6/9-6/15/07|Weekly Bird Flu Thread:BIRD FLU OUTBREAK : ALERT IN VILLAGE//Kuala Lampur

Link to Last Weeks Thread:

HEALTH - 6/2/07-6/8/07|Weekly Bird Flu Thread:Bracing for a flu pandemic

http://www.timebomb2000.com/vb/showthread.php?t=243765

Johns Hopkins on influenza:

http://www.iom.edu/Object.File/Master/33/450/Rashid Chotani.pdf

National Avian Influenza Surveillance Information:

http://wildlifedisease.nbii.gov/ai/

CDC

http://www.cdc.gov/flu/avian/index.htm

WHO

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

CIDRAP

http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/

Official U.S. Government Web site

http://www.pandemicflu.gov/

FAO

http://www.fao.org/ag/againfo/subjects/en/health/diseases-cards/special_avian.html

Public Health Agency of Canada

http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/influenza/avian_qa_e.html

European Union

http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/health_consumer/dyna/influenza/country_en.htm

The World Bank

http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXT...68427~piPK:64168435~theSitePK:1793593,00.html

BIRD FLU OUTBREAK IN SUNGAI BULOH : RED ALERT IN VILLAGE​

http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Saturday/Frontpage/20070609081006/Article/index_html

By : Minderjeet Kaur, Noor Adzman Baharuddin and Irdiani Mohd Salleh

KUALA LUMPUR: Countermeasures against the bird flu outbreak in Sungai Buloh expanded yesterday as five residents of Kampung Paya Jaras Hilir were hospitalised for observation, 17 others were confined to their homes and hundreds more chickens culled.

The five were admitted for flu-like symptoms, although their condition did not meet the "definition of avian influenza," Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek said yesterday.

A visitor to Kampung Paya Jaras Hilir was also admitted as a precaution when she came down with the symptoms after she returned to Malacca.

In Alor Star, two young children with high fever were warded after it was discovered that they came from a village where some 30 chickens had died mysteriously in the past month.

The four males and a female of between 11 months and 35-years-old had gone to the Sungei Buloh Hospital on their own, Dr Chua said.
Another 17 people exhibiting similar symptoms were restricted to their homes after the Health Ministry conducted checks yesterday on 476 houses with 3,204 residents in Kampung Paya Jaras Hilir and nearby Kampung Kubu Gajah.

Dr Chua said the residents with the flu symptoms were staying within 300 metres of the spot where 67 dead chickens had tested positive for the H5N1 virus.

The health authorities have visited and interviewed 4,556 residents in 742 homes in the last three days to look for anyone suffering from symptoms such as sore throat, cough and fever. Dr Chua said 187 health officers had been deployed, including 22 at the Sungai Buloh Hospital. The Veterinary Services Department sent 55 officers.

The ministry set up a Crisis Preparedness and Response Centre in Putrajaya yesterday.

Veterinary Services Department director-general Datuk Dr Abdul Aziz Jamaluddin said that as of yesterday, 3,187 chickens had been culled.

Dr Chua said the culling within a 1km radius of the outbreak would continue.

Besides Kampung Paya Jaras Hilir and Kampung Kubu Gajah, two other villages — Kampung Paya Jaras Tengah and Kampung Paya Jaras Dalam — lie within the area.

Dr Chua advised residents to alert authorities if their chickens died suddenly and to seek treatment for fever, coughing, sore throat or breathing difficulties or if they had direct contact with dead birds.

News Focus : Mother hopes it’s just normal fever​

http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Saturday/National/20070609082105/Article/index_html

SUNGAI BULOH: The neighbours of a poultry farmer, whose chickens had died of suspected bird flu, are among the five people under treatment for flu symptoms at the Sungai Buloh Hospital.
Mohd Asmat Mohd Yatim, 22, a mechanic, his 20-year-old wife and their 11-month son, were admitted on Thursday.

Asmat’s mother, Adian Putih, 60, said the family were asked to go to the hospital after medical officers from the Health Ministry conducted a check at their house, situated only a few metres from the farmer’s home.

"They have not been well since a week ago. They are having cough, flu and fever.

"I don’t know how long they will be in the hospital. I went there this morning, but even family members were not allowed into the ward," she said.
She said her family did not have any chickens at their house or come into contact with their neigbbour’s chickens.

"I’m very worried. I hope it’s just a normal fever and they will be allowed to go home soon," she added.

WHO: Girl Infected With Bird Flu in Egypt​

http://www.voanews.com/english/2007-06-08-voa66.cfm?rss=health

By VOA News
08 June 2007


The World Health Organization says a 10-year-old girl from southern Egypt has tested positive for the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus.

A WHO official in Cairo, John Jabbour, said Friday that the girl from the town of Qena was hospitalized in "very critical" condition and that she had been in contact with backyard birds.

Authorities say the fresh infection has brought to 35 the number of human avian flu cases in Egypt. Fourteen people there have died.

The disease was first reported in Egypt last year. The country has the highest number of confirmed human cases outside Asia.

Some information for this report provided by Reuters and AFP.

Rampant flu sparks warning​

http://www.bordermail.com.au/news/bm/national/818598.html

THE deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu is mutating unpredictably and at a rapid pace, a senior WHO official warned Asia-Pacific health ministers.

APEC health ministers have ended their two-day Sydney meeting with a pledge to address the “very real” threat of a global pandemic of bird flu.

The commitment came after a World Health Organisation presentation urging vigilance in the face of unpredictable changes in the H5N1 virus, which poses the biggest threat.

Dr Shigeru Omi, WHO regional director for the western Pacific, told ministers and senior delegates from the 21 nations the virus was rapidly evolving.

“The virus is already entrenched, embedded in this part of the world and ... it has been very, very unstable and changeable,” Dr Omi said after the meeting.

“If we put (these two points) together it’s a very clear indication that we have to remain vigilant.”

The Indonesian strain has infected 309 people since 2003, killing 188, but Dr Omi warned that what was once two distinct grades had now spilt into four sub-groups.

“And I would not be surprised if we end up with more sub-classes.”

Mutations have not necessarily increased the likelihood of human-to-human transmission, but it proved the virus was “risky”.

Federal Health Minister Tony Abbott said given its unpredictability, it was vital H5N1 was closely monitored.

“That means it’s very important to have rapid virus sharing because the threat of pandemic remains very real,” he said.

The declaration signed yesterday specifically commits countries to sharing samples of the deadly H5N1 virus as it mutates so scientists are able to match the latest strain with vaccines in production.

Five people from bird flu site kept in isolation​

http://www.gulfnews.com/world/Malaysia/10131050.html

Reuters & AP


Kuala Lumpur: Five people living near the site of a bird flu outbreak close to Kuala Lumpur are in hospital with flu-like symptoms, Malaysia's health minister said yesterday.

Chua Soi Lek said the five - from the village of Paya Jaras Hilir and aged between 11 months and 35 years - were in stable condition.

