05/12 | Daily BF: $1,000 Fine or 30 days imprisonment to those who violate quarantine

Link to yesterday's thread: http://www.timebomb2000.com/vb/showthread.php?t=196970

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

House bill addresses bird flu
Health officials could levy higher fines​

BY PRENTISS FINDLAY AND DAVE MUNDAY
The Post and Courier


The House has passed a bill that says people violating state quarantine laws would face higher fines. That's a lot less dramatic than the barbed wire featured in a movie Tuesday night about avian flu turning into a global pandemic in humans, but the $1,000 fine, supporters say, is enough to grab people's attention.

The bill will increase the authority of public health agencies, such as the Department of Health and Environmental Control, should disaster hit the state.

Rep. Walton McLeod, D-Little Mountain, who co-sponsored the bill, said it was not directly intended to address the avian flu, but it could certainly address that and other communicable diseases.

"Our intention was not to do something fresh or novel or revolutionary," McLeod said. "Rather, it was to improve the stationary authority DHEC has had since the late 1800s."

The bill, which has been referred to the Senate Medical Affairs Committee, attempts to bring up to date the state's power to combat communicable disease, he said. It adds a $1,000 fine or 30 days imprisonment to those who violate quarantine orders by leaving isolation or entering restricted premises.

While not originally directed at the bird flu, the proposed legislation will put in place some protections, he said.

"The avian flu is something we are really not yet able to fully anticipate and predict," McLeod said.

The bill allows the state to accept volunteer health care providers from South Carolina or elsewhere.

The proposed legislation relieves the workers of any liability during trauma care in an emergency as long as action was not negligent or willful. It is part of the state's much larger health code.

Rep. Shirley Hinson, R-Goose Creek, said the stricter fines could help the public take quarantine laws more seriously, especially in regards to the bird flu.

"It seems to be a very serious disease we are looking at," she said. "It's death. If that's what it takes to get people's attention, I support it.

"Often we say that happens elsewhere. I don't think we should turn our heads and say that's not something we should deal with."

Rep. Wallace Scarborough, R-Charleston, said the proposed legislation needs to be seriously considered from a homeland security standpoint as well.

"We need to take a very close look at everything coming in and protecting our resources," he said. "It is important. If you are going to get anybody's attention, you have to raise the fines."

While the nation debates the validity of the feared pandemic, Scarborough said it's better to be cautious.

"You have to consider it harmful until you can rule it out," he said. "The jury is still out on bird flu. I have heard a lot of conflicting reports on it"

In Tuesday's movie, bird flu kills millions of people as a mutated form of the virus spreads like wildfire. Emergency services are overwhelmed, and bodies are bulldozed into mass graves and burned on giant funeral pyres. Survivors fight for food, water and medical care. There's even a grisly autopsy scene in which a doctor explains how a bird flu victim died. It's enough to make a viewer think death from bird flu is just around the corner.

While ABC offered a disclaimer at the beginning of the movie, saying it was fictionalizing the problem, the facts tell a dramatically different story than the film. There have been no reported cases of avian flu in the U.S., Canada and South America. That could change in the fall as birds begin migrating south from Canada and Alaska, said Dr. Mike Schmidt, professor and vice chair of the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the Medical University of South Carolina.

Clemson University Extension Service and the U.S. Department of Agriculture actively monitor wild bird populations for the presence of avian flu. In South Carolina, the major migratory flyways are along the coast, Schmidt said.

In its present form, the bird flu virus isn't much of a threat to people, but it can be transmitted if a person is exposed to high concentrations of the virus in blood or visceral fluid. That sort of thing could happen while slaughtering an infected chicken, he said.

"It's a pandemic in birds, not people," Schmidt said.

http://www.charleston.net/stories/?newsID=86299&section=localnews

Yeah wonder how they are gonna know if anyone breaks it are they going to stamp them the on the forehead with a red letter or something.

But what if we go into self imposed quarantine? May we fine or imprison those who trespass against us? Not that I'd want to, but it seems that one of the best prepping items for this type of scenario would be a spool of nice yellow quarantine tape. Just rope off the perimeter and kick back.

David

Kimber said:

But what if we go into self imposed quarantine? May we fine or imprison those who trespass against us? Not that I'd want to, but it seems that one of the best prepping items for this type of scenario would be a spool of nice yellow quarantine tape. Just rope off the perimeter and kick back.

David

Click to expand...

Sounds good except some idiot may think he is doing the neighborhood a favor by burning down your house before it spreads.

By the time it gets here we may have a lot of people on the streets. If so, they might purposely violate the quarantines. What better way to get housing, food and medical care. Or maybe they will just put all of us who have had our phones tapped or whatever it does to them, put us away for 30 days. Can you imagine the cost!

There used to be pre-Y2K threads about how to scare ppl off from your doors.

Poison signs, Contagious signs, a couple bodies strewn on the front walk, Contact Precautions medical signs on all doors and windows, quarantine tape, Isolation signs, Hazmat signs, bullet-riddled targets displayed prominently, etc

Flu Vaccine Priorities Test Pandemic Planning

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/11/AR2006051101601.html

Flu Vaccine Priorities Test Pandemic Planning

By Ceci Connolly
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, May 12, 2006; A10

On the Titanic, it was women and children first. During a syphilis outbreak in World War II, soldiers with the best chance of recovery were the ones to get precious doses of penicillin.

In the event of a global flu pandemic, federal officials have said they intend to give vaccine first to health-care workers, followed by the oldest, sickest patients, a policy aimed at saving the most lives. But one of the government's top medical ethicists is challenging that approach, arguing it is more appropriate to give young adults priority because they are at higher risk of dying in a flu pandemic and still have many productive years left.

