02/03 | Bird flu scare looms in northern Iraq with 162 suspected cases
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PCViking
Lutefisk Survivor
New Freedom found this article yesterday... Kudos... a story worth repeating, and strarting a daily post with...
Feb 2, 2006, 19:00 GMT
Al-Sulaimaniya, Iraq/Cairo - A fresh bird flu scare has erupted in the Kurdish region in northern Iraq with reports of 162 suspected cases almost two weeks after a 15-year-old girl died of the deadly strain.
In the Thursday issue of pan-Arab daily al-Hayat, the head of the pre-emption committee in the Kurdistan Province Najm Eddin Mohammed announced that 162 people have been admitted to the diagnosis center on suspicion of contracting the virus.
Mohammed told al-Hayat that the virus has proliferated throughout Rania, a region southwest of al-Sulaymania on the border with Turkey, and described the influx as a \'crisis.\'
\'The threat (of bird flu) has been confirmed after the virus has been able to cross the province\'s borders,\' he said.
The virus is believed to have spread from neighboring Turkey, which has seen four deaths and a number of suspected cases so far. On January 17, a 15-year-old villager in Rania died of the deadly flu.
\'Two other citizens have died of the infectious virus while two other cases are in intensive care, in addition to four other cases,\' Mohammed added.
The World Health Organizations has announced that two suspected cases of bird flu are currently being investigated in its London laboratory.
The testing of the samples of the young girl\'s 33-year-old uncle, who died on January 27 and another 54-year-old woman, who has been admitted to the hospital in northern Iraq after showing flu-like symptoms, is underway.
The health minister in al-Sulaymania, Mohammed Khoshnaw, had earlier confirmed that there are no bird flu cases in the area, stating that the preemptive measures implemented by the authorities in the city \'are capable of preventing the influx or spread of the disease in the province.\'
But the authorities retracted their statement later, admitting that bird flu had spread to northern Iraq.
Following the authorities\' confirmation of the bird flu cases, alarm has spread among the inhabitants of the Kurdish region Zakho after a large number of slaughtered birds were seen along the Khabour River that flows from bordering Turkey.
The villagers in Zakho have reported the incident to the local authorities in Zakho and Dahouk.
A health official in Dahouk said that villagers spotted ashore the river more than 100 dead birds, all suspected of having been slaughtered by Turkish villagers across the border in a bid to det rid of all infected birds.
Meanwhile in Kurdish city of Erbil, health minister Jamal Abdel Hamid decried the lack of tools that would enable the government to handle an imminent outbreak.
\'The preemptive measures implemented by the heath authorities are ineffective in the face of the increasing number of infected people in Kurdistan,\' Abdel Hamid was quoted in al-Hayat as saying.
Al-Hayat reported that a 35-year-old woman identified as Sarya Mirza is being hospitalized in an Erbil hospital on suspicion she has sustained the deadly flu.
The Iraqi authorities have imposed a quarantine on the villages bordering Turkey and sent in launched teams to slaughter fowl in areas suspected of carrying the disease. Roads into the mountainous Rania area, site of the first flu death, have been blocked.
The area comprises some 50 villages, home to 400,000 people.
� 2006 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur
http://news.monstersandcritics.com/health/printer_1094196.php
Bird flu scare looms in northern Iraq with 162 suspected cases
By DPAFeb 2, 2006, 19:00 GMT
Al-Sulaimaniya, Iraq/Cairo - A fresh bird flu scare has erupted in the Kurdish region in northern Iraq with reports of 162 suspected cases almost two weeks after a 15-year-old girl died of the deadly strain.
In the Thursday issue of pan-Arab daily al-Hayat, the head of the pre-emption committee in the Kurdistan Province Najm Eddin Mohammed announced that 162 people have been admitted to the diagnosis center on suspicion of contracting the virus.
Mohammed told al-Hayat that the virus has proliferated throughout Rania, a region southwest of al-Sulaymania on the border with Turkey, and described the influx as a \'crisis.\'
\'The threat (of bird flu) has been confirmed after the virus has been able to cross the province\'s borders,\' he said.
The virus is believed to have spread from neighboring Turkey, which has seen four deaths and a number of suspected cases so far. On January 17, a 15-year-old villager in Rania died of the deadly flu.
\'Two other citizens have died of the infectious virus while two other cases are in intensive care, in addition to four other cases,\' Mohammed added.
The World Health Organizations has announced that two suspected cases of bird flu are currently being investigated in its London laboratory.
The testing of the samples of the young girl\'s 33-year-old uncle, who died on January 27 and another 54-year-old woman, who has been admitted to the hospital in northern Iraq after showing flu-like symptoms, is underway.
The health minister in al-Sulaymania, Mohammed Khoshnaw, had earlier confirmed that there are no bird flu cases in the area, stating that the preemptive measures implemented by the authorities in the city \'are capable of preventing the influx or spread of the disease in the province.\'
But the authorities retracted their statement later, admitting that bird flu had spread to northern Iraq.
Following the authorities\' confirmation of the bird flu cases, alarm has spread among the inhabitants of the Kurdish region Zakho after a large number of slaughtered birds were seen along the Khabour River that flows from bordering Turkey.
The villagers in Zakho have reported the incident to the local authorities in Zakho and Dahouk.
A health official in Dahouk said that villagers spotted ashore the river more than 100 dead birds, all suspected of having been slaughtered by Turkish villagers across the border in a bid to det rid of all infected birds.
Meanwhile in Kurdish city of Erbil, health minister Jamal Abdel Hamid decried the lack of tools that would enable the government to handle an imminent outbreak.
\'The preemptive measures implemented by the heath authorities are ineffective in the face of the increasing number of infected people in Kurdistan,\' Abdel Hamid was quoted in al-Hayat as saying.
Al-Hayat reported that a 35-year-old woman identified as Sarya Mirza is being hospitalized in an Erbil hospital on suspicion she has sustained the deadly flu.
The Iraqi authorities have imposed a quarantine on the villages bordering Turkey and sent in launched teams to slaughter fowl in areas suspected of carrying the disease. Roads into the mountainous Rania area, site of the first flu death, have been blocked.
The area comprises some 50 villages, home to 400,000 people.
� 2006 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur
http://news.monstersandcritics.com/health/printer_1094196.php
PCViking
Lutefisk Survivor
Iraq Fears over 160 Bird Flu Cases
Politics: 2 February 2006, Thursday.
A fresh bird flu scare has erupted in the Kurdish region in northern Iraq, while reports for suspected cases reached 162.
The news emerged almost two weeks after a 15-year-old girl died of the deadly strain in the Arab country.
The pan-Arab daily al-Hayat announced that 162 people have been admitted to a diagnosis centre on the suspicion of contracting the virus.
