03/18 | Daily Bird Flu Thread: Israel confirms bird flu outbreak

Link to yesterday's thread: http://www.timebomb2000.com/vb/showthread.php?t=190043

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

For additional information about these reports, visit the
World Health Organization Web Site.

Updated February 8, 2006

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

* Africa:
o Cameroon
o Niger
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 Myanmar (Burma)
o Thailand
o Vietnam

* Europe & Eurasia:
o Albania
o Austria
o Azerbaijan
o Bosnia & Herzegovina (H5)
o Bulgaria
o Croatia
o France
o Georgia (H5)
o Germany
o Greece
o Hungary
o Italy
o Poland
o Romania
o Russia
o Serbia and Montenegro (H5)
o Slovak Republic
o Slovenia
o Sweden
o Switzerland
o Turkey
o Ukraine

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

* South Asia:
o India
o Kazakhstan
o Pakistan (H5)


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

Updated March 17, 2006

http://www.cdc.gov/flu/avian/outbreaks/current.htm#animals

WHO, Avian Flu Timeline in .pdf: http://www.who.int/csr/disease/avian_influenza/timeline.pdf

Israel

Israel confirms bird flu outbreak​

Israeli officials have confirmed that thousands of turkeys and chickens found dead in the south of the country had the H5N1 strain of the bird flu virus.

Tests were ordered after the dead poultry were discovered on two farms in Ein Hashlosha and Holit, next to the Gaza Strip in the western Negev desert.

Several people have been admitted to hospital with flu-like symptoms.

A quarantine has been imposed around the area and thousands of birds are expected to be culled over coming days.

On Thursday, Israeli Agriculture Minister Zeev Boim said the authorities were prepared to contain the virus' spread if an outbreak was confirmed.

Workers hospitalised

Speaking to reporters a day after the dead poultry were found, the director of veterinary services at the agriculture ministry confirmed the H5N1 strain had been detected.

Moshe Haimovitch said around 11,000 birds had died at the two farms in Israel's first outbreak of the virus.

Mr Haimovitch said officials were preparing to kill a further 300,000 birds inside the 7km (four-mile) quarantine zone around the two communities over the coming days.

Up to five people who came into contact with the infected birds at Kibbutz Ein Hashlosha and Kibbutz Holit have been admitted to a hospital in the southern city of Beersheva with flu-like symptoms.

A kibbutz between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv has also been sealed off after more birds were found dead.

Testing

The source of the outbreak has not been determined, but the Israeli army is reported to have asked the Palestinian Authority to deliver blood samples from poultry in Gaza.

Both Israel and the Gaza Strip share a border with Egypt, where the virus has been found in birds in at least 15 governorates.

The BBC's Caroline Hawley in Jerusalem says it is not clear what the response to the Israeli request has been at a time of increased tension between Israelis and Palestinians after the storming of a jail in Jericho and the capture of a leading Palestinian militant earlier this week.

But Israeli officials say they are testing dead poultry in the West Bank and Gaza in a rare show of co-operation with the Palestinians.

The H5N1 strain of the virus has killed more than 70 people worldwide.

It does not pose a large-scale threat to humans, as it cannot pass easily from one person to another.

However, experts fear the virus could mutate to gain this ability, and in its new form trigger a flu pandemic, potentially putting millions of human lives at risk.

Story from BBC NEWS: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/world/middle_east/4816586.stm

Published: 2006/03/17 12:23:39 GMT

India

Healthy birds to be killed: low demand​

By: PTI
March 17, 2006

Nasik: Unable to bear the heavy losses they incurred after the bird flu scare hit the state, poultry owners in Nasik district of Maharashtra have decided to cull 25 to 30 per cent of healthy birds.

"Since bird flu was detected at Navapur and later in Jalgaon districts, people in the remaining parts of the state have given up eating chicken and eggs. As a result, stock of birds and eggs are pending in our poultries," Shrikrishna Gangurde, president of Nasik District Poultry Owners Association, told reporters here today.

"Also, there is no adequate place to keep the birds in the poultries and hence the association has taken the decision to cull healthy birds," he said.

He said that owners in the district had already stopped production of chickens from eggs.

Gangurde said the poultry business had received a major setback since the bird flu scare in Navapur. "In Nasik, 15,000 families (poultry workers) are depending on us and we are facing heavy losses."

He said the state animal husbandry officials, who rushed to Makhamalabad and Nasik Road localities yesterday after some birds were found dead there, "collected samples and after testing it in the government laboratory here said that the birds died due to `Ranikhet' disease" and not bird flu.

There are 934 poultry farms in Nasik district including one state-owned and two co-operative-run, having 60 lakh birds.

http://web.mid-day.com/news/nation/2006/march/133219.htm

WHO pandemic influenza draft protocol for rapid response
and containment​

http://www.who.int/csr/disease/avian_influenza/guidelines/fluprotocol_17.03.pdf

WHO site as a PDF file.

Thousands of quails in E Java die in a row from bird flu​

http://news.antara.co.id/en/seenws/?id=10257

Surabaya, E Java (ANTARA News) - Thousands of quails in some areas in Kediri district, East Java died in a row recently after they were allegedly infected with bird flu virus, spokesman of the Kediri district administration said.

"We have been taking some anticipatory measures, including to cull quails which were allegedly infected with the bird flu virus and disinfect an area, one kilometer from the location believed to have been infected with the H5N1virus," Sigit Rahardjo said on Saturday.

He added the local authority had been waiting for results of blood sample test of the quails which had been checked in a laboratory in Yogyakarta.

Head of the local animal husbandry, Ketut Widanan, meanwhile, said his office had already culled about 3,000 quails which were indicated to have been infected with the Avian Influenza (AI) virus following a finding that the bird viruses went around in Nganjuk district.

