04/27 | Daily BF: U.N. Says Bird Flu Spreading

Link to yesterday's thread: http://www.timebomb2000.com/vb/showthread.php?t=195046

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
o Sudan

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


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

Updated April 24, 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

April 26th, 2006 @ 1:46pm

By EDITH M. LEDERER
Associated Press Writer

UNITED NATIONS (AP) - Bird flu has hit 45 countries, killed more than 100 people and seems to be spreading quickly, the U.N. official in charge of tracking the virus said Wednesday.

Dr. David Nabarro said the virus has led to the deaths of some 200 million birds and has impoverished millions of small poultry farmers.

Between 2003 and 2005 the virus was reported in 15 countries. But in the first four months of this year it has moved rapidly to 30 new countries, with major outbreaks in Turkey, Iraq, Israel, Gaza, Egypt, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Myanmar, India, Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon and Bukina Faso.

"I suspect we're going to see further spread of H5N1 into other countries," he said, referring to the deadly and virulent strain of the virus.

"This is very similar to the virus that caused the influenza pandemic of 1918," Nabarro said. It's not identical but it's similar. ... So therefore, the 1918 virus, which caused this huge pandemic associated with 40 million deaths, seems to have a successor waiting in the wings."

Nabarro, the U.N.'s chief coordinator for avian influenza, spoke at a meeting organized by the United Nations Foundation on how to inform people around the world of the bird flu threat.

He said the H5N1 virus is known to have stricken more than 200 people, but it probably has affected "many, many more."

"And this virus has led to the deaths of 200 million birds _ around $20 billion worth of consequences for the countries affected _ and this led to the impoverishment of millions of smallholders whose livelihoods depend on poultry," he said.

"The poultry industry is in a terrible state because of drop in demand and also real problems of import and export controls," he added.

Even worse, Nabarro said, the virus has spread to wild birds, including Muscovy ducks and certain kinds of geese that can carry it long distances without any symptoms.

These wild birds are spreading H5N1, he said.

Experts fear the virus will mutate into a form easily transmitted among humans, sparking a global pandemic.

"If H5N1 does undergo perhaps two, perhaps three mutations in its genetic material in a particular way, it, too, could become a virus capable of human-to-human transmission, at speed, with high consequences for human health," he said.

"It could be the cause of the next human pandemic," Nabarro said. "We ought to be getting the world ready for a pandemic."

Nabarro said he is working with the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Organization for Animal Health to greatly improve veterinary services "which have been neglected for years."

"The result of that is we are susceptible to diseases within animals that can jump into humans," he said, noting that "70 percent of the emerging diseases of a communicable kind in our world today come from animals."

A second major priority is to improve public health services, he said.

"We have seen a steady dismantling of human public health services in the world during the last 30 years," Nabarro said.

http://www.620ktar.com/?nid=36&sid=137174

None of their rhetoric is a suprise...they're just waiting for the other shoe to dropl

Boy isolated; bird flu suspected​

http://www.dawn.com/2006/04/27/top16.htm

By Ashfaq Yusufzai

PESHAWAR, April 26: A 13-year-old boy was quarantined at the Khyber Teaching Hospital on Wednesday after doctors suspected him of suffering from bird flu symptoms. “We received a patient with typical bird flu symptoms. We have isolated him and advised his relatives and the hospital staff to take precautions,” said a doctor.

Umar Said, a daily wage earner, was brought to the hospital on Tuesday night and shifted to the Medical ‘D’ ward on Wednesday.

Doctor said that the boy, who belonged to the Spar Sang village located on the Warsak Road, had not been eating anything for the past five days and had a high fever.

“He had high fever, soar throat and congested chest. We put him in a separate room as a precaution,” the doctors said. He said that some chickens had recently died in his home, located about 1,000 yards away from a poultry farm where hundreds of chicken had died recently.

H5N1 Bird Flu Confirmed in Ivory Coast​

http://www.recombinomics.com/News/04260602/H5N1_Ivory_Coast.html

Recombinomics Commentary
April 26, 2006

The bird flu cases were reported in the commercial capital Abidjan, in backyard free-range chickens, ducks and a sparrowhawk

The above comments confirm H5N1 bird flu in another African country, the Ivory Coast. Although not unexpected, the report is one of the first documenting H5N1 in wild birds in Africa. Most other African countries, such as Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon, Burkina Faso, Sudan, and Egypt, only identified H5N1 in domestic poultry, because surveillance of wild birds was lacking.

H5N1 in the Ivory Coast increases the number of reported cases in the East Atlantic Flyway, which links Africa to western Europe and North America.

The latest report increases the likelihood of a significant increase in H5N1 reports in western Europe and North America.

JPD, thank you for the article...I'm pondering this one. What I've noted from the majority of cases are they are "young", typically little ones, teens and those in their prime, much like the monster of 1918, just an observation, I'm 41 just a hair passed the onslaught witnessed then.

Last Week McDonalds... This week KFC

KFC Launches Pre-Emptive Bird Flu Campaign​

Wednesday, April 26, 2006

LOUISVILLE, Kentucky — At Kentucky Fried Chicken, Colonel Harland Sanders' face remains a staple on company signs and food containers. Now the goateed image of the restaurant chain's founder appears on a sticker meant to head off any concerns about eating chicken if bird flu spreads to the United States.

The small stickers are being put on the lid of every bucket of chicken that KFC sells in the U.S.

The seal is a pre-emptive campaign assuring customers that the chicken is "rigorously inspected, thoroughly cooked, quality assured."

"While it doesn't specifically mention avian flu, for deliberate reasons, it reassures our customers that our food is perfectly safe," said Jonathan Blum, a spokesman for Yum Brands Inc., the parent of KFC.

A virulent strain of the virus has spread through Asia, Europe and Africa, and the outbreaks occurred in some countries where Kentucky Fried Chicken does business, with mixed results on its profits.

In Turkey and Trinidad, KFC's business slumped for a few weeks before recovering after the chain ran ads and handed out material at stores to reassure customers that its chicken was safe to eat, Blum said.

In China, Yum's operating profit plunged by 20 percent in last year's fourth quarter, due partly to concern about avian flu. KFC sales had rebounded by February and March in the fast-growing market. In Thailand, the avian flu hasn't had an impact on sales, Blum said.

"We believe we have weathered the storm very well as avian flu has moved across the globe," Yum Chairman and Chief Executive David Novak said in a conference call with analysts this week.

Not all chicken chains in the United States see the need for such measures.

Chick-fil-A, based in Atlanta, currently doesn't have plans to add a food-safety message to its packaging, though it has been discussed as part of contingency planning, said company spokesman Don Perry.

"For now, our customers are not expressing a need to us to add this type of messaging to our menu items," he said in an e-mail.

