02/10 | Bird flu spreads to Africa

Link to yesterday's thread: http://www.timebomb2000.com/vb/showthread.php?t=185909

http://tinyurl.com/anjlu This link also has a video.

Bird flu spreads to Africa​

Report

Feb. 8 - The deadly H5N1 bird flu virus spreads to poultry in northern Nigeria, the first time it has been detected in Africa.

The outbreak in Nigeria opens a fresh front in the battle against the virus, which has killed at least 88 people in seven countries since it reemerged in late 2003.

It was detected on a farm in the northern state of Kaduna.

The World Health Organisation said there had not yet been any known cases among humans in Africa.

Chelsea Edwards reports.

SOUNDBITE: Nigerian Agriculture Minister Adamu Bello saying (English): "Every farm that is suspected of having Avian influenza we shall quarantine it and ensure that we stamp out all of the livestock on that farm, that is the poultry, and we shall be paying compensation."

Bird Flue Hits Africa​

by Kate Walker
Oxford, England (UPI) Feb 09, 2006

Bird flu has hit Africa, and it may have been there for some time. The World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) confirmed Wednesday that samples taken from the thousands of chickens found dead in northern Nigeria tested positive for H5N1 infection. A poultry farm in Kaduna owned by the country's sports minister, Alhaji Saidu Samaila Sambawa, saw 46,000 birds die from avian flu, Nigeria's VanguardOnline reported.

Alhaji Adamu Bello, Nigeria's agriculture minister, told the Vanguard: "Investigation has been going on for quite some time in this farm. Initially, we thought it was Newcastle or cold cholera, but some of them exhibited symptoms of avian influenza and the mortality rate at the farm continued to rise.

"In line with our policy, what we did when we found that there was high mortality at Sambawa Farms was to quarantine it. We did this even before it was confirmed it was avian influenza. We put into motion the actions that were put in place. That farm was quarantined and nothing was going in and outside the farm and the mortality continued to increase.

"Even as I talk to you, there is no single bird in that farm. They all died or were slaughtered. There are rules for slaughtering such birds because of the sensitive nature, otherwise you will be spreading the disease."

The Nigerian government has taken its flu-prevention responsibilities seriously, Bello affirmed. "We stamp out or slaughter virtually every bird in every farm that is suspected to have been infected with avian influenza, quarantine it and ensure that we stamp all the livestock in that farm. We will impose restriction of movement in any place that is strongly suspected to be harboring avian influenza until checks are done. There are procedures for this."

But there are concerns that the measures taken by the government will be largely ineffective if Nigeria does not also vaccinate its poultry. The country currently lacks a poultry-vaccination program.

OIE has been in touch with manufacturers of avian-influenza vaccines for use in poultry and established that supplies are available to send to Nigeria. Discussions regarding funding are currently under way with the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization.

Meanwhile:

-- Samples taken from a 13-year-old boy from southern Iraq who died Feb. 5 of flu-like symptoms are currently being tested for H5N1.

The boy, who died four days after being hospitalized with what was believed to be severe pneumonia, lived in a house with pet birds.

There had been no reported outbreaks of avian influenza in poultry in the region before the child's death.

Following the death from avian influenza of a girl in the country's northern Kurdish region last month, seven patients are currently being treated for apparent bird-flu infection in the area.

-- Two Indonesian women have been hospitalized with avian flu, the government announced Thursday.

The two women, aged 22 and 27, are not related, but come from the same Jakartan suburb. It is unclear how the two women became ill, but it is known that one of the two had had no direct contact with chickens -- the most common source of infection in Indonesia -- before she fell ill.

Hariadi Wibisono, director of control of animal-borne diseases at Indonesia's Health Ministry, said of the women: "We received the results last night. Their health condition now is worsening."

-- The Chinese Ministry of Agriculture confirmed Wednesday that there was an outbreak of avian influenza in poultry in the country's northern Shanxi province.

Local veterinarians have culled 188,000 birds within a 5-mile radius of the outbreak.

-- The Romanian government has begun widespread poultry culling in response to a suspected H5N1 outbreak near the Danube River delta.

Preliminary tests on six chickens from the same farm indicate that the birds were infected with an H5 strain of avian influenza. The subtype has yet to be determined.

In addition to the culls, the affected village has been placed under quarantine and the movement of vehicles has been restricted.

-- Further cases and suspected cases of avian-influenza infection in birds have been reported in Hong Kong.

A chicken and an egret were found dead in suburban areas, Canada.com reported. Tests on the egret showed that it was infected with H5N1, the government announced Wednesday.

Tests on the chicken are ongoing.

Source: United Press International

http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Bird_Flue_Hits_Africa.html

Swiss on alert over bird flu case in Africa​

The discovery of the deadly bird flu virus in Africa is also cause for concern in Switzerland, the Swiss Federal Veterinary Office said on Thursday.

"New measures, similar to a previous outdoor ban for poultry, are being considered because Switzerland lies on the south-north bird migration route," said spokeswoman Cathy Maret.

Nigerian and international authorities announced on Wednesday that the deadly bird flu strain H5N1 had been detected on a poultry farm in northern Nigeria.

Some 40,000 birds have died in Nigeria, and the authorities have ordered the quarantine and culling of any fowl suspected of carrying the virus.

Maret said Switzerland has to wait a few days for tests to confirm whether the H5N1 virus found in Nigeria was the same strain as in Asia.

"If it turns out to be the same virus, then we'll have to say it's bad news and a bad omen for the future," she said.

As migrating birds from Africa cross Switzerland at the end of February and the beginning of March, Switzerland will have to evaluate whether it need to confine domestic fowl indoors again, she added.