The head of the pre-emption committee in the Kurdistan Province Najm Eddin Mohammed told al-Hayat that the virus has proliferated throughout Rania, a region southwest of al-Sulaymania on the border with Turkey. The area comprises some 50 villages, home to 400,000 people.
He described the influx as a "crisis."
The virus is believed to have spread from neighbouring Turkey, which has seen four deaths and a number of suspected cases so far.
The World Health Organisations has announced that two suspected cases of bird flu are currently being investigated in its London laboratory.
The Iraqi authorities have imposed a quarantine on the villages bordering Turkey and sent in launched teams to slaughter fowl in areas suspected of carrying the disease.
http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=58646
PCViking
Lutefisk Survivor
Bird Flu Virus Cannot Be Biological Weapon — Russian Expert
Created: 02.02.2006 16:39 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 16:39 MSK, 14 hours 12 minutes ago
MosNews
The deadly bird flu virus originated naturally, and is not a biological weapon, a senior Russian scientist quoted by RIA Novosti said Thursday. Oleg Kiselyov, the head of the Russian Influenza Research Institute, said: “We have not advanced enough to create such a genetic machine.”
He said if the virus had been created artificially in order to be used as a biological weapon, scientists would have identified this.
“We know the genealogy of the virus,” Kiselyov said. “If the virus was artificial, we would have realized.”
He said international agreements on biological security needed to be signed to effectively fight the spread of avian flu.
He added that the Russian and Chinese academies of medical sciences had already signed a draft agreement on the issue, and that similar agreements were to be signed with neighboring countries.
“Work in this area is not keeping up to pace,” he said. “We need to have swift information on what is happening in neighboring countries. Monitoring must be global.”
Russia registered its first bird flu cases in Siberian birds last summer, and saw the virus spread west of the Ural Mountains to the European part of the country in October. However, no cases of human infection have been reported.
http://mosnews.com/news/2006/02/02/bioweapon.shtml
Guy_Incognito
Inactive
PCViking said:
Of course, that doesn't mean there isn't a whole bunch of labs around the world busily trying to weaponise it as we speak.
The Flying Dutchman
Deceased
=
<B><font size=+1 color=red><center>Indonesian teen dies of bird flu, local tests show</font>
03 Feb 2006 01:10:42 GMT
Source: Reuters
<A href="http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/JAK343603.htm">www.alertnet.org</a></center>
JAKARTA, Feb 3 (Reuters) - A 15-year-old Indonesian boy has died of bird flu, a health ministry official said on Friday, citing local hospital tests.
If confirmed by further testing by outside laboratories recognised by the World Health Organisation (WHO), the case would be the 15th death from avian flu in the world's fourth-most-populous nation.</b>
"Yes, a 15-year-old boy from a Bandung hospital died on Feb. 1 of bird flu according to our local tests," I Nyoman Kandun, the ministry's director general of disease control, told Reuters.
"It was positive and now the sample has been sent to Hong Kong. But the Hong Kong results have not come in yet."
Local testing is followed by analysis at a Hong Kong laboratory recognised by the WHO.
It was unclear how the boy got the disease, but the official said authorities were checking if he had any contact with chickens or birds.
One of the greatest fears of experts is that the H5N1 virus will mutate to become easily passed between humans, triggering a pandemic. The current H5N1 strain of bird flu has not mutated.
The highly pathogenic strain of bird flu has affected birds in two-thirds of the provinces in Indonesia, an archipelago of about 17,000 islands and 220 million people.
The country has millions of chickens and ducks, many in the yards of rural or urban homes, making it likely that more humans will become infected with the virus.
<B><font size=+1 color=red><center>Indonesian teen dies of bird flu, local tests show</font>
03 Feb 2006 01:10:42 GMT
Source: Reuters
<A href="http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/JAK343603.htm">www.alertnet.org</a></center>
JAKARTA, Feb 3 (Reuters) - A 15-year-old Indonesian boy has died of bird flu, a health ministry official said on Friday, citing local hospital tests.
If confirmed by further testing by outside laboratories recognised by the World Health Organisation (WHO), the case would be the 15th death from avian flu in the world's fourth-most-populous nation.</b>
"Yes, a 15-year-old boy from a Bandung hospital died on Feb. 1 of bird flu according to our local tests," I Nyoman Kandun, the ministry's director general of disease control, told Reuters.
"It was positive and now the sample has been sent to Hong Kong. But the Hong Kong results have not come in yet."
Local testing is followed by analysis at a Hong Kong laboratory recognised by the WHO.
It was unclear how the boy got the disease, but the official said authorities were checking if he had any contact with chickens or birds.
One of the greatest fears of experts is that the H5N1 virus will mutate to become easily passed between humans, triggering a pandemic. The current H5N1 strain of bird flu has not mutated.
The highly pathogenic strain of bird flu has affected birds in two-thirds of the provinces in Indonesia, an archipelago of about 17,000 islands and 220 million people.
The country has millions of chickens and ducks, many in the yards of rural or urban homes, making it likely that more humans will become infected with the virus.
The Flying Dutchman
Deceased
=
<B><font size=+1 color=brown><center>'Shock and awe' at bird flu discovery</font>
February 02, 2006, 15:00
<A href="http://www.sabcnews.com/sci_tech/science/0,2172,120886,00.html">www.sabcnews.com</a>
By Catherine Brahic, Wagdy Sawahel, Christina Scott</center>
Researchers have found a protein that may explain why the H5N1 strain is so deadly to people, according to the Science and Development Network. And the scientists, by putting all their research on the internet for inspection and debate, have doubled the amount of publicly available data on bird flu genes. In a paper published online by Science, the researchers say a flu virus protein seems to play a key role in disrupting infected cells. </b>
The structure of the protein, known as NS1, varies between different flu viruses. The researchers think that bird flu protein can disrupt human cells in a way that the same protein in the human flu virus cannot. Clayton Naeve of the US-based St Jude Children's Research Hospital led the group that looked at 336 samples of bird flu virus collected over 30 years, including samples from H5N1 outbreaks since 1997. The team analysed more than 2 000 new genes and completed the genetic sequences of nearly 200 different bird flu viruses. Overall, they doubled the amount of genetic data available.
John Oxford, a virology professor at the Queen Mary's School of Medicine, United Kingdom, says the new findings would inspire "shock and awe". "It is a wonderful paper that puts these genetic sequences into the public domain for the first time," he told the Science and Development Network news website. "They have brought NS1 to everyone's attention and also show that the viruses are rampantly swapping genes."
New bird flu virus fears
Experts fear that such gene swapping could create a new bird flu virus that can spread easily between people and spark a human flu pandemic capable of killing millions of people. Naeve's team has made the genetic data freely available in the GenBank database — run by the US National Institutes of Health — so researchers around the world can study it.
