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Sat Mar 1, 12:13 AM ET From Tampa to Tasmania, more and more frog species are joining the lists of threatened and endangered animals. Rocked by a great amphibian pandemic, frogs are disappearing in alarming numbers, say biologists who fear the worst: an ongoing wave of extinctions. (ZOOS) |
Sat Mar 1, 12:22 AM ET Canada Geese walk towards the water at Cuckmere Haven February 22, 2006. REUTERS/Luke MacGregor. (BIRD FLU)
Wild goose tests positive for deadly bird flu |
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Sat Mar 01, 12:30 AM ET NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The best way to stop the next influenza pandemic in its tracks could be to shut down schools and keep students at home, according to the authors of a new study of social contact networks. (PANDEMIC FLU)
Networks illustrate how disease can spread |
Sat Mar 01, 12:48 AM ET Several strains of the bird flu virus that raged across southern China were blocked from entering Thailand and Vietnam, UC Irvine researchers have discovered. (BIRD FLU)
Spread Of Bird Flu Strains Slowed At Some Borders |
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Sat Mar 01, 1:50 AM ET New bird flu cases found in Dominican Republic |
Sat Mar 1, 2:24 AM ET The United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has warned that Bird flu can again make Indian people its prey. (FAO) (BIRD FLU)
Bird Flu Can Again Hit Indian People, Says FAOIn order to end the spread of the virus that causes the disease, around four million chickens and ducks affected by the disease have been killed in the country. After a recent field trip to the affected regions, FAO veterinary expert Mohinder Oberoi said, "Intensive culling in the predominantly backyard poultry sector appears to have stopped the disease in its tracks." |
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Sat Mar 1, 5:07 AM ET REHOBOTH BEACH - Delaware's largest population of canvasback ducks spends the winter in an unlikely place, Silver Lake in Rehoboth Beach. The canvasbacks are one of seven species of migratory birds that will be tested for the virus in Delaware this year. (BIRD FLU) |
Sat Mar 1, 5:22 AM ET A new law introduced by state Del. Matt Lohr will make testing poultry for avian flu a simpler task, according to the lawmaker and state poultry officials. (BIRD FLU)
Broadway Delegate's Legislation Simplifies Bird Flu Test Standards
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Sun Mar 2, 12:38 AM ET A vaccine designed by GlaxoSmithKline to protect people against the H5N1 bird flu may be effective in warding off a few different sub-types of the virus, the company said on Sunday. (VACCINES)
GSK bird flu vaccine shows broad cross protection
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Sun Mar 2, 12:52 AM ET A 25-year-old Egyptian woman tested positive for bird flu on Saturday, the 45th confirmed human case in the Arab world's most populous country, state news agency MENA said. (EGYPT) (BIRD FLU)
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Mon, Mar 3 02:19 AM The spotting of nearly 100 dead chickens on Sunday at two spots near the famous Buddhist pilgrimage site of Sarnath has triggered a bird flu scare in the area. The birds were seen lying along the Varanasi-Ghazipur railway track in Lohia Nagar area under the Sarnath police station. (INDIA)
100 chicken found dead near Sarnath |
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Mon, Mar 3 03:10 AM The ordinance would prohibit anyone from feeding seagulls, pigeons, ducks or other migratory birds on public or private land within 100 feet of the shoreline. The ordinance also covers the downtown area, marina and all city parks. Those caught feeding birds could receive a $50 ticket for the first offense, $250 for a second and $500 for a third offense, city manager Richard Lewis said. (MI)
Ordinance would ban feeding birds near water - MI |
Mon, 03 Mar 2008 11:45 PM PST The call on livestock breeders, traders and consumers was made by the Livestock Breeding and Veterinary Department in the wake of intermittent occurrence of the avian influenza in some neighboring countries. The notification outlined stepping up of bio-security measures during the bird-flu-sensitive season, change of livestock breeding system, avoidance of illegal import, transport and trading of chickens and its products, and prompt report of suspected bird flu case. (BIRD FLU) (MYANMAR)
