01/19| UN : Annan Urges Preperations For H5N1 Pandemic

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<B><font size=+1 color=red><center>Bird flu victims' father shows signs</font>
<A href="http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,17861528-38196,00.html">www.news.com</a>
From: Agence France-Presse From correspondents in Jakarta
January 18, 2006 </center>
AN Indonesian man whose two children died of suspected bird flu was in hospital suffering symptoms of the virus, a health ministry official said today.</b>

The 43-year-old man was rushed to the Hasan Sadikin hospital in the western Java town of Bandung yesterday with a high fever and breathing difficulties, health ministry official Hariyadi Wibisono said.</b>

"We will most likely try to move him for further treatment at the Sulianti Saroso hospital in Jakarta," Mr Wibisono said, referring to Indonesia's main treatment centre for patients infected with the potentially fatal virus.

The man's 13-year-old daughter died over the weekend and local tests have showed she was carrying the H5N1 strain of avian influenza, which has killed about 80 people since 2003, mostly in Asia.

His three-year-old son died yesterday and he also had bird flu symptoms. Health officials were still awaiting ministry test results to see if he was infected.

If both cases are confirmed by a World Health Organisation-affiliated laboratory in Hong Kong, the children would be the 13th and 14th bird flu fatalities in Indonesia, the world's fourth most populous nation.

The pair's sister, a 15-year-old girl, was earlier admitted to the same hospital as her father and is also being treated as a suspected case.
Mr Wibisono has said that the family all had close contact with poultry at their home in Indramayu in West Java. They are the fifth cluster case to date in Indonesia, which was accused of covering up initial outbreaks.

Experts fear that contact between infected birds and humans may result in the virus mutating into a form that could be easily passed on by humans, sparking a pandemic with a potential toll of millions.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan warned today that the world was not yet ready to combat such a crisis and called for "tremendous effort" in stepping up preparations.

A two-day international donor's conference in Beijing aiming to secure $2 billion in funding to implement a three-year plan was wrapping up today in Beijing.

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<B><center>Wednesday, 18 January 2006 8:47 am EST
<A href="http://www.iflu.org/?p=16876">www.iflu.org</a>

<font size=+1 color=brown>Bird flu probably more widespread than governments admit</font></center>
In October last year the Turkish government detected H5N1 in a handful of birds and reported the fact to the relevant international authorities. It wasn't really a surprise, migratory birds are spreading the virus and Turkey sits at the crossroads of some major migratory routes. The world went back to sleep. Then, in the New Year, the first human cases started appearing in hospitals, causing concerns that the virus had used those few months of inaction to change slightly, making it easier to be passed from birds to humans and possibly from human to human. This is the risk every country faces with H5N1, yet many don’t seem to be reporting any infection, despite indications to the contrary.</b>

The migratory birds have moved on, as they do every year, and although they are expected back in Turkey in the spring, the legacy they have already left threatens both the Turkish economy and way of life. Is it any wonder then that other nations aren't falling over themselves to report, or in some cases even detect, the H5N1 virus within their national borders? Yet logic dictates that the H5N1 virus hasn't been contained within Turkish national borders. Neighboring countries such as Iran and Syria have started culling birds near the border, but maintain that they do not have the virus. There is currently alarm that a Kurdish woman may have bird flu in Iraq, although initial tests indicate otherwise, but Iraq hasn't registered any cases of H5N1 in birds (or humans) either.

In Russian Georgia, recent bird flu-like deaths of poultry have officially been explained away as anything other than bird flu. But the population doesn't seem to believe the official explanations and have taken matters into their own hands, refusing to buy poultry or eggs — sales of both are reported to be down by as much as 90%.

The list of countries which could, or arguably should, have H5N1 within their borders is not confined to Turkey's neighbors however. The migration routes which brought the virus to Turkey also put nations in the Middle East, such as Israel, Egypt and other North African countries in the firing line. By now there could be many African states, including those in sub-Sahara Africa, where the virus remains undetected and unreported.

Today the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) issued a warning that the virus is probably already in Africa and may be spread further into Europe etc in the spring. Despite the fact that no African nation has admitted to having H5N1, the FAO is ringing the alarm bell.

"Countries in Africa deserve special attention. In Turkey, the virus has already reached the crossroads of Asia, Europe and Africa, and there is a real risk of further spread. If it were to become rooted in the African countryside, the consequences for a continent already devastated by hunger and poverty could be truly catastrophic," said FAO Deputy Director-General David Harcharik in his opening speech at the International Pledging Conference on Avian and Human Pandemic Influenza in Bejing, China.

The irony of suggesting that nations aren't being transparent in a meeting held in China also hasn't gone unnoticed. Despite the high risk that any pandemic strain might emerge from China, and its long history battling the disease, China's official position is that only a handful of human cases have occurred amongst the billion-plus population. Migrations from China also made it likely that the virus would be spread to Northern India, Pakistan and other nations in the region. Yet here too, officially the virus does not exist.

All this may seem to be unimportant to readers in the EU or the Americas, which officially remain H5N1-free, but nothing could be further from the truth, as the FAO's Deputy Director-General explains:

"Fighting the avian influenza virus in animals is the most effective and cost-effective way to reduce the likelihood of H5N1 mutating or reassorting to cause a human flu pandemic," Harcharik said. "Containing bird flu in domestic animals – mostly chickens and ducks - will significantly reduce the risk to humans. Avian influenza should not only be considered as a human health issue, but as a human and animal health issue."

Clearly H5N1 is likely to be more widespread than official reports indicate, the task now for the FAO and the WHO is to encourage nations to come clean. With the possibility of a pandemic strain emerging wherever birds and humans mix, perhaps it’s time the international community started using both the carrot and the stick to force reluctant governments’ hands.

01/19 H5N1 | Bird flu around the world: a guide


Bird flu has spread from poultry and infected humans in five countries. The World Health Organisation recognises 79 deaths from among the 148 cases that have been recorded globally so far.

Vietnam

Vietnam is the country worst affected by bird flu, with 42 deaths and 93 cases. Most deaths happened between late 2003 and mid-2005.

Nearly 50m poultry have been culled in attempts to limit the spread of the disease. On January 5 2006, the government said it had completed its programme of vaccinating 150m poultry around the country.
Vietnam finishes mass bird flu vaccination

Thailand

The country suffered at the beginning of the current outbreak, with 22 cases and 14 deaths since December 2003.

After a lull lasting nearly a year, authorities confirmed on November 1 2005 that three people had been infected during the previous month. This coincided with a recurrence of bird flu among poultry in six provinces.

The latest victim was a five-year-old boy whose death was confirmed on December 9 2005. Officials hope to start human trials of an H5N1 vaccine in March, and the Thai government has announced it will start producing a generic version of the anti-viral drug Tamiflu.
WHO: Avian influenza - situation in Thailand
BBC: Bird flu kills Thai boy of five

Indonesia

Seventeen people have been infected in recent months. Twelve of them have died, the latest a 29-year-old midwife who worked in a Jakarta hospital.

The authorities have imposed "extraordinary" measures, including the power to force people suspected of having bird flu into hospital. Most Indonesian households keep chickens or caged birds as pets.
WHO: Avian influenza - situation in Indonesia

China

Five of the eight people to have been infected in China have died. There have been confirmed outbreaks in six provinces and regions - Hunan, Anhui, Guangxi, Liaoning, Jiangxi and Fujian.

On November 15 2005, the government announced plans to vaccinate all 14bn of China's farm birds after more than a dozen confirmed outbreaks. Millions of birds had already been culled before the programme was announced.

In August 2004, the authorities revealed that the H5N1 virus had been found in pigs, but denied claims they had kept an outbreak of bid flu secret for more than a year.

British flu experts visited China in October 2005 to find out how the Chinese were responding to the threat. During the Sars outbreak in Asia, there was concern that China had failed to reveal the full extent of the crisis.

There have also been reports that China's use of the anti-viral drug amantadine in animals may have resulted in the H5N1 virus becoming resistant to treatment in the far east.
Guardian: First Chinese deaths from bird flu
BBC: China confirms bird flu in pigs
Guardian: China rejects claim it covered up outbreak

Turkey

Bird flu in humans was confirmed on January 5 2006 when a brother and sister died from H5N1 virus in the eastern town of Dogubayazit, close to Turkey's border with Iran. A week later, a third sibling died, followed by a 12-year-old girl from the same town and a 14-year-old girl who died on January 15.

The WHO has confirmed, subject to additional tests, 20 cases of bird flu in 12 of Turkey's 81 provinces. Outbreaks in another 19 provinces are under investigation.

On October 10 2005, the EU banned the import of live birds, poultry meat and feathers from Turkey after 1,870 birds died of avian flu in the country. A two-mile quarantine zone was imposed around the affected area, and thousands of turkeys were culled.
WHO: Avian influenza - situation in Turkey
Turkey tests for fourth bird flu child victim

Cambodia

All four people confirmed to have contracted bird flu in Cambodia have subsequently died. US health officials have expressed concern about the country's surveillance and containment capacities should a mutation take place.

