04/08 | Daily Bird Flu Thread: Factory farms in Asia blamed for pandemic

Link to yesterday's thread: http://www.timebomb2000.com/vb/showthread.php?t=192588

Human Cases

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 Egypt
o Iraq

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

Updated April 3, 2006

Animal Cases

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

* Africa:
o Burkina Faso
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

* South Asia:
o Afghanistan
o India
o Kazakhstan
o Pakistan

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

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


For additional information about these reports, visit the
World Organization for Animal Health Web Site: http://www.oie.int/eng/en_index.htm

Updated April 7, 2006

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

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

re: Factory Farms

Factory farms in Asia blamed for pandemic​

By Jonathan Brown
Published: 08 April 2006

The insatiable demand for cheap food, the global poultry industry and the giant factory farms of south-east Asia have been blamed for spreading avian flu around the world.

A new analysis of the pandemic has sought to shift the emphasis for international action to tackle the disease away from backyard farmers and wild migratory birds. Instead, efforts to stamp out bird flu should focus on intensive rearing units, particularly those in Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam, according to Grain, an international campaigning group promoting agricultural biodiversity in the developing world.

In a new report, entitled Fowl play: the poultry industry's central role in the bird flu crisis, the group claims that the "epicentre" of the pandemic can be traced back to Asian units housing millions of birds. Such intensive conditions have provided ideal breeding grounds for the new strains of highly pathogenic bird flu, it is claimed.

The disease is spread not only by migrating birds, but along the highways and railway lines of the transnational poultry trade, the report says.

"Everyone is focused on migratory birds and backyard chickens as the problem," said Devlin Kuyek, of Grain. "But they are not effective vectors of highly pathogenic bird flu. The virus kills them but is unlikely to be spread by them. The evidence we see over and over again, from the Netherlands in 2003 to Japan in 2004 to Egypt in 2006, is that lethal bird flu breaks out in large scale industrial chicken farms and then spreads," he added.

The scale of the growth of the poultry industry in Asia, which supplies a significant proportion of the 200 million chickens Britain imports each year, has been phenomenal. In Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam, production has soared eightfold in 30 years, producing 2.4m tons of meat in 2001.

Among the biggest players is Charoen Pokphand (CP), the region's biggest producer of poultry and feed, and the Asian business partner of the British supermarket giant Tesco. According to the report, at least one case of bird flu was allegedly traced to chicks supplied by CP in Cambodia, although the company denied it was the cause.

China, too, has seen poultry production rise, trebling to nine million tons a year, with most growth accounted for by new intensive farms. The importation of Asian poultry meat has angered British farmers, who say far eastern birds do not enjoy the same welfare standards as UK poultry. Imports of poultry meat from Thailand were banned in 2004.

Crucial to the case that bid flu is linked to factory farming is the outbreak in Nigeria this year, which illegally imported unregulated hatchable eggs. Meanwhile, it is claimed the disease was first discovered and spread from a factory farm in India.

An editorial in this month's Lancet says: "There is now growing concern that the whirlwind spread of avian flu in some parts of the world is not entirely governed by nature, but by the human activities of commerce and trade."

It concedes that while migratory birds were most likely the cause of bringing the virus in to Europe, it does not explain the general spread of the disease. It suggests that "far more likely to be perpetuating the spread of the virus is the movement of poultry, poultry products, or infected material from poultry farms." But it concluded: "This mode of transmission has been down-played by international agencies, who admit that migratory birds are an easy target since nobody is to blame."

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia/article356440.ece

re: Free Range Chicken etc.

Farmers fear free-range panic in the crucial run-up to Easter​

By David Derbyshire and Amy Iggulden
(Filed: 08/04/2006)

Your view: are you worried about bird flu?

The poultry industry will be watching for signs of a consumer backlash against chicken and eggs today following confirmation of the first case of H5N1 bird flu in Britain.

As thousands of callers rang the Government's hotline with reports of dead swans, geese, gulls and garden birds, farmers and health officials repeated assurances that there was no risk to public health.

The run-up to Easter is traditionally a bumper week for sales of poultry and eggs and a slump in sales could cost the £1.2 billion industry dearly.

Tests were continuing yesterday on the carcases of 14 birds found dead in Scotland over the past few days as the Government's bird flu contingency plan swung into action.

Scientists were ordered to test birds following confirmation on Thursday that a mute swan washed up at Cellardyke, Fife, had died from the H5N1 strain. This has killed millions of birds across the world, mostly in Asia. It has also infected at least 191 people living in close proximity to birds, killing more than half of them.

Although its risk to human health in Britain is thought to be small, there are fears that a pandemic of the disease among wild birds could devastate the poultry industry, which has 270 million birds on more than 22,000 farms.

Yesterday, scientists were concentrating resources on the 965 square mile "wild bird risk area" on the east coast of Scotland between the Firth of Forth and Stonehaven. They are concerned that the swan's death may not be an isolated case.

The farmers of 250,000 free-range poultry in the area were told to put their birds under cover where possible to reduce exposure to wild species.

There has been criticism that officials were slow to act after the swan's body was reported to the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on Wednesday last week. Full test results from the Veterinary Laboratories Agency in Weybridge, Surrey, were released eight days later.

Scotland's rural affairs minister, Ross Finnie, said the laboratory's scientists would be working around the clock to test birds they suspected were infected. The laboratory has tested about 120 birds a week in recent weeks. In the past six months, about 5,000 samples have been analysed.

"The laboratory will be working 24/7 and will remain open over the Easter holidays," said Mr Finnie.

The State Veterinary Service - the agency responsible for animal health and welfare - said it had 300 animal health officers and 300 vets ready to work overtime to collect carcases of swans, geese or ducks.

Mr Finnie said there had been an increase in the number of dead birds being reported. But he added: "This is perfectly proper, this is expected. Some of them will be birds that have been attacked by cats in gardens."

By yesterday afternoon almost 2,500 calls had been received on the Defra hotline. Previously it had 600 a week.

The line, which was criticised for keeping office hours over the winter, extended its opening times in response to the crisis and is now available from 6am to 10pm every day.

Bird charities were also fielding calls and reported confusion among callers.

Swan charities received messages from worried residents who suggested that their flock should be culled. One caller asked if he was within his rights to shoot swans he suspected of having bird flu.

Ken Merriman, the owner of the Swan Rescue Sanctuary in Wimborne, Dorset, said: "It has been manic with people reporting dead swans. It is ridiculous and I am losing my patience."

