AVIAN FLU UPDATE

[dothedd]

Korea: Avian tuberculosis found for first time in 50 years
21 Jan. 2011 at 20:14

A new animal epidemic is looming large here, following foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) and bird flu, as a group of chickens found dead at poultry farms in the eastern part of the country tested positive, Thursday, for avian tuberculosis, which had not been detected here for the past 50 years.

The finding has dealt a serious blow to quarantine officials and livestock farms, which have been working day and night to contain the spread of FMD and bird flu for more than a month.

According to quarantine officials, avian tuberculosis is a slow spreading chronic bacterial infection. There is neither treatment for infected birds nor vaccines to prevent the disease. Control can only be achieved through depopulation and proper sanitation practices, including rodent control and screening wild birds.

There have been no reported cases in which humans contracted the virus from eating infected meat or coming into contact with it. But those with a weak immune system could become infected.

The Gangwon Provincial Government said that three chickens found dead at a poultry farm in Gangneung had tested positive for avian tuberculosis. About 15 dead chickens at a nearby farm were also positive for the disease.

The owners of the infected farms said dozens of chickens died everyday over the past week, adding they notified the provincial government of the incident to find out why they died.

“We confirmed that the dead chickens died from avian tuberculosis. But to be 100 percent sure, we will ask the National Veterinary Research & Quarantine Service to redo the test. If it tests positive again, we will cull all 6,100 chickens and ducks raised in the two infected farms to prevent the spread of the disease,” a provincial government official said.

He said the latest outbreak is the first of its kind since 1961, adding the provincial and all municipal administrations will make every effort to stop the spread of the infection.

“Avian tuberculosis is not as fatal as bird flu. Also, it spreads at a much slower pace. But the problem is there are no known treatments for infected birds. No vaccines have been developed to prevent it either,” the official said.

The best preventive measure is to keep farms clean and minimize birds’ contact with the outside. Those infected must be destroyed.

“There have been no reports of humans being infected with avian tuberculosis. We strongly advise poultry farmers to make their farms off-limits to outsiders and regularly disinfect sheds. If unusual symptoms are detected in poultry, report it immediately to the provincial government,” he stressed.

www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2011/01/113_80111.html

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WHO: "Avian flu, or Bird flu, A H5N1, is back"

21 Jan. 2011 at 09:02

The World Health Organization is monitoring closely the development of the deadly Bird flu virus, A H5N1, which has killed 40 people so far in Egypt and which has affected people in five different countries since it reappeared in 2010, after a break of seven years. The WHO warns that the virus has met all the prerequisites to start a deadly pandemic bar one.

Since the year 2003, there have been 510 cases of Avian or Bird flu (A H5N1), a highly pathogenic viral disease which spread throughout 15 countries causing 303 deaths, a mortality rate of 59%. This virus has managed to make the species jump from birds to humans on three occasions: Hong Kong 1997 (18 cases, 6 fatalities, 33%); PR China 2003 (2 cases, one fatality, 50%); Eastern Asia 2003/2004 (PR China, 1 case, 1 fatality, 100%; Thailand, 17 cases, 5 fatalities, 29%; Vietnam 29 cases, 20 fatalities, 69%).

In November 2010, a 59-year-old woman became the first person to be infected with the virus since then, in the PR China which has recorded two cases, one fatality (50%); Vietnam has reported 7 cases with 2 fatalities (28%) and Cambodia one case with one fatality (100%).

In December the Indonesian Ministry of Health announced the seventh fatality in nine cases (78%), while the worst affected country is Egypt, with 121 cases and 40 fatalities (33%). The latest case was recorded on January 20, a one-year-old male, now hospitalised and in a stable condition.

While the vast majority of H5N1 cases occur in humans who have been exposed to infected poultry (and the virus becomes more virulent among domesticated birds kept in small spaces), the scientific community is worried that the virus will develop the characteristics to start an influenza pandemic. And this strain, H5N1, has an extremely high mortality rate, far higher than seasonal flu or swine flu (A H1N1).

The WHO warns "The virus has met all the prerequisites for the start of a pandemic save one: an ability to spread efficiently and sustainably among humans". There are other possibilities: other strains of bird flu could mutate and infect humans; H5N1 could make the species jump during co-infection with a pig (and then from pig to human) or between bird and human; the third possibility is adaptive mutation, in which the virus gradually transforms, until it can find a mechanism to bind to human cells.

"In many patients, the disease caused by the H5N1 virus follows an unusually aggressive clinical course, with rapid deterioration and high fatality," states the WHO. The virus can survive in the environment for long periods of time, meaning that people can catch the disease through touching contaminated surfaces. Travellers to countries where bird flu is prevalent face an increased risk, as do poultry farmers, those who have come into contact with infected poultry or those who eat undercooked poultry meat, or consume blood or undercooked eggs.

Let us hope that if a pandemic does occur, next time the WHO will not just sit back and inform the population of the progress of the disease as it did with swine flu, but actively take concrete measures to do something before it is too late. A 59% fatality rate is alarming to say the least.

[dothedd]

Bird flu hits Japan
Submitted by Nimisha Sachdev on Fri, 01/28/2011

In Japan there has been an outbreak of bird flu. According to Japanese health authorities, they have detected a fifth case of bird flu. It may turn out to be a severe epidemic. The total number of affected patients has reached five while more than 600,000 chickens have been culled.