The US has offered $2m (£1.14m) to improve the country's response systems.
VOA news: US working to boost Cambodia's bird flu response system

Bird flu has been confirmed in poultry in the following countries:

Japan

Among the first countries to be affected by the current outbreak of bird flu. In March 2004, a poultry firm boss and his wife committed suicide after apparently covering up an outbreak.
Guardian: Bird flu suicides in Japan

Romania

The H5N1 strain was confirmed in the country on October 15 2005, with the authorities placing an exclusion zone around the villages in the Danube delta where bird flu had been found.

The Guardian' s Mark Honigsbaum witnessed police apparently confused about which vehicles should be sprayed. There were also local reports that dead birds had been washed up on the shores three months before officials acted.
Guardian: Inside zone zero - bird flu country

Greece

A suspected outbreak of bird flu was reported at a turkey farm on the Aegean island of Oinouses, near the coast of Turkey, on October 17 2005. However, the European commission said on October 31 that a second series of tests had proved negative.

UK

On October 21 2005, authorities confirmed that a parrot from Surinam had died in quarantine in Essex after being infected with bird flu, which was later confirmed as the H5N1 strain. Government scientists said it was likely the bird had caught the disease from Taiwanese birds in quarantine. Because the flu was confined to quarantine, the government says Britain retains its disease-free status.

Government officials are spending £200m to buy 14.6m doses of Tamiflu. The government is also purchasing 2m treatments of bird flu vaccine to treat key workers.

Birdwatchers have been enlisted to help identify any arrival of bird flu quickly. The Department of Health has published its contingency plan, as has Defra, the rural affairs and agriculture department.

In December 2005, a House of Lords committee report said the government could do more to prepare the UK for a pandemic, and warned of food shortages and panic buying if the disease struck.

Were bird flu to arrive, the initial reaction would include the setting up of exclusion zones around infected areas, the culling of flocks and the vaccination of key workers.

Department of Health Contingency Plan
Defra Contingency Plan
Guardian: Flu pandemic could mean food shortages, peers warn

Germany

On October 25 2005, dead wild geese found in western Germany were confirmed to have tested positive for bird flu, although analysis of the specific strain continues.

Officials had already tightened border controls, and the authorities in Bavaria have banned poultry markets.

Germany is one of the few countries stockpiling large quantities of Relenza as an alternative to Tamiflu. Its order, for 1.7m units, reportedly exceeded the global sales of the drug for the past four years.
IHT: Forgotten drugs resurrected amid flu fears

Canada

A surveillance programme of wildfowl carried out in seven provinces in August and September 2005 found the H5 strain in 28 Quebec birds and five Manitoba birds.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency said the virus had been present in wild birds for some time and was not the H5N1 variety.

Elsewhere

There also have been confirmed cases amongst poultry in Ukraine, Croatia, Taiwan, Laos, Malaysia, South Korea, Russia, Kazakhstan and Mongolia.

EU

On October 25 2005, the EU announced a month-long ban, since extended, on the import of wild birds after the H5N1 strain was discovered among birds held in British quarantine.

Officials had decided already to restrict keeping poultry outdoors in areas at particular risk of avian influenza, such as those near marshland. Member states are responsible for defining the risk areas.

The standing committee also agreed on an immediate, EU-wide ban on the collection of birds at markets, shows, exhibitions and cultural events unless specifically authorised by authorities.

Officials have approved additional bio-security measures including, if deemed appropriate, vaccination to protect birds kept in zoos.

On November 7 2005, the EU announced it would give €30m (£20.2m) to help Asian countries tackle the disease. An additional €50m was pledged on January 13 2006.
Avian influenza: further preventive measures agreed
European Commission earmarks €30m for Asia

US

Although there have been no cases of the current bird flu outbreak in the US, the president, George Bush, says he has considered using the military to maintain control should the strain appear.

Grounding airlines could be another measure, Mr Bush - who took a book about the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic on holiday with him recently - indicated.

In September 2005, the Senate voted to spend $3.9bn in bird flu funds, largely to build domestic stockpiles of antiviral drugs and vaccines. By mid-October 2005, the US had a stockpile of around 2.3m courses of Tamiflu, with more on order.

It also has around 83,000 courses of zanamivir (Relenza), another antiviral, which could be used to treat sufferers.

Officials at San Francisco airport, a major gateway to the US from Asia, have been told to look out for signs of avian flu among travellers.
International Herald Tribune: Bush cites US plans against bird flu risk

Singapore

With bird flu outbreaks confirmed in neighbouring countries, Singapore banned people from keeping live chickens on the island of Pulau Ubin in June 2005. The government has also told people not to visit poultry farms.

Australia

Warnings issued by the government include advice to wash eggs before cracking them open, and to clean hands afterwards because the virus can be transmitted through dirt and poultry faeces.
Australian department of health and ageing

The Netherlands

In 2003, 28m birds were slaughtered in the Netherlands after a less deadly strain, H7N7, infected birds and 89 people. One vet subsequently died. In August 2005, the government ordered all poultry to be kept indoors. Because the domestic free range chicken industry is small, this caused relatively little disruption.

Italy

According to the agricultural association, Una, consumption of chicken has gone down by 30% since the crisis began. The real figure is thought to be higher, with consumption in some areas down by 70% and egg sales also hit.

National and regional authorities have ordered 12m vaccine doses, covering 20% of the population.

France

The French health minister, Xavier Bertrand, said on January 11 this year that the country will have spent $844m (£477m) between 2004 and 2006 on preparing for a flu pandemic.

Provisions include 14m doses of antiviral drugs, 50m face masks for hospitals (with 150m more on the way) and 40m doses of any future vaccine. Airport controls have been stepped up, and a good practice guide distributed to farmers, who have been told to keep birds indoors as much as possible.

By January, two-thirds of poultry had been ordered to be kept indoors. The agriculture minister, Dominique Bussereau, said poultry sales had dropped by 20% in the previous quarter.
France presents bird flu plan to protect entire population

http://www.guardian.co.uk/birdflu/story/0,,1595868,00.html

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<B><font size=+1 color=green><center>Possible bird flu pandemic may infect over 27 million Russians</font>

16:24 | 18/ 01/ 2006
<A href="http://en.rian.ru/russia/20060118/43062127.html">RIANovosti-Russia</a></center>
MOSCOW, January 18 (RIA Novosti) - A Russian ministry issued a dire warning Wednesday that between 18% and 20% of the population could be infected with bird flu if a pandemic were to hit the country. </b>

An analytical center working for the Emergency Situations Ministry forecasted that 27 million out of the country's population of 148 million could fall ill if the pandemic type of avian influenza emerged. Analysts were particularly concerned about potential threats emerging at airports receiving flights from China in such densely populated cities as Moscow and St. Petersburg in European Russia, and Vladivostok and Khabarovsk in the Far East.

Experts added that a pandemic of the deadly H5N1 strain of avian flu might become a national security threat in 2006 since the virus could mutate and become more contagious.

The ministry said that, according to the data from the World Health Organization, a new type of the virus may emerge in the next years and the human immune system might be unable to resist it, which would lead to an increase in death rates.

Emergency Situations Minister Sergei Shoigu said his ministry and other departments would take every possible measure to prevent a pandemic. He said the most important task was to monitor and forecast emergency situations in the biological and social sphere.

Deputy Minister Yury Vorobyov said the ministry would conduct a special exercise in February to practice measures to prepare for a bird flu epidemic.

"The exercise will be held on February 20-21," Vorobyov said. "It will focus on the actions of all services included in the nationwide system for the prevention and management of emergency situations in the event of a bird flu epidemic."

He said ministry experts predicted there would be a high risk of an avian flu outbreak in Russia in spring 2006 as migrating birds flew into the country.

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<B><font size=+1 color=blue><center>How to prepare for a bird flu outbreak</font>

19.01.06
By Phoebe Falconer
<A href="http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10364390">www.nzherald.co.uk</a></center>
Below are steps the Ministry of Health suggests households can take to prepare for a flu pandemic.

Stock up in advance
* Each household should have a week's supply of food and water, and every member of the household should know where it is. </b>

* One person should be responsible for checking the kit every year, and replacing items that have passed their use-by date.

* If an influenza pandemic does strike, some fresh fruit and vegetables could be added to the list, but most perishable items will not keep for long unless refrigerated.

* Freezers can be stocked up with meat, produce and breads, as it is unlikely that power supply will cease. Don't forget special dietary requirements such as soy or goat milk.

What you should include
Store cupboard items should include:

* Ready-to-eat canned meats, fruit, fruit juice, vegetables, soup and babyfood if required. Don't forget a can-opener.

* Dried food, including cereal, milk powder, coffee and tea, soup mix, freeze-dried vegetables, salt and pepper.

* Protein or fruit bars, dried fruit, and peanut butter or nuts, as long as no members of the household have allergies to these.

* Crackers and yeast spreads.

* Tinned or dried pet food.

* A barbecue or Primus to cook on. Don't forget to check the gas bottle.

* Drinking water, enough for three litres per person per day.

Water supplies
* Save washed plastic soft drink bottles for storing water. Store filled bottles in the freezer.

* Keep a supply of water purification tablets.

* Chlorinated water will keep in a cool, dark place for up to two years, unchlorinated for up to one year.

* Check the water quality by holding it to the light, treat if concerned about quality.