"Most people have the intuition to say, 'Give it to my 19-year-old. I got to 65; I've lived a good life,'" said Ezekiel Emanuel, head of the bioethics department at the National Institutes of Health. "We are not interested in purely the number of lives [saved], but also life-years."

As the government prepares for a potential pandemic influenza outbreak, one of the thorniest questions to arise is who should be first in line for limited supplies of antiviral medicine and vaccine.

Experts fear that the avian influenza that has raged through birds in Asia could trigger a pandemic if it gains the ability to move easily from human to human, with the potential to kill 210,000 to 1.9 million Americans. So far the H5N1 bird flu has infected only about 200 people, who had close contact with infected birds. (A pandemic would be caused by a flu strain distinct from those that cause seasonal outbreaks, and the annual flu vaccine would not protect against it.)

There is no debate that vaccine makers and medical personnel should be first to be immunized, because they will then be able to save many more lives. But deciding who follows is not an easy call, said Jon Abramson, chair of pediatrics at Wake Forest University School of Medicine and chair of one of two federal advisory panels that helped develop the current policy.

Some panel members argued that children should be the top priority, he said. "If you save a child who is 2, you've potentially saved 80 quality years," he explained. "If you save a 65-year-old, you may have only saved 15 years of quality life."

Already federal agencies are sparring over who is "critical," posing no-win dilemmas such as: air traffic controllers or border patrol officers? Meanwhile, state leaders and private corporations are scrambling to build their own stockpiles of antiviral medication, fearful the federal government will not deliver.

Against that backdrop, the two advisory panels unanimously recommended ranking the elderly ahead of other sick or healthy individuals because they believe senior citizens "are at high risk of hospitalization and death."

In addition to the elderly, the two panels advised offering vaccine first to patients with at least two high-risk conditions such as heart disease, and to anyone with a history of severe pneumonia. Below them on the priority list would be pregnant women, first responders and "key government leaders," followed by healthy seniors, people with one risk factor and people employed in the utility, transportation and telecommunications industries.

One of the guiding principles in the deliberations was "equity," Abramson said. "They strongly felt you cannot prioritize on the basis of age or gender or race."

But in the 1918 pandemic, Emanuel said, "the people who died were young, healthy 20-year-olds." If the next pandemic resembles that outbreak, as some scientists suggest, "and you immunize the elderly, then you will have hundreds of thousands of deaths of people in their twenties."

Emanuel and co-author Alan Wertheimer, writing in today's issue of the journal Science, spell out an alternative ranking, with medical workers first and young adults next, followed by people ages 41 to 50 and finally those 51 and older.

"Children under 13 could be confined to home instead of receiving a vaccine," they wrote. "Within this framework, 20-year-olds are valued more than 1-year-olds because the older individuals have more developed interests, hopes and plans but have not had an opportunity to realize them."

Within each tier, the two suggest, there should be sub-rankings for "critical" workers, such as firefighters, utility workers and food delivery personnel.

Because it will take as long as six months after an outbreak begins to produce an effective vaccine, Abramson said, it will be possible to adjust the policy as scientists learn more about the virus, who is most vulnerable and what strategies appear most successful.

"If, in the first month, we see it is mainly 20-year-olds that are dying, we'll reprioritize," he said. "This is not written in stone."

Neither the federal advisory panels nor Emanuel and Wertheimer waded into yet another dicey issue -- whether to share vaccine with other countries.

"This raises fundamental issues of global rationing that are far too complex to address here," concludes the article in Science.
© 2006 The Washington Post Company
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UK

Fri 12 May 2006

Bird flu scare leads to poultry plant cuts​

FRANK URQUHART

A POULTRY processing plant is to axe one-third of its workforce after the bird flu scare - striking a major jobs blow to the Moray Firth area.

An estimated 80 jobs are to be lost at the Grampian Country Food Group's poultry processing plant at Banff, following a flood of foreign chicken imports into Britain amid bird flu concerns in Scotland.

The company said yesterday that continued poor trading conditions were responsible for the rationalisation plans at its chicken processing plant in the town, where it is a major employer.

Alasdair Cox, a spokesman for the company, said: "The UK chicken industry is experiencing poor trading conditions and strong competition supplying both the retail and manufacturing market with fresh chicken.

"To sustain our business, the decision has been taken to remove the primary processing function and whole-bird packing at the Banff site."

Stewart Stevenson, the SNP MSP for Banff and Buchan, blamed the job losses on the company's inability to expand facilities at its factory in the town and the flood of cheap foreign imports.

He said: "In many ways it was avoidable because they wanted to expand few years ago and the council didn't sell them the land to enable them to do so.

"The import of foreign chickens from France and Germany at very cheap prices on the back of the bird flu scare, coupled with the lack of capacity at Banff, have meant that we have today's problems."

Councillor Alison McInnes, the chair of Aberdeenshire Council's infrastructure services committee, said:

"The firm's possible expansion by acquisition of a neighbouring council depot was considered around five years ago.

"The council was extremely supportive of this in principle, but agreement could not be reached with the company with regard to the cost of relocation of the depot."

Meanwhile, another leading North-east employer, the pharmaceuticals giant GlaxoSmithKline, has announced plans to recruit an additional 100 temporary workers at its plant in Montrose.

The staff are being taken on to help cope with an increased demand for a number of its products, including drugs used in the treatment of diabetes and heart conditions.

http://news.scotsman.com/scotland.cfm?id=708452006&format=print

China

5 Officials Sacked over Bird Flu Case in Sichuan
​

Five officials guilty of dereliction of duty in the prevention of bird flu in Dazhu County in southwest China's Sichuan Province have been removed from their posts.

They proved incompetent in responding to the outbreak of the province's first case of bird flu, according to a circular released recently by the Dazhu county government.

