2/16/08-2/23/08|Weekly Bird Flu Thread: Indonesia's bird-flu death toll at 104

Link to last weeks thread:

HEALTH - 2/8/08-2/15/08|Weekly Bird Flu Thread: Man suspected of contracting bird flu Thailand

http://www.timebomb2000.com/vb/showthread.php?t=276462

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

Indonesia's bird-flu death toll at 104​

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080216/ap_on_re_as/indonesia_bird_flu

JAKARTA, Indonesia - A 16-year-old Indonesian boy has died of bird flu, bringing the nation's death toll from the illness to 104, the Health Ministry said Saturday.

The boy became ill on Feb. 3 with a cough and other respiratory symptoms, according to the Health Ministry's Web site.

He died a week later in a hospital in the city of Solo, about 280 miles southeast of the capital, Jakarta, said Sumardi, a ministry spokesman. Like he many Indonesians, Sumardi goes by one name.

Tests confirmed the boy had been infected with the dangerous H5N1 strain of the bird flu virus, the ministry's Web site said.

The victim's neighbors had sick chickens on their property and the boy apparently slaughtered some of them before he became ill, the ministry said.

Indonesia has regularly recorded human deaths from bird flu since the virus began ravaging poultry stocks across Asia in 2003.

Bird flu remains hard for people to catch, but health experts worry the virus could mutate into a form that passes easily among humans, sparking a pandemic. So far, most human cases have been linked to contact with infected birds.

Scientists have warned that Indonesia, which has millions of backyard chickens and poor medical facilities, is a potential hot spot for a global bird flu pandemic.

More than 225 people have died worldwide from the virus, according to the World Health Organization.

Pakistan confirms new bird flu outbreak in NWFP​

http://africa.reuters.com/commodities/news/usnISL15514.html

ISLAMABAD, Feb 16 (Reuters) - Pakistani authorities have detected an outbreak of H5N1 bird flu in chickens in a part of the northwest where the country recently had its first human death from the virus, a government official said on Saturday.

The new outbreak was found in North West Frontier Province (NWFP), the official said.

"Samples from a poultry farm sent to us from Abbottabad have tested positive for the virus," Food and Agriculture Ministry official Rafiq-ul-Usmani said, referring to a town in the province. "We have already started culling at the farm."

Several outbreaks of the H5N1 strain of avian influenza in poultry and other birds have been found in NWFP and the capital, Islamabad, since it was first detected in Pakistan in early 2006.

Pakistan confirmed its first human death from the virus in an area near Abbottabad in December.

Authorities confirmed two outbreaks at separate poultry farms in Pakistan's biggest city Karachi, in the south, early this month. Health authorities tested 12 workers from the farms for the H5N1 virus, but all of them proved negative.

The president of the Pakistan Poultry Association, Abdul Basit, said the outbreaks had badly hit the industry, which he estimated was worth 200 billion rupees (around $3.2 billion).

"The industry employs about 1.5 million people and losses in February alone are close to 4 billion rupees."

Some Pakistanis have stopped eating chicken but the bird flu outbreaks have not caused general public alarm. (Reporting by Augustine Anthony, editing by Tim Pearce)

Dead chickens must not be eaten, warns Preventive Medicine Department​

http://www.nhandan.com.vn/english/life/160208/life_de.htm

Nhan Dan - The Preventive Medicine Department on February 15 gave a warning that dead chicken must not be eaten after another death case of bird flu.

Hoang Van Doan, 27 years old from Ninh Binh province, died of bird flu on February 14, announced Dr Nguyen Huy Nga, head of the department. This was the fourth bird flu death cases have been reported since early this year.

The four dead people were hospitalised too late and could not be treated. Based on the fact, the Preventive Medicine Department advised people improve their prevention of the disease by reporting to local veterinary services when their poultry showed signs of suffering from illness and not eating death chickens, and going to medical centres for check-ups and treatment when suffering from fever.

The Preventive Medicine Department on February 15 sent an urgent letter to the Departments of Public Health in provinces and cities to urge measures to prevent and control a possible spread of bird flu.

Measures have been asked to be taken to control and supervise the transport and slaughtering of poultry.