* Treat with three drops of unscented bleach per litre, leave for 20 minutes.

* Water from hot water cylinders is drinkable.

* Collect rainwater for washing and cooking. Boil before drinking.

* Use swimming pool water for washing and sanitation.

(Source: Civil Defence, Ministry of Health)

Restocking
* Supermarkets would remain open, but with fewer staff.

* Non-essential services in supermarkets are likely to go, such as bulk bins and delicatessens. The range of products available is likely to be reduced.

Ya know Dutch, the more I read your threads and do my own research I find that birdflu is much more prevalent than being reported. I find that countries are now coming upfront, sort of regarding their cases...To ME, Turkey is ground ZERO human to human transmission...HEADS UP.

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<B><font size=+1 color=purple><center>Elderberries could combat bird flu</font>

1.42PM, Wed Jan 18 2006
<A href="http://www.itv.com/news/britain_783168.html">www.itv.comM</a></center>
A extract from black elderberries could be used to combat the bird flu virus, according to research.

A study looked at whether the food supplement Sambucol could combat the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu when added to canine cells in laboratory tests.

The team, from research institute Retroscreen Virology, found that the elderberry-based product was at least 99 per cent effective at reducing the virus in the cells.</b>

But experts warned that many more studies were needed to find out whether the formula was effective in combating H5N1 in humans.

The virulent H5N1 strain of avian flu has already killed more than 80 people, mainly in Asia, after they contracted it from close contact with birds.

But there are fears that the virus could mutate into a form that is easily passed from human to human, leading to a flu pandemic which could potentially kill millions worldwide.

The main medical solutions in case of a pandemic include a vaccine, but this could take up to six months to develop once the strain emerges.

Countries around the world are stockpiling antiviral drugs which can reduce the length and severity of flu symptoms.

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<B><center>Indonesian toddler died of bird flu, tests show

<font size=+1 color=red>Boy’s 13-year-old sister died earlier from the disease</font>

Updated: 10:41 p.m. ET Jan. 18, 2006
<A href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10915884/">www.msnbc.msn.com</a></center>
JAKARTA - An Indonesian toddler who died this week has tested positive for bird flu after initial results were inconclusive, a Health Ministry official said on Thursday.

The boy’s 13-year-old sister died of the deadly H5N1 virus last week, according to local tests. Both still need to be confirmed by outside laboratories recognized by the World Health Organization (WHO).</b>

“For the boy in Indramayu, local tests show he died from bird flu,” said Hariadi Wibisono, the ministry’s director of control of animal-borne diseases.

The boy and his sister are Indonesia’s fifth cluster of cases, where people living in close proximity have fallen ill.

There has been no evidence of human-to-human transmission in their deaths and dead chickens were found in the neighborhood around Indramayu, West Java province, officials have said. Indramayu is 175 km (110 miles) east of Jakarta.

WHO-recognized laboratories have confirmed 12 deaths in Indonesia and five cases where patients have survived. It is usually some days before confirmation is available.

Apart from the two Indramayu children, Indonesia is awaiting confirmation from local tests that showed a 39-year-old man died of bird flu earlier this month.

The H5N1 virus is not known to pass easily between humans at the moment, but experts fear it could develop that ability and set off a global pandemic that might kill millions of people.

It is confirmed to have killed 79 people in six countries since late 2003.

The highly pathogenic strain is endemic in poultry in parts of Asia, and has affected birds in two-thirds of the provinces in Indonesia, an archipelago of 17,000 islands and 220 million people.

Indonesia has millions of chickens and ducks, many in the yards of rural or urban homes, raising the risk of more humans becoming infected.

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<B><font size=+1 color=red><center>Ukraine declares Sevastopol bird flu risk zone</font>

19.01.2006, 06.26
<A href="http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=2805407&PageNum=0">www.itar-tass.com</a></center>
SIMFEROPOL, January 19 (Itar-Tass) -- The Ukrainian authorities have declared the port city of Sevastopol and its environs, in the Crimean Peninsular, as a bird flu risk zone.

The local anti-epizootic commission has identified fresh instances of death of wild birds from avian influenza. </b>

A local pre-school child-care center has been closed down after a dead seagull was found on the premises. The bird proved to have died of flu. Although prompt examination of the children and personnel identified no cases of flu or respiratory diseases, all will remain under medical supervision for a while.

The anti-epizootic commission urged the local residents to keep domestic birds locked or cull the flock. Those who refuse will face administrative punishment.

The first cases of bird flu were identified in the north of the Crimean Peninsula early last December. Some outbreaks of the disease followed in the western Crimea a while later, and several days before New Year holidays it affected three poultry farms near Feodosia.

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<center><B><font size=+1 color=RED>*NOTE*</b></font>

<i> This is one of the dots I have been waiting
to see...........</i></center>




<B><font size=+1 color=brown><center>UN To Prepare For Possible Human Flu Pandemic</font>

Thursday, 19 January 2006, 8:35 am
Press Release: United Nations
<A href="http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0601/S00230.htm">www.scoop.co.uk</a></center>
<b>Annan Urges Massive International Effort To Prepare For Possible Human Flu Pandemic</u>.

The possibility of human-to-human transmission of the bird flu virus must be met by a coordinated international response, reflecting the needs of all nations, United Nations Secretary-General said in a message to a conference today in China on avian influenza. </b></b>

"To be truly prepared, we will need to mount a massive effort -- from upgrading veterinary systems and launching vaccination drives, to encouraging change in the ways people coexist with animals," he said, pointing out that the cost of action now is small compared to the price of tackling a pandemic.

In his video message to the International Pledging Conference on Avian and Human Influenza, which was aired in Beijing, Mr. Annan called for sharing information, biological material and scientific expertise, providing essential medicines to those in need, and galvanizing international efforts "with a minimum of red tape and quibbling."

Pledging the UN's full support for this effort, he said: "I have asked all parts of the United Nations system to have contingency plans in place, so that we can sustain vital support, if and when a human pandemic does erupt.

"I encourage all Governments to do the same," he added. "There is no time to waste."

Reviewing the disease's toll so far, he noted that deaths among humans have been accompanied by the loss of more than 140 million chickens, causing massive hardship to farmers, and spreading fear in their communities. "In many communities, animal and human health services are being taxed to the limit."

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<B><font size=+1 color=green><center>Concerted Efforts Can Contain Bird Flu Virus </font>

January 19 2006
<A href="http://www.china.org.cn/english/international/155654.htm">www.china.org.cn</a></center>
The curtain fell yesterday on the International Pledging Conference on Avian and Human Influenza, with a Beijing Declaration to express the will of participating countries and organizations for joint efforts against bird flu. </b>

The declaration has brought home the urgency for further coordinated actions to strengthen disease surveillance systems and develop much-needed capacity in human and veterinary surveillance and diagnostics, as well as the need to increase public awareness and address social and economic impacts, particularly in countries at high risk and in bad need of resources.

A consensus has been reached that in this globalizing world, the potential pandemic if not detected, reported promptly and contained effectively, could be disastrous to the whole world.

The conference, co-sponsored by the Chinese Government, the World Bank and the European Commission, has collected more than US$1.9 billion from donor countries and organizations.

This sum of money will enable the international community to financially assist the nations affected in developing capacity and infrastructure to fight against bird flu influenza.

What is even more important than the money is the commitment by all participating countries and organizations to integrated national efforts, co-operation between the international community and individual countries, and among individual nations.

The fact that participating nations have promised to take integrated national action plans guided by political leadership at the highest level sends the message that all these nations have realized the seriousness of the situation, and are determined to make due efforts on their own part.

These action plans are critical to the joint international efforts, which can hardly be effective unless all countries involved carry out their specific plans in a down-to-earth manner.

In terms of support by the international community to countries affected by bird flu and at high risk, the declaration emphasized that priority in the short term should be given to helping countries contain, control and eliminate the virus in affected poultry and prepare for a possible pandemic.

But in the longer term, emphasis will be on developing capacity and infrastructure in animal and public health sectors.

The building of capacity and infrastructure will enable those countries to do a better job in surveillance, detection and preventive work. In the future, the facilities will be used in fighting against other epidemics.

In the declaration, participating countries promised to cooperate in the sharing of information in an open, rapid and transparent manner.

This will ensure relevant countries and the international community can take timely and effective action to contain the spread of avian influenza.

The sharing of information on the research and development of quality vaccines and antiviral medicines has also been agreed upon by participants.

Participating countries also agreed that results and national action plans will be periodically evaluated, reviewed and updated.

If all these commitments are carried out to the letter by individual countries and relevant international organizations, we are more than confident of the success of the campaign against avian influenza on an international basis.

In his speech to the conference, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao promised that the country would continue to provide assistance within its capacity to neighboring countries and those in need.

Premier Wen's promise, and what the country has done in surveillance, detection, capacity building and preventive work against bird flu, have demonstrated the country's efforts in fulfilling its obligation as a responsible nation.

(China Daily January 19, 2006)

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<b>Elderberries fight bird flu </b>



<B><font size=+1 color=blue><center>Killer cure? ... black elderberries could combat virus</font>

By EMMA MORTON
Health Reporter
<A href="http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2006030147,00.html">www.thesun.co.uk</a></center>
AN EXTRACT from elderberries could combat bird flu, researchers claim.
Scientists added a food supplement made from the black berries to cells infected with the deadly H5N1 strain of the virus.

