03/22 | Daily Bird Flu Thread: WHO's Official Death Toll at 103 (56% mortality)

Link to yesterday's thread: http://www.timebomb2000.com/vb/showthread.php?t=190474

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 Azerbaijan
(see update)
o Turkey

* Near East:
o Iraq

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

Updated March 21, 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 Denmark (H5)
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
o Israel

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


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

Updated March 21, 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

Cumulative Number of Confirmed Human Cases of Avian Influenza A/(H5N1) Reported to WHO​

21 March 2006

http://www.who.int/csr/disease/avian_influenza/country/cases_table_2006_03_21/en/index.html

Follow link... the table did not translate into TB readably...

Note: WHO reports only laboratory-confirmed cases.

Assessing Bird Flu​

An outbreak of highly contageous bird flu that began in Southeast Asia three years ago, has now spread to Europe, the Middle East and West Africa. More than 200 million domestic birds have been killed to halt the advance of the virus, called H5N1. Ninety-eight people, who probably contracted the disease through contact with domestic fowl, have died. Scientists believe the virus could evolve and acquire characteristics that would make it easily transmissible among human beings, causing a global influenza epidemic. But they cannot predict when, or if, that will occur.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/graphic/2006/03/18/GR2006031800307.html

Kazakhstan

Time is GMT + 8 hours
Posted: 21 March 2006 0133 hrs

Kazakhstan registers first case of H5N1 bird flu this year​

ASTANA : Kazakhstan registered its first case this year of the deadly strain of H5N1 bird flu, in a swan found dead in the west of the country.

"According to expert reports from the region of Magistau, the pathological agent found in the dead bird, a wild duck ... has tested positive for the H5N1 bird flu virus," said Asylbek Kozhmurayov, the head of the veterinary services in the central Asian country's agriculture ministry.

He said three Kazakh laboratories had on Saturday confirmed the results of tests on a swan that had been found dead in February on the shores of the Caspian Sea.

"The start of the seasonal (bird) migration represents an increased risk for Kazakhstan," he added Monday.

Kazakh Health Minister Yerbolat Dosayev said he was especially concerned at the finding since three people had apparently died from bird flu the previous week in Azerbaijan, which also borders the Caspian Sea.

An outbreak of H5N1 bird flu occurred in northern Kazakhstan in mid-2005, resulting in the slaughter of thousands of domestic poultry. No human cases were reported at that time.

In February, the Kazakh government began vaccinating eight million domestic fowl ahead of the seasonal migration of wild birds, thought to be at least partially responsible for the spread of the disease.

About 100 people have died from bird flu since a first outbreak in 2003, most of them in Asia. - AFP /dt

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_world/view/198909/1/.html

Azerbaijan

WHO Suspects 14 People Infected with Bird Flu in Azerbaijan​

Created: 20.03.2006 16:56 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 17:05 MSK

MosNews

Experts from the World Health Organization suspect 14 more people are infected with bird flu in Azerbaijan where two girls died of the the H5N1 virus earlier this month, Interfax reported Monday.

A group of WHO experts reported their suspicions after visiting the Salyansky district of Azerbaijan, 150 km to the south of the capital Baku.

Earlier three residents of the district were provisionaly diagnosed with bird flu.

Meanwhile, the state commission for preventing the spread of bird flu in Azerbaijan and coordinating the work of relevant government bodies has issued a statement that says no new areas of bird flu outbreak have been discovered, Regnum news agency said.

“Bird flu has not been discovered in new areas. The Health Ministry has said no-one has been hospitalized [with suspected bird flu] in recent days, and that it has stockpiled the medications and disinfectants necessary to prevent and treat the bird flu virus,” the statement read.

http://mosnews.com/news/2006/03/20/azerflu.shtml

School closings may not work in bird flu: study​

Tue Mar 21, 2006 8:22 PM ET

By Jim Loney

ATLANTA (Reuters) - Closing schools may not help contain the spread of bird flu or other potentially pandemic illnesses, according to U.S. research released on Tuesday.

Public health officials are considering school closings, cancellation of big gatherings such as sports events and concerts and other methods to limit contact among people and control the spread of avian influenza.

Urging people to stay at home if they or someone in their household is sick is likely to work better, according to the statistical study unveiled at the International Conference on Emerging Infectious Diseases. The conference, held in Atlanta, brought together experts from some 80 countries.

The H5N1 avian influenza has killed 103 people, most of them in Asia, and infected nearly 200 since it re-emerged in 2003, giving it more than a 50 percent fatality rate. Health officials around the globe are concerned about the possibility of a pandemic if the virus mutates enough to pass easily from person to person.

Because people lack immunity, it could sweep the world in weeks or months and kill millions of people.

The spread of bird flu has accelerated in recent weeks and it is now found across Asia, in Europe, Africa and the Middle East. It has not been found in the United States but top government officials said on Monday it was increasingly likely to reach U.S. shores this year.

Limited stockpiles of drugs that might work against bird flu and delays in creating vaccines for a fast-changing virus have forced public health officials to consider other methods of slowing its spread.

COMPUTER MODELING

Using statistics and computer models, U.S. researchers simulated an influenza outbreak in a small urban community of several thousand people, where people made contact in a variety of places where disease could be transmitted, including schools, homes, day care centers, work places and long-term care facilities.

The results suggested that closing schools might simply send children to other places where they could encounter a virus.

"When we assume school closing, it doesn't mean the children are sent home. They will meet at the movies or other places in the community," said Michael Haber, the study's author and a professor in the Emory University Department of Biostatistics. "Children who are not ill may become sick outside the school."

Much more likely to help slow the spread of bird flu and other viruses is home confinement of anyone who is ill or exposed. The study found that under certain circumstances, infection rates could be reduced up to 52 percent and death rates up to 60 percent by home confinement.

"If we can convince people to stay at home in the early stages when they are sick or when someone in their home is sick this is likely to slow the spread," Haber said. "People who are obviously sick should stay at home, and this means not going to school or the workplace."

The study also found that reducing contact between vulnerable people in long-term care facilities could reduce the spread of virus and mortality rates by as much as 60 percent.

http://today.reuters.com/news/newsA...RUKOC_0_US-BIRDFLU-SCHOOLS.xml&archived=False

More on the story:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060321.wfluu0321
/BNStory/International/home

5 of 7 avian flu victims dead
Associated Press

Geneva — The World Health Organization has confirmed seven human infections of H5N1 avian flu in Azerbaijan, including a cluster of six cases.

Five of the cases have died and an investigation into whether the cluster represents some human-to-human transmission continues.

Confirmation of the cases Tuesday takes the death toll of the H5N1 outbreak over 100. There have been 184 confirmed cases and 103 confirmed deaths in eight countries since the virus re-emerged in late 2003.

But a spokesperson for the agency said the anxiety level surrounding the situation in Azerbaijan has eased because there are no signs of illness in health-care workers or older members of the extended family involved.

“Initially we were very concerned but that concern has diminished substantially,” Dick Thompson said, adding it appears the six people in the cluster had a common exposure to the virus, perhaps in wild birds.

Though confirming the source of the infections may prove to be impossible, experts say this could be the first observed case of transmission of avian influenza to humans from wild birds.

“That would be the first that I know of,” said Dr. Nancy Cox, head of the influenza branch at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta.

The investigation, conducted with the help of an eight-person WHO team in Azerbaijan, points to exposure to sick or dead wild birds.

“There are hints it may have had something to do with defeathering dead swans,” Mr. Thompson said.

A WHO statement referred to the fact that carcasses of dead swans were discovered in the village where the family lived, Daikyand settlement in the Salyan Rayon region.

Swans seem to be particularly susceptible to the H5N1 virus; the discovery of dead swans has been the first sign of the virus in a number of European countries.

“In this community, the defeathering of birds is a task usually undertaken by adolescent girls and young women,” the WHO statement said.

“The WHO team is today investigating whether this practice may have been the source of infection in Daikyand, where the majority of cases have occurred in females between the ages of 15 and 20 years.”

Six of the cases lived in the village of about 800 homes. Five were members of an extended family and one was a family friend.

“Interviews with surviving family members have failed to uncover a history of direct exposure to dead or diseased poultry for several of the cases,” the statement said.

Mr. Thompson said surviving family members and health-care workers who cared for the cases are being tested to see if they might have had mild disease.

The cases were: a 17-year-old girl who died on Feb. 23: her first cousin, a 20-year-old woman, who died on March 3; a 16-year-old brother of the second woman died on March 10 and a 17-year-old girl, a close friend of the family, died on March 8.

WHO said all four of these cases lived together or near each other.

The two surviving cases in Salyan involve a 10-year-old boy, who has since recovered, and a 15-year-old girl, who is hospitalized in critical condition.

The seventh case occurred in a 21-year-old woman from the western rayon of Tarter. She died on March 9. It's not believed she had any connection to the Salyan cases.

As well, a small number of possible cases — fewer than five — are still under investigation, Mr. Thompson said.

Ya beat me to it, Kim99. I was going to post that article. It is very telling. Especially this line........

“Interviews with surviving family members have failed to uncover a history of direct exposure to dead or diseased poultry for several of the cases,” the statement said.

Click to expand...

pandora said:

Ya beat me to it, Kim99. I was going to post that article. It is very telling. Especially this line........

Click to expand...

Yea, this sounds like H2H to me......

If it is H2H, then we may not be waiting for avian flu to arrive via migratory birds in Alaska. We might just see it arrive with one of our soldiers coming home as this country isn't very far from Iraq & Afghanistan. I'm hoping this won't be the case.