Between December 22-25, 1,800 chickens and ducks died in three households in Liuyan Village in Yangjia Town in Dazhu.

At 11:30 PM on December 24, a major poultry farmer surnamed Liu reported the sudden death of many chickens and ducks on his farm to Liu Shengyu, chief of the Yangjia Town Animal Husbandry Station, and Feng Renfu, an official in the town government.

A government official said, however, that both ignored the reports and did not go to Liu's home to investigate the case.

The official said the guilty people also did not report it to leading officials in the town.

The circular added that Huang Jilong, deputy chief of the Dazhu County animal quarantine station, did not pay much attention after learning of the death of poultry in three households in Liuyan Village.

He did not send staff to the village to verify the case or report it to the county's animal husbandry bureau, the circular said.

Zou Gaoping, Party chief of Yangjia Town, and Zeng Jing, chief of the Dazhu County Animal Husbandry Bureau, paid inadequate attention to the case after learning of the outbreak, the circular said.

The Ministry of Health announced in Beijing on January 3 that it had confirmed an H5N1 bird flu outbreak in Dazhu and the epidemic had been brought under control.

In the wake of its first and only outbreak of animal bird flu in Dazhu, Sichuan had three human bird flu cases.

The first two cases occurred in January, and both patients died. The third case occurred in April, and the patient, an 8-year-old girl, is recovering.

She is receiving treatment for carditis, a complication of bird flu, according to Su Lin, chief of the emergency response office of the Sichuan Provincial Department of Health.

(China Daily May 12, 2006)

http://www.china.org.cn/english/China/168115.htm#

$1,000 fine? Cool. I'll bet the gubmint will have that as standard issue currency in 3 months the way they are tanking this economy...WEIMAR FLU NOTES is what I'll call them.....

Do you actually think that someone who is carrying the bird flu (and dying from it) would give a rat's a$$ how much the gooberment wants to charge them?

sheesh! sometimes I wonder how our congressmen got voted in...

Stop and THINK!!! During Katrina, if the LEO's wanted to charge $1000.00 for anyone who DIDN'T leave the area...could they have gotten it??? HEll no...!!! If people don't got the money, you ain't gettin it...

Put them in jail for 30 days? We don't have jails big enough...

Now, shooting on site...well, THAT MAY make me think a little!!!

MAYBE, they should expand these laws to the MEXICANs crossing the border...30 days in jail and $1K fine...we'd get our national debt paid off that way!!!

tsk, tsk...

Djibouti

WHO confirms first human case of H5N1 in Djibouti ​

The World Health Organization confirmed on Thursday a baby in Djibouti has infected with the H5N1 virus, the first human case of bird flu in the country.

The two-year-old girl was still alive, WHO spokesman Dick Thompson said, but he did not give any details about her health condition.

The Djibouti government confirmed the case in capital Djibouti,saying three chickens had also been infected with the virus. But whether it was related to the human case was not clear for the time being.

"Djibouti thus becomes the first country in the Horn of Africa to have detected a human case and bird cases of H5N1," the Djibouti government said on the website of the official Djiboutian Information Agency.

The country's health ministry said the government would further increase surveillance of the disease.

Djibouti is the 10th country that confirmed human case of H5N1.

Source:Xinhua

http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200605/12/eng20060512_265063.html

Siblings of Djibouti bird flu case being tested-WHO​

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L12317721.htm

GENEVA, May 12 (Reuters) - A 2-year-old girl in Djibouti, the first confirmed human case of bird flu in East Africa, is in stable condition while three siblings undergo tests for possible infection, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Friday.

Djibouti Health Minister Abdallah Abdillahi Miguil said on Thursday in remarks broadcast on state television the girl had tested positive for the H5N1 virus.

The WHO, a United Nations agency, has accepted as valid the results from the girl's sample tested by a U.S. laboratory based in Egypt, according to WHO spokeswoman Maria Cheng.

"Three of her siblings are undergoing investigation for possible infection. Their samples have been sent to the same laboratory," Cheng told Reuters in Geneva.

The family lives in a poor, rural area of the tiny country near the border with Somalia and kept chickens, she added. The minister said the virus had been detected in three birds.

The WHO had sent supplies of the anti-viral Tamiflu, by Swiss drugmaker Roche <ROG.VX>, as well as personal protective equipment to try to prevent the spread of the deadly virus, Cheng said.

"We will send a support team if and when requested by the health ministry," she added.

The girl's symptoms began on April 23 and tests were conducted by the U.S. Naval Medical Research Unit 3 (NAMRU-3) in Cairo on May 10, Cheng said.

The girl remains under medical care in stable condition, Cheng said, adding: "She still has persistent symptoms, presumably fever and respiratory problems."

The WHO's office in Djibouti was helping authorities to tighten disease surveillance in the region, where outbreaks of dengue fever can complicate diagnosis, according to Cheng.

The WHO has confirmed 13 cases of bird flu in Egypt, including five fatalities, where outbreaks began in March.

In all, the WHO says there have been 208 cases in 10 countries, including Djibouti, since late 2003, and 115 deaths.

Experts fear that bird flu could mutate into a form that passes easily among humans, potentially triggering a pandemic in which millions could die.

Three suspected bird flu patients die in Indonesia​

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-05/11/content_4533760.htm

JAKARTA, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Three suspected bird flu patients have died in Indonesia's North Sumatra province during the past week, all were the residents of a same village in Karo regency, a newspaper reported Thursday.

The province's Bird Flu Prevention Team also announced three other suspected bird flu patients are currently being treated at Adam Malik Hospital in the provincial capital of Medan, said The Jakarta Post.

The three dead victims reportedly had eaten chicken together, and several days later they experienced breathing problems and high fever.