In addition, medicines and chemicals should be prepared to cope with the disease once it outbreaks.

its 104 not 140.... the headline is wrong the article body was right.. might want to change your thread title.
K

Bird flu kills 3-year-old boy in Indonesia,
second case reported in one day​

http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailgeneral.asp?fileid=20080217151733&irec=6

JAKARTA (AP): Bird flu killed a 3-year-old boy and ateenager in Indonesia, the health ministry announced, bringing the country's death toll from the disease to 105.

The latest victim was identified only as Han, a 3-year-old boy from the capital, Jakarta, who died Friday at a hospital in the city, radio El-Shinta reported Saturday.

Nyoman Kandun, a senior Health Ministry official, confirmed the report but did not provide details.

Laboratory tests confirmed the boy had the dangerous H5N1 strain of the bird flu virus, Kandun said. It was not clear how he was infected.

Earlier Saturday, the Health Ministry said a 16-year-old Indonesian boy from Central Java province died of bird flu. The boy, whose name was not disclosed, became ill on Feb. 3 with a cough and other respiratory symptoms, according to the Health Ministry's Web other respiratory symptoms, according to the Health Ministry's Web site.

He died a week later in a hospital in the city of Solo, about 450 kilometers southeast of Jakarta, said Sumardi, a ministry spokesman. Like many Indonesians, he goes by one name.

Tests confirmed the teenager had been infected by the H5N1 virus, the ministry's Web site said.

Bird flu claims third victim this year​

http://vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn/showarticle.php?num=01SOC160208

HA NOI — Hoang Van Doan, 27, became Viet Nam’s third victim of the deadly H5N1 virus this year when he died in Ha Noi’s Bach Mai Hospital yesterday.

The young man from Ninh Binh Province, about 90km south of Ha Noi, was admitted to the hospital last Tuesday suffering blood poisoning and pneumonia.

He reportedly slaughtered and ate chicken during Tet.

Several patients in Ha Noi’s Hospital of Clinical Medicine and Tropical Diseases are undergoing tests for the virus and people in both Ninh Binh and Hai Duong provinces – the source of this year’s infections – are being vaccinated.

Bird flu leaves half a million jobless​

http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?s...0024281C652212

Dhaka - The spread of deadly bird flu in Bangladesh has forced the closure of 40 percent of the nation's poultry farms and left half a million poultry workers jobless, industry officials said on Monday.

Government authorities said the virus was still "under control", although it has spread to 43 out of the country's 64 districts, forcing authorities to slaughter some 800 000 birds.

"It's a natural disaster like cyclone or floods. The poor farmers who raise chickens in their backyards are particularly hard hit by the bird flu," said Abdul Baki, principal scientific officer of the livestock department.

"But we still think things are under control," Baki said, adding the government was launching a massive plan to compensate affected farmers.

Baki's comments came as the authorities struggled to slaughter another 160 000 birds in one of the largest farms in the capital Dhaka. Officials said it would take another day to complete the slaughter.

The outbreak at Omega farm showed the disease was out of control, industry officials said.

"Omega is one of the top farms which rigorously maintained international bio-safety regulations but it was not spared by the deadly flu," said M.M Khan, a senior official of the Bangladesh Poultry Association.

"The situation is so bad nobody is buying any poultry these days. They're panicking. The crows and migrant birds are spreading the flu everywhere, leaving authorities simply hopeless," Khan said.

Already some supermarkets in the capital have suspended poultry sales, he said,

The flu has forced closure of at least 40 percent of the country's estimated 150 000 commercial farms, leaving at least half a million people jobless, Khan said.

The government has repeatedly urged people not to be frightened and begun a major drive to assure people that eating cooked poultry poses no health dangers.

It is also giving farmers 1.50 dollars compensation for each chicken slaughtered because of the virus.

Bangladesh was first hit by bird flu in February 2007 but the disease became dormant. Officials said outbreak resurfaced in January when 20 new districts were hit. So far in February another 11 have been hit.

Bangladesh's poultry industry is one of the world's largest, producing 220 million chickens and 37 million ducks annually.

Uva Lake H5N1 in Saudi Arabia​

http://www.recombinomics.com/News/02180802/H5N1_Uva_Saudi.html

Recombinomics Commentary 07:50
February 18, 2008

Sequences from H5N1 in Saudia Arabia have been released at Genbank. One of the HA sequences, A/houbara bustard/Saudi Arabia/6732-1/2007, is the Uva Lake strain. It is most closely related to the recently published sequences from Romania, but recent published sequences from Germany, Krasnodar, and Romania all fall onto the same branch which traces back to the wild bird outbreak at Uva Lake in the summer of 2006.

