02/23 | Europe has no hope of eradicating bird flu
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PCViking
Lutefisk Survivor
'Europe has no hope of eradicating bird flu'
By David Rennie and David Derbyshire(Filed: 23/02/2006)
Europe has "no hope of eradicating" the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus in the foreseeable future, now that there are infected wild birds across the European Union, a senior bird flu expert said yesterday.
'Europe has no hope of eradicating bird flu'
By David Rennie and David Derbyshire
(Filed: 23/02/2006)
Europe has "no hope of eradicating" the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus in the foreseeable future, now that there are infected wild birds across the European Union, a senior bird flu expert said yesterday.
Although the virulent strain of avian influenza arrived inside the EU less than two weeks ago, it is now a fact of life, European Commission officials said. The warning came as EU officials approved plans by France and the Netherlands to vaccinate millions of birds against the disease. The British Government yesterday reaffirmed its opposition to vaccination, arguing that it could lead to the "silent spread" of the disease.
Seven EU countries have now confirmed the presence of the H5N1 strain in wild birds. Yesterday Austria said two chickens had been carrying the virus, the first time it has appeared in poultry in the EU. The birds had been kept with an infected swan at an animal sanctuary in Graz but commercial flocks had not been affected, officials said.
Europe's vets now believe that the bird flu strain is here for good in wild birds. They are focusing efforts on preventing it from jumping into commercial poultry and domestic birds.
An EU technical expert, who asked not to be named, said: "We have no prospect of eradicating the virus in the near future... The fact that the virus is circulating in wild birds, and that we have no technical tools to prevent that, is a major obstacle to the eradication of the disease."
That has serious implications for Europe's millions of free-range birds and pets, especially ducks and geese that share a pond or wetlands with infected wildfowl.
The H5N1 virus has been endemic in China and other parts of Asia since 2003. It has jumped the species gap to humans, killing at least 92 people, most of them in Asia. To date all human cases are thought to have involved close contact with an infected bird. However, there are fears that the disease could mutate into a lethal form of flu that could be spread quickly from human to human.
The Commission expert said there was now near-total consensus that the virus reached Europe last month after unusually cold weather in wetlands near the Black Sea, where the disease was well established. The cold snap drove migrating birds, notably swans, much further south and west than usual.
After two days of debate, France and Holland yesterday obtained permission to vaccinate millions of ducks, geese and free-range chickens.
The EU has imposed tough extra conditions on France and Holland, so that vaccinated birds may only be moved to other vaccinated farms, and will be largely banned from export. Meat from vaccinated birds has been declared safe, and may be sold and exported, without special labelling, if accompanied by a veterinary certificate stating that the birds were healthy before slaughter. Their eggs may be sold if properly cleaned and packed.
Four nations abstained in the final vote to approve the use of vaccines: Germany, Belgium, Greece and Portugal. Britain expressed grave doubts.
Opponents of mass vaccinations say vaccinated birds can still carry the virus and "shed" it on to other birds. Vaccines must also be given twice within three weeks, making it expensive to treat free-range flocks. If some birds are missed, or have lower levels of immunity, the vaccine can actually "mask" the presence of bird flu on a farm.
Britain does not hold stockpiles of bird flu vaccines, and has not placed orders for any, putting its faith in close monitoring of flocks, a strict policy of isolating any outbreaks and culling birds.
"We have eradicated previous outbreaks of high pathogenic avian influenza successfully in domestic birds using this method," said Fred Landeg, the Deputy Chief Veterinary Officer. "Vaccination offers potential benefits but currently available vaccines are too limited to provide a general solution."
The Soil Association, which represents organic farmers, criticised the Government for failing to stockpile vaccinations. Although it is opposed to mass vaccination, it believes outbreaks should be contained by culling the infected birds and vaccinating surrounding farms.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/mai...3.xml&sSheet=/portal/2006/02/23/ixportal.html
PCViking
Lutefisk Survivor
Indonesia
JAKARTA: Indonesia said a 27-year-old woman died of bird flu as it prepared to scour the capital for infected poultry, while Malaysia and India expanded the slaughter of chickens to try to contain the H5N1 virus. Bangladesh and Thailand banned extended their ban on poultry imports to several more countries, and a UN official in Afghanistan warned that an outbreak in the war-ravaged country was "virtually unavoidable." International health experts, meanwhile, expressed concern over the unprecedented spread of bird flu from Asia to Europe and Africa.
"We've never seen so many outbreaks of the same virus in so many different regions," said World Health Organisation spokeswoman Maria Cheng.
"Our concern obviously is that humans could potentially come into contact with birds infected with H5N1, which would mean populations worldwide are potentially at risk." The H5N1 virus has devastated poultry stocks and killed at least 92 people since 2003, mostly in Asia, and fresh outbreaks have been reported in birds in 14 countries since early February.
International health experts says it remains difficult for humans to catch H5N1, but they fear the virus could mutate, setting off a flu pandemic that could kill millions. Indonesia's President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said his country, which has recorded 19 deaths in the last nine months, could learn from Vietnam, which has largely stemmed new cases thanks to an aggressive slaughtering campaign. After meeting with Vietnam's Prime Minister Phan Van Khai in Jakarta, Yudhoyono said the communist country, which has tallied 42 human fatalities, had raised "the whole society's spirit to fight" the deadly bird flu. Initial tests show that a 27-year-old Indonesia woman died of bird flu in the capital Monday after coming into contact with sick chickens, said Health Ministry official Hariadi Wibisono, who was awaiting confirmation from a WHO-accredited laboratory in Hong Kong.
Though Indonesia has so far resisted mass culls of poultry, citing a lack of funding, officials said they would start testing and slaughtering birds in infected areas of Jakarta beginning Friday.
Malaysia, where seven people were under observation at a hospital with flu-like symptoms Wednesday, expanded its bird flu watch area to downtown Kuala Lumpur, including the landmark Petronas Twin Towers.
The country recently reported its first outbreak of the disease in more than a year.
Close to 850 chickens, ducks and other birds were killed following house-to-house checks in hamlets near Malaysia's main city, said Mustapa Abdul Jalil, of the Veterinary Services Department.
"The department believes there is no cause for panic," he told reporters.
India, too, was expanding a massive slaughter of chickens Wednesday, as top officials struggled to reassure the public it was safe to eat poultry products. More than half a million birds have been killed in Navapur district since the virus was found in samples from some of the 30,000 chickens that had died recently. P.M.A. Hakeem, an official with the federal Department of Animal Husbandry, said another 80,000 would be slaughtered to contain the virus' spread.
Nine people with flu-like symptoms in Navapur have been hospitalized and tested for bird flu, causing chicken sales to drop across the country.
Top health officials ate chicken at a news conference in New Delhi, as they tried to reassure people that properly cooked chicken and eggs were safe.
Seeking to keep the virus from spreading to Bangladesh, authorities there increased the number of countries affected by a poultry product import ban to 26 on Wednesday, adding Germany, France, Slovenia, Azerbaijan, Iraq and Iran to their list.
Thailand, which has recorded 14 human deaths, imposed a similar ban on seven European countries, said Nirandorn Auengtrakulsuk, director of the livestock disease control division.
The ban will last 90 days, but could be lifted earlier "if concerned countries can manage to curtail the disease before that." Afghanistan has so far not recorded any outbreaks of the disease, but a U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization said its proximity to bird flu-hit Iran and India meant that would probably change soon.