=



<B><font szie=+1 color=brown><center>Start Planning for Bird Flu, U.S. Warns Cities, Business</font>

By Liz Ruskin,
The Sacramento Bee, Calif.
<A href="http://www.redorbit.com/news/technology/437429/start_planning_for_bird_flu_us_warns_cities_business/index.html?source=r_technology">www.redorbit.com</a></center>
Mar. 21--WASHINGTON - Communities and businesses should prepare their own plans in case of an avian flu pandemic without counting on a last-minute rescue from Washington, Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt warned Monday. </b>

Leavitt was one of three Cabinet secretaries who told reporters the dangerous strain of avian flu could come to this country in wild birds, and that its first U.S. appearance is likely to be in birds migrating from Asia to Alaska.

"It is increasingly likely that we will detect a highly pathogenic H5N1 strain of avian flu in birds within the U.S. borders, possibly as early as this year," Interior Secretary Gale Norton said.

She and other officials said repeatedly that a bird testing positive for the virus would not mean the disease will become widespread among humans.

The virus, which has appeared in Europe, Africa and Asia, can spread from birds to people, but there's no evidence this type of flu can be transmitted from person to person. Most human cases so far were in people who had close contact with diseased poultry, or virus-contaminated bird blood or droppings.

"At this point, if you're a bird, it's a pandemic," Leavitt said. "If you're a human being, it's not."

The view he presented was far grimmer than those expressed by Norton or Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns. This strain of avian flu is "highly lethal" and there is no human immunity, Leavitt said. It has killed at least 98 people worldwide since 2003 and has a mortality rate of about 50 percent.

Genetically and in the symptoms humans get, it looks very similar to the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918 that killed at least 40 million people.

Leavitt said the government has learned lessons from its bungled response to Hurricane Katrina, but his examples suggested the response to an avian flu pandemic would be more complicated. After most natural disasters, health care workers can come from elsewhere in the country to staff clinics in the affected zone. But a pandemic, he said, strikes everywhere, and each community needs all the resources it has.

It also lasts longer - a year to 18 months, he said.

Cities, schools and churches need to develop their own response plans, he said. Businesses, he said, should consider how they would keep going if a significant number of their employees were unavailable for weeks at a time.

"Any community that fails to prepare with the expectation that the federal government will, at the last moment, be able to come to the rescue will be tragically wrong," he said.

The government is stockpiling Tamiflu and other anti-virals, and it is supporting the development of flu vaccines, he said. It is also gathering masks and ventilators, he said. But "there is no way in which 5,000 different communities can be responded to simultaneously," he warned.

Norton said the government is stepping up its monitoring of wild birds. It plans to take samples this year from 75,000 to 100,000 live and dead wild birds, which can serve as an early warning system.

-----

Kim99 said:

But a spokesperson for the agency said the anxiety level surrounding the situation in Azerbaijan has eased because there are no signs of illness in health-care workers or older members of the extended family involved.

...

Six of the cases lived in the village of about 800 homes. Five were members of an extended family and one was a family friend.

...

Mr. Thompson said surviving family members and health-care workers who cared for the cases are being tested to see if they might have had mild disease.

Click to expand...

Wow-a! There's a story to wake up to.

a) demographics, show that BF hits younger harder than older...

b) the 2 key indicators of H2H are family clusters and health care workers getting sick.

It looks like time to keep an hawks eye on the Azerbaijan stories. There has been a lot of noise lately about the virus mutating... maybe that's their way of giving us a 'heads-up'.

From yesterday, but relevant here...

Fatal H5N1 Bird Flu Familial Cluster in Azerbaijan Confirmed​

http://www.recombinomics.com/News/03210603/H5N1_Azerbaijan_Cluster_Confirmed.html

Recombinomics Commentary
March 21, 2006

Samples from 11 patients under investigation in Azerbaijan for possible H5N1 infection have now been tested at a WHO collaborating laboratory in the United Kingdom. Positive H5N1 results were obtained for seven of these patients. Five cases were fatal.

Six of the cases occurred in Salyan Rayon in the south-eastern part of the country. All six cases resided in the small Daikyand settlement of around 800 homes.

A 17-year-old girl died on 23 February. Her first cousin, a 20-year-old woman, died on 3 March. The 16-year-old brother of this woman died on 10 March. A 17-year-old girl, a close friend of the family, died on 8 March. All four of these cases lived together or near each other. The source of their infection is presently under investigation.

The additional two cases in Salyan involve a 10-year-old boy, who has recovered, and a 15-year-old girl, who is hospitalized in critical condition.

The seventh case occurred in a 21-year-old woman from the western rayon of Tarter. She died on 9 March.

Two additional patients, from Salyan and the adjacent rayon of Neftchela, have been hospitalized with symptoms of bilateral pneumonia. Testing of these patients is presently under way.

The above comments from the WHO update confirm media reports and commentaries on the relationship of the Azerbaijan familial cluster. It is reassuring that such relationships are again appearing in WHO updates. The initial familial clusters in Turkey did not include the relationship between three familial clusters of cousins.

Like Turkey, in addition to the familial cluster there is a geographical cluster suggesting the transmission of H5N1 to people has become more efficient. The proximity of the Azerbaijan cases to the Dogubeyazit cluster in eastern Turkey raises the possibility that S227N may be involved. Donor sequences were identified in H9N2 isolates that are endemic to the region, so new recombinants could be generated. However, the S227N change only reduces affinity for avian receptors, so S227N detected in the index case in Turkey could have also been transmitted to the index case in Azerbaijan via infected birds.

Alternatively, the close proximity of Azerbaijan to Dogubeyazit may indicate more efficient human-to-human transmission via less intimate contact. The dates of death of family members and a close friend suggest human-to-human transmission may be more efficient.

Isolation of the H5N1 and release of the sequences from this cluster would be useful. Although one H5N1 sequences from the bird flu infection in western Turkey last October has been released, none of the sequences from human cases in Turkey have been made public. This delay appears to be linked directly to Weybridge, since they have already released the turkey H5N1 sequence from Turkey. Moreover, they have held a large number of H5N1 sequences from isolates throughout Europe. Other countries, such as Russia, Italy, France, Nigeria, Iraq, Iran, and Denmark have released sequences as soon as the accuracy of the sequence has been verified.

The growing cluster in Azerbaijan highlights the need for immediate release of the sequestered sequences as well as rapid release of the H5N1 in this new geographic and familial cluster.

In

this country about 15000 people die each year from sleeping pills.

compare that too less than 200 from bird flu in 3 years.

get a grip.


climate change has killed far more, and there is no doubt it will get far worse.



ohhhhhhh,


don't forget, the .gov is buying up all the ammo. all of it.

be far more afraid of that my friends.

something wicked this way comes.



ds

Resolved: Why bird flu virus is not [My Addition: Yet efficiently.] contagious between humans​

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_world/view/199192/1/.html

PARIS - Virologists say they understand why bird influenza in its present form does not spread among humans, and the finding suggests the world may have a precious breathing space to prepare for any flu pandemic.

The reason lies in minute differences to cells located in the top and bottom of the airways, the team report in Thursday's issue of Nature, the weekly British science journal.

To penetrate a cell, the spikes that stud an influenza virus have to be able to bind to the cellular surface.

The virus spike is like a key and the cell's docking point, called a receptor, is like a lock. They both have to be the right shape for the connection to happen.

Scientists in the United States and Japan, led by Yoshihiro Kawaoka of the
University of Wisconsin at Madison, found that avian influenza viruses and human influenza viruses home in on slightly different receptors.

The receptor preferred by human flu is more prevalent in cells in the mucous lining of the nose and sinus as well as the throat, trachea and bronchi.

But the receptor preferred by bird flu tends to be found among cells deep in the lung, in ball-like structures called the alveoli.

It means H5N1 is likely to hole up in a part of the airways that does not cause coughing and sneezing -- the means by which the flu virus is classically transmitted among humans.

Bird flu is lethal to poultry and dangerous for humans in close proximity to infected fowl. It has claimed more than 100 lives, according to a World Health Organisation (WHO) toll.

But, apart from a few anecdotal cases, the mortality has occurred exclusively by direct transmission from birds to humans and not among humans themselves. To acquire that contagiousness would open the way to a pandemic.

"Our findings indicate that H5N1 virus... can replicate efficiently only in cells in the lower region of the respiratory tract, where the avian virus receptor is prevalent," the paper says.

"This restriction may contribute to the inefficient human-to-human transmission of H5N1 viruses seen to date."

So what would turn H5N1 into a pandemic virus?

First and foremost, it would need mutations in the spike, the haemagglutinin (HA) molecule, to enable the virus to bind to cells in the upper respiratory tract.

This would enable the virus to spread via coughs and sneezes and nasal mucus, which are caused by irritation to the upper airways.

To boost its pandemic potential, the virus also needs changes in its PB2 gene, which controls an enzyme essential for efficient reproduction.

"Nobody knows whether the virus will evolve into a pandemic strain, but flu viruses constantly change," said Kawaoka.

"Certainly, multiple mutations need to be accumulated for the H5N1 to become a pandemic strain."

The findings suggest scientists and public health agencies may have more time to prepare for an eventual pandemic of avian influenza, the team believe.

Kawaoka's team exposed various tissues from the human respiratory tract to a range of viruses in lab dishes.

The viruses were the human strains H1N1 and H3N2 and the bird strains H3N2 and H4N6. In addition, there were two H5N1 samples, one taken from a human victim in Hong Kong and one from a duck in Vietnam.