John Ward, a volunteer at the Swan Sanctuary in Shepperton, Surrey, which has 200 swans on its lake, said: "We were expecting it, but people are saying that we should cull the swans because they fly over houses and could kill families.

"They have got this completely out of perspective."

But concerns were raised about how the hotline was coping with calls. One caller who found six dead starlings said he was told to "chuck them in the bin".

Richard White said he reported the birds, found in his garden in Badsey, Worcs, to Defra. "They showed no interest whatsoever and said they are not migratory, chuck them in the bin."

Health officials played down the risk to humans, stressing that the disease spread to people only from close contact with bird saliva or from breathing in dust from faeces.

Dr Alan Hay, the director of the World Health Organisation influenza centre, said: "It's certainly negligible at the moment, given that we really don't know the circumstances whereby this swan contracted the infection, and whether there are any other birds in the area or elsewhere in the country that are infected."

The Food Standards Agency repeated its advice about poultry and egg preparation.

Poultry should be thoroughly cooked to leave no red juices and eggs should be cooked until the white is hard.

Anyone handling raw poultry should wash their hands thoroughly and clean all surfaces and utensils with soap and hot water, said the FSA.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/mai...flu08.xml&sSheet=/news/2006/04/08/ixhome.html

April 08, 2006

Bird flu lab works round the clock to cope with test demand​

By Nigel Hawkes and Sara McCorquodale

THE laboratory responsible for testing birds for the deadly H5N1 avian flu virus announced last night that it would work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to deal with any new cases.

About 60 birds a day are now arriving at the Weybridge laboratory of the Veterinary Laboratories Agency.

Since February 1, 1,100 tests have been carried out at Weybridge, including 500 on swans. Most have been conducted as routine tests — which is why it took a week to find H5N1 in the Fife swan — but now the cases of all dead swans referred to the laboratory are being treated as urgent.

Officials refused to speculate yesterday on the chances of finding other birds infected with H5N1, but it is more likely than not that they will. Vets expect to find a number of infected birds in the Fife area.The key will be keeping the infection out of poultry flocks.

Yesterday Ross Finnie, Scotland’s Rural Affairs Minister, met leaders of the National Farmers’ Union.

He said: “The poultry producers who were present said they were very pleased with the proportionate nature of the response which we have taken to this crisis.

“They were very confident that by applying these measures they could contain this outbreak.”

It was confirmed last night that 9 of the 14 other dead birds from the area — 12 swans and 2 other birds — did not have the same strain of the virus.

Tests were still being carried out on the 5 remaining dead birds.

Owners of the 48 free-range farms in a 2,500-sq km area who have been instructed to bring their birds indoors could face losing their free-range status if the order is in force for more than 12 weeks. Some vets fear that H5N1 could become endemic in wild birds, which would make it impossible to lift the order.

One organic farmer said yesterday: “I would hope it wasn’t 12 weeks. It shouldn’t be 12 weeks, and no one believes it will be 12 weeks.

“In the worst-case scenario, if this happened the industry would have to sit down with government and consider vaccination. The birds that were vaccinated would then be allowed out. That’s what happened in Holland.”

Experts say that the risk to human beings is minimal. John Oxford, Professor of Virology at St Bartholomew’s and the Royal London Hospital, said: “You wouldn’t catch this from walking past an infected bird. You would have to be touching its beak or plucking its feathers or getting yourself contaminated with droppings.

“The danger to humans at this stage is virtually zero. The danger for chickens and turkeys in the immediate area will be much higher.”

The Government’s Cobra crisis management committee held a second meeting yesterday to discuss the Fife case. The meeting involved officials from several government departments and the Scottish Executive.

A Cabinet Office spokesman said: “The meeting reviewed all of the arrangements relating to the case and is satisfied that everything that can be done is in place. It will meet again as necessary depending on developments.”

Supermarkets reported no signs of panic, with poultry sales consistent. A spokesman for Asda said: “Chicken sales are the same as they have been since October.

“There have been no more concerned calls from customers than there usually are and none of our lines has been affected yet.”

A spokeswoman for Waitrose said: “There has been no variation in any lines. Our customers understand that this is not a food-borne illness, and buying patterns haven’t changed.”

But Heidi Nicholson, commercial director of Forresters Ltd, which supplies chickens to the trade, said: “When the panic started with the virus in October 2005, demand fell by 10 per cent and it hasn’t recovered since.”

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2124209,00.html

http://www.politicalgateway.com/news/read.html?id=6973


Couple of gay ducks 'come out' in Sweden



STOCKHOLM, April 6, 2006 (AFP) - In the middle of mating season, a couple of male ducks returned to a park in southern Sweden, for the third consecutive year, ignoring the siren calls of all the lady ducks around them.

Far from the torments of bird flu and temptations of the opposite sex, the two common shelducks appear only to have eyes for each other -- in a sort of ducky gay marriage.

"We can state that they act exactly like a couple (composed) of a man and woman, the bigger one always defending the smaller duck," Lennarth Blomquist, in charge of bird management in the southern city of Malmo, told the TT news agency.

"Shelducks mate for life," he said, indicating that these two ducks have found in each other the love of their lives.

Bird Flu could reach North America via Scotland​

Apr 7, 2006, 18:08 GMT

Toronto - The first case of bird flu discovered in Britain could cause the disease to spread to North America, via Canada, the Globe and Mail reported Friday.

The deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu was confirmed in Britain Thursday following tests on a decomposed swan floating in the harbour of a Scottish town.

But a British ornithological group said the migration of both white-fronted geese from Britain and Canadian snow geese to Greenland in the summer months could provide a possible point of transmission of the virus, which spreads quickly among birds.

From Canada, the highly infectious virus could spread into the US and further south into the Caribbean and Latin America, the experts said.

But the Royal Society for Protection of Birds also said Canadians should not overreact to the heightened risk.

'In terms of millions of birds which move around, we're talking about a very small number of birds that go up to Greenland, but it's a regular movement, it is a definite route,' spokesman Grahame Madge said, quoted in the Globe and Mail.