Since 2003, the H5N1 virus has infected 152 people, killing 83 of them. However, to put this in perspective, that's roughly the same number of people killed each day on South African roads. One of the fatalities is from war-torn Iraq. The World Health Organisation laboratory has confirmed that an Iraqi teenager who died last month had bird flu, making Iraq the seventh country with human fatalities from the disease.
Twelve more people in the Kurdistan region are being treated for suspected infection, according to Iraqi officials.
Iraq vulnerable
Imad Ahmed, Kurdistan's deputy prime minister, told the Reuters news agency that Iraq is especially vulnerable to the virus because it lacks diagnostic equipment and drugs, and has insufficient checks on poultry entering the country. According to Tahseen Nameq, the head of a committee set up to combat the virus, northern Iraq has only enough medicine for five people.
The World Health Organisation initially said the teenager did not have the H5N1 virus, but checked again after tests by a US Navy medical unit in Cairo indicated that she did. The UK-based laboratory that conducted the follow-up test told New Scientist that the result was positive. The girl's uncle, who looked after her until she died on January 17 in Sulaimaniya, also developed severe respiratory disease on January 24 and died three days later.
A 54-year-old woman from the same area was hospitalised on 18 January, and is believed to be the most serious of the suspected cases. Samples from the man and woman are also being tested to see if they also had the virus. Kurdistan is close to the border with Turkey, which has already reported 21 human cases of bird flu, and four deaths.
North of Sulaimaniya, in Raniya, is a reservoir used as a stopover by migratory birds from Turkey. Iraq has culled nearly half a million chickens and ducks in the north of the country to limit the risk of more outbreaks. According to the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), specialists from the WHO and United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation are heading to the region to assess the situation.
<B><font size=+1 color=brown><center>'Shock and awe' at bird flu discovery</font>
February 02, 2006, 15:00
<A href="http://www.sabcnews.com/sci_tech/science/0,2172,120886,00.html">www.sabcnews.com</a>
By Catherine Brahic, Wagdy Sawahel, Christina Scott</center>
Researchers have found a protein that may explain why the H5N1 strain is so deadly to people, according to the Science and Development Network. And the scientists, by putting all their research on the internet for inspection and debate, have doubled the amount of publicly available data on bird flu genes. In a paper published online by Science, the researchers say a flu virus protein seems to play a key role in disrupting infected cells. </b>
The structure of the protein, known as NS1, varies between different flu viruses. The researchers think that bird flu protein can disrupt human cells in a way that the same protein in the human flu virus cannot. Clayton Naeve of the US-based St Jude Children's Research Hospital led the group that looked at 336 samples of bird flu virus collected over 30 years, including samples from H5N1 outbreaks since 1997. The team analysed more than 2 000 new genes and completed the genetic sequences of nearly 200 different bird flu viruses. Overall, they doubled the amount of genetic data available.
John Oxford, a virology professor at the Queen Mary's School of Medicine, United Kingdom, says the new findings would inspire "shock and awe". "It is a wonderful paper that puts these genetic sequences into the public domain for the first time," he told the Science and Development Network news website. "They have brought NS1 to everyone's attention and also show that the viruses are rampantly swapping genes."
New bird flu virus fears
Experts fear that such gene swapping could create a new bird flu virus that can spread easily between people and spark a human flu pandemic capable of killing millions of people. Naeve's team has made the genetic data freely available in the GenBank database — run by the US National Institutes of Health — so researchers around the world can study it.
Since 2003, the H5N1 virus has infected 152 people, killing 83 of them. However, to put this in perspective, that's roughly the same number of people killed each day on South African roads. One of the fatalities is from war-torn Iraq. The World Health Organisation laboratory has confirmed that an Iraqi teenager who died last month had bird flu, making Iraq the seventh country with human fatalities from the disease.
Twelve more people in the Kurdistan region are being treated for suspected infection, according to Iraqi officials.
Iraq vulnerable
Imad Ahmed, Kurdistan's deputy prime minister, told the Reuters news agency that Iraq is especially vulnerable to the virus because it lacks diagnostic equipment and drugs, and has insufficient checks on poultry entering the country. According to Tahseen Nameq, the head of a committee set up to combat the virus, northern Iraq has only enough medicine for five people.
The World Health Organisation initially said the teenager did not have the H5N1 virus, but checked again after tests by a US Navy medical unit in Cairo indicated that she did. The UK-based laboratory that conducted the follow-up test told New Scientist that the result was positive. The girl's uncle, who looked after her until she died on January 17 in Sulaimaniya, also developed severe respiratory disease on January 24 and died three days later.
A 54-year-old woman from the same area was hospitalised on 18 January, and is believed to be the most serious of the suspected cases. Samples from the man and woman are also being tested to see if they also had the virus. Kurdistan is close to the border with Turkey, which has already reported 21 human cases of bird flu, and four deaths.
North of Sulaimaniya, in Raniya, is a reservoir used as a stopover by migratory birds from Turkey. Iraq has culled nearly half a million chickens and ducks in the north of the country to limit the risk of more outbreaks. According to the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), specialists from the WHO and United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation are heading to the region to assess the situation.
Fuzzychick
Membership Revoked
Strange place to have such a large cluster of cases. I know it's close to Turkey, but this is a very high number of individuals at ONE time.
The Flying Dutchman
Deceased
=
<B><center>February 03, 2006
<A href="http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200602/03/eng20060203_239870.html">People's Daily Online</a>
<font size=+1 color=green>Syria free from bird flu: WHO officials </font></center>
Officials from the regional office of the World Health Organization (WHO) said here on Thursday that Syria is free from bird flu, which has killed several people in neighboring Turkey and Iraq.
The officials, including WHO representatives in Syria and Cairo, made the announcement at a press conference after a five-day field visit to Syria. </b>
They said the Syrian government has taken measures to prevent the disease from spreading into the country, stressing the necessity to boost laboratory capabilities in the agriculture sector and exert more efforts in the search for the disease.
Syria has stepped up precautious measures in its border provinces after four people died of the deadly H5N1 strain of the virus in Turkey and one in Iraq.
It is feared that bird flu, which currently jumps from birds to humans, can mutate into a disease that can easily pass among humans which can trigger a global pandemic and kill millions.
The H5N1 strain of the disease has so far killed over 70 people in Asia since 2003.
Source: Xinhua
<B><center>February 03, 2006
<A href="http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200602/03/eng20060203_239870.html">People's Daily Online</a>
<font size=+1 color=green>Syria free from bird flu: WHO officials </font></center>
Officials from the regional office of the World Health Organization (WHO) said here on Thursday that Syria is free from bird flu, which has killed several people in neighboring Turkey and Iraq.
The officials, including WHO representatives in Syria and Cairo, made the announcement at a press conference after a five-day field visit to Syria. </b>
They said the Syrian government has taken measures to prevent the disease from spreading into the country, stressing the necessity to boost laboratory capabilities in the agriculture sector and exert more efforts in the search for the disease.