Perry said there could be "'trigger points' in the future that would cause us to draw that level of direct attention to AI (avian influenza) concerns with our customers."

Blum said in an interview that KFC has safeguards in place stretching from "farm to table" to guarantee that its chicken is safe.

KFC suppliers keep the birds under cover to prevent contact with any migratory bird that might carry the virus, Blum said. Each flock is checked for the virus before being shipped for processing, he said. At processing plants, each piece of chicken is inspected before being sent to restaurants and then the chicken is cooked at high temperatures as another safeguard, he said.

"You would probably be more likely to win the Powerball twice than you would the likelihood of an infected product coming to our restaurant," Blum said.

Jim Rogers, a U.S. Department of Agriculture spokesman, said poultry is federally inspected at slaughterhouses.

Cooking chicken at temperatures of at least 165 degrees inactivates viruses such as the avian flu, Rogers said in an interview.

"So I don't think you have to worry if you eat cooked chicken," he said.

At a KFC restaurant in its corporate hometown of Louisville, several lunchtime customers weren't worried about bird flu.

"It just doesn't seem like you would get bird flu from eating Kentucky Fried Chicken," said Colby Miller of Louisville.

Miller said he didn't think the safety seal was necessary.

"I think it's probably one of those things that people (are) just taking it too far, creating more drama," he said.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,193277,00.html

China

China`s bird flu toll may be higher​

Apr 27, 2006, 0:12 GMT

BEIJING, China (UPI) -- China`s bird flu death toll may be higher than the 12 people reported dead by the central government, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.

A person familiar with the situation told the newspaper some local officials may have concealed suspected cases of avian flu.

'The central government was quite upset from receiving information late from local officials,' said the person, who had spoken with Chinese ministry officials. 'They weren`t happy.'

A Ministry of Health spokesman told the newspaper some hospitals have simply not reported severe pneumonia cases in which the cause is not known.

However, the ministry`s Web site Tuesday repeated a March warning that coverup or delay in reporting pneumonia cases could spread the disease.

Avian flu, first reported in Asia, has spread to Europe and Africa.

While the number of cases remains relatively small, the potential of the virus mutating and allowing human-to-human transmission has prompted worldwide pandemic fears.

http://news.monstersandcritics.com/health/article_1158746.php/China`s_bird_flu_toll_may_be_higher

Expert predicts Russian bird flu pandemic
MOSCOW, April 26 (UPI) -- A senior Russian official has predicted that a bird flu pandemic is highly probable in Russia this summer.

"The epicenter of the bird flu virus ... has shifted to Russia," Gennady Onishchenko, head of the Federal Consumer Protection Service, told a news conference Tuesday.

Unusually warm temperatures in the southern regions of Russia, combined with cooler-than-average weather in Iran and Turkey, have led migrating birds to nest in unlikely places this year, Onishchenko said.

"This explains early bird flu outbreaks in (the southern Russian republic) Dagestan and other locations in the Southern Federal District," he said.

Onishchenko also said uninfected migrating birds would arrive in Siberia and the Urals region by the end of April, and likely would become infected by the summer, RIA Novosti reported.



http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/view.php?StoryID=20060426-030006-9837r

Report: No clear answers on how much flu protection face masks offer ​

By LAURAN NEERGAARD | Associated Press
April 27, 2006

WASHINGTON (AP) - If a worldwide flu epidemic strikes, face masks should be considered a defense of last resort since there's little evidence about whether the masks available to the average person or most health care workers can prevent influenza infection, the Institute of Medicine said Thursday.

Yet if a flu pandemic begins, the millions who undoubtedly will use masks in hopes of protection will need a large supply, because they shouldn't be used more than once, concluded the IOM, an arm of the National Academies, the nation's most prestigious science organization.

Health workers use masks _ simple surgical masks or better-filtering ones called N95 respirators _ mostly to keep from breathing their own germs into open wounds or onto otherwise vulnerable patients. But certain filtering masks also can protect wearers from specific respiratory diseases, such as tuberculosis.

The masks are supposed to be used once and discarded. Anticipating a staggering demand if the bird flu or some other super-strain of influenza sparks the next pandemic, federal health officials asked the IOM to determine whether there are masks that could be reused safely, to conserve supplies.

The first question is whether different masks really block influenza, noted the IOM panel _ a question the government didn't ask, but that the scientific advisers said should be studied, urgently.

"Just to double-emphasize: We don't have good data to make a decision about how effective they are or are not," said panel co-chair Dr. Donald Burke of Johns Hopkins University.

That information is crucial because some pandemic specialists fear that using a face mask will give people a false sense of security, perhaps encouraging them to go into crowds or near infected patients when instead they should have stayed away. Thus, the report concludes, "respiratory protection is the last resort to control infectious spread."

"We don't want to say, 'Don't use it,' but don't expect to be fully protected if you do use it. That's a tough public health message to get out," Burke added.

Officials with the Health and Human Services Department, which is stockpiling pandemic flu supplies, had no immediate comment.

Flu can spread three ways:

_By hand. Someone sneezes into his hand and then grabs a doorknob that you touch, or shakes your hand.

_By large droplets of virus, if someone is in the direct path of a sneeze or cough. Those heavy droplets fall quickly to the ground.

_By tiny particles, which can stay suspended in the air for far longer periods.

No one knows which of those methods is most important.

But surgical masks aren't designed to block tiny airborne particles, just larger ones.

While the N95 respirators haven't been tested to see how effectively they block flu virus specifically, they are designed to block small particles. But they must be individually fitted to users' faces so that air doesn't seep into the sides, a problem for men with facial hair. Also, they come only in certain sizes, none for children, and they're uncomfortable to breathe in for long periods.

Regardless, if someone with flu sneezes on any mask wearer, the outside is contaminated, so users must remove them carefully to avoid infecting themselves through direct contact, the IOM panel stressed.

More expensive reusable masks do exist, but there is no good way to decontaminate and reuse surgical masks and standard disposable N95s, the panel concluded.

The panel noted one exception: Someone could reuse his or her own N95 if the outside were protected from surface exposure, such as by placing a disposable surgical mask over it, stored it carefully to avoid creases or damage, and the user thoroughly washed hands before and after removal and rechecked the fit with each wearing.

What about using a handkerchief or some other improvised mask? They're not likely to be as protective as even a surgical mask might be, but the panel hesitated to discourage them for people with no other options on the assumption that some protection might be better than none. Generally, the tighter the fabric weave, the better.

___

On the Net:

Institute of Medicine: http://www.iom.edu

http://www.freenewmexican.com/news/42871.html

UK

Poultry-keepers to join database ​

Keepers of small numbers of poultry in Berkshire are being urged to join a council database so they can get help in the event of a bird flu outbreak.