Migratory birds that can carry the illness are already arriving in Afghanistan, said Serge Verniau, accusing government officials and foreign donors of doing too little to prevent the virus' spread. "An outbreak of the disease among birds in Afghanistan is virtually unavoidable," he told reporters. - AP
http://www.kuwaittimes.net/international.asp?dismode=article&artid=954394432
Indonesia records new bird flu death
JAKARTA: Indonesia said a 27-year-old woman died of bird flu as it prepared to scour the capital for infected poultry, while Malaysia and India expanded the slaughter of chickens to try to contain the H5N1 virus. Bangladesh and Thailand banned extended their ban on poultry imports to several more countries, and a UN official in Afghanistan warned that an outbreak in the war-ravaged country was "virtually unavoidable." International health experts, meanwhile, expressed concern over the unprecedented spread of bird flu from Asia to Europe and Africa.
"We've never seen so many outbreaks of the same virus in so many different regions," said World Health Organisation spokeswoman Maria Cheng.
"Our concern obviously is that humans could potentially come into contact with birds infected with H5N1, which would mean populations worldwide are potentially at risk." The H5N1 virus has devastated poultry stocks and killed at least 92 people since 2003, mostly in Asia, and fresh outbreaks have been reported in birds in 14 countries since early February.
International health experts says it remains difficult for humans to catch H5N1, but they fear the virus could mutate, setting off a flu pandemic that could kill millions. Indonesia's President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said his country, which has recorded 19 deaths in the last nine months, could learn from Vietnam, which has largely stemmed new cases thanks to an aggressive slaughtering campaign. After meeting with Vietnam's Prime Minister Phan Van Khai in Jakarta, Yudhoyono said the communist country, which has tallied 42 human fatalities, had raised "the whole society's spirit to fight" the deadly bird flu. Initial tests show that a 27-year-old Indonesia woman died of bird flu in the capital Monday after coming into contact with sick chickens, said Health Ministry official Hariadi Wibisono, who was awaiting confirmation from a WHO-accredited laboratory in Hong Kong.
Though Indonesia has so far resisted mass culls of poultry, citing a lack of funding, officials said they would start testing and slaughtering birds in infected areas of Jakarta beginning Friday.
Malaysia, where seven people were under observation at a hospital with flu-like symptoms Wednesday, expanded its bird flu watch area to downtown Kuala Lumpur, including the landmark Petronas Twin Towers.
The country recently reported its first outbreak of the disease in more than a year.
Close to 850 chickens, ducks and other birds were killed following house-to-house checks in hamlets near Malaysia's main city, said Mustapa Abdul Jalil, of the Veterinary Services Department.
"The department believes there is no cause for panic," he told reporters.
India, too, was expanding a massive slaughter of chickens Wednesday, as top officials struggled to reassure the public it was safe to eat poultry products. More than half a million birds have been killed in Navapur district since the virus was found in samples from some of the 30,000 chickens that had died recently. P.M.A. Hakeem, an official with the federal Department of Animal Husbandry, said another 80,000 would be slaughtered to contain the virus' spread.
Nine people with flu-like symptoms in Navapur have been hospitalized and tested for bird flu, causing chicken sales to drop across the country.
Top health officials ate chicken at a news conference in New Delhi, as they tried to reassure people that properly cooked chicken and eggs were safe.
Seeking to keep the virus from spreading to Bangladesh, authorities there increased the number of countries affected by a poultry product import ban to 26 on Wednesday, adding Germany, France, Slovenia, Azerbaijan, Iraq and Iran to their list.
Thailand, which has recorded 14 human deaths, imposed a similar ban on seven European countries, said Nirandorn Auengtrakulsuk, director of the livestock disease control division.
The ban will last 90 days, but could be lifted earlier "if concerned countries can manage to curtail the disease before that." Afghanistan has so far not recorded any outbreaks of the disease, but a U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization said its proximity to bird flu-hit Iran and India meant that would probably change soon.
Migratory birds that can carry the illness are already arriving in Afghanistan, said Serge Verniau, accusing government officials and foreign donors of doing too little to prevent the virus' spread. "An outbreak of the disease among birds in Afghanistan is virtually unavoidable," he told reporters. - AP
http://www.kuwaittimes.net/international.asp?dismode=article&artid=954394432
Hiding Bear
Inactive
Europe has gone ahead and decided to innoculate some ducks and chickens. However yesterday's thread points out that injections may also be necessary in other fowl and swine.
I guess there is no stopping this, but the less fowl affected, the better it appears to me. At least they might (and I'm not sure about that) protect the food supply in developed countries.
In poor countries like Nigeria, where there are already religious riots and open 'oil wars' in the Niger Delta, it looks like it will spread rapidly.
I guess there is no stopping this, but the less fowl affected, the better it appears to me. At least they might (and I'm not sure about that) protect the food supply in developed countries.
In poor countries like Nigeria, where there are already religious riots and open 'oil wars' in the Niger Delta, it looks like it will spread rapidly.
PCViking
Lutefisk Survivor
Bird flu likely to burst out again and again: study
Bird flu is likely to cross over into people again and again if it ever even once acquires the ability to pass from human to human, experts predicted on Monday.
In theory, the virus only has to mutate once, in one person, to spark a pandemic. But the researchers argue that this could happen again and again, in several places around the world.
They said even if the current pandemic killing birds passes, no one should breathe a sign of relief because the threat to people will not be gone.
"At best, a containment policy will only postpone the emergence of a pandemic, 'buying time' to prepare for its effects," Dr. Marc Lipsitch and colleagues from the Harvard School of Public Health and Dr. Carl Bergstrom from the University of Washington wrote.
This is what officials hope they are doing now by culling birds when new outbreaks of H5N1 avian influenza occur. Public health experts agree the world is nowhere near ready to cope with a pandemic, but with a few years' preparations, some countries might be.
"We argue here that if a single introduction of a pandemic-capable strain is expected, multiple introductions should also be expected," Lipsitch's team wrote in the Public Library of Science Medicine, an online medical journal.
"Each containment effort would likely be more difficult than the last as manpower, antiviral stockpiles, and other scarce resources become depleted," they wrote.
H5N1 avian influenza has spread in chickens from Korea, across China, south into Indonesia, west across Turkey into western Europe and into the African continent.
It has killed or forced the culling of more than 200 million birds in 32 countries and Hong Kong. While it does not easily infect people yet, it has sickened 170 people and killed 92, according to the latest World Health Organization figures.
No one can say if or when it would happen, but if H5N1 acquired the ability to pass easily from human to human, it could spark a pandemic that would kill millions or even tens of million within a few short months.
Temporary containment
Some experts have published theoretical models showing that quick action with antiviral drugs, culling of birds and isolation of cases could quell such a pandemic before it started.
But it would require a lot of luck, noted Lipsitch and colleagues – not the least identifying those cases right away, before they spread the disease.
Other experts have also noted this and also said there is no reason to believe that the mutations needed to make H5N1 a human disease would occur only once. Lipsitch's team ran some mathematical models based on known disease outbreaks.
Their article, published online at http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.0030135, suggests that an H5N1 pandemic could only be contained temporarily. And the longer the virus is around, the harder it will be to stop it from spreading.
"Even if each successive containment effort is no more difficult than its predecessor, the chance of at least one failure increases with the number of introductions," they wrote.
"Since the last pandemic nearly 40 years ago, we have observed dramatic changes in social and ecological factors thought to facilitate emergence of a pandemic-capable strain," the researchers wrote.
"Surging human and bird populations in Asia have increased the frequency of contact between birds and humans – and these changes might facilitate emergence by permitting 'crossing over' of a mutated avian influenza to humans, or by allowing human and avian influenzas to reassort in the same animal host."
Source: Reuters
Story from Thanh Nien News
Published: 21 February, 2006, 10:05:26 (GMT+7)
http://www.thanhniennews.com/healthy/?catid=8&newsid=12851
PCViking
Lutefisk Survivor
Germany
www.chinaview.cn 2006-02-23 18:04:38
BERLIN, Feb. 23 (Xinhuanet) -- Germany has for the first time detected the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain of bird flu in domestic flocks in the northern state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, a state spokeswoman said Thursday.
A duck has initially tested positive for the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus and the final results are expected Thursday afternoon.