Source: Xinhua

http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200602/10/eng20060210_241450.html

Indonesian woman dies of bird flu: ministry​

An Indonesian woman has died and another was in critical condition at a specialist Jakarta hospital after local tests showed both had the H5N1 bird flu virus, a senior Health Ministry official said Friday.

Blood samples of the two women, both from a suburb east of Jakarta, have been sent to a Hong Kong laboratory recognised by the World Health Organisation for re-testing.

Hariadi Wibisono, director of control of animal-borne diseases at the ministry, announced the test results on Thursday but said one of the women had since died.

"I received a report this morning that she died last night," Wibisono told Reuters.

A spokesman of the Sulianti Saroso hospital, which has been specially designated to treat bird flu, said the other women was in critical condition.

Indonesia has had 16 WHO-confirmed deaths from bird flu and seven confirmed cases where patients have survived.

Source: Reuters

Story from Thanh Nien News
Published: 10 February, 2006, 09:29:48 (GMT+7)

http://www.thanhniennews.com/print.php?catid=9&newsid=12566

35 in bird flu-hit area under medical observation​

www.chinaview.cn 2006-02-10 08:13:31

TAIYUAN, Feb. 9 (Xinhuanet) -- Local health department of a north China's province has put 35 people in bird flu-hit Yangquan city under close medical observation, sources with the provincial government confirmed here Thursday.

The state avian flu lab confirmed on Feb. 7 that the H5N1 strain of highly pathogenic bird flu was the killer of 15,000 fowls at a fowl-run in Yijing Township, Yangquan City, north China's Shanxi Province.

The provincial health department said that all of the 35 peoplewere workers with the farm who had close contact with the dead birds. They have been restricted at their home to receive medical checks twice a day.

Vet departments in Shanxi has so far culled 187,745 poultry within three km from the affected areas after the province activated its emergency reaction program on the outbreak of the disease. Enditem

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-02/10/content_4159754.htm

Suspected H5N1 Children in Nigeria

Recombinomics Commentary
February 9, 2006

"We have received a complaint ... from a farmer that the doves, geese and chickens he is raising are dying rapidly and his two kids are sick. They are coughing blood," said Sa'idu Baba Chori, a Kaduna State agriculture official.

The above comments is the first suggesting human H5N1 infections in Nigeria. The family is near the H5N1 confirmed outbreak in Kaduna, and the death of several species, including geese, is an indicator of H5N1.

In Turkey, one of the symptoms of H5N1 infections in the more severe cases was blood coming from the mouth. The above comment does not give additional symptoms, but all of the above is consistent with H5N1 infection in humans.

If H5N1 positive, the result would provide the strongest evidence for the transmission of HA S227N polymorphism detected in Turkey to be traveling long distances by migratory birds. The acquisition of S227N correlated with the reporting of the first case in Turkey and was associated with large clusters signaling more efficient transmission of H5N1 to humans. The outbreak of 21 confirmed cases in Turkey along with clusters in northern and southern Iraq indicated S227N was being transported by wild birds.

If the cases in Nigeria also have S227N, the result would strongly suggest that S227N is being transmitted and transported by long range migratory birds. The location in Nigeria is near the intersection of East Atlantic Flyway, the Black Sea Mediterranean Flyway, and the East Africa West Asia Flyway, which would allow S227N to migrate over a wide area, including western Europe and North America.

Surveillance for bird flu to be stepped up​

http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=125&art_id=vn20060210032422729C505241

February 10 2006 at 05:46AM

Any foreigners showing signs of bird flu infection entering South Africa will be quarantined immediately.

That's the word from national department of health spokesperson Solly Mabotha after Wednesday's announcement that the highly pathogenic strain of avian influenza H5N1 had been discovered in domestic poultry in Nigeria.

Mabotha said that surveillance at South Africa's ports would be heightened, although there had been no cases of human infection in Nigeria yet.

Meanwhile, scientists at Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute have been asked by the Food and Agricultural Organisation to lend their support in testing bird dropping samples. - Mercury Correspondent

NIGERIA: Bird Flu Red Alert In Lagos
​

http://news.google.com/url?sa=t&ct=...e/$StorySummary.$DirectLink$2&sp=l17244&cid=0

Friday, 10 February 2006,

By ANDnetwork .com

NIGERIAN Kaduna State Governor, Ahmed Mohammed Makarfi, tried to calm nerves on Thursday over the outbreak of bird flu that has claimed over 200,000 chickens and poses a threat to humans.

He set up a team to curb the spread of the possible epidemic and put all hospitals in the state on red alert to treat suspected cases of the lethal H5N1 virus, while Sambawa Farms has been quarantined. Hospitals in Lagos have also been put on red alert.

Makarfi disclosed after a meeting with stakeholders and donor agencies that the affected chickens were bought from five different places in Kano.

He said he has ordered health officials to conduct tests in all major poultry farms to ascertain the level of the spread of the disease.

However, he added, "it is not as alarming as people believe. We will take necessary measures based on what we see. Before the Federal Government's compensation, we will assist the immediate environment. Hospitals have been placed on red alert, even though nobody is affected yet.”

Members of the team are drawn from the veterinary services, forestry, Ministry of Information, the police, State Security Service (SSS), Christian Association of Nigeria, Jamaatu Nasril Islam (JNI), traditional institutions, UNICEF and WHO.

However, chicken sellers in Kano are doing a roaring trade despite the fears.

Officials said they are putting strict quarantine measures in place to protect consumers, but reporters found out that birds, which died in another, similar disease outbreak are being auctioned off cheaply in the city.

Chickens that used to sell at N1,000 now go for N300. Lagos State placed itself on red alert to contain any possible outbreak of the virus in its domain.