The H5N1 bird flu strain first emerged in South-East Asia in 2003, but cases have been discovered on the European continent, including in France and Germany, in the last few months.

http://news.monstersandcritics.com/...rd_Flu_could_reach_North_America_via_Scotland

<table width="100%" border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="3" bordercolor="#000000" height="43"><tr><td bgcolor="D08153"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="4"><b><font size="4" color="#FFFFFF">FDA issues guide for bird flu test</font></b></font></td></tr><tr><td bgcolor="#f5f5dc" height="2"><div align="left"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="4"><b><font size="2">
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/health/1500AP_Bird_Flu_Tests.html</B>

WASHINGTON -- Federal guidelines rushed out Friday should help companies develop new tests capable of quickly singling out bird flu in infected humans, the Food and Drug Administration said.

The availability of rapid and accurate tests capable of pinpointing bird flu would serve as a vital tool in checking any outbreak of the disease should it jump to humans.

Current rapid tests that use specimens collected from humans weren't designed or intended to detect the H5N1 strain responsible for bird flu, the FDA said. Nor can they distinguish among the various influenza A subtypes, some of which are rarely lethal.

The FDA hurriedly released the guidelines "because prior public participation is not feasible given the national and global public health threat of pandemic influenza," the agency said. The guidelines are in immediate effect but are still subject to public comment. They spell out the steps companies have to follow to ensure the safe and effective use of in vitro diagnostic tests capable of detecting bird flu.

The H5N1 subtype responsible for bird flu is primarily a bird disease for now, although at least 108 people worldwide have died since 2003 after becoming infected with the strain of the influenza virus. Health officials worry the flu strain could mutate into a form easily passed from human to human, sparking a global pandemic.

For the past two decades, it has been two other influenza A subtypes that have primarily caused seasonal flu in humans. FDA officials worry existing tests for those seasonal strains might not be able to pick up newer subtypes, like H5N1, in samples from patients. For that reason, they also recommend manufacturers add warning labels to older tests, including an advisory that the results may need to be confirmed by further testing.


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"Swan dead for 3 weeks"???




http://www.guardian.co.uk/birdflu/story/0,,1749627,00.html


Swan may have caught the virus a month ago

Timing of infection linked to arrival of H5N1 in France

Ian Sample and James Meikle
Saturday April 8, 2006
The Guardian

The dead swan that signalled the arrival of highly pathogenic bird flu on British soil is believed to have contracted the disease up to a month ago, experts said yesterday. The carcass was so badly decomposed that it had probably been dead for three weeks when it tested positive for the H5N1 virus, having become infected several days earlier, they said.

Efforts to check whether the virus had spread to other birds were stepped up yesterday. Veterinarians were swabbing birds in poultry farms and officials were scouring for dead birds in the 3km protection zone around Cellardyke, where the swan was discovered.


Tests on 12 swans and two other wild birds found dead in Scotland revealed that nine had died of other causes. The results of the other tests were unknown last night. Scotland's chief veterinary officer, Charles Milne, said: "There is no indication that any of these results are positive. We will have to wait until the laboratory tests are completed."

Dead birds from other parts of Britain were also being tested by scientists at Defra's Veterinary Laboratories Agency in Weybridge, Surrey, but were not being considered as high priority.

Scottish farmers already hit by restrictions said yesterday they may press for changes in EU rules on free-range status.

The timing of the swan's infection coincides with the arrival of bird flu in France and Germany after unusually cold weather had forced many infected waterfowl to desert the Black Sea region in search of warmer conditions.

Andre Farrar, of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, said: "The bird was heavily decomposed when it was found and swan corpses take some time to get that bad. It will have been three weeks to a month ago that it picked up the disease and that puts it in a timeframe consistent with the main crop of outbreaks in other parts of Europe."

The Guardian understands that the condition of the bird forced Defra officials to order genetic tests to confirm whether or not it was a mute swan, as suspected, or another species. In response to fears of the infection spreading, staff at the Royal Parks have drawn up plans to quarantine birds. Enclosed areas are being prepared at sites including a newly built section in St James's Park and a breeding house in Regent's Park, both in London.

A Royal Parks spokeswoman said: "We are receiving advice from Defra and if there is a threat of bird flu in the region, we do have quarantining areas for birds."

The Scottish executive said lab work was in progress to see if the 1 virus that killed the swan matched viruses isolated from other dead animals where the infection has taken hold in bird populations.

"By comparing the virus with others they might be able to work out where it came from," said Professor John Oxford, a leading virologist at Queen Mary, University of London.

A total of 45 organic and free-range poultry farms with 250,000 birds are among the 195 in Scotland already ordered to bring their 3.1m birds under cover. Free-range status is dependent on giving daily access to open runs and this requirement of EU rules can be suspended for as long as three months.

Sir David King, the government's chief scientist, told the BBC that farming practices might change if the virus spread among wild birds: "There would no longer be outdoor birds. That means free-range farming and organic farming would effectively come to an end."

Patrick Holden, director of the Soil Association, said Sir David appeared to have "an unreconstructed attitude against nature-friendly and health-promoting forms of livestock farming". "The big issue is what kind of attitude we have," he said. "Whether it is calm and sophisticated or hysterical, draconian and fear inducing."

The association had been assured by Defra officials in March that 10m doses of vaccine were being ordered as a contingency to protect some poultry. That was on top of 2m doses already on standby for zoo and exotic birds.

Organic growers have dispensation to use nets over runs rather than bringing birds indoors. "Obviously it is not quite as failsafe as shutting them in but we think it is enough," Mr Holden said.

BRITAIN is Unlucky 13

08/04/06

Unlucky 13: deadly virus reaches across EU
BRITAIN is the 13th EU country to be affected by bird flu.​

The virus had already struck in Greece, Poland, Italy, France, Germany, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Denmark, Austria, Hungary and the Czech Republic before this week's confirmed case in Scotland.

Bird flu has hit commercial poultry in Germany, France and Sweden.

France notified the H5N1 strain in February, and on Wednesday, Germany confirmed H5N1 near Leipzig - triggering the slaughter of about 10,000 birds at the farm.

The spreading outbreak has been continually monitored by the Standing Committee, made up of senior government vets from the 25 EU countries, and by the EU Commissioner for Health and Consumer Protection Markos Kyprianou.

His advice throughout has been "don't panic", as he has pointed out that there is no evidence that the disease can mutate into a form transmissible between humans.

When Greece became the first member state to declare the discovery of a dead migratory swan carrying the deadly H5N1 strain, emergency procedures to shut down the movement of poultry in the affected area had to be formally adopted by Brussels.