"They went to the hospital to get treatment and have been isolated because of the symptoms," Chua said in a statement.

He said they had been living within 300 metres of an area in the central state of Selangor, where the H5N1 bird flu was detected this week - the first case since March last year.

Seventeen villagers who reported mild fever had been placed under home surveillance, Chua said.

"So far, there's still no case of avian influenza infection among humans," Chua added.

Malaysia reported on Wednesday its first case of H5N1 bird flu in more than a year in what authorities called an isolated incident.

Chua also said culling of chickens within a one-kilometre radius of the outbreak, comprising four villages, which began on Thursday, would continue.

Meanwhile, the head of Indonesia's bird flu commission, Bayu Krisnamurthi, said the pandemic is claiming more than 80 per cent of its victims partly because people refuse to believe the virus poses a serious threat. "Often it's purely a case of ignorance," he said.

Egyptian girl dies of bird flu​

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/2007060...pt_070609084037;_ylt=A0SOwmffbGpGj.UAqg2TvyIi

CAIRO (AFP) - A 10-year-old Egyptian girl has died of bird flu, the health ministry announced on Saturday, bringing to 15 the number of Egyptians who have succumbed to the deadly H5N1 strain of the virus.

The girl, from the southern province of Qena, was found to be "very critical" and hospitalised "too late," health ministry spokesman Abdel Rahman Shahin told AFP.

Other officials had earlier said the girl had been in contact with poultry.

The highly pathogenic virus has killed 15 people out of the 35 cases reported to date in Egypt, with children the worst affected. The disease was first diagnosed in the country in February 2006.

Egypt's geographical location on major bird migration routes and the widespread practice of keeping domestic fowl near living quarters have led to it being the hardest-hit country outside of Asia.

2 boys hospitalized in northern Malaysia as precaution against bird flu​

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/06/09/asia/AS-GEN-Malaysia-Bird-Flu.php

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia: Two boys with high fevers have been hospitalized in northern Malaysia as a precaution against bird flu, raising concerns that the disease could be more widespread in the country than expected, officials said Saturday.

Malaysia on Tuesday reported its first bird flu outbreak in more than a year after tests on 60 birds that died in Sungai Buloh, near its commercial capital, Kuala Lumpur, confirmed they had the virulent H5N1 virus.

Officials immediately moved to slaughter about 6,000 birds in the area and took other measures to contain the outbreak, which they called an isolated incident. Five villagers with flu-like symptoms were hospitalized.

But fresh concerns emerged after two boys, aged two and four, were hospitalized Friday in northern Kedah state with high fevers after coming into contact with chickens that later died in their village, said Ramlee Rahmat, deputy director-general of public health.

Kedah is about 300 kilometers (180 miles) from Kuala Lumpur.

"We are just taking precautions because there is a history of dead chickens in the village. The boys are under observation. It is too early to say if it is bird flu. We are still investigating," he told The Associated Press.

Veterinary officials have collected samples from about 30 chickens that had died in the boys' village in the past month to test for bird flu, said Kamarudin Mohamad Isa, disease control chief at the Veterinary Services Department.

"In a true case of avian flu, there will be a simultaneous death of a large number of chickens and it normally happens very quickly, within one week. However, we are not taking any chances," he said.

Malaysia last reported an outbreak of the H5N1 strain in March 2006 in chickens in a northern village. The government declared the country free of bird flu in June 2006.

Officials have said they need to further analyze the case in Sungai Buloh to determine the origin of the virus.

Bird flu has killed at least 189 people since it started ravaging Asian poultry flocks in late 2003, according to the World Health Organization. There have been no fatalities in Malaysia.

Bird flu under control, 10 out of 11 admitted for fever tested negative​

http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Saturday/NewsBreak/20070609162518/Article/index_html

SERDANG: The bird flu situation in the country is under control as 10 out of 11 persons admitted into hospitals for fever had been tested negative up till last night, senior health officials said today.

The Deputy Director-General of Health (Public Health), Datuk Dr Ramlee Rahmat, however, said the results from a blood sample of a patient admitted into the Melaka Hospital with similar fever symptoms would be known later today.

Up till today, the situation is under control and no humans had been infected, he told reporters after officiating at the opening of the 2007 Prostar Colloquium and Convention at Universiti Putra Malaysia here.

Dr Ramlee said out of the 11 persons who had been admitted, seven had been admitted into the Sg Buloh Hospital (including two new cases last night), two in Kedah and two in Malacca (including a new case last night).

Four out of the seven patients at Sg Buloh had been allowed to return home after they were confirmed to be free from the bird flu virus while the rest were in a stable condition and would be discharged anytime soon.

Two fever patients in Kedah were confirmed to have negative bird flu results while a female patient in Malacca, who had developed a fever after visiting Paya Jeras on June 2, was also confirmed to be bird flu negative.

The bird flu outbreak was detected by health officials on June 2 after the death of 60 chickens within a space three days at Kampung Paya Jaras Hilir in Sungai Buloh, Selangor.

Up till last Thursday, a total of 476 households and 3,204 residents at Kampung Paya Jaras Hilir and Kampung Gajah Sungai Buloh had been checked by health workers from the Selangor State Health Department.

A total of 187 health workers were involved in various activities, including helping to prevent and control of the disease as well as in supervising patients in isolation wards. To date, no health workers had been infected by bird flu. — BERNAMA

Two more hospitalised over bird flu symptoms​

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2007/6/10/nation/20070610164119&sec=nation

PETALING JAYA: A teenager in Terengganu who reared poultry that have since died has been admitted to hospital for fever and cough.

Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek said in a statement Sunday that the Terengganu Health Department had reported that at 2pm on Saturday, a 16-year old boy from Seberang Takir, whose chickens and ducks had died, was admitted to the Kuala Terengganu Hospital.

He added that a specimen had been sent to the Institute for Medical Research in Kuala Lumpur to test for the avian flu virus.

The Kuala Terengganu Veterinary Services Department had investigated the poultry and sent a sample for analysis at the Veterinary Research Institute in Ipoh and results would be known within a day.

Dr Chua also said that a 31-year old man who worked at the Universiti Malaya Medical Centre had been referred to the Sungai Buloh Hospital and subsequently warded there.

The man lived at the Subang Suria apartment, which is within a 300m to 400m radius of where the virus had been detected. He is reported to be in stable condition.

The avian flu virus was detected last Tuesday in Kg Paya Jaras Hilir in Sungai Buloh.

Dr Chua said that active surveillance was no longer being carried out as all homes within 300m of the location had been visited and interviews with residents had been completed.

"Monitoring and observation are being focussed on the 30 residents of Kg Paya Jaras Hilir who have been put under home surveillance, and all are healthy. This activity will last for a week from the last day of culling," he said.