Syria has stepped up precautious measures in its border provinces after four people died of the deadly H5N1 strain of the virus in Turkey and one in Iraq.
It is feared that bird flu, which currently jumps from birds to humans, can mutate into a disease that can easily pass among humans which can trigger a global pandemic and kill millions.
The H5N1 strain of the disease has so far killed over 70 people in Asia since 2003.
Source: Xinhua
The Flying Dutchman
Deceased
=
<B><font size=+1 color=blue><center>Common cold may save us from bird flu</font>
11:18 02 February 2006
<A href="http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn8667">NewScientist.com news service</a>
Debora MacKenzie </center>
Adenovirus, one cause of the common cold, may help protect against pandemic flu. Two separate groups of US scientists have successfully vaccinated mice and chickens with an adenovirus-based DNA vaccine against different strains of H5N1 bird flu. And they now want to test it in humans.
The teams used a crippled adenovirus, which cannot replicate, as a carrier for the gene for the main surface protein of H5N1, haemagglutinin (HA), to stimulate a powerful immune response in the animals.</b>
Andrea Gambotto at the University of Pittsburgh, and colleagues, and a separate team led by Suresh Mittal at Purdue University, Indiana, each made vaccines using the HA from the H5N1 flu that killed people in Vietnam in 2005, and with the HA from the H5N1 that first jumped to humans in Hong Kong in 1997.
In both studies, both vaccines completely protected mice from the virus from which the HA was sourced – and Gambotto’s group found it worked in chickens as well. But each vaccine also protected against the other strain. Such cross-protection is very limited with standard vaccines made of killed flu viruses.
That, Gambotto told New Scientist, is because standard vaccines induce antibodies against the flu virus, but not cell-mediated immunity, in which white blood cells called T lymphocytes are also primed to attack the virus. Both groups showed that the adenovirus-HA vaccine elicited both. “T-cells respond to a much wider range of targets on the protein, including regions that are conserved between different strains,” explains Gambotto.
So a vaccine that induces cell-mediated immunity against this year’s flu virus might still work against next year’s, slightly mutated strain. In theory, both groups conclude, this could permit H5N1 vaccine stockpiling, in hopes that it will also work against whatever pandemic strain of H5N1 emerges.
Dose production
Critics charge that people with immunity to adenovirus from previous infections will not respond to these vaccines. But in 2004 scientists put a protein from a common form of human flu (H1N1) on an adenovirus, and showed it worked regardless of whether the person already had antibodies to adenovirus.
Mittal and colleagues report that their adenovirus vaccines always elicit more immunity with an additional booster dose, even though the subject should have become immune to adenovirus with the first dose.
The work is all the more important because trials with H5N1 vaccines made of dead virus have induced disappointingly feeble immune responses in people, unless given at high doses. At the doses required to elicit immunity in the most recent clinical trials, all the world’s vaccine plants would only be able to produce enough for 225 million people in six months. Adenovirus, however, strongly stimulates the immune system, says Gambotto, so small doses may be possible, meaning more could be made in a short time.
Moreover, it is hard to grow flu virus. Most vaccine is grown in chicken eggs, although new manufacturing plants will grow it in cell culture. But adenovirus is an industrial workhorse that can be grown to densities of 1015 viral particles per litre of culture in industrial fermenters – higher than most other viruses. “Even if I need ten billion viral particles to make a dose of vaccine, I’d still have thousands of doses per litre,” Gambotto notes.
Journal reference: The Lancet (DOI: 10.1016/50140-6736(06)68076-8), Journal of Virology (vol 80 p 1959)
<B><font size=+1 color=blue><center>Common cold may save us from bird flu</font>
11:18 02 February 2006
<A href="http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn8667">NewScientist.com news service</a>
Debora MacKenzie </center>
Adenovirus, one cause of the common cold, may help protect against pandemic flu. Two separate groups of US scientists have successfully vaccinated mice and chickens with an adenovirus-based DNA vaccine against different strains of H5N1 bird flu. And they now want to test it in humans.
The teams used a crippled adenovirus, which cannot replicate, as a carrier for the gene for the main surface protein of H5N1, haemagglutinin (HA), to stimulate a powerful immune response in the animals.</b>
Andrea Gambotto at the University of Pittsburgh, and colleagues, and a separate team led by Suresh Mittal at Purdue University, Indiana, each made vaccines using the HA from the H5N1 flu that killed people in Vietnam in 2005, and with the HA from the H5N1 that first jumped to humans in Hong Kong in 1997.
In both studies, both vaccines completely protected mice from the virus from which the HA was sourced – and Gambotto’s group found it worked in chickens as well. But each vaccine also protected against the other strain. Such cross-protection is very limited with standard vaccines made of killed flu viruses.
That, Gambotto told New Scientist, is because standard vaccines induce antibodies against the flu virus, but not cell-mediated immunity, in which white blood cells called T lymphocytes are also primed to attack the virus. Both groups showed that the adenovirus-HA vaccine elicited both. “T-cells respond to a much wider range of targets on the protein, including regions that are conserved between different strains,” explains Gambotto.
So a vaccine that induces cell-mediated immunity against this year’s flu virus might still work against next year’s, slightly mutated strain. In theory, both groups conclude, this could permit H5N1 vaccine stockpiling, in hopes that it will also work against whatever pandemic strain of H5N1 emerges.
Dose production
Critics charge that people with immunity to adenovirus from previous infections will not respond to these vaccines. But in 2004 scientists put a protein from a common form of human flu (H1N1) on an adenovirus, and showed it worked regardless of whether the person already had antibodies to adenovirus.
Mittal and colleagues report that their adenovirus vaccines always elicit more immunity with an additional booster dose, even though the subject should have become immune to adenovirus with the first dose.
The work is all the more important because trials with H5N1 vaccines made of dead virus have induced disappointingly feeble immune responses in people, unless given at high doses. At the doses required to elicit immunity in the most recent clinical trials, all the world’s vaccine plants would only be able to produce enough for 225 million people in six months. Adenovirus, however, strongly stimulates the immune system, says Gambotto, so small doses may be possible, meaning more could be made in a short time.
Moreover, it is hard to grow flu virus. Most vaccine is grown in chicken eggs, although new manufacturing plants will grow it in cell culture. But adenovirus is an industrial workhorse that can be grown to densities of 1015 viral particles per litre of culture in industrial fermenters – higher than most other viruses. “Even if I need ten billion viral particles to make a dose of vaccine, I’d still have thousands of doses per litre,” Gambotto notes.