It was at least 99 per cent effective at blocking the bug, the team from London-based Retroscreen Virology found. </b>

The cells used were taken from a dog.

Now the researchers are calling for more tests to see if the supplement — called Sambucol — would combat the virus in humans.

Virologist Dr Madeleine Mumcuoglu, who developed the health food, said it was already effective in fighting ordinary flu.

She explained: “The flu virus cannot replicate by itself. It must do so inside a living cell. Sambucol prevents the entry of the virus into cells.”

Europe’s common black elderberries are used as a home remedy against flu-type viruses. They should not be eaten raw.

Avian flu has killed more than 80 people, mainly in Asia, who contracted it from sick birds. It is feared the virus could mutate and spread between humans.

Three more suspected deaths emerged yesterday — a teenage girl in Iraq, an 11-year-old in Turkey and a baby boy in Indonesia.

Meanwhile, international donors at a Beijing conference pledged £1.9billion to fighting the bug.

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<B><font size=+1 color=purple><center>Bird flu pandemic 'could start in hospitals'</font>

NT Online News
posted on 18 01 2006
<A href="http://www.nursingtimes.net/nav?page=nt.news.story&resource=4046709">www.nursingtimes.net</a></center>
A World Health Organisation expert has warned that hospitals will be the focus of any potential bird flu pandemic</b>

Dr. Nahoko Shindo, a WHO specialist in emerging and dangerous pathogens, warned that because a hospital is where the infected gather for treatment, it "is the first place a pandemic could start."


"If the virus mutates and gets characteristics of highly transmissible virus, that's the beginning of a pandemic," Dr Shindo said during the session in the eastern city of Van, where all four of Turkey's human bird flu deaths occurred - and where more than 30 people complaining of symptoms were being treated.

I just can't wait for "their" walk thru....I'll post here when it happens,

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<B><font size=+1 color=purple><center>Possible Iraqi bird flu investigation</font>

www.chinaview.cn
2006-01-19 09:40:55
<A href="http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-01/19/content_4071033.htm">news.xinhuanet.com</a></center>
BEIJING, Jan.19 -- An Iraqi Health Ministry official says Iraqi doctors on Wednesday are investigating if the deadly bird flu virus was responsible for the death of a 15-year-old girl in Kurdistan, near the border with Turkey and Iran. </b>

The girl had contracted a severe lung infection. She died on Tuesday at Sulaimaniya hospital after being taken there for treatment. An initial autopsy found no evidence of bird flu in the girl, but blood samples were sent to Jordan for more tests.

But locals at bird markets and restaurants didn't seem concerned about the bird flu.

"These chickens are imported from Brazil and we don't have any problem with them. People are eating them," the officail said.

The investigation into the possible Iraqi bird flu case came as Turkey continues to battle an outbreak of the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus.

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization has warned that the bird flu might have already spread from Turkey to neighboring countries, though there had been no reported cases in Iraq.


(Source: CRIENGLISH.com)

yup....I'd call that a big dot all right.

SULAIMANIYAH, Iraq -- Iraq and the World Health Organization are investigating whether bird flu killed a 15-year-old girl who died in a region that is a stopover for migratory birds from Turkey, site of a recent outbreak of the disease, officials said Wednesday.

The teenager, who lived in Raniya, just north of a reservoir in Kurdistan, died after developing a severe lung infection. If she did have bird flu, it would be Iraq's first reported case.

A bird flu outbreak in Iraq would be extremely difficult to control, given the government's severe lack of resources, disorganization after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion and the brutal insurgency. Kurdistan -- the part of northern Iraq controlled by Kurds -- at least has an infrastructure that functions relatively well and has not seen the worst of recent violence.

The girl's family apparently kept chickens in their house, and some of those birds also died, said Dr. Abdul Jalil Naji. Raniya is about 60 miles south of the Turkish border and 15 miles west of Iran.

''There are suspicions that they died of bird flu, but it is not certain yet and is not proven by laboratory checks,'' said Naji, who leads the bird flu office of Iraq's Health Ministry.

AP

http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-bside19.html

BEIJING (AFX) - China's bird flu surveillance methods are again under the
spotlight after it was revealed the latest human H5N1 fatality occurred in an
area where no outbreak among poultry had been reported.

China announced late yesterday that a 35-year-old woman from Jianyang city,
in the southwestern province of Sichuan, had become the nation's ninth confirmed
human case of bird flu and its sixth fatality from the disease.

No outbreak of the disease among poultry had been reported in Jianyang city,
with the closest H5N1 outbreak recorded in Sichuan's Dazhu county 245 kilometers (150 miles) away.

"We have asked the Ministry of Health to clarify if the death was linked to
the Sichuan outbreak (among birds) reported earlier," said the Beijing spokesman
for the World Health Organization (WHO), Roy Wadia.

"We are waiting to hear back from them."

Wadia expressed concern that seven of the nine human cases in China had
occurred in areas where no poultry outbreaks had been reported.

"Human cases should not be the sentinels for animal outbreaks," Wadia said.

"Ideally we should be able to find the animal cases first and allow health
authorities to scour the region to find human cases."

However Wadia said Chinese authorities had acknowledged this problem and
emphasised it was not just confined to China.

"This is a concern be it in Beijing, Vietnam or Turkey," Wadia said.

China has reported over 30 outbreaks of bird flu among animals since the
beginning of last year, with most appearing since October.

In the latest human fatality, the woman, surnamed Wei, showed symptoms on
Jan 3 and was taken to hospital on Jan 10 with fever and pneumonia. She died the
next day.

The health ministry said that between Dec 25 and Jan 5, eight households
sharing the same courtyard as Wei found some of their poultry sick or dead.

http://freeserve.advfn.com/news_Six...ncern-over-surveillance-methods_13851570.html

Something I've gleened from the news is that governments are terrified that Bird Flu will effect their economies...

Tourism is Turkey's largest business...
________________________________


(Die Welt Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)German travel group TUI has reported a drop in reservations for holidays in Turkey since the middle of last week, owing to the outbreak of bird flu in the country.

However, the company says that it is still too early to recognise a definite trend.

Abstracted from Die Welt

http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2006/01/19/1298019.htm

BIRD FLU: UN WARNS VIRUS COULD REACH AFRICA BY MARCH​

http://www.adnki.com/index_2Level.php?cat=Security&loid=8.0.254541286&par=0

Rome and Beijing, 18 Nov. (AKI) - The bird flu virus could reach Africa and Europe in the next few months, and could become endemic in the Black Sea, Caucasus and Middle East, as it spreads via trade and the movement of people and animals, as well as migratory birds, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) warned on Tuesday. The same day, international donors gathered in the Chinese capital, Beijing, pledged 1.9 billion dollars to fight the disease worldwide.

"FAO is concerned that with trade, the movement of people and animals and migratory birds, new countries could become infected,” said FAO deputy director general, David Harcharik, in his opening speech at the Beijing donor conference.

"Countries in Africa deserve special attention. In Turkey, the virus has already reached the crossroads of Asia, Europe and Africa, and there is a real risk of a further spread. If it were to become rooted in the African countryside, the consequences for a continent already devastated by hunger and poverty could be truly catastrophic,” Harcharik said.

Four people have died from the lethal H5N1 strain of the bird flu virus in Turkey this month, bring the worldwide death-toll to at least 80 people out of some 160 infected. The Turkish fatalities were the first cases outside Asia. All the H5N1 deaths so far have occurred in people who were in close contact with poultry, but scientists fear the disease could mutate to allow human-to-human transmission, triggering a bird flu pandemic.

FAO said the movement of animals, goods and people should be controlled in all areas where the potentially deadly disease becomes endemic. The UN agency urged all countries along the routes of migratory birds to be "highly vigilant" and to prepare for further outbreaks in poultry, requiring close cooperation between human health, agricultural and veterinary authorities. Improving surveillance and detection will allow farmers and vets to take prompt action such as culling, hygiene measures and vaccination, Harcharik said.

The cost of taking immediate global action against bird flu is "peanuts" compared to the economic costs in the event of a pandemic, the UN World Health Organization (WHO)'s top expert, Margaret Chan, told the Beijing conference. The World Bank has predicted the first year of a bird flu pandemic will cost world economy as much as 800 billion dollars.

"The world is not prepared for bird flu," UN secretary general Kofi Annan said in Beijing, and warned against the "terrible consequences" of a pandemic.

Harcharik said governments will fail in combating avian influenza if they don’t give their veterinary services the political support as well as the technical and financial means to fight the virus. "Early warning systems, swift interventions and preventive measures will remain weak and inadequate without strong centrally organised veterinary services," he stated. Funding will be needed for compensation schemes for farmers whose livelihoods are affected by disease control campaigns, FAO said.

FAO has received about 28 million dollars from donors since the onset of the bird flu crisis in 2003, and has spent more than 7 million dollars to implement control measures, compared with the several hundred million dollars it estimates will be needed to combat the disease in animals in the next few years.

