02/28 | Daily Bird Flu Thread: Flu scare in Kenya as dead chicken dumped in Nairobi

Link to yesterday's thread: http://www.timebomb2000.com/vb/showthread.php?t=187786


Since January, 2004 WHO has reported human cases of avian influenza A (H5N1) in the following countries:

* East Asia and the Pacific:
o Cambodia
o China
o Indonesia
o Thailand
o Vietnam

* Europe & Eurasia:
o Turkey

* Near East:
o Iraq
(see preliminary report)

Since December 2003, avian influenza A (H5N1) infections in poultry or wild birds have been reported in the following countries:

* Africa:
o Nigeria

* East Asia & the Pacific:
o Cambodia
o China
o Hong Kong (SARPRC)
o Indonesia
o Japan
o Laos
o Malaysia
o Mongolia
o Thailand
o Vietnam

* Europe & Eurasia:
o Austria
o Azerbaijan
o Bosnia & Herzegovina (H5)
o Bulgaria
o Croatia
o France
o Germany
o Greece
o Italy
o Romania
o Russia
o Slovak Republic
o Slovenia
o Switzerland (H5)
o Turkey
o Ukraine

* Near East:
o Egypt
o Iraq (H5)
o Iran

* South Asia:
o India
o Kazakhstan


For additional information about these reports, visit the
World Organization for Animal Health Web site.

Updated February 27, 2006
http://www.cdc.gov/flu/avian/outbreaks/current.htm#animals

Flu scare in Kenya as dead chicken dumped in Nairobi​

UPDATED: 08:50, February 28, 2006

Kenya's health expert are collecting samples from carcasses of hundreds of chicken found dumped in Nairobi's residential estates to be tested amid fears of an outbreak of bird flu virus in the east African nation, local media reported Monday.

However, health authorities have allayed fears of an outbreak of the avian flu assuring Kenyans that tests carried out on dead birds found in other parts of the country had not found any traces of the deadly Avian influenza that has caused a scare in parts of Africa, Asia and Europe.

Medical Services Director James Nyikal said the east African nation was on full alert to deal with any cases of bird flu.

"As a ministry we are taking all measures to ensure no birds enter the country with the disease and our staff in the field have been put on alert," Nyikal told The Standard Newspaper.

"People must report any mysterious deaths of birds found anywhere and they should not attempt to dispose them by themselves, as this might turn out to be dangerous," he warned.

Dressed in yellow protective clothing, black boots and gloves, the veterinary experts picked the samples and stuffed them in portable coolers for testing.

Assistant Director of Veterinary Services, Catherine Wanjohi said the tentative results would be out soon, adding that the over 400 dead broilers were found dumped by the roadside in Kasarani, Nairobi.

Some of the chicken were stuffed in gunny bags and dumped in roadside drainage canals while others littered the area, said Wanjohi.

However, she said conclusive results on whether the birds had died of the deadly H5N1 virus would be announced in ten days.

"We can get ... conclusive results in about one and a half weeks time," Wanjohi said.

Wanjohi said several other tests had been done on dead birds recovered from several parts of the country.

However, like Nyikal, she said none of the cases had tested positive for the deadly flu.

Kenya banned imports of poultry products from Nigeria early this month after an outbreak of the deadly bird flu virus in the West African nation.

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

Wanjohi said that some of the carcasses were dumped as late as Saturday while others could have died five days ago.

She said the veterinary department would coordinate with the local authority over the disposal of the carcasses.

The health expert said efforts are underway both in the country and globally towards anticipation and "effective" response to the influenza pandemic which has been also been reported in parts of Asia and Europe.

She noted that although no cases of avian flu had been reported in Kenya, the country faced the risk from migrating birds coming from areas with the disease outbreaks.

The avian influenza which occurs mostly in birds was first isolated in birds in South Africa in 1961, although its viruses usually do not affect humans, several cases of human infection have been reported since 1997.

Since 1997, about 100 people have been affected with half of the number succumbing to the deadly bird virus.

Health experts said, though the influenza surveillance network set up four years ago, the Kenyan health ministry has been able to access rapid and accurate estimates on areas of flu circulation all over the country.

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has warned that an outbreak of the deadly bird flu virus in Nigeria shows that the rest of Africa is in danger from the disease, calling for urgent action to stop the spread of the virus.

Health experts say east African countries are at risk because birds that have already brought the deadly H5N1 strain to eastern Europe fly to the region and beyond to the escape the northern hemisphere winter.

Source: Xinhua

http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200602/28/eng20060228_246518.html

China: Bird Flu & Life Insurance

Bird flu scare fuels insurance business in Shenzhen​

www.chinaview.cn 2006-02-27 14:27:54

BEIJING, Feb.27 -- AT least 3,500 Shenzhen residents have insured themselves against bird flu, although the city has never reported a single bird flu case.

SinoSafe, the first mainland company to sell bird flu insurance, has sold about 3,500 bird flu policies in Shenzhen, said Gu Yong, a manager in charge of life insurance in the Shenzhen-based company.

Its customers only need to pay a premium of 100 yuan (US$12) annually for a maximum insurance cover of 200,000 yuan, which will be paid in full once a policyholder is diagnosed with the H5N1 flu virus.

"Most of the buyers are white-collar employees," said Zhang Jianli, with the company's marketing department.

Zhang said half of the customers were group buyers, with some companies buying the insurance for their employees.

SinoSafe started to sell the bird flu insurance policies Nov. 2 last year.

Most of the policies were sold in winter, when the disease was more likely to break out, said Gu.

Minsheng Life Insurance also secured approval from the country's insurance watchdog to sell products covering human infections from bird flu in November.

But other insurers do not have plans to sell specific bird flu insurance.

A large-scale outbreak of bird flu is possible in spring, Minster of Agriculture Du Qinglin warned earlier this week

An outbreak of avian influenza among humans may cost China as much as US$87 billion, according to a study by the Asian Development Bank.

(Source: Shenzhen Daily/Agencies)

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-02/27/content_4234040.htm

Speed key to bird flu battle​

28 February 2006
By KELLY ANDREW

New Zealand will have just a few weeks from the moment the first human case of bird flu arrives to stamp out a deadly outbreak, a World Health Organisation expert says.

Shigeru Omi, Western Pacific regional director for the WHO, said that after two to three weeks, it would probably be too late to stop the flu spreading nationwide.