Sigit, however, said the local administration had yet to pay promised compensation to poultry farmers whose quails had already been culled as it lacked fund.

So far, no people in Kediri was reportedly infected with the deadly virus, Sigit added.

Indonesia announced its first human bird flu case last year when a father and his two daughters died only in a week.

At least six provinces have been declared to be hit by the disease. They are Jakarta, Banten, Lampung, East Java, Central Java and West Java.(*)

Japanese executive arrested for hiding bird flu infections: reports​

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/worldhotnews/read.php?newsid=20003041

TOKYO - Japanese police arrested the former owner of an egg company for allegedly covering up bird flu infections, reports said Saturday.

Taiyo Saito, 66, former chairman of IKN Egg farms Co. was accused of colluding with other veterinarians at the company to obstruct official inspections of chickens for avian flu, Jiji Press and Kyodo News reported.

Police suspect Saito, the fifth former worker at the company to be arrested, replaced chickens from two farms in Ibaraki prefecture that were to be inspected with birds from other farms.

Ibaraki is the prefecture most affected by bird flu. Since the first case was found in June last year, infections have been found in another 40 poultry farms and some 3.26 million birds have been slaughtered.

The strain of avian flu uncovered in Japan was H5N2, which is milder than the deadly H5N1 strain which has sparked worldwide concern. H5N1 has killed nearly100 people since 2003.

Japan has reported no human deaths from avian influenza, which is spread through contact with sick birds.

Four workers and one inspector were infected with H5N1 in western Japan in 2004 in an outbreak at a chicken farm.

None of them suffered more than a sore throat, but the chairman of the poultry farm and his wife hanged themselves as they came under intense criticism for covering up the outbreak.

Malaysia

Four quarantined with suspected bird flu in Malaysia​

KUALA LUMPUR 18/03/2006 10:44

Four people are being tested for suspected bird flu in Malaysia after developing fevers near the site of two outbreaks in poultry.

http://www.bakutoday.net/view.php?d=18173

Serbia

Serbian children isolated on bird flu fears​

17/03/2006 10:07:00 PM

Four children were placed in isolation, while 24 other people were being monitored after a suspected outbreak of bird flu in western Serbia, the government said.

"As a precaution, the children were hospitalized for continuous medical supervision," Serbia's health ministry said in a statement.

It added that another 24 people had been under "constant medical supervision" for possible symptoms of the virus in the area around the western town of Bajina Basta.

"Their general health is good (but) they are isolated from other patients and we have been following their condition closely," said a doctor from a local hospital.

On Thursday, a teenage boy from a family that said it had a rooster with symptoms of bird flu was released from the same hospital after being cleared of the virus. He remains under observation.

The strain of H5N1 bird flu that can kill humans was detected earlier this month in a swan found dead near Serbia's northwestern border with Croatia and Hungary.

Officials have already implemented stringent measures to prevent the spread of the virus, including the creation of a three-kilometre (two-mile) quarantine zone and isolation of domestic poultry.

The H5N1 virus, which has killed almost 100 people since 2003, mainly in Asia, has also been detected in a number of countries surrounding Serbia, including Albania, Bosnia, Croatia and Hungary.

http://www.terra.net.lb/wp/Articles/DesktopArticle.aspx?ArticleID=276082&ChannelId=19

With the number of American visitors to the Holy Land it is easy to see how the influenza could enter the U.S. This is a terrible development.

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L17735251.htm

WHO calls for urgent studies on best use of Tamiflu
17 Mar 2006 16:49:23 GMT

Source: Reuters

Background FACTBOX: Cholera epidemic hits Guinea-Bissau


MORE
GENEVA, March 17 (Reuters) - The World Health Organisation (WHO) called on Friday for urgent studies to determine optimal doses of flu drug Tamiflu to be used in the fight against human bird flu.

It reaffirmed that Tamiflu should be used to treat suspected cases and to prevent the disease in healthcare workers or others who may have been exposed to infection, but clinical trials were lacking to show any effectiveness against the deadly H5N1 virus.

The highly pathogenic H5N1 strain of bird flu has killed 98 people, roughly half of the 177 who have contracted it since late 2003, but experts fear a pandemic if the disease evolves into a form which can be transmitted easily between humans.

Swiss drug maker Roche <<ROG.VX> said on Thursday it was boosting output of Tamiflu, whose generic name is oseltamivir, by a third to meet increased demand from governments building stockpiles for a potential pandemic triggered by bird flu.

"There is no direct clinical trial evidence that shows that oseltamivir is effective in human H5N1 disease because such studies have not yet been conducted," the WHO said in a statement posted on its Web site www.who.int.

"Because the optimal dosage has not been resolved by clinical trials, and because H5N1 infections continue to have a high mortality rate, prospective studies are needed urgently to determine optimal dosing and duration of treatment for H5N1."

The United Nations agency gave recommended doses for both treatment and prevention in adults and children above one year old. Its recommended treatment for adults suspected to have the disease is 75 mg twice a day for five days.

"It is possible that severely ill patients might benefit from longer duration of therapy (for example 7-10 days) or perhaps higher doses (for example 300 mg/day), but prospective studies are required," it said.

Children should be given the drug preventively for the same length of time in weight-adjusted doses.

"For people with repeated or prolonged exposure such as healthcare workers or personnel involved in bird culls, pre-exposure courses, repeat post-exposure courses or continuous treatment may be necessary," it said.

The recommendations are based on limited data from human outbreaks, animal models, and extrapolated results of trials in patients with ordinary influenza.