North Sumatra Health Office chief Fatni Sulani was quoted as saying the office was investigating the cases and had sent blood samples from the three to Jakarta for testing.

"We expect the results of the blood tests to be completed in the next two weeks. For the meantime, the three victims are still suspected, not positive, bird flu patients," Fatni said.

She said that North Sumatra has not had a confirmed case of bird flu in humans.

"So far, the bird flu virus in North Sumatra has only affected fowl," she said.

The World Health Organization has confirmed 25 bird flu deaths in Indonesia. Enditem
Editor: Wang Yan

China reports another human case of bird flu​

http://www.newsgd.com/news/china1/200604190009.htm

A 21-year-old man in central China's Hubei Province has been infected with H5N1 bird flu and is now in a critical condition, the Ministry of Health said on Tuesday.

The man, surnamed Lai, is a migrant worker in Wuhan, capital city of Hubei. He showed symptoms of fever and pneumonia on April 1 and was hospitalized, said a report released by the ministry.

The patient has been confirmed to be infected with bird flu in accordance with the standards of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Chinese official standards, the ministry said.

Those who have had close contact with Lai have been put under medical observation by local health authorities. So far, no abnormal symptoms have been reported.

The ministry has reported the new case to the WHO and the regions of Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, as well as several other countries.

The case brings the total number of human cases of bird flu in China to 17, which have resulted in 11 deaths.

Editor: Yan

Sumatra H5N1 Cluster Linked to Fertilizer?​

http://www.recombinomics.com/News/05110603/H5N1_Sumatra_Fertilizer.html

Recombinomics Commentary
May 11, 2006

the Family that was killed it was suspected resulting from bird flu in the Karo Regency, North Sumatra (North Sumatra) evidently liked to work the soil. They often bought manure from Binjai and Langkat, the area that his poultry was stated positive affected avian influenza (AI).

The above comments suggest that the suspected cluster of H5N1 bird flu cases is linked to contaminated fertilizer. However, although fertilizer may have led to infection of the index case, Praise br Ginting (40F aka Fuji Finting, 40M), who died May 4, there was a significant gap in the dates of death in other family members. Her son Roy Karokaro (19M) died on May 9 and the aunt, Anta br Ginting (29F) died on May 10.

At least 4 family members remain hospitalized. Boni Karakar (15 or 18M) is a brother who is in the most critical condition and is on a respirator. Cousin Reneita Boru Ginting (1.5F) is also in critical condition. Both are at RSU Adam. Cousin Obvious Ulina Ginting (8) may be another name for Rafael Ginting (8 or 10) who has been transferred to RS Elizabeth, along with uncle Jones Ginting (25 or 35M).

The spread in age and disease onset dates suggest the index case infected the other family members, rather than all 7 or 8 being infected by contaminated fertilizer. If H5N1was efficiently transmitted by fertilizer, the number of cases in North Sumatra, Binai. or Langkat would be higher.

The second H5N1 cluster in Indonesia was also said to linked to fertilizer last fall in Jakarta. However, like the cluster in Sumatra, there was a significant time gap between disease onset in the index case (aunt) and family member (nephew), both of whom were H5N1 positive. The aunt died and the nephew recovered after hospitalization with a mild case of influenza.

H5N1 Bird Flu Confirmed in Patient and Poultry in Djibouti
​

http://www.recombinomics.com/News/05110604/H5N1_Djibouti.html

Recombinomics Commentary
May 11, 2006

The health ministry said that virology tests from samples of an infected person taken last month were positive for the virulent strain of the flu virus, which had also affected three domestic fowl.

"Tests from a person suffering from flu-like symptoms on April 27 were positive for the disease," it said. "Three domestic hens were also affected by the virus."

The ministry said the tests were carried out with the collaboration of the World Health Organisation at a laboratory in Cairo.

The above confirmation of H5N1 bird flu in a patient in Djibouti raise additional concerns about the spread of H5N1 in people and poultry, and the failure to detect H5N1 in adjacent countries. Wild bird die-offs in adjacent southwest Yemen have been reported many times as have outbreaks in Ethiopia, Somalia, and Kenya. H5N1 has been repeatedly denied, but H5N1 confirmation in Sudan, Egypt, Jordan, Israel, Iraq, and Iran raises significant credibility issues.

Similar credibility issues have become obvious due to reports from wildlife and wetland conservation groups as well as DEFRA. The groups, like countries adjacent to Djibouti have repeated cited negative bird flu data with no positive LPAI results to validate the collection and testing methodologies employed.

These groups then use te false negatives to deny the transmission and transport of H5N1 by wild birds, although dozens of countries in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa have reported H5N1 for the first time. Included in the list of countries in Africa that confirmed H5N1 are Egypt, Sudan, Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon, Burkina Faso, and Ivory Coast.

Within each tier, the two suggest, there should be sub-rankings for "critical" workers, such as firefighters, utility workers and food delivery personnel.

Click to expand...

They should include transportation workers in on that too, like truck drivers especially.

W.Africans chew hedgehogs as bird flu bites​

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L12757091.htm

By Loucoumane Coulibaly

ABIDJAN, May 12 (Reuters) - Smoked antelope, hedgehog and bush rat sales at Madeleine Aka's Abidjan market stall have never been so brisk.

"There is a huge demand for bush meat ever since the government said there was bird flu in Abidjan," said Aka, sitting on a stool in a muddy market place in the populous Yopougon district of Ivory Coast's main city.

Last week, veterinary authorities confirmed Ivory Coast had the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu, which has killed more than 100 people around the world since 2003.

So far West Africa has no confirmed human infections, though across the continent five Egyptians have died from bird flu.

And Djibouti said on Thursday a 2-year-old girl had caught H5N1 in sub-Saharan Africa's first human case, as it became Africa's seventh country to confirm the presence of the virus.