Journal reference: The Lancet (DOI: 10.1016/50140-6736(06)68076-8), Journal of Virology (vol 80 p 1959)
The Flying Dutchman
Deceased
=
<B><font size=+1 color=purple><center>UN warns E . Africa on bird flu </font>
Friday, 3rd February, 2006
By Gerald Tenywa
and agencies
<A href="http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/13/479818">www.newvision.co.ug</a></center>
EASTERN Africa, which lies on the migratory path of birds that may be infected with avian influenza, must establish more effective preventive measures against the deadly virus, an official of the World Health organisation (WHO) has warned.</b>
“Several countries in East and the Horn of Africa - Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia, Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania - all the way down to South Africa, are on the migratory path of wild birds from Asia and Europe that are suspected to carry the virus,” said Michel Yao, the WHO inter-country focal point for the Great Lakes and Central Africa.
Yao said because these countries also had very high populations of “backyard poultry”, people were also at increased risk of coming into contact with sick birds.
Uganda, like other countries, has imposed a ban on importation of poultry products to minimise the spread of the flu into the population of local poultry.
Dr. Nicholas Kauta, the commissioner for livestock health and entomology in the agriculture ministry, said there were no reported cases of dead birds from the flu in Uganda.
He also said some roosting grounds of migratory birds at Lutembe and Queen Elizabeth National Park were being monitored.
However, he said a team that was formed to monitor bird flu in the country has inadequate funding to undertake surveillance.
“Whosoever comes across a sick or dead bird should contact the relevant authorities,’’ he said.
So far, no cases of the virulent H5N1 form of the flu have been found in the Horn of Africa. Dead migratory birds suspected of having succumbed to the virus in Ethiopia last December tested negative for avian flu.
Better surveillance is needed in order to detect the virus early, Yao said.
<B><font size=+1 color=purple><center>UN warns E . Africa on bird flu </font>
Friday, 3rd February, 2006
By Gerald Tenywa
and agencies
<A href="http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/13/479818">www.newvision.co.ug</a></center>
EASTERN Africa, which lies on the migratory path of birds that may be infected with avian influenza, must establish more effective preventive measures against the deadly virus, an official of the World Health organisation (WHO) has warned.</b>
“Several countries in East and the Horn of Africa - Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia, Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania - all the way down to South Africa, are on the migratory path of wild birds from Asia and Europe that are suspected to carry the virus,” said Michel Yao, the WHO inter-country focal point for the Great Lakes and Central Africa.
Yao said because these countries also had very high populations of “backyard poultry”, people were also at increased risk of coming into contact with sick birds.
Uganda, like other countries, has imposed a ban on importation of poultry products to minimise the spread of the flu into the population of local poultry.
Dr. Nicholas Kauta, the commissioner for livestock health and entomology in the agriculture ministry, said there were no reported cases of dead birds from the flu in Uganda.
He also said some roosting grounds of migratory birds at Lutembe and Queen Elizabeth National Park were being monitored.
However, he said a team that was formed to monitor bird flu in the country has inadequate funding to undertake surveillance.
“Whosoever comes across a sick or dead bird should contact the relevant authorities,’’ he said.
So far, no cases of the virulent H5N1 form of the flu have been found in the Horn of Africa. Dead migratory birds suspected of having succumbed to the virus in Ethiopia last December tested negative for avian flu.
Better surveillance is needed in order to detect the virus early, Yao said.
The Flying Dutchman
Deceased
=
<B><font size=+1 color=red><center>WHO chief says bird flu still little understood</font>
February 2 2006
<A href="http://today.reuters.com/news/NewsArticle.aspx?type=healthNews&storyID=uri:2006-02-02T132923Z_01_L02787396_RTRUKOC_0_US-BIRDFLU-WHO-TURKEY.xml&pageNumber=1&summit=">today.reuters.com</a></center>
ANKARA (Reuters) - The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Thursday the death of an Iraqi girl believed to have had bird flu showed how little was known about the disease.</b>
Tests carried out by a British laboratory on the Iraqi teenager have confirmed she died of bird flu, the New Scientist magazine said on its Web site on Thursday.
WHO officials have declined to confirm the report but say they are working on the assumption that the H5N1 strain of bird flu was indeed the cause of her death.
"(The death) has highlighted how little is still known about the spread of the avian flu virus among poultry. Before her death, the presence of H5N1 in poultry in Iraq was not known," WHO director-general Lee Jong-Wook told a news conference during a visit to the Turkish capital Ankara.
"Similarly here there was almost no prior warning of infection in poultry in the eastern part of Turkey," he added.
Four children have died in Turkey from bird flu over the past month. There was little evidence of the virus among birds in the affected region of eastern Turkey before the first human victim died on January 1.
The H5N1 virus has killed at least 85 people worldwide since 2003, mostly in southeast Asia and China.
Lee reiterated that there was nothing to suggest any change in the pattern of transmission of the virus.
"Our investigation has found no evidence the virus is being spread among humans. This remains a problem of (transmission from) poultry to humans and poultry to poultry," he said.
Scientists say the H5N1 virus is mutating steadily and may acquire the changes it needs to be easily transmitted from human to human. It could then sweep the world in weeks or months, killing millions, because humans lack any immunity to the virus.
"The outbreak here in Turkey was similar to outbreaks in east Asia," Lee said, adding that the most vulnerable group remained children and young adults exposed to poultry, usually in their backyards.
"All sectors, including those of agriculture and human health, must work together to common purpose... Our response must be broad-ranging and international," he said.
Lee praised the Turkish government's handling of the crisis, describing it as speedy and transparent.
The WHO now had teams working in seven countries neighbouring Turkey, including Iraq, he added.
"Turkey is at the crossroads between east and west, it is connected to Europe and to Asia, so good surveillance is important for everybody," Lee said.
<B><font size=+1 color=red><center>WHO chief says bird flu still little understood</font>
February 2 2006
<A href="http://today.reuters.com/news/NewsArticle.aspx?type=healthNews&storyID=uri:2006-02-02T132923Z_01_L02787396_RTRUKOC_0_US-BIRDFLU-WHO-TURKEY.xml&pageNumber=1&summit=">today.reuters.com</a></center>
ANKARA (Reuters) - The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Thursday the death of an Iraqi girl believed to have had bird flu showed how little was known about the disease.</b>
Tests carried out by a British laboratory on the Iraqi teenager have confirmed she died of bird flu, the New Scientist magazine said on its Web site on Thursday.
WHO officials have declined to confirm the report but say they are working on the assumption that the H5N1 strain of bird flu was indeed the cause of her death.
"(The death) has highlighted how little is still known about the spread of the avian flu virus among poultry. Before her death, the presence of H5N1 in poultry in Iraq was not known," WHO director-general Lee Jong-Wook told a news conference during a visit to the Turkish capital Ankara.
"Similarly here there was almost no prior warning of infection in poultry in the eastern part of Turkey," he added.
