one. “Those are usually in the 30 to 40 range though, nothing like this... They get caught in the gill nets looking for bait. One of the tribal workers reporting this counted 209 birds in the water, and we picked up 191.”

A toddler infected with bird flu​

http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailcity.asp?fileid=20071031.C07&irec=6

TANGERANG: The Tangerang regency health agency confirmed Tuesday another bird flu infection involving a three-year-old boy from Suka Asih village in Pasar Kemis district.

The agency's head of the communicable disease prevention unit, Yuliah Iskandar, said the patient was being treated at Sulianti Saroso Hospital in North Jakarta.

"The child reportedly suffered a high fever on Oct. 22 ... his condition has improved since being admitted to the hospital Sunday," she said.

A field examination and interview found the boy's family had raised several chickens in their backyard that had recently died from an unknown illness.

"There is strong evidence to suggest the patient had direct contact with dead fowl," Yuliah said.

A team of officials tasked with finding the source of the H5N1 virus have examined blood samples from 20 people who had recent contact with the boy.

The H5N1 virus has killed two children in Tangerang this month. One victim was a 13-year-old boy from Ceger village in Sepatan district, who died at Persahabatan Hospital in East Jakarta on Oct. 13. The other victim was a four-year-old girl from Suka Asih village, who died at the same hospital on Oct. 22. -- JP

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I am very glad to see you back JPD; and I do so hope that you are feeling better my friend...

Dutch

JPD- I do hope you are feeling much better!

On the whole push to "get a 'flu shot"...

First, (obviously, I hope- at least to this group) it is NOT effective against H5N1... there is no vaccine currently available for Avian Influenza.

Worse- it isn't even the right vaccine for this year's strain of "normal" 'flu!!!


This year's flu shot missing new strains of virus
Updated Wed. Oct. 24 2007 9:57 PM ET

CTV.ca News Staff

Canadians heading out to get their annual flu shot may want to know that the strains of the influenza aiming for North America appear to be drifting and mutating, raising questions about how much protection this year's flu vaccine will offer.

The process of creating the annual flu shot is a complicated one and actually begins almost a year ahead of time.

The World Health Organization monitors flu activity around the world, looking for predominant strains.

As flu viruses reproduce, they often trigger slight changes in their genetic code, which scientists call antigenic drift.

The WHO researchers take particular note of what's happening in the southern hemisphere to see what strains are emerging there, since they go through their winter flu season long before we do.

The WHO then selects the strains that they think are most likely to predominate in the northern hemisphere. They generally select three -- two subtypes of influenza A viruses and one influenza B virus-- to go into the vaccines to be used the following fall and winter.

Each year, authorities change one or two of the three strains in the vaccine, which is why it is important to get a new flu shot every year to ensure protection against the most recent strains.

This year's supply of shots is already being sent out to clinics and doctor's offices across Canada. But experts say it's beginning to appear that this year's vaccine may have two relative mismatches -- two viruses have been changing and may no longer match the viruses contained in this year's vaccine.

And because it takes at least six months to manufacture the vaccines, it's far too late to change them.

This year, scientists picked these three strains:

Influenza A - Solomon Islands/3/2006 (H1N1)-like
Influenza A - Wisconsin/67/2005 (H3N2)-like
Influenza B - Malaysia/2506/2004-like antigen
The Wisconsin strain, says the Public Health Agency of Canada, has already mutated into a different form than the one used for the vaccine, and the Malaysia strain shows signs of changing too.

"There is an inherent vulnerability in trying to develop a vaccine now for what might happen six months from now when flu season starts," says infectious disease specialist Dr. Neil Rau. "And with a strain mutating or gradually mutating, sometimes the guess is good, sometimes the guess is sub-optimal and sometimes it's bad."

"The process of making the vaccination is something of an educated guess based on what happened in the southern hemisphere during the preceding season."

No one knows how severe this year's flu season will be but Rau says it's theoretically possible the mismatch could result in more flu illnesses and hospitalizations.

"The worst case scenario with a bad match situation would be lot of disease in the elderly, manifesting in nursing home and cruise ships outbreaks, and with children you might see a lot of absenteeism and therefore a lot of parents off work as a result trying to care for them," he says.

Flu bug 'drift' speeding up

But other experts say these viral drifts are not unusual and happen on a regular basis because of the dynamic nature of the flu virus. They also note that in the past five years, the flu bugs have been drifting faster, though no one is sure why.

"We have noticed that there have been, certainly in one of the influenza A subtypes more recently, more frequent or rapid change in the virus, more rapid evolution," says Danuta Skowronski of the epidemiology services branch of the B.C. Centre for Disease Control.

"Having said that, though, that more rapid evolution has not been associated with more severe or intense outbreaks, so how meaningful that is ultimately is uncertain."

"It certainly makes it more difficult in terms of keeping pace with the changes in the vaccine to match those changes in the virus," she says. "But in terms of overall illness impact in the community, we have not seen that that has increased."