"There are two scenarios. By the time you pick up the first human case in New Zealand the whole of New Zealand may already be affected. That's the worst-case scenario."

But if the first case was detected quickly and contained, using quarantine measures and antiviral medication such as Tamiflu, of which the Government has stockpiled 850,000 courses, an outbreak could be contained.

Dr Omi gave a presentation on pandemic planning to Health Ministry, police, and other government staff in Wellington yesterday. He said New Zealand seemed well-advanced in its planning for a potential pandemic, and belonged to "one of the best categories".

"If New Zealand cannot contain it (a flu outbreak), I think not so many other countries can contain it, that's my observation."

Health Minister Pete Hodgson, who attended the briefing, said New Zealand's flu surveillance system would be able to swing into action quickly when needed. He said criticism by Parliament's health select committee last week that the system was "obviously insufficient" and should be immediately improved was poorly informed.

Legislation designed to close loopholes around quarantining would be presented to Parliament in the next few weeks, he said.

Dr Omi said WHO officials were worried about the H5N1 avian flu virus because it continued to spread in bird populations from Asia across Europe and into Africa despite aggressive efforts to contain it. The virus was "very, very unpredictable" and evolving almost every day and there were fears it could mutate into a strain that spreads easily between humans.

This week China announced two new human cases of the H5N1 flu strain and warned of a possible "massive bird flu outbreak".

Though the WHO does not recognise Taiwan, Dr Omi did not believe that created a significant reporting gap.

"They have access to the website and we receive reports from them."

Taiwanese academics did attend WHO meetings, but as individuals, rather than as representatives from Taiwan, he said.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3586766a11,00.html

Azerbaijan

UPDATED: 08:55, February 28, 2006

Bird flu detected in domestic poultry in Azerbaijan​

Azerbaijan reported its first case of bird flu in domestic poultry on Monday.

The virus was detected in samples taken at the Kilyazin poultry farm near Baku where mass deaths of fowl have occured, the government commission on fighting the virus said, according to the Itar-Tass news agency.

"Quarantine, sanitary and veterinary work is under way now at the farm and around it," the commission said in a statement. It did not specify if the virus found was the H5N1 strain, which can be fatal to humans.

Earlier, the H5N1 virus has been found in wild birds on the Caspian coast. The commission urged the population to prevent contact between domestic poultry and wild birds and recommended destruction of dead birds.

In its most highly pathogenic form, the H5N1 virus has devastated poultry populations and killed at least 92 people, mostly in Asia, since 2003.

The bird flu virus has also been detected in neighboring Georgia and Russia.

Source: Xinhua

http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200602/28/eng20060228_246525.html

UK: Insurance... lean on government

Insurers' hesitation on bird flu puts focus on government compensation​

By FT Reporters
Published: February 28 2006 02:00 | Last updated: February 28 2006 02:00

Insurers' reluctance to pick up the bill for flocks of poultry decimated by avian flu leaves a big role for government compensation schemes of varying degrees of generosity, according to brokers and insurers.

In the UK, according to the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if an outbreak occurred on a farm, the government would compensate farms for healthy birds that needed to be culled, but not diseased ones. It said culling would take place only if there was an outbreak.

A group of Lloyd's insurers has been offering policies that would provide an additional payment, equivalent to 25 per cent of government compensation, if flocks kept indoors had to be destroyed because of an outbreak of avian flu on those premises.

However, Bill White, an insurance broker specialising in livestock risks at Heath Lambert said the insurers had now stopped writing the policies. There had been moderate interest in such policies over the last few years because "up until recently the fear factor was not there".

"The underwriters are taking a pause underwriting new risks while they review the current situation," he said.

"There is a lot of confusion in the information being published in the press and in the industry."

The NFU Mutual, which insures about two-thirds of the UK's farmers, said it did not provide cover against avian flu. While poultry farmers insured their birds against potential loss from fire, when it came to disease, they would tend to rely on preventative measures rather than insurance cover.

David Foreman, chief underwriting officer at Wellington, a Lloyd's insurer, said that for new livestock policies or renewal of cover, avian flu had been specifically excluded from the conditions under which insurers would pay claims since January 1.

Peter Jackson, consumer product sector leader at Aon in London, said it was also unlikely that farmers would be able to claim for loss of business under policies that reimbursed them in the event of their not being able to trade, because avian flu was regarded as an "extreme outside of the norm" event.

The picture is similar outside the UK.

Robert Hartwig, chief economist for the Insurance Information Institute, a US insurance trade body, said that in the US, insurance tended to be bought to cover only particularly valuable animals. In the event of poultry being destroyed by avian flu, he expected farmers to be reimbursed by the federal government.

In France, where a turkey farm's entire flock was culled after H5N1 was discovered, insurers would leave it to the government to compensate farmers who have their livestock slaughtered.

Groupama, the French insurer with the most farming customers, said that under a 1989 law the government would cover the cost of all livestock deaths - in flocks of poultry or herds of cattle - caused by infectious diseases. The law was introduced during the "mad cow" scare of the 1990s.

Christophe Humann, a Groupama spokesman, said: "Government compensation covers the cost of replacing dead livestock, as well as any equipment that is damaged as a result of the slaughter, and veterinary bills for disinfections."

Mr Humann said the cost of building shelters tocomply with government orders to bring poultry indoors because of bird flu was not covered by insurance, however, nor would the loss of revenue or profit because of lower consumer demand owing to a health scare.

However, he said the company did provide insurance to cover the costs of withdrawing a product hit by a health scare, which would provide compensation to slaughterhouses, supermarkets and food distribution groups. Groupama also provides what it describes as a "breeding accident guarantee". That covers the cost of replacing livestock that dies accidentally, such as through suffocation because the animals are confined indoors.

Reporting by Andrea Felsted, Patrick Jenkins, Martin Arnold and Norma Cohen

http://news.ft.com/cms/s/4b2e900a-a...age=227d25fa-c8ee-11d7-81c6-0820abe49a01.html

28 February 2006 03:13:07 GMT

Bird flu spreads to Bosnia, Georgia, Niger​

Bosnia, Georgia and Niger have their first cases of bird flu, scientists confirm.

In Bosnia, the country's veterinary office confirmed the first case of bird flu after tests at a British laboratory found the virus in two wild swans.

H5N1 is a strain that can be fatal for humans

The swans were culled 10 days ago after being found at a lake near the western town of Jajce.