Flu viruses reproduce sloppily, which induces slight changes in their genetic code. This movement is called antigenic drift, and explains why seasonal flu viruses keep changing and new updated vaccines are needed.

But they can also make big changes, called antigenic shift, in which new genes are brought in, thus creating a new pathogen against which no one has immunity. A novel flu virus that emerged after World War I killed as many as 50 million people.

By closely monitoring viruses from people infected with avian flu, scientists can get an early warning as to whether these strains are mutating into forms that will make it easier to fit into human receptors, Kawaoka said. - AFP/ir

Small Possible Mutation Vectors with H5 Avian Viruses Shown​

http://technocrat.net/d/2006/3/19/1454?via=rss

A team of researchers have identified a probable way for the Avian Flu virus to become human to human transmissible. They have found that small chemical "bindings" can change readily, and give the virus the ability to take hold in the human respiratory tract, whereas now it is mostly limited to avian digestive tracts, which is why it has not yet reached human pandemic levels.

Abstract: Structure and Receptor Specificity of the Hemagglutinin from an H5N1 Influenza Virus

News release from Scripps Research Institute:

"Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute, the Centers for Disease Control, and the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology have identified what the researchers described as a possible pathway for a particularly virulent strain of the avian flu virus H5N1 "to gain a foothold in the human population."

The H5N1 avian influenza virus, commonly known as "bird flu," is a highly contagious and deadly disease in poultry. So far, its spread to humans has been limited, with 177 documented severe infections, and nearly 100 deaths in Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, China, Iraq, and Turkey as of March 14, 2006, according to the World Health Organization.

"With continued outbreaks of the H5N1 virus in poultry and wild birds, further human cases are likely," said Ian Wilson, Scripps Research professor of molecular biology and head of the laboratory that conducted the recent study. "The potential for the emergence of a human-adapted H5 virus, either by re-assortment or mutation, is a clear threat to public health worldwide."

Of the H5N1 strains isolated to date, the researchers looked at A/Vietnam/1203/2004 (Viet04), one of the most pathogenic H5N1 viruses studied so far. The virus was originally isolated from a 10-year-old Vietnamese boy who died from the infection in 2004. The hemagglutinin (HA) structure from the Viet04 virus was found to be closely related to the 1918 virus HA, which caused some 50 million deaths worldwide.

Using a recently developed microarray technology—hundreds of microscopic assay sites on a single small surface—the study showed that relatively small mutations can result in switching the binding site preference of the avian virus from receptors in the intestinal tract of birds to the respiratory tract of humans.These mutations, the study noted, were already "known in [some human influenza] viruses to increase binding for these receptors."

The study was published on March 16, 2006 by ScienceXpress, the advance online version of the journal Science.

Receptor specificity for the influenza virus is controlled by the glycoprotein hemagglutinin (HA) on the virus surface. These viral HAs bind to host cell receptors containing complex glycans—carbohydrates—that in turn contain terminal sialic acids. Avian viruses prefer binding to a2-3-linked sialic acids on receptors of intestinal epithelial cells, while human viruses are usually specific for the a2-6 linkage on epithelial cells of the lungs and upper respiratory tract. Such interactions allow the virus membrane to fuse with the membrane of the host cell so that viral genetic material can be transferred to the cell.

The switch from a2-3 to a2-6 receptor specificity is a critical step in the adaptation of avian viruses to a human host and appears to be one of the reasons why most avian influenza viruses, including current avian H5 strains, are not easily transmitted from human-to-human following avian-to-human infection. However, the report did suggest that "once a foothold in a new host species is made, the virus HA can optimize its specificity to the new host."

"Our recombinant approach to the structural analysis of the Viet04 virus showed that when we inserted HA mutations that had already been shown to shift receptor preference in H3 HAs to the human respiratory tract, the mutations increased receptor preference of the Viet04 HA towards specific human glycans that could serve as receptors on lung epithelial cells," Wilson said. "The effect of these mutations on the Viet04 HA increases the likelihood of binding to and infection of susceptible epithelial cells."

The study was careful to note that these results reveal only one possible route for virus adaptation. The study concluded that other, as yet "unidentified mutations" could emerge, allowing the avian virus to switch receptor specificity and make the jump to human-to-human transmission.

The glycan microarray technology, which was used to identify the mutations that could enable adaptation of H5N1 into the human population in the laboratory, could also be used to help identify new active virus strains in the field by monitoring changes in the receptor binding preference profile where infection is active, according to Jeremy M. Berg, the director of the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The glycan microarray was developed by The Consortium for Functional Glycomics, an international group led by Scripps Research scientists and supported by the NIGMS.

"This technology allows researchers to assay hundreds of carbohydrate varieties in a single experiment," Berg said. "The glycan microarray offers a detailed picture of viral receptor specificity that can be used to map the evolution of new human pathogenic strains, such as the H5N1 avian influenza, and could prove invaluable in the early identification of emerging viruses that could cause new epidemics."

Other authors of the study include James Stevens of Scripps Research; Ola Blixt of Scripps Research and Glycan Array Synthesis Core-D, Consortium for Functional Glycomics; Terrence M. Tumpey, Influenza Branch, Division of Viral and Rickettsial Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Jeffery K. Taubenberger, Department of Molecular Pathology, Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, and; James C. Paulson, Scripps Research and Glycan Array Synthesis Core-D, Consortium for Functional Glycomics.

The work was supported by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, the National Institute of General Medical Sciences and the National Institutes of Health."

Time is GMT + 8 hours
Posted: 22 March 2006 1755 hrs

China agrees to share bird flu samples ​

BEIJING : China has agreed to share up to 20 virus samples from poultry killed by bird flu, a move that could help scientists develop an effective vaccine, the World Health Organisation said.

WHO officials in Beijing said Chinese authorities had granted a request for up to 20 live samples to be analysed in WHO-linked laboratories.

"We hope that within a matter of days, maximum weeks, these viruses should be on the way," Julie Hall, a communicable disease expert at WHO's Beijing office, told reporters.

The shipment is "significantly larger" than the last one China provided, which consisted of five live poultry viruses in 2004. It did not provide samples last year.

Hall said WHO enjoyed good cooperation with China's health ministry, which has shared viruses from human cases, but encountered problems trying to convince the agriculture ministry to share poultry viruses.

She said part of the problem was that scientists wanted credit for their work and to follow through on research into viruses they isolated, instead of turning the work over to others.

The two sides worked out an arrangement that will give the scientists due recognition and involve them in subsequent research, Hall said.

WHO officials expressed hope the deal would open the way for regular sharing, seen as crucial in determining the different types of strains of the virus and how they affect humans.

"We hope this is now the start of regular sharing that doesn't involve the degree of negotiations that we've had... and that we will now see not just a one-off large shipment but regular shipments," Hall said.

"We're still at a stage where every time we want viruses, we have to negotiate," she said.

China has reported 34 outbreaks among poultry since the beginning of last year and 15 confirmed human cases of bird flu, resulting in 10 deaths.

The virus has killed more than 100 people worldwide since 2003, mostly in Asia. It has spread from Asia to Europe and Africa in recent months.

"The larger our library (of samples), the closer (and) the more prepared we are and the more likely we are to have something ready to go if a pandemic starts," Hall said. - AFP/de

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_asiapacific/view/199224/1/.html

Israel

Bird flu suspected to have reached Jordan Valley​

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
JPost.com Staff, THE JERUSALEM POST Mar. 22, 2006

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The deadly bird flu virus was suspected on Wednesday to have spread to the Jordan Valley moshav of Beka'ot.

Initial tissue samples tests returned results that appeared to be positive, but Dr. Shimon Pokamunski, expert of avian diseases at the Agriculture Ministry revealed the results were inconclusive.

As the Beka'ot flocks experienced low mortality, the moshav was not quarantined. Additional tests were to be conducted, Israel Radio reported.

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1139395655685&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull

This line is interesting from post #6:

"When we assume school closing, it doesn't mean the children are sent home. They will meet at the movies or other places in the community," said Michael Haber, the study's author and a professor in the Emory University Department of Biostatistics. "Children who are not ill may become sick outside the school."

I hadn't thought of parents who know school is closed due to contagion but can't figure out to keep the kids home.


Dragonslayer: though I have generally avoided addressing your comments, the ones you posted above just don't follow logic. We all know pandemic is a possible, to some degree probable, event that hasn't happened yet. We are simply watching.
Really, how many nuclear bombs have killed people this year? Then why do we care who has them? Because there is a possibility they might use them that is beyond our control. Like an epidemic that goes pandemic.

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<B><font size=+1 color=red><center>Bird Flu `Red Alert`</font>
<font size=+0 color=green>in NWFP after conformation from UK </font>

Tuesday March 21, 2006 (1640 PST)
<A href="http://paktribune.com/news/index.php?id=138101">paktribune.com</a></center>
PESHAWAR, March 22 (Online): Ministry of Food and Agriculture has directed NWFP government to immediately establish monitoring cells for surveillance of poultry farms in the province after British Laboratory verified presence of bird flu virus in samples send from Abottabad and Charsada to UK.

Talking to Online, Secretary Livestock Shahrukh Arbab said ministry of food and agriculture has announced a red alert in the province and under the directives of center, provincial government has constituted monitoring cells all over the province. </b>

An amount of Rs 5 million has been disbursed for this process, he added. He recalled that provincial government after getting information about presence of Bird Flu virus in Abottabad and Charsada and culled poultry products.

World Health Organisation also performed tests at the employees of poultry farms and also verified that there was no bird flu virus in the area. He also said taking one step further we are also testing all people attached to the poultry industry.