The bird flu rash has been removed through five Japanese prefectures, along with a ban on the transportation of millions of chickens which is enforced by local authorities.

There has been a search of a land to bury the chickens collected. This was done after the outbreak of the virus in major pullet farming areas.

The outbreak of the bird flu has affected many regions. Miyazaki is one of the most affected regions of the country. During last year, about 300,000 farm animals were botched after a foot-and-mouth disease outbreak.

A test of avian flu was done to the chickens at a poultry farm in Toyohashi, Aichi Prefecture. It has resulted positive for the flu. This was the fifth outbreak this winter as stated by the prefectural government.

Authorities have not only killed 150,000 chickens at the farm but also have banned the transportation of assessed 2.6 million chickens and eggs at the 44 different poultry farms surrounded by 10 km of it.

[dothedd]

Saturday, Jan. 29, 2011

Miyazaki bird flu epidemic spreads

Prefecture admits inspections of farms failed to meet code
MIYAZAKI (Kyodo) The bird flu epidemic may be spreading in Miyazaki Prefecture after chickens tested positive for a highly pathogenic avian flu virus Friday in two more locations.


In what could be the season's fourth and fifth outbreak in the prefecture, chickens at poultry farms in Nobeoka and Kawaminami tested positive for bird flu in preliminary tests.

The Nobeoka poultry farm found six of its chickens had died recently, while the Kawaminami farm saw more than 400 chickens die after exhibiting specific symptoms. The local government has decided to cull about 92,000 birds at the Kawaminami farm and conduct a detailed investigation.

Meanwhile, the Miyazaki Prefectural Government finished culling all 31,000 chickens Friday at a poultry farm and an affiliated meat-processing center hit by the season's sixth outbreak of the highly infectious avian influenza and admitted there were shortcomings in its inspections of farms.

The outbreak — the third to hit one of the nation's largest meat-producing prefectures — was confirmed early Friday after 186 chickens shipped from the farm in the town of Tsuno were found dead Thursday at the meat-processing center in the town of Kawaminami, prefectural officials said.

Roughly 10,000 chickens kept at the farm and 21,000 others brought to the meat-processing center were culled late Thursday, after positive preliminary tests on dead birds prompted a decision to take immediate action instead of waiting for further testing.

The farm ministry plans to order Miyazaki to report the number of dead chickens at poultry farms on a daily basis.

The outbreaks began in November in Shimane Prefecture, before moving onto the capital of Miyazaki Prefecture and the town of Shintomi, followed by ones earlier this week in Kagoshima and Aichi prefectures.

Miyazaki also closed a separate meat-processing center in the town of Tsuno — one of the biggest in the prefecture, the officials said.

Meanwhile, the prefectural government was found Friday to have skipped three-quarters of the on-the-spot sanitation checks it was supposed to conduct last year, including at the farm in the city of Miyazaki where the prefecture's first case of bird flu occurred.

Earlier, the prefectural government went on record as saying it conducted on-the-spot inspections at the farm. But actually, it allowed officials from a firm affiliated with the farm to carry out the checks on its behalf.

Miyazaki also said its own sanitary officials checked only one-fourth of the 984 poultry farms with 100 chickens or more that were supposedly inspected last year at the direction of the central government because it didn't have enough staff.

[dothedd]

01/29/2011

Bird Flu Prevention to Get More Stringent


One of the largest growing regions for poultry in Japan, Kagoshima has reported the third case of avian flu in the country this year. The latest development has resulted in government increasing its intensity of culling chickens.

Farms in Izumi have already witnessed the culling of 8,600-birds. The killings took place after dead birds were detected with the H5 virus earlier in the day, informed an Official of the Animal Health Division for the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Hiroshi Onmayashiki.

The total number of birds, who will face the axe in the town of Shintomi in Miyazaki, have been estimated to be at an astonishing 410,000. The farm, where the first case of the flu was reported this year is 8.5Kms from the town. It was on the 22nd of January that 10,000-birds being nurtured in the farm were killed to limit the outbreak of this pathogenic virus.

Meanwhile, movement of birds within the 10-Kms radius of the affected area has been banned by the authorities. It needs to be remembered that the outbreak was a result of a case that was reported last year, in month of November in Shimane, when around 20,000-birds were killed to limit the outbreak.

[dothedd]

UPDATE2: Miyazaki culls 154,000 chickens at latest bird flu-hit farmWednesday, February 02, 2011 10:29 AM

The Miyazaki prefectural government culled about 154,000 chickens Wednesday at a poultry farm in the city of Miyazaki after confirming the seventh bird flu outbreak in the southwestern Japan prefecture this winter.

Aichi, Shimane and Kagoshima prefectures have so far managed to contain infections to one farm each, while the total number of chickens culled in Miyazaki Prefecture so far has risen to over 700,000.

In a fresh development, eight dead chickens at a poultry firm in the city of Oita, located north of Miyazaki Prefecture, tested positive for avian influenza in preliminary examinations, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said.

About 400 people including Self-Defense Forces troops were engaged in the latest cull at the farm in Miyazaki, where bird flu was confirmed following detailed examinations of six chickens after 191 birds died.