As other countries fell victim, EU veterinary experts swiftly approved arrangements triggering identical measures to be applied automatically in any member states notifying a suspected case of bird flu.

Egypt was the latest country to report human victims of the deadly strain of bird flu. The country's authorities announced on Thursday that a 16-year-old girl had died of the deadly H5N1 strain of the virus and an eight-year-old boy had tested positive.

Iman Mohammed Abdel Gawad died at Eshmon Hospital, health ministry spokesman Abdel-Rahman Shahin said.

"She had a high fever and she could hardly breathe when she was examined," Mr Shahin said.

The boy, whose name was not released, was in a relatively stable condition and is receiving medical treatment in Cairo, the Health Ministry spokesman said.

Both were from provinces in the Nile Delta, north of the capital Cairo, and their families raised poultry for domestic consumption.

There have been 11 human victims in Egypt so far. The only other countries in the region to have recorded human cases of the virus are Iraq and Turkey, which has suffered the most serious outbreak with a total of 12 afflicted persons, including four fatalities.

Outbreaks in birds have sparked mass culling in the aforementioned countries as well as in Israel and Jordan.

Egypt is on a main route for migratory birds, at the crossroads between Asia and Africa. It discovered its first bird flu case in birds in February. It detected human cases the following month.

Meanwhile, it was announced yesterday that about 200,000 chickens will be slaughtered in and around 14 villages in western India where poultry has tested positive for bird flu.

Maharashtra state animal husbandry official SM Ali said yesterday the birds were infected with the H5 type of bird flu, but it was not yet clear whether they had the virulent H5N1 strain, said

Authorities will still kill all chickens within six miles of each of the 14 villages, he said.

The positive samples were mostly from small, backyard chicken farms in the Jalgaon district in western Maharashtra state.

http://www.irishexaminer.com/pport/web/world/Full_Story/did-sgwigZ0nQPYKAsgDQQ5wn3uAIg.asp

Saturday, April 08, 2006

‘International conspiracy behind bird flu’​

Press Trust of India

Mumbai, April 6: The poultry industry, which has been hit hard by the bird flu, sees an ‘international conspiracy’ behind the bird flu outbreak of the disease at Navapur in Maharashtra.

Participating in a meeting organized by the Bombay Veterinary College here on Monday, representatives of poultry farmers and industry were critical of the central government saying it "never took them into confidence".

"We see some international conspiracy in the entire episode which sent two lakh farmers out of business in 30 days. Since the consumption (of chickens and eggs) has come down to less than 10 per cent, it is a huge loss of more than Rs. 7000 crore," they said adding every day loss is about Rs. 200 crore to the industry.

The owner of city-based Batra Corporation (farm products owner) Onkar Singh Batra said the poultry industry in the state is holding stocks of more than 300 crore eggs. "What do we do of these eggs?" he said.

Some of the senior executives of poultry farms from the affected area wanted to know why there was ‘an enormous delay’ between the confirmation and announcement (of tests on affected chickens) and why the industry was not taken into confidence before the announcement.

They also questioned the place of the outbreak, which had remote chances of getting the bird flu, as the theory of migratory birds does not apply there.

The poultry industry representatives claimed 16 farmers have reportedly committed suicide after suffering loss in the wake of bird flu outbreak and if the disease recurs there could be more suicides of poultry farmers.

Today, 30 lakh people depend upon poultry as the only source of income, they pointed out.

Participants in the meeting included A T Sherikar, vice chancellor, Maharashtra Animal and Fishery Sciences University, A P Bhokre, Dean, Bombay Veterinary College, A S Ranade, University Head of Poultry Science, Maharashtra Animal and Fishery Sciences University and senior executives of several poultry farms and small poultry businessmen.

URL: http://www.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=65630

Human Toll Rises with Avian Flu Deaths in Egypt, Cambodia​

Scottish government confirms H5N1 in dead swan found in Fife

By Cheryl Pellerin
Washington File Staff Writer

Washington -- The ministries of health in Cambodia and Egypt each have confirmed the death of a young person infected with the H5N1 avian influenza virus, and a nonlethal infection in Egypt, and the Scottish government has confirmed H5N1 in a dead mute swan found in Fife, on Scotland’s east coast.

The most recent confirmations bring the total number of human avian influenza cases to 192, including 109 deaths, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

Confirmation of H5N1 infection in Scotland brings to 53 the number of countries that have made official reports of bird flu in wild birds and poultry – and a cat on the island of Rügen in Germany in January – to the World Organisation for Animal Health since 2003.

AVIAN FLU IN EGYPT

The H5N1 avian flu infection announced April 6 by the Egyptian Ministry of Health is the country’s 11th human case, and the death is Egypt’s third.

An 18-year-old girl from the Minufiyah governorate, north of Cairo, developed symptoms March 29, was hospitalized April 5 and died April 6, according to WHO.

Tests conducted by the country’s Central Public Health Laboratory were positive for H5N1 infection.

The most recent nonlethal human H5N1 case is an 8-year-old boy from the Qaliubiya governorate near Cairo. He is hospitalized in stable condition.

In a pattern similar to that seen elsewhere, all cases have occurred in children and young adults, and all have a history of close contact with dead or diseased poultry.

AVIAN FLU IN CAMBODIA

Cambodia’s sixth case of human H5N1 infection, and also its sixth death, occurred in a 12-year-old boy from the southeastern province of Prey Veng, which borders Vietnam.

The boy developed symptoms of fever and headache March 29. He initially was treated at a private clinic, then hospitalized in Phnom Penh April 4. He died April 5. Samples from the boy tested positive for H5N1 infection at the Pasteur Institute in Cambodia.

A team from the Cambodian Ministry of Health, WHO and the Pasteur Institute investigated the situation in the child’s village April 5.

Many chicken deaths and some duck deaths had occurred in the neighborhood in recent weeks. The child reportedly gathered dead chickens for distribution to village families for consumption, according to WHO.

The investigative team identified 25 close contacts of the child. None yet shows signs of illness. House-to-house surveillance for signs of flu-like illness continues.

H5N1 ARRIVES IN SCOTLAND

The Scottish government confirmed April 6 that the first H5N1-infected swan had been found in the United Kingdom.

A joint statement from the United Kingdom and Scottish Chief Veterinary Officers, released April 6 by the U.K. Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), said tests from the Veterinary Laboratories Agency confirmed that a sample from the swan contained the highly pathogenic H5N1 avian flu virus.