Those sequences were subsequently found in South Korea at the end of 2006 and then were reportedly found in the outbreak in Kuwait in early 2007. The subsequent outbreaks in the summer and fall in Europe have been confirmed to be related by published sequences or said to be related by sequencing labs.

The detection in Saudia Arabia is not a surprise because of the characterization of the outbreak in Kuwait, or the migratory path of houbara bustard (Chlamydotis undulata macqueenii).

Vietnam warns provinces to do more against bird flu​

http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/...ns-provinces-to-do-more-against-bird-flu.html

Hanoi - With bird flu outbreaks hitting four Vietnamese provinces and killing three people so far this year, the government has ordered officials to take stronger measures against bird flu, officials said Monday. Agriculture Minister Cao Duc Phat sent an urgent message to provincial officials Sunday, according to the National Animal Health Department.

Phat reiterated warnings against eating sick birds and asked provinces to cull all sick poultry, disinfect poultry farms, ban the transport of poultry from infected areas and continue nationwide vaccinations against bird flu.

"The possibility that bird flu in poultry will expand on a large scale and that there will be more people infected with H5N1 is very high," the message said.

Bird flu outbreaks have occurred this year in poultry in the provinces of Thai Nguyen, Quang Binh, Long An and Quang Ninh, prompting local authorities to cull at least 12,500 chickens and ducks, according to provincial officials.

In the latest outbreak, more than 400 fowl died last week at a farm in Quang Ninh province, 150 kilometers east of Hanoi, according to Dao Duy Ai, director of the Animal Health Department of the province.

"Most of the poultry had not been vaccinated yet," Ai said. "We have culled all the remaining 400 ducks and chickens at the farm, disinfected the neighborhood and banned transport of poultry from the area."

He said the outbreak was very likely to expand to other farms, despite the measures taken.

The three humans killed by the H5N1 virus this year came from Tuyen Quang, Hai Duong and Ninh Binh procinces. No bird flu outbreaks in poultry have been detected in these provinces.

Local officials said last week that a 7-year-old boy from Hai Duong province, 50 kilometers east of Hanoi, had been infected with H5N1, but an officials confirmed Monday that tests on the boy showed that he was not infected.

"He is negative for H5N1, but is still being treated in a hospital in Hanoi for lung disease," said Dong Van Chuc, head of the Animal Health Department of Hi Duong province.

Bird flu has infected 104 Vietnamese people and killed 50 since it first appeared in the country in late 2003.

H5N1 mainly affects poultry and wild birds, but can infect humans who have close contact with sick fowl. Scientists fear that if it spreads unchecked, the disease could mutate into a form which could be transmitted between humans, leading to a worldwide pandemic that could kill millions.

C China confirms new human bird flu case​

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-02/19/content_7626990.htm

BEIJING, Feb. 18 (Xinhua) -- China's Ministry of Health on Monday confirmed a human case of H5N1 bird flu in the central Hunan Province.

A 22-year-old man surnamed Li in Jianghua County, Yongzhou City, suffered fever and headache on Jan. 16 and was hospitalized on Jan. 22. His symptoms worsened despite treatment.

Li died at 5 p.m. on Jan. 24 after all rescue measures failed.

His specimens tested positive for the bird flu virus strain H5N1, said the country's Center for Disease Control and Prevention. The report didn't identify how he might have contracted the disease.

The virus is most commonly passed from sick poultry to humans who have close contact with infected birds.

Statistics by the World Health Organization (WHO) show there have been 18 human deaths from the H5N1 strain, and 28 confirmed cases of infection in China since 2003.

By Feb. 1, of the total of cases of confirmed human bird flu infections worldwide, 225 have been fatal.

The local government undertook prevention and control measures once the case was reported. Those who had close contact with Li were put under strict medical observation. So far, none have shown signs of the disease, the ministry said.

The case has been reported to the WHO, authorities in Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, and some foreign governments.

The latest confirmed case of human bird flu took place in the worst snow-stricken province of Hunan, where prolonged low temperatures, icy rain and heavy snow have caused blackouts and traffic chaos.

On Feb. 15, the Ministry of Health said that no cases of infectious epidemic or mass food poisoning were reported in China's snow-stricken areas by Feb. 14, and that the death toll caused by infectious diseases in the snow-stricken areas showed no year-on-year increase in the past month.