Owners of larger flocks can already register their birds with Defra, but West Berkshire Council says smaller flocks may also need attending to.

People are being asked to contact West Berkshire Trading Standards.

Meanwhile, 35,000 chickens at a Norfolk farm are to be killed after dead birds tested positive for a bird flu strain.

Disease control

Executive councillor for public protection, Geoff Findlay, said: "This is a good housekeeping measure - getting prepared while hoping that it won't be necessary.

"Officers are fully equipped to respond to requests for assistance from the State Veterinary Service (SVS), particularly if the virus is found within any wild birds in the area.

"Trading standards' role will be to support the SVS in enforcing disease control measures - such as restrictions on movement and security within any specific protection or surveillance zones."

The council said further information could be found on its website. www.westberks.gov.uk

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/england/berkshire/4949620.stm

Published: 2006/04/27 11:30:43 GMT

Found this over in AvianFluTalk and couldn't resist posting here:

Announcing the latest Reality TV show airing from tonight:

CELEBRITY BIG CHICKEN

"Yes, it's arrived!!! it had to happen. 12 Celebrities will be arriving at the chicken coup this evening and will spend up to 25 days in the coup with live chickens. Not any old ordinary chicken. No, some of these chickens will have been infected with H5N1. 25 days in the coup is ample time to get the flu from these little devils. Celebs will spend the day and night in different areas of the coup, not knowing which chickens have the flu. Ample movement to allow the spread from sick chickens to well chickens and of course, those frisky little celebs.

As a new twist on the Reality show theme: YOU GET TO CHOOSE WHO GOES IN!!!

Not who comes out!! Lets face it, no-one is coming out alive anyway.
Watch them sneeze there way to get food, Watch them compete for Tamiflu (as if that will help them, Celebs are dim remember!). And watch them die an agonising death.

So get voting for your favourite celeb to run this gaunlet. It's up to YOU!!!!"

Grav. Organiser. Celebrity BIG CHICKEN TM copyrighted 2006

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/04/0426_060426_bird_flu.html

Family Quarantine Is a Key to Fighting Bird Flu, Study Says
John Roach
for National Geographic News
April 26, 2006

Strict isolation of households is among the tactics touted by scientists in a new study on how to combat a bird flu pandemic.

The study recommends rapid treatment and quarantine of not only infected people but also their uninfected household contacts. Travel restrictions, school closures, and vaccines were also studied to estimate their effectiveness in mitigating an avian influenza pandemic.


The results are reported in tomorrow's issue of the journal Nature.

The study is one of a series examining potential pandemic-fighting strategies and is funded by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland. (Read about another study in the series: "U.S. Not Ready for Fast-Spreading Bird Flu, Study Says.")

Jeremy Berg, director of the institute, said the development of several models for a flu pandemic is similar to the use of several models to forecast the weather.

"When the National Hurricane Center is predicting where a hurricane might hit land, they run lots of different models, and only once they start coming up with a similar answer do you get confidence they might know what's going on," he said.

The models "are not a substitute for policy development in any sense," Berg added. "They inform policymakers in ways that are hard to do without them."

The current study, he said, is particularly useful when looking at the impact of multiple tactics.

Cocktail Ingredients

In addition to rapid treatment with antiviral drugs and isolation of entire households, the study recommends coupling the treatments with early closure of schools hit by the outbreak.

This would reduce disease rates by nearly half, according to the models.


However, for this strategy to work, antiviral stockpiles need to be sufficient to treat 50 percent of the population—twice the number many countries are planning for.

The United States currently has enough antiviral drugs to treat one percent of the population, according to Neil Ferguson, lead author of the study. Ferguson is a professor of mathematical biology at Imperial College in London.

Other effective measures include keeping a vast stockpile of vaccine on hand, even if it's not perfectly matched to the outbreak strain, the researchers write.

Combined with an antiviral drug strategy, infection rates could be reduced by two-thirds, according to the results.

Border controls, however, are unlikely to delay the spread of influenza by more than a few weeks unless there is more than 99 percent compliance.

That level of compliance is difficult and costly to enforce in today's highly mobile society, Ferguson says.

Different Strategies

"Frankly, different countries will be in different positions to implement one or more legs or arms of a combination strategy," Ferguson said.

For example, since Europe has greater stockpiles of antiviral drugs than the U.S., European countries can more aggressively pursue preventive treatment, he said.

Unless the U.S. can build its own stockpiles, the country should rely on a policy of social distancing: closing schools and telling infected people and their families to stay home, for example.

While social distancing will not stop people from getting ill, it may slow the disease spread, allowing researchers time to ramp up the vaccine manufacturing.

Prolonged and Severe

Ferguson and his colleagues' computer model assumed a strain of human influenza like the 1918 "Spanish flu" virus, which killed about five million people. (See "'Bird Flu' Similar to Deadly 1918 Flu, Gene Study Says.")

Ironically, a virus that causes a more prolonged and severe disease—as some researchers suggest would be possible with a human version of the H5N1 bird flu strain—might be easier to control, the researchers said.

"If it's more severe, we will recognize cases more easily in the population," Ferguson said.

"That's what we saw with SARS [severe acute respiratory syndrome] in 2003: a uniformly severe disease, with people only becoming highly infectious when they were very ill."

Early recognition of cases would allow researchers time to treat and isolate individuals more readily than if the pandemic were less easily detectable and less severe, he added.

"I think the good news about influenza pandemic is it's not here and we don't know when it will be here," said Berg, of the National Institute of General Medical Sciences.

"There is an opportunity to prepare for this. It's not so imminent that efforts to prepare now are going to be in vain."

Such great news for a beautiful, sunny Thursday morning....NOT ! I guess the U.K. is a lot more prepared than the U.S.....go figure.....after Katrina, we KNOW how well prepared the U.S. government is......


http://www.startribune.com/1244/story/394654.html


If pandemic flu hits soon, 1 in 3 will be affected in U.S., study says
Seth Borenstein

Last update: April 26, 2006 – 12:18 PM


If pandemic flu hits soon, 1 in 3 will be affected in U.S., study says


WASHINGTON— If pandemic influenza hits in the next year or so, the few weapons the United States has to keep it from spreading will do little, a new computer model shows.

A pandemic flu is likely to strike one in three people if nothing is done, according to the results of computer simulation published in Thursday's journal Nature. If the government acts fast enough and has enough antiviral medicine to use as preventive dosings — which the United States does not — that could drop to about 28 percent of the population getting sick, the study found.

"Both cases we came up with were very pessimistic,'' said lead author Neil Ferguson of the Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology at Imperial College in London. "There is no single magic bullet for stopping pandemic flu.''