According to news reports, tests are being conducted on another 17 birds from Scotland.

Scottish and U.K. officials said they urgently are assessing the veterinary risk and consulting ornithological experts to consider the circumstances of the case and determine the level of risk it may pose to poultry and other kept birds.

Scotland’s Environment Minister Ross Finnie met with the National Farmers Union (NFU) in Perth, Scotland, April 7 to discuss progress on measures to prevent the spread of the bird flu virus.

"Everybody's wish is that this disease never gets any further,” said NFU President John Kinnaird in a statement, “and never gets into our domestic poultry flocks."

He added that the poultry industry was “pulling together” with the Scottish government to minimize the disease’s potential impact.

The government has set up a protection zone around Cellardyke, Fife, where the swan was found, in which the movement of poultry and poultry products is restricted, and a surveillance zone in which farms are subject to heightened precautions.

A wild bird risk area also has been declared, in which bird keepers must take measures to separate domestic chickens, ducks and geese from wild birds.

For more information on the disease and efforts to combat it, see Bird Flu (Avian Influenza).


Created:07 Apr 2006 Updated: 07 Apr 2006


This page printed from: http://usinfo.state.gov/usinfo/Archive/2006/Apr/07-390176.html

Age Distribution of Human H5N1 Cases​

6 April 2006

An analysis of demographic data published by WHO shows the following age distribution of human H5N1 influenza cases (n=144).

50% of cases were 17 years or younger;

75% of cases were 29 years or younger;

90% of cases were 37 years or younger.

Most patients were born after 1968.

http://influenzareport.com/ir/figures/ad060406.htm

New Freedom said:

http://www.politicalgateway.com/news/read.html?id=6973


Couple of gay ducks 'come out' in Sweden



STOCKHOLM, April 6, 2006 (AFP) - In the middle of mating season, a couple of male ducks returned to a park in southern Sweden, for the third consecutive year, ignoring the siren calls of all the lady ducks around them.

Far from the torments of bird flu and temptations of the opposite sex, the two common shelducks appear only to have eyes for each other -- in a sort of ducky gay marriage.

"We can state that they act exactly like a couple (composed) of a man and woman, the bigger one always defending the smaller duck," Lennarth Blomquist, in charge of bird management in the southern city of Malmo, told the TT news agency.

"Shelducks mate for life," he said, indicating that these two ducks have found in each other the love of their lives.

Click to expand...

I cannot tell you how much I needed that. Thanks, New Freedom.

Vietnam reports bird flu outbreaks near China​

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/HAN311719.htm

HANOI, April 8 (Reuters) - Vietnam has detected bird flu on three farms near the Chinese border, the second such finding in the past few days, an animal health official said on Saturday.

Health workers slaughtered 157 chickens and ducks after farmers said 30 birds died on March 19 on three farms in Cao Bang province, said Dang Quang Binh, head of the provincial Animal Health Department.

"We sent samples for testing and on March 25 the results showed H5 was found in poultry samples from the three farms," Binh told Reuters by telephone from Cao Bang, 270 km (167 miles) north of Hanoi.

He was referring to the H5 subtype avian flu virus.

No further tests were likely be done to confirm if the strain was H5N1, which has killed 42 people in Vietnam since late 2003.

Vietnam usually tests for the N component of the strain when a sample comes from a suspected human case.

With poultry, the finding of H5 is enough to carry out preventive measures such as slaughter and disinfection of birds.

The H5N1 strain has killed or led to the culling of millions of poultry in Vietnam but there have not been any human cases since last November.

On Thursday, officials said the H5 subtype virus was found in samples from chickens smuggled from China and seized in Lang Son province, next to Cao Bang, marking the first published finding of bird flu in poultry in Vietnam since December. Binh said the latest infection was in Trung Khanh district, an area afflicted by bird flu last year. Cao Bang province would vaccinate poultry against bird flu later this month, he said.

Vietnam vaccinated 240 million ducks and chickens last year as part of a series of measures to fight bird flu, which has killed at least 109 people worldwide since the H5N1 virus re-emerged in Asia in 2003 and has since spread to the Middle East, Europe and Africa.

This week Vietnam stepped up border-control measures to prevent a resurgence of bird flu, but officials said the efforts did not always succeed because northern Vietnamese were involved in the lucrative illegal trade of smuggling chickens from China.

They can sell the birds in Vietnam at up to 10 times their buying price but in the process run the risk of re-introducing bird flu.

Egypt: Struggles To Combat Spread Of Bird Flu​

http://www.andnetwork.com/app?service=direct/0/Home/$StorySummary$0.$DirectLink$2&sp=l28642

April 8, 2006,

By Andnetwork .com

A Third person has died from bird flu in Egypt, the hardest-hit non-Asian country in the world, as health officials struggled to enforce preventive measures.


Iman Mohammed Abdel Gawad, a 16-year-old girl from the northern governorate of Menufiya, died after being rushed to hospital recently, suffering from high fever and shortness of breath, the official news agency reported.

She was one of two new cases reported Thursday, bringing to 11 to the total number of confirmed transmissions to humans in the most populous Arab country. Two women died last month.

According to the latest figures released by the World Health Organisation, the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu has killed at least 108 people worldwide but experts say many cases go unreported.

The bulk of human cases were reported in the Far East and China, where the epidemic broke out in 2003, but Egypt and Turkey have been the most affected countries in the new wave of infections that spread westwards this year.

"Wherever we have the virus, we expect to have human cases. It's a highly pathogenic virus," said John Jabbour, the WHO's regional health regulation officer.

"The transmission from poultry to humans is increasing because of high exposure to birds and their droppings ... People need to change their behaviour, the way they are living with poultry," he told AFP.

While he praised the government's efforts to contain the spread of the virus, some experts have accused the government of insufficient planning.

"Government planning is random," said Talaat Khatib, professor of veterinary medicine at Assiut University.He said public awareness campaigns were too weak.

Source: the Guardian Newspapers

NOW DEAD GULLS SPARK WEST BIRD FLU WORRIES​

http://www.westpress.co.uk/displayN...Node=146064&contentPK=14312078&folderPk=69655

09:30 - 08 April 2006
The West faces an agonising wait until bird flu test results are known next week on three seagulls found dead in Gloucester. The gulls, discovered together at Westgate Boating Lake, were among 18 birds to be tested yesterday after a swan in Scotland became the UK's first known case of the deadly H5N1 strain of the virus.