Its Ministry of Health has summoned senior personnel of all state-owned medical institutions for an emergency meeting with the Permanent Secretary, Jide Idris, on ways to alert the public and health workers.

“The ministries of Health, Agriculture and Information are working in collaboration to ensure that the people are properly educated on how to identify some of the signs of this infection, as well as enlighten the officials of the ministries on the specific messages they would use to educate the general populace on the avian flu”, Idris said.

The state House of Assembly on Thursday implored Abuja to urgently set up measures to combat the spread of the flu.

Oloruntele Folami (Ibeju Lekki 2) who raised the motion said the issue should not be trivialised the way that of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) is handled, as bird flu kills almost instantly.Most contributors to the motion agreed with him.

Among them were Bola Olujobi-Badmus (Amuwo-Odofin 2) and Tunde Oyewo (Amuwo-Odofin 1).

Experts have asserted that the virus found in Kaduna and Kano states could be the deadly strain found in Asia last year.

Olusegun Ojo, professor of chemical pathology and morbid anatomy at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife confirmed in a phone interview that Nigeria has a near 100 per cent chance of being home to the virus that affects birds, including chickens.

His words: “It has been established that Nigeria falls within the route of migration of birds from southwards and with the acute winter in the initially affected areas like Asia and the current warm favourable weather for birds in West Africa, some of the birds may have made their way to the country through the north. Which is the reason we have the wide swoop on birds in that region.”

However, Kenya on Thursday banned imports of poultry products from Nigeria because of the outbreak of the bird flu virus.

Kenyan health authorities confirmed that no cases of avian flu has been detected in the country, which lies on a migration path for birds that may be carrying the virus whose origins are not yet known.

Kenya currently does not import any poultry and their products from Nigeria.

Although no cases of avian flu has been reported in Kenya, the country faces the risk from migrating birds coming from areas with the disease outbreaks.

Source : Daily Independent (Nigeria)

Criticism as more Nigerian states report bird flu​

http://www.afrol.com/articles/18044

As two more Nigerian states - Kano and Plateau - have reported an outbreak of bird flu, there is fear that the spread of the disease is already out of control. Over 60,000 farm-raised birds have already died of the flu, which seems to have been spreading uncontrolled in the country for one month despite many warning signals. Millions of poultry may have to be slaughtered.

The Nigerian government yesterday confirmed the existence of the deadly bird flu and immediately set aside 1.5 billion naira (euro 9.7 million) for compensation to those whose birds would be killed to halt further spread. Agriculture Minister Adamu Bello set compensation at a rate of 250 naira (euro 1.60) "per bird killed to all those whose birds were affected and would be killed."

With an estimated poultry population of 140 million in Nigeria, compensations however could rapidly burst the budget. One day after Minister Bello's statement it became clear that the crisis was greater than first assumed. Not only the central Nigerian state of Kaduna was affected, also its neighbours to the north (Kano) and to the south (Plateau) have registered large numbers of dead chicken.

Nobody knows how far the epidemic has spread, or if it even has reached other West African countries. Reports of mysterious poultry deaths in Nigeria started to get reported already in the second week of January. Investigations into the deaths have obviously been slow; still on Monday, authorities denied there was any bird flu outbreak in Nigeria. Now, the flu is confirmed in three states.

While Agriculture Minister Bello yesterday assured the nation that there was "no cause for alarm as the government already has put remedial measures in place to bring any further spread under control," reports from Kaduna today indicate that the four infected poultry farms not yet are set under effective quarantine.

Criticism against the federal government was voiced by the commercial poultry farmers of the region, who felt authorities were acting too slowly. Awalu Haruna, secretary of the Poultry Farmers' Association of Kano, told Associated Press (AP) that "the government should have quarantined the affected farms to prevent further spread. But as I speak this has not been done. There is still movement of humans and birds in and out of these farms," Mr Haruna was quoted as saying.

Panic has yet to be spread among Nigerians, who are calmed down by the government's claim of being in control and of compensating birds that will have to be killed. Internationally, however, the situation is different as many fear that Nigerian authorities are not up to the giant task of stopping the feared virus from spreading.

Neighbour states, basically Benin, Niger and Cameroon, have already banned poultry imports from Nigeria and are investigating whether the epidemic already has reached them. International donors have been quicker than ever before pledging financial aid to Nigeria to get the outbreak under control. Washington is reported to already have pledged US$ 25 million to get the situation under control.

Specialists from several UN agencies fear it may already be too late. The UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), which is assisting Nigerian authorities, warns that there is now a "high bird flu risk" in all of Africa. "If the situation in Nigeria gets out of control, it will have a devastating impact on the poultry population in the region, it will seriously damage the livelihoods of millions of people and it will increase the exposure of humans to the virus," said Samuel Jutzi of FAO.

While Nigerian Agriculture Minister Bello just advised Nigerians "to cook their chicken well to avoid any infection," FAO is desperate to reach out to Nigerians with the correct information on how to hinder further spread and infections. "People should avoid any contact with obviously diseased or dead birds, maintain personal hygiene (hand washing) after handling poultry or poultry meat and should cook chicken meat and eggs properly," the UN agancy advises.

Also Director-General Jong Wook Lee of the World Health Organisation (WHO) is very concerned and today offered support to the Nigerian government's national public information campaign. "Clear public information is critical to help protect human health," Dr Lee advised.

The WHO leader fears that Nigeria is not prepared to meet such a tough challenge. "African health systems are already struggling to cope with children and adults suffering from HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, respiratory infections and other infectious conditions," Dr Lee says. Human cases of the virus "may be difficult to distinguish from other illnesses. We simply do not know what the impact of exposure to avian influenza will be on the many people who may be already immunocompromised and in a fragile state of health."