Four children have died in Turkey from bird flu over the past month. There was little evidence of the virus among birds in the affected region of eastern Turkey before the first human victim died on January 1.
The H5N1 virus has killed at least 85 people worldwide since 2003, mostly in southeast Asia and China.
Lee reiterated that there was nothing to suggest any change in the pattern of transmission of the virus.
"Our investigation has found no evidence the virus is being spread among humans. This remains a problem of (transmission from) poultry to humans and poultry to poultry," he said.
Scientists say the H5N1 virus is mutating steadily and may acquire the changes it needs to be easily transmitted from human to human. It could then sweep the world in weeks or months, killing millions, because humans lack any immunity to the virus.
"The outbreak here in Turkey was similar to outbreaks in east Asia," Lee said, adding that the most vulnerable group remained children and young adults exposed to poultry, usually in their backyards.
"All sectors, including those of agriculture and human health, must work together to common purpose... Our response must be broad-ranging and international," he said.
Lee praised the Turkish government's handling of the crisis, describing it as speedy and transparent.
The WHO now had teams working in seven countries neighbouring Turkey, including Iraq, he added.
"Turkey is at the crossroads between east and west, it is connected to Europe and to Asia, so good surveillance is important for everybody," Lee said.
So how long do you think it will be until they announce it has mutated to person to person?
I don't see how 162 people in a city of 400,000 can have all caught it from chickens unless they all ate at the same wedding with contaminated meat or something.
Looks like the grace period is up folks.
Fuzzychick
Membership Revoked
Onebyone said:
OnebyOne, IMHO, it's gonna be here soon. Airtravel will only enhance the speed of the spread, 1918 didn't have the luxury of millions of people traveling worldwide each day.
Fuzzychick said:
Don't recall where I read it, maybe one of shakeys threads
but seems like the officials were saying once it goes person to person it could be all over the world in as little as 8 days due to airplane travel.If anyone isn't stocked up on food, water, and meds I would say you may be to late. You may be able to go to Wally world and get some things but you better do it in the next day or so.
I wonder when they will make the official announcement that it has mutated person to person.
Once they do that the media is going to go on and on about it and the people will panic buy.
I also wonder how people will deal with all the death. Our forefathers and mothers had much more death around them then people do today so even though it was hard they knew how to surivive the death of several people you knew due to flu, smallpox, and other diseases we don't have to deal with today.
Of course, these cases have not been proven to be BF yet, and may not be.
That being said, if it is true, this makes me think that all of the countries who have reported cases (and probably some that haven't reported any) may have many more than they are admitting too. Iraq is mostly covered by Western press whom have no concerns about reporting everything. These other countries--including all of the Asian states and East European countries have reason to keep such information close to the vest because admitting to an outbreak only hurts their economy.
That being said, if it is true, this makes me think that all of the countries who have reported cases (and probably some that haven't reported any) may have many more than they are admitting too. Iraq is mostly covered by Western press whom have no concerns about reporting everything. These other countries--including all of the Asian states and East European countries have reason to keep such information close to the vest because admitting to an outbreak only hurts their economy.
PCViking
Lutefisk Survivor
February 3, 2006
Avian flu
Household poultry-keeping is set to be banned to reduce the risk of a bird flu outbreak in Hong Kong, Secretary for Health, Welfare & Food Dr York Chow says.
The move comes in the wake of the identification of the H5N1 virus in a smuggled chicken kept at a domestic household, and increasing incidents of avian influenza outbreaks on the Mainland and elsewhere.
"Given the public health concerns, we are drafting legislation to ban household poultry keeping. Such stringent measures are well justified," Dr Chow said.
Under the legislative amendment, the existing exemption for households keeping up to 20 poultry will be removed. The unauthorised keeping of poultry will be an offence warranting fines of up to $100,000.
Dr Chow urged the public to surrender their backyard poultry to the Agriculture, Fisheries & Conservation Department to protect their own and public health. Those who want to keep birds before the new legislation comes into effect must have them vaccinated against avian flu.
The Customs & Excise Department has stepped up patrols at the boundary to prevent the inflow of smuggled chickens.
The separation of chickens and humans must be enforced and the Government has to consider whether it is necessary to set a date for the central slaughtering, Dr Chow added.
http://www.news.gov.hk/en/category/healthandcommunity/060203/txt/060203en05004.htm
Avian flu
Domestic poultry-keeping to be outlawed
Household poultry-keeping is set to be banned to reduce the risk of a bird flu outbreak in Hong Kong, Secretary for Health, Welfare & Food Dr York Chow says.
The move comes in the wake of the identification of the H5N1 virus in a smuggled chicken kept at a domestic household, and increasing incidents of avian influenza outbreaks on the Mainland and elsewhere.
"Given the public health concerns, we are drafting legislation to ban household poultry keeping. Such stringent measures are well justified," Dr Chow said.
Under the legislative amendment, the existing exemption for households keeping up to 20 poultry will be removed. The unauthorised keeping of poultry will be an offence warranting fines of up to $100,000.
Dr Chow urged the public to surrender their backyard poultry to the Agriculture, Fisheries & Conservation Department to protect their own and public health. Those who want to keep birds before the new legislation comes into effect must have them vaccinated against avian flu.
The Customs & Excise Department has stepped up patrols at the boundary to prevent the inflow of smuggled chickens.
The separation of chickens and humans must be enforced and the Government has to consider whether it is necessary to set a date for the central slaughtering, Dr Chow added.
http://www.news.gov.hk/en/category/healthandcommunity/060203/txt/060203en05004.htm
momof23goats
Deceased
I am very worried about our men and women over there.
Link here:
http://www.bangkokpost.com/breaking_news/breakingnews.php?id=77169
New bird flu cases in Kurdish Iraq
Al-Sulaimaniya, Iraq/Cairo (dpa) - A fresh bird flu scare has erupted in the Kurdish region in northern Iraq with reports of 162 suspected cases almost two weeks after a 15-year-old girl died of the deadly strain.
In the Thursday issue of pan-Arab daily al-Hayat, the head of the pre-emption committee in the Kurdistan Province Najm Eddin Mohammed announced that 162 people have been admitted to the diagnosis center on suspicion of contracting the virus.
Mohammed told al-Hayat that the virus has proliferated throughout Rania, a region southwest of al-Sulaymania on the border with Turkey, and described the influx as a "crisis."
"The threat (of bird flu) has been confirmed after the virus has been able to cross the province's borders," he said.
The virus is believed to have spread from neighboring Turkey, which has seen four deaths and a number of suspected cases so far. On January 17, a 15-year-old villager in Rania died of the deadly flu.
"Two other citizens have died of the infectious virus while two other cases are in intensive care, in addition to four other cases," Mohammed added.
The World Health Organizations has announced that two suspected cases of bird flu are currently being investigated in its London laboratory.