The WHO said it would continue to monitor the situation but it could not be held liable for damages arising from its advice.

Egypt

Killer Virus In Egypt​

Updated: 11:23, Saturday March 18, 2006

Egypt has detected its first human case of bird flu, a World Health Organisation official said.

Tests suggest it was the deadly H5N1 strain of the virus.

Egypt had previously reported cases of H5N1 in poultry flocks.

A woman with symptoms of the disease has died in the country's Al Qaloubiyah province, about 25 miles north of Cairo, MENA news agency said.

Amal Mohammed Ismail, 35, was admitted to hospital about two weeks ago before being transferred to the Cairo Fevers' Hospital, where she died on Friday night.

She had been was raising poultry at her home and some of her birds also died, Health Minister Hatem El Gabali told MENA.

Authorites have been carrying out tests on the woman's body.

Her home has also been sealed off, police said.

Bird flu has spread across Europe, Africa and parts of Asia and killed at least 98 people worldwide since 2003.

Although hard to catch, scientists fear the virus could mutate into a form that could easily pass from one person to another, triggering a pandemic.

See our interactive map of the world which charts the spread of bird flu.

http://www.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30200-1215786,00.html?f=rss

It has NOT passed Human to Human!

Right? It has NOT passed human to human. Right? And we DO NOT have to worry about this as an outbreak unless it DOES..right? So we are not at risk unless it does. And it might not. So this is not a panic unless it does become human to human. Let us keep this in perspective.

Beetree said:

Right? It has NOT passed human to human. Right? And we DO NOT have to worry about this as an outbreak unless it DOES..right? So we are not at risk unless it does. And it might not. So this is not a panic unless it does become human to human. Let us keep this in perspective.

Click to expand...

IMHO, the handwriting is on the wall......at the end of last year the virus had 5 mutations to go for it to become H2H. Then in January it went down to 3. Now, in March, the virus has only 1 mutation to go. It is changing rapidly.

So, no, panic is not the answer.....but seeing this a very real threat is. It is time to prepare......it looks like this will turn into a pandemic..............

Better to be 'safe' than 'sorry'....as the old saying goes!

Four people test negative for bird flu in Israel
18 Mar 2006 10:36:18 GMT

Source: Reuters

By Jonathan Saul

JERUSALEM, March 18 (Reuters) - Four people in Israel suspected of having bird flu have tested negative for the virus, the health ministry said on Saturday, after the country detected its first cases of the H5N1 strain.

Two Israeli farms were confirmed on Friday to have infected poultry. Tests were being carried out on another two farms where H5N1 is suspected.

Bird flu has spread across Europe, Africa and parts of Asia, stoking fears the virus could mutate into a form that could easily pass from one person to another, triggering a pandemic in which millions could die.

Hospitals in Israel have been put on alert for patients arriving with symptoms of the H5N1 virus.

Three people who worked in poultry coops at the farms in southern Israel where the virus was discovered were admitted to isolation units at a hospital in the south.

A fourth worker who had also been in contact with turkeys at a farm about 70 km (45 miles) further north was admitted to another hospital.

"The results for the four were negative for bird flu," a health ministry spokeswoman said. "At the moment I do not know of any further people who have been taken to hospital."

Agriculture Ministry officials have said tens of thousands of fowl in the infected areas and their surroundings would be culled and the carcasses buried in underground pits.

Shimon Pokomonsky, an expert on bird diseases from the agriculture ministry, told Israel Radio the culling of the birds at the two farms, which are close to the Gaza Strip, was expected to be completed on Saturday.

He added that tests were continuing at two other farms, one of which was in the Latrun area, close to Jerusalem.

"Until now we are speaking about four incidents in total," he said. "At this stage we estimate it not spreading."

Separately in the West Bank city of Hebron, Palestinian customs officials intercepted two trucks carrying poultry which had entered illegally. Palestinian officials said they would kill 2,600 chickens in the trucks.

"We want to get rid of these chickens because they came from Israel, which is an infected area," deputy Hebron commander Musbah al-Baba said. "We do not know for sure they are infected, we are just taking precautionary measures."

Smuggling into Palestinian areas has grown due to demand for cheaper supplies of livestock.

In a rare act of cooperation, Israel was testing dead fowl found in the West Bank and Gaza on behalf of the Palestinian Authority to try to control the spread of the virus.

I have a rather large yard that is home to a lot of birds and squirrels, just this morning I was watching the doves flying around and wondering what I would do if I came outside one day and saw my yard full of dead birds. Would I leave them there or try to pick them up thus exposing myself to whatever they died from?

I could see this happening very easy if the bird flu reaches our country, thus exposing people that do not even own chickens to this flu. I cannot see letting them just lie there, I guess I would put on my mask and gloves and try to remove them and hope I would not get sick. If we see this happening, would this be the time to quarentine ourselves inside our homes?

=




<B><font size=+1 color=purple><center>Jordan on maximum alert after bird flu found </font>

March 18 2006 at 08:30AM
<A href="http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=3&art_id=qw1142662501979B216">www.int.iol.co.za</a></center>
Amman - The Jordanian government has placed the country on "maximum alert" after cases of bird flu were identified in Israel, Jordanian Health Minister Saeed Darwazeh said in remarks published on Saturday.

Israeli authorities officially notified Jordan and the Palestinian Authority of the bird flu cases at two farms in southern Israel, Darwazeh was quoted as saying by the daily newspaper Alghad.</b>

However the Jordanian minister asserted that his country was free of the bird flu disease as of Friday evening.

Israel is the fourth country in the region to declare the discovery of the avian bird flu. Turkey, Iraq Egypt are the others..