More than 100 wild birds have already been confirmed to have had the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu in the state. Enditem
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-02/23/content_4218229.htm
Germany detects H5N1 strain of bird flu in domestic birds
www.chinaview.cn 2006-02-23 18:04:38
BERLIN, Feb. 23 (Xinhuanet) -- Germany has for the first time detected the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain of bird flu in domestic flocks in the northern state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, a state spokeswoman said Thursday.
A duck has initially tested positive for the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus and the final results are expected Thursday afternoon.
More than 100 wild birds have already been confirmed to have had the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu in the state. Enditem
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-02/23/content_4218229.htm
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2nd Case Of Bird Flu In France
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/02/23/health/main1339197.shtml
Feb. 23, 2006
(CBS/AP) A second case of the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus has been confirmed in a wild duck in France, Agriculture Ministry officials said Thursday.
The duck was found dead on Feb. 19 in the Ain region. The discovery followed a first case of bird flu found a week ago in another duck found dead in the same region, in southeastern France.
The second duck was found in the village of Bouvent, some 22 miles from the site of the first case, in the village of Joyeux.
Special surveillance measures are being put in place around Bouvent, according to the Agriculture Ministry, which plans to check vehicles to ensure that no poultry leaves the region.
France is Europe's largest poultry producer. Last week, the government ordered all domestic birds indoors or, in a few regions, vaccinated in a bid to halt bird flu. Violators could face fines of up to euro750 (US$895).
With poultry sales down by 25 to 30 percent since the first case was reported last week, both French President Jacques Chirac and Prime Minister Dominque de Villepin are doing what they can to boost consumer confidence.
"I order you [to] remind our compatriots that bird flu doesn't affect poultry farms and that there is no danger in consuming poultry and eggs," said Chirac, in a meeting with government ministers.
De Villepin, for his part, appeared on television - eating chicken and cradling a chick in his arms while visited the region of France where the dead ducks were found.
In other recent developments:
A German government spokeswoman says the virus has been found for the first time in a small flock of domestic birds, in the northern state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. Since the first case was found last week, more than 100 wild birds in Germany have been confirmed with the H5N1 strain of bird flu.
Crews have already been culling poultry in the Ruegen area, and some 300 army troops have been deployed to aid in the cleanup and disinfection effort. Chancellor Angela Merkel has been urging farmers to keep their poultry indoors, to avoid infecting domestic birds.
In Slovakia, the TASR news agency reports a white grebe found dead in Bratislava and a peregrine falcon found in Gabcikovo, on the Hungarian border, have both been found to have been infected with the bird flu. Agriculture Minister Zsolt Simon says samples have been sent to the EU reference lab in Britain but "the laboratory will likely confirm our results."
So far bird flu has been confirmed in eight nations: France, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Slovakia, Slovenia, Italy and Greece.
Bird flu has devastated poultry stocks and killed at least 92 people since 2003, according to the World Health Organization. Although most human cases of the disease have been linked to contact with infected birds, experts fear the virus may mutate into a form easily transmitted between humans.
EU health ministers are scheduled to hold talks Friday in Vienna with U.N. experts on the virus.
In Malaysia, two toddlers – age 18 months and age 2 - are in the hospital awaiting tests on whether they have bird flu. Four other children and two adults have been sent home, after tests showed they were in the clear. Hundreds of veterinary officials and students meanwhile are preparing to fan out for a six-mile radius surrounding Kuala Lumpur to look for diseased birds. Health officials are also conducting house-to-house searches to check for human infections, but none has been found so far.
The Malaysian government said Monday that bird flu was found in 40 chickens that died just outside of Kuala Lumpur. Since then, 1,970 chickens, 62 ducks and 72 other birds have been killed and 505 eggs destroyed in within a .6 mile radius of the villages.
In India, tests on people in western India suspected of having bird flu show no sign of the deadly H5N1 infection. Authorities are setting up checkpoints around the town at the center of the country's first bird flu outbreak. A state official says no one will be allowed in or out of Navapur if they appear to be sick.
Nine people have been hospitalized with flu-like symptoms in Navapur, where the government says bird flu was found in tests of some of the estimated 30,000 chickens that died there in recent weeks. As a result, hundreds of thousands of birds were killed in Navapur as a precaution against the disease spreading, including all chickens within a six-mile radius. "Not one chicken is left," said Bhushan Gagrani, an official in the state of Maharashtra, where the outbreak was located.
A federal health official, who asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the matter, said the government is considering a ban on retail sales of a generic bird flu drug, fearing the disease could develop resistance if taken by people who are not infected by the H5N1 strain.
Two Indian pharmaceutical companies - Cipla Ltd. and Hetero Drugs Ltd. - are currently making generic copies of Tamiflu, a patented drug from Swiss drug maker Roche that is believed to be effective in treating symptoms of bird flu in humans.
However, other government officials tried hard to reassure people that properly cooked chicken and eggs were safe. Top health officials ate chicken at a news conference in New Delhi, but chicken sales have been dropping across the country, with chicken and eggs being removed from many menus, including on the railways and – reportedly – in Parliament.
H5N1 Bird Flu Cluster in Navapur India Expands
http://www.recombinomics.com/News/02220603/H5N1_Navapur_Cluster.html
Recombinomics Commentary
February 22, 2006
Ganesh started vomiting blood on February 9 after which he was admitted to a local hospital in Vyara, around 40 km from here. The doctors at Vyara referred Ganesh's case to Surat the very next day.
After being admitted at Surat, Ganesh died on February 17. "At least the symptoms of bird flu matched with what Ganesh had
After Ganesh's death on last Friday, blood samples of all the family members staying with Ganesh were collected. After this, two brothers of Ganesh and his mama (uncle) have been admitted to the isolation ward of Navapur sub district hospital.
The above comments strongly suggest that the index case in India did have bird flu. In addition to the family members described above, two additional contacts with symptoms were admitted. Recent reports indicate two patients in Navapur have tested positive for H5N1.
These data suggest the number of positives in the above clusters may be growing. However, the initial positive data for the index case has been denied because of lack of contact with poultry.
The comments raise transparency issues in India. India historically has denied H5N1 in patients or poultry, even though poultry workers have been reported to have H5N1 antibodies. In addition there have been large die-offs of migratory birds and crows, yet links to H5N1 in these cases have also been denied.
The bar-headed geese linked to H5N1 at Qinghai Lake winter in India, strong suggesting that H5N1 is in migratory birds in India. These associations also raise the possibility that the H5N1 detected at Qinghai Lake originated in India. Much of the H5N1 testing in India has been done by the poultry association. They indicated that the positive H5N1 data in western India was false, and should be repeated.
Comments on negative test results on poultry, people, and migratory birds in India remain suspect.
Health experts say bird flu can survive in droppings for long periods of time
http://www.newstarget.com/018730.html
Highlight:
The World Health Organization recently warned that the H5N1 strain of bird flu can survive in bird droppings for extended periods of time, depending on the temperature.
Summary:
The H5N1 avian influenza virus can survive for more than a month in bird droppings in cold weather and for nearly a week even in hot summer temperatures, the World Health Organization said on Friday.
The new factsheet incorporates the most recent findings on the avian flu virus, which WHO says is causing by far the worst outbreak among both birds and people ever recorded.
"For example, the highly pathogenic H5N1 virus can survive in bird feces for at least 35 days at low temperature (4 degrees C or 39 degrees F)," the WHO site reads.
Such situations create abundant opportunities for human exposure to the virus, especially when birds enter households or are brought into households during adverse weather, or when they share areas where children play or sleep," WHO says.
"The incubation period for H5N1 avian influenza may be longer than that for normal seasonal influenza, which is around 2 to 3 days.
Current data for H5N1 infection indicate an incubation period ranging from 2 to 8 days and possibly as long as 17 days," it said.