Myanmar calls for long-term precaution against bird flu |
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Tue Mar 4, 12:49 PM ET An Egyptian worker cleans at a chicken farm near Jamasa city, 170 kms north of Cairo. A young Egyptian woman has died of bird flu, becoming the 20th victim of the deadly virus in Egypt over the past two years, the health ministry announced on Tuesday. (AFP/Khaled Desouki) (EGYPT) |
Tue Mar 4, 12:33 PM ET One in four schools is well prepared for a flu pandemic, says a study, and rural schools are least likely to have a comprehensive strategy. Photo / Martin Sykes (NEW ZEALAND)
Schools not ready for flu crisis - New Zealand |
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March 05, 2008 03:44am US regulators and Roche Holding AG have warned doctors of psychiatric events, some of which resulted in death, in patients taking flu drug Tamiflu, regulators said overnight. (Medical News)
Tamiflu causes 'abnormal behaviours' |
Wed Mar 5, 1:52 AM ET Top international health experts from the WHO, (from L) Takeshi Kasai, Zhou Weigong and Paul Cox are seen at the WHO headquarters in Manila, in 2007. The bird flu virus is "firmly entrenched" in Asia and a pandemic among humans remains possible, Kasai warned on Wednesday. (AFP/File/Romeo Gacad) (WHO) (BIRD FLU) |
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Wed Mar 5, 6:22 AM ET Chickens are transported on a motorcycle to a local market in Jakarta March 26, 2007. Bird flu virus samples that Indonesia sent to a World Health Organisation laboratory last month have not shown signs of any mutation, a health ministry spokeswoman said on Wednesday. (Crack Palinggi/Reuters) (WHO) (BIRD FLU) |
Wed Mar 5, 11:10 AM ET Australia's drug regulator will monitor the safety of the flu drug Tamiflu in the wake of label updates warning of possible delirium and abnormal behaviour. US regulators and the pharmaceutical company Roche have warned doctors of psychiatric events, some of which resulted in death, in patients taking the medication. (AUSTRALIA) |
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Wed Mar 5, 8:33 PM ET Poultry traders wait for customers at a market in Ha Tay province near Hanoi, Vientam on Wednesday Feb. 28, 2007. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has launched a month-long campaign to disinfect the environment throughout the country in a bid to prevent bird flu from spreading. (VIETNAM) |
Wed Mar 5, 8:40 PM ET A veterinary vaccinates a rooster at a private farm in the village of Sharapovo, some 40 km (24.8 miles) south of Moscow February 21, 2007. Russian health officials warned Wednesday that the threat from the deadly bird flu virus is growing as countries are failing to implement effective disease control measures to deal with the crisis. (RUSSIA) |
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Wed Mar 5,10:59 PM ET The wild Canada goose tested positive on 29 February. Restrictions imposed to combat bird flu in Dorset have been eased, Defra said. "Bird keepers across the country are reminded to practice good bio-security and remain vigilant for any signs of disease." (UK) (BIRD FLU)
Bird flu restriction zone lifted - UK |
Fri 07 Mar 2008 1:47 AM PST State wildlife agents head to shore after trapping canvas back ducks at Silver Lake in Rehoboth today. The ducks were banded and tested for Avian influenza. The bird disease is carried by wild birds but doesn't kill them. The News Journal/GARY EMEIGH (BIRD FLU) (DE) |
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Fri Mar 7,7:09 AM ET HONG KONG - A dead wild bird found near a Hong Kong nature reserve last week has tested positive for the deadly H5N1 strain of avian flu, the government said Friday. Scientists confirmed the diagnosis on the Oriental magpie robin after several tests, the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department said in a statement. (HONG KONG) (BIRD FLU) |
Fri Mar 7, 9:29 AM ET An Indonesian doctor treats a bird flu patient in 2005. The World Health Organisation has said that bird flu samples sent by the Indonesian government show no sign the virus has mutated into a deadly form transmissible between humans. (AFP/bay ismoyo) (WHO) (BIRD FLU) |