The prefecture had initially estimated that 190,000 chickens would be slaughtered, but the figure was revised downward after the cull was completed.

Around 2,500 SDF members will leave the prefecture on Thursday after taking part in culls at five poultry farms with infected birds, the local government said.

The prefectural government imposed a ban on the transport of chickens and eggs within a 10-kilometer radius of the farm, covering part of the city of Miyakonojo, a leading chicken and egg producing area.

Kenko Matsuki, a parliamentary secretary of the farm ministry, held a meeting with Miyazaki Gov. Shunji Kono at the local government office on how to deal with the spreading epidemic.

''We need to consider offering compensation as generously as possible'' to poultry farmers who have had their chickens culled, Matsuki told reporters after the meeting.

Since Jan. 22, the Miyazaki prefectural government has confirmed bird flu infections in Miyazaki, Nobeoka, Shintomi, Tsuno, Kawaminami and Takanabe.

[dothedd]

Cambodia's deadly virus: 85% mortality rate

27.02.2011 13:27

Ladies and Gentlemen, the next Black Death, a global pandemic of catastrophic proportions, has reared its ugly head in the Far East, home to many pandemic viruses. This time it is not a 30 per cent death rate, it is an 85 per cent death rate. It is called the Cambodian Avian Flu virus.

Avian Flu has been around for centuries. So have other pandemics. But an 85 per cent mortality rate?

Let us not invent, let us use the World Health Organization's communications:

Avian influenza - situation in Cambodia
9 February 2011 - The Ministry of Health of Cambodia has announced a new confirmed case of human infection with avian influenza A (H5N1) virus.

The 5 year old female, from Prek Leap village, Sangkat Prek Leap, Khan Reussey Keo, Phnom Penh, developed symptoms on 29 January, was admitted to a hospital on 3 February and died 12 hours following admission. The presence of H5N1 virus in nasopharyngeal specimens was confirmed by Institut Pasteur, the National Influenza Centre in Cambodia. The case had been in contact with sick poultry during the 7 days before onset of symptoms.

The Ministry of Health has been coordinating the response. Actions have included contact tracing, collecting specimens from suspected cases, and providing oseltamivir prophylaxis to close contacts; active surveillance and joint investigation with animal health authorities; community education; and public communications coordination with the assistance of WHO.

Of the 11 cases of human H5N1 virus infection confirmed since 2005 in Cambodia, 9 have been fatal.

Avian influenza - situation in Cambodia - update
25 February 2011 - The Ministry of Health of Cambodia has announced 2 new confirmed cases of human infection with avian influenza A (H5N1) virus.

A 19-year-old female, from Takong village, Ta Kong commune, Malay district, Banteay Meanchey Province, developed symptoms on early hours of 5 February, was admitted to a private clinic on 9 February, referred to a hospital on 12 February, and died on 12 February without avian influenza being considered as a diagnosis. She had travelled from her home with her husband, her 11-month old son, her mother in law and her sister in law to Rokar Chor village, Bantey Chakrey commune, Prash Sdach district, Prey Veng Province on 3 January. She had multiple exposures to sick and dead poultry between the second half of January and early February. A blood specimen collected at hospital on 12 February was transferred to Institut Pasteur du Cambodge on 22 February and tested positive by (polymerase chain reaction) PCR.

The 11-month-old son developed symptoms on 5 February, was admitted to hospital 15 February and died on 17 February. He also had multiple exposures to sick and dead poultry in the same time frame. The presence of H5N1 virus in nasopharyngeal specimens was confirmed by Institut Pasteur du Cambodge, the National Influenza Centre on 20 February.

The Ministry of Health has been coordinating the response with assistance from WHO. To date no other symptomatic contacts have been found.

Of the 13 cases of human H5N1 virus infection confirmed since 2005 in Cambodia, 11 have been fatal.
Konstantin Karpov
Pravda.Ru

english.pravda.ru/science/mysteries/27-02-2011/117027-cambodia_virus-0/#

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Avian influenza – situation in Indonesia

2 March 2011 - The Ministry of Health of Indonesia has announced a new confirmed case of human infection with avian influenza A (H5N1) virus.

A 26 year old female from Karawang District, West Java Province developed symptoms on 30 January. She was hospitalized on 3 February, and was treated with oseltamivir, but died on 8 February.

Initial investigations indicate the case bought poultry meat at a traditional market and took home chickens that were slaughtered after purchase and prepared at the market.

Laboratory tests have confirmed infection with the H5N1 avian influenza virus.

Of the 172 cases confirmed to date in Indonesia, 142 have been fatal.

www.who.int/csr/don/2011_03_02/en/index.html

[dothedd]

Avian influenza - situation in Egypt - update 45
7 March 2011 - The Ministry of Health of Egypt has announced two new confirmed cases of human infection with avian influenza A (H5N1) virus.

The first case is a 32 year old female from Sharkia Governorate. She developed symptoms on 10 February and was hospitalized on 14 February. She is in a critical condition.

The second case is a two year old male from Kafr Elsheikh Governorate. He developed symptoms on 18 February and was hospitalized on 20 February. He is under treatment and is in a good general condition.