We will also take samples from all over the province, if we were taking only ten samples from the poultry farms before this then from now on we will take hundred samples.

Responding to a query, he said we are also going to hold a meeting with poultry association in this regard. He said we are also taking steps to create awareness about bird flu among masses.

End.

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<B><font size=+1 color=brown><center>Group warns of bird flu devastation</font>

Mar. 20, 2006. 06:45 PM
SANDRA CORDON
CANADIAN PRESS
<A href="http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1142874726655&call_pageid=968350072197&col=969048863851">www.thestar.com</a></center>
OTTAWA — Most Canadian businesses aren't yet prepared for a bird flu pandemic that could eventually cost the economy $60 billion, warns a leading lobby group for the export and manufacturing sector</b>

By failing to prepare continuity plans, including ways to cope if a global flu outbreak closes borders and cuts transport routes, businesses are flirting with serious trouble, warns Perrin Beatty, president of Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters.

"Canada's business community is at risk ... it's not a matter of if but a question of when the next pandemic will strike," added Beatty, whose group has prepared a planning guide to help business prepare for the impacts.

The business lobby based its forecasts on both World Bank estimates that the cost to the global economy of a flu pandemic would exceed $800 billion US, and a U.S. Congressional Budget Office prediction that an outbreak would shave five percentage points off U.S. annual GDP. That means an economy growing at five per cent a year would essentially stand still.

Apply that metric to Canada's $1.2 trillion annual economy and the cost of a bird flu pandemic could rise to as high as $60 billion, says the manufacturing group, which has posted its planning guide on its website.

Good incentive for even smaller businesses to develop internal plans for coping, said the group.

But that can be easier said than done, said the organization's chief economist Jay Myers.

"You really do need kind of a guide ... it's very difficult to prepare for something where you really don't know what all of the various implications might be," he said.

The CME's forecast of the potential economic harm from a pandemic is high compared with other estimates to date.

The federal Finance department, for one, reckons a 1.2 percentage point hit to Canada's economy, at a cost of about $14 billion.

Worldwide, concern is growing about the likelihood of a pandemic and how government and business can prepare.

Such a pandemic is the global threat that most preoccupies business leaders — beyond even terrorist attacks or a spike in oil prices, according to a study prepared for the recent World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

Oil price shocks and terrorism were deemed to be risks but thought less likely in 2006 than an avian flu pandemic, concluded the Global Risks 2006 report.

Another recent survey by TEC International found 87 per cent of 100 Canadian chief executives polled said they expect a pandemic would have a negative impact on business.

So far, the avian flu hasn't jumped from humans to humans — the more than 80 people who have died from the virus since 2003 caught it by direct contact with infected birds.

But health experts fear the H5N1 virus could find a way to mutate into a form that spreads between people and could then spread far more rapidly and easily around the world.

Government and health agencies have been preparing contingency plans.

But companies in Canada — particularly small and mid-sized operations which make up the bulk of the country's business sector — have many more questions than plans, said Myers.

Alcan Inc., (TSX: AL) is one international player that has a crisis management plan for a pandemic, incorporating medical preparedness, a business continuity plan and communications strategy.

It has also struck a special committee including health and safety officers to advice senior management on an flu outbreak or pandemic.

But smaller outfits need a little advice in developing their own plans to stay operational during an outbreak, said Myers.

That should include naming a pandemic co-ordinator, defining what elements of the operation are essential and how to cope if supply lines are cut off or even slowed.

For example, illness among border guards could slow transport of goods in and out of Canada which could hurt companies that rely on just-in-time delivery.

Sizable numbers of staff — up to 50 per cent at the peak of a pandemic — could call in sick for as long as two weeks, or be needed at home to nurse ill relatives.

"Be aware that as a business, you have an obligation to your employees and to other stake-holders, suppliers, customers — and some of those are legal obligations that you'll have to follow as well," said Myers.

Certain sectors of the economy would likely be hit harder than others if a flu pandemic spreads to Canada.

Travel and tourism would be obvious early targets but the hospitality and entertainment sectors would also be sideswiped as people would likely avoid going out socially and risking infection.

Federal Finance department documents have suggested an avian flu virus could infect as many as 6.2 million Canadians, killing about 133,000.

In an average year, seasonal flu kills about 8,000 Canadians, says Health Canada.

South of the border, the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush has taken a darker view.

It has warned that a severe pandemic could infect up to a third of the U.S. population and kill anywhere from 209,000 to 1.9 million Americans, says the Bush administration's recent Pandemic Influenza Plan.

It put the health costs alone, not counting disruption to the economy, at $181 billion US for even a moderate pandemic.

Schools Told to Prepare for Bird Flu​

http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/03/22/D8GGKFE00.html
Mar 22 7:48 AM US/Eastern
By BEN FELLER
AP Education Writer

WASHINGTON

The nation's schools, recognized incubators of respiratory diseases among children, are being told to plan for the possibility of an outbreak of bird flu.

Federal health leaders say it is not alarmist or premature for schools to make preparations, such as finding ways to teach kids even if they've all been sent home.

School boards and superintendents have gotten used to emergency planning for student violence, terrorism or severe weather. Pandemic preparation, though, is a new one.

They have a lot to think over, top government officials said Tuesday.

Who coordinates decisions on closing schools or quarantining kids? If classes shut down for weeks, how will a district keep kids from falling behind? Who will keep the payroll running, or ease the fear of parents, or provide food to children who count on school meals?

"Those are the kinds of issues that I don't think people have spent a lot of time talking about yet," said Stephen Bounds, director of legal and policy services for the Maryland Association of School Boards.

"But if New Orleans and Katrina taught us nothing else, it taught us you need to be thinking about things ahead of time _ and preparing for the worst," Bounds said.

The urgency is about bird flu, the name for the deadly H5N1 strain of the avian flu.

It remains primarily a contagious bird disease. Typically spread from direct contact with contaminated birds, it has infected more than 170 people and killed roughly 100. None of those cases occurred in the United States, but officials say bird flu is likely to arrive this year in birds.

As outbreaks have hit Africa, Asia and Europe, officials have launched campaigns to educate the public. To help stop the spread of the disease, farmers have killed tens of millions of chickens and turkeys.

Experts fear the virus could change into a form that passes easily among people.

In North Carolina on Tuesday, Education Secretary Margaret Spellings joined Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt to encourage schools to prepare. Spellings said schools must be aware that they may have to close their buildings _ or that their schools may need to be used as makeshift hospitals, quarantine sites or vaccination centers.

The government has created checklists on preparation and response steps, specialized for preschools, grade schools, high schools and colleges. The dominant theme is the need for coordination among local, state and federal officials.

Some of the advice is common sense, like urging students to wash their hands and cover their mouths when they cough or sneeze to keep infection from spreading. Other steps would take schools considerable time to figure out, such as legal and communication issues.

"I don't think that the issue of bird flu has resonated yet," said Reg Weaver, president of the National Education Association, which represents many of the country's teachers.

Weaver praised the federal government for providing guidance that can be plugged into a school district's crisis plan. But the sudden urgency on bird flu, he said, should not steal attention from the daily struggles schools face, like trying to keep their classrooms safe.

Children age 5 to 18 tend to be the biggest spreaders of flu viruses in the community, experts say. Schools may be ordered to close to prevent spreading the disease.

In Massachusetts, school administrators are considering using an automated phone bank to announce homework assignments and update parents. Another plan would use the Internet for communication between students and their teachers.

But those plans are limited, and many places have had budget cuts in technology, said Tom Scott, executive director of the Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents. "I don't think we're anywhere near having a systemic way of approaching this," he said.

Any school closing may not be for only a day or two. A shutdown would probably have to last a month or longer to be effective, said flu specialist Ira Longini, a faculty member at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and a professor at the University of Washington in Seattle.

"The school itself plays a big role," said Longini. "It's just a massive mixing ground for respiratory illness."

At the college level, the American Council on Education, a higher education umbrella group, has alerted thousands of college presidents about the need to prepare for bird flu.

Federal health leaders have advised each college to establish a pandemic response team and plan for outbreak scenarios that could close or quarantine their campuses.

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<B><center>A flu pandemic in Virginia?
<font size=+1 color=green>Look at the numbers</font>

March 2006
<A href="http://blogs.roanoke.com/chatscan/archives/2006/03/a_flu_pandemic_1.html">blogs.roanoke.com</a></center>
Leaders in business, health care, law enforcement, government and education will gather in Richmond to plan for the possibility of a global flu crisis. According to a primer from the Virginia Department of Health, a flu pandemic of medium severity could bring the following:</b>

In the United States:
• 89,000 to 207,000 deaths

• 314,000 and 734,000 hospitalizations

• 18 to 42 million outpatient visits

• 20 to 47 million people becoming sick

• An economic impact ranging between $71.3 and $166.5 billion


In Virginia:
• 2,700 to 6,300 deaths

• 12,000 to 28,500 hospitalizations

• 575,000 to 1.35 million outpatient visits

• 1.08 million to 2.52 million people becoming sick


The Virginia Pandemic Influenza Summit is Thursday. To get up to speed on the issue, one place to start is this Web site maintained by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

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<B><font siz=+1 color=blue><center>School closings may not work in bird flu: study</font>

Tue Mar 21, 2006 8:22 PM ET
By Jim Loney
<A href="http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=healthNews&storyID=2006-03-22T012235Z_01_N21278278_RTRUKOC_0_US-BIRDFLU-SCHOOLS.xml&archived=False">today.reuters.com</a></center>
ATLANTA (Reuters) - Closing schools may not help contain the spread of bird flu or other potentially pandemic illnesses, according to U.S. research released on Tuesday.