He said that the nine cases in Sungai Buloh and Malacca had tested negative for the avian flu virus, adding that five cases at the Sungai Buloh hospital were allowed to go home while the remaining two had been transferred to a normal ward for suspicion of dengue fever.

The two cases in Malacca and two siblings in Kedah were discharged.

Bird Flu Watch: Siblings test negative for deadly disease​

http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Sunday/National/20070610074542/Article/index_html

ALOR STAR: The two brothers who were admitted to hospital on Friday for flu-like symptoms tested negative for the deadly H5N1 virus.
State Agriculture, Agro-based Industries and Entrepreneur exco member Datuk Dr Shuib Saedin said the brothers, aged 4 and 18 months, had a fever and a cold. They were discharged from the Alor Star Hospital yesterday evening.

The brothers, Ahmad Adam Aimy and his younger brother Ahmad Arif Aimy, were from a village where some 30 chickens had died in the past month.

They were placed under observation at the hospital’s paediatric intensive care unit.

The boys’ mother, Nurul Aina Yusoh, 25, said Ahmad Arif had been playing with chickens in their neighbourhood in Kampung Padang in Pokok Sena, about 70km from here on Thursday. She added a dead chicken was later found nearby.
Upon being informed of the brothers’ ailment, officers from the state Veterinary Services Department went to Kampung Padang and collected swabs from the dead and live chickens.

State Veterinary Services Department health division head Dr Siti Salmiah Tahir said the samples taken tested negative for the avian influenza virus.

Veterinary Services Department personnel are conducting random checks at high-risk areas in all 12 districts, including Langkawi.

A check by the New Sunday Times yesterday found that swabs were taken from chickens at three houses in Kampung Padang.

It is learnt that the Veterinary Services Department was also monitoring areas popular for cock fights.

WHO dismisses new fears over bird flu​

http://www.thanhniennews.com/healthy/?catid=8&newsid=28894

The World Health Organization (WHO) said there was no new evidence that the H5N1 virus has become more easily transmittable from poultry to humans, the Vietnam News daily reported Friday.

WHO's communications officer in Vietnam Dida Connor made the comment following fears of a potential new outbreak of bird flu in human as two human cases have been confirmed in two northern provinces of Vinh Phuc and Thai Nguyen.

However, the virus was very adaptable and became more easily transmittable among poultry, chief technical advisor on avian influenza of the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization in Vietnam, Jeffrey Gilbert, said.

Since early May, bird flu has hit 16 cities and provinces across Vietnam.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has asked local authorities nationwide to take specific anti-bird flu measures, including disinfecting poultry farms two or three times a week, sterilizing hatching machines after hatching fowl eggs, and disinfecting slaughter houses, markets and vehicles used for transporting fowls.

Foam: Sick birds' fast death​

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/local/20070610_Foam__Sick_birds_fast_death.html

By Jeff Donn
Associated Press
MOUNT PLEASANT MILLS, Pa. - His eyes scan 5,000 ducks quacking and pacing across a barn longer than a football field. Jim Skinner knows exactly what he most fears.

In November, one of his flocks caught bird flu. He had to kill 2,500 ducks to block any spread, gassing them with carbon dioxide or simply breaking necks by hand.

"It's the most horrible experience I've ever been through," he says. He also lost $90,000 in business and came "this close" - his fingers form a pincer - to going under.

And now he spies them: ducks sprawled lifeless in the dirt, nine in all. "Boy, oh, boy, we got a problem!" he blurts.

But this time, as he lays the contorted bodies in a corner, it becomes clear that dehydration probably killed them. For some reason, the ducks didn't walk up a ramp for water. Relieved, Skinner declares, "It's not disease!"

This time, there would be no mass killing, but the scare hints at reinforced vigilance toward bird flu today.

Under industry and government rules, flocks infected with the strongest strains are put to death as quickly as possible. That's because, if the disease spreads, it imperils both farms and the foods they raise. Some strains can also sicken and kill people.

An earlier cousin of today's bird flu killed perhaps 40 million people around the world during the 1918-19 pandemic of Spanish flu. The most-feared virus today, known as H5N1, has never reached U.S. shores and has killed fewer than 200 people, mostly in Asia.

But mutations could let it pass more easily between people unless its avian carriers are destroyed before it reaches that stage. More than 23 million fowl have been exterminated in U.S. outbreaks since the early 1980s.

The industry prefers the term "depopulate," but no euphemism softens the raw reality of putting down birds by the tens of thousands. This may be done by electrocuting, gassing or chopping under international standards.

Yet in a virulent outbreak, even these may be too slow and spare too many.

So representatives of industry, academia and government have been looking for another way.

For three years, they have investigated the fastest, cheapest and, they say, most humane way to dispatch birds en masse. After debating and field-testing, they say they have found an answer in an unlikely place.

The new poultry-killing instrument of choice is foam.

These soapy air bubbles, adapted from what firefighters use to smother blazes, can smother birds within several minutes, with minimal contact between workers and infection.

The problem is that some consider it less humane than gassing. Carbon dioxide at least knocks birds unconscious before it poisons them, its advocates say.

Foam simply fills their windpipes and strangles them.

"You might as well drop them in a bucket of water," fumes Mohan Raj, a British veterinarian who specializes in animal welfare during disease control.

Click here to find out more!

Bird flu may have spread to Terengganu​

http://www.straitstimes.com/Free/Story/STIStory_128008.html

Teenager warded with symptoms; Selangor man also in hospital
PETALING JAYA (SELANGOR) - THE north-eastern Malaysian state of Terengganu may be the latest to be hit by bird flu after TV3 reported yesterday that a 16-year-old boy from Seberang Takir in the state had been hospitalised at the weekend with flu-like symptoms.

The boy, whose chickens and ducks had died suddenly, showed the symptoms after coming into contact with the dead fowl, TV3 added.

In a statement yesterday, Health Minister Chua Soi Lek said that samples from the dead Terengganu poultry had been sent to Kuala Lumpur for immediate analysis.

Datuk Seri Dr Chua also said that a 31-year-old man working at the University Malaya Medical Centre was now in hospital for suspected bird flu.

The man, who is in stable condition, lives within 300m of a bird-flu-hit village in Sungai Buloh, Selangor state, the first area to report this latest H5N1 outbreak in the country.

To date, the Health Minister said, a total of 43 Malaysians had been monitored for suspected bird flu, with 30 under home surveillance and 13 others under observation in hospital for flu-like symptoms after they came into contact with dead birds.

Meanwhile, Penang has become the second Malaysian state after Sabah to ban fresh chickens and eggs from Selangor in the past week, the New Straits Times reported on Saturday.

The NST quoted Penang Chief Minister Koh Tsu Koon as saying that the state's veterinary enforcement officers were also working round the clock to try to contain the deadly H5N1 avian virus.

Penang went on red-alert status last Friday after its neighbour Kedah reported the deaths of 30 chickens in the past month.