Investigations into the source of infection indicate that the two cases had exposure to poultry suspected to have avian influenza.

The cases were confirmed by the Egyptian Central Public Health Laboratory, a National Influenza Center of the WHO Global Influenza Surveillance Network.

Of the 127 cases confirmed to date in Egypt, 41 have been fatal.

www.who.int/csr/don/2011_03_07/en/index.html

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H5N1 cases in Egypt, H5N1 migration route, flu vaccine and H1N1, Tamiflu-resistant H1N1 case
Mar 10, 2011

Egypt reports more H5N1 cases, two fatal

Egypt's health ministry has announced two new H5N1 avian influenza cases, one of them fatal, and that a woman whose infection was previously reported has died, the World Health Organization (WHO) said today. The newest case-patients are both 17-year-old girls, one from Beheira governorate and one from Dakahlia governorate. Both were treated with oseltamivir (Tamiflu). The girl from Beheira got sick on Feb 27 and was hospitalized on Mar 1, where she is in stable condition. The girl from Dakahlia started having flu-like symptoms on Feb 24 and was hospitalized 2 days later. She died on Feb 28. The second death is a 32-year-old woman from Sharkia governorate whose illness was reported by the WHO on Mar 7. She had been hospitalized since Feb 14 and was in critical condition.

Investigations into all three cases revealed exposure to sick and dead poultry. The two new cases and deaths raise Egypt's H5N1 total to 129 cases, including 43 deaths. They also push the world's H5N1 count to 530 cases, 313 of them fatal.

Mar 10 WHO statement
WHO global H5N1 case count

Researchers identify possible H5N1 China-Tibet migration route
Using GPS tracking, a team of US, Chinese, and UN researchers identified a new migratory pathway that may serve as a transmission route for H5N1 avian flu between China and Tibet, and genetic analysis seems to confirm the hypothesis. The researchers fitted 29 bar-headed geese with GPS satellite transmitters at Qinghai Lake, China's largest lake, which sits along several major migratory flyways. In 2005, H5N1 killed 6,000 birds at the lake, including 3,000 bar-headed geese. In tracking the marked geese's movements, the team discovered a previously unidentified migratory pathway from Qinghai Lake to the Lhasa Valley of Tibet, where all but one of the geese wintered. From 2003 through 2009, 16 H5N1 outbreaks in poultry or wild birds were confirmed on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, and most were within this newly identified pathway. The scientists wrote, "Ample opportunities existed for virus spillover and infection of migratory geese on the wintering grounds" and that this pathway as a transmission route "was supported by rapid migration movements of some geese and genetic relatedness of H5N1 virus isolated from geese in Tibet and Qinghai Lake."
Mar 9 PLoS ONE study

www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0017622

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BANGLADESH: Bird flu outbreaks up sharply in 2011

DHAKA, 9 March 2011 (IRIN) - Outbreaks of H5N1 bird flu among poultry in Bangladesh - already three times higher this year than the same period last year - have caused “serious concern” for the authorities.

“We are undertaking heavy surveillance at farms and teams are supervising markets to prevent sick chickens from being sold,” Director-General of the Department of Livestock Mohammad Ashraf Ali told IRIN.

The avian flu death toll may mount given how such outbreaks typically occur up to June, said the chief technical adviser for the Food and Agriculture Organization, Mat Yamage.

But reports of increases may not be a bad thing, he noted. “One hypothesis [for the increased number of outbreaks], though unconfirmed, is that farmers are more willing to report bird flu because the rate of compensation more than doubled this year. This is a positive development, as farmers generally no longer opt to sell sick poultry.”

Ashraf said the loss to farmers was still being estimated; he was reluctant to specify precise compensation levels per bird.

Yamage said he could not give a figure for compensation because it depended on the type of bird and its age, adding: "It won't be possible to calculate the total losses suffered by the poultry industry until much later. There are also secondary effects, such as a loss of consumer confidence."

A compensation figure of US$2.8 per bird has been mentioned in some areas.

While the government has trained farmers how to prevent the spread of H5N1, still worrying is how farmers may not be practising “bio-security”, such as using solid fences and nets to quarantine infected flocks, and disinfecting footwear, said Yamage.

“Bangladesh has a very high population density - and as every backyard farm has poultry, it’s very easy for the virus to spread from one backyard to another,” said Ashraf.

Since the beginning of the year, 200,000 birds have been culled in 92 outbreaks. About two million birds have been culled since the first outbreak in 2007.

Bird flu was first detected in Bangladesh’s capital, Dhaka, in March 2007 and one human case was reported in May 2008.

[dothedd]

Japan confronted with a new bird flu outbreak

14 Mar 2011

On top of all the aftermath Japan is facing following last weeks earthquake and tsunami, Avian influenza has now been confirmed at a poultry farm in the Kanto region, making it the first confirmed outbreak in this area of Japan.

The outbreak in Chiba, Japan's second-largest chicken egg producing prefecture, has prompted local authorities to begin culling about 35,000 birds at the infected farm and restrict the movements of another 869,000 birds being raised within a 10-kilometer radius of the farm in question, the Chiba prefectural government said.