Georgia has also found the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus in wild swans and Switzerland is waiting for test results from a duck found dead in Lake Geneva.

Tests are also being undertaken on 15 dead swans in France, where thousands of geese and ducks are now being vaccinated against avian flu.

In Germany, 120 wild birds have tested positive for the H5N1 strain.

In Africa, Niger has become the third African country to be hit by the bird flu, following Nigeria and Egypt.

The neighbouring state of Nigeria has reported bird flu in seven of its 36 states and in its central federal capital territory.

Meanwhile, some 90,000 people tested in the Maharashtra and Gujarat states of western India have shown no sign of the disease, the government has said.

http://news.viewlondon.co.uk/Bird_flu_spreads_to_Bosnia,_Georgia,_Niger_17055913.html

http://www.redorbit.com/news/techno...ce=r_technology

Indonesian Minister: Bird Flu Situation Now "Emergency"

Text of report by Zaki Almubarok, Ewo Raswa and Grace S Gandhi, carried by Indonesian Koran Tempo website on 27 February

Jakarta: Agriculture Minister Anton Apriyantono declared that Indonesia was experiencing a bird flu emergency. A swift response was needed to break the chain of infection. "The situation in Indonesia is concerning, no ordinary response will do," said Anton in a discussion on Radio Trijaya last Saturday (25 February).

According to Anton, what could be done now was to compel the community to confine their birds. For example, domesticated chickens, previously allowed to roam free around the yard, must now be kept in cages.

The government, he said, was mid-way through preparing legislation that would, among other things, cover bird flu issues. The new regulations would address poultry distribution channels and stipulate measures to prevent the further spread of bird flu.

The new legislation, according to Anton, would be an amendment to Law No 6/1967, concerning Essential Stipulations for Animal Husbandry and Livestock Health.

However, Health Minister Siti Fadilah Supari said that Indonesia was not in a state of emergency over bird flu. "This might be an emergency for the poultry but given that human to human transmission is yet to be proven, it is not yet an emergency for humans. So far, transmission has only occurred between poultry and humans," said Fadilah who was in Ternate when contacted by Tempo.

Fadilah said that bird flu had claimed 20 human victims so far, with the number of people infected reaching 28, according to test results in Indonesia and a Hong Kong laboratory.

She added that the government had not yet revoked the extraordinary event status declared nationally on 18 September 2005.

Similarly, Department of Health Spokesman Lily S. Sulistyowati said that the extraordinary event status remained in place for bird flu. Extraordinary event status meant that an event was exceptional and required serious attention.

Lily hoped that the bird flu pandemic would not worsen. However, she acknowledged that people who kept birds domestically were an obstacle in preventing the disease from spreading further. "We are not too worried about breeders because they usually have procedures in place for the disposal of poultry waste. But people who keep chickens in their homes have no such procedures," she said.

According to the Director of Animal Health at the Department of Agriculture, Samsul Bachri, 15 million birds across 26 provinces in Indonesia had died from bird flu since 2003.

Despite this, there had been no increase in the number of affected provinces. There had only been a change in the status of the provinces. Provinces such as Metropolitan Jakarta, Lampung, West Java, Central Java and East Java were among those hit hardest by bird flu and warranted a priority response. Meanwhile, cases of bird flu in other provinces had only been sporadic.

In fact, said Samsul, several provinces such as Benkulu, Central Sulawesi and Southeast Sulawesi, had not reported any cases of bird flu.



Source: BBC Monitoring Asia Pacific

Sweden detects "aggressive" bird flu cases​

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L28666598.htm

STOCKHOLM, Feb 28 (Reuters) - Sweden said on Tuesday it had detected its first cases of an "aggressive form of bird flu" -- though it was not yet confirmed as the deadly H5N1 strain -- in two wild ducks.

"The virus has been found in wild birds in the region of Oskarshamn (on Sweden's southeast coast)," the Agriculture Ministry said in a statement, describing it as the "first find of the aggressive form of bird flu in Sweden".

The ministry said it appeared to be the same strain as detected in Russia and China, both of which have been hit by outbreaks of H5N1, but that was still to be confirmed.

It scheduled a news conference for 1200 GMT.

"We know that it is H5 which in simple terms means it is an aggressive form," the head of infection control at the ministry, Robert ter Horst, told Reuters.

"We think it is important that we make sure that all security measures are in place right away."

Sweden has been testing all suspicious bird deaths for the past few weeks since the H5N1 strain of bird flu began to spread into Europe. As many as 19 new countries have reported outbreaks in birds over the past month.

Authorities were put on high alert after Germany detected bird flu on the Baltic Sea island of Ruegen, which is near the south coast of Sweden.

A poll in local paper Dagens Nyheter on Tuesday -- before the reports of the two cases emerged -- showed that only 12 percent of Swedes were worried about the disease, the lowest level of concern of the 12 countries polled apart from Norway.

Bird flu speading faster, says WHO​

http://www.foodproductiondaily.com/news/ng.asp?n=66117-bird-flu-poultry-who

28/02/2006 - The deadly bird fu strain H5N1 has spread to 17 new countries in February alone, says the World Health Organisation, re-iterating to consumers that poultry is still safe to eat.

New figures from the World Health Organisation (WHO) show the virus has spread to birds in countries previously unaffected in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Middle East this month.

The new cases show how the disease is capable of spreading rapidly along migratory lines. Yet, the WHO re-iterated that consumers could not be affected through food as long as “poultry products are safely handled and properly cooked”.

The message echoes that given by France's agriculture ministry last week after tests confirmed that the disease had arrived at one the country's domestic turkey farms.

Poultry consumption in France has fallen by around 30 per cent, while Japan and Hong Kong have already banned the import of French poultry.

The outbreak is particularly threatening for France as the European Union's largest poultry producer and an export market worth €983m per year.

French authorities began vaccinating around 900,000 free-range ducks and geese in the high-risk departments of Landes, Loire-Atlantique and Vendée this Monday, after winning a fiery debate to do so at the European Commission last week.

Others, however, have continued to question whether vaccination was the right thing to do at this time.

UK environment secretary Margaret Beckett yesterday refused to rule out vaccinating birds in Britain, though said there were still question marks over how effective it would be in preventing the disease.

Birds must be vaccinated for a second time, three weeks after their first dose, for the drugs to work.