So far this year, H5N1 bird flu — which is not yet pandemic flu because it doesn't move easily between people — has infected 204 people and killed 113, according to the World Health Organization. Most of the human cases and deaths have been in Asia, but birds with the disease have been found in Europe.

Ferguson's computer simulation is the second released this month and is more pessimistic than one led by Timothy Germann of Los Alamos National Laboratory, who said the flu could be less infectious and that efforts could slow it a bit.

Measures such as closing schools to halt breeding grounds and the use of the antiviral Tamiflu could reduce the disease's toll, Ferguson said. But efforts to stop flu from entering American borders — usually on planes with sick passengers — won't work, he said. At most, they can buy a couple of weeks of delay before the disease sets in, he said.

If the United States were like Britain and had enough antiviral medicine for one quarter of the population to be used before people get sick, computer models show that the number of people getting sick would drop from about 102 million to about 84 million in America, Ferguson said.

Bill Hall, spokesman for Department of Health and Human Services, said his agency has 28 million courses of the antiviral (9.3 percent of the U.S. population), but acknowledged that on hand, there's only enough medicine for 5 million people (1.7 percent). The other 23 million courses are on order and should arrive by the end of the year. The plan is to have 81 million courses (27.1 percent) by 2008, he said.

One course of treatment for people involves ten doses.

"Twenty-five percent doesn't go very far and we don't have anywhere near that,'' said study co-author Donald Burke, professor of international health and epidemiology at Johns Hopkins University's School of Public Health. "If it does occur before we have enough drug and enough vaccine, then the epidemic will have a substantial impact.''

If a country gets enough Tamiflu for half its population, it could then act aggressively in dosing families of flu-struck patients and that could cut the flu attack rate by 75 percent, Ferguson said. So instead of 102 million infected people in the U.S., it would be 33 million.

But even Germann, who conducted the more optimistic study, said no one knows which computer model is closer to reality.

"It would have to be a very weak pandemic strain for us to be able to stop it right now,'' Germann said this week. "Most likely we wouldn't be completely prepared.''

Cote'd Ivoire: Bird flu strikes urban residential area​

http://www.andnetwork.com/index?service=direct/0/Home/recent.fullStory&sp=l32033

April 27, 2006,

By ANDnetwork .com

Cote d’Ivoire has reported its first outbreak of the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu in a poor residential district of the main city Abidjan, the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) has said today.

Authorities are awaiting confirmation of the results from the main OIE laboratory in Italy, however an OIE spokesman in Paris told IRIN “We can consider that it’s bird flu”.

Tests carried out by the national laboratory for agricultural development (Lanada) in Abidjan found H5N1 in seventeen birds, including chickens, ducks and a sparrow hawk.

The cases came from two separate backyards in the populous and poor residential neighbourhoods of Marcory and Treichville in Abidjan, the OIE said.

“We are still waiting for the results, it has not been officially confirmed,” said Ivorian Minister of Animal Production and Fish Resources, Alphonse Douaty, late Wednesday night in a statement. Douaty said three telephone lines had been opened for questions and reports from the population.

Final confirmation from the OIE would make Cote d’Ivoire the sixth African nation to be struck with the virus which can prove fatal in humans. The World Health Organisation (WHO) told IRIN it is meeting about how to tackle the Cote d’Ivoire outbreak.

Animal health officials said teams were being put in place to stop the virus from spreading. “If there are other poultry [in the area] we will destroy them,” Cisse Bakary of the Lanada laboratory told IRIN. “We are going to have to cull all poultry in the area and we will have to ban all movement of poultry between the communities.”

Nigeria was the first African country to confirm cases of bird flu in early February. Since then Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Egypt and Niger have all confirmed H5N1 in poultry and Egypt has confirmed human cases of the disease.

Sudan has reported an outbreak of bird flu though tests have yet to confirm that it is the deadly H5N1 strain.

Small scale poultry farming is widespread in West Africa where people often live in close contact with their birds, increasing concerns among experts of more human cases of bird flu in Africa.

Experts are concerned that H5N1 could mutate into a strain that could pass from human to human and lead to a worldwide pandemic.

http://www.thanhniennews.com/healthy/?catid=8&newsid=14916


Bird flu's rapid march around the globe

Free-range chickens roam outdoors in England, February 22, 2006
Ivory Coast has reported its first outbreaks of the H5N1 strain of bird flu in two populous neighborhoods of its main city Abidjan, the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) said late Wednesday.

Bird flu has spread rapidly since late 2003 from Asia to Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Ivory Coast is the sixth African nation to confirm the virus after Nigeria, Niger, Egypt, Burkina Faso and Cameroon. Sudan has also reported a bird flu outbreak, but that has not been confirmed as H5N1.

Following are some facts about the H5N1 avian flu virus and its spread around the globe.

-- Since the virus re-emerged in Asia in 2003, outbreaks have been confirmed in more than 45 countries and territories, according to data from the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE).

-- Since the beginning of January, 2006, more than 30 countries have reported outbreaks, in most cases involving wild birds such as swans.

-- The virus has killed 113 people since 2003 in nine countries and territories, according to the WHO. Countries with confirmed human cases are: Azerbaijan, Cambodia, China, Egypt, Indonesia, Iraq, Thailand, Turkey and Vietnam.

-- In total, the virus is known to have infected 204 people since 2003, according to the WHO. Many of those who have died are children and young adults.

-- Vietnam and Indonesia have the highest number of cases, accounting for 66 of the total deaths.

-- The H5N1 virus is not new to science and was responsible for an outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza in Scotland in 1959. Britain confirmed a new case in Scotland on April 6.

-- Nor is H5N1 the only bird flu virus. There are numerous strains. For example, an outbreak in 2003 of the H7N7 bird flu virus in the Netherlands led to the destruction of more than 30 million birds – a quarter of the country's poultry stock. About 2.7 million were destroyed in Belgium, and around 400,000 in Germany. In the Netherlands, 89 people were infected with the H7N7 virus, of whom one (a veterinarian) died.

-- The H5N1 virus made the first known jump into humans in Hong Kong in 1997, infecting 18 people and killing six of them. The government ordered the immediate culling of the territory's entire poultry flock, ending the outbreak.

-- Symptoms of bird flu in humans have ranged from typical influenza-like symptoms, such as fever, cough, sore throat and muscle aches, to eye inflammations (conjunctivitis), pneumonia, acute respiratory distress, viral pneumonia, and other severe and life-threatening complications.

http://www.breakingnews.ie/2006/04/27/story256132.html


Drugs giant reveals anti-flu spray sales boost
27/04/2006 - 13:38:01

GlaxoSmithKline revealed sales of a key treatment against a potential flu pandemic have rocketed since January – on the day a new outbreak of bird flu was confirmed in the UK.