''This is a very severe situation as damage from the huge earthquake is also serious,'' Chiba Gov Kensaku Morita said at a press conference, referring to the powerful quake that struck northeastern and eastern Japan on Friday. A total of four birds were found dead at the Chiba farm on Friday and Saturday, and a genetic test confirmed that four out of seven birds checked were infected by a highly pathogenic strain of bird flu virus.

They need the food!

[dothedd]

Wednesday,Mar 23,2011, Posted at: 15:00(GMT+7)

Ministry decides to destroy expired anti-viral capsules
The Ministry of Health has decided to destroy over 9.7 million expired capsules of Oseltamivir, better known as Tamiflu, worth VND280 billion (US$13,4 million).

The ministry claims that it is not feasible to draw out the Oseltamivir phosphate from the expired drugs since the Stada Vietnam Company that was authorized to work with the Indian producer of Oseltamivir phosphate, said that only 30 percent could be drawn out and the recycled drug was not safe to reuse.

Based on the drug manufacturer’s assessment the Ministry took the decision to destroy over 9.7 million expired antiviral drugs that were meant to fight the bird flu epidemic.

The drugs were ordered and purchased as part of a project to build up a reserve of 20 million Tamiflu capsules to fight the avian flu epidemic in Vietnam in the end of 2005, under orders from the government.

The ministry then selected four pharmaceutical companies, namely Phu Yen Medical Equipment and Pharmaceutical (Pymepharco), Cuu Long Pharmaceutical Joint Stock Corporation (Pharimexco), Imexpharm Pharmaceutical Joint Stock Company and Stada Vietnam Company to make the Oseltamivir phosphate drug for stockpiling in the event of an epidemic.

After stockpiling 20 million anti-viral drugs, government inspectors accused the ministry and domestic drug manufacturers of massive wastage.

Government inspectors charged the ministry of spending hundreds of billions of dong for creating a reserve of antiviral drugs to fight the bird flu epidemic in 2005-2006 while only 91 cases of influenza A (H5N1) were recorded between 2003 and 2005.

Despite this number, in November 2005, the ministry proposed the stocking of 30 million capsules of Tamiflu by June 30, 2006. Because the reserve was sufficient for three million people, the proposal was deemed excessive by the inspectors.

Inspectors asked the ministry to acknowledge their blunder in writing as well as impose a penalty on those individuals responsible for creating this incorrect drug reserve.

[dothedd]

South Korea destroyed almost 3.5 million pigs, cattle, goats and deer

Saturday, April 2nd 2011 - 17:43 UTC

FMD outbreak in South Korea under control, but Seoul now faces bird flu

South Korea is moving to stem future cases of bird flu as foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) outbreaks have been largely put under control, the government.


The Agriculture ministry said it currently maintains poultry movement restrictions in 14 rural cities and counties across the country after quarantine authorities have had to cull 6.27 million birds on 269 farms since Dec. 29, when the first case of bird flu was reported.

The ministry said such restrictions are needed because there has been a steady confirmation of bird flu outbreaks, with the last case taking place 344 kilometers southeast of Seoul.

“Most of the outbreaks are taking place where there are large numbers of migratory birds nearby that spend the winter months in South Korea,” a ministry official said.

Frontline quarantine officials have ordered poultry farmers to take all possible precautions to keep their chickens and ducks from coming into contact with wild birds that could spread the bird flu virus, he said.

The ministry, meanwhile, said FMD outbreaks seem to have come under control, with the last case being reported on Feb. 25.

It said movement restrictions on livestock have been lifted nationwide with the exception of two counties in North Chungcheong Province.

It added that no livestock have been culled since mid March because no new cases have been reported following nationwide vaccinations that began on Dec. 25.

Since Nov. 29, when the first FMD case was confirmed, the government has destroyed just a total of 3.48 million pigs, cattle, goats and deer at a cost of over 2.7 billion USD.

The latest set of outbreaks is the severest in the country's history, far exceeding losses caused when the highly contagious animal disease hit the country in 2000, 2002 and two times in early 2010.

Last week, Seoul lowered its FMD alert level one notch from “red” to “orange” with the central emergency response headquarters under the Ministry of Public Administration and Security to be disbanded in the near future.

[dothedd]

Testing will see if bird flu has spread from turkey farm in Polk County

An eastern Polk county poultry farm is quarantined after the discovery of bird flu. The turkey producer is a locally operated farm, but contracted with food giant Cargill.

March 31, 2011

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- A poultry farm in eastern Polk County is quarantined after the discovery of bird flu. The turkey producer is a locally operated farm, but contracts with food giant Cargill.

The people at Estes Hatchery in Springfield are thankful for their healthy chicks and ducklings.

"I don't want that to happen to anybody," said Sean Richardson of Estes Hatchery.

At the turkey farm in Polk County, antibodies that react to a low pathogenic bird flu strain, H7N3, were discovered during routine pre-harvest testing. Cargill says the turkeys on that contract farm have not shown any signs of sickness.

Cargill is not releasing the farm's location. The farm is quarantined, meaning there is tight control on any animals, people and vehicles going in and out, and poultry farms within a six-mile radius are being tested for the avian flu. Those in close vicinity to the farm should find out by Friday if the flu virus has spread.

The bird flu case doesn't have poultry owners like Estes Hatchery panicking.