Last Thursday, Sabah announced it was banning all chicken and egg imports from Selangor despite a statement from commercial chicken farmers that none of their farms was affected by the outbreak.

The day before that, Singapore banned all imports of chickens and eggs from Selangor after bird flu broke out in three villages there last Tuesday.

About 1 per cent of the Republic's chicken supply and 6 per cent of its eggs come from Selangor.

Meanwhile, the NST reported yesterday that fighting cocks had become the prime suspects in the current outbreak of bird flu.

This is because Kampung Paya Jaras Hilir, where 67 H5N1-infected chickens have died in the past month, is the transit point in the country for fighting cocks.

The paper quoted Paya Jaras Hilir village development and security committee chairman Hilir Safiee Lisut as saying that 500 of the village's 4,000 residents were Indonesians and Cambodians, for whom cock-fighting was a hobby.

He was also quoted by the NST as saying: 'They are fond of keeping fighting cocks from Siam and Kelantan because the birds can fetch RM150 (S$67) each.'

In August 2004, 18,000 chickens were culled in Kelantan alone after Malaysia's first bird flu outbreak. The H5N1 virus was traced to a fighting cock brought in from Thailand.

Yesterday, Veterinary State Department director-general Aziz Jamaluddin said that after five days of concerted culling in Sungai Buloh, the health authorities had destroyed a total of 3,692 chickens and ducks, including 600 fighting cocks. About 1,000 eggs had also been smashed.

BERNAMA, THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK

Bird flu-infected chickens in Indonesia showing no symptoms​

http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailgeneral.asp?fileid=20070611162334&irec=0

JAKARTA (AP): Chickens infected by bird flu inIndonesia are now mostly symptom-free, confounding efforts to fight the virus in the world's hardest hit country, an Agriculture Ministry official said Monday.

"It's really giving us a headache," said Musni Suatmodjo, the director of animal health. "Chickens are testing positive for the H5N1 virus, but they are staying healthy" making it difficult to identify which are infected.

Bird flu has killed at least 189 people since it began ravaging Asian poultry stocks in 2003, 79 of them in Indonesia, according to the World Health Organization.

The virus remains difficult for people to catch, but experts fear it could eventually mutate to a form that spreads more easily between humans, sparking a global pandemic that could kill millions.

John Weaver, of the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, noted that several researchers have said many infected chickens appear to be surviving in Indonesia, triggering questions about whether thevirus may have become less pathogenic.

"It's a very important question," he said on the sidelines of an international bird flu conference in the capital Jakarta. "But we haven't yet answered it."(***)

Private sector needs contingency plan for bird flu pandemic​

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2007/6/11/nation/20070611165754&sec=nation

KUALA LUMPUR: The private sector is still unaware of the risks from bird flu and the Health Ministry wants a contingency plan to be drawn up by the sector in the event of a pandemic hitting the country.

“What we do have is a private sector that is not fully aware of the risk. If there is a pandemic affecting the country, there will be a disruption of essential services like electricity, water, financial and transport because of high absenteeism.

“People panic and they do not come to work,” Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek told reporters Monday after opening the Malaysian Society of Gastrointestinal Diseases’ First Congress on GIT Cancers-The Patient’s Perspective.

He said people would want to distance themselves socially, citing the tourism and retail industries in affected countries coming to a standstill during the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome outbreak.

“We hope that the private sector in Malaysia puts in place a contingency plan in the event of an avian influenza hitting Malaysia in the form of a pandemic,” he said.

Flu strikes 2 more in M'sia ​

http://www.bruneitimes.com.bn/details.php?shape_ID=32944

TWO more Malaysians were hospitalised yesterday for possible exposure to bird flu, as authorities tried to quell fears that the first outbreak of the virus in more than a year might not be isolated.

One was a 31-year-old health worker from central Selangor state, where the outbreak was first reported last week, the state Bernama news agency quoted Health Minister Chua Soi Lek as saying.

Both he and a 16-year-old boy from eastern Terengganu state had flu-like symptoms including high fevers and coughs, the minister said, adding that the teen had had "contact with chicken and ducks that he reared which had died".Chua said officials from the Terengganu state veterinary department had taken samples from the dead birds in the teen's village. Results were to be revealed today.

Last week, bird flu resurfaced in Malaysia for the first time in more than a year, in the Sungai Buloh area of Selangor state on the western outskirts of the capital Kuala Lumpur.

Eleven people were hospitalised with flu-like symptoms after being exposed to dead chickens in the Sungai Buloh area and in a village in northern Kedah state, but all tested negative for the deadly H5N1 strain of the virus.

Health officials said yesterday they had nearly completed the culling of thousands of birds in Selangor state, but were still investigating the source of the outbreak.

"It could be a case of illegal entry of infected birds" from Indonesia and other neighbouring countries, said Kamarudin Mohammed Isa, head of disease control at the local Department of Veterinary Services.

Malaysia reported outbreaks of the deadly H5N1 strain of the virus in February 2006 when it appeared in free-range chickens near Kuala Lumpur, triggering the slaughter of tens of thousands of birds.AFP

Vietnam sends task forces to battle bird flu​

http://www.thanhniennews.com/healthy/?catid=8&newsid=28904

The Animal Health Depart*ment has deployed task forces in the Red River Delta to investigate bird flu outbreaks and see if the deadly disease is spreading to humans.

The task forces will instruct local officials to raise pub*lic awareness against the traditional way of slaughtering and eat*ing water fowl, which poses the greatest risk of causing a pandemic, at a time when the H5N1 virus is be*coming virulent.

The department reported that three new bird flu outbreaks were detected during the weekend in Can Tho city in the south and Ha Nam Prov*ince in the north.

None of the dead birds had been vaccinated against bird flu.

The recurrence of the disease since last month had mostly affected waterfowls in northern prov*inces just completing the winter-spring rice harvest. Farm*ers' habit of letting the birds feed in harvested rice fields was to blame.

The disease had been detected in 16 provinces, mostly in the Red River Delta.

How Chinese soldier contracted bird flu remains a mystery: Health Ministry​

http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200706/11/eng20070611_383098.html

It is still unclear how the Chinese soldier who died from bird flu earlier this month contracted the highly infectious H5N1 bird flu strain, Ministry of Health spokesman Mao Qun'an said in Beijing on Monday.

"Experts are analyzing the soldier's whole treatment history," Mao said at a press conference. "But they are still in the dark about how the soldier contracted bird flu."

"The investigation is ongoing," Mao added.

People who had been in close contact with the soldier have not shown any abnormal medical signs and are no longer under medical observation, according to Mao.

Last week, the Ministry of Health confirmed a Chinese soldier had died from bird flu on June 3, 10 days after he was diagnosed with the highly infectious disease on May 24.

China has reported a total of 25 human cases of bird flu since 2003, which have resulted in 16 deaths.