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Friday, March 7, 2008 4:16 PM PST HANOI - BIRD flu has hit Vietnam's capital for the first time in over a year, killing 2,000 unvaccinated chicken, ducks and geese in farm in the suburbs of Hanoi this week, officials said on Friday. (VIETNAM)
Bird flu hits poultry farm in Vietnam capital |
Sat Mar 8, 10:24 AM ET CAIRO, March 8 (Reuters) - An 8-year-old boy in Fayoum province has contracted the bird flu virus after coming into contact with infected birds, the 47th case among humans in Egypt since 2006, the Health Ministry said on Saturday. (EGYPT) (BIRD FLU)
Egyptian boy confirmed with bird flu, 47th case |
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Mon, Mar 10 01:20 AM Indian experts remove poultry from a farm following an outbreak of bird flu near Imphal, July 27, 2007. Bengal - More than 50 teams will be engaged for culling operation in the area." About 1500 chickens died in three villages Metela, Jhaptara and Goondara in the Birbhum's Dubrajpur police during past five days apreading panic among the villagers. (INDIA) |
Mon Mar 10, 3:34 AM ET An egg truck in Vientiane. Japanese researchers said Monday they had paved the way to develop an all-round vaccine to protect people from bird flu and its feared mutations. (AFP/File/Hoang Dinh Nam) (JAPAN) (VACCINES) |
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Mon Mar 10, 5:49 AM ET Roosters are displayed at a wholesale market in the eastern Indian city of Kolkata, January 17, 2008. Only a month after authorities declared bird flu was under control in eastern India, veterinary workers began culling thousands of chickens on Monday to contain a fresh outbreak in poultry. (Jayanta Shaw/Reuters) (INDIA) (BIRD FLU) |
Mon Mar 10, 7:36 AM ET Doses of a flu vaccine lie on a table as San Luis Obispo County public healthcare professionals conduct a mass flu vaccination drill at the Veterans building in San Luis Obispo, California October 31, 2006. A group of Japanese researchers has developed a substance that could help make flu vaccines effective for multiple strains of the disease, including the deadly H5N1 strain of the bird flu virus, Japan's National Institute of Infectious Diseases said on Monday. (JAPAN) (VACCINES) |
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Mon Mar 10, 8:20 PM ET The global epidemic of avian influenza in bird populations, as well as the risk of a virulent form of the bird flu virus being transferred to humans, has made influenza pandemic preparedness a top public health priority in the United States, Europe, and other countries. The great influenza pandemic of 1918 resulted in 40 to 50 million deaths worldwide. If a pandemic were to occur today, it could cause widespread social and economic disruptions. Virginia Tech's Network Dynamics and Simulation Science Laboratory (NDSSL) have determined how a pandemic influenza outbreak might travel through a city similar in size to Chicago, Ill. (BIRD FLU) (PANDEMIC FLU)
Scientists simulate pandemic influenza outbreak in Chicago
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Tue Mar 11, 5:44 AM ET A trader catches ducks at a poultry market in Xiangfan, Hubei province, neighbouring central China's Hunan province, February 20, 2008. One of China's top doctors has said that the H5N1 bird flu virus has shown signs of mutation and can kill human victims more easily if treatment is not given early enough, newspapers reported on Tuesday. (CHINA) (BIRD FLU) |
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Tue Mar 11, 8:36 AM ET A chicken is seen at a poultry market in the northeastern Indian city of Siliguri July 25, 2007. Authorities in India's east battling to contain a fresh outbreak of bird flu said they were raiding farms at night to catch chickens and ducks and counter unwilling villagers who have refused to hand over poultry. (INDIA) (BIRD FLU) India conducts night raids to contain bird flu |
Tue, 11 Mar 2008 10:43 AM PDT Culling to slaughter 50,000 poultry birds in West Bengal's bird flu-affected Murshidabad district is scheduled to end by Wednesday. No fresh spread of the outbreak was was reported from anywhere in the state Tuesday morning. (INDIA) Bengal bird flu: Culling to be completed Wednesday
According to Rahman, about four million birds were culled by mid-February since the bird flu outbreak was confirmed Jan 15. |