The Israeli agriculture ministry announced Friday that it was preparing to kill hundreds of thousands of poultry, after initial test results confirmed that some 11 000 dead turkeys in two farms in southern Israel were "almost certainly" infected with the avian strain of bird flu.

The declaration prompted Jordan's technical committee in charge of facing the bird flu danger to hold an emergency meeting later on Saturday. The meeting was originally set for Tuesday, Darwazeh said.

"The government has taken all necessary measures to face the possible outbreak of the disease including the import of the required vaccines," he added.

He said that the Jordanian government was coordinating on this score with the governments of Israel and other countries in the region through the World Health Organisation (WHO). - Sapa-dpa

=



<B><font size=+1 color=red><center>Egyptian woman dies of H5N1 bird flu</font>

18 March 2006 15:17
<A href="http://www.rte.ie/news/2006/0318/birdflu.html">www.rte.ie/news</a></center>
A 30-year-old Egyptian woman has died of the highly pathogenic H5N1 bird flu, the country's first human victim.

The virus is also reported to have spread to birds in neighboring Israel.

Two human fatalities resulting from bird flu have already been reported in Iraq.

Elsewhere in the region, birds have been reported infected with the H5N1 strain in Iran, Israel and Kuwait.</b>

The Egyptian government said the victim, Amal Mohammed Ismail, who maintained a domestic bird farm despite a ban on the practice since the arrival of bird flu in the country last month, died of a fever after she was hospitalized with flu-like symptoms.

She was first admitted to a hospital in Qaliubiya just north of Cairo and then moved on Wednesday to the fever hospital in
Abasiya, Cairo.

The Cairo-based US Naval Medical Research Unit confirmed it was a human case of H5N1.

Meanwhile, authorities in Israel were scrambling to contain the state's first outbreak after tests on dead fowl confirmed the lethal strain.

The Israeli authorities believe the virus was brought in by migratory birds making their spring passage from Africa to Europe.

However, four farm workers who had been admitted to hospital were declared free of the virus.

In November, Kuwait was the first country in the region to discover the H5N1 strain, which it detected in a flamingo.

Since then, Iran has reported finding the H5N1 strain in more than 100 wild swans.

=



<B><font size=+1 color=green><center>Egypt Confirms First Human Case of Bird Flu</font>

By VOA News
18 March 2006
<A href="http://www.voanews.com/english/2006-03-18-voa10.cfm">www.voanews.com</a></center>
Egyptian authorities say a woman has died of bird flu.

Tests are being conducted to confirm the 35-year-old woman's death was caused by the deadly H5N1 strain of the virus, which Egyptian officials have said was discovered in the country last month.</b>

The official news agency MENA quotes Egypt's health minister as saying the woman died late Friday at a hospital in Al-Qaliubiya province, just north of Cairo. She had been admitted to the hospital two weeks ago with flu-like symptoms.

Officials say the woman raised poultry despite a recent ban on the practice. Police say security forces sealed off the woman's village.

Bird flu has spread across parts of Europe, Africa and Asia, killing about 100 people since 2003.

=


<B><center>Ill.

<font size=+1 color=blue><center>Official discusses dangers of bird flu</font>

Published: Saturday, March 18, 2006
<A href="http://www.saukvalley.com/news/346159252848728.bsp">www.saukvalley.com</a></center>
ROSEMONT (AP) — Federal and state officials gathered Friday were told of a bleak scenario featuring the spread of avian flu shutting down schools and businesses and straining resources.

U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt told the gathering it is not a question of if, but when, bird flu will be detected in the country.</b>

<i>"We're overdue, and we're under-prepared," he told the Illinois Pandemic Influenza Readiness Summit.

Leavitt is traveling across the country promoting local preparedness for a potential bird flu pandemic.

No cases of the disease have been detected in the United States. </i>

Federal officials promised to allocate $2.8 million to Illinois for preparedness planning during a ceremonial signing by Leavitt and Gov. Rod Blagojevich of a planning resolution. The virus that causes bird flu remains primarily a bird disease but has infected at least 177 people and killed 98 in the last three years. It remains hard for humans to catch and virtually all patients contracting the disease have come into close contact with poultry.

Experts fear, however, that the virus could mutate into a form that passes easily from person to person, potentially resulting in millions of deaths worldwide.

Illinois public health officials said if a severe outbreak of bird flu occurred on the level of the 1918 flu pandemic, an estimated two million of the state's 12.5 million residents would be ill. Of those, 30,000 would require hospitalization, and 8,700 would die.

"History teaches us that cost of not being prepared is far too great," he said.

=




<B><font size=+1 color=red><center>Bird flu develops complicatedly worldwide </font>

03/18/2006 -- 22:52(GMT+7)
<A href="http://www.vnanet.vn/NewsA.asp?LANGUAGE_ID=2&CATEGORY_ID=34&NEWS_ID=191155">www.vnanet.vn</a></center>
Ha Noi, March 18 (VNA) – Bird flu is continuously spreading to many countries as more bird flu cases have been reported this week.

Sweden has confirmed that the H5N1 strain of bird flu was found in a duck at a farm in its eastern region, the European Commission (EC) said in a statement on March 17.</b>

The statement added that this is the second confirmed outbreak of avian influenza at a commercial farm in the EU, with the first in a turkey farm in the Department of Ain in France in late February.

The Israeli authorities have confirmed that the H5N1 virus has for the first time been found in the country’s two poultry farms. Four farm workers who are suspected of being infected with the deadly virus were hospitalised.