Equally, David Nabarro, the UN's Coordinator for Avian and Human Influenza, today said he feared that "rest of Africa is in danger from the disease." The UN official indicated that Nigeria was a country without the veterinary or human health systems to contain the feared virus.

Striking back would be a painful affair, Dr Nabarro indicated. "Nigeria has an important commercial poultry sector and millions of backyard poultry farmers," he noted. As in other countries, millions of chicken may have to be killed to stop the spread of the disease. Minister Bello has already promised that "all suspected bird nationwide will be killed and buried."

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<B><font size=+1 color=red><center>Bird disease in flu-hit Nigeria "spreading like wildfire"</font>

02-08-2006, 13h34
KADUNA, Nigeria (AFP)
<A href="http://www.turkishpress.com/news.asp?id=107351">www.turkishpress.com</a></center>
As Nigeria scrambled to deal with Africa's first confirmed case of deadly bird flu, a farmer's representative said thousands of poultry had died of disease further north.

Identified earlier this week as "fowl cholera", the disease was spreading rapidly through farms in Kano State, killing tens of thousands of chickens, Auwalu Haruna, secretary of the Kano State poultry farmers' association, said.</b>

Nigeria announced Wednesday that Africa's first confirmed case of the H5N1 strain of bird flu -- which can be fatal to humans -- had been found in Sambawa Farm in Kaduna State, 300 kilometres (185 miles) north of Abuja.

The disease in Kano "is spreading like wildfire," Haruna told AFP.

"We have 20,000 new infections reported today, bringing the figure for infected birds to 80,000. What worsens the situation is the movement of infected poultry, in a frantic effort to minimise losses," he said.

Haruna and several market stall holders told AFP that once chickens are infected farmers are killing them and rapidly dumping them on the market in an effort to beat any future quarantine and make a quick profit.

"The announcement by the federal government of bird flu at Sambawa Farm shocked us, but we are just waiting for confirmation from the veterinary institute in Vom for our birds," Haruna said.

Prices of chickens in Kano have dropped by two thirds since thousands of birds began dying of the mystery infection.

International experts from the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation were expected to arrive in Nigeria on Thursday following the news of the bird flu outbreak.

Nigeria's Agriculture Minister Adamu Bello promised Wednesday that a massive effort to quarantine farms and cull sick birds would be rapidly put into place to contain the outbreak, but there was no sign of that on the ground.

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<B><font size=+1 color=brown><center>Violence, misinformation hamper control of bird flu in Iraq</font>

Paul Garwood, Associated Press
Last update: February 09, 2006 – 8:36 PM
<A href="http://www.startribune.com/722/story/237600.html">www.startribune.com</a></center>
Annan urges Iran to continue to freeze nuclear activities and allow talks
BAGHDAD, Iraq — Some Iraqis are letting their birds loose rather than slaughter them and the lack of a proper shipping container has kept the tissue sample of a man suspected of dying of bird flu sitting in Baghdad despite reports it was being tested abroad. </b>

Poor communications, scarce equipment and the dangers of the insurgency are all plaguing efforts to combat bird flu in Iraq.

In Nigeria, meanwhile, the deadly H5N1 strain has been detected in two more northern states and has been killing birds — some 100,000 — for weeks, Nigerian authorities said Thursday, raising fears the disease will spread elsewhere in Africa.

Officials say containing the spread of bird flu in Iraq may be beyond the capabilities of health authorities in some parts of the country, particularly volatile Anbar province, center stage of the insurgency.

"Iraq is a special case and has its unique challenges that are especially difficult, obviously because it is a complex environment," World Health Organization spokesman Dick Thompson said from neighboring Jordan.

So far, Iraq's only confirmed human case is a 15-year-old girl who died Jan. 17 in the northern Kurdistan region, Iraq's most stable area with a functioning local administration.

But Iraq has been slow to send samples of other suspect cases — including the girl's uncle, who died Jan. 27 — to WHO-certified laboratories in London and Cairo, Egypt, despite saying for more than a week that the shipment had been delivered.

"We didn't have the containers to ship the samples and without them, they wouldn't have been accepted for shipment," Dr. Ibtisam Aziz Ali, spokeswoman for a government committee handling the bird flu crisis, acknowledged Thursday.

She did not say why it had taken so long for Iraq to obtain the containers or explain earlier statements that the samples had been sent. Thompson said the U.N. health agency would send Iraq several containers.

Partial testing of tissue samples taken from humans suspected of having bird flu can be performed at Baghdad's central laboratories, but final verification of the presence of the H5N1 strain must be done by a WHO-approved lab.

Elsewhere, Indonesia said Thursday that two women from the same town have contracted the virus. WHO has so far confirmed 24 human cases in Indonesia, not including the two women.

Nigeria quarantined bird farms throughout its north, and neighboring countries banned poultry imports to try to halt the spread of the virus on a poor continent little prepared to cope with an outbreak of the disease.

The head of the World Health Organization warned that health services across West Africa should be on high alert.

"The confirmation of H5N1 avian influenza in poultry in Africa is a cause for great concern and demands immediate action," said WHO Director-General Dr. Lee Jong-wook. "The H5N1 virus now confirmed in Nigeria poses a risk to human health and livelihood."

The single most important priority is to warn people about the dangers of close contact with sick or dying birds infected with H5N1, Lee said in a statement.

In Iraq, a six-member WHO delegation, accompanied by two veterinarian scientists from a U.S. Navy lab in Cairo, visited a hospital in the northern city of Sulaimaniyah, where a Kurdish health official said 10 people suffering bird flu-like symptoms were admitted. Members also traveled to Raniya, the town where the dead girl had lived.