Of the 1.9 billion dollars pledged by international donors at the Beijing conference, some 635.2 million dollars will go to Est Asia and the Pacific, 224.6 million dollars to Eastern Europe and Central Asia, 147.1 million dollars to Africa, 110.1 million dollars to the Middle East and North Africa, 76.0 million dollars to South Asia, and 9.2 million dollars to Latin America and the Caribbean.

New bird flu outbreak in Ukraine's Crimea​

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=81987

Thursday Jan 19 10:54 AEDT

Another outbreak of bird flu has been confirmed on Ukraine's southern peninsula of Crimea, a regional government official has said.

Crimea's agriculture minister, Oleg Russetsky, said that tests had confirmed that domestic birds in the northeastern village of Predmostnoye had died of bird flu.

Russetsky told the Interfax news agency that the village had been placed under quarantine and that all domestic birds there had been destroyed.

He did not specify whether the birds had died of the deadly H5N1 strain of avian flu, which was first confirmed in Crimea in December in its northeastern corner near a popular migratory site for wild birds.

Last week authorities lifted a quarantine on all but two Crimean villages where cases of bird flu had been confirmed, after having culled hundreds of thousands of birds in the region since the first outbreak in early December.

The H5N1 strain has killed around 80 people since re-emerging in 2003, including four teenagers in eastern Turkey, across the Black Sea from Crimea, in recent weeks.

On Wednesday, officials told Turkish news media that another 11-year-old child, suspected of having contracted bird flu, had died in eastern Turkey.

Hong Kong says dead bird tests positive for H5N1​

http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/new...1_HKG189656_RTRUKOC_0_UK-BIRDFLU-HONGKONG.xml

Thu Jan 19, 2006 10:57 AM GMT

HONG KONG (Reuters) - The Hong Kong government said on Thursday it had found a dead bird that tested positive for the H5N1 avian flu virus.

Experts said the species of bird that was found with the virus, the Oriental Magpie Robin, can be found in the wild and is also often kept as pets.

The Hong Kong government was expected to release more details at around 1115 GMT.

The virus made its first known jump to humans in Hong Kong in 1997, killing six people.

The H5N1 virus has killed at least 79 people in six countries since late 2003. The victims normally contract the virus through close contact with infected birds.

BREWER

Thanks Dutch et allia.

BUMP, Bump, bump

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<B><center>California

State expands plan to combat bird flu

<font size=+1 color=red>Goals include containing virus, distributing treatments and vaccines, preparing public</font>

By Harrison Sheppard,
SACRAMENTO BUREAU
January 19 2006
<A href="http://www.insidebayarea.com/localnews/ci_3416910">www.insidebayarea.com</a></center>
SACRAMENTO — California would take steps as drastic as shutting schools, limiting public events and asking people to wear masks in public to cope with a possible bird flu pandemic under a draft plan released Wednesday by state health officials.
The avian influenza has yet to reach California and is not easily spread among humans, but health officials are worried the virus could mutate, launching a worldwide pandemic on a scale not seen since Spanish flu killed up to 50 million people in 1918. </b>

"Depending on its severity, an influenza pandemic could cause widespread economic and societal disruption and severely strain our health care system," said Sandra Shewry, director of the California Department of Health Services.

The plan released Wednesday is an update of an earlier pandemic flu plan released in 2001. Health officials will take public comments on the new plan and then issue a final version in the spring.

"In California alone, scientists estimate a pandemic could cause approximately 35 percent of the population to become ill," Shewry said.

A normal flu season might result in 35,000 to 40,000 deaths nationwide, while a pandemic could kill that many people in California alone, health officials said.

To prepare for the possibility, California health officials have drafted a plan that spells out strategies designed to contain the virus, distribute treatments and vaccines, and teach people to prepare their own homes and daily activities.

They have also requested additional funds this year and next to implement those strategies and stockpile up to 270,000 doses of anti-viral treatment medications.

There is no vaccine yet available to prevent infection from this particular strain of avian flu, health officials said. Pharmaceutical companies are studying the issue, but it is difficult to create a vaccine in anticipation of a mutated strain that does not yet exist.

In the event of a pandemic, state officials will activate a series of emergency procedures, including working with local health officials to increase capacity and staffing at health care facilities, quickly identifying and quarantining potential cases and communicating with the public.

They may also invoke certain "social-distancing" measures that involve limiting mass gatherings where the virus could spread quickly including: closing schools, shopping malls and some businesses; canceling concerts and sporting events; and urging people to wear medical masks and avoid public transportation. Schools should already be forming closure plans

in event of a public-health emergency, they said.
State officials would also establish a Disaster Policy Council with top emergency and health officials to make high-level policy decisions.

Some elements of the plan will be implemented prior to a pandemic, such as reinforcing to the public messages about good health practices, like covering one's mouth when sneezing, washing hands and stockpiling supplies such as bottled water, canned food, batteries and flashlights at home.

"A large part of our planning effort, and something we're putting a very high priority on this year, is working with our partners in the counties to document what capacity do we have to bring up our health-care delivery system, to exceed the capacities we have today," Shewry said. "And to come back to the Legislature and to the governor and say this is where we see the gaps and these are the targeted changes we need."

Another element of the plan is monitoring the state's bird population. Food and Agriculture Secretary A.G. Kawamura said health officials tested 100,000 birds in 2005, sending screeners to poultry farms and bird markets throughout the state. So far avian influenza has not been detected in the California bird population.

So far, the known cases of human infection in Asia and Europe have generally been to those who came in close contact with sick birds. Kawamura noted that proper food handling and cooking should destroy all viruses, including bird flu.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is seeking to add $46 million to the current year's budget for natural and manmade disaster preparedness, and $60 million next year.

"The governor considers emergency preparedness to be among his highest prorities as governor, and he is committed to ensuring that California is as safe and prepared as possible," said State Health and Human Services Secretary Kim Belshe.

"The governor recognizes that emergency preparedness planning and response is the responsibility of all Californians. It is the responsibility of employers, schools, families, individuals and, of course, government. Each of us has a very important role to play."

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<B><font size=+1 color=brown><center>Region makes battle plans to combat pandemic flu outbreak</font>

January 19 2006
<A href="http://www.borderstoday.co.uk/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=968&ArticleID=1320410">www.borderstaoday.co.uk</a>
Craig Keddie</center>
EMERGENCY planners met yesterday (Wednesday) to discuss how best to deal with a potential outbreak of pandemic flu.

Representatives from Scottish Borders Council, the health board and police force linked up at the council headquarters in Newtown St Boswells in a bid to be "prepared as fully as possible" should a global virus spread to the region.</b>

Ian Hogarth, SBC's emergency planning officer, explained: "The objectives of today were really to make key people involved with services in the Borders aware of the sort of issues they are likely to encounter if pandemic flu occurred.

"All the public agencies have been looking at the threat of pandemic flu for more than a year now and we've steadily built up plans to cope with such an outbreak during this time.

"It's about working together as a team, with SBC, Lothian and Borders police, NHS Borders and others coming together and making the best use of the resources available to us."

The risk of imminent pandemic flu worldwide is deemed to be very minor, but the threat of avian flu (bird flu) is greater than ever after poultry in Turkey were found to have contracted the virus.

The European Commission has already imposed a ban on all Turkish live bird and feather imports, and EU health chief Markos Kyprianou has recommended that seasonal flu vaccines be made available to all EU citizens to avoid a potential bird flu pandemic in Europe.

"What's happened in Turkey is a significant development, no doubt about that," continued Mr Hogarth. "And we, along with our partners in the Borders, are involved with the NHS in their planning for the delivery of medical services to combat such an outbreak.

"But this meeting today was not a reaction to what's happened in Turkey, as we started this process before the disease ever reached there."

Dr Tim Patterson, director of public health with NHS Borders, echoed Mr Hogarth's views, but says it's doubtful that a pandemic, or avian, flu outbreak will grip the Borders anytime soon. "Like all other boards in Scotland, we've been asked to develop pandemic flu plans," he told TheSouthern.

"There is no evidence at the minute, however, of pandemic flu occurring any place in the world. There is obviously a major threat of avian flu, although the chances of such a virus catching in the UK at this moment is very minimal.

"Nevertheless, it's very good to be prepared for any potential threats that may occur.

"If a pandemic does occur, then the only way we will be able to respond to it is jointly, with all the public agencies working very closely."
19 January 2006

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<B><font size=+1 color=green><center>UN prepares bird flu offensive</font>

<A href="http://today.reuters.com/tv/videoStory.aspx?isSummitStory=false&storyId=10d7c2ccc6aac5910d136d9e643678670f143108">today.reuters.com</a></center>
Jan. 19 - Culling continues in eastern Turkey as UN officials prepare to launch next phase of offensive against bird flu.

Experts from the World Health Organization’s task force against bird flu are in crisis talks with local Turkish officials in the eastern province of Van, working out how to stop the spread of the H5N1 virus which has already killed four children.</b>

The WHO team will spend Thursday (Jan 19) at the Van State Hospital, where a special wing has been set up to separate suspected bird flu cases from other patients.

A four-year-old boy, Muhammet Ozcan, is still critically ill with bird flu at Van hospital. He and his sister, who died on Sunday (January 15) from bird flu, come from the same small town of Dogubayazit where 3 other youngsters have also died from the virus.