The pharmaceuticals giant said sales of its anti-viral Relenza drug totalled £7m (€10m) in the first three months of this year – compared with £5m (€7.2m) for the whole of 2005.

Fewer than a million packs of Relenza were produced last year and Glaxo aims to ramp up production by 15 times to meet demand for more protection against flu viruses.

Relenza is a spray that patients inhale if they are suffering from symptoms of flu. Although it does not prevent the illness, it gives people a much greater chance of survival.

At the same time, Glaxo is continuing to investigate a vaccine against the deadly H5N1 virus of bird flu and the results from clinical trials in Germany are expected in the summer.

Details emerged as Glaxo unveiled a 17% hike in profits to £2.17bn (€3.1bn) at constant exchange rates, with revenues growing at the slower rate of 10% to £5.81bn (€8.3bn).

The driving forces were its portfolio of six blockbuster drugs that includes anti-depressant Paxil and asthma treatment Seretide, which saw sales cumulatively rise 22% to £2.2bn (€3.2bn).

There was a strong performance from its vaccines business where sales surged 44% to £366m (€526m).

Chief executive JP Garnier assured investors that sales were unlikely to suffer from the constraints on budgets in the NHS and other European health services that forced medical devices maker Smith & Nephew to warn on profits today.

Glaxo accounts for around a tenth of the total drugs bill of the NHS, but Mr Garnier said cutbacks on medicines would ultimately drive health costs higher.

“We are part of the solution not the problem,” he said, pointing out that the average cost of a prescription was £11 (€15.80) compared with £1,500 (€2,100) for a stay in hospital.

“If people stay away from hospitals then they save costs for the NHS.

“We have demonstrated this is in spades….saving admissions to psychiatrists wards with Paxil, saving middle-of-the-night hospitalisations with Seretide, I could go on.”

Should we believe them ???

http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/new...7425_RTRUKOC_0_UK-BRITAIN-BIRDFLU.xml&src=rss


Chicken cull ordered as bird flu strain found
Thu Apr 27, 2006 2:25 PM BST13


By Luke Macgregor


DEREHAM (Reuters) - The government is to start culling 35,000 birds on a poultry farm in the east of the country on Thursday after a strain of bird flu was detected in chickens.

Preliminary tests showed the virus was likely to be an H7 strain of bird flu, not the lethal H5N1 avian virus that has infected 204 people and killed 113 since 2003.

"There is no evidence this is H5N1. We think it will turn out to be H7," the government's chief vet Debby Reynolds said.

She said tests were continuing but there was unlikely to be any further information on the outbreak until Thursday evening at the earliest.

"It is far too early to say how serious this is," she told a news conference in London.

The Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) said all birds on the farm near Norwich, an area which is home to some of Europe's biggest poultry farms, would be killed as soon as possible as a precautionary measure.

Britain has been on high alert for bird flu since it discovered the lethal H5N1 virus in a wild swan in Scotland earlier this month.

The swan was the only wild bird found in Britain so far to have the H5N1 virus, which has spread from Asia to Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and led to the death and culling of 200 million birds since late 2003.

Scientists fear bird flu could become highly dangerous to humans if the virus mutates into a form easily passed on from one person to another.

Animal health experts had not yet decided whether to impose an exclusion zone around the poultry farm near the market town of Dereham to prevent the spread of the virus.

Results of the tests will determine whether it is highly pathogenic or low pathogenic.

Freda Scott-Park, the president of the British Veterinary Association, said the avian flu strain did not pose a threat to public health. But she said poultry workers and veterinarians looking after the farm would have to take extra precautions.

"There is absolutely no risk to health," she said.

That view was supported by Anthony Gibson, spokesman for the National Farmers' Union.

"The implications for public health and for the safety of eating properly cooked chicken and eggs are zero," he said.

An outbreak of the H7N7 bird flu strain in the Netherlands in 2003 led to the culling of 30 million birds, about a third of all Dutch poultry at a cost of hundreds of millions of euros.

A veterinarian working on an infected Dutch farm caught the disease and later died of pneumonia. It infected more than 80 people in total.

Both highly pathogenic and low pathogenic avian influenzas can infect humans but rarely do so. H5N1 is the bird flu strain which poses the biggest threat to public health, although cases of human infection remain relatively infrequent.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/02/0213_060213_swan_flu.html

Photo in the News: Bird Flu Reaches Western Europe

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<B><font size=+1 color=red><center>Bird flu poll reveals U.S. economic collapse
likely in the event of a human pandemic</font>

Posted Thursday, April 27, 2006 by Mike Adams
<A href="http://www.newstarget.com/019363.html">www.newstarget.com</a>

Print this article Permalink: http://www.NewsTarget.com/019363.html
Key concepts: bird flu, pandemic and preparedness.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------</b></center>

There's a new poll about bird flu in the United States that gives us a somewhat alarming look at what might happen to the U.S. economy if the bird flu becomes infectious to humans. The Harvard School of Public Health conducted a telephone survey of 1,043 adults with a series of "what if" questions. The results of this poll show that 60 percent of the citizens in the United States are concerned about bird flu, indicating that there is very high awareness. Almost everyone has heard of the bird flu, and nearly two-thirds of the population is concerned about it.
However, at the same time, almost no one has done anything to prepare for bird flu. Only 2 percent of people polled said they had actually talked to a doctor about Tamiflu or other antiviral medications. This lack of preparedness across the board is what I've been warning you about, folks. For those of you who have been paying attention to the coming bird flu pandemic, it is time to prepare now, before this becomes a human disease, and before the other 98 percent of the country wakes up and suddenly realizes that they'd better do something about it.

You can rest assured that, when this 98 percent wakes up and tries to take action, whatever it is that they're attempting to buy will not be available. Antiviral herbs, medications and preparedness products will all be wiped out if that large a percentage of the population decides to do something at the same time.


A bird flu pandemic would stall the U.S. economy
That's not even the most alarming part of this study; here are more results that are actually even more shocking. First of all, on the minor side of things, 46 percent of poll respondents who eat chicken said they would stop eating chicken. Right there, we're going to see major effects on the poultry industry. A lot of those people might turn to turkey, but turkey farms might be infected very quickly, too. People might then turn to pork, beef or seafood, which might be good for those industries, but it would certainly drive up prices for those products, even while the poultry industry experienced severe losses. Related book:
How to Beat the Bird Flu: how to protect yourself from the coming bird flu pandemic
This downloadable ebook arms you with the information you need to protect you and your family from the possible bird flu pandemic the World Health Organization is warning about.

Read what your government refuses to tell you about the bird flu
"The bird flu preparedness guide that governments should publish, but refuse to."