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Tue, 11 Mar 2008 10:43 PM PDT Research on the SARS virus in Singapore five years ago has helped spawn techniques that are being used to develop diagnostic kits for other infectious diseases such as avian flu. (RESEARCH) (BIRD FLU)
Research on SARS spawns new techniques to develop diagnostic kits for other diseases
"This experience has become very useful for us to develop the kit for avian influenza, H5N1. We have developed this kit two years ago based on our experience gained from SARS and we are constantly improving (on) it now," he said. |
Wed, 12 Mar 2008 2:15 AM PDT Hong Kong has asked one of its top scientists to study three child deaths over the past week amid a flu outbreak, the territory's health secretary said Wednesday. (HONG KONG)
Hong Kong asks top scientist to study child deaths amid flu outbreaks
Health secretary York Chow told reporters that it was not clear if the three cases were linked but that he became concerned after the most recent death, that of a 7-year-old boy on Tuesday, because five of the victim's classmates have also been hospitalized. |
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Wed Mar 12, 12:01 PM ET A medic injects a volunteer with a bird flu vaccine at the Mechnikov Institute in Moscow in 2006. Japanese researchers said Wednesday they were in the final stage of developing a painless bird flu vaccine which is sprayed up the nose instead of being injected. (AFP/File/Natalia Kolesnikova) (JAPAN) (VACCINES) (BIRD FLU) |
Wed, 12 Mar 2008 4:14 PM PDT Risk analysis software could help find ways of controlling bird flu (UK) (BIRD FLU)
Royal Veterinary College analyses bird flu risks
Researchers are exploring the dangers of infectious diseases using risk analysis software
The UK's largest veterinary school is using software to help develop ways to prevent and control infectious diseases such as avian flu. |
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Wed Mar 12, 11:55 PM ET School students wearing masks as a preventative measure against a recent flu outbreak exit a primary school in Hong Kong Wednesday March 12, 2008. Hong Kong has asked a top scientist to study three child deaths over the past week amid a growing flu outbreak, the territory's health secretary said Wednesday. The government has ordered all kindergartens, primary and special education schools closed for two weeks starting Thursday. (PANDEMIC FLU) (HONG KONG) |
Thu Mar 13, 3:55 AM ET A woman and child wearing a protective mask walk along a street in Hong Kong on March 13 amidst a flu outbreak in schools in scenes reminiscent of the SARS outbreak in 2003. (AFP/Laurent Fievet) (HONG KONG) (PANDEMIC FLU) Hong Kong faces anger, worries over flu handling |
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Thu Mar 13, 5:36 AM ET A late flu season, and a vaccine that didn't quite match this year's strain of the virus has doctors around the world busy caring for the influx in patients.The latest outbreak is in Hong Kong where elementary schools have been shut down for two weeks to prevent the virus from spreading. (PANDEMIC FLU)
Getting Ready for a Flu Pandemic |
Thu, 13 Mar 2008 6:10 AM PDT The Georgia Division of Public Health (GDPH) and the Georgia Hospital Association (GHA) is partnering with the UGA Institute for Health Management and Mass Destruction Defense (IHMD) to conduct a full-scale Pandemic Influenza exercise with GHA Region A Hospitals on Wednesday, March 19, 2008 from 8:30 a.m. to noon. GHA Region A consists of Catoosa, Dade, Fannin, Gilmer, Gordon, Murray, Pickens, Walker and Whitfield Counties with Hamilton Medical Center in Dalton as the Coordinating Hospital. (GDPH) (PANDEMIC FLU) |
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Thu Mar 13, 7:02 AM ET An article published in the Early Edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in the United States of America suggests that we can reduce the likelihood of a pandemic influenza outbreak in the United States by quickly implementing social-distancing measures alongside antiviral treatment and prophylaxis (preventive measures) until a vaccine becomes accessible. (PANDEMIC FLU)
Modeling Flu Pandemics May Help Prevent Them |
Thu, 13 Mar 2008 4:20 AM PDT Community members from across the state helped form a network to monitor for the arrival of two potentially harmful diseases, bird flu (avian influenza, H5N1) and West Nile Virus. (BIRD FLU)
Residents asked to keep reporting dead birds - Hawaii |