"Initial symptoms include a high fever, usually with a temperature higher than 38 degrees C (100.4 degrees F), and influenza-like symptoms.
Diarrhea, vomiting, abdominal pain, chest pain, and bleeding from the nose and gums have also been reported as early symptoms in some patients."
And with H5N1 infection, all patients have developed pneumonia, and usually very early on the the illness, the WHO said.
"For unknown reasons, most cases have occurred in rural and periurban households where small flocks of poultry are kept.
Again for unknown reasons, very few cases have been detected in presumed high-risk groups, such as commercial poultry workers, workers at live poultry markets, cullers, veterinarians, and health staff caring for patients without adequate protective equipment," it adds.
Bird Flu: What to do if infected
CNN-IBN, India : http://www.ibnlive.com/article.php?id=5663§ion_id=17
New Delhi: As the Bird Flu scare spreads far and wide, the most important tool to tackle it is knowledge about the disease so that one does not fall victim to the usual myths associated with the disease.
Here is a lowdown on the Bird Flu and the risk it poses to human beings.
> First the signs and symptoms of bird flu in humans
Bird flu is very similar to other influenza viruses. Initial symptoms are :
- Fever
- Muscle weakness and/or pain
- Sore throat and cough
- Sore eyes (conjunctivitis) is seen in some patients
Causes of death and complications are:
- Severe viral pneumonia
- Respiratory distress syndrome
- Multi-organ failure
> Since there are so many cases of influenza, pneumonia or any other respiratory illness, when does one suspect that the patient is a case of bird flu?
One suspects that a patient with influenza or pneumonia or any other respiratory illness is a case of bird flu avian influenza if the patient has had direct or indirect contact through handling or having taken care or getting near sick chickens or other birds.
A laboratory confirmation of the bird flu infection and epidemiologic link with unusual death or epidemics of chickens will support the diagnosis of bird flu.
> What is the treatment of bird flu?
Treatment for H5N1 infection is essentially the same as for other influenza viruses. Antiviral drugs, some of which can be used for both treatment and prevention, are clinically effective against influenza A virus strains in otherwise healthy adults and children, but have some limitations. Some of these drugs are also expensive and supplies are limited.
> Is there a vaccine against bird flu?
No. The vaccine currently available against the circulating strains in humans will not protect from the disease caused by H5N1. However, it is recommended for individuals who are potentially exposed to bird flu like poultry handlers, workers and breeders to prevent recombination of avian with the human influenza virus.
> How do we prevent bird flu?
The ban on importation of live chickens and other poultry products from countries affected with bird flu is a critical step to prevent the entry of bird flu into the country.
For poultry caretakers and handlers of chickens and other birds:
- Avoid contact of poultry with wild birds, in particular waterfowl
- Control human traffic into poultries
- Practice proper hand washing and cleaning and disinfection procedures in poultries
- Report to authorities any unusual death or illness of chickens and other birds
- Report to authorities any illness among the workers in poultry farms
For the general public:
- Thoroughly wash hands with soap and water before and after handling chicken meat
- Clean kitchen surfaces and utensils before and after use
- Cook chicken well by seeing to it that the boiling temperature is reached
- Do not sell live chickens in the market while there is a threat of bird flu.
- Do not let chickens roam freely. Keep them in cages or pens.
- Do not place chickens, ducks and pigs together in one area, cage or pen.
- Do not catch, get near or keep in captivity wild birds.
- Report to authorities any unusual death or illness of chickens and other birds
- Report to authorities any case of respiratory illness with history of exposure to sick or dead chickens and other birds
> What type of personal protective equipment (PPE) is recommended for those who are involved with disease control and eradication activities?
- According to WHO, US NIOSH certified N-95, European CE certified EN143 P2 / EN149 FFP2, or comparable national/regional particulate respirators should be worn by workers who eradicate infected poultry.
- Higher level particulate respirators may also be used.
- Disposable gloves, protective clothing, shoe covers or boots, and safety goggles should also be worn by eradication workers.
- Disposable PPE should be properly discarded, and non-disposable PPE should be cleaned and disinfected. Hand hygiene measures should be performed after removal of PPE.
Nerve centre in the worldwide war against pandemic
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/mai...21.xml&sSheet=/news/2006/02/21/ixnewstop.html
By Roger Highfield
(Filed: 21/02/2006)
An unremarkable low-rise complex of buildings near New Haw in Surrey is in the vanguard of worldwide efforts to monitor and combat avian influenza.
The sprawl of buildings around the original 1917 veterinary laboratory forms the hub of a network of 16 centres run by the Veterinary Laboratories Agency, an executive agency of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).
Scientists inject the virus into a bird embryo. The shell is sealed, left for six days and then tested
New Haw hosts the national reference laboratory for avian flu, the reference laboratory for the World Organisation for Animal Health (known by the French acronym OIE) and also for the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation.
Steve Edwards, chief executive of the VLA, said millions of tests are carried out each year by 1,300 staff to protect animal and human health.
"When emergencies arise, we are ready and we are flexible," he said. If avian flu takes hold in Britain, ongoing work and research would be dropped to focus on influenza.
"When there is a national disease emergency, we have the capacity and the capability to put the resources behind it." The lab is busily testing samples from dead birds collected around the country, as well as confirming results from other labs around the world.
The avian flu virus subtypes are labelled according to an H number (for haemagglutinin ) and an N number (for neuraminidase), referring to the two proteins on its surface.
The H protein helps the virus invade the cells in the throat (in humans - in birds it is the digestive tract), while N allows viral progeny to chop their way out of infected cells, the latter being the target for proven treatments such as Tamiflu.
There are 16 flavours of H and nine Ns, giving a possible 144 possible flu strains that they test for. Only three avian strains have made it to humans: H1N1, H2N2, and H3N2. And there is H5N1, the focus of current fears.
The effort to identify strains is led by Dr Ian Brown, head of avian virology. In a specially equipped laboratory he demonstrates how the first step is to infect chicken eggs with the suspect virus, which comes in the form of a tissue sample, droppings or a cloacal swab (from the backside) because the virus infects the gut of birds.
The scientists drill into the live egg and inject the virus sample into the cavity around the bird embryo, then seal the shell with nail varnish.
The cells in the cavity are particularly receptive to growing virus. The egg is incubated for six days, then fluid is extracted.
The first simple test is so-called haemagglutinin inhibition. Bird viruses are able to bind to red blood cells and, when added to chicken blood, form a mat of red cells.
However, this mat can be created by more than bird flu, notably by what are called ortho- and paramyxoviruses. When specific reagents - antisera - are added to the tube, the cells converge to a dot, confirming which H type of virus is there.
If the infected embryos die quickly, in as little as two days, then it might be one of the highly lethal strains such as H5N1 and more tests are required.
The eggs are handled in a glovebox in "category three" facilities, where the laboratory can only be reached by passing through several chambers, held at negative air pressure to ensure that any airborne virus stays inside.
To work there, staff put on special clothes that are washed and sterilised after use.
To find out whether it is bird flu and which strain, the team converts the viral genetic material, in the form of RNA, into DNA. The method used can amplify known stretches of genetic code, revealing which H type of virus is present.
To identify the precise strain, that is both the H and N type, the team reads the genetic code of the virus using a method called DNA sequencing, spelling out the code of the virus as a series of brightly coloured peaks.
This can take several days. In the final test, the virus is introduced to 10 live chickens and they are studied for 10 days.
"The virulent virus goes beyond the gut to replicate in all organ systems," said Dr Brown. "The low pathogenic viruses do not have that ability and are confined to the enteric and respiratory tracts."
However, a pathogenic virus like the H5N1 strain can kill all the birds in as little as a day.
PCViking
Lutefisk Survivor
India
23 February 2006
NAVAPUR - Health officials sealed off an Indian town hit by bird flu for a week-long “quarantine” on Thursday as immediate fears began easing that the deadly virus may have spread to humans.