Source: Xinhua

Bird flu victim recovers, more birds die in Vietnam​

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070611/hl_nm/birdflu_vietnam_dc

HANOI (Reuters) - Vietnam's first human bird flu case in a year and a half left hospital on Monday, doctors said, as the country tries to control numerous outbreaks of the virus in poultry.

The Animal Health Department said four bird flu cases in poultry were found at the weekend in the northern province of Bac Giang and near Haiphong city. Both have been on the government's bird flu watchlist along with 13 other provinces and a city.

A 30-year-old man was admitted to a Hanoi hospital on May 15 after he helped slaughter chickens at a friend's wedding. Vietnamese doctors confirmed he had the H5N1 bird flu virus, the first human case since November 2005.

Doctors at the Bach Mai hospital who treated the man said they increased the dosage of anti-viral drug Tamiflu to 10 days from seven days. They detected the virus in the man's saliva, in his stomach as well as in his excrement.

The patient eventually recovered and was discharged on Monday morning, state-run VnMedia e-newspaper (www.vnmedia.vn) said.

Doctors were still treating a second patient, a slaughterhouse worker from outside Hanoi who became sick late last month. The patient was recovering well, they said.

Bird flu has killed 42 people out of 95 known infections in Vietnam since late 2003. The
World Health Organization (WHO) has not confirmed the two most recent infections in Vietnam.

Globally, the H5N1 virus has killed 189 people out of 310 known cases, according to the WHO. Hundreds of millions of birds have died or been slaughtered, including more than 100,000 in Vietnam's latest outbreaks since early May.

Thank you JPD!

Thank you for posting these articles; your information is both timely and useful . I look forward to reading your postings; it is beginning to look as though H5N1 is sadly gaining momentum. It's summer in these areas of the world yet avian flu is increasing in numbers of victims; not declining in numbers during the summer as most "normal" flus and viruses usually do. If this trend continues then this winter could be very rough for all of us.
I did have a question though. I read an article on ProMed that mentioned a change in pulmonary receptors in the H5N1 cases hitting Indonesia and Malaysia. The receptors within the H5N1 virus which bind the virus to the lining of the throat; nasal passages and deeper into the lungs' alveoli are showing CLEAR and Proven evidence of mutation making antigenic shift more of a probability than a possibility. This mutation is more "human receptive", I.E the receptors have mutated enough that they now have more of an affinity for human respiratory/ pulmonary components than the avian/animal "affinity" that was evidenced in the past. I am a member of an MRC unit and spoke this weekend with our county's epidemiologist on this subject as well. She expressed clear unease with this news; she had read the same report, as well as some info I'm not privvy to from CDC. My question is; have you read this report, or have you seen this report? In addition; our epidemiologist expressed her opinion that the WHO may be VERY shortly moving to pandemic alert level 4-as you know we're currently at level 3.
If you could find that article I'd love to reread it; and with the wealth of good info you post here I know others would like to read it as well.

Man it's coming isn't it?? This isn't front page news right now but we will wake up one day with a headache the size of which we can't comprehend right now. And in one day all available masks, gown, gloves, medications, everything you need to endure such an event will be unobtainable. Within a few days after that watershed event all herbals and just about anything that could be used to mitigate the pandemic will be gone. I hope everyone that reads this already has or is obtaining what they will need.

AlfaMan said:

Thank you for posting these articles; your information is both timely and useful . I look forward to reading your postings; it is beginning to look as though H5N1 is sadly gaining momentum. It's summer in these areas of the world yet avian flu is increasing in numbers of victims; not declining in numbers during the summer as most "normal" flus and viruses usually do. If this trend continues then this winter could be very rough for all of us.
I did have a question though. I read an article on ProMed that mentioned a change in pulmonary receptors in the H5N1 cases hitting Indonesia and Malaysia. The receptors within the H5N1 virus which bind the virus to the lining of the throat; nasal passages and deeper into the lungs' alveoli are showing CLEAR and Proven evidence of mutation making antigenic shift more of a probability than a possibility. This mutation is more "human receptive", I.E the receptors have mutated enough that they now have more of an affinity for human respiratory/ pulmonary components than the avian/animal "affinity" that was evidenced in the past. I am a member of an MRC unit and spoke this weekend with our county's epidemiologist on this subject as well. She expressed clear unease with this news; she had read the same report, as well as some info I'm not privvy to from CDC. My question is; have you read this report, or have you seen this report? In addition; our epidemiologist expressed her opinion that the WHO may be VERY shortly moving to pandemic alert level 4-as you know we're currently at level 3.
If you could find that article I'd love to reread it; and with the wealth of good info you post here I know others would like to read it as well.

Click to expand...

The most recent report I've seen is Indonesia says bird flu changing to infect people more easily; WHO sees no signs.

This was talked about by Dr. Henry Niman in H5N1 Evolution in Indonesian Alternative Reservoirs (06/07/07) and H5N1 Evolution in Indonesia (06/07/07)

There is controversy over this, as noted in the first article. Earlier this year there was several articles about this subject, which I will try to find.

Also, this article was published:


http://kalgoorlie.yourguide.com.au/...eneral&story_id=594611&category=General&m=&y=

By Tamara McLean

The deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu is mutating unpredictably and at a rapid pace, a senior WHO official has warned Asia Pacific health ministers.

APEC health ministers have wrapped their two-day Sydney meeting with a pledge to address the "very real" threat of a global pandemic of bird flu or human influenza.

The commitment came after a World Health Organisation (WHO) presentation urging vigilance in the face of unpredictable changes in the H5N1 virus, which poses the biggest current threat.

Dr Shigeru Omi, WHO Regional Director for the Western Pacific, told ministers and senior delegates from the 21 nations the virus was rapidly evolving.

"The virus is already entrenched, embedded in this part of the world and ... it has been very, very unstable and changeable," Dr Omi said after the meeting.

"If we put (these two points) together it's a very clear indication that we have to remain vigilant."

The Indonesian strain has infected 309 people since 2003, killing 188, but Dr Omi warned that what was once two distinct grades had now spilt into four sub-groups.

"And I would not be surprised if we end up with more sub-classes in the years to come," he said.

Current mutations have not necessarily increased the likelihood of human-to-human transmission, but it proved the virus was "risky".

"The longer the virus lasts, the more chance such a mutation will occur," Dr Omi said. "It's simple mathematics."

Federal Health Minister Tony Abbott said given its unpredictability, it was vital H5N1 was closely monitored as it evolved.

"That means it's very important to have rapid virus sharing because the threat of pandemic remains very real," Mr Abbott said.

The Sydney Declaration signed on Friday specifically commits countries to sharing samples of the deadly H5N1 virus as it mutates so scientists are able to match the latest strain with vaccines in production.

Indonesia interrupted the practice earlier this year to protest that poorer nations with the samples may miss out on expensive vaccines developed in wealthier nations like Australia.

Mr Abbott said he was pleased with the new pledge, saying any more significant interruptions to virus sharing would have "tragic" consequences.