Discover real solutions to the bird flu threat. This guide, authored by natural health reporter Mike Adams, reveals:

How to survive bird flu if you're infected.
The big vaccine lie: Why flu vaccine shots don't work.
Be virtually immune to the flu, even without a vaccine.
Alternative, underground "flu cures" that can literally save your life.
Which two mineral supplements are dirt cheap and yet provide powerful antiviral protection.
Real-world preparedness strategies for your home, family and community.
The complete bird flu preparedness checklist (you aren't safe until you've completed this list!)
Click here to learn the truth about bird flu.
P.S. Don't wait to prepare. When the masses wake up, it will be too late to acquire some crucial preparedness items covered in this book. Learn what works now, before a human outbreak.

Seventy-five percent said that if human outbreaks occurred, they would reduce or avoid travel. That number right there would bankrupt every airline in the country. That would set off severe economic consequences, going far beyond what we saw in the United States following the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001. If you recall, after Sept. 11, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) grounded air traffic for a period of several days, which produced enormous economic consequences for the country. Trade shows were canceled, businesses couldn't conduct business, people couldn't visit their loved ones, travelers were stranded... it was a giant mess. Now, imagine that effect multiplied by six months or a year. That's what we could see in this country if human outbreaks of bird flu occur.
Seventy-one percent of poll respondents said they would skip public events. That's a very smart strategy. It means that people understand how infectious disease spreads. During an outbreak, it's smart to stay home, stay away from other people and try to ride out the pandemic in relative isolation.

On the other hand, I don't think these people have really thought it through. Sure, they can avoid an outdoor concert, a picnic or a movie, but how are they going to buy food? Are they going to avoid grocery stores? How are they going to get basic supplies? How are they going to work? How are they going to get paid? What's really going to happen to these people when they start thinking about other interactions they have with potentially infected people? You see, these poll results indicate that 71 percent, seven out of 10 people, are going to try to avoid contact with other human beings. The economic consequences of this will be far-reaching and enormous.

Essential services would fail in the event of a bird flu pandemic
Sixty-eight percent of poll respondents -- that is, over two-thirds -- said they would stay home and keep their children at home while the outbreak lasted. This is huge. If this many people actually do this, the U.S. economy will all but collapse. Related article

Bird flu timeline: A history of influenza from 412 BC – AD 2006

Think about this very carefully: If two-thirds of the people stay home, don't go to work, don't go out and spend money, don't go and produce something, this country will experience severe economic consequences. Not just a recession, not just a depression -- but a sharp, and hopefully only temporary, collapse of basic economic activities.

That's what we're looking at, and let me translate this into real terms for you. This means two-thirds of the people who run the oil refineries won't go to work. Two-thirds of the people who run the power plants and the water plants, who drive trucks and deliver all the goods and food across this country, won't go to work. Two-thirds of the schoolteachers; two-thirds of government workers; two-thirds of your local police officers, firemen and ambulance workers; two-thirds of the hospital workers -- the doctors, the nurses, the anesthesiologists; two-thirds of bridge maintenance workers and street repairman -- none of these people will go to work.

You get the idea here. What happens if two-thirds of the workers in all these basic infrastructure services are suddenly missing because they're staying home, attempting to save their families from the bird flu outbreak?

I'll tell you what happens: We will experience a shutdown of essential services in this country. And following that, have no illusions, we will see a declaration of martial law because the military will have to be called in to run some of these basic services and establish order. If two-thirds of the police officers are not on the street, then somebody has to be brought in to prevent mass uprisings, mass protests and mass chaos.

You saw what happened with Hurricane Katrina. Caught in the chaos without any real help from FEMA, many New Orleans police officers said, "This isn't worth a paycheck!" They turned in their badges and left town. If I remember correctly, over a hundred police officers quit. What do you think is going to happen when a low-level police officer -- who makes $25,000, maybe $35,000 a year -- has to choose between staying on the job and facing potentially armed rioters vs. staying at home and protecting his family? What do you think he is going to choose? He's going to quit his job and stay home to protect his family, and this is going to happen across the board. It's a no-brainer.

Related article
Local law enforcement keeps worst of human nature restrained

This is not to say anything bad about police officers. I have great respect for the law enforcement professionals who help keep the peace today, but you cannot expect them to sacrifice the safety of their families for what is essentially a job. It's an unreasonable expectation. In fact, anyone who wants to reduce his or her risk of contracting the disease will stay home, regardless of what they do for a living.

Where does this leave you as the end user of these services? It means that you'd better be prepared for a situation in which you may not get these basic services for an extended period of time. You might not get these services for a week, a month, six months or perhaps even a year, because that's how long this epidemic could last.

How will you live without water service for six months? How will you live without electricity, heat or gasoline? Without a bountiful supply of food delivered to your local grocery store every single day? How will life be without all the stuff you buy at Wal-Mart, Kmart and other convenience stores? How will you wash your clothes? How will you keep yourself bathed? How will you keep yourself and your family fed? How will you protect your household and your community?


Lulled into a false sense of security
These are important questions, and again, most people are not even thinking about them because they think it can't happen here. They think it can't possibly happen, and society will always work the way it has worked. They go on with their lives believing that nothing bad could ever happen in the United States because, well, we are a first world country. They believe it couldn't happen here because this is the richest nation in the world.
The fact is, it can happen here and right now. It's happening to the chicken industry in France, which is now severely infected with bird flu. France is a first world nation, too. France is about to experience a major collapse of its chicken industry. There is already a 30 percent drop in chicken consumption in France as of this writing, and now bird flu has been found in the U.K. as well.

It can happen here and, as this poll is telling us, if it does happen here, the public is going to react in a way that will inevitably cause the interruption, or possibly even the temporary collapse of, essential public services such as law enforcement, electricity, fuel, energy, food, emergency services and so on.
This is why, for two years now, I have been urging people to prepare. I am a strong believer in preparedness. I actually live my life with a philosophy of preparedness, regardless of external events, so I am not concerned about a hurricane, tsunami, earthquake, tornado or pandemic. I can survive them all, can you?

That's a question you had better be asking yourself as this viral threat approaches, because it is getting worse. This virus is very aggressive. This pandemic is spreading from country to country in a way that we have never before witnessed in the history of modern civilization. Nothing like this has ever been recorded -- not even in 1918, when a similar virus ultimately killed 50 million people worldwide.

The virus we are seeing in the birds today is far more virulent and far more dangerous, and if it does jump to humans, you'd better be prepared, because this poll is shouting right in your face, telling you exactly what's going to happen: Two-thirds of the population will stay home and basic infrastructure will collapse. Do the math on this one. It isn't rocket science.

My book, "How to Beat the Bird Flu," talks in great detail about preparedness. I review products, offer a preparedness checklist and show you exactly how to get ready for infrastructure failures. I even explain how to beat the bird flu virus, so you can greatly reduce your risk of infection and increase your chances of surviving an infection if you do get one.