If the results come back positive, it will be England's first case of the virus and will trigger emergency precautions for poultry in the region.

There was some good news last night when it was announced tests on nine birds being checked for avian flu had proved negative.

A spokeswoman for the Scottish Executive was unable to say if the number of birds being tested was still 14.

But she said: "No further positive results have been received. Nine negative results have come back but we are unable to provide a running commentary on every test result."

In eastern Scotland, vets have set up a wild bird risk area covering 1,000 square miles, requiring poultry-keepers within the zone to keep their 3.1million birds under cover or separate from wild birds.

A spokesman for Gloucester City Council said it had reported the deaths to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) as a routine measure.

"Guidelines state that when three or more birds of the same species are found dead in the same place, an investigation has to be carried out, " he said.

"Given the current climate, we took the decision to inform Defra, and they are carrying out tests. This is quite normal and is a precaution." He added it would three to four days before the test results were known.

The gulls, which are not being treated as a high risk, have been taken to a Defra centre in the city.

A Defra spokesman said: "Any wild birds found dead anywhere, be they geese or swans, ducks or seagulls, are being tested at the moment."

The boating lake remained open yesterday despite the scare.

An alert was sounded at Weston General Hospital in Weston-superMare yesterday when a man, recently returned from Thailand, went to A &E with flu-like symptoms.

Blood tests were run and the proved negative for the disease.

Meanwhile, authorities came under fire after it emerged the infected swan was found last Wednesday on the harbour slipway in Cellardyke, but was not removed until the following day.

There was also criticism about the length of time needed to confirm the results. A farmer who keeps poultry six miles from Cellardyke said he first heard about the bird flu discovery on TV. But Scotland's Chief Veterinary Officer, Charles Milne, said: "The procedures were followed fully and the timeline could not have been tighter. We got the results at the earliest opportunity."

The Transport and General Workers' Union has called on Britain's poultry industry to vaccinate workers and their families to protect them from avian flu.

Watch out for dead birds plea​

http://www.thisisyork.co.uk/york/news/YORK_NEWS_LOCAL6.html

by Steve Carroll

GOVERNMENT scientists have asked people in York, North and East Yorkshire to remain vigilant, after it was revealed a dead goose found near allotments was being tested for the deadly avian flu virus.

Chiefs at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) said anyone who found a dead swan, goose or duck, or three or more dead wild, or garden birds, in the same place, should report it to the department as soon as possible.

The comment from DEFRA came after police chiefs confirmed a dead goose found at allotments in Wigginton, on Thursday morning, had been taken away and was currently being tested by experts.

It has since emerged that a second bird, a duck, had been found dead in the same area and had been collected by DEFRA.

That follows reports of more than a dozen birds being tested in Scotland after a swan in the Fife village of Cellardyke was found to be infected with the lethal H5N1 strain of avian flu.

A DEFRA spokeswoman refused to reveal any details about the York bird and said the organisation could not give a "running commentary" on individual birds being tested.

But she did offer advice to people in the region on what to do if they found a dead bird in their neighbourhoods.

"We cannot confirm or give a running commentary on individual birds being tested. Birds are tested as part of our routine wild bird surveillance, with over 1,100 birds tested since February 1," she said.

"Wild birds can carry several diseases that are infectious to people.

" If dead birds are handled, it is important to wash your hands with soap and water as soon as possible.

"Avoid touching your face and certainly do not eat until you have washed your hands. Clean any soiling on clothing with soap and water.

"The advice given here applies in all circumstances where members of the public may come across a dead bird, regardless of whether there is any avian influenza in the UK."

Anyone who sees a dead duck, swan or goose is asked to phone the DEFRA Helpline on 08459 33 55 77 as soon as possible.

Croatia confirms first bird flu case in capital
​

http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200604/08/eng20060408_256976.html

Croatia confirmed Friday night the first bird flu case in the capital of Zagreb after a dead swan found there tested positive for the H5 strain of bird flu virus.

The dead swan was found on the shores of the Sava River in southeast Zagreb last weekend, said Mladen Pavic, spokesman for the Croatian Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management Ministry.

Tests confirmed that the dead bird had contracted the H5 type of bird flu virus, but test findings as to whether it was the lethal H5N1 strain would be released on Sunday or Monday, reports from Zagreb quoted him as saying.

Quarantine officers found no other birds after combing the area within a radius of three km of the locale, Pavic said, adding that they would continue to monitor the situation there closely.

Croatia, which lies under one of the main flight paths for migratory birds, reported its first bird flu case last October when H5N1 was found in six wild swans in the eastern part of the country.

In late February this year, the disease struck the country's southern coastal region, where two dead swans were tested positive for H5N1.

Croatian authorities immediately adopted a series of precautionary measures to curb the spread of the disease, including ordering farmers to keep their poultry indoors to try to prevent them from contracting the virus from wild birds.

The authorities also halted poultry product imports from bird flu-hit nations, including Bulgaria, Greece, Italy and Slovenia.

Bird flu lab works round the clock to cope with test demand​

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2124209,00.html

By Nigel Hawkes and Sara McCorquodale


THE laboratory responsible for testing birds for the deadly H5N1 avian flu virus announced last night that it would work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to deal with any new cases.

About 60 birds a day are now arriving at the Weybridge laboratory of the Veterinary Laboratories Agency.

Since February 1, 1,100 tests have been carried out at Weybridge, including 500 on swans. Most have been conducted as routine tests — which is why it took a week to find H5N1 in the Fife swan — but now the cases of all dead swans referred to the laboratory are being treated as urgent.

Officials refused to speculate yesterday on the chances of finding other birds infected with H5N1, but it is more likely than not that they will. Vets expect to find a number of infected birds in the Fife area.The key will be keeping the infection out of poultry flocks.

Yesterday Ross Finnie, Scotland’s Rural Affairs Minister, met leaders of the National Farmers’ Union.

He said: “The poultry producers who were present said they were very pleased with the proportionate nature of the response which we have taken to this crisis.

“They were very confident that by applying these measures they could contain this outbreak.”

It was confirmed last night that 9 of the 14 other dead birds from the area — 12 swans and 2 other birds — did not have the same strain of the virus.

Tests were still being carried out on the 5 remaining dead birds.

Owners of the 48 free-range farms in a 2,500-sq km area who have been instructed to bring their birds indoors could face losing their free-range status if the order is in force for more than 12 weeks. Some vets fear that H5N1 could become endemic in wild birds, which would make it impossible to lift the order.