In Myanmar, the Government has announced that it had detected the first bird flu outbreak following hundreds of chickens were found dead at a poultry farm near Mandalay city.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), more than 100 human deaths of bird flu have been confirmed in seven countries since 2003.-Enditem

=




<B><center>Spreading bird flu raises many questions
<font size=+1 color=brown>When will it arrive in the U.S.? How worried should Americans be?</font>

March 18 2006
Robert Bazell
Chief Science & Health Correspondent
<A href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11881845/">www.msnbc.msn.com</a></center>
The H5N1 virus is becoming a truly global problem at an amazing speed, and this raises many urgent issues about human and animal health.

Will H5N1 come to the U.S.?
Scientists say almost certainly it will. Spring is approaching and wild birds throughout the world are beginning major migrations. The virus has now appeared in at least 40 countries. Migrating birds spread it to other wild birds and domestic poultry. Bird migration patterns cover the entire globe. The best bet is that birds will carry the virus across from Siberia to Alaska over the summer and then move down to the lower 48 states during the fall. But that is only a guess. </b>

What are the dangers on arrival?
There is a huge economic threat to the poultry industry. Already farms are taking precautions to try to keep poultry sealed up indoors to prevent infections. Scientists say there is no danger from eating cooked poultry. But in other countries poultry consumption has dropped as much as 70 percent when the virus appeared in wild birds.

As for the dangers to human health from wild birds, there are serious, so far unanswered questions.

Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns, Secretary of Health & Human Services, Mike Leavitt, and Secretary of the Interior, Gale Norton, will discuss preparations for avian influenza in the U.S. The briefing will include details of the expanded migratory bird monitoring system, and an update on response plans in the event of an outbreak among domestic birds. Secretary Leavitt will discuss public health preparedness.

When:
Monday, March 20, 2006 1:00 p.m. EST

The event will also be available via live web cast from the PandemicFlu.gov Web site.

=




<B><font size=+0 color=green><center>U.S. Respirator Manufacturers Concerned About Meeting Skyrocketing Demand for Masks Needed for Avian Flu Preparation Due to Bogus Silicosis Lawsuits </font>

<A href="http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=ind_focus.story&STORY=/www/story/03-16-2006/0004322002&EDATE=THU+Mar+16+2006,+05:27+PM">www.prnewswire.com</a></center>
WASHINGTON, March 16 /PRNewswire/ -- The Coalition for Breathing Safety
warned today that respirator manufacturers' ability to meet growing demand for
respirator masks driven by the avian flu threat is jeopardized by an ongoing
avalanche of spurious silicosis lawsuits. The Coalition urged quick passage
of federal legislation to protect respirator manufacturers and sellers against
baseless and frivolous lawsuits and litigation fraud in order to help address
the potential shortage of N95 respirators, a key component of the "social
distancing" strategy U.S. government officials are counting on enacting in the
event of an avian flu pandemic.</b>

Despite the fact that the U.S. government sets strict design standards for
respirators, conducts tests to ensure those standards are met, and approves
respirators and the warning labels placed on them, respirator manufacturers
are engulfed in a wave of bogus silicosis lawsuits filed by trial lawyers
claiming defective design or failure to warn users. The lawsuits also ignore
the fact that manufacturers cannot affect how or when the respirators are
used.

Between 2000 and 2004, more than 300,000 claims were filed against five
respirator manufacturers alone. Although these claims are routinely dropped,
dismissed, or settled for very small amounts, respirator manufacturers'
litigation costs in 2004 consumed 90% of the gross revenues earned from
selling the products.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health
Organization (WHO) have recommended the use of government-approved respirators

(N95 or better) to protect poultry workers and other individuals involved in
responding to an outbreak of avian influenza. Public and private sector
health experts have concluded that the first line of defense if avian flu
begins infecting humans will be "social distancing," and that NIOSH-approved
respirators will be essential to fighting the flu pandemic. The Department of
Health and Human Services recently announced a request for proposals for 50
million N95 masks.

"Respirators are taken for granted as an essential component in protecting
the public and health care workers in the event of an avian flu pandemic,"
said Daniel K. Shipp, President of the International Safety Equipment
Association (ISEA), a member of the Coalition for Breathing Safety. "During
the SARS scare, which never reached our shores, demand for respirators
stretched available supply. Preparations for an avian flu pandemic have
already caused demand for respirator masks to skyrocket. If there's an
outbreak, demand will be exponentially higher. Companies will have to ramp up
production to meet this demand."

Shipp continued, "Yet, without some protection from the flood of bogus
lawsuits, many manufacturers will face a hard choice. Do they make the
capital investment necessary to expand capacity when they are risking more
groundless lawsuits every time they market their product? Faced with this
situation, some manufacturers have already withdrawn from key industrial
markets."

Last week, the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee of the House
Energy and Commerce Committee held a hearing probing into allegations of
misconduct by doctors and plaintiffs' lawyers in silicosis lawsuits. The
allegations stem from Texas Federal Judge Janice Jack's 2005 findings that
diagnoses forming the basis for thousands of individual claims in eight states
were "fraudulent." Judge Jack found that these diagnoses "were about
litigation rather than health care" and "were driven by neither health nor
justice: they were manufactured for money."

The Coalition for Breathing Safety supports legislation introduced in the
House of Representatives and the Senate to protect respirator manufacturers
and sellers against baseless and frivolous lawsuits and litigation fraud.
Respirators are 100% regulated by the U.S. government in that all significant
aspects of respirator design, manufacturing, and labeling are regulated by the
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), a U.S.
government agency. The legislation would protect manufacturers only if their
products are certified as complying with U.S. government design standards and
warning label requirements imposed by NIOSH.

"The members of our coalition are working around the clock to produce
respirators, but the costs of administering thousands of claims -- even if
it's only to determine that they have no merit -- total tens of millions of
dollars each year," continued Shipp. "The industry desperately needs
protection from baseless, mass tort claims to allow companies to focus on the
business of making respirators, and meeting the avian flu challenge."