The testing of the samples of the young girl's 33-year-old uncle, who died on January 27 and another 54-year-old woman, who has been admitted to the hospital in northern Iraq after showing flu-like symptoms, is underway.
The health minister in al-Sulaymania, Mohammed Khoshnaw, had earlier confirmed that there are no bird flu cases in the area, stating that the preemptive measures implemented by the authorities in the city "are capable of preventing the influx or spread of the disease in the province."
But the authorities retracted their statement later, admitting that bird flu had spread to northern Iraq.
Following the authorities' confirmation of the bird flu cases, alarm has spread among the inhabitants of the Kurdish region Zakho after a large number of slaughtered birds were seen along the Khabour River that flows from bordering Turkey.
The villagers in Zakho have reported the incident to the local authorities in Zakho and Dahouk.
A health official in Dahouk said that villagers spotted ashore the river more than 100 dead birds, all suspected of having been slaughtered by Turkish villagers across the border in a bid to det rid of all infected birds.
Meanwhile in Kurdish city of Erbil, health minister Jamal Abdel Hamid decried the lack of tools that would enable the government to handle an imminent outbreak.
"The preemptive measures implemented by the heath authorities are ineffective in the face of the increasing number of infected people in Kurdistan," Abdel Hamid was quoted in al-Hayat as saying.
Al-Hayat reported that a 35-year-old woman identified as Sarya Mirza is being hospitalized in an Erbil hospital on suspicion she has sustained the deadly flu.
The Iraqi authorities have imposed a quarantine on the villages bordering Turkey and sent in launched teams to slaughter fowl in areas suspected of carrying the disease. Roads into the mountainous Rania area, site of the first flu death, have been blocked.
The area comprises some 50 villages, home to 400,000 people.
http://www.bangkokpost.com/breaking_news/breakingnews.php?id=77169
New bird flu cases in Kurdish Iraq
Al-Sulaimaniya, Iraq/Cairo (dpa) - A fresh bird flu scare has erupted in the Kurdish region in northern Iraq with reports of 162 suspected cases almost two weeks after a 15-year-old girl died of the deadly strain.
In the Thursday issue of pan-Arab daily al-Hayat, the head of the pre-emption committee in the Kurdistan Province Najm Eddin Mohammed announced that 162 people have been admitted to the diagnosis center on suspicion of contracting the virus.
Mohammed told al-Hayat that the virus has proliferated throughout Rania, a region southwest of al-Sulaymania on the border with Turkey, and described the influx as a "crisis."
"The threat (of bird flu) has been confirmed after the virus has been able to cross the province's borders," he said.
The virus is believed to have spread from neighboring Turkey, which has seen four deaths and a number of suspected cases so far. On January 17, a 15-year-old villager in Rania died of the deadly flu.
"Two other citizens have died of the infectious virus while two other cases are in intensive care, in addition to four other cases," Mohammed added.
The World Health Organizations has announced that two suspected cases of bird flu are currently being investigated in its London laboratory.
The testing of the samples of the young girl's 33-year-old uncle, who died on January 27 and another 54-year-old woman, who has been admitted to the hospital in northern Iraq after showing flu-like symptoms, is underway.
The health minister in al-Sulaymania, Mohammed Khoshnaw, had earlier confirmed that there are no bird flu cases in the area, stating that the preemptive measures implemented by the authorities in the city "are capable of preventing the influx or spread of the disease in the province."
But the authorities retracted their statement later, admitting that bird flu had spread to northern Iraq.
Following the authorities' confirmation of the bird flu cases, alarm has spread among the inhabitants of the Kurdish region Zakho after a large number of slaughtered birds were seen along the Khabour River that flows from bordering Turkey.
The villagers in Zakho have reported the incident to the local authorities in Zakho and Dahouk.
A health official in Dahouk said that villagers spotted ashore the river more than 100 dead birds, all suspected of having been slaughtered by Turkish villagers across the border in a bid to det rid of all infected birds.
Meanwhile in Kurdish city of Erbil, health minister Jamal Abdel Hamid decried the lack of tools that would enable the government to handle an imminent outbreak.
"The preemptive measures implemented by the heath authorities are ineffective in the face of the increasing number of infected people in Kurdistan," Abdel Hamid was quoted in al-Hayat as saying.
Al-Hayat reported that a 35-year-old woman identified as Sarya Mirza is being hospitalized in an Erbil hospital on suspicion she has sustained the deadly flu.
The Iraqi authorities have imposed a quarantine on the villages bordering Turkey and sent in launched teams to slaughter fowl in areas suspected of carrying the disease. Roads into the mountainous Rania area, site of the first flu death, have been blocked.
The area comprises some 50 villages, home to 400,000 people.
New Freedom
Veteran Member
http://www.canada.com/topics/news/world/story.html?id=ec4a557b-7c37-4bb1-a97c-b7cfdcfb7da6&k=61058
Avian flu now endemic in Hong Kong
According to health secretary
Canadian Press
Published: Friday, February 03, 2006
HONG KONG -- Bird flu has become endemic in Hong Kong after its recent discovery in both local wild birds and chicken, the territory's health secretary said Friday.
"Since different kinds of wild birds and chickens have this virus, we can be quite sure that this virus is endemic in our birds," York Chow said at a press briefing. Chow used a Chinese term to describe bird flu as having become part of the general environment in Hong Kong. "It's not just Hong Kong. This virus will exist in neighbouring areas, southern China as well as Hong Kong," he added.
Chow's comments came after the government announced Wednesday that both a local chicken brought in from China and a dead crested myna tested positive for the H5N1 bird flu virus. In the past year, Hong Kong officials also found avian flu in the oriental magpie robin and heron species.
Previously, bird flu killed six people here in 1997, prompting the government to slaughter the entire poultry population of about 1.5 million birds.
But since then, there have been no major outbreaks. Hong Kong has been largely spared from the recent outbreaks that have killed or forced the slaughter of millions of birds across Asia since late 2003.
© The Canadian Press 2006
Avian flu now endemic in Hong Kong
According to health secretary
Canadian Press
Published: Friday, February 03, 2006
HONG KONG -- Bird flu has become endemic in Hong Kong after its recent discovery in both local wild birds and chicken, the territory's health secretary said Friday.
"Since different kinds of wild birds and chickens have this virus, we can be quite sure that this virus is endemic in our birds," York Chow said at a press briefing. Chow used a Chinese term to describe bird flu as having become part of the general environment in Hong Kong. "It's not just Hong Kong. This virus will exist in neighbouring areas, southern China as well as Hong Kong," he added.
Chow's comments came after the government announced Wednesday that both a local chicken brought in from China and a dead crested myna tested positive for the H5N1 bird flu virus. In the past year, Hong Kong officials also found avian flu in the oriental magpie robin and heron species.