"The reason I'm not too worried about it is we have over 20 separate flock owners, most of which is around in the Amish community, and the reason we do that is in case something like this did happen," said Richardson.

Missouri health department officials say consumers also shouldn't worry; they say the food supply is safe. One group of tom turkeys at the affected farm will be harvested, while a younger group, not ready for harvest, will be euthenized to prevent the potential spread of the virus, Cargill says.

The Centers for Disease Control says avian flu is killed with proper cooking and washing of hands and utensils. The Missouri Department of Agriculture says it's extremely rare for humans to be affected by this type of avian flu.

More information on avian influenza from the U.S. Department of Agriculture

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BIRD FLU Govt decides to bird flu control programme 6 8 11
Wednesday, June 08, 2011
By Asad Farooq

KARACHI: Contrary to the suggestions of steering committee for bird flu and inter-provincial meeting of the Planning and Development Division, the Government of Pakistan has decided to wrap up the National Programme for the Control and Prevention of Avian Influenza (NPCPAI), Daily Times learnt here on Tuesday.

NPCPAI was responsible for the prevention as well as control of bird flu in Pakistan. World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) declared Pakistan free of bird flu for a period of three months on the basis of measures taken under the programme.

It is pertinent to mention here that the steering committee for bird flu had suggested the federal government to continue the programme under the federal government because technically the provinces could not run the programmes having federal mandate, besides the fact that provinces have no capability to run such programme.

Federal Planning and Development Division had also decided in a meeting to continue the programme, due to its sensitivity and importance, under the federal government.

Contrary to the suggestions of technical experts and relevant authorities, the programme has been recently dismissed through a notification issued by the Adviser to Prime Minister on Dev. Budget Muhammad Asif Shaikh. It may be mentioned here that Shaikh also chaired the meeting of Planning and Development Division.

Sources said that due to this step, Pakistan would not be able to prevent and tackle the bird flu and will have to bear critical financial and health issues while eventually, the OIE will not uphold its declaration for Pakistan as being a bird flu free country.



Published: 2008/04/04 09:17:56 GMT

Fatal bird flu cases in Pakistan
By Ashfaq Yusufzai, Peshawar

The first case of human-to-human transmission of avian flu in Pakistan has been confirmed.

Tests carried out by the World Health Organisation (WHO) show that bird flu killed some members of a family in north-west Pakistan late last year.

The WHO says steps were taken to prevent future fatalities in the area.
Pakistan's north-west and southern regions were hit by bird flu last year. Thousands of birds were culled to control the spread of the disease.

Brothers
The confirmation of people dying from bird flu came on Thursday, after samples collected from a family in the north-western city of Peshawar tested positive.

Dr Mukhtiar Zaman Afridi, head of the isolation ward for avian flu patients at Khyber Teaching Hospital in Peshawar, told the BBC that a poultry worker in Peshawar apparently passed the disease on to members of his family.

The worker, whose name is being withheld on the request of the WHO, was brought to the hospital with avian flu symptoms on 29 October 2007, he says. He has fully recovered since then.

But on 12 November, the elder brother of the poultry worker was brought in with similar symptoms. He died a week later.

On 21 November, two more brothers of the same worker came down with bird flu.

One of them died on 28 November, while the other has recovered, Dr Afridi said.

Apart from the poultry worker, none of the others was found to have had any direct contact with sick or dead poultry.

Genetic sequencing tests performed by WHO laboratories in Egypt and the US on samples collected from three of the four brothers established human-to-human transmission.

'Appropriate steps'

Serum taken from all three was found to have been infected by the H5N1 avian influenza virus.

A WHO report says the tests suggest "limited human-to-human transmission."

It adds, however, that this "outbreak did not extend into the community, and appropriate steps were taken to reduce future risks of human infections."

Pakistan's north-western region is home to 85% of the country's poultry farms.

Story from BBC NEWS:
news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/south_asia/7330069.stm

Published: 2008/04/04 09:17:56 GMT

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Wednesday, June 01, 2011
Indonesian & Egypt Report Bird Flu Cases

Two reports today.

First, the World Health Organization has details of a fresh bird flu case in Egypt.

Avian influenza - situation in Egypt - update 52
1 June 2011 - The Ministry of Health of Egypt has announced a new confirmed case of human infection with avian influenza A (H5N1) virus.

The case is a 30 year old female from Amria District, Alexandria Governorate. She developed symptoms on 26 April and was hospitalized on 3 May.

She was in a critical condition under artificial ventilation and died on 9 May. She received oseltamivir treatment at the time of hospitalization.

Investigations into the source of infection indicate that the case had exposure to sick poultry suspected to have avian influenza.

The case was confirmed by the Egyptian Central Public Health Laboratory, a National Influenza Center of the WHO Global Influenza Surveillance Network.

Of the 144 cases confirmed to date in Egypt, 48 have been fatal.

[dothedd]

June 10, 2011

WHO update on Cambodian H5N1 death

WHO has published Avian influenza – situation in Cambodia - update 4.

The Ministry of Health (MoH) of the Kingdom of Cambodia has announced a confirmed case of human infection with avian influenza A (H5N1) virus.