China reports bird flu outbreak in Tibet, human death​

http://orange.advfn.com/news_China-reports-bird-flu-outbreak-in-Tibet-human-death_24824809.html

BEIJING (XFN-ASIA) - Chinese authorities have reported a fresh bird flu
outbreak among poultry in Tibet, a day after confirming a 22-year-old man in
central China had died of the deadly virus.

The agriculture ministry said 132 poultry had died of the H5N1 strain of
bird flu in a village outside the regional capital Lhasa and about 7,700 birds
had been slaughtered to bring the outbreak under control.

It was the second outbreak of bird flu in the Himalayan region this year.
In January, about 1,000 birds died and 13,000 were slaughtered during an
earlier outbreak in Gongga county, which lies about 50 kilometers south of
Lhasa.

News of the latest outbreak, posted on the agriculture ministry's website,
came shortly after Chinese authorities announced the country's 18th confirmed
human bird flu fatality.

The health ministry late yesterday confirmed that a 22-year-old man from
Hunan province had died from the H5N1 strain.

The man, surnamed Li, developed a fever and headache on Jan 16 and was
hospitalized on Jan 22. But his condition worsened and he died two days later,
according to a statement posted on the health ministry's website.

China's Centre for Disease Control and Prevention said he had tested
positive for the H5N1 strain. The ministry did not say how he might have
contracted the disease.

The local government had put in place prevention and control measures and
those who had close contact with Li were put under strict medical observation.
So far, none had shown signs of the disease, the ministry said.

With the latest fatality, at least 18 people have been confirmed to have
died of bird flu in China. Ten other patients recovered.

China's previous fatal case was a 24-year-old man in the eastern province of
Jiangsu who died in December.

H5N1 Spread in Southern Tibet​

http://www.recombinomics.com/News/02190801/H5N1_Tibet_Southern_2.html

Recombinomics Commentary 10:35
February 19, 2008

Chinese authorities have confirmed a new bird flu outbreak among poultry in Tibet, the second case of this year in the southwestern region, the Ministry of Agriculture said.

A ministry statement said that 132 poultry had died in the epidemic in a village outside the regional capital, Lhasa, since it started on Feb. 6, while another 7,698 have been culled.

The above comments describe confirmed H5N1 in Tibet, near Lhasa (see satellite map here and here). These outbreaks are just north of the outbreaks in Bangladesh and West Bengal. Although Bangladesh has been reporting multiple H5N1 outbreaks on a daily basis, India maintains that H5N1 in West Bengal has been controlled by an extensive culling program involving almost 4 million birds in West Bengal and bordering regions. However, these bordering regions, as well as the remainder of India, are said to be H5N1 negative.

In addition to the H5N1 in Tibet and West Bengal, Pakistan has reported H5N1 near Karachi as well as the North West Frontier Province.

The multiple outbreaks in region surround most of India raise serious questions about the reported absence of H5N1 in neighboring districts inside and outside of India.

Bangalore University alumnus sheds new light on the spread of 1918 flu​

http://www.newindpress.com/NewsItem...3&Title=Features+-+Health+&+Science&Topic=166

WASHINGTON: A Bangalore University alumnus has found out why two mutations in the H1N1 avian flu virus were critical for viral transmission in humans during the 1918 pandemic outbreak that claimed about 50 million lives.

Ram Sasisekharan, who is currently a professor of Biological Engineering and Health Sciences and Technology at the MIT Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), says that the two mutations in the 1918 influenza strain occurred in a surface molecule called hemagglutinin (HA), which allowed it to bind tightly to receptors in the human upper respiratory tract.

“Two mutations dramatically change the HA binding affinity to receptors found in the human upper airways,” said Sasisekharan.

In a previous research paper, Sasisekharan and his colleagues had suggested that flu viruses could only bind to human respiratory cells if they matched the shape of sugar (or glycan) receptors found on those cells.

The glycan receptors found in the human respiratory tract are known as alpha 2-6 receptors, and they come in two shapes-one resembling an open umbrella, and another resembling a cone.

That time, the research team said that avian flu viruses must gain the ability to bind to the umbrella-shaped alpha 2-6 receptor to infect humans.

In their current study, they have found that two mutations in HA allow flu viruses to bind tightly or with high affinity to the umbrella-shaped glycan receptors.