Previously, bird flu killed six people here in 1997, prompting the government to slaughter the entire poultry population of about 1.5 million birds.
But since then, there have been no major outbreaks. Hong Kong has been largely spared from the recent outbreaks that have killed or forced the slaughter of millions of birds across Asia since late 2003.
© The Canadian Press 2006
Bulgaria reports first case of H5 avian flu
http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/new...3_RTRUKOC_0_UK-BIRDFLU-BULGARIA-CONFIRMED.xml
Fri Feb 3, 2006 4:12 PM GMT163
By Tsvetelia Ilieva
SOFIA (Reuters) - Bulgaria has discovered its first case of H5 bird flu in a dead swan on its border with Romania, authorities said on Friday, and samples will be sent to Britain to test whether it is strain that can kill people.
Sandwiched between Romania and Turkey, which have both been hit by outbreaks of the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain, Bulgaria has been seen as a possible destination for the virus.
"Our teams found a wild swan in the Danube river near the town of Vidin. The tests on the swan showed it was infected with the H5 virus," Agriculture Minister Nihat Kabil told a news conference.
He said he had put his veterinary offices on high alert but said the discovery of one infected swan did not mean there was the danger of wider outbreaks.
"This was a single bird," he said. "There is no sign of any strange behaviour or massive deaths by wild birds."
The swan was found alive but died after showing symptoms of shaking and partial paralysis.
Bulgaria is not able to conduct the complex tests which can tell whether a strain of H5 is the highly pathogenic H5N1, which has killed at least 86 people and millions of birds since 2003.
Human victims contract the virus through close contact with infected birds. However, experts fear the virus will mutate into a form that passes easily from person to person, sparking a pandemic in which millions could die.
MIGRATORY BIRDS
"If we send the samples on Monday or Tuesday to the EU-registered laboratory in England, we will have the results by the end of the week," Kabil said.
Scientists believe migratory birds first brought the virus to the region from Russia as they travelled south along the Pontic migratory route, which stretches south from northern Russia and Europe and passes along the Black Sea's western coast.
In Turkey, four children died of H5N1 last month and authorities have culled 1.3 million birds in domestic flocks to halt its spread.
Romania, home to Europe's largest wetlands in the Danube delta, has detected cases in birds in 26 villages, while to the north Ukraine officials have destroyed hundreds of thousands of domestic birds after numerous outbreaks there.
Croatia has also detected H5N1 in wild swans.
Bulgaria, a relatively poor Black Sea country of 7.8 million, has banned poultry from its neighbours, forbidden the hunting of wild birds, told farmers to keep domestic fowl indoors and has stepped up surveillance of migratory birds in wetland areas.
WHO official says some 10,000 dozes of Tamiflu on way to Iraq
http://www.kuna.net.kw/Home/Story.aspx?Language=en&DSNO=810991
GENEVA, Feb 3 (KUNA) - A World Health Organization (WHO) senior official said Friday that some 10,000 dozes of Tamiflu, the medicine to combat Bird Flu, is on its way to Iraq following the confirmed case of an H5N1 virus which killed a 15 year old girl, and the emergence of two other suspected case.
Assistant Director-General, Communicable Diseases Dr. Margaret Chan added that her organization has sent teams of experts to nine neighboring countries of Turkey following the cases that were confirmed there, however, she added the situation in Turkey is now stable. Chan said that those teams were sent to 9 countries in the region among them Egypt, Lebanon, Syria and Iran.
Dr. Chan stressed that so far the H5N1 virus is still an animal disease and is very rare in humans. However, she added that control must be at the source, at the farm level. Acting Coordinator for the Global Influenza program, Communicable Diseases Dr. Keiji Fukuda stressed that the risk of a pandemic does not go away.
Chan noted that whether a pandemic happens or not, the current investment by the international community and WHO to avert that happening will serve global health security. She added that to have a system in place for countries to report early outbreaks is a good investment. (end) hn.
mm
KUNA 031723 Feb 06NNNN
Russia to test bird flu vaccine on volunteers
http://www.interfax.ru/e/B/0/28.html?id_issue=11458715
ST. PETERSBURG. Feb 2 (Interfax) - A Russian bird flu vaccine is to be clinically tested on volunteers, Director of the St. Petersburg Flu Institute Oleg Kiselyov said on Thursday.
Tests were adjourned several times because of the absence of standardization methods. Each medicine must be standardized before tests can take place, he said.
A schedule for the vaccine tests is being formed. Production of the vaccine will begin a month after the tests have been completed, Kiselyov said.
New Freedom
Veteran Member
http://www.foxreno.com/health/6712906/detail.html
Rapid Bird Flu Test Receives Federal Approval
POSTED: 12:12 pm PST February 3, 2006
WASHINGTON -- The Food and Drug Administration has approved a lab test that can give a preliminary diagnosis of bird flu in humans.
The new test can provide results within four hours. That process used to take two to three days. If the test identifies an H5 strain of bird flu, further testing will be conducted to determine the H5 subtype -- such as the deadly H5N1.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention developed the test, which will be distributed to laboratories in all 50 states beginning next week.
"Thanks to the expeditious and collaborative efforts of CDC and FDA, the availability of this new test gives us one more tool to keep up with the ever changing nature of influenza viruses," Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt said in a news release.
Since December 2003, more than 160 human cases of avian flu caused by the H5N1 strain of influenza have been reported in several countries, mostly in Asia.
Health officials fear bird flu will evolve into a virus that can be passed from human to human and lead to an influenza pandemic. The ability to quickly test patients suspected of harboring the virus could help track and curtail such a health crisis.
Distributed by Internet Broadcasting Systems, Inc. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Rapid Bird Flu Test Receives Federal Approval
POSTED: 12:12 pm PST February 3, 2006
WASHINGTON -- The Food and Drug Administration has approved a lab test that can give a preliminary diagnosis of bird flu in humans.
The new test can provide results within four hours. That process used to take two to three days. If the test identifies an H5 strain of bird flu, further testing will be conducted to determine the H5 subtype -- such as the deadly H5N1.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention developed the test, which will be distributed to laboratories in all 50 states beginning next week.
"Thanks to the expeditious and collaborative efforts of CDC and FDA, the availability of this new test gives us one more tool to keep up with the ever changing nature of influenza viruses," Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt said in a news release.
Since December 2003, more than 160 human cases of avian flu caused by the H5N1 strain of influenza have been reported in several countries, mostly in Asia.
Health officials fear bird flu will evolve into a virus that can be passed from human to human and lead to an influenza pandemic. The ability to quickly test patients suspected of harboring the virus could help track and curtail such a health crisis.
Distributed by Internet Broadcasting Systems, Inc. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Fuzzychick
Membership Revoked
JPD said:
Now that's a BIG heads up!