Specialists have predicted that an influenza would kill 48,000 Australians and hospitalise a further 150,000, with seven million seeking medical attention.

Meanwhile, United Nations senior influenza coordinator David Nabarro warned the region must act against "flu fatigue" as people become complacent about the threat.

Pandemics should be treated with the same seriousness as the threat of terrorism, global warming and tsunami, Dr Nabarro said.

"You don't hear about hijack fatigue do you?" he said.

"Influenza is a potential cause of masses of suffering but there are individuals saying a pandemic hasn't happened so we can't be bother planning to avoid it."

"We can't get caught napping on this or we make big mistakes."

This is from a post on 3/19/07-
http://www.timebomb2000.com/vb/showthread.php?p=2269151&highlight=H5N1+change#post2269151


Bird flu can infect via upper respiratory airway


http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16945777/

Scientists: Virus need not penetrate deep in the lungs, but no need to panic


Updated: 2:53 p.m. ET Feb 2, 2007

HONG KONG - Leading scientists in Hong Kong have found that the H5N1 bird flu virus can infect cells in the upper airway of humans and need not penetrate deep in the lungs to cause infection.

A study by scientists based in the United States in 2006 suggested that H5N1 could not infect people easily because it had to first lodge itself deep inside the lungs, where it binds more easily to certain receptors called the alpha 2-3.

But in an article published in the January issue of the journal Nature Medicine, scientists from the University of Hong Kong found that the virus could infect the nasopharynx, an area behind the nose and above the soft palate, and the throat.

“On the earlier hypothesis, the virus has to go deep into the lungs to infect anybody but our research suggests that is not the case. The virus can get a foothold in the upper respiratory tract, it doesn’t have to get deep down into the lungs,” microbiology professor Malik Peiris told Reuters late on Friday.

No need to panic
Using discarded human tissues, Malik found both upper and lower human respiratory tracts could be infected by the virus.

“Even in the upper respiratory tract (where) the alpha 2-3 receptor seems to be lacking, the H5N1 can still infect the cells ... so it raises the question of whether there may be other receptors the virus is using and highlights the point that further study is needed.”

However, he said there was no reason to panic.

“It is still not able in most cases to establish infection and has not been able to transmit human to human (efficiently). It doesn’t change that situation as such,” said Peiris, who has studied the H5N1 since 1997, when it made its first known jump to humans in Hong Kong, killing six people.

The virus re-emerged in late 2003 and has become endemic in several places in Asia. It has since infected 270 people around the world, killing 164 of them, according to latest figures from the World Health Organisation.

It has flared up again in recent months, spreading through poultry flocks in Japan, Vietnam and Thailand, killing six people in Indonesia and claiming its first human life in Nigeria.

Although it remains a bird disease, experts still fear it could kill millions once it learns how to pass efficiently among people.

Four Malaysians in hospital for bird flu checks​

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070611/hl_afp/healthflumalaysia

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) - Four people are in hospital in Terengganu state after possible exposure to bird flu, Malaysia's health minister said Monday as officials monitored for new outbreaks of the deadly virus.

Chua Soi Lek said the four were hospitalised in the eastern state's capital Kuala Terengganu after coming down with fevers and coughs.

"They have had contact with chickens and ducks which had died. They are currently in a stable condition and are being investigated for the avian flu virus," Chua said in a statement.

"All of the cases do not meet the criteria to be categorised as cases that are suspected to be infected with avian influenza," he added.

Kamarudin Mohammed Isa, head of disease control at the local Department of Veterinary Services, said tests had been conducted on chickens in the village of Seberang Takir, where the four people live, but no bird flu had been found.

"Only two ducks died. They also have other chickens so we took samples from the chickens and they were all negative," Kamarudin told AFP.

Health officials told AFP the four, including a 16-year-old boy, were hospitalised over the weekend but it was unlikely they had bird flu.

Malaysia last week suffered its first outbreak of the deadly virus in more than a year on the western outskirts of Kuala Lumpur in central Selangor state.

Eleven people were hospitalised with flu-like symptoms after being exposed to dead chickens in the Sungai Buloh area and in a village in northern Kedah state, but all tested negative for the deadly H5N1 strain of the virus.

One person is still under observation in hospital in Sungai Buloh, health officials said Monday.

Kamarudin said mopping up operations were continuing Monday in Sungai Buloh but that culling of fowl in the area had stopped.

He said authorities were still trying to pinpoint the origin of the infection, but denied the virus had been spread by migratory birds.

"It's the off season," Kamarudin said, adding monitoring continued throughout the country.

The veterinary services department said Monday 4,127 birds had been culled, 1,430 eggs destroyed and 1,139 premises checked within a one kilometre (half a mile) radius from where the outbreak began in Sungai Buloh.

Samples from nearly 6,700 fowl outside the outbreak zone showed no presence of the virus, it said in a statement.

For us average Joes and Janes... What would you recommend as a prep medication, ie... antibiotics. That we can have on hand just in case? I know some herbals work to help ease the severity of regular flu, will these help here? Or is that not known?

Thanks for all your posts... I havent done to well in keeping up on reading them but am tring to find the time to keep up on whats going on with everything.

You and all our other news hounds are very much appreciated.
Windi

Windi said:

For us average Joes and Janes... What would you recommend as a prep medication, ie... antibiotics. That we can have on hand just in case? I know some herbals work to help ease the severity of regular flu, will these help here? Or is that not known?

Thanks for all your posts... I havent done to well in keeping up on reading them but am tring to find the time to keep up on whats going on with everything.

You and all our other news hounds are very much appreciated.
Windi

Click to expand...

Before I say anything:

For legal reasons all of the following information must be regarded as my opinion only. It is not
medical advice or prescribing of any medication. Please check the accuracy of the information
provided before making important decisions. I am not a qualified medical practitioner and any
information, advice or opinion given is only meant to be a starting point for the reader’s own
research or discussion. You access this material at your own risk. I have no control over and
accept no responsibility whatsoever for such materials use.

IN NO WAY SHOULD ANY OF THE FOLLOWING BE CONSIDERED AS OFFERING MEDICAL
ADVICE! THE CONTENT IS PRESENTED FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY. NEVER
DISREGARD MEDICAL ADVICE OR DELAY IN SEEKING IT BECAUSE OF SOMETHING YOU
HAVE READ HERE IN!

Please consult your own physician or appropriate health care provider about the applicability of
any opinions or recommendations with respect to your own symptoms or medical conditions as
these diseases commonly present with variable signs and symptoms.

The information here in should not be considered complete, authorative or express any
guarantees or warranties what so ever. Nor should it be relied on to suggest a course of
treatment for a particular individual. It should not be used in place of a visit, call, consultation or
the advice of your physician or other qualified health care provider.

Always consult with your physician or other qualified health care provider before embarking on
a new treatment, diet or fitness program. You should never disregard medical advice or delay in
seeking it because of something you have read here. I do not recommend or endorse any
specific test, products, or procedures that may be mentioned here.