“The affinity between the influenza virus HA and the glycan receptors appears to be a critical determinant for viral transmission,” said Sasisekharan.

With a view to investigating the biochemical basis for hemagglutinin binding to glycans, which leads to viral transmission, the researchers used the 1918 influenza virus as a model system.

They compared the virus that caused the 1918 pandemic (known as SC18) with a strain called NY18 that differs from SC18 by only one amino acid, and also the AV18 strain, which differs from SC18 by two amino acids.

The research team found that NY18, which is only slightly infectious, binds to the umbrella-shaped alpha 2-6 receptors but not as well as SC18, which is highly infectious.

They also observed that AV18, which does not infect humans, does not have any affinity for the umbrella-shaped alpha 2-6 receptors, and binds only to alpha 2-3 receptors.

The researchers also revealed that another strain called TX18 binds to alpha 2-6 and alpha 2-3, and is much more infectious than NY18 because it binds with high affinity to the umbrella-shaped alpha 2-6 receptors.

The researchers claim that their study, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, is the first to explain the exact biochemical reasons underlying the varying infectiousness of these strains, which they reported last year.

They believe that their work may facilitate the monitoring of the HA mutations in the H5N1 avian flu strains currently circulating in Asia. According to them, such mutations may enable the virus to jump from birds to humans, as many epidemiologists fear will occur.

Bird flu in three more Vietnam provinces ​

http://story.irishsun.com/index.php/ct/9/cid/2411cd3571b4f088/id/329291/cs/1/

Hanoi, Feb 20 (Xinhua) The outbreak of the bird flu in three more Vietnam provinces has raised the total number of affected regions in the country to seven, the local daily New Hanoi reported Wednesday.

The new cases of bird flu among fowls were detected in Vietnam's northern provinces, Tuyen Quang, Nam Dinh and Hai Duong, between Feb 16 and 18.

Around 2,500 fowls have died over the past few days in Ham Yen, Vu Ban and Thanh Mien districts of these provinces.

The seven provinces hit by bird flu are Thai Nguyen, Quang Ninh, Hai Duong, Nam Dinh, Tuyen Quang, Quang Binh and Long An.

The Department of Animal Health, under the country's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, has urged the local administrations across the country to strengthen measures against bird flu.

It would also import more bird flu vaccines from China to vaccinate the poultry, the report said.

Millions of fowls were culled in the country since the outbreak of the disease in December 2003 in Vietnam.

Vietnam confirms new human case of bird flu​

http://www.thanhniennews.com/healthy/?catid=8&newsid=35745

A man from Ninh Binh Province tested positive with the deadly bird flu virus H5N1 strain Thursday, a health official said, warning that the death ratio in infected cases had increased recently.

Dr. Tran Thanh Duong from the Preventive Health Care Department told Thanh Nien, Hoang Van D., 27, was in critical condition on life support at Hanoi’s Bach Mai Hospital.

The man, who slaughtered sick chickens on January 31 and then ate them with eight family members, was admitted to a local hospital two days later with a fever.

He was transferred to Bach Mai Hospital where doctors said he was suffering from acute pneumonia and severe respiratory failure.

The Preventive Health Care Department said bird flu had killed three people in the last two months.

Nguyen Duc Hien, head of the National Institute of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, said people who slaughtered infected birds were more likely to contract bird flu than people who ate them.

Passing bird flu from poultry to humans also depended on a person’s health, Hien added.

Dr. Duong warned people that the H5N1 virus stayed in bird dung for three months and on land for about one month.

It was essential to disinfect the bird flu-hit areas he said.

Veterinary agencies found 30 percent of waterbirds were infected with the H5N1 virus but did not have symptoms, he warned.

Forty nine people died of the virus in Vietnam since bird flu hit Asia in late 2003.

Experts worry the virus could change into a form that passes among humans.

So far, most human cases have been linked to contact with infected birds.

The World Health Organization said bird flu killed at least 226 people worldwide.

Most of the deaths were in Indonesia, followed by Vietnam.

Indonesia accuses U.S. and WHO of bird flu conspiracy​

A new book by an Indonesian Health Minister has accused the United States and the World Health Organisation (WHO) of trying to profit from the spread of bird flu.

Dr. Siti Fadilah Supari says the two powers are part of a global conspiracy and she suggests the United States would use bird flu samples to produce biological weapons.