Many factors complicate Iraqi efforts to battle the outbreak, such as broken infrastructure, an unstable central government, shaky communication networks and constant violence. Inconsistent and contradictory information is also being released by local, regional and national authorities daily.

On Tuesday, health officials in the southern city of Amarah said they were investigating the suspicious death of a 14-year-old pigeon seller who suffered bird flu-like symptoms. On Thursday, Amarah authorities said three of the dead boy's cousins — two brothers and their sister — have been hospitalized with similar symptoms.

In Baghdad, vendors set free or gave away scores of birds Thursday as bird flu fears spread. Baghdad's poultry market, Souq al-Ghazzal, has come to a near standstill with people too scared to buy or sell fowl.

"I let my 60 lovebirds go free because I was scared some infected birds would mix with mine and spread bird flu," said Mohammed Jabbar, who collects birds.

In the former insurgent stronghold of Fallujah, police used loudspeakers to urge people to kill all their birds after hospital officials said a woman was admitted to a hospital suffering symptoms similar to bird flu.

Because of the greater security existing in Kurdistan, health officials were better able to control the spread of the disease and quarantine suspect towns. But doing the same in towns like Fallujah is virtually impossible because of the militant activity.

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<B><font size=+1 color=green><center>35 Put Under Medical Observation in Bird Flu-hit Area </font>

February 10 2006
<A href="http://www.china.org.cn/english/government/157583.htm">www.china.org.cn.english</a></center>
Local health department of a north China's province has put 35 people in bird flu-hit Yangquan city under close medical observation, sources with the provincial government confirmed on Thursday.

The state avian flu lab confirmed on Feb. 7 that the H5N1 strain of highly pathogenic bird flu was the killer of 15,000 fowls at a fowl-run in Yijing Township, Yangquan City, north China's Shanxi Province.</b>

The provincial health department said that all of the 35 people were workers with the farm who had close contact with the dead birds. They have been restricted at their home to receive medical checks twice a day.

Vet departments in Shanxi has so far culled 187,745 poultry within three km from the affected areas after the province activated its emergency reaction program on the outbreak of the disease.

(Xinhua News Agency February 10, 2006)

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<B><font size=+1 color=blue><center>WHO probes bird flu spread</font>

From: Agence France-Presse From correspondents in Sulaimaniyah, Iraq
February 10, 2006
<A href="http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,18101385-23109,00.html">www.news.com.au</a></center>
A WORLD Health Organisation (WHO) team arrived in Iraqi Kurdistan's biggest city of Sulaimaniyah today to investigate the spread of bird flu as new suspected cases emerged.

The team, which had been in Arbil, will stay in Sulaimaniyah for three days lending support to local authorities in combating the deadly virus.</b>

The experts will soon head to Raniya district where the first case of the deadly avian influenza was detected in a teenage girl who died last month.

"We will go there," said Naeema al-Gasseer, the WHO representative for Iraq.

She said the team would study the measures adopted by the local authorities in thwarting the spread of the virus, which is also suspected to have killed a man in the southern Iraqi city of Amara.

"We came at the request of Iraqi and Kurdish ministries to study the measures implemented to stop the risk of an epidemic and to give our support to the local government," Ms Gasseer told reporters.

She said the Iraqi authorities were transparent and "treating the cases with seriousness".
"We will offer technical and logistical aid to them," she said.

WHO plans to equip Sulaimaniyah with a new laboratory to be funded by the European Union, she said, adding that medicine was on its way and "Sulaimaniyah will have its share".

She said the drugs were funded by the WHO, the USAID and the Iraqi government.

Denis Coulombier, a team member in charge for European Centre of Prevention and Control of Disease, said all efforts were being made to stop the spread of the disease.

"There is an obvious interest to stop any risk of the disease, as Turkey and Iraq are the doors to Europe."

He said contacts were also established in the south after a human death from suspected bird flu was reported earlier this week.

Meanwhile, five people with suspected cases of bird flu were admitted to Sulaimaniyah city hospital yesterday, a doctor said on condition of anonymity.

The patients were from Sulaimaniyah. Overall, 17 people have been suspected of contracting the disease since its outbreak in the province in January.

In Amara, three brothers who were cousins of a pigeon breeder, who died recently from flu-like symptoms, were also admitted after showing similar symptoms.

The man, who died on Sunday, owned two H5N1-infected pigeons.

The three brothers lived in the same house with their cousin, the director of Amara's department of infectious disease confirmed.

He said the results of the samples of the dead man had not arrived yet from Baghdad, while samples of the three cousins have been sent for further investigations.

Iraq has officially confirmed two human deaths from bird flu, both in the Raniya region of Sulaimaniyah.

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<B><center>Lee braces for bird flu
<font size=+1 color=purple>Officials stock supplies should deadly strain strike</font>

By Michelle L. Start
mstart@news-press.com
Originally posted on February 10, 2006
<A href="http://www.news-press.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060210/NEWS01/602100396/1002">www.news-press.com</a></center>
PANDEMIC FLU CONFERENCE
Florida Gov. Jeb Bush has scheduled a conference in Tallahassee from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Feb. 16 to discuss the state's pandemic flu preparedness plans. It will be be aired on the local cable television government channels.

WHAT LOCAL EMPLOYERS ARE SAYING</b>
• John Wilson, Lee County's emergency management director, said the county would have to prioritize which services to offer in the event of a bad flu epidemic.
"I don't think it's realistic to think you'd shut down everything in government for a period of 40 days," he said. "You'd have to continue to offer vital services, like electricity."
More likely, he said, fewer people would be working at any given time.
"Certain people will get sick and get better or not, and you'd have sort of a cycle going."
Even the most essential services would likely be cut back, he said: for example, "Certain response times we may have to suspend due to a lack of staff or prioritize so we only get to heart attacks — if you have a sprained ankle it may take a little longer. Or maybe we collect the garbage every other week instead of every week."