The case was a 7 year old female from Prasat village, Prasat commune, Kampong Trabek district, Prey Veng Province. She developed symptoms on 24 May, was initially treated by local private practitioners with no effect and was later admitted to Kantha Bopha Children Hospital on 31 May. She died on 7 June, seven days after admission.

There have been reports of poultry die off in her village and the case is reported to have had exposure to sick poultry. The female is the sixteenth person in Cambodia to become infected with the H5N1 virus and the fourteenth to die from complications of the disease.

All six cases of H5N1 infections in humans in Cambodia this year have been fatal. The National and local Rapid Response Team (RRT) is conducting outbreak investigation and response following the national protocol.

Cambodia has had 16 H5N1 cases since 2005, and 14 deaths. That makes an 87.5 percent case fatality ratio—appallingly high, but the total number of cases has been relatively low.

[dothedd]

H5N1


crofsblogs.typepad.com/h5n1/h5n1/

[dothedd]

Ostrich industry 'will not recover quickly'
JULY 5, 2011

The South African Ostrich Business Chamber has said that it will take a while for the sector to recover from the bird flu outbreak.

More than 20,000 ostriches have been culled since the epidemic was first reported in the Little Karoo in April.

Several birds on a Heidelberg farm also tested positive for Avian Influenza last week.

The chamber’s Anton Kruger said the industry will not pick up overnight.

“It will take a while to recover but in the same breath, we must also add that when we recover we’ll see a new and changed ostrich industry. We must look at the structures in the industry, there will be more security measures and strict enforcement,” he said.

www.eyewitnessnews.co.za/Story.aspx?Id=69512

[dothedd]

H5N1

Minor dies of bird flu in Cambodia: WHO

PHNOM PENH: A six-year-old Cambodian girl has become the eighth person to die from bird flu in the country this year, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said Wednesday.

The child, from eastern Kampong Cham province, died on August 14 after contracting H5N1 avian influenza, the health ministry and WHO said in a joint statement. “The girl is the 18th person in Cambodia to become infected with the H5N1 virus and the 16th to die from complications of the disease,” since 2005 they said, adding that she had been in contact with sick or dead poultry before falling ill.

[dothedd]

FAO Warns of Fujian H5N1 Spread In China and Vietnam
Recombinomics Commentary 14:20
August 29, 2011


However, the close relationship to the earlier isolates above raises concerns that At the same time, 2008 marked the beginning of renewed geographic expansion of the H5N1 virus both in poultry and wild birds.

The advance appears to be associated with migratory bird movements, according to FAO Chief Veterinary Officer Juan Lubroth. He said migrations help the virus travel over long distances, so that H5N1 has in the past 24 months shown up in poultry or wild birds in countries that had been virus-free for several years.

"Wild birds may introduce the virus, but peoples' actions in poultry production and marketing spread it," Lubroth noted.

Recently affected areas are to be found in Israel and the Palestinian Territories, Bulgaria, Romania, Nepal and Mongolia.

A further cause for concern, Lubroth said, is the appearance in China and Viet Nam of a variant virus apparently able to sidestep the defences provided by existing vaccines.

In Viet Nam, which suspended its springtime poultry vaccination campaign this year, most of the northern and central parts of the country -- where H5N1 is endemic -- have been invaded by the new virus strain, known as H5N1 - 2.3.2.1.

The above comments are in an FAO announcement warning of the spread of Fujian clade 2.3 (sub-clade 2.3.2.1), which was reported in the spring of 2008 in outbreaks in poultry in South Korea and Russia, as well as whooper swans in northern Japan. The sub-clade has a clade 2.3.2 HA with other genes from clade 2.3.4. This sub-clade was reported earlier in Hong Kong, and the spread to northern Japan, Korea and Russia raised concerns that it would migrate to Mongolia in the summer of 2008.

Sequences analysis confirmed this migration, including recombinants between clade 2.2.1 in Egypt and clade 2.3.2. Clade 2.3.2 was subsequently confirmed in poultry in Romania and a wild bird in Bulgaria.

The most recent public sequences is a Feb 2011 isolate froma chicken in Vietnam, but this HA sequence is related to a 2010 human case in China (A/Hubei/01/2010). WHO has published an HA phylogenetic analysis which includes the Hubei sequence, as well as poultry sequences from Vietnam.

[dothedd]

U.N. warns on mutant strain of bird flu virusBy Greg Hughes, CNN
August 30, 2011 5:43 a.m. EDT

(CNN) -- The United Nations warned Monday of a possible resurgence of the deadly avian flu virus, saying there are indications a mutant strain may be spreading in Asia.

A variant strain of the H5N1 avian influenza virus, which can apparently bypass the defenses of current vaccines with unpredictable risks to humans, has appeared in Vietnam and China, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) stated.

Circulation of the virus in Vietnam threatens Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia, Japan and the Korean peninsula, the FAO said.

The most recent death caused by avian flu occurred this month in Cambodia, where eight people have died after becoming infected this year, the organization added.

The World Health Organization (WHO) says the virus has infected 565 people since it emerged in 2003, causing 331 deaths.

Avian flu has also directly killed or required the culling of over 400 million poultry and caused economic losses estimated at $20 billion before being eliminated from most of the 63 countries infected at its 2006 peak.