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Fri Mar 14, 6:37 AM ET HONG KONG - Flu cases that spurred Hong Kong to close primary schools for the first time since SARS have prompted close monitoring in southern China's Guangdong province, but no unusual flu patterns have been detected, China's health minister said Friday. (CHINA) (PANDEMIC FLU)
China says no unusual flu pattern in southern province |
Fri Mar 14, 11:26 AM ET A girl wears a mask while she is seated at an underground train in Hong Kong March 14, 2008. Hong Kong children stayed home on Thursday after the government shut elementary schools for two weeks to contain a seasonal flu outbreak as experts probed the deaths of four children. (HONG KONG) (PANDEMIC FLU) |
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Fri Mar 14, 8:26 PM ET Eight people from the same village in Indonesia's Lampung province were admitted to hospital allegedly for developing bird flu symptoms, local press said Thursday. (INDONESIA) (BIRD FLU)
8 hospitalized in Indonesia for suspected bird flu
The patients, including two babies and two teenagers, all come from Way Laga village where dozens of chickens have died of the avian influenza. They were sent to the state-run Abdul Moeloek Hospital in provincial capital Bandarlampung with high fever and respiratory problems after eating the infected chickens, reported the national Antara news agency. |
Fri Mar 14, 8:30 PM ET Bird flu has recently stricken poultry in Vietnam's southern Soc Trang province and central QuangBinh province, raising the total number of affected localities nationwide to 10, local newspaper Pioneer reported Friday. (VIETNAM) (BIRD FLU)
Bird flu hits two more Vietnamese provinces
The newspaper quoted the Vietnamese Department of Animal Healthas saying that the disease has killed 900 out of 1,300 unvaccinated ducks raised by a household in Nga Nam district of Soc Trang since March 7. The whole flock of poultry has been culled to prevent further spread. In Quang Binh, the Provincial Veterinary Bureau said that bird flu has killed some out of 300 ducks raised by a household in Le Thuy district. |
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Sat Mar 15, 10:56 AM ET A vendor naps at a poultry market in Hefei, Anhui province February 26, 2008. Attention Saturday shifted to fears of bird flu after dead chickens were found in southeast China. REUTERS/Jianan Yu (CHINA) (HONG KONG) (BIRD FLU) Hong Kong reports 1 new flu outbreak as worry shifts to mainland bird flu fears |
CIDRAP Sat Mar 15, 11:33 AM ET The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) unveiled a comprehensive pandemic influenza guidance document for states yesterday with the first of three live Web seminars (webinars) designed to assist state officials with planning activities. (HHS)
HHS issues pandemic planning guide for states
Christa-Marie Singleton, MD, MPH, associate director for science in the division of state and local readiness at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said states, territories, and the District of Columbia are required to submit their pandemic plans to HHS so that the agency can establish a baseline for each state's pandemic preparedness and help each identify gaps in planning. The guidance walks states through each issue to consider and includes details on how to format and submit their plans to the HHS. |
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Sat Mar 15, 6:30 PM ET The swan herders build strong nests from the swannery's reed beds. (UK) (BIRD FLU) Swannery hit by bird flu reopensTen wild mute swans and a Canada goose have tested positive for the virulent H5N1 strain of bird flu at Abbotsbury Swannery since 10 January. Swan herders have also had to rebuild 80 nests for the colony of swans, which were washed away in recent storms. |
Sun Mar 16, 10:04 AM ET A vendor carries chickens at a poultry market in Guangzhou, Guangdong province February 25, 2008. Chinese officials have confirmed that bird flu was to blame for killing chickens in poultry markets in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou, Hong Kong's health bureau said Sunday. (CHINA) (HONG KONG) (BIRD FLU) |
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Sun Mar 16, 8:13 PM ET HA NOI - General Director of the World Organisation for Animal Health Bernard Vallat yesterday pledged to give Viet Nam 20 million doses of bird flu vaccine. (VIETNAM) |