• Ken Plonski, spokesman for WCI Communities Inc., a Bonita Springs-based luxury builder, said the company doesn't have a plan dealing specifically with an epidemic. But several hundred of the 1,800 WCI employees in Southwest Florida took advantage of flu shots this season.

• "We've been monitoring absences, and we haven't seen anything significant," said Sharon Warnecke, health services coordinator for Lee County schools.
The school board has a policy that gives the superintendent authority to close any or all schools in case of an emergency. A string of hurricanes — not sickness — have forced closures for a total of 15 school days since August 2004.
— Staff writers Dave Breitenstein and Dick Hogan contributed to this report.

<b>BIRD FLU Q & A</b>
• Who is at risk?
Everyone, although seniors older than 65, those with chronic disease and pregnant women are at higher risk.

• Why is it so deadly?
Because the human body does not recognize the strain of the virus and therefore cannot fight it.

• Can I catch it from sitting next to someone on an airplane?
Currently, the virus has not mutated enough to be passed from human to human.

• What is the incubation period?
Incubation from time of exposure to onset of illness has ranged from two to eight days with the upper limit at 17 days.

• What are some symptoms?
High fever with influenza-like illness with lower respiratory tract symptoms (headache, fatigue, diarrhea, abdominal pain, vomiting, cough, sore throat, shortness of breath).

• Is there a vaccine I can take?
No. There is currently no vaccine to protect humans against the strain.

• What should I do?
Keep a 40-day food and water supply on hand. Be vigilant about washing hands. Talk to employer about sick policy in the event of a pandemic. If you suspect you may have the avian virus, see a physician immediately. Be careful not to take unnecessary medications because the body can build up a resistance to antibiotics that may eventually be used to treat a pandemic.

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<b>ALSO FROM NEWS-PRESS.COM</b>
Readers' forum: How concerned are you that a pandemic could happen? Have you taken or plan on taking any precautions?

Lee County's top health official warned the pandemic avian flu could be here any day with disastrous consequences if the community isn't prepared.

A three-month supply of antibiotics, steroids and surgical masks is on its way after county health department director Dr. Judith Hartner warned hospital officials Thursday of the danger.

"If this happens, things like masks will be in short supply," said Lee Memorial Dr. Charles Krivenko, chief medical officer for clinical and quality services.

Hartner gave the warning the day after the World Health Organization announced the virus had spread to Nigeria, which is on the third continent to be affected.

"It's like when there is a tropical depression off the Leeward Islands," Hartner said at a Lee Memorial Health System board meeting. "We need to pay attention. A disaster could be coming our way."

She said the virus could get here any time between today and 10 years from now.

Although the virus is being transmitted from birds to humans, it's only a matter of time before it mutates and is passed between people, officials said. It's fatal in half the cases.

Avian flu outbreaks began in southeast Asia in mid-2003 and have now spread to Europe and Africa. More than 180 people have been struck by the virus.

If the flu were to strike Lee County this week, for example, it would incapacitate the economy with 30 percent of the population becoming ill and an estimated 550 people dying, Hartner said. She said Lee hospitals should expect 20,000 more admissions with 80,000 more outpatient treatments while working with a third less staff.

The state has ordered 4 million doses of Tamiflu, but that is only enough to treat a quarter of Florida's population, and emergency workers would get the vaccine first.

Especially susceptible to the virus will be the elderly, pregnant women and those with chronic illnesses.

Dr. John Donaldson said children could be at higher risk as well because so many form a resistance to antibiotics.

"If its anything like the 1918 flu, it will kill a lot more than 500 people," said Dr. Bob Schwartz, former Lee Memorial infectious disease specialist. "It will incapacitate thousands and will be a disruption from hell."

The Spanish flu, which ran rampant around the world from 1918 to 1919, killed an estimated 550,000 people.

Schwartz said that although the National Institute of Health has a checklist, Lee County is not prepared and if the virus hits this year, the death toll will be astronomical. He said there are not enough self-contained hospital rooms to hold all the people who will become ill and the general public is not taking the threat seriously enough.

He said people need to have a 40-day supply of food and water, be extra vigilant about hand washing and hospitals need to have a plan in place on how they will treat the influx of patients.

"We have no protection against it and that is the beginning of a pandemic," Hartner said. "We don't know what the next pandemic will be like or where it will start. It will be much more than a health event. It will cripple our economy."

Hartner has been talking to employers, school and health officials about getting prepared immediately.

Part of that is having doctors ask all patients exhibiting flu symptoms if they have traveled and using special detection kits to see whether they are infected with the avian virus. She said health officials will immediately come in to contain anyone infected and ask for quarantines for those who were in contact with the infected person.

"After two or three cases, we will switch into response," Hartner said. "We would have an increasing number of sick people, but only the sickest could come to the hospital."

She is urging employers to examine sick policies because if the virus mutates, everything from the airport to grocery stores to schools would be ordered shut for upward of 40 days.

Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan reports deadly bird flu strain ​

(CBC) - The deadly strain of H5N1 avian flu has been found in wild birds in Azerbaijan's Caspian Sea coast, officials in the country said on Friday.

Samples from dead birds have been sent to a British lab for further testing.

Azerbaijan's state broadcaster warned people to avoid contact with wild birds and keep domestic poultry flocks indoors.

The country shares a short border with Turkey, where four people have died from the flu strain.

Poultry deaths had been reported in Azerbaijan last month, but testing showed bird flu was not present.