World Health Organisation officials fear that in West Africa human cases may have simply gone undetected due to inadequate health services.

Antelope, snails and agouti -- rabbit-sized rodents also called bush rats or grasscutters -- have long been enjoyed as delicacies in Ivory Coast and nearby countries. But bush meat traders say demand has soared since the government started culling chickens and banned poultry sales in much of Abidjan.

"Mushroom consumption has also increased," Aka said. "Customers ask for them because they are cheaper than meat. I'm selling nearly 8,000 CFA francs ($16) of mushrooms a day now. A few months ago I was selling 1,500 to 2,000 CFA francs a day."

Nutritionists say mushrooms are rich in essential amino acids, making them a good substitute for chicken meat and eggs, which are important dietary components for many Africans.

Traders and shoppers say some other alternatives have become more difficult to come by for the average household as demand for other meat and fish increases across the region, even in countries which have so far escaped the virus' spread.

"Previously I could easily feed my family fish for 1,500 CFA francs. But now it is difficult, even for 2,500 CFA," said Khadjidja, a mother of five shopping in N'Djamena in landlocked Chad, which consumes a lot of fish from Lake Chad.

Residents in other countries say prices for fish and beef have shot up due to bird flu. As far south as Gabon in central Africa, the price of meat has surged by a third to $2 per kg, according to the state statistics body.

Demand for chicken has plummeted.

"A few months ago we were slitting the throats of 3,000 chickens a month. Now we're hardly doing 1,000, and all because of this bird flu which has not even arrived in Chad," said Abdelaziz, who manages an eatery called "The Youngsters' Place".

"AFRICAN FATALISM"

Some have not been scared off chicken and eggs, but have become more careful about their eating habits.

"I'm still eating them, but I make sure they are well cooked," said Joel Kuegan, a radio presenter in Benin. The WHO says poultry is safe to eat if thoroughly cooked to at least 70 degrees Celsius (158 Fahrenheit).

"Even when I buy cooked eggs or grilled chicken in town, I cook it again at home," Kuegan said.

But for many Africans bird flu is just another threat to precarious life eked out on the continent amid widespread poverty, hunger and a myriad of diseases.

"There is a kind of obsession about bird flu, but some people are still eating chicken, saying that only God can end a man's life on earth. That's African fatalism," said Chadian sociologist Beosso Djerabe.

Nigerian street trader Benjamin Ajayi said he, like many Africans, could hardly afford chicken.

"But bird flu or not, if I get chicken even now, I will gladly eat it," he said. ($1=513.0 Cfa Franc) (Additional reporting by Betel Miarom, Tume Ahemba, Abdoulaye Massalatchi, Orla Ryan, Paawana Abalo, John Zodzi and Antoine Lawson)

Suspect H5N1 Bird Flu Cluster in Djibouti​

http://www.recombinomics.com/News/05120601/H5N1_Djibouti_Cluster.html

Recombinomics Commentary
May 12, 2006

A 2-year-old girl in Djibouti, the first confirmed human bird flu case in sub-Saharan Africa, was in stable condition on Friday while three siblings had tests for possible infection, the World Health Organisation said.

"Three of her siblings are undergoing investigation for possible infection. Their samples have been sent to the same laboratory," Cheng told Reuters in Geneva.

"They have flu-like symptoms," she said.

The family lives in a poor, rural area of the tiny country near the border with Somalia and kept chickens, Cheng said.

The above comments indicate the index case for Djibouti may be part of a familial cluster. The index case is the youngest index case for a familial cluster or for a country. Since 2005, all index cases for a country (Cambodia, Indonesia, China, Turkey, Iraq, Azerbaijan) with the exception of Egypt, have been part of a familial cluster. Egypt is the only country without a H5N1 bird flu familial cluster.

The location of the family near the border of Somalia and its proximity to southwestern Yemen again highlight the fact that many countries in Africa and the Middle East continue to deny H5N1 infections in people of animals.

The denials are supported by media reports of the absence of H5N1 in thousands or tens of thousands of wild birds. However, there reports of negative data are supplied by wildlife or wetlands conservation groups who have yet to disclose any data on the detection of low pathogenic avian influenza (LPAI) in the tested birds. Low pathogenic avian influenza is common in wild waterfowl, and negative H5N1 data in the absence of positive data on LPAI says little about the presence of H5N1, but speaks volumes about the groups collecting the samples and the media report the data, which includes conclusions that wild birds play a minor role in the spread of H5N1.

However, 12 months ago, prior to the outbreak of H5N1 in long range waterfowl at Qinghai Lake, there were no reported cases of H5N1 in Russia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Europe, the Middle East, or Africa. H5N1 was first reported in each of these areas in the past 12 months, and these reports have firmly linked the H5N1 infections to wild waterfowl. In Europe, where the surveillance is more effective, the initial reports of H5N1 have been from waterfowl infections, and many European countries have yet to report H5N1 in domestic poultry.

In Djibouti, where surveillance is less than ideal, H5N1 was first reported in the index case and domestic poultry. However, there have been persistent reports of large die-offs of waterfowl since the fall, although H5N1 infections have been denied, usually without an explanation for the bird deaths and without evidence of detection of LPAI in wild birds being tested.

From the first article posted on this thread "Rep. Walton McLeod, D-Little Mountain, who co-sponsored the bill, said it was not directly intended to address the avian flu, but it could certainly address that and other communicable diseases".

Now they are already saying that this bill is not directly intended to address avian flu. Wish P. Bush's track record of stretching the intention of many of our laws and the various bills set forward...where is he or can he take this one? How far can he stretch this $1,000 fine or imprisonment to apply to some other situation?

How many people would lose their homes and their jobs if they had to spend 30 days in jail?