One organic farmer said yesterday: “I would hope it wasn’t 12 weeks. It shouldn’t be 12 weeks, and no one believes it will be 12 weeks.

“In the worst-case scenario, if this happened the industry would have to sit down with government and consider vaccination. The birds that were vaccinated would then be allowed out. That’s what happened in Holland.”

Experts say that the risk to human beings is minimal. John Oxford, Professor of Virology at St Bartholomew’s and the Royal London Hospital, said: “You wouldn’t catch this from walking past an infected bird. You would have to be touching its beak or plucking its feathers or getting yourself contaminated with droppings.

“The danger to humans at this stage is virtually zero. The danger for chickens and turkeys in the immediate area will be much higher.”

The Government’s Cobra crisis management committee held a second meeting yesterday to discuss the Fife case. The meeting involved officials from several government departments and the Scottish Executive.

A Cabinet Office spokesman said: “The meeting reviewed all of the arrangements relating to the case and is satisfied that everything that can be done is in place. It will meet again as necessary depending on developments.”

Supermarkets reported no signs of panic, with poultry sales consistent. A spokesman for Asda said: “Chicken sales are the same as they have been since October.

“There have been no more concerned calls from customers than there usually are and none of our lines has been affected yet.”

A spokeswoman for Waitrose said: “There has been no variation in any lines. Our customers understand that this is not a food-borne illness, and buying patterns haven’t changed.”

But Heidi Nicholson, commercial director of Forresters Ltd, which supplies chickens to the trade, said: “When the panic started with the virus in October 2005, demand fell by 10 per cent and it hasn’t recovered since.”

Avian flu risk overtake terrorism threat in UK ​

London, April 8, IRNA

UK-Response-Avian flu

The first confirmed case of Avian flu in a dead swan has prompted widespread fears in the UK among the British public despite calls by government ministers for calm about the risk of the fatal virus spreading to humans.

In Scotland, where the discovery of the H5N1 virus was found, all eight of its laboratories were being kept open over the weekend to test the rise in the number of dead birds being referred.

Bird carcasses were reported Saturday to have been collected by officials wearing protective clothing for examination from 22 locations within a 10-kilometer surveillance zone set around the coast in Fifeshire, north of Edinburgh, where the swan case was confirmed.

The scare, which has overtaken the threat of terrorism, has even led to a city council in Scotland's biggest city of Glasgow to close a number of parks and open spaces which contain large numbers of wild fowl, despite being some 100 kilometers away.

After the H5N1 virus was confirmed on Thursday, Scottish Rural Affairs Minister Ross Finnie had appealed "not turn a drama into a crisis."
The discovery has already led to a convening of the Cobra Committee of Ministers, which takes the lead in responding to national crises on two executive days.

Farmers in the affected area have also been ordered to house their birds where possible, or separate them from wild birds, while restrictions on the movement of poultry, eggs and other products have been implemented.

Some experts have warned that the case is unlikely to be isolated and are calling for a program of poultry vaccination to be introduced should a cluster of cases emerge.

Putting the scare into context, the Times newspaper Saturday criticized the government's delayed response to the avian flu threat as "inexcusable" being the 13th country in the European Union to report cases of the deadly virus.

"Avian flu, like terrorism, knows no borders, spreads inexorably and is often lethal," the daily warned in its editorial.

But it added that the government should at least be thankful that its threat to humans is "often exaggerated."

But it also warned that its threat to humans as well as birds is "real" and that it would be "only by taking matters seriously can a pandemic be avoided."

http://www.irna.ir/en/news/view/menu-234/0604086493145147.htm

<table width="100%" border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="3" bordercolor="#000000" height="43"><tr><td bgcolor="D08153"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="4"><b><font size="4" color="#FFFFFF">Poultry and egg sales stay steady in spite of scare</font></b></font></td></tr><tr><td bgcolor="#f5f5dc" height="2"><div align="left"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="4"><b><font size="2">
http://news.ft.com/cms/s/7b5fe300-c65d-11da-99fa-0000779e2340.html</B>

Shoppers and farmers were reacting calmly on Friday, as health authorities tested dead birds around Britain for the deadly H5N1 flu strain that killed a swan in Scotland.

Unlike their counterparts in continental Europe, British shops reported no fall in poultry and egg sales following confirmation of the first case of H5N1 in a wild bird.

The swan was found dead in the harbour at Cellardyke, Fife, nine days ago, although the H5N1 infection was not confirmed until this week.

On the basis of experience elsewhere in Europe, experts warned that more cases were likely among wild birds, although domestic poultry might escape infection.

There were several stories on Friday of dead birds being sent to the government’s Veterinary Laboratories Agency in Weybridge, Surrey, for testing. They included at least 14 birds from Scotland – 12 swans and two others – six swans from Northern Ireland and three seagulls found dead at Westgate Boating Lake in Gloucester.

In Austria, where H5N1 is more entrenched in the wild bird population, health authorities reported that preliminary testing showed the virus in 18 water birds found dead near the Old Danube lake in Vienna.

The Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said the VLA was geared up to receive and test large numbers of dead birds for bird flu, as a result of this week’s publicity, though most or all of the results were likely to be negative. Seven VLA staff will be working over the weekend on avian flu testing, with more available on call.

Farmers in Fife on Friday welcomed steps taken by ministers to minimise the chance of bird flu spreading into commercial poultry flocks, as proportionate and based on strong scientific advice.

John Kinnaird, president of the National Farmers’ Union Scotland, said: “We must remember that we still only have one isolated case in a dead wild swan. There is no guarantee whatsoever that the disease will spread on to farms.”

Mr Kinnaird introduced Ross Finnie, Scotland’s environment minister, to farmers inside the “surveillance zone” which covers a 10-km radius round Cellardyke, where the movement of birds and eggs has been restricted, and the larger 2,500 sq km coastal zone within which flocks are being brought indoors.

“Restrictions in the 10-km zone can seriously hamper businesses so it is important that we don’t jump to nationwide control measures unless the veterinary experts deem it necessary – a point the minister is clearly conscious of,” said Mr Kinnaird.

Reports from supermarket groups on Friday showed no signs of a poultry shopping crisis, with sales of chickens and eggs holding steady. The Food Standards Agency, whose message has consistently been that avian flu poses no food safety risk, said it had not received many calls from the public.