While H5N1 affects mostly birds, it has killed at least 88 people since 2003. Most of the victims had been in direct contact with infected birds

Health experts fear the virus could mutate into a virus that spreads easily between humans, sparking a global pandemic.

http://www.mytelus.com/news/article.do?pageID=cbc/world_home&articleID=2167282

http://today.reuters.com/tv/videoSt...ryId=3952a071acf5a1473c074e7fa1fd621a4abd902e This link has a video

Feb. 10 -

Poultry farmers close to where the H5N1 virus was detected in Nigeria say their own birds are dying.​

Avian flu was detected at Sambawa Farms in Northern Nigeria.

It is a large commercial farm breeding ostriches, chickens and ducks.

Many of their birds have been destroyed since the outbreak of bird flu was confirmed.

Other birds are still walking around on the farm, which raises questions as to just how comprehensive Nigeria's reaction to the virus will be.

Smaller poultry farms close to where the H5N1 avian flu virus was detected said their own birds have been dying in large numbers and they did not know why.

Nigeria is the first country on the continent to report an outbreak of the virus.

Debbie Bell reports.

SOUNDBITE: Christian Ozara, poultry farmer, saying (English):
"So we are now calling on the government to do something very fast to make sure that this disease is eradicated."

SOUNDBITE: Doctor Adow Seibou Sonhaye, head of Togo livestock and fishing, saying (French):"
Firm instructions were given those in charge of border control to stop any poultry, alive or dead, coming from infected countries"

EU waits for confirmation on Greek bird flu cases​

In Short:

The avian influenza virus H5 found in wild swans in Greece is being tested at the Community reference laboratory in Weybridge to establish whether the virus is the highly contagious strain H5N1.

Brief News:

If the samples found in three wild swans in Greece on 9 February 2006 prove to be the highly pathological H5N1 strain, it would make Greece the first EU country to be hit by this virus. The Commission and the member states have already prepared and agreed on the measures to be taken once H5N1 is detected inside the EU.

The Commission is set to adopt, on 10 February, a further measure on increased biosecurity on poultry farms and new actions to improve disease awareness of farmers and their families. Additional, rigorous, controls will also be put in place to oversee the transport of affected poultry.

"We have to work on the assumption that the avian influenza virus could be spread by wild birds, so we should not be unduly surprised or alarmed if such cases are found in the European Union," said the Health and Consumer Protection Commissioner Markos Kyprianou.

http://www.euractiv.com/Article?tcmuri=tcm:29-152411-16&type=News

Well, we knew it was coming.... Muslim propaganda

Syrian Paper Blames Israel for Bird Flu ​

14:15 Feb 10, '06 / 12 Shevat 5766

(IsraelNN.com) The state-controlled Syrian el-Thawra newspaper used a 1998 report by the Sunday Times of London, which documented Israel’s development of biological warfare, hinting that the bird flu was the work of Israel, aimed at the Arab nations.

The Times report cited Israel’s scientists were working to identify genes that were characteristic to Arabs, and to then develop diseases that would target those genes. The paper adds the flu’s presence in the Far East is nothing more than an attempt to mislead the international community.

The paper also blames Israel for killing Yasser Arafat, stating it used the very same technology to target Arab genes to kills the late Palestinian Authority (PA) leader.

http://www.israelnn.com/news.php3?id=98325

Bird flu claims another victim​

12.30PM, Fri Feb 10 2006

Another person has died of avian flu in Indonesia while Azerbaijan is the latest country to confirm presence of the lethal H5N1 strain of the disease among birds.

United Nations officials have said this week's discovery of the disease among thousands of birds in Nigeria is a worrying escalation of the situation. At least 88 people have died of bird flu globally since late 2003.

In recent cases, a woman has become the 16th person to die of the disease in Indonesia while another another patient is critically ill. Last month, four children died in eastern Turkey while an Iraqi teenager is another confirmed fatality.

The UN's David Nabarro said it is only a matter of time before the disease mutates from human to human which could spark a human influenza pandemic in which millions could die.

He said: "I don't want to scare anyone but the truth is this virus is undergoing changes slowly. This warning that nature is giving us has to be heeded."

From June 2005 to last January, "something fairly devastating happened," he said. The disease had been confined mostly to birds in southern Asia but has now spread to Eastern Europe, the Mediterranean, the Middle East and sub-Saharan Africa.

In Azerbaijan, the virus has been found in wild birds floating dead in the Caspian Sea near the Absheron peninsula, which includes the capital Baku, and off the southern Massaly region, near the border with Iran.

http://www.itv.com/news/world_1919340.html

China reports eighth human death from bird flu ​

10/02/2006 - 14:41:45

A 20-year-old woman in southern China has died of bird flu.

She is the country’s eighth human fatality from the virulent H5N1 strain of the disease, the Health Ministry said today.

The woman, from the county of Suining in Hunan province, fell ill on January 27 and died on Saturday, the ministry said on its website.

http://www.breakingnews.ie/2006/02/10/story244121.html

Little sign of action to halt bird flu in Nigeria​

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L10780482.htm

10 Feb 2006 13:47:06 GMT

Source: Reuters

By Daniel Flynn

DANBARE, Nigeria, Feb 10 (Reuters) - Nigerian authorities said they were acting to contain an outbreak of deadly H5N1 bird flu but there was little evidence of any concrete measures in the worst affected areas on Friday.

In the northern state of Kano, where two farms have confirmed cases of the virus, a Reuters reporter who visited four poultry farms found no official checks had been carried out on the birds' health and no measures were in place to restrict the movement of poultry.

In a field close to a fifth farm, two workers were carrying the carcasses of chicken that had died in recent days with their bare hands. They were wearing normal clothes and sandals and the only protective equipment they had were surgical face masks.