This is what frightens me about this bill.

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_world/view/207959/1/.html


Experts eat crow over predictions of bird flu outbreak in Europe




PARIS : Experts who predicted a couple of months back that Europe could fall prey to outbreaks of bird flu as migratory birds returned from southern climes for spring have been forced to revise their threat scenarios.

No widespread epidemic has occurred, calming concerns across the continent that not so long ago had been whipped into near-psychosis by doomsday predictions.

"Nothing happened, and we're very happy about that," said Allain Bougrain-Dubourg, president of the Bird Protection League (LPO).

"That proves that while migratory birds can be vectors for (the bird flu strain) H5N1, they are not the main vector."

But while the menace has faded, specialists say it is still too soon to become complacent.

"Complacency is very dangerous ... We don't need hundreds of wild birds to be infected, one could be enough to create a big problem!" the head of the bird flu unit in the Paris-based World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), Alex Thiermann, told AFP.

"From the information that we've had in the past with other influenza infections in wild birds, under the best of conditions, a very small number of the population is carrying the virus.

"We need to make the assumption that H5N1 is behaving similarly."

It remains that H5N1 is a deadly disease, shown to be fatal in humans and with the potential to mutate into a form that could spark a worldwide pandemic.

Since 2003, tens of thousands of birds have been killed by the strain, and 115 people have died, according to the World Health Organisation.

"We can't predict anything -- this virus mutates all the time," said Jeanne Brugere-Picoux, a professor at a French veterinary college in the Paris suburb of Maisons-Alfort.

"You mustn't overlook the risk of some species, like ducks, being carriers that are apparently healthy but which transmit the virus over hundreds of kilometres," she said.

Thiermann said the absence of outbreaks as birds returned to Europe from Africa underlined the need for more research rather than cause for relief.

"We don't know enough about wild birds and there is a big need for a better understanding of the role of wild birds in avian influenza today and possibly in other emerging diseases in the future," he said.

The relatively small number of birds tested in Africa for the disease -- 7,500 -- was seen as a serious handicap to building reliable statistics on the spread of H5N1 among wild birds, according to groups such as Wetlands, a Dutch ornithological organisation.

But Thiermann also conceded that commercial poultry transport -- particularly that operating outside of legal channels and thus supervision -- was the main vector for infection, and a continuing source of concern.

"The illegal movement of animal and products and people have been the primary vehicle for the spread of the virus," he said, urging greater attention on that activity. - AFP /dt

http://www.varbusiness.com/sections...WPFKC4QSNDBECKHSCJUMEKJVN?articleId=187202473


U.S. Government Urged To Work Fom Home In Pandemic

By Reuters
VARBusiness, Fri. May 12, 2006

If a flu pandemic forced 40 percent of workers to stay home, telecommuting could help keep governments and businesses running -- but hardly any are set up to do this, experts told Congress Thursday.

A report from the Government Accountability Office found that only nine of 23 federal agencies had plans in place for essential staff to work from home during a pandemic.

"None of the 23 agencies demonstrated that it could ensure adequate technological capacity to allow personnel to telework during an emergency," GAO Comptroller General David Walker told a hearing of the House Government Reform Committee.

One reason for the lack of preparation was that FEMA (the Federal Emergency Management Agency) had not provided specific guidance on what was needed to allow staff to work from home, the GAO report said.

Illinois Democratic Rep. Danny Davis said he introduced legislation that would require the federal government to conduct and evaluate a 10-day telework project.
"Federal agencies must be able to continue operations during an emergency," he said.

The H5N1 avian flu virus has spread rapidly in recent months, leaving Asia and moving into birds across Europe and into Africa. It does not yet easily infect people, but it has made 205 seriously ill and killed 115 of them.

A few mutations could turn the virus into a pandemic strain that would pass easily from person to person and spread around the world in weeks or months.

Experts agree that at the peak of the pandemic, 40 percent of workers could be unable to leave home, because they were ill, caring for a sick person, caring for children because schools would be closed, or simply afraid.

Many jobs can be done via computer, telephone or teleconference and U.S. agencies have been asked to be ready for this.

YOU CAN'T JUST DIAL UP

But it requires planning, said Dr. Jeffrey Runge, acting undersecretary for science and technology at the Department of Homeland Security.

"It is one thing to say we are all going to use the Internet for work," Runge told the hearing. There are fears that Internet access could be overwhelmed if millions of workers all try to use it at the same time.

"It turns out to be quite a more complex problem than saying, 'guys, go home and log on,"' Runge said.

The GAO's Linda Koontz said one agency needed to be put in charge of coordination, and rehearsing was essential.

"Under an emergency, particularly a pandemic, you might have a lot more people teleworking than normal. It is important to make sure you have the technological capacity to do this, you have the software licenses to do this. You don't know what you don't know," Koontz told the hearing.

Paul Kurtz, a former National Security Council member now executive director of the Cyber Security Industry Alliance, said no one had evaluated the Internet's total capacity.

"We simply don't know about what the impact would be if, for example, even half the 60,000-plus employees of the Department of Health and Human Services -- who help coordinate the entire national health care system -- were to attempt to work off-site," Kurtz said.

I can imagine superficial public orders having to do with fines and such for breaking quarantine. In reality, though, I would expect attempts to break quarantine more likely to be met with soldiers who are under orders to shoot to kill if that's what it takes to keep those under quarantine from breaking it. The best way to survive human pandemic flu of any sort is not to get sick - and the government is well aware of the fact that once the disease is freely moving within the population, there will be no stopping it.

Poultry Farms Ramp Up Bird Flu Precautions​

http://news.moneycentral.msn.com/provider/providerarticle.asp?feed=AP&Date=20060512&ID=5717382

CUMMING, Ga. (AP) - Going to the Milford family chicken farm is like trying to infiltrate a high-security medical lab.