Vaccinations in France have been followed up with strict controls on movement. Vaccinated birds can only be moved to other vaccinated holdings, to holdings where there is complete separation of vaccinated and non-vaccinated birds, or to a slaughterhouse for immediate slaughter.

European Commission proposals published last December state that vaccinated live poultry, their hatching eggs and day-old chicks should not be exported or moved to another member state or third country.

Fresh meat and meat products from the vaccinated poultry can be marketed in the EU and dispatched to third countries, provided it comes from approved holdings. The flock from which the meat originates must have been inspected by a vet 48 hours prior to slaughter.

Ethiopia sends samples to Italy for bird flu tests​

http://za.today.reuters.com/news/Ne...RTRIDST_0_OZATP-BIRDFLU-ETHIOPIA-20060228.XML

ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Ethiopia said on Tuesday that it had found a disease similar to bird flu at a poultry farm in the south and sent samples to an Italian animal health center for testing.

The disease has killed nearly 7,000 chickens during the last 15 days, Dr. Seleshi Zewede, the director of animal health department in the Ministry of Health, told Reuters.

"A test conducted on 49 dead hens in Gubre Poultry Farm in Endebere district ... has indicated the existence of a virus similar to that of avian bird flu," Seleshi said.

"All chickens in Gubre Poultry Farm will be incinerated as of Tuesday to contain the spread of the virus."

Seleshi said the samples had been sent to an Italian animal health center in Padova.

Gubre Poultry farm is some 275 km (170 miles) south of the capital Addis Ababa.

In December, the Horn of Africa country conducted tests for the deadly strain of the bird flu on 62 dead pegeons and live chickens in eastern Ethiopia which turned negative.

Seleshi said the government had imposed a ban on movements of poultry products including chicken in and along a 60-km area surrounding Gubre Poultry farm.

Neighbouring Kenya said on Monday it is testing for the H5N1 strain of bird flu in dead chicken found dumped in the outskirts of the capital Nairobi over the weekend.

Kenyan officials said preliminary results are expected later on Tuesday.

32 countries. (Up from 30 two days ago.)

http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=999ad05a-fb5d-499b-bc86-bbbef62b1177&k=22678

Deadly H5N1 strain spreads to third African country


Associated Press, Associated Press
Published: Monday, February 27, 2006

PARIS -- The deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu was confirmed Monday in birds in a third African country, deepening experts' fears that the disease may be far more widespread than reported on the continent.

Poor veterinary services, a shortage of laboratories, farmers' lack of knowledge and their fear that they will not be compensated if they report sick birds could be masking the extent of H5N1's spread in Africa, according to experts gathered in Paris.

Ilaria Capua, chief of the Italian laboratory that identified H5N1 in domestic ducks in Niger, said she fears the new cases are "just the prelude to the virus becoming endemic in Africa."

"Given the sort of agriculture they have and given the hygienic standards they have in animal farming, I believe that this is just the start," Capua told The Associated Press.

Other experts at the conference agreed that H5N1's spread in Africa is worrisome, as is the likelihood that its confirmed presence in Niger, its southern neighbor Nigeria and in Egypt are but the tip of the problem.

"We have to understand that all of Africa is infected," Nikolai Vlasov, deputy chief of Russia's veterinary service, told the AP. "The spread of the virus is wider than we can see from newspapers."

H5N1 is believed to have spread unchecked in Nigeria before it was identified, and the country's efforts to contain it have been hampered by a lack of resources and information.

In Niger, H5N1 was confirmed in two flocks of domestic ducks, including one in Magaria, close to the Nigerian border, said Maria Zampaglione of the Paris-based World Organization for Animal Health.

Organization director Bernard Vallat said all of Nigeria's neighbors —- which aside from Niger include Benin, Cameroon and Chad —- "are under a very big threat."

"We know that the virus in Nigeria has invaded a large part of the country. The measures of confinement were not taken and transparency was not applied from the beginning," Vallat told AP Television News.

He said H5N1 is an immediate threat to rural Africans who depend on their poultry for survival. And he said the more the disease spreads, the greater chance of it "transforming itself into a virus more dangerous for mankind."

Scientists fear that H5N1 avian influenza could mutate into a form easily transmitted among humans, sparking a pandemic. Almost all human deaths from bird flu have been linked to contact with infected birds. The U.N. health agency on Monday raised its tally of confirmed human cases by three to 173, of which 93 were fatal.

In birds, the disease has jumped from Asia to Europe and Africa. Experts at the Paris conference, which brought together veterinary officials from Europe and the Middle East, warned of large gaps in their knowledge about how the virus is spreading, particularly the likely role that wild birds are playing.

"There's this big enormous black hole about wild birds that we know absolutely nothing about," said Capua, head of the laboratory in Padua, Italy. She said a major concern is that the disease could spread from African poultry to wild birds, and then be carried to other parts of the globe.

"Can you imagine the virus getting in the wild bird population in Africa? Where's it going to go? What's it going to do? Is it going to be carried back?" she asked.

She said Europe could find itself "under a double machine gun" of potential infection from wild birds migrating southward in winter and northward in spring.

"It's a mess. I mean the only hope we have is that it is not going to be the new pandemic virus," she said.

Cat in Germany infected with H5N1 bird flu - UPDATE​

Tuesday 28 February 2006

(Adds detail on location)
BERLIN (AFX) - A dead cat in Germany has tested positive for the H5N1 type
of bird flu in the first case in the country of the virus spreading from birds
to mammals, the national veterinary laboratory said today.

The cat was found on the Baltic Sea island of Ruegen, where the
highly pathogenic form of H5N1 bird flu was detected in mid-February, the
Friedrich Loeffler Institute said.

http://freeserve.advfn.com/news_Cat-in-Germany-infected-with-H5N1-bird-flu---UPDATE_14396644.html

Bird Flu Economics

Reduced Consumption is Lowering Poultry Prices and Import Demand​

WASHINGTON and ROME, Feb. 28 /PRNewswire/ -- Recent avian influenza outbreaks in Europe, the Middle East and Africa have caused dramatic swings in poultry consumption, increased trade bans and sharp price declines, FAO said
today.

The UN agency expects poultry consumption shocks this year in many countries in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa that have been hit by avian influenza. As unfounded fears of disease transmission reduce consumption and imports, lower domestic prices are forecast to limit production growth.