The Coalition for Breathing Safety was formed in 2004 to ensure that
millions of emergency responders, workers and citizens across the globe
continue to have access to respiratory safety products. The Coalition is
seeking a federal solution to protect companies that make these products from
the hundreds of thousands of lawsuits now threatening their availability.

=




<B><font szie=+1 color=blue><center>Flu-hit zones quarantined </font>

Saturday, March 18, 2006 at 0000 hours IST
<A href="http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_story.php?content_id=120741">www.financialexpress.com</a></center>
JALGAON, MARCH 17: To prevent the spread of bird flu virus outside the four declared infected zones in Jalgaon district, the administration has quarantined an area of radius three kilometres around each of these zones. </b>

“The effort is to restrict the transit of infected material from these areas to prevent the spread of virus. For this we have quarantined three kilometre area around each of the infected villages,” district collector Vijay Singhal said on Friday.

All bus stands have been shifted outside the marked area. Weekly markets have been temporarily shut down in 19 villages, Mr Singhal said.

Starting Friday disinfectant would be sprayed in homes where poultry had been kept. Health workers have been deployed in the villages to track any symptoms of bird flu.

“People are also being discouraged from inviting guests or going outside the infected zone to prevent transmitting the disease,” he said.

=


<B><center>Penn.

Thursday, March 16, 2006
<font size=+1 color=purple>The Threat is Real </font>

<A href="http://www.wjettv.com/news/default.asp?mode=shownews&id=6146">www.wjetty.com</a></center>
Public officials are saying bird flu in the United States will be a reality.
The bird flu could hit Erie County as early as this spring.</b>

The bird flu has been found in 40 countries, and 200 people have been infected with avian flu.

Half of those infected people have died from having close contact with infected birds.

Those infected birds could now be mixing with birds that will migrate to our area this spring and summer.

The bird flu itself is not cause for alarm: birds get the flu just like humans do.
The real concern is a mutation of the bird flu strain that would infect humans and spread the bird flu from human to human.

If that happened, the Erie County Health Department estimates 70,000 people would be sick.

600 people could die, and the whole poultry population would have to be killed.
Health officials say you should have an emergency plan in case of a pandemic, and you should have an emergency kit in case of a quarantine.

Aside from the non-mosquito transfer, this reminds me of West Nile. In fact, I believe more people died from West Nile. Also, West Nile primarily hit birds and horses as this hits turkeys, chickens and ducks (not sure on the ducks though).

The biggest problem I see is another financial hit seeing so many people eat turkey and chicken as well as the additional health industry prepping.

What scares me more than anything is that yet another Biblical prediction comes true. This makes around 12 of the 20 or so major revelation predictions dead on. I fear that the rest are soon to come..and very soon.

=



<B><font size=+1 color=red><center>Four Children Hospitalized in Serbia with Symptoms of Bird Flu</font>

18 March 2006 | 12:25
FOCUS News Agency
<A href="http://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?catid=125&newsid=84679&ch=0&datte=2006-03-18">www.focus-fen.net</a></center></b>
Belgrade. Four children were hospitalized in Serbia with symptoms of bird flu, Serbian media reported. The children were received in hospital in Uzize, where they are being constantly monitored and tested. The children live in the region of Baina Basta, where the first bird flu case in domestic birds was registered.

=
<i>This was how the Spanish Flu of 1918 got started - our troops brought it home</i>

<B><center>Troops on bird watch
<font size=+1 color=brown>Canucks in Afghanistan urged to report dead fowl
as H5N1 discovered in major cities</font>

March 18 2006
<A href="http://www.torontosun.com/News/World/2006/03/18/1494098-sun.html">www.torontosun.com</a></center>
KANDAHAR -- As part of their first line of defence against the potential spread of bird flu, Canadian troops patrolling the mountainous creases and rugged trails of southern Afghanistan have been told to keep an eye out for dead birds.

Tests by the United Nations Food and Agriculture agency and the Afghan government this week confirmed the presence of H5N1, the deadliest strain of the disease, in the war-torn country. </b>

"We asked the troops if they find a dead raven, crow, or blue jay-type bird to mark the location and phone it in to us so we can keep track of the various bird populations," Sgt. Mark Kelly said.

NO HUMAN CASES

Kelly is in charge of preventive medicine measures for the Canadian battle group based in Kandahar.


If a dead bird is spotted, soldiers are under strict instructions not to handle it.

The samples that tested positive for H5 were taken from birds in Kabul, the capital, and the eastern city of Jalalabad. Additional samples from Kunduz province in the north tested negative, as did those taken from Kandahar province, where 2,200 Canadian troops are based.

There have been no reports of human cases of the virus, but the Afghan government and the UN said, as a precaution, birds in affected areas will be culled. In addition, markets selling poultry will be closed and disinfected.

The head of health protection for the Canadian Forces said the chances of troops contracting bird flu is extremely low.

'NO SIGNIFICANT RISK'

"There is currently no significant risk that would make us change the health protection measures that are currently in place for the troops," Col. Jean-Robert Bernier said in an interview from Ottawa.

They've been ordered to avoid contact with fowl.

A three-person health prevention team led by Kelly is on-site at the huge coalition airbase in Kandahar, where most of Canada's troops are stationed. They monitor a variety of potential health issues, including food safety.

Any locally purchased food requires approval from the team. Beyond that, Bernier said, avoiding disease transmission comes down to common-sense measures, such as frequent washing of hands.

Two sinks with hot water and soap are placed outside each mess hall and everyone entering must wash up.