Sun Mar 16, 10:45 PM ET A labourer collects eggs at a hennery in Changzhi, north China's Shanxi province, Sept, 2007. A Chinese expert on respiratory diseases says the H5N1 bird flu virus has shown signs of mutation and urged vigilance at a time when seasonal human influenza is at a peak. Experts are worried about seasonal flu, because it could get mixed up with a deadly novel strain, such as the H5N1 bird flu virus. (CHINA) (HONG KONG) (BIRD FLU) (PANDEMIC FLU) |
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Mon Mar 17, 5:39 AM ET A vendor picks up chickens at a poultry market in Guangzhou, Guangdong province March 17, 2008. China has reported a bird flu outbreak at a poultry market in the southern city of Guangzhou, state media said on Sunday, prompting neighbouring Hong Kong to suspend live poultry imports from the region. REUTERS/Joe Tan (CHINA) (HONG KONG) (BIRD FLU) |
Mon Mar 17, 6:06 AM ET Ducks stick their heads from a basket placed on the motor bike at Ha Vi Market in Ha Tay Province, Vietnam, in this Monday, Dec. 24, 2007 file photo. Bird flu has killed an 11-year-old boy in northern Vietnam, the country's 52nd death from the disease, a health official said Monday, March 17, 2008. (AP Photo/Chitose Suzuki, File) (VIETNAM) (BIRD FLU) |
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Mon Mar 17, 12:38 AM ET A vendor holds two slaughtered chickens at a poultry market in Hefei, Anhui province March 17, 2008. A top Chinese doctor last week said the H5N1 bird flu virus was mutating, and urged vigilance at a time when seasonal human influenza is at a peak. REUTERS/Jianan Yu (CHINA) |
Tue Mar 18, 1:19 AM ET A worker injects a duckling with the bird flu vaccine at a duck farm following an outbreak of bird flu, in Panyu district of Guangzhou, September 18, 2007. Vietnam, one of the countries hardest-hit by bird flu, will start a human vaccine trial this month, a military medical official said on Tuesday. REUTERS/Joe Tan (VIETNAM) (VACCINES) (WHO) (Medical News)
Vietnam military to test bird flu vaccine on humans |
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Tue Mar 18, 12:14 PM ET A customer looks at chickens and ducks at a market in Hanoi in February 2008. The bird flu situation is "critical" in Indonesia, where the virus could mutate and cause a human pandemic, the UN food agency warned on Tuesday. (BIRD FLU) (INDONESIA) (FAO) (VACCINES) |
Tue Mar 18, 3:41 PM ET A bird receives drops as part of a disinfection process at a zoo in Wuhan, Hubei province, March 16, 2008. Southern China may have been the source for much of the spread of the H5N1 avian flu virus, researchers suggested on Tuesday. (CHINA) (BIRD FLU) |
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Wed Mar 19, 8:02 AM ET Agricultural officials and volunteers collect poultry to be slaughtered as part of Indonesia's effort to get rid of 'backyard birds' which health officials say are a primary culprit in cases where humans have died from bird flu in this Jan. 21, 2007 file photo, in Jakarta, Indonesia. Efforts to contain bird flu are failing in Indonesia, increasing the possibility that the virus may mutate into a deadlier form, the leading U.N. veterinary health body warned. (INDONESIA) (FAO) |
Wed Mar 19, 8:21 AM ET DiagnosisONE was recently selected by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) to develop a National Public Health Information Network in Pakistan. (PAKISTAN) (CDC)
Pakistan Prime Minister Commends DiagnosisONE's Public Healthcare EffortsDr. Mansoor Khan, CEO of DiagnosisONE, recently met with Mr. Mohammed Mian Soomro, the Prime Minister of Pakistan, to discuss the state of public health in Pakistan and the strategies and tactics that can be adopted to improve delivery of care. DiagnosisONE was recently selected by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) to develop a National Public Health Information Network in Pakistan. |
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Wed Mar 19, 1:45 PM ET Health workers dump chickens and eggs into a sack for disposal in Imphal, in the northeastern Indian state of Manipur, Thursday, July 26, 2007. KOLKATA (Reuters) - Authorities in eastern India on Wednesday started culling thousands of chickens, fearing the spread of bird flu in another district after a fresh outbreak in poultry this month. (INDIA) (BIRD FLU) |