Checkpoints were set up on all roads in and out of the town of Navapur and trains passed through its station without stopping as officials urged only those who needed to make essential trips to travel.
“The whole area will be quarantined for roughly one week,” state government spokesman Bhushan Gagrani said.
“The government is discouraging people (from travel). Those with a pressing need are allowed providing they are checked up properly,” said Gagrani. He said the way in and out of the town was “totally regulated”.
Twelve people remained under observation while medics were also on the alert for any symptoms among the 60,000 people who live in the town and villages within 10 kilometres (six miles), Gagrani said.
In all, 202 samples from 174 people had been sent for testing, he said.
R.K. Srivastava, director general of health services, announced Thursday that all but one of the first batch of 95 samples collected from residents of the Navapur area had tested negative for avian influenza.
Srivastava said the remaining sample would be sent to the National Institute of Virology in western Pune city for further testing, the Press Trust of India reported.
Officials in Navapur said they were stopping poultry workers from leaving town until they had been tested for bird flu.
Bus passengers were checked for signs of illness before they were allowed to cross checkpoints.
They also discouraged people from attending weddings and other public events.
“Their movements have been restricted but not banned,” said Dr P. Doke, director of health for the state, adding that the checkpoints were being set up seven kilometres (four miles) from the heart of the outbreak.
“We are discouraging people from gathering and people shouldn’t invite guests into this area,” he said.
Schools remained open but teachers were drawing pictures of chickens on blackboards and telling children to stay away from birds, said an AFP photographer in Navapur.
He said a number of students had left town late Wednesday.
Officials were “watching” villages to try to prevent workers from leaving before they had been tested for infection.
“We will not allow them to go unless they have been checked by a doctor,” said Uttam Khobragade, secretary of animal husbandry for western Maharashtra state.
Buses were stopping outside the town with temporary stops marking the end of their journeys outside the poultry-producing centre where tens of thousands of chickens have died since January 24.
The streets were busy and the markets operating normally, although only fish was available, while shoppers admitted to feeling nervous. Chicken and mutton were nowhere to be bought, with traders saying residents of the afflicted town had become vegetarian en masse.
A slaughter of chickens that began Sunday at commercial farms within a 10-kilometre (six-mile) radius of Navapur was completed Wednesday, officials said.
Teams of workers had slaughtered 221,000 birds at farms in and around the town and were starting to disinfect the area, officials said.
The clean-up phase of containment operations involved the removal of large quantities of bird droppings by hand and the burning of feathers. It was expected to take up to ten days, according to one official.
Workers continued to slaughter small flocks kept by families with teams travelling door-to-door around villages.
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/Display...ent_February989.xml§ion=subcontinent&col=
India bird flu town sealed for week
(AFP)23 February 2006
NAVAPUR - Health officials sealed off an Indian town hit by bird flu for a week-long “quarantine” on Thursday as immediate fears began easing that the deadly virus may have spread to humans.
Checkpoints were set up on all roads in and out of the town of Navapur and trains passed through its station without stopping as officials urged only those who needed to make essential trips to travel.
“The whole area will be quarantined for roughly one week,” state government spokesman Bhushan Gagrani said.
“The government is discouraging people (from travel). Those with a pressing need are allowed providing they are checked up properly,” said Gagrani. He said the way in and out of the town was “totally regulated”.
Twelve people remained under observation while medics were also on the alert for any symptoms among the 60,000 people who live in the town and villages within 10 kilometres (six miles), Gagrani said.
In all, 202 samples from 174 people had been sent for testing, he said.
R.K. Srivastava, director general of health services, announced Thursday that all but one of the first batch of 95 samples collected from residents of the Navapur area had tested negative for avian influenza.
Srivastava said the remaining sample would be sent to the National Institute of Virology in western Pune city for further testing, the Press Trust of India reported.
Officials in Navapur said they were stopping poultry workers from leaving town until they had been tested for bird flu.
Bus passengers were checked for signs of illness before they were allowed to cross checkpoints.
They also discouraged people from attending weddings and other public events.
“Their movements have been restricted but not banned,” said Dr P. Doke, director of health for the state, adding that the checkpoints were being set up seven kilometres (four miles) from the heart of the outbreak.
“We are discouraging people from gathering and people shouldn’t invite guests into this area,” he said.
Schools remained open but teachers were drawing pictures of chickens on blackboards and telling children to stay away from birds, said an AFP photographer in Navapur.
He said a number of students had left town late Wednesday.
Officials were “watching” villages to try to prevent workers from leaving before they had been tested for infection.
“We will not allow them to go unless they have been checked by a doctor,” said Uttam Khobragade, secretary of animal husbandry for western Maharashtra state.
Buses were stopping outside the town with temporary stops marking the end of their journeys outside the poultry-producing centre where tens of thousands of chickens have died since January 24.
The streets were busy and the markets operating normally, although only fish was available, while shoppers admitted to feeling nervous. Chicken and mutton were nowhere to be bought, with traders saying residents of the afflicted town had become vegetarian en masse.
A slaughter of chickens that began Sunday at commercial farms within a 10-kilometre (six-mile) radius of Navapur was completed Wednesday, officials said.
Teams of workers had slaughtered 221,000 birds at farms in and around the town and were starting to disinfect the area, officials said.
The clean-up phase of containment operations involved the removal of large quantities of bird droppings by hand and the burning of feathers. It was expected to take up to ten days, according to one official.
Workers continued to slaughter small flocks kept by families with teams travelling door-to-door around villages.
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/Display...ent_February989.xml§ion=subcontinent&col=
PCViking
Lutefisk Survivor
India
Associated Press
New Delhi, February 22, 2006
The Union health secretary on Wednesday said "it is a distinct possibility" that some people in the country have contracted bird flu, a news agency reported.
According to official sources, 12 people have been tested positive in Maharashtra.
Earlier, bird flu was confirmed in two people who were under observation in Navapur in Maharashtra.
The samples of some of those quarantined tested positive for bird flu, according to health officials.
The government had ordered two new sophisticated testing procedures which will shorten the time taken to detect the virus in both human beings and birds.
PK Hota, the top civil servant in the federal health ministry, said tests on nine people hospitalised with flu-like symptoms were still being analysed.
The results were expected on Thursday.
"We do not rule out the possibility of humans being affected, and it is a distinct possibility," he was quoted as saying by a news agency.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_1632858,001300820000.htm
The worst is here! Several people tested positive
Associated Press
New Delhi, February 22, 2006
The Union health secretary on Wednesday said "it is a distinct possibility" that some people in the country have contracted bird flu, a news agency reported.
According to official sources, 12 people have been tested positive in Maharashtra.
Earlier, bird flu was confirmed in two people who were under observation in Navapur in Maharashtra.
The samples of some of those quarantined tested positive for bird flu, according to health officials.
The government had ordered two new sophisticated testing procedures which will shorten the time taken to detect the virus in both human beings and birds.
PK Hota, the top civil servant in the federal health ministry, said tests on nine people hospitalised with flu-like symptoms were still being analysed.
The results were expected on Thursday.
"We do not rule out the possibility of humans being affected, and it is a distinct possibility," he was quoted as saying by a news agency.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_1632858,001300820000.htm
The Flying Dutchman
Deceased
=
<B><font size=+1 color=red><center>'Bird flu could have jumped to humans'</font>
[ Wednesday, February 22, 2006 08:38:11 pmIANS ]
<A href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1424639.cms">timesofindia.com</a></center>
NEW DELHI: The Indian government said on Wednesday it could "not rule out the possibility" of avian influenza spreading to human beings in a village in Maharashtra.