Doctors are now examining the blood tissue of a fifth death, suspected of having bird flu. The girl died in the eastern city of Erzurum on Wednesday (January 18).

Local officials in Van have now launched the second phase of culling local chickens and are once again going from house to house collecting any birds they find. Studying maps of the area, officials will conduct a second sweep of villages and towns.

Local chicken owner, Mehmet Belek, said he wants to hand over his chickens, but that so far no-one has been to collect them. "I am very worried about bird flu. I really want them to come and collect my chickens, but no-one has come yet at all. My wife and I are old people and we want to hand over our chickens," he said.

In the past two weeks 354,500 chickens have been slaughtered in Van alone. Once officials are satisfied all chickens have been culled, they will launch the disinfectant phase of the campaign, hoping to stop any remaining H5N1 virus from spreading.

© Reuters 2005. All rights

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<B><font size=+1 color=blue><center>Tough local choices if bird flu hit</font>

By CYNDY COLE
Sun Staff Reporter
01/19/2006
<A href="http://www.azdailysun.com/non_sec/nav_includes/story.cfm?storyID=123283">Arizona Daily Sun</a></center>
If avian bird flu ever becomes a worldwide pandemic that spreads easily from person to person, it could infect tens of thousands in Coconino County, health officials said Wednesday.

The county is the early stages of planning for how it could react to a widespread illness that would disrupt food supplies, emergency services, schools and businesses worse than any event in the last 100 years. </b>

"There's going to have to be really hard decision made and there's going to have to be priorities made as far as who gets what," said Bob England, physician and medical director for the Maricopa County Department of Public Health.

But there's also the possibility that whatever pandemic happens along next won't be as bad as the worst-case scenario, England said.

And that was essentially Coconino County Health Department's message to community leaders in a Wednesday meeting.

"There's not enough information to make us panic yet," Health Department Director Barbara Worgess said. "There is enough information to make us stop and think of what would happen."

Some pandemic is certain, but it might not be as severe as estimated and it doesn't appear to be imminent, England said.

He gave a talk on flu to doctors this fall.

They questioned the area's ability to keep up with the influx of patients and whether new research might bridge the delay in being able to fight it.

In some scenarios, patients with the flu would be asked to stay home and not come to the hospital.

The Spanish flu of 1918 swept the globe in six months and killed about 1 in 40 of those it infected, particularly those younger than late 20s.

Life expectancy fell and there was no antidote.

It spread rapidly even before the creation of the interstate system in the U.S. and frequent travel by plane.

The bird flu, by contrast, has a mortality rate of something less than 50 percent, causing health officials concern if it should mutate and spread easily from human to human and continent to continent. It has yet to be detected in the United States.

Arizona has come up with general pandemic plans and is now asking the county to do the same.

Dozens people representing paramedics, the Forest Service, the Park Service, fire departments and city council, among other agencies, brainstormed their own suggestions for what the county could do given such a pandemic in an exercise.

Amid their suggestions:

-- Close the Grand Canyon, schools, movie theaters, nonessential businesses and shopping areas.

-- Immunize health workers first, as supply of vaccines will take months to be formed and will be in short supply.

-- Offer health workers incentives to show up for work.

-- Close schools before symptoms of flu become widespread, or even evident, to prevent it from spreading during the incubation period.

-- Set up a hotline to keep the public informed

-- Consider suspending families' rights to retrieve their loved ones' bodies in cases of mass casualties

-- Plan for a scenario where a large proportion of health workers may have died, and ask retirees to return to work

-- Tell the public to store water, food, other essentials and over-the-counter remedies long in advance, before there's a run on goods.

The flu vaccine for the average yearly winter flu would be ineffective against avian or pandemic flu, England said, though he's still urging people to be vaccinated.

Coconino County has seen a regular flu season that arrived earlier than usual and with no known fatalities to date, county epidemiologist Mike Callahan said, though flu-related deaths are not always attributed to flu.

The county uses surveillance from three Flagstaff health centers to track the flu season.

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<B><font size=+1 color=purple><center>Indonesia confirms 14th bird flu death </font>

Staff and agencies
Thursday January 19, 2006
<A href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/birdflu/story/0,14207,1690302,00.html?gusrc=rss">www.guardian.co.uk</a></center>
A 14th person has died of bird flu in Indonesia, officials said today. The announcement came as tests into the cause of an 11-year-old girl's death in Turkey continued.</b>

Runizar Roesin, of Indonesia's bird flu information centre, said a four-year-old boy whose sister died from bird flu last week had died in the west Javanese city of Bandung on Tuesday.

Another sibling and the boy's father had been admitted to hospital with bird flu-like symptoms including fever and respiratory problems, officials said.

<b>"We are seeing this case as a new cluster for Indonesia," Hariadi Wibisono, a health ministry official, said.</b>

He added that blood and swab samples from all three children and the father had been sent to a World Health Organisation laboratory in Hong Kong for confirmation. So far, Indonesia has had 12 bird flu deaths confirmed by the WHO.

Meanwhile, a Turkish health ministry official said there was no evidence that an 11-year-old girl who died while being transferred from one hospital to another yesterday had had contact with fowl. Nevertheless, samples from her body were being tested for bird flu.

Elsewhere in Turkey, a four-year-old boy - one of 21 people infected with the H5N1 strain of bird flu in the country - had recovered and was being discharged from hospital. Another boy listed as critical was showing improvement, doctors and officials said.

Five-year-old Muhammet Ozcan, who lost his sister to the disease on Sunday, was among the ill people said to be improving.

He was reported as having been in a critical condition for two days, but doctors at a hospital in the eastern city of Van - near the border with Iran - today said he was getting better but still battling an infection that had spread in his lungs.

Four-year-old Selami Bas, who also tested positive for H5N1, was discharged from a hospital in the south-eastern province of Sanliurfa, the governor, Yusuf Yavascan, said today. The boy, who became ill after coming into contact with chickens, was admitted to hospital around 10 days ago.

Cristiana Salvi, a WHO official in Turkey, said she expected the situation to improve as the public information campaign about the dangers of catching the disease from poultry took effect. However, she warned it was too early to say the crisis was over. "The educational programme ... helps decrease the number of cases," she added.

Most of the cases in Turkey have involved people aged between four and 18. Officials have destroyed around 1m fowl in an attempt to limit contact with humans in a country in which most villagers raise their own chickens, turkeys and geese.

Meanwhile, officials in Hong Kong confirmed today that a dead oriental magpie robin had been infected with the H5N1 virus - the first case of the disease in the province for a year.

The robin, native to Hong Kong, was found on January 10 at a village near the border with mainland China, an Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation official said.

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<B><center>Russian MP:
<font size=+1 color=red>we cannot stop bird flu from mutating and being transmitted from human to human</font>

Read it in Russian
<A href="http://www.regnum.ru/english/575238.html">www.regnum.ru.english</a></center>
On January 19, head of the Russian Parliamentary Healthcare Committee Tatiana Yakovleva commented to the press on the situation with bird flu. She said that currently it is under control, but the world is afraid of confirmed cases of virus mutation and communication from human to human that was earlier predicted by specialists.</b>

She noted that common flu vaccination can help, but normally, bird flu requires a special vaccine. She reminded that just as common flu, bird flu is most dangerous for children, people with weak immune system, and to those who are in constant contact with birds. Most of the people killed by bird flu were in such risk groups.

In 2006, the Russian government granted more than 1 billion rubles for preventive measures. Head Sanitary Inspector of Russia Gennady Onishchenko recently participated in the session of the parliament, where the measures were discussed.

The head of the parliamentary committee stated that despite World Health Organization declarations, that all modern antiviral agents are useless against all bird flu strains, strains of bird flu discovered in Russia can be subjected to treatment and prophylaxis of the flu.

Yakovleva stated that MPs are worried about a possible pandemic that is predicted in the next two years, so the Russian parliament cooperates with all corresponding structures to create specially prepared hospitals with enough number of beds, vaccine and antibiotics enough to take care of 200-500 thousand infected people.

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<B><font size=+1 color=brown><center>Mutation sparks avian flu concern </font>

January 19 2006
<A href="http://www.hospital-doctor.net/hd_news/hd_news_article.asp?ID=16522&Section=News">www.hospital-doctor.net</a></center>
Virologists fear changes to the avian H5N1 virus found in Turkey could be one step along the path to pandemic influenza.

Staff at the Medical Research Council (MRC) have just completed analysis on samples from two fatal cases of H5N1 avian influenza from the Van Province. They report that the virus from one patient has mutated - with changes being seen in a haemagglutinin protein on the surface of viral molecues. Tests also show that the virus is sensitive to oseltamivir and amantadine. </b>

Prof Jonathan Stoye, head of the MRC's virology division, said: 'The more times that we see this [mutated] virus appear the more likely it is that other changes might arise.'

However, Prof Sir Liam Donaldson, England's Chief Medical Officer, said: 'This mutation alone does not mean that the virus has the capacity to transmit from person to person.'

Doctors in emergency medicine said they were confident that if avian flu became pandemic flu they were ready.