Thu Mar 20, 11:56 AM ET A child receives a free vaccination for hepatitis B at a local hospital in Guangzhou, the capital of China's southern Guangdong province in this January 6, 2002 file photo. A skin patch helped boost a bird flu vaccine so well that people appear to be protected by a single dose, researchers at biotechnolgy firm Iomai said on Thursday. (BIRD FLU) (VACCINES)
Booster patch helps bird flu vaccine: study
The so-called adjuvant patch, designed to be used with an injected vaccine, could help stretch the supply during a pandemic, the Maryland-based company said. |
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Thu Mar 20, 04:20 PM ET A health worker culls a chicken in Akhira village in this January 21, 2008 file photo. REUTERS/Stringer (INDIA) (BIRD FLU) |
Thu Mar 20, 04:35 PM ET UP TO 750,000 people in Britain could die in a flu pandemic, the Government warned yesterday. (UK) (PANDEMIC FLU)
Flu Pandemic Bigger Threat Than Terrorism, Government Says
The document says: "We assess that the highest risk is an influenza-type pandemic like the outbreak in 1918, which killed 228,000 people in the UK. "Experts agree there is a high risk of a pandemic occurring and the speed at which it could spread has increased because of globalisation. |
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Thu Mar 20, 05:07 PM ET Vabiotech vaccine image. A Vietnamese pharmaceuticals company is to begin testing an avian influenza vaccine in humans this week, the company's director confirmed Tuesday. (VIETNAM) (BIRD FLU) (VACCINES)
Vietnam plans human trials of bird-flu vaccine
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Fri Mar 21, 3:52 AM ET An Indian poultry vendor prepares to sell chicken at a local market in Murshidabad district, some 350 km north of Kolkata on March 9, 2008. Health workers in India's West Bengal state have begun culling poultry after a fresh outbreak of deadly bird flu, officials said. (INDIA) (BIRD FLU) |
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Fri, 21 Mar 2008 3:20 AM PDT Avian flu reported in another two provinces - VietnamMs Phan Thu Hong, head of the Ca Mau provincial veterinary department, confirmed that 30 chicken and ducks in Hiep Tung commune, Nam Can tested positive for the H5N1 virus. Immediately traffic police, the market management forces and veterinary workers have joined quarantine stations at the district border with Quang Nam province. They will prevent poultry from being traded and sanitize the environment. Each district will have to build up its action plan against avian flu in poultry and humans, and speed up poultry vaccination. |
Sat Mar 22, 08:58 PM ET An official collects the chickens for destruction in Turkey, seen here in 2006. Turkish authorities quarantined a village in northwestern Turkey and began culling poultry after test results showed that chicken deaths there had been caused by bird flu. (TURKEY) (BIRD FLU) |
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Sun, 23 Mar 2008 2:50 AM PDT LANG SON - Twenty-four out of 104 samples of illegally imported chickens confiscated since February have tested positive for the H5N1 virus, Lang Son Animal Health Department reported yesterday. (VIETNAM)
Illegal chickens in northern area test positive for bird flu
LANG SON - Twenty-four out of 104 samples of illegally imported chickens confiscated since February have tested positive for the H5N1 virus, Lang Son Animal Health Department reported yesterday. |
Mon, 24 Mar 2008 4:50 AM PDT SINGAPORE: A diagnostic chip that can detect more than ten influenza strains, including the deadly avian flu, has been commercially launched in Singapore after successful trials at the National University Hospital. (BIRD FLU)
Chip that identifies more than 10 flu strains goes commercial
It can detect various flu strains within two hours in a single test a big improvement from comparable tests available in the market today which require multiple tests to be carried out. |
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Mon, 24 Mar 2008 4:37 AM PDT Scientists in the Netherlands tracking the spread of bird flu in wild ducks say mallards may be the best long-distance carrier of the deadly H5N1 virus. (BIRD FLU)
Bird Flu Scientists Say Mallards May Carry Virus Long Distances
Of the six wild duck species studied, the mallard is the prime candidate for being a long distance vector,'' the researchers wrote in a study published in the April edition of Emerging Infectious Diseases. It was the only species to show abundant virus excretion without clinical or pathologic evidence of debilitating disease.'' |