It's a very timely book that is already in extremely high demand. As of this writing, we are expecting to run out of printed copies within a matter of days. Of course, we'll print more, but there's always a delay in that. Our friends in Europe are buying these books up like crazy right now.

Related article

Governments aren't telling people the truth about bird flu preparation
Even if you don't buy "How to Beat the Bird Flu", I urge you to start preparing on your own, right now. Set aside some stored water. Think about how you're going to live, potentially without electricity or natural gas, for some period of time. Think about preparing for a big storm or hurricane, but one that could last several months. Think about stored food, and what you need to do in terms of basic medical supplies and basic personal hygiene. Because if you are prepared, you will not be a victim of this.

Of course, if the best case unfolds and this doesn't become a human pandemic, then guess what? You are already prepared for anything else that could come your way: Power grid failures such as those that hit the East Coast a few years back, terrorist actions, storms, hurricanes, earthquakes, riots -- you are prepared for it all. Preparedness is the key. Start now and make it a lifelong habit.

Remember, if the bird flu virus becomes a human pandemic, there will be three kinds of people after it's all over:

People who prepared and survived.

People who didn't prepare and are dead.
People who didn't prepare, gambled with their lives, and were lucky enough to survive by sheer chance.

Which group do you want to belong to? Ninety-eight percent of the U.S. population is currently in group #3. Some unknown percentage of those people may ultimately end up in group #2. The smart people will deliberately put themselves in group #1. I hope you'll join me in group #1.

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<B><center>Ireland


<font size=+1 color=brown>When not if for flu plague: warning</font>


By Nigel Gould

27 April 2006
<A href="http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/story.jsp?story=688759">www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk</a></center>
A top Ulster doctor said today it was still a "question of when not if" in relation to a flu pandemic striking the province.</b>

Dr Lorraine Doherty was speaking as a major desktop doomsday run exercise to test Northern Ireland's readiness for such a major outbreak was taking place in Belfast.

Exercise Delila' brought together more than 100 doctors, nurses and other officials from the Department of Health, the four health boards, trusts and a range of public sector groups who have been key players in the planning for a pandemic.

The exercise was held just several weeks after a dress rehearsal operation in Dungannon to test preparations for a major outbreak of bird flu.

Dr Doherty, from theDepartment of Health, told the Belfast Telegraph today that they were still working towards a pandemic taking place.

"We have always said it is question of when not if," she said. "But the timescales are unclear.

"There is no evidence a pandemic is imminent.

"There is no increased anxiety but we must remain vigilant.

"We must be prepared and we have been planning for the last 18 months to two years.

"Today we will be looking at a range of scenarios to test our readiness.

"If tweaks are needed then we will take the appropriate action.

"We believe our plans are good."

Meanwhile, Dr Doherty said a "substantial" amount of anti-viral treatment Tamiflu, a prescription medicine, thought to be the only protection available against any human strain of bird flu, has been stockpiled at a "hidden location".

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<B><center>U.K.

<font size=+1 color=green>Scientists view ways to fight flu pandemic</font>

<A href="http://www.politicalgateway.com/news/read/9771">www.politicalgateway.com</a></center>
LONDON, April 27 (UPI) -- British scientists say rapid treatment and isolation of infected people and their household contacts will be vital in fighting an influenza pandemic.</b>

The Imperial College of London researchers simulated the spread of such an outbreak in both Britain and the United States. They determined vaccine stockpiles should be in readiness, even if the vaccine has low efficacy. The scientists say border controls and travel restrictions will only significantly slow the outbreak if they are enforced with virtually no exceptions.

Neil Ferguson and colleagues used state-of-the-art computer models to evaluate the influence of a range of anti-pandemic measures, such as treatment and prophylaxis with antiviral drugs, household quarantine, vaccination and restrictions on travel. They determined a policy of giving antiviral drugs both as treatment to infected cases and prophylactically to their families -- coupled with early closure of schools -- would cut the rates of disease by nearly half.

But for that policy to be feasible, the experts said antiviral stockpiles would need to be sufficient to treat 50 percent of the population -- twice what many nations are planning.

The study is published online in the journal Nature.

Here's a tool (in the war against Bird Flu) we'll be seeing...

Affordable Bird Flu Thermal Screening Camera System From Wahl Fever Alert Imaging System​

Amid growing fears of bird flu pandemic and the threat of the virulent strain spreading through human-to-human transmission, Wahl Instruments Inc. announces the Wahl Fever Alert Imaging System designed specifically for mass screening of public areas.


For Immediate Release

ASHEVILLE, N.C./EWORLDWIRE/April 27, 2006 --- Amid growing fears of bird flu pandemic and the threat of the virulent strain spreading through human-to-human transmission, Wahl Instruments Inc. today announced the Wahl Fever Alert Imaging System. The Wahl Fever Alert Imaging System is designed specifically for mass screening of public areas like air and sea ports, rail and subway stations and large industrial manufacturing facilities, for individuals with elevated body temperatures. An increased body temperature, or fever, from the "normal" (98.6 degrees Fahrenheit or 37 degrees Celsius) is often a good clinical indication of possible infection.

The easy to operate Wahl Fever Alert Imaging System produces a real-time thermal picture of facial skin surface temperature as each person passes by the camera and with its special software triggers both a visual and audible alarm if the temperature reading is above a user predefined threshold. The system also includes a temperature reference source that allows the camera to be precisely calibrated prior to and during use.

The small Wahl Fever Alert Imaging System is based on the latest detector technology and can resolve surface temperature differences of plus or minus 0.5 degrees Celsius and when combined with its software and temperature reference source makes it an efficient and very affordable screening solution.

http://newsroom.eworldwire.com/wr/042706/14369.htm

What's really happening in China?​

http://blogs.chron.com/medblog/archives/2006/04/whats_really_ha.html

China Daily reports "An eight-year pupil in southwest China's Sichuan Province was confirmed to be infected with H5N1 bird flu, the Ministry of Health said on Thursday. The girl, surnamed Sun, from Tangjia Township in Suining City of Sichuan Province, showed symptoms of fever and pneumonia on April 16. She is still under treatment in a local hospital, according to the ministry."

Even though much of the American public's bird flu fears are focused on the arrival of infected birds, most scientists believe that human-to-human transmission, if it occurs, will emerge in Asia where people and chickens live in close proximity.

So with that in mind, it's scary to consider we may not have the full picture in China. From the Wall Street Journal ($$$):


Local health officials in China have failed to report possible human cases of bird flu to the central government, according to a person familiar with the matter, raising the possibility that the death toll in China is higher than the official tally of 12.

"The central government was quite upset from receiving information late from local officials," said this person, who has spoken with officials at the Ministry of Health.