No drug or vaccine is ever 100 per cent effective and this year's vaccine won't be a perfect match either. But scientists point out that the antibodies the vaccine helps produce will offer some immunity over whatever strains do arrive.

"In recent seasons, even where there has been a vaccine mismatch, the vaccine can afford 40-50 per cent protection," says Dr. Theresa Tam of the Public Health Agency of Canada.

And some protection is better than none, especially for the elderly, she says, for whom the flu can actually be fatal.

"Even if it doesn't protect you from actually getting it, it can reduce the severity of the illness and complications," she notes.

That's why public health experts say, despite the complex science of tracking drifting strains, the flu vaccine is still the best protection against a tricky disease.

Influenza and pneumonia killed 4,725 Canadian in 2002, the last year for which detailed statistics are available, according to Statistics Canada. The National Advisory Committee on Immunization recommends that everyone over the age of six months be vaccinated against the flu.

With a report from CTV medical specialist Avis Favaro and producer Elizabeth St. Philip


http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNe...?hub=TopStories

JPD.....glad to see you back!!



How are you doing? Did you get to go home today?

Take things slow and easy........

New Freedom said:

JPD.....glad to see you back!!



How are you doing? Did you get to go home today?

Take things slow and easy........

Click to expand...

Was discharged on Wednesday morning but going back for the heart catheritization on Monday. Taking things easy.

Bird-flu pandemic still possible, WHO chief warns​

http://news.monstersandcritics.com/...d-flu_pandemic_still_possible_WHO_chief_warns

Nov 2, 2007, 10:07 GMT

Beijing - World Health Organization Director General Margaret Chan warned Friday that the risk of an avian influenza pandemic had not been averted despite the apparent success of several Asian nations in controlling outbreaks of the disease.

'Don't let your guards off,' Chan told reporters after talks in Beijing with Chinese health, agriculture and central government officials.

'The risk of an avian influenza pandemic is still with us,' she said.

Hong Kong-born Chan praised China's improved disease surveillance, laboratory capacity and shortened time for reporting bird-flu outbreaks.

She said the modern facilities at China's national control centre for infectious diseases made it 'one of the best' she had seen since taking up her WHO post 10 months ago.

Chan also said South-East Asian nations such as Vietnam and Thailand had performed well in preventing and controlling bird flu.

After meeting Beijing health officials and organizers of next year's Olympic Games in the city, she said emergency health plans for the games were 'moving along in a very solid way'.

'They do recognize that with any mass gathering, the government has to make preparations,' she said, adding that WHO had offered assistance to Beijing.

The Chinese government showed a 'growing commitment to health services' for its 1.3 billion people but still faced 'serious health challenges,' she added.

New challenges for China included the rising incidence of chronic diseases more common in developed nations, such as obesity and cancer, and the 'growing burden' of tobacco.

With such a huge population, many of China's challenges 'can become global health challenges,' Chan warned.

WHO warned in September that H5N1, the strain of bird flu that has been deadly in humans, had become 'deeply rooted in domestic birds' in Asia despite efforts to control outbreaks.

Experts have long warned that the virus might be more widespread in China, where dozens of outbreaks of H5N1 have been reported in poultry.

WHO said it had recorded 303 human infections with bird flu in 12 nations, including 204 deaths, by October 31.

China has reported 25 human H5N1 infections since 2003. Sixteen of those people have died.

Parents ignore doctors and take home
H5N1-infected toddler from hospital​

http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailcity.asp?fileid=20071102.C02&irec=1

Multa Fidrus, The Jakarta Post, Tangerang

Parents of a Tangerang toddler confirmed to have been infected with avian influenza forced the hospital Wednesday to discharge their child, the hospital director said.

Sardikin Giriputro of Sulianti Saroso Infectious Disease Hospital said there was nothing the hospital could do because the parents of the three-year-old boy insisted on taking their child home.

"The boy is recovering but is still receiving treatment for the (avian influenza) infection," Sardikin said as quoted by news portal Tempointeraktif.

The hospital, Sardikin said, had immediately contacted Tangerang Health Agency and a health clinic near the boy's house that will keep monitoring him and take necessary measures to ensure his recovery.

"We also have a team that can be alerted at anytime to back up the local agency and the clinic," he said.

The boy is a resident of Suka Asih village in Pasar Kemis, Tangerang. He reportedly suffered a high fever on Oct. 22 and was later admitted to the hospital.

Yuliah Iskandar, a local health official, said Tuesday a field examination and interview found the boy's family had raised chickens in their backyard that had recently died from an unknown illness.

A team of officials tasked with finding the source of the H5N1 virus have examined blood samples from 20 people who had recent contact with the boy.

The boy's father, Ahmad, who works as scrap metal trader, declined to be interviewed by journalists.

Darman, a member of staff at the nearby health clinic, confirmed Ahmad had taken his son home from the hospital.

"They believe their son is recovered, so there is no need to keep him longer at the hospital," he said.

"We will monitor the boy's condition closely for at least two weeks."