According to Dr Supari, WHO laboratories have been guilty of forwarding influenza viruses to Western companies so they can profit by selling vaccines back to developing countries.

Dr. Supari's views could very well undermine efforts to control the spread of avian influenza because Indonesia has already seen 104 deaths from the virus, almost half the world's total, and Indonesia continues to be a hotspot for the virus.

Regardless of claims made by the minister that she has agreed to share virus samples and allow all nations access to resulting vaccines, Indonesia still continues to refuse to share samples from human victims.

Dr. Supari is firm in the belief that the system of world health management has been exploitative, and based on a greed for capital and a desire to control the world.

Dr. Supari says some Indonesian seed virus samples were sent to a U.S. Defence Department laboratory, in Los Alamos, New Mexico, where nuclear weapons are developed which she says is also developing biological weapons.

In the book Supari describes herself as the "divine hand behind avian influenza" on a crusade against an evil and "neo-colonialist" world health system and critics suspect she has lost touch with reality.

Indonesia's President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono however appears to have endorsed the book and he supports Dr. Supari's claim that the virus is under control in Indonesia and the occurrence rate and the number of affected areas are decreasing.

The WHO has declined to comment and no U.S. officials were available.

Animal Viruses Threaten Human Plagues​

http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,91251-1306094,00.html

Scores of deadly infectious diseases are crossing the species barrier from animals to humans, scientists have reported.

A three-year investigation has shown that since 1940 around 250 viruses such as HIV, Ebola Virus, SARS and H5N1 bird flu have jumped from wild animals to people.

Presenting the first-ever map of "hotspots" of new infectious diseases in the British journal Nature, researchers from Columbia University and the New York Consortium for Conservation Medicine at Wildlife Trust predict that the next pandemic is likeliest to come out of poor tropical countries.

It is here where burgeoning human populations most frequently come into contact with wildlife.

The report said that if a monitoring system is not put in place "then human populations will continue to be at risk from pandemic diseases."

HIV/AIDS, which has killed or infected as many as 65 million people worldwide, is believed to have jumped from chimpanzees to humans, possibly through hunters who killed and butchered apes.

Most of the new diseases come from wild animals, especially mammals, which are the most closely related species to humans.

Pathogens that adapt to humans can be extremely lethal, as we have no resistance to them.

"We are crowding wildlife into ever-smaller areas, and human population is increasing," said the report's co-author Marc Levy.

"Where those two things meet, that is a recipe for something crossing over."

Areas that present the biggest potential source for a new diseases are East Asia, the Indian sub-continent, the Niger delta and the Great Lakes region in Africa.

More than 20% of emerging infectious diseases derive from a growing imperviousness to drugs in ceertain bacteria, such as extremely drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB) and chloroquine-resistant malaria.

Bird flu leading suspect in southern man’s death​

http://english.vietnamnet.vn/social/2008/02/769758/

VietNamNet Bridge - A man in the coastal province of Bac Lieu died on Tuesday allegedly of bird flu’s influenza virus H5N1 type-A.

43-year-old Lai Van Tan was hospitalized at the General Hospital of Bac Lieu Province with varicella, cough and dyspnea. Later, he was suspected to contract the influenza virus H5N1 type A after a chest X-Ray.

Immediately, he was transferred to Ho Chi Minh City for better treatment, however, he died during the trip.

Initial investigations show the victim used to get in touch with chickens as he was addicted to cock-fighting.

In other news, Viet Nam so far this year has witnessed four human deaths from H5N1 type A, including two victims from Hai Duong Province, one from Ninh Binh Province and from Tuyen Quang Province.

Minor bird flu detected in Thailand​

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=117&art_id=nw20080222115405550C785394

Bangkok - Outbreaks of bird flu in Thailand in January were caused by a strain of the virus that had slightly mutated from earlier cases but did not pose a greater health risk, officials said on Friday.

The deadly H5N1 virus was detected among chickens in January in the provinces of Pichit and Nakorn Sawan.

After studies, scientists found that the virus had undergone minute changes but appeared to pose no greater threat to humans than earlier cases of bird flu, said Sakchai Sriboonsue, director general of the livestock department.

"According to our research team, the virus's genes have gradually changed from those of the H5N1 strain found in previous outbreaks. But there is little change in the harm it can cause to animals or humans," Sakchai told a press conference.