"We have over 1,000 birds now that have died. We want to bring them out and burn them," said one of the workers, who did not wish to give his name.

The field was a short distance from Sovet Farms, one of four Nigerian farms where H5N1 was detected in Africa's first known outbreak of the virus.

There was no sign of any quarantine or culling, despite government announcements that suspect farms would be isolated and suspect birds killed. Farmers and workers appeared bewildered by questions about bird flu.

"I have not seen this kind of infection before. I have no idea what it is," said a farm worker at Sovet who gave his name only as Shehu.

Abdullahi Saidu, owner of the farm, said in just a few days 20,000 out of his 25,000 chickens had died and he culled the rest without any assistance from authorities.

Saidu said he had received no reports of ill health among any of the 65 workers who he employed before the outbreak.

FEARS FOR HUMANS

Bird flu has killed at least 88 people since late 2003. most in east Asia.

Victims contract the virus through direct contact with infected birds, but there are fears it could mutate into form that passes easily from person to person. If it does, it could spark a human influenza pandemic in which millions could die.

Contagion to humans is a major worry in a country where people and poultry mingle everywhere.

In Geneva, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said it was sending a team of 7 or 8 experts to Nigeria to try to prevent human cases of the disease.

In northern Kaduna state, where H5N1 was first found, teams of officials searched for sick birds and tried to find out if any people have fallen ill after contact with birds.

"We are driving to poultry farms to find out if they are having any problems with their chickens," said Aliyu Dawobe, a spokesman for the Kaduna state emergency response agency, by telephone from an agency minivan in the countryside.

The H5N1 strain has been identified in birds in four Nigerian commercial farms, in Kaduna, Kano and Plateau states.

But unexplained poultry deaths have been reported elsewhere in Africa's most populous country, including on smaller farms, raising fears that the disease had already spread to households where chickens and people are in constant contact.

In Nigeria like much of sub-Saharan Africa, most poultry is bought and sold live and slaughtered at home.

Chickens run free in the countryside but also in cities, and public transport is usually full of people carrying poultry in their arms or in baskets.

Several African countries near and far from Nigeria banned poultry imports from the West African nation, but this could be difficult to enforce due to long and porous borders. (Additional reporting by Estelle Shirbon in Abuja)

bump...this virus is on the run!

http://www.sabcnews.com/africa/west_africa/0,2172,121440,00.html

Unaware of bird flu, Nigerians handle dead poultry
February 10, 2006, 20:15

Nigerian poultry farmworkers used their bare hands to throw dead chickens onto fires as village children stood by to watch in an area where the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus has been found. Villagers said their household poultry were dying too, reinforcing suspicions that bird flu may be present not only in large commercial farms, but also in people's backyards in Africa's most populous country.

At a farm near Hawan Dawaki village in the northern state of Kano, where two farms have confirmed cases of H5N1, workers in normal clothes and sandals carried handfuls of dead and dying chickens to a field to burn them.

"We are working on this farm without taking care of our health, but what else can we do? We are calling on the government to come and help us," said Alhaj Danliti, the manager of the farm, which is a stone's throw away from the village. The farm has lost 10 000 chickens, almost its entire stock, and he said he did not know the nature of their disease. Several chickens collapsed and died with a yellow liquid leaking from their beaks.

Most poultry is bought and sold live
In Hawan Dawaki, Muhammadu Musa, a village elder, said he and his neighbour had lost about 150 chickens in recent weeks. "Both the big ones and the newborn ones are dying. When they die, we take them and throw them away. We don't eat them," he said.

In Nigeria, like much of sub-Saharan Africa, most poultry is bought and sold live and slaughtered at home. Chickens run free in the countryside but also in cities, and public transport is usually full of people carrying poultry in their arms or in baskets. - Reuters

Nigeria Case Indicates Migrating Birds Spreading Flu​

Audio for this story will be available at approx. 7:30 p.m. ET

All Things Considered, February 10, 2006 · Bird-flu strains found in Nigeria this week are nearly identical to those in Asia, suggesting that migrating birds brought the first known cases of H5N1 into Africa. The birds are about to start their trip home, which will take them through central Europe, a region so far unaffected by the virus. NPR's Richard Knox has more.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5201031

Bird Flu Risk is Now Real ​

The Nation (Nairobi)
EDITORIAL
February 11, 2006
Posted to the web February 10, 2006
Nairobi

The dreaded bird flu is finally with us in the continent. The UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation confirmed this week that an outbreak of the deadly avian flu - that has swept through Asia - had been traced to a farm in northern Nigeria.

No casualties have been reported yet in Africa's most populous nation, although the flu was in two other states, heightening fears that it could spread to other countries.

Apart from weak veterinary services, hospitals on the continent are ill-equipped to handle large numbers of ailing people.

The small-scale disasters that have beset Kenya in the recent past have betrayed our incapacity and unpreparedness. A bigger visitation would stretch the medical facilities even further and possibly cause worse devastation.

Moreover, the country is going through hard times, what with the famine as well as water and energy crises. Which makes the case for preventive medicine even more attractive.

Public health officers should liaise with veterinary experts to educate Kenyans about how bird flu is transmitted and how to avoid infection.

So far, the Government has banned poultry imports from Nigeria, a ban that should be extended to others countries where the flu has been detected.

But the spread is also possible through migratory birds, so it would make sense to quarantine industrial chicken farms and regularly send samples for examination.

There may be a temptation to downplay the crisis for commercial considerations, which would be unfortunate. But there should be no need for panic either. What the people need is information on how to avoid contracting the flu.

The assurance that the flu was unlikely to spread to Africa has since been discounted, and medics should prepare just in case it finally makes its way to Kenya.

http://allafrica.com/stories/200602100955.html