The H5N1 virus killed two children in Tangerang in October; a 13-year-old boy, who died on Oct. 13 and a four-year-old girl, who died on Oct. 22.

Nationwide, there have been 110 confirmed cases of bird flu in humans, 87 of which have been fatal.

jpd...WELCOME BACK................woohoo so glad to see you are well again(missed you)

JPD, glad you're back. Take care. You're needed here.

LC

Africa 'cannot meet WHO bird flu priorities'​

http://www.scidev.net/opinions/index.cfm?fuseaction=readopinions&itemid=683&langauge=1

2 November 2007
Source: The Lancet Infectious Diseases

Africa has little ability to achieve any of the priorities identified by the WHO to fight avian influenza, warn Folorunso O. Fasina, Shahn P. Bisschop and Robert G. Webster in The Lancet Infectious Diseases.

The African strain of H5N1 has acquired "troubling" properties such as respiratory rather than faecal transmission in poultry and a mutation associated with increased spread of disease in mammals, including humans.

Moreover, the probability of human infection on the continent is increased by inefficient diagnosis, denial of outbreaks, inter-ethnic crises, politicisation of the issue, and poor reporting, surveillance and communication of risks.

Control remains problematic because of ineffective border controls and overtaxed health-care systems, as well as inadequate biosecurity.

The crowding of poultry farms and burgeoning live poultry markets promote the rapid spread of disease, as do high-risk conditions and practices, such as the slaughter of sick birds in homes.

Only 40 Africans are known to have been infected. But because of Africa's limited capacity to cope with a pandemic, this still represents a grave danger, warn the authors.

They call for each African nation to realistically assess its status, conduct regular active surveillance and be more forthcoming with data.

Link to full article in The Lancet Infectious Diseases*

http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/cidrap/content/influenza/avianflu/news/nov0207birds2.html


H5N1 hits poultry in Bangladesh, Pakistan, Vietnam

Nov 2, 2007 (CIDRAP News) –Officials in Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Vietnam have reported new outbreaks of H5N1 avian influenza in poultry this week.
In Bangladesh, an official from the government's livestock department said the H5N1 virus was detected at three farms in the northern part of the country, Reuters reported today. Workers culled about 6,000 chickens, which were buried over the last 2 days, the report said.
The country's last reported H5N1 outbreak occurred in May, according to a World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) report.
Meanwhile, a livestock official in Pakistan said yesterday that 45,000 chicks at a breeding operation in the Northwest Frontier province were destroyed and buried after a laboratory in Islamabad identified the H5N1 virus in samples from the flock, The Post, a Pakistani newspaper, reported today.
According to OIE reports, Pakistan's last poultry outbreak occurred in July.
Elsewhere, veterinary officials in Vietnam reported two more H5N1 outbreaks in ducks, according to a report from Xinhua, China's state news agency. An outbreak that began on Oct 29 in southern Vietnam's Tra Vinh province struck a flock of 2-month-old ducks, killing 400 and sickening 500, the report said.
On Oct 28 an H5N1 outbreak killed 210 of 400 ducks at a household in northern Vietnam's Nam Dinh province, the Xinhua report said.
According to OIE reports, Vietnam had six H5N1 outbreaks in October, all involving unvaccinated ducks. Besides Tra Vinh and Nam Dinh, affected provinces included Cao Bang in the north and Quang Tri in central Vietnam. Before October, Vietnam's last reported outbreaks occurred in August.
In other avian flu developments, authorities in Canada have lifted remaining restrictions on the movement of birds and bird products in Saskatchewan, according to an Oct 31 press release from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA). The restrictions were imposed in late September when a highly pathogenic H7N3 strain of avian flu was detected in chickens at a commercial poultry operation in the province.
No other cases of avian influenza were found after the initial outbreak, the CFIA said. Import restrictions imposed by some countries after the outbreak will be addressed on a case-by-case basis, the CFIA said.

Azerbaijan’s State Veterinary Service Highlights Absence of Bird Flu in Country​

http://capital.trend.az/?show=news&newsid=1068779&catid=516&subcatid=475&lang=EN

03.11.07 13:39

Azerbaijan, Baku /corr. Trend TrendCapital U.Ismaylova / The next monitoring to uncover bird flu in Azerbaijan revealed absence of the virus, the State Veterinary Service at the Agriculture Ministry reported on 3 November.

Monitoring commenced in Absheron Peninsula, Davachi, Salyan, Lankaran and Agjabadi on 22 October. Monitoring was held by a special commission consisting of specialists from the veterinary service at the Ecology, Health Ministries.

This year the State Service carried out ten monitoring exercises. None of them revealed the virus.

Prohibition of hunting, use and sale of wild birds in Azerbaijan still retains effect. All Azerbaijani border veterinary check points work with medium security in order to prevent spread of bird flu.

Link to next weeks thread:

HEALTH - 11/4/07-11/11/07|Weekly Bird Flu Thread:Indonesian woman dies of suspected bird flu

http://www.timebomb2000.com/vb/showthread.php?t=264024