Public health officials are considering school closings, cancellation of big gatherings such as sports events and concerts and other methods to limit contact among people and control the spread of avian influenza.</b>

Urging people to stay at home if they or someone in their household is sick is likely to work better, according to the statistical study unveiled at the International Conference on Emerging Infectious Diseases. The conference, held in Atlanta, brought together experts from some 80 countries.

The H5N1 avian influenza has killed 103 people, most of them in Asia, and infected nearly 200 since it re-emerged in 2003, giving it more than a 50 percent fatality rate. Health officials around the globe are concerned about the possibility of a pandemic if the virus mutates enough to pass easily from person to person.

Because people lack immunity, it could sweep the world in weeks or months and kill millions of people.

The spread of bird flu has accelerated in recent weeks and it is now found across Asia, in Europe, Africa and the Middle East. It has not been found in the United States but top government officials said on Monday it was increasingly likely to reach U.S. shores this year.

Limited stockpiles of drugs that might work against bird flu and delays in creating vaccines for a fast-changing virus have forced public health officials to consider other methods of slowing its spread.

COMPUTER MODELING

Using statistics and computer models, U.S. researchers simulated an influenza outbreak in a small urban community of several thousand people, where people made contact in a variety of places where disease could be transmitted, including schools, homes, day care centers, work places and long-term care facilities.

The results suggested that closing schools might simply send children to other places where they could encounter a virus.

"When we assume school closing, it doesn't mean the children are sent home. They will meet at the movies or other places in the community," said Michael Haber, the study's author and a professor in the Emory University Department of Biostatistics. "Children who are not ill may become sick outside the school."

Much more likely to help slow the spread of bird flu and other viruses is home confinement of anyone who is ill or exposed. The study found that under certain circumstances, infection rates could be reduced up to 52 percent and death rates up to 60 percent by home confinement.

"If we can convince people to stay at home in the early stages when they are sick or when someone in their home is sick this is likely to slow the spread," Haber said. "People who are obviously sick should stay at home, and this means not going to school or the workplace."

The study also found that reducing contact between vulnerable people in long-term care facilities could reduce the spread of virus and mortality rates by as much as 60 percent.

Chicken Raiser, Company Say U.S. Poultry is Safe From Asian Bird Flu​

http://www.kltv.com/Global/story.asp?S=4664045

Birds are big business in East Texas, and many family chicken producers and huge processing plants like Pilgrim's Pride.

The worse case scenario: The potentially deadly strain of bird flu spreading through poultry population here. But should you be concerned? With the migration of the virulent strain of bird flu around the world, at Pilgrim's Pride headquarters in Pittsburg, everyone's on watch.

"We're meeting on a regular basis and we're sharing information with our customers and consumers." says Vice President Gary Rhodes says the U.S. is in the clear for now.

"The avian influenza that is sweeping Europe and parts of Asia has never been found in the United States and is not here now, but that's why we have testing to ensure that the product we're selling to our customers is safe to eat," Rhodes says.

"They test each flock." says one of those raisers near Pittsburg, Tim Nicholson. He says safety measures are in place strong as ever. No outsiders, not even our cameras can be allowed on his farm.

"We have an enclosed house. No other poultry will be in our house. We practice biosecurity, and we don't let anybody on the farm that needs to be there," Nicholson says.

The deadly strain of bird flu can spread from chicken to chicken,and experts say if migratory birds mingled with farm poultry, it could be disaster.

Rhodes says poultry that make it to your table don't roam in backyards, but are under lock and key from hatching to final processing.

"If the highly pathogenic form of [Avian Influenza] were ever found in the United States, the flock would be quarantined and completely killed," Rhodes says.

In Italy, poultry consumption fell 70 percent after bird flu was found in wild swans. That would be devastating to East Texas raisers and to Pilgrim's Pride.

But they say what they know about the virus is that even if it does make it to the consumerm, It's killed in the cooking process.

"The fact is that properly cooked chicken is absolutely safe to eat," Rhodes said.

Reported by Morgan Palmer.

Romania confirms more bird flu​

http://news.monstersandcritics.com/health/article_1149232.php/Romania_confirms_more_bird_flu

BUCHAREST, Romania (UPI) -- Veterinary officials confirmed a bird-flu outbreak in poultry in near Romania`s capital, the Bucharest Daily News reported Wednesday.

The officials said dead poultry found in a village near the capital were infected with the H5N1 strain of avian influenza and immediately ordered quarantine in the area.

Disinfection checkpoints were set up around Magurele in Ilfov County, about 50 miles southwest of Bucharest, and the officials began testing for bird-flu virus in other poultry.

In the meantime, quarantine was lifted in three areas of the Constanta County, on the Black Sea coast.

A total number of bird flu outbreaks in Romania were about 50. Apart from thousands of birds already destroyed, the officials said more than 100,000 birds would be killed to stop the bird flu virus from spreading.

How a Pandemic Takes Wing​

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/11959400/

While fear of avian flu is spreading, the disease has yet to claim a single U.S. victim, human or avian. All it might take to change that is a single cat

By Catherine Arnst

Updated: 11:00 p.m. ET March 21, 2006

Springtime usually brings joy to Alaska after a long winter. This year, however, it is also likely to bring the avian flu virus, carried by infected wild birds migrating from Asia. If so, the virus could spread to birds in the lower 48 states in a matter of months.

At that point, the population that most worries the world's infectious disease trackers is not so much the nation's human population -- the virus has yet to evolve into a form that easily infects humans. It is not even domestic poultry, since most U.S. commercial bird flocks are sealed away in covered buildings, never coming in contact with wild birds.

What keeps some scientists up at night is the 75 million household cats, plus the 40 to 60 million feral cats roaming the countryside, some of which are sure to eat infected birds. "If it gets into cats in this country it will spread like crazy," warns Larry Glickman, a professor of epidemiology at Purdue University School of Veterinarian Medicine. "Many of these cats sleep in bed with their owners. The potential that they could spread it to humans is very large."

CASH SHORTAGE.

The federal government is well aware of the potential dangers of an avian flu outbreak in humans. So it is dramatically stepping up efforts to monitor migratory birds, particularly in Alaska.

Health & Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt says the H5N1 virus that causes avian flu could reach the U.S. by summer or fall -- a reasonable assumption, given that it has spread to at least five new countries in March alone. In addition, the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention [CDC] just reported that a new variant of the virus has evolved with genetic characteristics that increase the risk of infection in humans.

At this point, surveillance efforts in the U.S. and overseas are focused on birds and the people who come in contact with them. There is no official effort to monitor household pets for infection. And while Purdue's vet school has, in fact, developed such a system under a grant from the CDC, no one has stepped forward to finance its implementation.

BIRDS, PIGS, PEOPLE.

Meanwhile, epidemiologists have confirmed that the virus has killed three cats, a dog, and a weasel in Europe in recent weeks. "This is what we're most worried about," says Walter Boyce, director of the Wildlife Health Center at University of California-Davis's School of Veterinary Medicine. "Every time this virus jumps into a new species, it has a chance to undergo more evolution."

In the virus world, evolution can lead to a scary narrative. As long as H5N1 is passed primarily among birds, a human pandemic is not in the cards. The virus has so far been found in 178 people, 101 of whom died. All got it from handling live or recently killed poultry.

As the virus finds new hosts, however, the opportunity arises for it to swap tiny bits of its DNA with a virus that can be exchanged among humans. Recent studies have suggested, for example, that the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918 was the result of an avian virus that mingled with bits of a virus found in pigs. The end result was a microbe that was both deadly and highly transmissible.

MONITORING SAMPLES.

Nobody knows whether or not the current strain of H5N1 will eventually cause a human pandemic. Boyce says we should be thinking of how to handle the intermediate stage: "What do we need to do when the virus is found in geese or even cats, but not in humans? How do we keep people from panicking?"

To keep tabs on the cat population, Glickman and other researchers at Purdue have designed a computerized surveillance system that analyzes veterinarian records for unusual clusters of symptoms that might indicate an infectious outbreak.

The data flows in from more than 500 animal hospitals spread throughout the U.S. They are operated by Portland [Ore.]-based Banfield the Pet Hospital, which, unlike most hospitals for human patients, keeps sophisticated, systemwide electronic records. The data can be extracted on a daily, or even hourly, basis. "By routinely testing blood samples from cats and pet birds that come to the Banfield hospitals, we can monitor the emergence and movement of the avian flu virus," says Glickman.

RATIONAL FEARS?

Other researchers share concerns about animal populations. Tracey McNamara, a veterinary pathologist at New York's Bronx Zoo, worries about the feces of infected wild birds, a common reservoir for the virus. Geese produce a pound of feces a day and some studies have found that viruses can survive there for up to a week. William Karesh, director of the field vet program for the Wildlife Conservation Society, says birds smuggled in from nations where the virus is well-established form the most likely path of transmission to North America. He calls for stepped up monitoring of the ports.

There is, of course, an optimistic cohort of researchers who believe the virus will never mutate to become an infectious human disease. Or perhaps, if it does, it will turn out to be more benign than everyone expects. The Hong Kong flu pandemic of 1964, for example, killed about 34,000 people in the U.S. That's actually fewer than die during a normal flu season. But since the course of this disease cannot be predicted, our best defensive action is to monitor the animals that are the first to succumb.

Bird Flu Reported In 45 Countries So Far, See The List​

22 Mar 2006

The number of countries reporting bird flu within their borders has increased to 45. In our last report, 6 March, there were 40 countries.