Mon Mar 24, 6:33 AM ET A man works in a poultry household in Jakarta March 24, 2008. Major efforts have done little to control H5N1 avian influenza in Indonesia and the country needs more help in controlling the virus, the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said. (INDONESIA) |
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Mon, 24 Mar 2008 3:37 PM PDT About 140 million birds in Southeast Asia have been killed in recent years to prevent the H5N1 virus from spreading. Researchers are trying to understand what factors have contributed to continued outbreaks despite significant control efforts. The outbreaks were most concentrated in regions where rice is cultivated two or three times a year. (BIRD FLU) |
Mon, 24 Mar 2008 8:17 PM PDT Bangladeshi livestock vendors wait for customers at a roadside market in Dhaka. Authorities in Bangladesh said on Monday they have culled more than 200,000 chickens at different farms over the last two weeks over suspected bird flu outbreaks, although the disease had begun subsiding across the country. (BANGLADESH) (BIRD FLU) |
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Tue, 25 Mar 2008 9:55 AM PDT A $1.3 million grant to UW-Madison from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will support influenza research. Yoshihiro Kawaoka (above), a noted influenza researcher, will lead the study. The Capital Times file photo. (RESEARCH) (PANDEMIC FLU) |
Tue Mar 25, 12:16 PM ET A tourist stands next to a poultry cage at a market in Denpasar on Bali island on March 19. US officials on Tuesday officially opened a stockpile of equipment in Thailand designed to help Asian nations react rapidly to battle outbreaks of potentially deadly bird flu. (AFP/File/Sonny Tumbelaka) (THAILAND) (BIRD FLU) |
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Wednesday March 26, 12:43 pm ET A bulldozer covers slaughtered birds after an outbreak of bird flu in the Egyptian village of Hanout in the Nile Delta, December 25, 2006. Chickens have nearly all vanished from sight, slaughtered, abandoned or locked away by a population increasingly aware of, and frightened by, the disease's stubborn grip. (EGYPT) (BIRD FLU) |
Thu Mar 27, 7:42 AM ET A Swiss Civil Protection unit searches dead birds on the banks of Lake Constance, also known as Bodensee, near the Swiss-German border in Taegerwilen, Switzerland, March 21. 2006. Switzerland reported the first case of H5N1 bird flu in the country in two years in a duck on Sempachersee lake, veterinary authorities said on Thursday. (SWITZERLAND) (BIRD FLU) |
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Thu, 27 Mar 2008 4:59 AM PDT The International Organisation for Migration (IOM), an inter-governmental organisation working on migration, has called for the fight against the spread of Avian and Human Influenza (AHI) pandemic within the Federal Capital Territory. (IOM) (AHI) (NIGERIA)
Nigeria: IOM Advocates Fight Against Avian, Human Influenza |
Fri Mar 28, 11:33 AM ET Russia is ready to cooperate with Southeast Asia in producing bird flu vaccines, officials from the country's leading vaccine company said at an international bird flu summit that opened on Bali Thursday. (BIRD FLU) (VACCINES) (RUSSIA) (WHO)
Russia proposes bird flu vaccine cooperation with Southeast Asia |
INTERVIEW-Proper surveillance can stop flu pandemic-expert
Sun, 30 Mar 2008 8:17 PM PDT
HONG KONG, March 30 (Reuters) - An influenza pandemic can be avoided if proper disease surveillance and control measures are carried out promptly and thoroughly, leading bird flu expert and microbiologist Yi Guan said.
Guan, who studied the H5N1 bird flu virus after it showed up in people in Hong Kong in 1997 and has tracked its footprints all over the world ever since, is convinced that the world can stop the bug in its tracks if it has enough resolve.
"If proper surveillance is in place for animals and humans, yes, we can stop pandemic influenza forever. Not just for H5N1, it may also work for other subtypes of viruses," he said in an interview over the weekend.
"We have the ability to remove pandemics if we have a long-term strategy."
Guan, a professor at the University of Hong Kong, knows just how backbreaking and mundane surveillance work can be. |