After the car's wheels are sprayed down with disinfectant, visitors are outfitted with blue biohazard suits, clear boot coveralls, tight latex gloves and lunch-lady hairnets. Then, before entering the chicken coop, guests must immerse their feet in a soupy but powerful iodine cleanser.

Like other poultry farmers across the country, the Milfords are taking extreme precautions to prevent their livelihood from getting infected with the deadly avian flu virus, which has devastated chicken markets in Europe, Asia and Africa but has yet to be detected in the Western Hemisphere.

As chicken producers for Tyson Foods, they are required by the company to ban non-essential visitors from the farm and test selected chickens before they're sent to the slaughter -- one of 15,000 tests the company conducts each week for bird flu, which is five times the number of tests it did last year.

The tightened visitor restrictions and increased testing are the company's "code yellow" precautions, which have been in place for about three months as the virus spreads throughout the world.

Health officials worry that the virus could potentially spark a pandemic if it mutates into a new strain that could be easily transmitted between people.

If the avian flu strain ever does reach the U.S., chicken growers are confident it likely won't ever reach their isolated chickens, let alone humans. They will, however, likely have to handle widespread fear from consumers.

And the staggering U.S. industry, which produces more than 35 billion pounds of poultry a year, is why farmers in Georgia, the nation's leading poultry producing state, and elsewhere are taking extreme precautions.

If news from abroad is any indicator, their fears are well placed. France's poultry industry, Europe's largest, reported losing $48 million in monthly sales as countries scale back their chicken imports. In Italy, consumer fears of the virus have forced the industry to lay off some 30,000 workers.

Fear of a bird flu backlash in the U.S. has major producers such as Tyson Foods and Gold Kist, and family farmers alike ramping up their efforts to keep consumers at ease.

Poultry growers are quick to point out that none of the 205 cases of avian flu confirmed by the World Health Organization resulted from eating poultry -- although one case in Vietnam was contracted after a victim drank raw duck's blood. Of those cases, 113 people have died.

They add that cooking poultry at normal temperatures would kill H5N1, the deadly strain of avian flu that's spread across Asia to Europe and Africa.

Just for good measure, KFC plans on tacking red white and blue stickers that say "rigorously inspected, thoroughly cooked, quality assured" on the lid of every bucket of fried chicken it sells in the U.S.

Neither Atlanta-based Chick-fil-A nor Oak Brook, Ill.-based McDonald's Corp. have plans to add a food-safety messages to the packaging of their chicken products.

Most chicken producers, including Little Rock, Ark.-based Tyson and Atlanta-based Gold Kist, favor an "all in, all out" process that rids coops of all chickens before each new group is brought in to insure any disease can't be carried over.

"We're lucky. The way our industry is set up is with enclosed housing," said Wayne Lord, a Gold Kist vice president. "Our commercial poultry are all housed inside chicken houses so the chance for encounter with wild birds is extremely remote. It's very insulated and very strictly monitored."

To the Milfords, who have been in the chicken business for generations, the precautions are a sign of the times.

"Years ago, I don't remember Papa having signs on the door saying: 'Restricted -- No Admittance,'" said Troy Milford, who runs the farm with the help of his father, Dempsey. "But everyone is more aware now."

Another sign of the times: As he walks around his 13-acre plot, which houses four coops that grow 78,000 chicks at a time, Milford can check his cell phone for messages and e-mail alerts from the company with bird flu news.

The tight controls needed to protect chickens from disease come naturally to modern chicken coops, Milford said. At his coops, shutters automatically clamp down after cooling fans cut off and sensitive sensors connect to a computer to regulate the building's temperature.

Entering one of them is like entering a dark wind tunnel, tinged with the stench of 20,000 clucking five-week-old chicks.

It's a far cry from the days when the family first entered the chicken business in the 1930s, when Dempsey's grandmother bought 80 acres in the north Georgia foothills.

Since then, plots have been handed down from generation to generation as the region has emerged as one of the nation's leading poultry centers. Nearby Gainesville, just across the county line, calls itself the "Poultry Capital of the World" and Cumming boasts dozens of poultry farms, including three run by Dempsey's siblings around the corner for a road named after the family.

While avian flu might lead to a host of new restrictions, it's just the latest challenge the industry must mount, said Dempsey, an ever-smiling 66-year-old in blue overalls.

"You wouldn't have thought about it 'til 10 years ago," said Dempsey. "It's a good thing, though. When you go to all the grocery stores, you don't worry."

The thing that bemuses me about all the "system" plans to deal with bird flu is this. Bird flu, like war, is a case where after the first shot, or case, all is chaos. It is sheer idiocy for the government to think their normal control mechanisms, fines, etc will work in a mass panic situation. Besides they will all be in their fortified bunkers so what will they care.

copy of email just received from family member

We got this from Our Hospital. Thought you may want to see.


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

Subject: Info from Infection Control



Avian (Bird) Flu

There is no evidence that this virus spreads human to human – YET

If the virus mutates and becomes transmissible human to human, it will be spread the way seasonal flu is spread. There is not a vaccine for Avian flu and it will take from 6 months to 12 months to make a vaccine. The best course of action for all people presently is to receive the flu vaccine that is available every year.

The virus is killed by cooking so you are not going to get it from eating chicken or any other fowl as long as it is cooked properly. You will not get it from the song birds in your back yards. Song birds are not likely to be affected by the virus. Water fowl i.e., ducks, geese etc are likely to be affected. The Health Department expects to begin seeing dead water fowl in this area within 6-8 weeks. Finding dead birds does not equal a bird flu epidemic. When dead water fowl is reported to the Health Department testing will be done to establish whether or not the water fowl is infected. Please don’t report dead song birds. Use gloves for removal of any small animal, place the animal in a plastic bag and put it in regular garbage.