The statements here in have not been evaluated by the US Food and Drug Administration.
These products named here in are not claimed to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

That being said, antibiotics will not do anything for a virus. They would only treat a secondary bacterial infection.

Our family has stocked cephalexin and erythromycin for secondary bacterial infections in addition to supplies contained in a kit we gave to our adult children last year.

The information about this kit and contents are in a pdf file located here:

http://www.denentservices.com/The Qinghai Express.pdf

These kits are in addition to normal preps that we all have.

Anti-virals will be most useful with bird flu, particularly the herbal ones like elderberry extract taken with curcumin and bioperine. a black pepper extract, which greatly increases the bioavailability of Curcumin. There are many articles in Timebombs archives about these-do a search. And there are others.

Preparedness is key to surviving. Hope this helps.

JPD

Windi said:

For us average Joes and Janes... What would you recommend as a prep medication, ie... antibiotics. That we can have on hand just in case? I know some herbals work to help ease the severity of regular flu, will these help here? Or is that not known?

Thanks for all your posts... I havent done to well in keeping up on reading them but am tring to find the time to keep up on whats going on with everything.

You and all our other news hounds are very much appreciated.
Windi

Click to expand...

From what I understand - Elderberry is a good "preventive" (tincture I think). BUT - if someone has the "Bird Flu" - do not give it to them. Once infected, you don't want to give something that boosts the immune system, as this may increase the cytokine storm (I think that's when the immune system goes into overdrive), and can actually cause more harm.

Four-year-old Egyptian girl has bird flu​

http://africa.reuters.com/wire/news/usnL11827375.html?rpc=401&

CAIRO, June 11 (Reuters) - A four-year-old girl has contracted the bird flu virus in southern Egypt, the 36th case among humans in the Arab world's most populous country, the Health Ministry said on Monday.

Fifteen of Egypt's bird flu cases have proven fatal.

Dina Ali Taghyan from Abu Diyab village in Qena province was admitted to hospital on Sunday with a high temperature, pneumonia and difficulty breathing, and had been exposed to birds suspected of having bird flu, the ministry said.

She was taken to a hospital in the capital Cairo and is in a stable condition under treatment, it added in a statement.

She is the second case in Egypt in two weeks after a lull of nearly two months. Egyptian officials had said they expected the virus to lie low during the hot summer, following the pattern it set last year after the initial outbreak in February 2006.

The other recent case, a 10-year-old girl also from Qena, died in hospital on Saturday. Delays in reporting and diagnosing her infection may have contributed to her death.

Bird flu did extensive damage to the country's poultry industry and the economy as a whole after its arrival in Egypt, which has more confirmed bird flu cases among humans than any other country outside of Asia.

Most of those who have fallen ill in Egypt were reported to have had contact with sick or dead household birds, primarily in northern Egypt where the weather is cooler than in the south.

But in a sign of a change in how the disease may be occurring in Egypt, all but two of the past 12 human cases have occurred in central or southern parts of the country.

Around five million households in Egypt depend on poultry as a main source of food and income and the government has said this makes it unlikely the disease can be eradicated. The government still finds it hard to enforce restrictions on the movement and sale of live poultry.

Traces of H5N1 bird flu found in Indonesian poultry​

http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/news/stories/s1948194.htm

Last Updated 12/06/2007, 03:38:47

Indonesia's agriculture ministry says it has found traces of the H5N1 bird flu in apparently healthy-looking poultry.

It says this is making it tougher to detect the disease in the country hardest hit by the virus.

Sick or dead chickens are used as a sign of H5N1 infection.

Indonesia has the world's highest death toll from the disease.

So far it has killed 79 people.

Authorities in Indonesia fear healthy-looking poultry could shed the virus in their faeces, increasing the risk of spreading bird flu to people.

JPD,

Thanks for the pdf. I will read and print to add to my prep book asap. Just another thing to add to my prep list.

I appreciate the help and I understand the disclaimer.

Windi

From what I understand - Elderberry is a good "preventive" (tincture I think). BUT - if someone has the "Bird Flu" - do not give it to them. Once infected, you don't want to give something that boosts the immune system, as this may increase the cytokine storm (I think that's when the immune system goes into overdrive), and can actually cause more harm.

Click to expand...

I think that you're mistaken. You should not use things like echinacea once you have the flu because that is an immune system booster - elderberry tincture has been suggested as something that will help fight the virus without boosting the immune system.

Windi, I would STRONGLY suggest that you read the material in the Timebomb archives - there are a lot of very smart people who have contributed to the information and they can give you a lot of really good information.

Indonesian man hospitalized with bird flu symptoms​

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-06/12/content_6232427.htm

JAKARTA, June 12 (Xinhua) -- A 28-year-old man was admitted to hospital in Indonesia's Riau province for developing bird flu symptoms after he ate meat of sick chicken, local press said Tuesday.

Yatino, a plantation worker from Indragiri Hulu regency, has been put at the bird flu care unit of the Arifin Achmad Hospital in the provincial capital of Pekanbaru since Monday.

He has earlier received treatment in a different hospital before health officials suspected him of developing bird flu symptoms, reported the national Antara news agency.

After an X-ray examination and laboratory test, "we detected clinical signs that he possibly has bird flu," hospital staff Dr.Azizman Daad was quoted as saying.

Yatino, a father of one, used to grow chickens in his backyard and recently cooked and ate a sick chicken before he fell ill with high fever.

Human death toll from bird flu has reached 79 in Indonesia, higher than in any other affected countries.

Vietnam bird flu patient recovers, poultry outbreaks continue​

http://www.focus-fen.net/?id=n114659

Hanoi. Vietnam's first bird flu patient in a year and a half has fully recovered, but outbreaks among poultry continue to flare nationwide, officials and state-controlled media reported Tuesday. The 30-year-old man from northern Vinh Phuc province was discharged from Bach Mai hospital Monday where he had been treated for nearly a month, said hospital director Tran Thuy Hanh.

Agriculture Minister Cao Duc Phat warned that more outbreaks among poultry are expected to spread throughout the country. Sixteen provinces have been hit since early May, killing or forcing the slaughter of more than 100,000 birds, Tuesday's Saigon Giai Phong (Liberated Saigon) newspaper reported.

Phat blamed the latest wave on the bird flu virus in waterfowl and the local authorities' failure to fight it aggressively, it said. Bird flu has killed at least 190 people since it began ravaging Asian poultry stocks in 2003, 42 of them in Vietnam, according to the World Health Organization. The virus remains difficult for people to catch, but experts fear it could eventually mutate to a form that spreads more easily between humans, sparking a global pandemic that could kill millions.
Source: AP

Fowls die en mass in Vietnam's capital city Hano​

http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200706/12/eng20070612_383348.html

Over 300 white-winged ducks in Vietnam's capital city Hanoi have died with unidentified causes over the past few days, while bird flu continues to spread in the country.