Three years ago Bird Flu (Avian Flu) started establishing itself in South East Asia, notably in Vietnam. It gradually spread to neighbouring countries. Since the beginning of this year the geographical spread of the H5N1 bird flu virus strain has been accelerating. H5N1 has now been reported in three continents, Asia, Africa and Europe. Experts say it is only a question of time before it is present throughout the globe.

Here is the list of countries that have reported cases of bird flu infection since 2003:

-- Albania
-- Austria
-- Azerbaijan (human cases confirmed)
-- Bosnia and Herzegovina
-- Bulgaria
-- Burma
-- Cambodia (human cases confirmed)
-- Cameroon
-- China (human cases confirmed)
-- Croatia
-- Cyprus
-- Denmark
-- Egypt
-- France
-- Georgia
-- Germany
-- Greece
-- Hungary
-- India
-- Indonesia (human cases confirmed)
-- Iran
-- Iraq (human cases confirmed)
-- Italy
-- Japan
-- Kazakhstan
-- Kuwait
-- Laos
-- Malaysia
-- Mongolia
-- Niger
-- Nigeria
-- Poland
-- Pakistan
-- Romania
-- Russia
-- Serbia and Montenegro
-- Slovakia
-- Slovenia
-- South Korea
-- Sweden
-- Switzerland
-- Thailand (human cases confirmed)
-- Turkey (human cases confirmed)
-- Ukraine
-- Vietnam (human cases confirmed)

Humans Infected With Bird Flu

Azerbajan
Cases 7
Deaths 5

Cambodia
Cases 4
Deaths 4

China
Cases 15
Deaths 10

Indonesia
Cases 29
Deaths 22

Iraq
Cases 2
Deaths 2

Thailand
Cases 22
Deaths 14

Turkey
Cases 12
Deaths 4

Vietnam
Cases 93
Deaths 42

Total Cases 184
Total Deaths 103

(The H5N1 virus was first detected in Hong Kong, in 1997)

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/healthnews.php?newsid=40062#

Second H5N1 Bird Flu Fatality Confirmed In Egypt ​

http://www.recombinomics.com/News/03220601/H5N1_Egypt_Fatality_2.html

Recombinomics Commentary
March 22, 2006

The minister said: Fatma Mohamed Youssef - 30 years - the disease symptoms appeared on her and have been transferred from Al-Qalyubia hospital to Al Abasia. The minister pointed that the patient confirmed before her death that she was the intermixture of the birds that he raises in her house and that she was slaughtering her herself. And the minister pointed in the meeting yesterday to the appearance of a suspicion state in a new human injury in Al-Qalyubia on the citizen Fatma Khalil Ghmri and that it deposited Al Abasia's fevers to the note. And in Minya the national committee declared for the confrontation of the bird flu the appearance of the first human suspicion case in the preservation. The committee pointed to the detention of Aziz Mohamed - 30 years -'s emotions in the hospital of Beni Mazar fevers after the appearance of the injury symptoms on it. Also the hospital of Qina fevers received in the in the morning of Mohamed Hassan after the appearance of the disease symptoms on it. Taking samples took place from the patient earring and their sending to the central laboratories to the ministry.

And the national committee declared the isolation of children Omar Khaled Mostafa - 3 years - and Kholoud Mohamed Abdul Alim - 11 months - in the university hospital in Suhaj for the suspicion in their injury with the disease.

The above translation indicates a second H5N1 bird flu patient in Egypt has died. She was among the first four suspect cases. Media reports, and the above comments, indicate several additional suspect cases have been hospitalized.

These two deaths, coupled with the five confirmed deaths in Azerbaijan raise questions about the genetic composition of the Qinghai strains circulating in the area. Prior to the cases in Turkey, there had been no confirmed human infections by the Qinghai strain of H5N1. In Turkey sequences from the index case included HA S227N, a change that had been shown to increase efficiency for human receptors and decrease affinity for avian receptors. This change was first reported in two H5N1 isolates from Hong Kong patients who had visited Fujian province in 2003. However, those isolates were the Z+ genotype and differed significantly from the Qinghai strain. Those isolates were collected using canine MDCK cells because such changes can be lost if the H5N1 is isolated in chicken eggs.

Media reports indicated that S227N was not found in the isolate from the sister of the index case, but it remains unclear if that isolate was collected on MDCK cells or chicken eggs. Similarly, the sequence from the index case in Iraq also did not contain S227N, but details on isolation procedures are lacking.

More information on isolation procedures as well as sequence data on the latest human fatalities would be useful. The sudden jump in human fatalities is a concern. In Azerbaijan four of the five fatalities were related or neighbors, and the dates of deaths extended from February 23 to March 10, raising concerns of human-to-human transmission. This cluster is close in time and location to large clusters in eastern Turkey in January, which point toward genetic changes in the H5N1 in circulation.

More information on the sequences from the current cases as well as updates on the hospitalized patients would be useful.

Israel

H5N1 bird flu may have spread to Gaza Strip​

Wed Mar 22, 2006 8:17 PM IST

By Besan Omary

RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - The dangerous H5N1 strain of bird flu which struck Israel last week appears to have spread to the Gaza Strip, Palestinian officials said on Wednesday.

They said they had good reason to suspect the deadly avian flu virus had killed around 30 chickens at a farm in an area close to the Israeli border. The H5N1 virus has also been detected in neighbouring Egypt where it has been blamed for the death of a woman.

"We are still waiting to get confirmation ... that it is H5N1, although all of the experts have said this is an H5N1 case," deputy Palestinian Health Minister Anan al-Masri told reporters at a news conference in the West Bank.

A Palestinian agriculture official had earlier said that H5N1 had spread to the Gaza Strip, without giving details.

Israel is battling an outbreak of the deadly virus which has infected poultry farms in southern Israel, near the Gaza border.

In a rare show of cooperation, Israel is conducting the tests for bird flu on behalf of the Palestinian Authority.

A spokeswoman for the Israeli Agriculture Ministry said "it was highly likely" the birds in Gaza had died of the H5N1 virus.

But she said initial tests had only confirmed the presence of the H5 part of the strain and that it was not yet known whether the birds had been infected with H5N1 or a less deadly virus.

She was not able to say when final results would be obtained.

The Palestinian Authority on Tuesday declared a state of emergency in hope of preventing the spread of the virus.

The H5N1 virus has rippled out from Asia to the Middle East, Europe and Africa in recent months, with migratory birds seen as the main culprits in spreading bird flu.

Experts fear the virus will mutate into a form that passes easily from person to person, sparking a pandemic in which millions could die and which could cripple the global economy.

Bird flu can infect people who come into close contact with infected poultry and has killed around 100 people since late 2003.

Egypt reported a fourth suspected case of bird flu in humans on Tuesday.

Israeli officials have said there have been no cases of humans contracting the virus in Israel.

http://in.today.reuters.com/news/ne...200704Z_01_NOOTR_RTRJONC_0_India-241728-1.xml

Fair use cited
Posted on Wed, Mar. 22, 2006
Carolinas warned to prepare for bird flu

U.S. health chief: Don't count on federal rescue

By KAREN GARLOCH

Charlotte Observer

RALEIGH, N.C. — If a bird flu pandemic strikes humans, the Carolinas must be prepared to take care of the sick and make sure life goes on without depending on the federal government, the U.S. secretary of health and human services warned Tuesday.
"Any community that fails to prepare, with the expectation that the federal government will come riding in and rescue them, will be sadly mistaken," Secretary Michael Leavitt told the N.C. Pandemic Flu Summit.
Leavitt announced North Carolina will get $2.5 million of $350 million approved by Congress for pandemic flu preparedness.
But N.C. Gov. Mike Easley, who introduced Leavitt, said, "That will not cut it."
To be prepared, Easley said, states need more federal money to purchase antiviral drugs and to pay for training local and state emergency response teams.
"North Carolina will be as prepared and as ready as humanly possible," Easley said. "But it's going to take a bigger federal commitment."
South Carolina, which held its pandemic flu summit earlier, received $1.5 million from the federal government in January.
To make their points, Leavitt and Easley both talked about the differences between a flu pandemic and hurricanes that often strike the Carolinas.
Unlike hurricanes, pandemic flu wouldn't hit one location and be over quickly, they said. It would affect the whole country and unfold over many months, lasting a year or more. Schools and businesses might close because so many people would be sick or taking care of the sick. Help wouldn't come from other states -- the way it did for victims of Hurricane Katrina -- because they would "be at home taking care of each other," Leavitt said.
Since it was first identified in 1997, the deadly H5N1 strain of the avian virus has been confined mainly to birds in China and Southeast Asia. In the last few months, it has spread to birds in Europe, Africa and the Middle East. It has killed millions of birds and about 80 people worldwide. Most infected humans contracted the virus through close contact with infected birds.
The rapid spread of the virus in birds has been accompanied by fears it will mutate into a form easily transmissible among humans. That would cause a worldwide pandemic.
Leavitt said the bird flu will probably show up in a bird in the U.S. "relatively soon." Some scientists believe migratory birds crossing from Asia into Alaska and down the West Coast could bring the virus to birds here.
Leavitt said that won't be a reason for panic. "If you're a bird, it's a pandemic. But if you're a human, it's not."
If detected early, he said, infected birds will be destroyed before the virus can spread.
State and federal officials praised North Carolina's history of responding to disasters such as hurricanes and ice storms. "I've seen North Carolina in action," Leavitt said. "You do disasters extraordinarily well."
Easley singled out the state's Hospital Emergency Surveillance System that scans admission lists in hospitals across the state every 15 minutes to identify unusual clusters of disease early, and "to catch problems while they are still small."
Dr. Jeff Runge, chief medical officer for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and a former Carolinas Medical Center emergency physician, said North Carolina's public health and emergency response programs are far ahead of those in some states. "A tremendous amount of coordination is already in place."
But it's not just governmental agencies that need to be prepared, officials said. Businesses, such as banks and groceries, must have plans for staying open when 30 percent to 40 percent of their employees are out sick. And families must prepare too. "It's not just the job of government to protect you in your household," Runge said.
To that end, federal officials have created checklists to help schools, families, businesses and health care providers prepare for a potential pandemic. The checklists are available at www.pandemicflu.gov.