Seasonal flu is primarily spread by droplets that reach the eyes, nose or mouth but can also spread by touching contaminated surfaces and then touching your face. The virus will live on warm surfaces (hands) for approximately 15 minutes. It will live on cool surfaces (bedrails) for up to 3 hours. Use good personal hygiene including:

Wash hands frequently with soap and water or use alcohol based gel to clean them
Keep alcohol gel available for cleaning your hands
Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when you cough or sneeze
Put used tissues in a waste basket
Cough or sneeze into your upper sleeve if you don’t have a tissue
Stay at home if you are sick.


The NHC hospitals have a plan for a pandemic (pandemic means it’s widespread, and it’s a brand new virus to which you have had no contact). You should have a plan. In your home you can:

Have a supply of bottled water on hand

Have food available that doesn’t require cooking i.e. peanut butter, tuna fish etc.

Talk to your doctor about how to maintain adequate access to prescription medications

Talk to family members about who will take care for the sick in the family. This is especially important if you have young children, elderly parents or grandparents for whom you are responsible

Plan how you will get to work if the bus is not running. If you are reading this, you work for Audubon hospital and we will need you



Please share this information with anyone you care about. The Health organizations in this country are expecting a pandemic. It may not be Avian flu and it may not be this year but it will pay to be prepared as much as possible. Please stay healthy. j

Twelve Suspect H5N1 Patients Hospitalized in Medan Indonesia​

http://www.recombinomics.com/News/05120604/H5N1_Medan_12.html

Recombinomics Commentary
May 12, 2006

While 12 assumption patients of other bird flu were still being treated intensive in RSUP Adam the Owner.

Worry with the spreading of this deadly virus, the Government of the North Sumatran Province instructed the Health Service of the Karo Land to sterilise the area that it was suspected became the source of the spread.
The sterilisation was carried out in a radius of one kilometre.
Officially North Sumatran Livestock Breeding carried out the vaccination and spraying in the house environment of the casualties.

The above translation indicates 12 more suspected cases of H5N1 bird flu are being treated in intensive care at RSUP Adam, where five family members have already died. This may be why the two other hospitalized family members left the public hospital and are now in a private hospital, RS Elizabeth.

12 additional suspect cases are cause for concern. The first fatality was on May 4, followed by deaths on May 9, 10 and two deaths on May 12.

More information on the 12 hospitalized patients would be useful.

New Possible Bird Flu Outbreak In Central Romania​

http://www.mediafax.ro/english/arti...Flu-Outbreak-In-Central-Romania-489028-9.html

BUCHAREST/ BRASOV, May 12

Preliminary tests on samples collected from birds in Hurezu locality, Brasov county (central Romania) came out positive for bird flu and the locality has been quarantined, the Ministry of Agriculture announced Friday. The last bird flu outbreak in Romania had been closed two weeks ago.

"...federal officials have said they intend to give vaccine first to health-care workers, followed by the oldest, sickest patients, a policy aimed at saving the most lives. But one of the government's top medical ethicists is challenging that approach, arguing it is more appropriate to give young adults priority because they are at higher risk of dying in a flu pandemic and still have many productive years left...."Most people have the intuition to say, 'Give it to my 19-year-old. I got to 65; I've lived a good life..."



Round up everyone in an area - stick 'em in a 'dome' hell-hole as seen in NoLa - spray 'em with 'disinfectant' - which might not even be noticed (wouldn't be the first time the gummint has done just that!)

Let's see - perhaps we could 'waste' 10 old pharts for every 'youth' saved...that's an ideal "Soylent Green" type solution for the Soc. Sec. 'problem'.

Just don't ask what's in the 'disinfectant'...perhaps the BF itself???

Odd that the writer failed to note that the Politicos and their chosen ones will ALWAYS go directly to the head of the line for assistance, vaccines, etc...Actually, they won't even need to get on a line at all.

H5N1 Confirmed in Indonesian Sumatra Cluster​

http://www.recombinomics.com/News/05120605/H5N1_Sumatra_Confirmed.html

Recombinomics Commentary
May 12, 2006

the Department of the decisive Health of four citizens of the Subdistrict of three bows, the Karo Regency, North Sumatra, was infected by bird flu.That was justified by Pengendalian Breakingprep Penyakit Director General and Department of Health environmental Sanitation, I Nyoman Kandun in Jakarta, on Friday (12/5).Kandun said the Department of Health Body of Health Research And Development checked five from from eight cases

The above report confirms H5N1 in the Karo cluster. Since there are already five fatalities, this cluster accounts for the largest number of H5N1 fatalities and is cause for concern

At least 2 additional family members are hospitalized as are 12 other suspect cases.

11 May 2006 07:48 GMT DJ

Further Cases Of H5N1 Bird Flu Found In Russia's Siberia ​

Copyright © 2006, Dow Jones Newswires

MOSCOW (Dow Jones)--Tests of samples from the 64 domestic poultry in the Kochkovsky district of Russia's Novosibirsk region, have shown the presence of the H5N1 strain of bird flu, the federal agricultural products quality watchdog Rosselkhoznadzor said Thursday.

The deaths occurred in the village of Reshety, where there are 35,000 domestic birds, many of whom have not been vaccinated.

-By Grigori Gerenstein; Dow Jones Newswires; gerenstein@hotmail.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 11, 2006 03:48 ET (07:48 GMT)

http://framehosting.dowjonesnews.com/sample/samplestory.asp?StoryID=2006051107480019&Take=1

Link to tomorrows (5/13) Bird Flu thread: http://www.timebomb2000.com/vb/showthread.php?t=197228