Mr John Heyworth, a consultant in A&E at Southam-pton General Hospital, said: 'I feel that everybody is prepared for it. The cases in Turkey really bring it home that it is not just something confined to Asia. It is really necessary to act upon all the things that have been put in place in the last few weeks and months.'

But Dr Martin Shalley, president of the British Association of Emergency Medicine, said the main thrust should be to keep patients in primary care services. 'If they do come into hospitals we will have to step up triage and if it affects staff it will make the work of the hospital exceptionally difficult.'

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<B><center>2006-01-17
<A href="http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/01/060117084226.htm">sciencedaily.com</a>

'Bird Flu' Infections In Humans Prompt New Investigation

<font size=+1 color=green>In 1918, nearly 40 million people died in a flu pandemic. Three such pandemics have occurred during the last 100 years.</font></center>

When a new strain of flu infects people, the infection can spread around the world quickly. This is what could potentially happen with some new human flu viruses that come from bird flu viruses.</b>

“Recently, some strains of bird flu viruses have infected people in Asia,” said Robert Belshe, M.D., director of the Center for Vaccine Development at Saint Louis University School of Medicine. “There is concern these new strains could cause a pandemic, but they are not infecting people in the United States at this time. Rather than wait for that possibility to occur, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) is testing avian influenza vaccines.”

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the NIH, has tested a new H5N1 avian influenza vaccine in healthy adults at clinical sites across the country. Now that safety data are available from the first adult study, NIAID plans to test this vaccine in other populations. As part of this plan, Saint Louis University will be testing an investigational vaccine in children ages 2 to 9, a population that is especially vulnerable to acquiring influenza.

Saint Louis University will conduct a research study using a killed flu virus vaccine for the bird flu virus, known as A/H5N1. This experimental vaccine was made the same way as “regular” flu vaccine that is given to people every year before flu season. In this study, researchers are evaluating the investigational vaccine’s safety and ability to stimulate antibodies, part of the body’s proteins that fight infections, in children. Study participants may receive two or three doses of the investigational vaccine. There is also a chance that participants will receive a placebo injection of saltwater instead of the investigational flu vaccine.

One hundred twenty children will be vaccinated nationwide. Researchers in St. Louis are looking for healthy children ages 2 to 9 to participate in this study. Children who were previously vaccinated against the flu this flu season are eligible for the study.

A January 2005 editorial in the New England Journal of Medicine warned that the virus that causes avian flu, which killed 32 people in eight Asian countries in 2004, had become more dangerous, and had increased the number of animals besides birds it could kill. A separate article in this journal also described the first probable person-to-person transmission of bird flu, from an 11-year-old girl to her mother and aunt; both mother and child died.

Belshe said the last worldwide flu pandemic was in 1968 (the Hong Kong flu), and most of the commonly circulating flu strains of today are genetically related to that outbreak. Before the Hong Kong pandemic there was the 1957 Asia pandemic, and before that, the influenza pandemic of 1918 occurred.

“In the last century we’ve had three pandemics,” Belshe said. “The concern is that a new virus will again emerge and cause a new pandemic. We need to be ready. Once it starts, it could spread worldwide quickly because of air travel. You can’t close the borders to flu. The only protection we have against flu are vaccines for prevention and antiviral drugs for prevention or treatment.”

Established in 1836, Saint Louis University School of Medicine has the distinction of awarding the first M.D. degree west of the Mississippi River. Saint Louis University School of Medicine is a pioneer in geriatric medicine, organ transplantation, chronic disease prevention, cardiovascular disease, neurosciences and vaccine research, among others. The School of Medicine trains physicians and biomedical scientists, conducts medical research, and provides health services on a local, national and international level.

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<B><center>[January 19, 2006]
<A href="http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2006/01/19/1299272.htm">www.tmcnet.com</a>

<font size=+1 color=blue>Bird flu kills womanin western China</font></center>
(Western Mail Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)A 35-year-old Chinese woman who handled sick and dying chickens has died of the H5N1 strain of bird flu, becoming the mainland's sixth human fatality, the government and the World Health Organisation said yesterday. The woman fell ill on January 3 and died on January 11, said Roy Wadia, a WHO spokesman in Beijing. She was mainland China's ninth reported human case of bird flu.</b>

The woman, identified only by the surname Wei, lived in the village of Zhoujiaxiang on the outskirts of Jiangyang, a city in the province of Sichuan, the Health Ministry said.

The woman lived in a residential compound where chickens began dying in late December, said Wadia.

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<B><font size=+1 color=purple><center>Hard to count every case in a pandemic </font>

20.01.06
By Martin Johnston
<A href="http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10364568">www.nzherald.co.nz</a></center>
Overwhelmed public health authorities would give up trying to count all cases of influenza during a severe pandemic.

In the early stages of a pandemic, when there might be clusters of flu cases in defined areas, medical officers of health would try to trace everyone with symptoms and those who had been in contact with them. </b>

In the Government's pandemic plan, this is the "stamp-it-out" phase. It would follow the "keep-it-out" period of likely border closure and precede the worst phase of "manage it".

But at the height of a pandemic as severe as the 1918 Spanish flu, during which a third to a half of the New Zealand population was infected, identifying every case would be impossible. On that scenario and based on today's population, 1.3 million to two million people could be infected.

"That would make it very difficult to follow every individual case," Ministry of Health senior public health adviser Dr Andrea Forde said yesterday. Alternative systems, such as contacting households, schools and employers, would be needed and were under development.

Health authorities globally are on the alert for the possibility of a severe flu pandemic that could arise from the H5N1 bird flu virus affecting parts of Asia and eastern Europe. It has killed or led to the culling of millions of birds, but relatively few people have been infected; 148 people have been confirmed as having caught the virus, of whom 79 have died.

The virus does not spread easily between humans, but virologists fear it could change to do so.

In New Zealand, human cases of any type of bird flu are notifiable, meaning they must be reported to a medical officer of health. These are public health doctors at district health boards who can be given wide powers under the Health Act by the Minister of Health to control travel and isolate patients during outbreaks of infectious disease.

But human influenza - and that would include pandemic flu, because, by definition, it would then be spreading easily between humans - is not notifiable, although it is classified in the act as an infectious disease.

Case numbers of seasonal flu are monitored by a system in which GPs nationally report all cases each week from May to September of flu-like illness. The national rate of flu is calculated from this.

"Early on [in a pandemic], we want to identify every case and contact-trace every case," Dr Forde said. "But in the middle of it, when lots of people are sick, you are probably looking at monitoring workplace and school absenteeism and maybe computer-assisted telephone interviews."

The idea of the latter was that a computer would phone people at home to ask about flu cases and record details. A website could be set up for employers to record absenteeism.


Medicines in fight against the flu

Authorities intend to use two key drugs in fighting any pandemic.

* Tamiflu

One of two anti-viral medicines that may be effective against the strain circulating in birds. The other medicine is Relenza, which is not marketed in this country.

There is no conclusive evidence of its effectiveness against the human equivalent of the virus in birds. The drug, however, can prevent you from catching the flu, or if taken early enough after the onset of illness, can make the symptoms less severe and aid recovery. It also reduces the chances of passing the flu on to someone else.

The Government has stockpiled 855,000 courses of Tamiflu, enough for a fifth of the population. During a pandemic, front-line health workers, police, border control staff, Cabinet ministers and their staff would receive the first doses of Tamiflu. It is also likely to be used to treat the sick.

At present it is available only with a doctor's prescription. Whether it is prescribed, at a patient's request, is at the discretion of the GP. Prescriptions would not come from the Government's stockpile.

There is no international advice that individuals should stockpile Tamiflu. Cost varies, but expect to pay between $75 and $80 for 10 capsules. Pharmacies will not have it in stock until closer to the flu season.

Those with symptoms need to take Tamiflu within 48 hours for it to be effective. One capsule is taken twice daily. As a preventative measure, the usual dose is one capsule a day after close contact with a sick person. Capsules are swallowed whole with water.

It can be used to treat influenza in children aged 1 or over.


* Paracetamol

The Ministry of Health recommends a supply of paracetamol as well. It will be useful for aches, pains and reducing high temperatures.


*Vaccine

A vaccine that protects against a future influenza pandemic cannot be developed until the pandemic has emerged and it may take up to six months to develop it and make enough for everyone.

Report: Avian flu may not show symptoms​

http://www.washtimes.com/upi/20060119-092015-6348r.htm

Jan. 19, 2006 at 9:33AM

World Health Organization scientists are concerned that a growing number of people are turning up who have been exposed to avian flu but showed no symptoms.

The organization said four people who culled sick birds in Japan and two attendants caring for infected tigers in Thailand were found to have antibodies to the virus but showed no symptoms.

That leads to concern the H5N1 virus could be more widespread among humans than scientists are aware, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.

Hundreds of undetected cases would mean "there's that much more opportunity for this virus to learn to be transmissible," said Scott Dowell, head of global disease detection for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. "With every case, we worry about the possibility of the virus acquiring the ability to transmit from human to human."

There have been 148 confirmed cases of avian flu in humans since it appeared in Southeast Asia at the end of 2003. Of those, more than 70 deaths have been reported.

The disease is principally spread by infected wildlife to domestic fowl, from which humans acquire it by handling or eating the meat.