"A steady erosion of previously expected gains in per caput poultry consumption will likely push down global poultry consumption in 2006, currently estimated at 81.8 million tons, nearly 3 million tons lower than the previous 2006 estimate of 84.6 million tons," said FAO commodity specialist Nancy Morgan.

At the onset of avian influenza outbreaks in early 2004, lagging consumption in Asia and the loss of export markets for regional supplies led to an 8 percent decline in international trade. Up until recently, international poultry prices had been driven up by over 30 percent because of declining exportable supplies.

Developments in 2006 indicate a very different market environment. Consumption shocks are progressively lowering global import demand for broiler parts. Poultry prices are expected to continue declining, threatening industry profitability around the world and household livelihood and rural employment opportunities in developing countries.

Consumption shocks
In Europe, consumption shocks are ranging from a dramatic 70 percent decline in Italy in mid-February to 20 percent in France and 10 percent in northern Europe. These responses are similar to the european situation in late 2005 when widespread consumer concerns about bird flu outbreaks contributed to an annual one percent consumption drop in 15 ountries in the EU.

In Africa, consumers in affected countries, such as Egypt and Nigeria, are moving away from poultry and egg products as are consumers in surrounding non- affected countries. In India reports of consumption drops of 25 percent have caused domestic prices to fall 12-13 percent, implying lower production prospects.

Sharply reduced international poultry prices are raising uncertainty among exporters about trade prospects in 2006. As consumers look for alternatives to poultry, global trade prospects will likely erode from the 10 percent gains witnessed in 2005. FAO's global poultry trade projection for 2006 has been revised down 500 000 tons form the previous estimate of 8.6 million tons.

In the United States, export prices for broiler cuts, after rising to record levels in October, dropped 13 percent as a result of declining
shipments to Eastern Europe and Central Asia in November and December.

In Brazil, where exports account for approximately 30 percent of total poultry output, the price of day-old chicks, an early warning indicator of potential production changes, is down sharply. . Brazil and the United States are supplying approximately 70 percent of global poultry trade. The largest poultry producers and exporters are the United States, Brazil and the EU.

Livelihood risks
Backyard producers in many developing countries are losing income and are facing increased livelihood and food security risks. In Nigeria, for example, some producers are losing their means of livelihood as birds are culled and prices drop and employees on farms are losing their jobs.

The crisis has also affected the $42 billion dollar feed sector in Europe, with demand losses estimated at up to 40 percent in some countries.

Around 200 million chickens have been culled or have died of the disease since the onset of the crisis in late 2003.

FAO stressed that poultry products, properly cooked at or above 158 degrees Fahrenheit throughout the product, are safe to eat. It also noted the importance of preventing products from infected flocks to enter the food chain.

http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/s...06/0004308438&EDATE=TUE+Feb+28+2006,+11:01+AM

I've got to get glasses or start pyaing more attention to what I read.....

I thought the thread title was Children dumped, not chickens!



WHEW! I can relax now!

Then again, this morning I saw a hispanic man walking up and down beside the road carrying a sign that read," Will PAY for WORK". I thought, Oh NO! The poor guy has it backwards!

Then I saw that he was in front of a temporary employment agency.



Some days I think I might have done the world a favor by just staying at home...

Sweden

Bird Flu In Sweden​

Article Date: 28 Feb 2006 - 16:00pm (UK)

Sweden's Agriculture Minister, Ann-Christin Nykvist, said two dead ducks found in the Oskarshamn region had an aggressive form of the bird flu H5 virus strain.

The Oskarshamn region is about 150 miles south of Stockholm.

Samples have been sent to a laboratory in Kent, England, to identify the exact strain. Experts say it seems to be the same strain as the one found in dead birds in Russia.

Oskarshamn is about 200 miles northwest of the German Ruegen island, where bird flu has infected wild birds.

Ann-Christin Nykvist said "This means that we have bird flu in Sweden. It's serious, but not unexpected."

Norway, UK, Ireland, Spain, Portugal, Finland, Belgium and Holland wait on as the virus nears their borders.

Written by: Christian Nordqvist
Editor: Medical News Today

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/healthnews.php?newsid=38570

Bird flu 'will hit UK for five years'​

BIRD flu will arrive in the UK within months and remain for at least five years, the Government's Chief Scientific Adviser has predicted.

Professor Sir David King said he feared the disease could become "endemic" in Britain.

He said: "We are talking about the possibility of this disease being endemic here in the UK as it did in China."

And he added: " It is a long-term factor."

He had earlier ruled out the use of the currently available bird flu vaccines in the event of a UK outbreak, but conceded they may have to be used if the outbreak was widespread.

"The Chinese have adopted the position of mass vaccination, and if it became so widespread here we might have to go down that route even with the vaccination not being very good," he said.

He expected bird flu to reach UK shores in months, rather than days or weeks, due to the pattern of migratory paths, he said.

Sir David said the UK was currently monitoring the development in China of a new vaccine against the H5N1 strain of avian flu.

His comments followed his appearance at the National Farmers' Union conference in Birmingham yesterday.

He told the conference that people involved in carrying out a cull would be at the greatest risk from avian flu in the event of a UK outbreak. Bird flu does not pose a risk to consumers, he added.

Environment Minister Margaret Beckett earlier said that the Government was keeping the use of bird vaccines under review.

NFU president Tim Bennett said the union would continue to review the avian flu contingency plan.

Meanwhile, H5N1 has been confirmed in a third African country, deepening fears that it is becoming endemic there and that it may already be far more widespread than reported.

A major concern among experts is that the disease could spread from African poultry to wild birds, and then be carried to other parts of the globe as they migrate.

Publication date 28/02/06

http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/hi/news/5049441.html

Bird Flu, Spreading in Africa, May Touch Off Pandemic (Update4)

Feb. 28 (Bloomberg) -- Feathers littered on sandy soil and poultry coops filled with empty wire are the few remaining signs of the 28,000 chickens Abdullahi Saidu lost in a week to bird flu on his Nigerian farm last month.

``It spread very fast,'' said Saidu, 40, recalling the outbreak that claimed his entire flock at Sovet Farm, near Kano city in northern Nigeria. Initially, he blamed fowl cholera and treated his hens with antibiotics. The birds kept dying. Saidu moved healthy chickens to new coops to halt the spread.

``Before you knew it, they became sick and started dying with the same symptoms of diarrhea, respiratory problems and weakness.''