=




<B><center>03/18/2006 1:00 AM MST

editorial
<font size=+1 color=purple>Troubling signs for bird flu</font>

<A href="http://www.denverpost.com/opinion/ci_3614237">www.denverpost.com</a></center>
Avian flu is spreading across the world twice as fast as scientists originally predicted. In less than a year, infected birds could reach the United States, arriving in Alaska and then spreading into Canada and the lower 48 states, including Colorado. </b>

The virus already has spread across Asia and into Europe and Africa. Of the roughly 180 people sickened by the virus, 98 have died, according to the World Health Organization. The rapid spread has heightened public worries, and health officials urge citizens to be mindful of potential dangers but not to panic.

Human health, of course, is the major concern. Will some Americans get the disease from birds, as has happened elsewhere? More important, will the virus at some point mutate so it can be transmitted from one human to another, possibly triggering a pandemic like that of 1918? If that happens, disease specialists warn that tens of millions of Americans could become ill and millions could die.

Colorado chief medical officer Ned Colange notes no one yet knows what will happen. If the virus spreads, it won't necessarily be a pandemic. It could be less serious, like large flu outbreaks in 1958 and 1968. It's also possible that the flu could become less virulent as it spreads, he said.

The state has already stockpiled hospital beds, breathing devices and other equipment, and

citizens might think about having extra food and water on hand, Colange said.
If the disease spreads in humans, it could take as long as four months to develop a vaccine. Scientists would need to first determine the strain of flu and its virulence. Colange said the National Institutes for Health is working on a faster way to produce vaccines.

A pandemic influenza summit will be held in Denver next Friday. Federal and state officials will help state, local and private sector officials work on planning, prevention, response and recovery strategies. U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Michael Leavitt is scheduled to attend. Leavitt said last week that more than half of the $3.3 billion allocated by Congress for bird flu will be used for vaccines. States also will receive some of the money. Colange said Colorado is getting $1.6 million for pandemic preparations. Still, Leavitt is urging states and local governments to make their own preparations.

That strikes us as very wise advice.

Rex Jackson said:

Aside from the non-mosquito transfer, this reminds me of West Nile. In fact, I believe more people died from West Nile. Also, West Nile primarily hit birds and horses as this hits turkeys, chickens and ducks <b>(not sure on the ducks though).</b>

The biggest problem I see is another financial hit seeing so many people eat turkey and chicken as well as the additional health industry prepping.

What scares me more than anything is that yet another Biblical prediction comes true. This makes around 12 of the 20 or so major revelation predictions dead on. I fear that the rest are soon to come..and very soon.

Click to expand...

<center> </center>

<B><font size=+1 color=red><center>Bird flu found in duck</font>

March 19, 2006
<A href="http://www.sundaytelegraph.news.com.au/story/0,9353,18514725-28779,00.html">www.sundaytelegraph.news.com</a></center>
BRUSSELS: Sweden confirmed the H5 strain of bird flu in a duck on a game farm in the east of the country, the second possible case on a commercial farm in the European Union.</b>

All birds on the farm – about 500 mallards and 150 pheasants – were killed and destroyed in the next few hours. After that, more veterinary tests would be carried out, the European Commission said.

Earlier, the Commission said Sweden had notified a confirmation that the lethal H5N1 strain of bird flu had been found in the duck. It then corrected this statement, saying the deadly strain was "strongly suspected but not yet confirmed".

Samples would now be sent to the EU's main bird flu laboratory in Britain to confirm that the duck was infected with the Asian strain of the H5N1 virus, the Commission said.



The Sunday Telegraph

WHO urges 'urgent' studies into efficacy of Tamiflu in treating bird flu​

http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/5773.html

On Friday, the World Health Organization (WHO) urged the medical fraternity and pharmaceutical companies to urgently conduct greater studies into the efficacy of the drug Tamiflu, manufactured by Swiss company Roche Holding AG, in preventing and treating cases of bird flu in humans.

“Because the optimal dosage has not been resolved by clinical trials, and because H5N1 infections continue to have a high mortality rate, prospective studies are needed urgently to determine optimal dosing and duration of treatment,” a statement released by the WHO said.

Conflicting reports about the effectiveness of the drug have triggered fears of disaster should the H5N1 virus mutate into a strain that can be transmitted from one human to another. So far, out of 177 infected human, 98 have succumbed to the disease.

This indicates a high mortality rate and Tamiflu, a drug that is used to treat seasonal influenza, has been used in the treatment and prevention of the disease. Many countries have been stockpiling the drug in anticipation of a pandemic. However, no large-scale study has so far been conducted to look into how Tamiflu, clinically called oseltamivir, can cut the risk of death due to the disease.

“The evidence for effectiveness of oseltamivir in human H5N1 disease is based on virological data from in vitro, animal models, and limited human studies and extrapolation from the results of trials in patients with ordinary human influenza.



There is no direct clinical trial evidence that shows that oseltamivir is effective in human H5N1 disease because such studies have not yet been conducted. Without such trials, the optimal dose and duration of oseltamivir treatment is uncertain in H5N1 disease,” the statement said.

In absence of data, the WHO urged health workers, patients with suspected bird flu and those working with poultry and birds to continue taking Tamiflu as a preventive measure. “For people with repeated or prolonged exposure such as healthcare workers or personnel involved in bird culls, pre-exposure courses, repeat post-exposure courses or continuous treatment may be necessary,” the WHO said.

In the statement, it provided information about the dosages that are recommended for such people. For adults and teenagers over 13 years of age suspected of infection, the dosage is 75 mg twice a day for five days. That for children between one and 13 years varies between 30 mg and 75 mg depending on their body weight.