Specimens from the fowls raised by two households in the city's Thanh Tri district are being tested for bird flu viruses. The local veterinary agency has culled all fowls in the affected two flocks and disinfected affected area, local newspaper Labor reported Tuesday.

Bird flu, starting to strike Vietnam in December 2003, has hit 16 Vietnamese cities and provinces nationwide since early May, according to the Department of Animal Health under the Vietnamese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Source: Xinhua

China criticised over secret laws​

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6743533.stm

China's state secret laws are "complex and opaque" and reinforce the rule of the Communist Party, a report published by Human Rights in China says.

Extensive restrictions not only affect the rights of ordinary people, but also have an impact on businesses and global policymakers, according to the report.

A culture of secrecy means it is often difficult for people to know for sure when they are violating a law, it adds.

China brushed aside the criticism, saying its citizens come first.

'Harmful effect'

The rights group report, entitled State Secrets: China's Legal Labyrinth, said information is currently closely guarded in China.

"The state secret system allows large amounts of information to be classified as state secrets," said the report from the New York-based rights group.

"(It) employs extensive technology, police and social controls to monitor the flow of information, and places it all under political reins," it added.

The rights group said China's National Administration for the Protection of State Secrets can classify any information it desires as secret - even if it has already been made public.

"Combined with the one-party regime, and the absence of an independent rule of law, (this) allows further consolidation of political and social control by the ruling elite," the report said.

It added that limiting people's right to know could have a harmful effect on Chinese society.

As an example it cited the outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (Sars) in China in 2003, which the authorities initially tried to cover up.

Not releasing health information could lead to an increase in the number of people affected.

Just this year, the World Health Organisation complained that China was not sharing all its information on the different strains of bird flu in the country.

New regulations

Human Rights in China also suggests state secret laws are used to imprison people who it considers troublesome.

Tan Kai, a computer repair technician, was sent to prison for 18 months last year for "illegally obtaining state secrets" while backing up party computer files, the report said.

Human Rights in China suggested the real reason for his imprisonment lay in the fact that he is an environmental campaigner.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang later insisted "citizens enjoy freedom of speech in accordance with the law".

"Only when citizens violate laws will they be punished," he added.

China is in the process of reforming its state secret system.

In April, it said it would introduce a range of regulations next year to boost transparency by increasing the amount of information published by government departments.

For example, it wants to give more information on government land acquisitions and compensation given to residents forced to move out of their homes.

Ordinary people should also have more information about public health issues, and food and drug safety, the government said.

However, it said information should not be released if it harms "state security, public safety, normal economic operation and social stability".

Indonesian bird flu patient dies​

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-06/12/content_6232729.htm

JAKARTA, June 12 (Xinhua) -- A 28-year-old man died Tuesday after being treated at a hospital in Indonesia's Riau province with bird flu symptoms and the death toll of the disease could hit 80 in the country if his case is confirmed.

Yatino, a plantation worker and a father of one, died at 13:45 local time (06:45 GMT) at the Arifin Achmad Hospital in the provincial capital of Pekanbaru, reported leading news website Detikcom.

He has been in the hospital since Monday evening.

Doctors said he had eaten meat of sick chickens at his home in Indragiri Hulu regency.

Five Malaysians suspected to have bird flu​

http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/news/stories/s1949455.htm

Malaysia's Health Minister says five Malaysians have been quarantined with suspected bird flu following an outbreak of the deadly H5N1 strain of the virus last week.

An 11-year-old boy has been placed in isolation in the Sungai Buloh area of central Selangor state, where the virus resurfaced last week for the first time in more than a year.

Four others, two adults and two children have been hospitalised with flu-like symptoms in central Pahang state.

Health Minister, Chua Soi Lek says the five patients have a history of contact with dead chickens.

He says sixteen others admitted to hospital with flu-like symptoms have tested negative for the virus.

Two Vietnamese women have bird flu - report​

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/HAN63192.htm

HANOI, June 12 (Reuters) - Two Vietnamese women have tested positive for the H5N1 bird flu virus, but one has recovered while the other is in intensive care, a state-run newspaper reported on Tuesday.

The online newspaper Vietnamnet (www.vnn.vn) quoted the director of the Vietnam Administration of Preventive Medicine Nguyen Huy Nga as confirming the two women, aged 28 and 29, from the northern provinces of Thanh Hoa and Ha Nam, had bird flu.

Nga said both had been admitted to a hospital in Hanoi.

The 29-year-old woman from Thanh Hoa, who was infected after eating dead duck, had recovered, while other woman was using a respirator to breathe, Nga said.

Both Thanh Hoa and Ha Nam are among a list of 15 provinces and a city that have reported bird flu outbreaks in poultry since early May.

The two new human cases came only a day after doctors said a man who was Vietnam's first human bird flu case in a year and a half has won the battle against the virus, leaving hospital on Monday.

Doctors were still treating a second patient, a slaughterhouse worker from outside Hanoi who became sick late last month. The patient was recovering well, they said.

Bird flu has killed 42 people out of 95 cases of infection in Vietnam since it emerged in late 2003.

Meanwhile, the Animal Health Department said three bird flu cases in poultry were found on June 7 and June 8 in the northern province of Thai Binh, which had reported outbreaks in other districts in the province.

Indonesia facing massive hurdles against bird flu​

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070613/hl_afp/healthfluindonesia

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) - Indonesia is among countries in the world facing the biggest difficulties in fighting deadly bird flu, a top
United Nations official said Wednesday.

Hassan El Bushra said it topped the "acute outbreak" list of nations, alongside Egypt and Turkey, where avian influenza remains a big problem.

Indonesia is the worst hit from the deadly H5N1 virus, recording 79 deaths from 99 human cases detected since bird flu broke out two years ago in all but two of its 33 provinces.

El Bushra, regional adviser with the World Health Organisation's (WHO) communicable disease team, said economic reasons made the virus especially difficult to contain in Indonesia. Culling thousands of chickens to stop an outbreak from spreading means big losses for poultry farmers and backyard chicken rearers.

"It is quite an economic loss, especially when (paying) compensation is a problem," El Bushra told reporters as OIC health officials met ahead of a ministerial gathering Thursday.

"People there cannot understand why you should cull all the poultry in the whole village when only one person is found sick."

Better disease prevention among farmers is also necessary to fight bird flu.

"It is a matter of changing the mentality of people and to make them really understand the disease," El Bushra added.

Malaysia chairs the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC), an association of 56 Islamic states who co-operate in economic, social and political matters.

The gathering is being attended by officials from the United Nations and other international agencies to discuss major health concerns facing OIC member states, whose members, in 2005, accounted for 21 percent of the world's population.

Bird flu has infected 312 people worldwide.

The OIC health ministers are expected to issue a declaration at the close of the conference Friday southwest of Kuala Lumpur.