The 50 million naira ($388,000) poultry business Saidu says he spent 15 years building is now worthless.

The lethal H5N1 avian influenza is raging through poultry farms in Nigeria, the most-populous nation on the western edge of a continent ravaged by poverty and HIV/AIDS. Yesterday, neighboring Niger confirmed its first case of bird flu among domestic fowl. Kenya and Ethiopia, in eastern Africa, are investigating possible outbreaks.

Scientists worry avian flu is taking root in Africa, where it threatens to infect humans as it has in southern Asia and China. Once the virus takes hold in Africa, it risks mutating into a lethal form that may spread easily among people, creating a global health catastrophe.

First Pandemic?

``The first pandemic of the 21st century could come from Africa, rather than Southeast Asia,'' John Oxford, professor of virology at Queen Mary's School of Medicine and Dentistry at the University of London, said in a telephone interview. Oxford said Africa's poverty, densely populated urban and farm areas, intermingling of people and chickens, and poor health services create a fertile ground for the virus.

``If it gets itself rooted there, it will be even more difficult to get it out than Southeast Asia,'' said Oxford, who has studied influenza viruses for 40 years.

A pandemic such as the one that killed 50 million people in 1918 may take more than 142 million lives and cause the world's economy to shrink by one-eighth, according to a report by the Lowy Institute and Australian National University.

Niger became the 16th country to confirm an avian-flu outbreak this month, doubling the number of nations reporting infections since 2003. Kenyan authorities are testing hundreds of dead chickens dumped in the capital Nairobi. Ethiopia sent samples from a poultry farm to an Italian laboratory for testing, Reuters reported today, citing the country's Ministry of Health.

Culling Poultry

In Asia, almost 200 million domestic poultry have died or been culled to contain the virus's spread, costing affected countries about $10 billion, according to the Food & Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

Containing the spread of H5N1 in Africa is critical, according to Simeon Ehui, a lead economist with the World Bank in Abuja, Nigeria. ``If it's not properly handled, the consequences could be very catastrophic,'' Ehui said.

World Organization for Animal Health Director-General Bernard Vallat today said it would take ``three years of efforts and support to eradicate the virus in Africa.''

At least 93 of the 173 people known to have been infected with the H5N1 virus since late 2003 have died, mainly in Asia, the World Health Organization said yesterday.

Lethal bird flu reached the European Union this month with cases in Austria, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, and Slovenia. Switzerland and Romania have also reported cases, while Swedish officials today said they found two infected wild ducks and were checking to see if it was the deadly H5N1 form of the illness. Bavaria today became the fifth German state to find the virus after two infected wild birds were discovered.

Cat Infected

A cat from the Baltic Sea island of Ruegen, where Germany's first cases of bird flu were detected, has tested positive for the bird flu virus, the Federal Research Institute for Animal Health said today.

Poor nutrition and the prevalence of diseases such as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, make Africans more susceptible to infection, scientists said. The National Bureau of Statistics in Abuja estimates 54 percent of Nigerians can't afford a food basket that would give them 2,900 calories a day.

Sub-Saharan Africa has just over a tenth of the world's population, though it is home to more than 60 percent of all people living with HIV, according to UNAIDS, a UN program.

``The major challenge is that this outbreak is happening in an environment where the systems are weaker,'' said Abdulsalami Nasidi, head of the Nigerian health task force charged with coordinating efforts to halt the spread of the virus.

`More Everything'

``We have to start from scratch,'' Nasidi said last week in an interview. ``We need more veterinarians. We need a better surveillance system. We need more everything.''

Nigeria's outbreak of H5N1 in birds probably began in early January, according to the World Organization for Animal Health. A lack of veterinarians and equipped local laboratories to carry out testing and surveillance led to a three-week delay in confirming the virus, allowing it to spread undetected within the country and possibly beyond its borders.

``We reported the outbreak on Jan. 27 and they came and took samples,'' farmer Saudi said. ``Four or five delays later we heard on the news that samples taken a farm in Kaduna state owned by Sports Minister Saidu Balarabe Sambawa showed it was the H5N1 flu. The symptoms they saw on Sambawa Farms were the same as what they saw here. Days later, they confirmed it was the same flu.''

Disease Haven

Fowl cholera and Newcastle disease, deadly ailments that have been virtually wiped out in poultry in Western Europe, are endemic in West African flocks.

``The basic reason is that our living standard and health consciousness are different,'' said Auwalu Haruna, secretary of the Poultry Association of Nigeria. ``We are not equipped mentally and physically to rigorously enforce compliance and safety standards.''

Haruna said H5N1 is spreading unreported in parts of the country as farmers, wary of the government's promise of compensation, are reluctant to inform authorities about outbreaks. The government has been slow to close live poultry markets and restrict the movement of fowl from town to town.

``It's very worrying that this continent doesn't have the means to fight this illness,'' Joseph Domenech, the FAO's chief veterinary officer, said in an interview today. ``The economic situation means that these countries cannot have an immediate and massive reaction. This means some areas of Africa may become pockets for this illness, creating future problems for Europe.''

Limited Funds

The Nigerian government has committed about 2 billion naira ($15.6 million) to the fight.

``With that, we have been trying'' to contain the outbreak, Bamidele Dada, Nigeria's Minister of State for Agriculture, said in an interview last week. ``But we need more resources.''

Insufficient supplies of protective clothing, disinfectant and money to pay people involved in the exercise are hampering control measures, the agriculture ministry said last week.

Even as scientists and experts worry about Nigeria's ability to contain the virus, they point out the country is Africa's largest oil exporter and ranked as its fourth-biggest economy in 2004.

Nigeria has better resources than many other countries on the continent, the World Bank's Ehui said. ``If the same problem arises in Niger, Benin and other countries, I don't know how they are going to deal with it.''

To contact the reporter on this story:
Jason Gale in Abuja, Nigeria, at j.gale@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: February 28, 2006 11:18 EST

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?...r=latin_america

Bahamas

Dead flamingos prompt bird flu investigation ​

2/28/2006 3:00 PM
(Nassau, Bahamas-RNS)

Dead flamingos have prompted health officials to look for bird flu in the Bahamas.

Scientists will examine the pink birds to find out if they were killed by the deadly strain spreading from Asia. The virus has killed more than 90 people.