“It is possible that severely ill patients might benefit from longer duration of therapy (for example seven to 10 days) or perhaps higher doses (for example, 300 mg per day), but prospective studies are required,” the statement said. The dosage for pregnant women was uncertain, but so far no 'harmful effects' on the fetus or pregnancy had been noted. “Decisions to use oseltamivir in pregnant women should be made on a case by case basis where the potential benefit to the mother justifies the potential risk to the fetus,” the statement directed.

Meanwhile, Basel-based Roche said that it would increase production of Tamiflu by an extra 100 million to take the total production to 400 million doses by the end of 2006. In addition, it said that it was also conducting various studies to understand how effective the drug was in curing bird flu. “Roche has in place a number of research initiatives to answer questions raised on the use of Tamiflu against the evolving H5N1 avian virus,” David Reddy, a spokesman for Roche, said.

Caring for seniors, children a problem in a pandemic​

http://www.casperstartribune.net/ar.../wyoming/2897d508948202fb872571330004a45e.txt

By BARBARA NORDBY
Star-Tribune staff writer Saturday, March 18, 2006

Garden Square of Casper dietary aid Candie Spencer makes hot cocoa for resident Barbara Foster on Wednesday afternoon during Tea Time with Candie. Photo by Sarah Beth Barnett, Star-Tribune.

There are more questions than answers about how Natrona County would respond to a pandemic flu.

But the questions are important ones, said health officials planning for the possibility of a new, widespread flu virus that could sicken a quarter of the community at once.

For example, if nurses and caregivers at assisted living facilities were ill or home caring for their own families, who would look after Wyoming's seniors?

"How are you going to take care of 48 people?" asked Judy Steffens, life enrichment director at Garden Square Assisted Living of Casper. "It's scary to me."

Steffens joined about 20 people in the health care, education, media and volunteer fields at a meeting Wednesday at the Casper-Natrona County Health Department. While the Wyoming Medical Center and other health facilities have emergency plans, few are specifically prepared for a health event where so much of the population could be ill at once.

They talked at the meeting about putting a "triage line" into place where people could call a trained volunteer, describe their symptoms, and receive medical advice so as not to overwhelm the emergency room.

Another question: Would it make sense to close the schools?

"There are two differing viewpoints," said department director Bob Harrington.

Some think schools should close to slow the spread of the virus, he said.

But Harrington and other top county and state health officials say it wouldn't make much of a difference.

Dr. Mark Dowell, infectious disease specialist, said the flu spreads so quickly, people pass it on before they know they're sick.

And closing schools would add to the disruption in town if all children were sent home. Their parents would have to leave work to care for them.

The group said schools might close only if there weren't enough students or teachers healthy to keep them open.

As to whether students could still have class through distance learning, Natrona County School District head nurse Suzey Delger said it would be too big a task for the district to develop distance courses for all levels of education. If students missed a lot of school, the district might extend the school year, she said.

Nurse Tracy Hasely at Casper College said she has e-mail contact with the student body and could warn them of a health issue at the click of a button. The college will have to consider how, during a health emergency, to keep on-campus students safe, housed and fed, Hasely said.

Communities have to plan because there won't be help from the federal government, Harrington said.

He attended the state pandemic flu summit in Cheyenne on Friday, when Mike Leavitt, the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, said communities are on their own.

Harrington said most other Wyoming counties haven't begun planning.

"I'm really proud to say we're way ahead of most people, just by the fact that we're doing this," he said.

Rex Jackson said:

Aside from the non-mosquito transfer, this reminds me of West Nile. In fact, I believe more people died from West Nile. Also, West Nile primarily hit birds and horses as this hits turkeys, chickens and ducks (not sure on the ducks though).

The biggest problem I see is another financial hit seeing so many people eat turkey and chicken as well as the additional health industry prepping.

What scares me more than anything is that yet another Biblical prediction comes true. This makes around 12 of the 20 or so major revelation predictions dead on. I fear that the rest are soon to come..and very soon.

Click to expand...

RJ...do you have a list of the 12 out of 20 predictions....It would be interesting to know what the 20 or so predictions are and which ones have come true.

Thanks.......

http://www.newscientist.com/channel...-warnings-issued-over-cats-with-bird-flu.html


Warnings issued over cats with bird flu


NAIL down your cat flaps. Domestic cats are at higher risk of catching the H5N1 bird flu virus than previously thought.

Austrian health authorities last week announced that three out of 40 cats tested positive for the virus on saliva tests at an animal shelter in Graz that also housed infected birds. Yet the cats had no flu symptoms and shed no virus in their faeces, suggesting that a previously unrecognised mode of transmission might have been be at work.

H5N1 can make cats seriously ill. Usually cats eating infected birds develop the virus and shed it in mucus, urine and faeces. This is what is thought to have happened to three cats that died on the German island of Rügen.
“Hundreds of cats have been left at animal shelters by people afraid of bird flu”

The Austrian cats, however, merely shared premises with infected birds, and may have caught the virus from the birds' faeces or by sharing food, says Albert Osterhaus at Erasmus University at Rotterdam in the Netherlands. It is too early to say whether cats could pass on such mild infections to humans or other animals. Even so, hundreds of cats are reported to have been left at animal shelters in France and Germany over the past week by people afraid of bird flu.

JPD: please post a reminder about the press conference on Monday. Thanks for the heads up.

The Flying Dutchman said:

This was how the Spanish Flu of 1918 got started - our troops brought it home

Click to expand...

No, the best evidence points to its originating in the U.S.

Link to tomorrows (3/19) BF thread: http://www.timebomb2000.com/vb/showthread.php?p=1785525&posted=1#post1785525