"We cannot rule out the possibility of bird flu being transmitted to humans. There is a distinct possibility of such transfusion," Health Secretary Prasanna Hota told a TV news channel. </b>
Hota was reacting to reports that two people in Maharashtra's Navapur village, from where India's first case of bird flu was confirmed on Saturday, were suffering from a mild case of human avian influenza.
Twelve people, including two children, had been kept in an isolation ward in Navapur's sub-district hospital after they reported flu-like symptoms. The two people displaying bird flu-like symptoms were part of this group.
Hota said there was a "protocol" to be followed in such cases and details about the suspected cases would be available only on Thursday.
This apart, blood samples had been collected from 104 Navapur residents to ascertain if the H5N1 strain of avian influenza had affected them.
Known to spread to human beings, the H5N1 strain of bird flu has resulted in nearly 100 human casualties across Southeast Asia, mostly in Vietnam. It has so far been reported in seven countries.
<B><font size=+1 color=red><center>'Bird flu could have jumped to humans'</font>
[ Wednesday, February 22, 2006 08:38:11 pmIANS ]
<A href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1424639.cms">timesofindia.com</a></center>
NEW DELHI: The Indian government said on Wednesday it could "not rule out the possibility" of avian influenza spreading to human beings in a village in Maharashtra.
"We cannot rule out the possibility of bird flu being transmitted to humans. There is a distinct possibility of such transfusion," Health Secretary Prasanna Hota told a TV news channel. </b>
Hota was reacting to reports that two people in Maharashtra's Navapur village, from where India's first case of bird flu was confirmed on Saturday, were suffering from a mild case of human avian influenza.
Twelve people, including two children, had been kept in an isolation ward in Navapur's sub-district hospital after they reported flu-like symptoms. The two people displaying bird flu-like symptoms were part of this group.
Hota said there was a "protocol" to be followed in such cases and details about the suspected cases would be available only on Thursday.
This apart, blood samples had been collected from 104 Navapur residents to ascertain if the H5N1 strain of avian influenza had affected them.
Known to spread to human beings, the H5N1 strain of bird flu has resulted in nearly 100 human casualties across Southeast Asia, mostly in Vietnam. It has so far been reported in seven countries.
The Flying Dutchman
Deceased
=
<B><center>INDIA
<font size=+1 color=brown>The worst is here! Several people tested positive</font>
Associated Press
New Delhi, February 22, 2006
<A href="http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_1632858,001300820000.htm">www.hindustantimes.com</a></center>
The Union health secretary on Wednesday said "it is a distinct possibility" that some people in the country have contracted bird flu, a news agency reported.
According to official sources, 12 people have been tested positive in Maharashtra.
Earlier, bird flu was confirmed in two people who were under observation in Navapur in Maharashtra.</b>
The samples of some of those quarantined tested positive for bird flu, according to health officials.
The government had ordered two new sophisticated testing procedures which will shorten the time taken to detect the virus in both human beings and birds.
PK Hota, the top civil servant in the federal health ministry, said tests on nine people hospitalised with flu-like symptoms were still being analysed.
The results were expected on Thursday.
"We do not rule out the possibility of humans being affected, and it is a distinct possibility," he was quoted as saying by a news agency.
<B><center>INDIA
<font size=+1 color=brown>The worst is here! Several people tested positive</font>
Associated Press
New Delhi, February 22, 2006
<A href="http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_1632858,001300820000.htm">www.hindustantimes.com</a></center>
The Union health secretary on Wednesday said "it is a distinct possibility" that some people in the country have contracted bird flu, a news agency reported.
According to official sources, 12 people have been tested positive in Maharashtra.
Earlier, bird flu was confirmed in two people who were under observation in Navapur in Maharashtra.</b>
The samples of some of those quarantined tested positive for bird flu, according to health officials.
The government had ordered two new sophisticated testing procedures which will shorten the time taken to detect the virus in both human beings and birds.
PK Hota, the top civil servant in the federal health ministry, said tests on nine people hospitalised with flu-like symptoms were still being analysed.
The results were expected on Thursday.
"We do not rule out the possibility of humans being affected, and it is a distinct possibility," he was quoted as saying by a news agency.
PCViking
Lutefisk Survivor
India bird flu tests clear 11 as fears rise in EU
Thu Feb 23, 2006 4:23 PM GMTBy Krittivas Mukherjee
MUMBAI (Reuters) - Indian authorities on Thursday cleared 11 out of 12 people quarantined following an H5N1 outbreak in chickens, while EU states tested farm birds as the virus threatened to hit their domestic fowl for the first time.
France found a suspected outbreak of H5N1 at a turkey farm in the east of the country and was awaiting test results due on Friday. Cases in domestic birds are likely to shake the poultry industry, which has already been hit by falling sales.
"For the moment it's just a suspicion but we have to kill off the flock this afternoon, even before we have the final results, so that we are in line with international rules," Farms Minister Dominique Bussereau said. The farm has more than 11,000 birds.
A second test on a German farm duck was negative after initial tests suggested it might have had the virus. Results from a third, conclusive test were still awaited.
The H5N1 strain of bird flu, which has killed more than 90 people since 2003, made its first appearance in Slovakia in a wild falcon and a grebe, while scientists in Australia said it would not be surprising if it had arrived on its shores.
The rapid spread of the virus from Asia into the Middle East, Africa and Europe has heightened fears of a human pandemic and triggered sharp falls in poultry sales.
In India, where hundreds of millions of people live in rural areas side-by-side with livestock and domestic fowl, the risk of human infection -- which comes from direct contact with an infected bird -- is deemed higher than in other countries.
So far there have been no human cases in India, but authorities were carrying out tests on a dozen people quarantined with suspected bird flu in Navapur, a remote town in India's western Maharashtra state. Eleven of the 12 had tested negative but the last sample was undergoing further tests.
Authorities had virtually sealed off Navapur, placing restrictions on trains and road traffic passing through. Culling in the area was over and more than 345,000 birds had been destroyed but authorities said they had other work to do.
EUROPE'S FEARS
There have been no cases of human-to-human transmissions of the virus, but experts fear H5N1 could mutate into a form where this is possible, causing a pandemic that could kill millions.
A Bulgarian man tested negative after doctors isolated him when two of his ducks died and he began showing flu-like symptoms, health ministry officials said.
In Europe, the most immediate concerns are of the virus hitting domestic poultry. Mass culling would devastate the EU's 20 billion euro ($23.8 billion) poultry and egg industry.
Memories are still fresh of an outbreak of a different strain of bird flu in the Netherlands in 2003 that led to the culling of 30 million birds, more than a third of the flock.
Poultry producers in France have estimated a 30 percent fall in sales due to bird flu has cost them 130 million euros ($154.7 million) since November, Bussereau said.
No EU farm birds have yet been confirmed as positive for the virus but animal and human health experts, including at the WHO and the U.S. Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, say it is almost inevitable that the virus will spread from wild birds to poultry flocks.
Spain, which has yet to confirm any H5N1 cases, said it would be particularly exposed to possible cases in migrating birds returning from wintering in Africa in the coming weeks.
Countries have set up protection and surveillance zones to try and halt the spread of the virus. In West Africa, reeling from the discovery of H5N1 in Nigeria this month, countries called for international aid to help pay for emergency action.
http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/new...23T162258Z_01_SP8656_RTRUKOC_0_UK-BIRDFLU.xml
This is a GLOBAL issue, not a country or continent issue. It will not go away no matter how many chickens we cull or wild swans we round up.
What can we do.....watch and prepare as best we can. It will not be stopped from entering other continents/countries. I think it is ludicrous to imagine so. With it living as long as it can in droppings...I just don't see how we can avoid this, when it happens.
What can we do.....watch and prepare as best we can. It will not be stopped from entering other continents/countries. I think it is ludicrous to imagine so. With it living as long as it can in droppings...I just don't see how we can avoid this, when it happens.