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/breaking_news/14158838.htm

China Turns Over Bird Flu Samples to WHO​

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/world/3740979.html

By ALEXA OLESON Associated Press Writer
© 2006 The Associated Press

BEIJING, China — China agreed to turn over bird flu samples from poultry to the World Health Organization as Vietnam stepped up efforts along its borders against the 'direct threat' posed by birds smuggled in from China.

The number of human deaths caused by bird flu worldwide surpassed 100 with reports of five confirmed deaths in Azerbaijan, the WHO said.

The agency expects to receive about 20 virus samples from China within a few weeks, Dr. Julie Hall, an official from the WHO office in Beijing, said at a news conference Wednesday.

Experts say such samples are needed to develop diagnostic tools and vaccines, and they have criticized China's Agriculture Ministry for refusing since 2004 to release them to foreign scientists. China's Health Ministry regularly provides samples from human cases of bird flu.

Officials have been accused of withholding animal samples to boost the status of Chinese scientists and increase the chances of them developing a lucrative vaccine before their foreign rivals.

China and the WHO reached an agreement after working out "intellectual property rights and issues such as commercial rights," Hall said without giving details.

Worldwide, 184 human cases of bird flu have been confirmed, including 103 deaths, according to the WHO. The virus has killed or prompted governments to destroy more than 140 million birds since late 2003.

Afghanistan carried out its first culling of poultry Wednesday after an outbreak of the deadly bird flu virus killed at least six chickens earlier this month in the Central Asian nation, an Agricultural Ministry official said.

The five most recent human deaths have been reported in a small settlement in southeastern Azerbaijan, the agency said. WHO said seven of 11 patients from Azerbaijan had tested positive for the deadly strain of bird flu in samples checked at a major laboratory in Britain. Five of the cases were fatal.

Health officials fear the virus could evolve into a version that could easily be transmitted between people, potentially triggering a global pandemic. So far, there has been no evidence of such a mutation.

China's flu strain differs from the one affecting Thailand and Vietnam and a vaccine to combat the Vietnamese version in 2003 may not work against the Chinese strain, according to Hall.

Any work done with China's viruses will have to credit the lab that supplied samples, and WHO has promised to help China negotiate terms of any commercial gain from them, she said.

"We hope that this is now the start ... of regular sharing that doesn't involve the degree of negotiations that we've had," she said.

The samples will go to a WHO-affiliated lab in either Japan, Hong Kong, Australia or Britain, Hall said.

Scientists will inject them into animals _ possibly ferrets, whose immune response to viruses is similar to that of humans _ to produce antibodies that can be used to create test kits and vaccines, she said.

"China understands that their viruses, that their information is important to developing a pandemic vaccine, to developing diagnostics," Hall said.

Also Wednesday, the WHO regional director for Asia, Dr. Shigeru Omi, said China has to improve its surveillance of animals for possible bird flu outbreaks.

None of China's 15 human cases of bird flu occurred in areas where authorities had warning of possible infection due to outbreaks detected in poultry, Omi said.

Vietnam on Wednesday said it was cracking down on the smuggling of poultry from China in a bid to prevent bird flu from re-infecting domestic flocks.

Vietnam has reported no bird flu outbreaks in poultry over the past three months and no human infections since November.

Agriculture Minister Cao Duc Phat was quoted by Nong Nghiep (Agriculture) newspaper as telling the National Steering Committee on Bird Flu Prevention and Control on Tuesday that poultry smuggled from China is a "direct threat" to Vietnam.

"Due to huge differences in the price of poultry domestically and that in China, smuggling of poultry across the border has been very active," Phat was quoted as saying "This is a direct threat and it must be prevented at any price."

The minister also said several government teams will be set up this week to inspect the smuggling situation, the newspaper said.

In Afghanistan, about 200 chickens were killed and dumped into a deep, dry well in Tashti Barche, a town about 10 miles west of Kabul, said Afghan veterinary health director Azizullah Esmoni.

Esmoni said several people in Tashti Barche voluntarily handed over their chickens to be culled because they feared an outbreak of the deadly virus. Further culling is expected to be carried out during the next few days.

The killings followed U.N. confirmation this month that six chickens had tested positive for H5N1 in Kabul and the eastern city of Jalalabad. Two more cases of H5 bird flu were found in a chicken in Kabul and a dead crow in eastern Kunar province, but further testing was needed to confirm the substrain of the virus, the U.N. said.

Children die at Burma’s Taungtha: Bird flu virus infection feared​

http://english.dvb.no/news.php?id=6708

Mar 22, 2006 (DVB) - Several young children from Myo-pa Village, Thaungtha Township, Mandalay Division in central Burma, had died recently, causing concerns among the local population that they might have died from the deadly avian flu which has been spreading in the area through chickens.

“The children, only a couple of months old, died within one day at village called Myo-pa,” a local resident told DVB. “ What happened was they first had high fever and then they suffered from diarrhoea. Then three children died and another three were sent to Thaungtha hospital. The health department seems to be a bit worried. They suspected that it could be avian flu. They don’t seem to know for sure yet.”

But a staff from the hospital denied that it was bird flu and insisted that the three children died from diarrhoea and that the remaining children are recovering in the hospital.

“They had diarrhoea and come to the hospital and when we carried out blood tests, we found that they had malaria,” said the staff. But she admitted that there has been no health inspection by doctors or experts at the affected areas as local health officers regular send reports to the hospital. She also insisted that no sign of the avian flu has been detected among the people.

But a local villager urged health authorities to come and inspect areas around his village with the help from the World Health Organisation and the Food and Agriculture Organisation, as there is only one small lake for the local people and animals to consume water in the summer. “As there were reports of flocks of wild ducks dropping dead in the lake, the village authorities imposed a ban telling people not to use it. I think that they are worried that it might be dangerous. Therefore, people are using water from their wells. As people are using the lake water for the use of cattle and human beings, they might inadvertently become spreaders/carriers (of the virus) in the event of an outbreak of an epidemic.”

My Questions & Sense of Unease...

In the article above ("School closings may not work in bird flu: study"), it says that children may not actually be kept at home if schools are closed; instead they may be allowed to roam about, go out into the community mingling in places like movie theaters, etc.

That just doesn't make sense to me ... surely most businesses will be closed (or abandoned by sick/fearful employees) during a BF outbreak.

I'm confused about what we're being told. My common sense asks: why in the heck would such places as movie theaters even be open for business in an area where things are so serious as to require closing the schools?

If there is h2h transmission or widespread illness/death from bird droppings occuring in a region, wouldn't there be a full quarantine scenario implemented as we have been led to believe would take place? Did the situation with Hurricane Katrina & flooding of NOLA cause a rethinking of the policies and now we are being told to prepare to manage things without any official help?

In years past, going back to when I joined this board in 1999, the gang here at TB2K spent a lot of time, just like now, monitoring & discussing the many books, articles & TV programs about BCW attacks & agents. There were loads of posts analyzing & debating topics like personal & community preparedness, Congressional testimony, government statements, executive orders, martial law, homecare techniques & equipment, supplies & survival, controversial issues, and all sorts of stuff. The earlier threads were lost when the board was changed over but there should still be some in archives that date back several years at least. And I think I saved some of the older ones about giving care & supply lists in my preps folder, so will go check.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that I sense something major has changed in official planning for how things are going to be managed during a worst-case scenario. Will there be official quarantines enacted? Will cities see martial law put in place and if so, who will enforce this if U.S. military (including National Guard) is still involved in Iraq & elsewhere around the globe. What about the buzz concerning going into Iran and how this would factor in with having military available to assist here in the home lands where they will be needed?

It seems obvious that cities could get crazy fast, like a "Mad Max" movie for real. And Dragonslayer's comments, above, concern me ... that "something sinister this way comes"... I have also had intuitve hunches that there is more to what it is going on. That there is something else to the urging to prepare for sheltering in your home and to do it quickly... something behind the scenes that we are NOT being told, like perhaps:

--massive climate change & outbreak of superstorms - Art Bell & Whitley Streiber

--incoming galactic shockwave or dust cloud (Supernova) - Dr. Paul LaViolette

or ???

What about our national security during a massive global pandemic? How can we be certain that this influenza pandemic is not part of some grand strategy in order to launch a planned attack, to bring down the United States? History has clearly demonstrated the use of disease as a means to accomplish such objectives in the past. This Avian Influenza pandemic threatens all people with not only extreme illness but also there will be many fatalities, including many children. The current trends we are seeing show that the younger people are very susceptible and are dying. The deaths of our children would demoralize everyone ... and such a scenario presents a prime opportunity for surprise military invasions, especially target nations having to deal with basic survival while vital resources are depleted or unvailable.