Scientists have long feared the H5N1 virus could mutate to a form that passes easily among humans, causing a global flu pandemic.

Yong Poovorawan, chief of the department's research team, said the existing strain remained a threat and urged people to closely follow the government's prevention guidelines.

He noted that the disease's mortality rate in humans is about 70 percent.

H5N1 has killed more than 200 people and ravaged poultry flocks worldwide since 2003, according to the World Health Organisation.

Thailand, the world's fourth-largest exporter of poultry, was criticised for being slow to respond to the first outbreak of bird flu, but now is considered one of the countries best prepared to battle the disease.

'Indonesia resumes bird flu samples to WHO'​

http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=31&art_id=nw20080222102011687C439446

Jakarta - Indonesia sent 12 bird flu samples to a World Health Organisation laboratory this week for the first time since August 2007, and will try to continue doing so, a health ministry official said on Friday.

Indonesia, which is the nation hardest hit by bird flu, had halted sharing samples in December 2006, saying it feared multinational drug companies could use them to develop vaccines that were not affordable for poor countries.

In August 2007 it then sent two samples to the WHO to prove the virus had not mutated after the organisation accused Jakarta of putting the world at risk by failing to share its samples.

Endang Rahayu Sedyaningsih, who is head of the health ministry's research and development laboratory, said the 12 samples were sent this week to the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, which is affiliated with the WHO.

"We will try to make it a routine," she said in a text message, without elaborating on what had triggered the sudden resumption.

H5N1 is endemic across nearly all of this sprawling archipelago nation. Of the 105 deaths reported in all, 11 have occurred in 2008 alone.

The WHO had also warned in 2007 that by failing to share its samples, Indonesia was putting its own population in danger because anti-flu vaccines developed by industry would not contain components of the viruses.

Scientists are concerned that the bird flu virus could mutate into a form that is easily transmissible between humans, sparking a global pandemic with a potentially massive death toll.

Some Vietnamese suspectedly infected with bird flu​

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-02/22/content_7647490.htm

HANOI, Feb. 22 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam's Preventive Medicine and Environment Department has said some people hospitalized recently are suspected of having contracted bird flu, local newspaper Youth reported on Friday.

Specimens from the people, including a seven-year-old child from northern Hai Duong province, are being tested for bird flu virus strain H5N1. The child is under treatment at the National Hospital of Pediatrics in capital Hanoi.

To date, Vietnam has confirmed a total of 104 human cases of bird flu infections, including 50 fatalities, since the disease started to hit the country in December 2003.

In mid-February, two local people, a 27-year-old man from northern Ninh Binh province and a 41-year-old man from northern Hai Duong province, died from bird flu. On Jan. 18, a 32-year-old ethnic man from northern Tuyen Quang province died from the disease.

Last December, after detecting no human cases of bird flu infections for nearly four months, the Health Ministry confirmed that a four-year-old boy from northern Son La province died on Dec.16, 2007 from bird flu.

All the recently-detected bird flu patients have had close contacts with fowls before exhibiting bird flu symptoms.

Vietnam currently has six localities having poultry being hit by bird flu: Thai Nguyen, Quang Ninh, Hai Duong, Nam Dinh and Tuyen Quang in the northern region, and northern Long An province, the Department of Animal Health under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said on Feb. 21.

Bird flu outbreaks in Vietnam, starting in December 2003, have killed and led to the forced culling of dozens of millions of fowls in the country.

2 Mutations Were Critical to Spread of 1918 Flu​

http://news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20080219/hl_hsn/2mutationswerecriticaltospreadof1918flu

TUESDAY, Feb. 19 (HealthDay News) -- New research on the spread of the 1918 influenza virus, which killed more than 50 million people worldwide, may aid research into today's potentially dangerous bird flu strain, scientists say.
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MIT researchers found that the 1918 avian flu virus strain developed two mutations in a surface molecule called hemagglutinin (HA), which allowed it to bind tightly to receptors in the human upper respiratory tract. This ability to "lock in" was critical for viral transmission in humans, according to the findings, published in Feb. 18 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

"Two mutations dramatically change the HA binding affinity to receptors found in the human upper airways," said the paper's senior author Ram Sasisekharan, the Underwood Prescott Professor of Biological Engineering and Health Sciences and Technology, in a prepared statement.