Hospitals urged to develop military triage systems to deal with bird flu ​

http://www.nursingtimes.net/nav?page=nt.news.story&resource=4049124

posted on 19 01 2006

Hospitals will have to use triage procedures devised for battlefield casualties to cope in the event of a bird flu pandemic, a Canadian critical care expert has warned.

Toronto hospitals that had to deal with the 2003 severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) outbreak learned the hard way that it pays to have plans and procedures in place before an emergency happens, said Dr. Laura Hawryluck, of the University of Toronto, and a member of the Critical Care Pandemic Triage Provincial Committee.

SARS spread out of southern China in 2003 and eventually was spread to spots around the world by air travelers, killing about 800 people and infecting close to 8,000 before it was brought under control in July 2003.

It killed 44 people in Toronto and forced the quarantine of more than 10,000.

A pandemic of H5N1 avian influenza would be worse. The disease now mostly affects birds but it has occasionally jumped to people, killing just around 80 in six countries.

Military-style battlefield triage may be needed at peak times when patient numbers outpace the number of beds, ventilators, the supplies and drugs and the number of people needed to tend to them, Dr Hawryluck told the seminar

"The military had used triage systems for many years," she said.

Her system has already adopted the military color codes for patients, she said.

"The red people would be the highest priority for ICU care," she said. "Yellow - those are the people you know they might do well with ICU care, they might do well without, it would be nice if the resources were available," she added.

People deemed "blue" or "black" would receive only palliative care - to reduce pain and suffering while they died, while people given a "green" rating would not require immediate attention.

Hospitals also should plan for equipment needs now, she said, and also negotiate any government contracts and agreements ahead of time, so that bureaucracy does not bog down things in an emergency.

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<B><center>[January 19, 2006]
<A href="http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/-europe-alert-as-bird-flu-spreads-/2006/01/19/1299431.htm">www.tmcnet.com</a>

<font size=+1 color=red>Europe on alert as bird flu spreads</font>

(Coventry Evening Telegraph Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)HEALTH experts monitoring human bird flu are waiting anxiously to see if efforts to contain the virus can stop it spreading to the European Union.</b>

Confirmed cases of the deadly H5N1 strain in three people living near Turkey's capital Ankara, and more suspected cases in eastern Turkey, prompted EU experts to widen an existing ban on imports and to review existing EU-level surveillance efforts.

The EU banned imports of live birds and poultry products, including feathers, from Turkey, last October, during the last bird flu outbreak.

As of yesterday, imports of untreated bird feathers were also banned from countries bordering eastern Turkey - Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Syria, Iran and Iraq.

There are now a total of 14 cases of bird flu in humans, confirmed by the Turkish authorities, involving the H5N1 strain, out of a total of 48 cases under investigation.

A inquiry team made up of experts from the World Health Organisation, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control and the European Commission arrived in the original Turkish outbreak area of Van yesterday.

They are supporting local efforts to isolate the outbreak and establish whether any human-to-human transmission has occurred.

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<B><font size=+1 color=brown><center>UN Experts Warn Bird Flu Could Devastate Africa</font>

By Luis Ramirez
Beijing
19 January 2006
<A href="http://www.voanews.com/english/2006-01-19-voa23.cfm">www.voanews.com</a></center>
U.N. experts are warning that Africa is a likely new location for the emergence of bird flu, and they say the spread of the virus onto the African continent could have devastating consequences unless governments move quickly to improve health and surveillance.

The warning came this week from world health experts taking part in a conference co-hosted by China. The conference was called to raise money to fight the spread of the H5N1 strain of bird flu. </b>

The virus, which first appeared in East Asia, has recently begun infecting birds and humans in Turkey. David Nabarro, the United Nations Coordinator for Avian Influenza, said it is difficult to say where the H5N1 virus will appear next - but he said Africa is a likely location this spring, as wild birds begin their annual migration.

"I can't say and nor can anybody else say where it's going to go next. We suspect almost certainly Africa, because of the pathways of the migrating birds," he said. "But let's make sure that we don't get overly predictive, and instead stress to every country in the world: Get prepared for the bird flu. Get prepared for the human flu. You will reduce suffering. You will reduce loss of lives, and you will reduce the economic consequences."

Officials with the U.N.'s Food and Agriculture Organization said countries in Africa deserve special attention.

One FAO official told delegates in Beijing this week that if the disease were to become rooted in the African countryside, the consequences for a continent already devastated by hunger and poverty could be "truly catastrophic."

Health experts called on governments around the world to boost veterinary services by providing political support, as well as technical assistance and funding.

Markos Kyprianou, right, EU health commissioner, poses for press photographers with James Adams, left, vice president of the World Bank, Du Qinglin, second from left, and Dr. David Nabarro, the U.N. coordinator on avian and human influenza
The conference in Beijing this week raised nearly $2 billion in pledges - the largest of which came from the United States.

Bush administration officials say most of the funding will target endemic areas of Southeast Asia such as Indonesia, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos. Thailand, too, has been hard-hit by the disease. However, officials said a significant amount would fund programs in Africa.

H5N1 bird flu has killed about 80 people since 2003 - most of them in East Asia. Four confirmed fatalities in Turkey raised international concerns that the disease is growing - at least in geographic terms.

Most, if not all, of the people infected have gotten the virus from animals. Scientists worry that the current strain might mutate to one that is easily passed from human to human, raising the prospects of a global pandemic.

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<B><font size=+1 color=green><center>Iraq prepares for bird flu </font>

Rough Cut
02:24
<A href="http://today.reuters.com/tv/videoStory.aspx?isSummitStory=false&storyId=d8e0165f4b73c76e02428675aa9d31e07d01117b">today.reuters.com</a></center>
Jan. 19 - Iraq bird flu test sparks alarm in poultry market, though suspected human case found clear.

Tests carried out by Iraqi health authorities have shown that a teenage girl who died on Tuesday (January 17) was not infected with the bird flu virus as suspected, health officials at Sulaimaniya hospital said.</b>

The H5N1 virus has killed around 80 people, mostly in Asia, since 2003.

Iraqi health officials said Tijan Abdel-Qader, aged 15, who died after a two-week illness, lived close to a lake that is a haven for migratory birds flying south from Turkey, where 21 people have been confirmed this month as having the H5N1 virus.

Alarmed poultry traders in Baghdad markets feared economic catastrophe as word spread of the bird flu suspicions. They feared that sales of chicken, one of the most popular foods in Iraq, will plummet.

A group of Jordanian doctors arrived at Sulaimaniya hospital to help conduct further tests. But Dr Najmuddin, head of the Sulaimaniya health department, said there had been no cases of bird flu found, either in humans or birds. referring to Tijan, Dr Najmuddin said: "After she arrived at the hospital and after she was tested, symptoms were discovered that indicated that it wasn't bird flu. Then the veterinary division confirmed that they had tested lots of chickens and birds in the area where the incident took place, and there were no cases of bird flu."

Iraqi doctors are already overwhelmed by victims of insurgent suicide bombings and shootings. Iraq has been trying to secure porous borders with its neighbors, particularly Syria, since 2003 to stop the flow of foreign insurgents but with little success. Tribes living along border areas also make a living from smuggling goods.

Health officials say they need more money and expertise.

© Reuters 2005. All

Econ & Bird Flu

Here's the follow up on yesterday's post #1: http://www.timebomb2000.com/vb/showthread.php?t=183235
__________________________________________________

[January 19, 2006]

Bird flu hits travel - again

(Travel Weekly Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)
ust when the sector had got used to not scanning the national media for reports of bird flu, the virus is back on the front pages with increasingly worrying news coming almost daily from Turkey.

Consumer confidence in the area must have been battered this week with blanket reports revealing the avian flu has now spread to the southwest Aegean coast and is said to be spreading west.

Putting concerns for those in the affected areas aside, the situation is particularly worrying for agents and operators looking to cash in on Turkey's popularity with the cost-conscious UK holidaymaker. Many operators have taken on extra capacity in the region for 2006 and will be following events with growing concern.

It is hard to imagine the average family sitting down this weekend to book their summer holiday with Turkey top of their wish list.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office is noticeably increasingly cautious about the advice it is giving out to travellers. It appears the situation is going to get worse before it gets better and it is vital specialist operators on the ground in Turkey are able to keep agents here as up to date as possible in order to, where possible, reassure customers and hopefully make the most of whatever sales can be made.

http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/-bird-flu-hits-travel-aga-/2006/01/19/1299568.htm

Overseas' flying might not be that much fun right now..........


http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2006/01/19/1299694.htm

[January 19, 2006]

Passenger on flight arriving in Christchurch has fever sparking bird flu alert; patient checked and cleared

(IRN News Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)There were lengthy delays for passengers at Christchurch International Airport last night due to a bird flu scare.

A passenger on board a Pacific Blue flight from Australia was suffering a high fever. They had previously been in the Philippines.

Jo Wedlock of Pacific Blue says the passenger alerted cabin crew who notified Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry staff. An ambulance met the plane and passengers were kept onboard for a time.

Chelsey Halliwell of Christchurch International Airport says the patient has been checked and cleared by the Canterbury Medical Officer of Health.