The Flying Dutchman
Deceased
=
<B><font size=+1 color=green><center>Humans may be infected by bird-flu, says govt </font>
The Statesman
Publication Date : 2006-02-23
<A href="http://www.asianewsnet.net/level3_template1.php?l3sec=8&news_id=52799">www.asianewnet.net</a></center>
The Centre yesterday (Feb 22) said there was a “distinct possibility” of “some humans” having contracted avian influenza in affected areas at a time when authorities finished culling birds at Navapur in Maharashtra.
After the Pune-based National Institute of Virology sent its report of tests conducted on human samples from Navapur, the Union health secretary P.K. Hota told reporters here that “some human samples are under various stages of being analysed and we will come to know for sure by tomorrow. We do not rule out the possibility of humans being affected, it is a distinct possibility.”</b>
He, however, said even if humans did test positive, it would be a “mild episode.”
The Centre’s warning came four days after the news of bird flu outbreak in Maharashtra poultry farms became public. The slaughter of birds suspected to have contracted the virus and destruction of eggs have been completed in Navapur. The disposal of excreta is likely to begin today (Feb 23).
A meeting was called by health ministry officials late yesterday evening to take stock of the situation. Officials from the animal husbandry department were also present. The government, which had been insisting so long that bird flu testing kits were not necessary, decided to place orders for them.
Some reports reaching here from Navapur tehsil in Nandurbar district said two to nine persons there had contracted the disease for sure. The town has been sealed and placed under a 14-day quarantine. While 1,800 chicks have died in Higoli town of Maharashtra, the Centre said it was yet to receive a status report on it.
The Union health ministry said the situation was being closely monitored and under control.
“In addition, 19,687 people in a 3km radius of the infected zone have been screened and 56 cases of URI were detected, but they have no history of having come in contact with infected poultry. In addition, 90 farm workers in the affected area are under surveillance and all are asymptomatic. Health status of cullers is being monitored. None of them has fever,” the official statement read.
Closer home
In Kolkata panic prevailed at Bhagawanpur in Egra sub-division of Midnapore East where 53 hens died in a poultry farm. Tests have been conducted to ascertain the cause of their death and the reports are awaited. Officials rejected reports that the infection had spread to human beings.
The animal resources development minister, Anisur Rahaman, said the state had sent 109 samples to Bhopal for testing. He added that a team from his department had also visited the Arambagh Hatcheries.
“Of the 93,000 birds, only 215 have died in the past four days, which is not uncommon during a seasonal change,” he said.
<B><font size=+1 color=green><center>Humans may be infected by bird-flu, says govt </font>
The Statesman
Publication Date : 2006-02-23
<A href="http://www.asianewsnet.net/level3_template1.php?l3sec=8&news_id=52799">www.asianewnet.net</a></center>
The Centre yesterday (Feb 22) said there was a “distinct possibility” of “some humans” having contracted avian influenza in affected areas at a time when authorities finished culling birds at Navapur in Maharashtra.
After the Pune-based National Institute of Virology sent its report of tests conducted on human samples from Navapur, the Union health secretary P.K. Hota told reporters here that “some human samples are under various stages of being analysed and we will come to know for sure by tomorrow. We do not rule out the possibility of humans being affected, it is a distinct possibility.”</b>
He, however, said even if humans did test positive, it would be a “mild episode.”
The Centre’s warning came four days after the news of bird flu outbreak in Maharashtra poultry farms became public. The slaughter of birds suspected to have contracted the virus and destruction of eggs have been completed in Navapur. The disposal of excreta is likely to begin today (Feb 23).
A meeting was called by health ministry officials late yesterday evening to take stock of the situation. Officials from the animal husbandry department were also present. The government, which had been insisting so long that bird flu testing kits were not necessary, decided to place orders for them.
Some reports reaching here from Navapur tehsil in Nandurbar district said two to nine persons there had contracted the disease for sure. The town has been sealed and placed under a 14-day quarantine. While 1,800 chicks have died in Higoli town of Maharashtra, the Centre said it was yet to receive a status report on it.
The Union health ministry said the situation was being closely monitored and under control.
“In addition, 19,687 people in a 3km radius of the infected zone have been screened and 56 cases of URI were detected, but they have no history of having come in contact with infected poultry. In addition, 90 farm workers in the affected area are under surveillance and all are asymptomatic. Health status of cullers is being monitored. None of them has fever,” the official statement read.
Closer home
In Kolkata panic prevailed at Bhagawanpur in Egra sub-division of Midnapore East where 53 hens died in a poultry farm. Tests have been conducted to ascertain the cause of their death and the reports are awaited. Officials rejected reports that the infection had spread to human beings.
The animal resources development minister, Anisur Rahaman, said the state had sent 109 samples to Bhopal for testing. He added that a team from his department had also visited the Arambagh Hatcheries.
“Of the 93,000 birds, only 215 have died in the past four days, which is not uncommon during a seasonal change,” he said.
PCViking
Lutefisk Survivor
Malaysia
KUALA LUMPUR (AP) - Seven people were hospitalised in Malaysia with flu-like symptoms after a new outbreak of bird flu prompted the slaughter of nearly 850 birds and an alert extending to downtown Kuala Lumpur, officials said Wednesday.
Five children between two months and 12 years of age, and two adults in their 50s were hospitalised on Tuesday with upper respiratory tract infections, Health Minister Chua Soi Lek told reporters.
They were identified during house-to-house checks on Tuesday in four villages outside Kuala Lumpur where 40 chickens were confirmed on Sunday to have died last week of the H5N1 strain of bird flu.
Chua said it was unlikely the seven people had contracted bird flu, but were admitted as a precaution.
"We are admitting them for investigation just to be on the careful side because later on if it turns out to be true we don't want them to have been walking around town," he said.
Test results will be known late Wednesday or Thursday, he said.
"They are in stable condition and they have been put in a ward that is specially prepared for these type of cases," he said.
Chua said 11 health department teams will continue house-to-house check for the next seven days. A total of 161 houses were inspected and 916 people screened on Tuesday, he said.
During the checks, government officials seized and destroyed 724 chickens, 58 ducks and 54 other birds, and 455 eggs, said Mustapa Abdul Jalil, acting director general of the Veterinary Services Department.
"The department believes there is no cause for panic," he told reporters.
"We believe it is an isolated case so we will keep stressing on the culling method. We feel that this is the best strategy for eradication," he said.
http://www.brunet.bn/news/bb/thu/feb23w1.htm
Seven hospitalised as KL under bird flu watch
KUALA LUMPUR (AP) - Seven people were hospitalised in Malaysia with flu-like symptoms after a new outbreak of bird flu prompted the slaughter of nearly 850 birds and an alert extending to downtown Kuala Lumpur, officials said Wednesday.
Five children between two months and 12 years of age, and two adults in their 50s were hospitalised on Tuesday with upper respiratory tract infections, Health Minister Chua Soi Lek told reporters.
They were identified during house-to-house checks on Tuesday in four villages outside Kuala Lumpur where 40 chickens were confirmed on Sunday to have died last week of the H5N1 strain of bird flu.
Chua said it was unlikely the seven people had contracted bird flu, but were admitted as a precaution.
"We are admitting them for investigation just to be on the careful side because later on if it turns out to be true we don't want them to have been walking around town," he said.
Test results will be known late Wednesday or Thursday, he said.
"They are in stable condition and they have been put in a ward that is specially prepared for these type of cases," he said.
Chua said 11 health department teams will continue house-to-house check for the next seven days. A total of 161 houses were inspected and 916 people screened on Tuesday, he said.
During the checks, government officials seized and destroyed 724 chickens, 58 ducks and 54 other birds, and 455 eggs, said Mustapa Abdul Jalil, acting director general of the Veterinary Services Department.
"The department believes there is no cause for panic," he told reporters.