Sasisekharan and colleagues previously reported in January's Nature Biotechnology that flu viruses can only bind to human respiratory cells if they match the shape of sugar (or glycan) receptors found on those cells. The receptors, known as alpha 2-6 in humans, come in two shapes -- one resembling a cone; the other an open umbrella.

In the new study, the team discovered that for avian flu viruses to transmit from birds to humans, they must gain the ability to bind tightly or with a high affinity to the umbrella-shaped receptors.

"The affinity between the influenza virus HA and the glycan receptors appears to be a critical determinant for viral transmission," Sasisekharan said.

The researchers compared the influenza virus that caused the 1918 pandemic with two similar strains (called NY18 and AV18) that differ from it by only one or two amino acids.

Using ferrets (which are susceptible to human flu strains), researchers had earlier found that the pandemic virus transmitted efficiently between ferrets, while the NY18 strain proved only slightly infectious and AV18 not at all infectious.

While slightly infectious NY18 binded to the umbrella-shaped glycan receptors, it did not do it as well as the highly infectious pandemic strain did. The non-infectious AV18 strain had no affinity for the receptors.

Another strain, TX18, proved much more infectious than NY18, and it bonded with high affinity to the umbrella-shaped receptors.

Researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported on the infectiousness of these strains last year, but the MIT study is the first to explain the biochemical reason causing these differences.

Indonesia Shipped Bird Flu Samples To CDC
After Access To Affordable Vaccine Guaranteed​

http://www.timebomb2000.com/vb/newreply.php?do=newreply&noquote=1&p=2732307

Cecilia Arceo - AHN

Jakarta, Indonesia (AHN) - A dozen samples of bird flu virus were sent to the World Health Organization laboratory this week by Indonesia after being guaranteed of recognition and its rights to any vaccines produced from them, a health minister official said.

Indonesia had stopped sending samples to WHO since December 2006 because it wanted guarantees that vaccines developed from the virus will be made affordable to poor and developing countries.

Indonesia's Health Minister, Siti Fadilah Supari, said that the samples from recent bird flu patients were just for risk assessment. "If they want to develop them into a seed virus they must notify us. If they make them into a vaccine our rights over (the vaccine) will be recognized."

The samples came from two patients whose infection was verified by the WHO. The first patient was a 27-year-old woman who died on Feb. 5 and a 15-year-old girl who was infected with H5N1 after her mother died of the disease. Both lived in Jakarta suburb.

According to WHO, Indonesia is the most affected country from the fatal H5N1 virus, having a record of 105 deaths from bird flu or nearly half of the global tally.

Suspect H5N1 in Karachi Area​

http://www.recombinomics.com/News/02230801/H5N1_Karachi_Suspect.html

Recombinomics Commentary 14:00
February 23, 2008

Reports about an extraordinary number of bird deaths at a poultry farm along the National Highway have once again sparked fears that the bird flu virus may have spread to some more farms in the city.

Replying to a question, he said that at the Karachi laboratory of the Sindh livestock department, some traces of the Newcastle disease had been found in the samples in question, which, according to him, were taken from a Dumlotee farm on Thursday.

Quoting the farmers, he said 700 to 800 birds of more than five weeks had died at the farm during the last 60 hours and had been disposed of safely.

Replying to a question, he said that at the Karachi laboratory of the Sindh livestock department, some traces of the Newcastle disease had been found in the samples in question, which, according to him, were taken from a Dumlotee farm on Thursday.

Quoting the farmers, he said 700 to 800 birds of more than five weeks had died at the farm during the last 60 hours and had been disposed of safely.

The above comments strongly suggest H5N1 has re-emerged in the Karachi region (see map here here here). Although Newcastle Disease was mentioned in the earlier outbreaks, the birds were H5N1 positive. The above comments suggest the same situation may exist in the current outbreak.

The detection of Newcastle disease in areas that subsequently test positive for H5N1 has been reported previously. The reports were common in east Asia in 2003 and 2004 in Indonesia and China. More recently most countries in Europe and the Middle East which acknowledge H5N1 in early 2006 reported Newcastle Disease in late 2005.

The large number of dead birds and the H5N1 testing suggest H5N1 will once again be reported on farms in or near Kararchi.

Link to next weeks thread:

HEALTH - 2/24/08-3/1/08|Weekly Bird Flu Thread: Pakistan finds new bird flu outbreak

http://www.timebomb2000.com/vb/showthread.php?t=278500