Bahamas officials say 15 of the island's flamingos have been found dead with no external injuries. Even though the birds don't migrate, it's believed they have contact with migratory geese and ducks during the winter.

http://www.wroctv.com/news/story.asp?id=21953&r=l

Posted these as separate threads but now that I see this one I'll add them here too. See the threads or links for complete articles.



http://www.timebomb2000.com/vb/showthread.php?t=188016

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N28360478.htm
(fair use applies)

Flamingo deaths spark bird flu probe in Bahamas
28 Feb 2006 16:03:36 GMT

Source: Reuters
By John Marquis

NASSAU, Bahamas, Feb 28 (Reuters) - Health experts were dispatched on Tuesday to the southern Bahamas island of Inagua to find out if an unexplained spate of bird deaths was linked to a deadly bird flu virus that is spreading around the globe.

Over the past two days, 15 of the island's famed flamingos, five roseate spoonbills and one cormorant have been found dead with no external injuries on the island just north of Haiti, officials said.

Scientists from the Bahamas Ministry of Agriculture and the Department of Environmental Health will gather samples from the birds and then submit them for laboratory analysis.

"Anything is possible in nature. You have birds that fly around the world," said Minister of Agriculture and Marine Resources Leslie Miller, declining to rule out the H5N1 bird flu strain that has killed at least 93 people and spread to 20 new countries in the past month alone.

"But let's hope to God that that is not the case here in the Bahamas," Miller said.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


http://www.timebomb2000.com/vb/showthread.php?t=188018

http://www.aphis.usda.gov/newsroom/c...nchai_vs.shtml
(fair use applies)

USDA BANS SOME FRENCH POULTRY DUE TO HIGHLY PATHOGENIC AVIAN INFLUENZA

Printable version

Karen Eggert (301) 734-7280
Jerry Redding (202) 720-6959


WASHINGTON, Feb. 27, 2006--The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has placed a temporary ban on the importation of poultry and commercial shipments of live birds, hatching eggs and unprocessed avian products from the French Department (state) of Ain based on the diagnosis of highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 in commercially raised turkeys. The ban became effective Feb. 25.

The restriction is only on the Department of Ain, not the entire country of France .

Encourage sick leave in flu pandemic, firms urged
Reuters - 1 hour, 7 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - Businesses need to plan on having 40 percent of their workforces out if a flu pandemic strikes and need to start rewarding employees for staying home when they are sick, U.S. government advisers told a conference on Tuesday. The H5N1 avian influenza virus will almost certainly spread to birds in the United States eventually, and if it mutates into a form that easily infects people it will spread globally within weeks, they noted.


http://news.yahoo.com/fc/Health/Bird_Flu

Threat of avian flu prompts call for preparedness

By Molly Albertson
Cape Gazette staff
A statewide summit about a possible pandemic has left locals squawking about bird flu.


Federal officials on a nationwide awareness tour urged communities to prepare in advance for worst-case scenarios, including a possible six-week quarantine, if avian flu becomes a virus transmitted from person to person.


“You need to do this now. You need a plan and a strategy for preparedness,” said Alfonso Martinez-Fonts Jr., special assistant to the secretary for the private sector of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.


Small communities and even neighborhoods need to organize, officials said, because if a pandemic strikes, many people will be confined to their homes. Under quarantine, people will have no way to get to hospitals, grocery stores or town centers, officials said at the Feb. 21 meeting in Dover.


Pandemic planning requires addressing the role of schools, businesses, public agencies, faith-based organizations and others, said U.S. Department of Health and Human Service Deputy Secretary Alex Azar.


“This is an ever-present threat,” U.S. Surgeon General Richard H. Carmona said.

Few local plans
But Rehoboth Beach and Dewey Beach don’t have emergency plans for any event, and certainly not a pandemic.


While Lewes has an Emergency Operations Plan it does not include any possible outbreaks of illness, said Nelson Wiles, who is responsible for the plan.


“Its not something we’re considering right now. Its not a major threat as far as we’re aware,” said Wiles.


Other town officials are responding to the pleas. “We don’t have a coherent plan, but we’re going to write one,” said Rehoboth Beach Mayor Sam Cooper, who attended the summit.


Cooper said $25,000 will be budgeted to hire a consultant to write a plan that will include a pandemic flu outbreak as well as natural disasters.


Dewey Beach acknowledged the need for an emergency plan at the Jan 11 town meeting. “We have a plan, but it is insufficient,” town attorney Rob Witsil said. Dewey is also organizing an emergency preparedness plan committee.


“We know what we need to do,” said Town Manager Gordon Elliott, who has been going to emergency planning meetings for months.


Beebe Medical Center does have a plan in case of emergency, said Dr. Paul Cowan, staff physician and coordinator of disaster planning. “We have identified areas that are not used for primary patient care that we could use,” he said. For instance, the pre-operation area and the visitors’ café could be converted for patient care if other areas were beyond capacity.

No direction for action
The summit seemed to provide questions rather than clarity to locals who attended. “The state says they’ve done all this planning, but I don’t know how we can bring it to our community,” Cooper said.

In a public discussion with Martinez-Fonts and FEMA Program Coordinator Branch Chief Karin Crawford, many fears were brought to light and described as real possibilities, but no solutions were offered.


“There is a real possibility of lawlessness and you need to prevent that,” Crawford said. In a pandemic one-third of the population could be sick, while another one-third would be staying home, leaving a skeleton crew to run daily operations, she said.


“Do we need to worry about this or is the state going to handle this?” asked Cooper about the many details such as trash pick-up, power outages, and even burial of dead.


“If every house is supposed to have food in case of a quarantine that lasts a few weeks, what about the rental homes in Dewey where people are in and out every week?” asked Commissioner Dell Tush about one of the suggestions for individual preparation.


“If the county can’t bring anything to the table, what are we supposed to do?” Cooper asked.


Wiles said the state does not require municipalities to enact plans for the possible pandemic.


Delaware leads in many areas of avian flu preparedness, according to Gov. Ruth Ann Minner, but local communities need to step up their plans, she said during the summit. The poultry industry has its own plan that includes steps taken when or if birds get the flu.


As part of the federal preparedness plan, $698,960 was awarded to Delaware for planning focused on practical, community-based procedures that could prevent or delay the spread of the flu, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt said. But municipalities are still left wondering just what to do in case of an outbreak.

http://www.capegazette.com/storiesc...reat022406.html

Dead flamingos have prompted health officials to look for bird flu in the Bahamas.