"We believe it is an isolated case so we will keep stressing on the culling method. We feel that this is the best strategy for eradication," he said.
http://www.brunet.bn/news/bb/thu/feb23w1.htm
PCViking
Lutefisk Survivor
Bird flu unavoidable in Afghanistan: UN officials
NEW YORK: UN officials say Afghanistan will inevitably be hit by an outbreak of bird flu, and little has been done by either the local government or donor countries to prevent spread of the disease.
Migrating birds that can carry the disease are arriving in Afghanistan, said Serge Verniau, representative for the UN Food and Agriculture Organization in Afghanistan.
"With cases of the deadly disease detected in Iran and India, Afghanistan is practically surrounded," Verniau told the Associated Press. "Today, we can say an outbreak of the disease among birds in Afghanistan is virtually unavoidable."
This week, health authorities in India quarantined eight people in hospital, trying to contain an outbreak of the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu.
The UN warned a month ago that action was needed in Afghanistan, Verniau said, but little has been done.
An official with the Afghan Agriculture Ministry said the government knew of the risk months ago and has been testing hundreds of birds at a laboratory in Kabul. The lab doesn’t have the ability to detect H5N1.
The virus can be spread by migratory birds or infected poultry.
Recent outbreaks of the virus have been spreading in a northwest direction, FAO has said. Wild waterfowl coming into contact with domestic poultry at open reservoirs in Russia and Kazakhstan was thought to be a primary source of infection.
Afghanistan is considered a "crossroads" for birds migrating between western Siberia and India, Verniau said.
http://paktribune.com/news/index.php?id=135241
Bird flu suspected to have reached PoK
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1426256.cms
ISLAMABAD: The bird flu virus, which has been detected in parts of India, is suspected to have reached the border areas of Pakistani Kashmir where thousands of chickens have reportedly died.
This was disclosed at a high level meeting headed by Health Minister Naseer Khan Thursday, reported Online news agency. He said thousands of chicken had been found dead in various areas of Pakistani Kashmir, including Dhadiyal and Mirpur.
He said investigating teams have been sent to the affected areas to find out if the death of chickens was due to bird flu.
Nine suspected patients under observation in Vyara hospital
http://news.webindia123.com/news/showdetails.asp?id=259230&cat=India
Surat | February 24, 2006 12:44:15 AM IST
Even as the district collector maintains that there is no bird flu, at least nine patients are under observation at Varya hospital in Uchchal tehsil town bordering the affected area in Maharashtra to ascertain whether or not they are infected with the bird flu virus, according to authorities at the government control set up there.
Talking to UNI, Dr Pradeep Kumar, a physician, who is a member of the special team at Uchchal, informed that there was no confirmation whether any of the nine patients has been infected with bird flu.
''They have just shown one or two symptoms, which can only be suspected as bird flu and they have been kept in an isolated ward and are under strict observation,'' he said.
Dr Kumar said that an in intense survey is going on in Uchchal and medical teams are giving medicines to those who show slightest symptoms of illness.
''We also follow them even after they are discharged,'' he said.
Collector Vatsala Vasudevan said that the condition in Uchchal is ''perfectly normal''.'' No bird flu has been reported from the area.'' Meanwhile, the district police authorities are maintaining a round-the-clock vigil at the entry points into the bordering region to check all vehicles coming from Maharashtra to Gujarat to ensure there is no transportation of chikens.
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PCViking
Lutefisk Survivor
Italy: First Human Bird Flu Related Deaths
The flat in Grezzana, a small industrial center near Verona, Italy, was suspiciously silent on the morning of Feb. 13. Not hearing the usual morning fuss and with no answer to her calls, a woman living on a lower level of the same building became concerned.
Her worst fears were confirmed when the police opened the front door — Claudio Rubello, 48, a meat company driver, had killed his wife, 44, his daughter, 10, and badly injured his sons, 14 and 16, and then took his own life.
He was found lying in a pool of blood on the floor of his living room with his throat cut, while his wife's and daughter's bodies were found in their bedroom. The two sons had been badly injured by hammer blows and were found in bed; they have been operated on for serious brain, cranial, and facial damage.
He left a note saying, "Because of my stupid negligence I ruined my family," which could be a first clue in explaining his desperate act.
The killer-suicide was a self-employed truck driver who delivered poultry but who lost his job a week ago because of a cutback in production after the bird flu scare.
The H5N1 virus appeared in southern Italy for the first time last week, when 21 dead swans were found in lagoons, but authorities hastened to reassure the citizenry about the danger of infection. The main bird migrations from Russia that may carry the notorious virus to warmer poultry-farming areas hasn't occurred yet.
The H5N1 scare has already caused a 35% decrease in sales in the Italian poultry market, amounting to a financial loss of € 600 million; also, 200,000 jobs are at risk.
The damage to the national poultry industry as a whole is over € 1 billion, in an industry that has a turnover of € 4 billion: € 3 billion for meats and € 1 billion for eggs.
The Confagricoltura (the producers' organization) stated, "Italian chickens are safe" and claims that the virus is related to wild birds and has not been found in Italian farm production. Nevertheless, the alarm is spreading and consumption is decreasing.
There is, unfortunately, peripheral damage already from the virus, if it is confirmed that the Veronese driver was desperate because the crash in poultry consumption had lost him his job.
He was facing a dead end — a problem with no solution that ended tragically after a day that had been calm — his two surviving sons, Antony and Thomas, had played in and won a basketball match, while their father and the rest of the family cheered from the sidelines — but in the night, tragedy struck.
2006/02/17 오후 8:29
http://english.ohmynews.com/ArticleView/article_view.asp?no=274989&rel_no=1
Family Slaughter in Verona Avian Flu Scare
Former poultry firm driver kills wife, daughter and self The flat in Grezzana, a small industrial center near Verona, Italy, was suspiciously silent on the morning of Feb. 13. Not hearing the usual morning fuss and with no answer to her calls, a woman living on a lower level of the same building became concerned.
Her worst fears were confirmed when the police opened the front door — Claudio Rubello, 48, a meat company driver, had killed his wife, 44, his daughter, 10, and badly injured his sons, 14 and 16, and then took his own life.
He was found lying in a pool of blood on the floor of his living room with his throat cut, while his wife's and daughter's bodies were found in their bedroom. The two sons had been badly injured by hammer blows and were found in bed; they have been operated on for serious brain, cranial, and facial damage.
He left a note saying, "Because of my stupid negligence I ruined my family," which could be a first clue in explaining his desperate act.
The killer-suicide was a self-employed truck driver who delivered poultry but who lost his job a week ago because of a cutback in production after the bird flu scare.
The H5N1 virus appeared in southern Italy for the first time last week, when 21 dead swans were found in lagoons, but authorities hastened to reassure the citizenry about the danger of infection. The main bird migrations from Russia that may carry the notorious virus to warmer poultry-farming areas hasn't occurred yet.
The H5N1 scare has already caused a 35% decrease in sales in the Italian poultry market, amounting to a financial loss of € 600 million; also, 200,000 jobs are at risk.
The damage to the national poultry industry as a whole is over € 1 billion, in an industry that has a turnover of € 4 billion: € 3 billion for meats and € 1 billion for eggs.
The Confagricoltura (the producers' organization) stated, "Italian chickens are safe" and claims that the virus is related to wild birds and has not been found in Italian farm production. Nevertheless, the alarm is spreading and consumption is decreasing.
There is, unfortunately, peripheral damage already from the virus, if it is confirmed that the Veronese driver was desperate because the crash in poultry consumption had lost him his job.
He was facing a dead end — a problem with no solution that ended tragically after a day that had been calm — his two surviving sons, Antony and Thomas, had played in and won a basketball match, while their father and the rest of the family cheered from the sidelines — but in the night, tragedy struck.
2006/02/17 오후 8:29
http://english.ohmynews.com/ArticleView/article_view.asp?no=274989&rel_no=1