Tesco said: “In the last 24 hours we’ve seen no discernible difference. Sales are still strong, indicating that customer confidence is still very high.”

Waitrose said: “Our customers understand that avian flu is not a food-borne illness.” Sainsbury’s attributed healthy consumer confidence to an information campaign on bird flu that it had been running since last year.

It said it had been providing leaflets on bird flu to consumers in stores as well as online.

</font></font></div></td></tr></table>

Avian flu spreads in western India​

http://news.monstersandcritics.com/health/article_1153300.php/Avian_flu_spreads_in_western_India

New Delhi - More poultry samples were confirmed positive for the H5 avian influenza in the latest outbreak in India's western Maharashtra state, which has been struggling to contain the virus since February, it was reported Friday.

Bird flu has been reported from 14 more villages in Jalgaon district, 400 kilometres north of state capital Bombay.

State health officials said the Animal Disease Laboratory detected the virus from 14 villages, the Hindustan Times reported. In all, 1,000 samples were sent for testing.

Jalgaon had first reported the cases on March 16, after the first cases of H5N1 virus in poultry were reported in India from the Nandurbar district in the same state in mid-February.

The paper said the lab tests had shown it was H5 but further tests were expected to confirm that the virus was the H5N1 strain which had already struck the area.

Culling of poultry was due to begin in the affected areas of Jalgaon later on Friday. So far 200,000 poultry have been culled in other affected areas in Jalgaon.

Besides Maharashtra, neighbouring Madhya Pradesh state is the second state in India to report the virus in poultry.

India has not yet reported any case of bird flu in humans.

According to the World Health Organization, there have been 186 cases of the bird flu in humans since 2003, of which 104 had died.

Beijing - Bird flu or SARS?​

http://www.peacehall.com/news/gb/english/2006/04/200604081023.shtml

(April 08, 2006)On April 7, Beijing announced to check people with fever. It did not say bird flu has been found in Beijing, but the article did say that bird flu (H5N1) is spreading among more animals (in addition to birds).

It is unusual for government to annouce checking fever who may contact animals frequently. Ms. Zeng Jinyan - wife of a well-known rights activist - Hu Jia, said she received warning from friends who worked in hospital. The doctor told her not go to crowd, and read description about "plague".

Indian farmer hospitalised for bird flu checks​

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/DEL274415.htm

AHMEDABAD, India, April 8 (Reuters) - A poultry farmer in India's bird-flu hit western region was hospitalised on Saturday with flu-like symptoms, the state's health minister said.

"We have admitted him and all precautions have been taken," Ashok Bhatt told reporters. He did not describe symptoms the man was showing.

The man was being tested at a government hospital in Ahmedabad, the state's main city.

Bhatt said the 30-year-old man approached authorities and told them some 600 chicken on his farm had died last week.

More than 50,000 birds have been culled in two districts of south Gujarat, which borders Nawapur district in Maharashtra state from where India's first outbreak of avian influenza in poultry was reported in February.

Maharashtra has struggled since then with a third outbreak hitting 14 new villages this week in the state's Jalgaon district, near the site of the two earlier outbreaks.

The virus has also struck a region close to Jalgaon in the central state of Madhya Pradesh.

India has culled more than 500,000 birds and monitored hundreds of people living in close proximity to poultry.

The country has not reported the infection in humans.

OK, It's official: If you say Bird Flu is a hoax, you're a Marxist

OK, It's official: If you say Bird Flu is a hoax, you're a Marxist or at least of the same mind...

AP Maoists say bird flu threat a hoax​

The Asianage (4/8/2006 11:50:01 PM)

Hyderabad, April 8: The troubled poultry industry got support from unexpected quarters: the CPI (Maoists), which said that bird flu was "a gigantic hoax" and "a conspiracy" of US pharma companies to sell their vaccine and "the master plan of the US to enter the Indian poultry industry" . It has asked the public to reject US chicken products as they "contain hazardous preservatives".

In the April edition of the magazine People’s March, run by Maoists sympathisers, the CPI Maoists stated that small producers and Venkateswara Hatcheries were the worst affected by reports of bird flu. It cited an incident in Malkajgiri, Hyderabad, where two youth died due to acute diarrhoea but sections of the media attributed it to eating of eggs.

The state police sees the Maoists "support" for poultry industry as a gimmick. Director-general of police Swaranjit Sen said, "They are trying to save face with such campaigns. They want to gain the sympathy of poultry farmers."

Venkateswara Hatcheries general manager K.G. Anand said, "I don’t want to name any party. But we are thankful to everyone who are supporting the cause. The government has given us maximum support. It has challenged to pay Rs 10 lakhs to those who prove that bird flu has spread to humans. It’s true that this is the conspiracy of MNCs based in the US and Europe against small producers and us. They want to dump chicken legs here. We have been fighting against this."

The Maoists stated: "For nearly a fortnight, bird flu was the main item and the scare beat even the terrorist scare of the Varanasi bomb blast. A TV channel, interviewing a lady from AP, said that her two relatives died immediately after consuming eggs. Immediately chicken and eggs were taken off the menu of government offices, armed forces, railways and even Parliament. All this propaganda is a gigantic hoax. Not even one of the 95 patients who were suspected to have the H5N1 virus tested positive for bird flu."

It said that Ranikhet disease is common in poultries and results in mass chicken deaths. But the media barely mentioned it and made it out that such large numbers of chicken deaths could only be due to bird flu, it said.

The CPI Maoists see that hand of US pharma companies to sell their vaccine and US MNCs to enter the Indian market worth Rs 35,000 crores.

http://www.asianage.com/main.asp?layout=2&cat1=5&cat2=154&newsid=218538&RF=DefaultMain

Link to tomorrows (4/9) Bird Flu thread: http://www.timebomb2000.com/vb/showthread.php?t=192825

Beijing - Bird flu or SARS?


http://www.peacehall.com/news/gb/eng...04081023.shtml

(April 08, 2006)On April 7, Beijing announced to check people with fever. It did not say bird flu has been found in Beijing, but the article did say that bird flu (H5N1) is spreading among more animals (in addition to birds).

It is unusual for government to annouce checking fever who may contact animals frequently. Ms. Zeng Jinyan - wife of a well-known rights activist - Hu Jia, said she received warning from friends who worked in hospital. The doctor told her not go to crowd, and read description about "plague".
That's frightening considering my post regarding 400 students hospitalized the other day!!
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