Click to expand...

If it's in the Bahamas I believe it is already here, at least in Florida.

Those in Florida can go to this website and post on a form any dead birds they find, the info will go directly to the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission. http://myfwc.com/bird/

The Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission is cooperatively working with the Florida Department of Health on a wild bird mortality database. This project was initiated to support surveillance for bird die-offs and aids in monitoring for Avian Influenza (AI).......

http://freeserve.advfn.com/news_C--...lly-Unprepared-for-Bio-Disaster_14401737.html

C. Everett Koop Says US Woefully Unprepared for Bio Disaster

WESTON, Mass., Feb. 28 /PRNewswire/ -- C. Everett Koop, MD, and former US Surgeon General, writing in the current issue of Journal of Emergency Management, says this country's disaster response and healthcare systems will be easily overwhelmed by a major bio disaster such as an avian flu pandemic.

Eliot Grigg, Joseph Rosen, MD, and Dr. Koop published an article entitled "The biological disaster challenge: Why we are least prepared for the most devastating threat and what we need to do about it" in the January/February issue of Journal of Emergency Management.

The authors contend that even though this country's recent response to natural disasters, such as Hurricane Katrina, has been less than adequate, a bio disaster along the lines of an avian flu pandemic will be a "much more complex and potentially devastating threat." Says Dr. Koop: "a pandemic is a story that grows more complex with every new infection. It is a dynamic process that begins at one end of the world and flies to the other in a matter of hours. Unlike any other disaster, a pandemic will continue to grow exponentially until it is stopped or it burns itself out like a forest fire, but people are destroyed, not trees."

To combat this growing threat, this country over the years has developed a disaster response system that "is not very well equipped to handle a biological disaster," because, as the authors explain, "it was never designed for one." In addition, say the authors, the history of disaster response in this country "reveals a reactive culture," and it is still not clear "who is in charge of a pandemic response."

Dr. Koop and his co-authors complete their argument by explaining that "one of the reasons biological threats are potentially so devastating" is that "our healthcare system in its current state is itself a strategic liability." Therefore, continues Dr. Koop, "revolutionizing our response capabilities would necessarily involve improving our delivery of healthcare," which would "not only benefit our citizens on a daily basis but also protect America from natural pandemics and even biological terrorism."

The Journal of Emergency Management is the peer-reviewed, professional journal of record for emergency management, disaster preparedness and recovery in the US and Canada. For more information, visit http://www.emergencymanagementjournal.com/ or call the circulation department at 781-899-2702 ext. 108.

US Officials advising to prepare for 6 week quarantine
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Threat of avian flu prompts call for preparedness

By Molly Albertson
Cape Gazette staff
A statewide summit about a possible pandemic has left locals squawking about bird flu.

Federal officials on a nationwide awareness tour urged communities to prepare in advance for worst-case scenarios, including a possible six-week quarantine, if avian flu becomes a virus transmitted from person to person.

“You need to do this now. You need a plan and a strategy for preparedness,” said Alfonso Martinez-Fonts Jr., special assistant to the secretary for the private sector of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Small communities and even neighborhoods need to organize, officials said, because if a pandemic strikes, many people will be confined to their homes. Under quarantine, people will have no way to get to hospitals, grocery stores or town centers, officials said at the Feb. 21 meeting in Dover.

Pandemic planning requires addressing the role of schools, businesses, public agencies, faith-based organizations and others, said U.S. Department of Health and Human Service Deputy Secretary Alex Azar.

“This is an ever-present threat,” U.S. Surgeon General Richard H. Carmona said.

Few local plans
But Rehoboth Beach and Dewey Beach don’t have emergency plans for any event, and certainly not a pandemic.

While Lewes has an Emergency Operations Plan it does not include any possible outbreaks of illness, said Nelson Wiles, who is responsible for the plan.

“Its not something we’re considering right now. Its not a major threat as far as we’re aware,” said Wiles.

Other town officials are responding to the pleas. “We don’t have a coherent plan, but we’re going to write one,” said Rehoboth Beach Mayor Sam Cooper, who attended the summit.

Cooper said $25,000 will be budgeted to hire a consultant to write a plan that will include a pandemic flu outbreak as well as natural disasters.

Dewey Beach acknowledged the need for an emergency plan at the Jan 11 town meeting. “We have a plan, but it is insufficient,” town attorney Rob Witsil said. Dewey is also organizing an emergency preparedness plan committee.

“We know what we need to do,” said Town Manager Gordon Elliott, who has been going to emergency planning meetings for months.

Beebe Medical Center does have a plan in case of emergency, said Dr. Paul Cowan, staff physician and coordinator of disaster planning. “We have identified areas that are not used for primary patient care that we could use,” he said. For instance, the pre-operation area and the visitors’ café could be converted for patient care if other areas were beyond capacity.

No direction for action
The summit seemed to provide questions rather than clarity to locals who attended. “The state says they’ve done all this planning, but I don’t know how we can bring it to our community,” Cooper said.

In a public discussion with Martinez-Fonts and FEMA Program Coordinator Branch Chief Karin Crawford, many fears were brought to light and described as real possibilities, but no solutions were offered.

“There is a real possibility of lawlessness and you need to prevent that,” Crawford said. In a pandemic one-third of the population could be sick, while another one-third would be staying home, leaving a skeleton crew to run daily operations, she said.

“Do we need to worry about this or is the state going to handle this?” asked Cooper about the many details such as trash pick-up, power outages, and even burial of dead.

“If every house is supposed to have food in case of a quarantine that lasts a few weeks, what about the rental homes in Dewey where people are in and out every week?” asked Commissioner Dell Tush about one of the suggestions for individual preparation.

“If the county can’t bring anything to the table, what are we supposed to do?” Cooper asked.

Wiles said the state does not require municipalities to enact plans for the possible pandemic.

Delaware leads in many areas of avian flu preparedness, according to Gov. Ruth Ann Minner, but local communities need to step up their plans, she said during the summit. The poultry industry has its own plan that includes steps taken when or if birds get the flu.

As part of the federal preparedness plan, $698,960 was awarded to Delaware for planning focused on practical, community-based procedures that could prevent or delay the spread of the flu, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt said. But municipalities are still left wondering just what to do in case of an outbreak.

http://www.capegazette.com/storiesc...reat022406.html