PS -- Does anyone here recall back in 1999 when ABC did a weeklong series portraying what would take place during a BCW attack in New York? I remember it was on every night and aired right before Y2K, causing quite a bit of discussion here at TB2K. The first part of the program began with the vials containing the BCW agent (was it smallpox or anthrax - can't remember). I will see if I can located those threads or the transcripts and start a new discussion to analyze if/how that information can be of benefit in our preparations at this time.

gisgaia said:

In the article above ("School closings may not work in bird flu: study"), it says that children may not actually be kept at home if schools are closed; instead they may be allowed to roam about, go out into the community mingling in places like movie theaters, etc.

That just doesn't make sense to me ... surely most businesses will be closed (or abandoned by sick/fearful employees) during a BF outbreak.

I'm confused about what we're being told. My common sense asks: why in the heck would such places as movie theaters even be open for business in an area where things are so serious as to require closing the schools?

If there is h2h transmission or widespread illness/death from bird droppings occuring in a region, wouldn't there be a full quarantine scenario implemented as we have been led to believe would take place? Did the situation with Hurricane Katrina & flooding of NOLA cause a rethinking of the policies and now we are being told to prepare to manage things without any official help?

In years past, going back to when I joined this board in 1999, the gang here at TB2K spent a lot of time, just like now, monitoring & discussing the many books, articles & TV programs about BCW attacks & agents. There were loads of posts analyzing & debating topics like personal & community preparedness, Congressional testimony, government statements, executive orders, martial law, homecare techniques & equipment, supplies & survival, controversial issues, and all sorts of stuff. The earlier threads were lost when the board was changed over but there should still be some in archives that date back several years at least. And I think I saved some of the older ones about giving care & supply lists in my preps folder, so will go check.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that I sense something major has changed in official planning for how things are going to be managed during a worst-case scenario. Will there be official quarantines enacted? Will cities see martial law put in place and if so, who will enforce this if U.S. military (including National Guard) is still involved in Iraq & elsewhere around the globe. What about the buzz concerning going into Iran and how this would factor in with having military available to assist here in the home lands where they will be needed?

It seems obvious that cities could get crazy fast, like a "Mad Max" movie for real. And Dragonslayer's comments, above, concern me ... that "something sinister this way comes"... I have also had intuitve hunches that there is more to what it is going on. That there is something else to the urging to prepare for sheltering in your home and to do it quickly... something behind the scenes that we are NOT being told, like perhaps:

--massive climate change & outbreak of superstorms - Art Bell & Whitley Streiber

--incoming galactic shockwave or dust cloud (Supernova) - Dr. Paul LaViolette

or ???

What about our national security during a massive global pandemic? How can we be certain that this influenza pandemic is not part of some grand strategy in order to launch a planned attack, to bring down the United States? History has clearly demonstrated the use of disease as a means to accomplish such objectives in the past. This Avian Influenza pandemic threatens all people with not only extreme illness but also there will be many fatalities, including many children. The current trends we are seeing show that the younger people are very susceptible and are dying. The deaths of our children would demoralize everyone ... and such a scenario presents a prime opportunity for surprise military invasions, especially target nations having to deal with basic survival while vital resources are depleted or unvailable.

PS -- Does anyone here recall back in 1999 when ABC did a weeklong series portraying what would take place during a BCW attack in New York? I remember it was on every night and aired right before Y2K, causing quite a bit of discussion here at TB2K. The first part of the program began with the vials containing the BCW agent (was it smallpox or anthrax - can't remember). I will see if I can located those threads or the transcripts and start a new discussion to analyze if/how that information can be of benefit in our preparations at this time.

Click to expand...

Where I live they'd close schools in a heartbeat. There would be quarantines enacted and perhaps martial law.

From Article posted by Kim99:
Though confirming the source of the infections may prove to be impossible, experts say this could be the first observed case of transmission of avian influenza to humans from wild birds.
---------------
Infected birds other than chickens are apparently potential vectors. That's a link that needed proving. Other potential vectors that need prooving is cats or dogs transmitting bird flu to humans.

As bird flu spreads in the avian world, what happens to the normal bird populations? How many birds get sick and how many die? Do any recover? Is any species yet determined to be a carrier without being severely affected?

Do researchers have any opinions about birds becoming or continuing as carriers after an H2H mutation? Once there is an H2H mutated version, will birds or other animals be reservoirs that sustains it after it burns out in humans?

Bird flu's human-attack pathway revealed

Bird flu's human-attack pathway revealed


18:00 22 March 2006
NewScientist.com news service
Debora MacKenzie
Two separate research groups have independently discovered why the H5N1 bird flu virus causes lethal pneumonia in people, but is – so far – hard for people to catch. In the process, they have found a way to predict which mutations might make the virus more contagious, and potentially become a pandemic strain. To date, confirmed human deaths from the disease stand at 103 worldwide

The H5N1 virus binds to sugars on the surface of cells deep in human lungs, but not to cells lining the human nose and throat. So report the two research teams, led by Thijs Kuiken at Erasmus University in Rotterdam, and Yoshihiro Kawaoka at the Universities of Tokyo, Japan and Wisconsin at Madison, US.

This fits the few autopsies that have been performed on H5N1 victims, who had damage to the alveoli – the delicate sacs deep in the lungs, where oxygen enters the blood.

Flu normally travels between people by being sneezed out and breathed in through the nose and throat. Both groups concluded that poor binding of the H5N1 high in the respiratory tract might be why the virus has so far not been able to spread easily between people – a major factor keeping it from becoming pandemic.

Deep inside
The Wisconsin team used lectins – plant molecules that bind to the same complex sugars on the cell surface where the flu virus attaches to cells – to identify how different versions of the sugar molecule vary in humans. They used one lectin specific to the "2,3 form" of the sugar common in birds – which H5N1 is known to prefer, and another specific to the "2,6 form" more common in people.

Testing tissue slices from the human respiratory tract, they found that 2,6 receptors were common in the nose and throat, but 2,3 receptors – H5N1’s preferred site – were common in the alveoli.

The Dutch group used the killed H5N1 virus itself, and saw the same pattern as the Wisconsin team, with binding in the deep lungs but not the nose and throat.

Repair hijack
Both groups found these receptors, or viral binding, especially in cells called type 2 alveolar cells. These actively dividing cells repair and maintain the tiny lung sacs, so H5N1’s binding of these particular cells might explain why H5N1 pneumonia is so severe. The virus can also hijack the machinery it needs to replicate more easily in these active cells than in neighbouring, non-dividing cells.

The Dutch team also found binding to alveolar macrophages – white blood cells which can trigger the inflammatory immune reaction, which often kills in pneumonia cases.

Their technique might allow scientists to predict what H5N1 could do next. “We will now try to look at what mutations in the virus improve binding in the upper respiratory tract,” Kuiken told New Scientist. That could show what mutations to watch for as H5N1 continues to spread around the globe.

They will also study which other human tissues H5N1 can bind to. Cases so far suggest it might affect the gut and most worryingly, the brain.

Journal reference: Nature (vol 440, p 435) and Science (DOI: 10.1126/science.1125548)

Related Articles

feckful said:

From Article posted by Kim99:
Though confirming the source of the infections may prove to be impossible, experts say this could be the first observed case of transmission of avian influenza to humans from wild birds.
---------------
Infected birds other than chickens are apparently potential vectors. That's a link that needed proving. Other potential vectors that need prooving is cats or dogs transmitting bird flu to humans.

As bird flu spreads in the avian world, what happens to the normal bird populations? How many birds get sick and how many die? Do any recover? Is any species yet determined to be a carrier without being severely affected?

Do researchers have any opinions about birds becoming or continuing as carriers after an H2H mutation? Once there is an H2H mutated version, will birds or other animals be reservoirs that sustains it after it burns out in humans?

Click to expand...

Not to be going on a beaten path of thread drift, but didn't Nostradamus predict a day when there would be no sound of birds, none found?

Better yet back on topic look up hydrocortizone induced immune suppression then realize after much reading that hydrocortisone in an inhailer will supress the cytokines produced by the WBC"S in the inflamatory response. Why an inhailed form you may ask other that it being a flu the deadly strains attach to the alveoli in the lung and what better way to saturate other than an inhailant even so it will absorb much quicker into your body to enter the blood to suppress the cytokins systemically. It will also drop immunity for other bacteria that may not usually overcome you so isolation is probably best with isolation/universal precautions, but I dont recommend any of the above, as I am not a Physician, and as a nurse I am only providing educational info that I cannot condone. What do you guys think?

Via CurEvents...

First Mexican bird flu case reported in Nogales​

http://www.radiolivre.org/node/2116

Enviado por Anônimo em Qua, 03/22/2006 - 17:53. Rádio Livre

Ciudad de Mexico - México confirmed today its first case of avian flu in a duck found dead in the heart of Nogales, near the US border.

Mexican officials said it was not yet clear if the wild bird, found on Monday, was infected with the H5N1 strain of the virus which can infect humans.

“We have a first case of bird flu. It’s H5,” Federal Veterinary Office spokeswoman Margarita Cruz said.

A sample has been sent to a European reference laboratory in Britain to test for the H5N1 strain and results are expected by the end of the week, she said.

The country this month ordered all poultry be kept indoors for an indefinite period to lessen the risk from the fast-spreading H5N1 virus that has killed millions of birds.

It remains difficult for humans to catch but the strain has killed more than 90 people worldwide since late 2003.

So far most human victims of the virus have had direct or indirect contact with infected birds but there are fears the virus will mutate into a strain easily passed among people, causing a pandemic in which millions could die.

Little human risk
The Mexican Federal Veterinary Office said that in addition to the Nogales case.