Mao Qunan, spokesman for the ministry, said there is no sign that local authorities in the provinces are actively suppressing information about confirmed human cases of bird flu. But on its Web site, the Ministry of Health on Tuesday reiterated a sharply worded statement warning authorities that coverups or delays could risk spreading the disease.

Public-health officials in Beijing have been quick to report confirmed cases of the disease to the World Health Organization and have invited foreign scientists to government labs to collaborate on research. While government censorship still prevents some information about avian influenza from getting to the public, the Ministry of Health has publicly reported 17 confirmed cases of the disease, the most recent of them last week.

But some health experts have long feared that China's real challenge would be ensuring that local health officials in remote areas quickly reported possible cases to Beijing.

To abort a flu pandemic, we have to know when it starts, ASAP. If we don't, it will quickly be "seeded" to other areas by travelers. Rural health authorities in China are the figurative canaries in the coal mine.

New human case of bird flu confirmed​

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2006-04/27/content_578965.htm

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2006-04-27 22:43

An eight-year pupil in southwest China's Sichuan Province was confirmed to be infected with H5N1 bird flu, the Ministry of Health said on Thursday.

The girl, surnamed Sun, from Tangjia Township in Suining City of Sichuan Province, showed symptoms of fever and pneumonia on April 16. She is still under treatment in a local hospital, according to the ministry.

Of course this is not bird flu related....Interesting though.

Russian poultry ban catches U.S. by surprise​

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/business/20060427-1318-us-russia-poultry.html

By Libby Quaid
ASSOCIATED PRESS

1:18 p.m. April 27, 2006

WASHINGTON – Russia, the biggest foreign buyer of American chicken, halted poultry imports Thursday, catching U.S. officials by surprise.

“All of this was done without any prior notice or consultation,” Agriculture Department spokesman Ed Loyd said.

Russia's Agriculture Ministry said it canceled all import licenses for poultry because of violations of import regulations. Agriculture Minister Alexei Gordeyev said the problem was temporary and that new licenses would be issued within two weeks.

“This is a technical issue, and I hope everything will be done quickly, within 10 or 14 days,” Gordeyev was quoted as saying by Interfax News Agency. “We have not stopped issuing licenses, we are simply replacing old documents with new ones.”

Russian poultry farmers have demanded import restrictions and demonstrated last week in Moscow. Gordeyev this month announced a 30 percent cut in imports to help farmers cope with consumer worries about bird flu.

Russia accounts for about 30 percent of U.S. poultry sold abroad. Leg quarters – the drumstick, thigh and part of the back – made up most of the 1.7 billion pounds Russia purchased from the U.S. last year.

The U.S. industry is worth about $29 billion annually and sells about 14 percent of its products to foreign countries.

Loyd said Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns and U.S. Trade Representative Rob Portman are urging their Russian counterparts to lift the ban. Officials are working with exporters that have poultry shipments en route or in Russian ports, Loyd said.

National Chicken Council spokesman Richard Lobb said the industry is trying to learn more about the ban.

“Exactly how that works, what the practical impact on immediate trade will be, we're still trying to find out,” Lobb said. “We certainly want it resolved as soon as possible.”

The ban could push total U.S. sales down by 5 percent, according to analysis by J.P. Morgan Securities Inc. That is on top of a 12 percent drop in exports in recent months from the impact of bird flu on overseas consumption, analysts said.

Russia banned U.S. poultry imports for a month in 2002.

Workers monitored in bird flu scare​

http://icnorthlondononline.icnetwor...rs-monitored-in-bird-flu-scare-name_page.html

Apr 27 2006

Workers at a poultry farm were being monitored by doctors as experts tried to trace the source of the latest bird flu outbreak to hit the UK.

Medics said there was no sign that anyone had become ill as a result of the emergence of the avian virus in chickens at a poultry farm in Hockering, Norfolk.

But 35,000 chickens at Witford Lodge Farm, owned by Banham Poultry, were being slaughtered and incinerated as the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) tried to ensure that the virus did not spread.

Vets said the virus found in chickens at the farm was believed to be the H7 strain - not the deadly H5N1 which has killed scores of people in Asia in recent months.

But officials from the Health Protection Agency said the H7 virus could make people ill and had claimed the life of a vet in Holland three years ago. They said all precautions were being taken.

JPD said:

Of course this is not bird flu related....Interesting though.

Russian poultry ban catches U.S. by surprise​

​

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/business/20060427-1318-us-russia-poultry.html

By Libby Quaid
ASSOCIATED PRESS

1:18 p.m. April 27, 2006

WASHINGTON – Russia, the biggest foreign buyer of American chicken, halted poultry imports Thursday, catching U.S. officials by surprise.

“All of this was done without any prior notice or consultation,” Agriculture Department spokesman Ed Loyd said.

Russia's Agriculture Ministry said it canceled all import licenses for poultry because of violations of import regulations. Agriculture Minister Alexei Gordeyev said the problem was temporary and that new licenses would be issued within two weeks.

“This is a technical issue, and I hope everything will be done quickly, within 10 or 14 days,” Gordeyev was quoted as saying by Interfax News Agency. “We have not stopped issuing licenses, we are simply replacing old documents with new ones.”

Russian poultry farmers have demanded import restrictions and demonstrated last week in Moscow. Gordeyev this month announced a 30 percent cut in imports to help farmers cope with consumer worries about bird flu.

Russia accounts for about 30 percent of U.S. poultry sold abroad. Leg quarters – the drumstick, thigh and part of the back – made up most of the 1.7 billion pounds Russia purchased from the U.S. last year.

The U.S. industry is worth about $29 billion annually and sells about 14 percent of its products to foreign countries.

Loyd said Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns and U.S. Trade Representative Rob Portman are urging their Russian counterparts to lift the ban. Officials are working with exporters that have poultry shipments en route or in Russian ports, Loyd said.

National Chicken Council spokesman Richard Lobb said the industry is trying to learn more about the ban.

“Exactly how that works, what the practical impact on immediate trade will be, we're still trying to find out,” Lobb said. “We certainly want it resolved as soon as possible.”

The ban could push total U.S. sales down by 5 percent, according to analysis by J.P. Morgan Securities Inc. That is on top of a 12 percent drop in exports in recent months from the impact of bird flu on overseas consumption, analysts said.

Russia banned U.S. poultry imports for a month in 2002.

Click to expand...

Perhaps they know something we don't

Good primer on what to expect: http://www.boozallen.com/media/file/Influenza_Pandemic_Simulation.pdf



Video simulation of pandemic (needs fast dopwnload connection as its a 27 MB file:

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/extref/nature04795-s3.avi

Link to tomorrows (4/28) Bird Flu thread:http://www.timebomb2000.com/vb/showthread.php?t=195323