The virus is still present in China, Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Vietnam and Egypt, while areas recently affected include Nepal, Mongolia, Romania, Bulgaria, Israel and the Palestinian Territories.

A geographical advance in cases of infected poultry and wild birds since 2008 has apparently been due to the movement of migratory birds, said FAO Chief Veterinary Officer Juan Lubroth.

"Wild birds may introduce the virus, but peoples' actions in poultry production and marketing spread it," he said.

"Preparedness and surveillance remain essential," he warned.

PHOTOS AND VIDEO:

www.cnn.com/2011/HEALTH/08/30/un.bird.flu/index.html?eref=rss_world&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fcnn_world+%28RSS%3A+World%29

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
U.N. warns of possible resurgence of the deadly avian flu virus
Mutant strain of H5N1 virus has appeared in Vietnam and China
Variant strain can apparently bypass the defenses of existing vaccines
Circulation of the virus in Vietnam threatens Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia

[dothedd]

Good evening, Colleenz,

Click on, and read, the link below, and if you feel that it is not self-explanatory then I will be happy to communicate my reasons for taking my valuable time to post information to the relative threads on this forum.

virus.stanford.edu/uda/

I will not be available until tomorrow evening should you need further explanation.



Dot

[Colleenz]

Boycott Chick Fil A?

[Colleenz]

Being serious...

Isn't another pandemic inevitable? We can keep making vaccines, but eventually statistics point to a virus that jumps the vaccines. Won't that virus be even more virulent because it had to overcome the vaccines? Unlike the Spanish Flu pandemic (where any herd resistance was naturally developed), the new virus will need to have overcome the man made defenses.

Don't get me wrong - me and my family get flu shots every year. Just curious what the point of this sub-board is.

OK - Back to my silliness on EE :-)

[dothedd]

Sept 3, 2011 5:01:52 GMT -5 Colleenz said:

Boycott Chick Fil A?

NOT ME! It's the only fast food restaurant I support.

[dothedd]

Sept 5, 2011 17:14:35 GMT -5 Colleenz said:

Being serious...

Isn't another pandemic inevitable? (IMO, YES!) We can keep making vaccines, but eventually statistics point to a virus that jumps the vaccines. (HISTORY DOES INDEED INDICATE THAT TO BE TRUE. MOTHER NATURE DOES HAVE A TENDENCY TO MAKE-UP HER OWN MIND WITHOUT OUR INPUT.) Won't that virus be even more virulent because it had to overcome the vaccines? (THAT'S A LOGICAL CONCLUSION...) Unlike the Spanish Flu pandemic (where any herd resistance was naturally developed), the new virus will need to have overcome the man made defenses. (I BELIEVE WITH THE ADVENT OF VACCINES, ALTHOUGH NOT PERFECT, THE DEATH TOLLS DECREASED, WHICH IS A GOOD THING.)

A FEW FACTS: The 1918 flu pandemic (the Spanish flu) was an influenza pandemic, and the first of the two pandemics involving H1N1 influenza virus (the follow-up was the 2009 flu pandemic).

The pandemic lasted from June 1918 to December 1920, spreading even to the Arctic and remote Pacific islands. Between 50 and 100 million died, making it one of the deadliest natural disasters in human history. Even using the lower estimate of 50 million people, 3% of the world's population (1.86 billion at the time died of the disease. Some 500 million, or 27% (=1/4), were infected.

Pandemic (H1N1) 2009-2010 - CONFIRMED DEATHS 19,633, WITH THE UNITED STATES REPORTING THE MOST 3,433, FOR REASONS I BELIEVE TO BE DUE TO SUPERIOR RECORD KEEPING.

Don't get me wrong - me and my family get flu shots every year. Just curious what the point of this sub-board is.

I DO NOT GET VACCINES OF ANY KIND DUE TO THE POSSIBLE KNOWN SIDE EFFECTS, NOR DO I HAVE MY DOG VACCINATED. MORE ON "THOSE SUBJECTS" WHEN I RETURN FROM VACATION NEXT WEEK.

THE POINT OF THIS SUB-BOARD IS THAT I HAVE FOUND, AND WISH TO SHARE WITH [THOSE INTERESTED IN] A VACCINE COMPANY, THAT I HAVE FOLLOWED, AND HAVE BEEN RESEARCHING, SINCE 2005, THAT IS WORKING ON, AND WILL HAVE FINISHED PRODUCTS IN THE NEAR FUTURE TO WHICH I WOULD SUBJECT MY SELF AND FAMILY. IN ADDITION, I WOULD ALSO GIVE THE PRODUCT TO MY DOG IF EVER THE TECHNOLOGY WERE APPLIED TO VETERINARY MEDICINE.

Have a grand weekend!

D
OK - Back to my silliness on EE :-)

[Colleenz]

OK - I just get whatever vaccines they want to jab in my arm. I also drink fluoridate water and eat an occasional Big Mac.

The only thing I know for sure is that life is fatal ;D

[dothedd]

"The only thing I know for sure is that life is fatal"

I have a close friend whose life completely changed after a flu shot last October. Before being injected with the vaccine she walked three miles a day, and now she is confined to a walker.

She was fortunate that she had a Mayo Clinic trained neurologist that diagnosed the disease process early and started treatment that cost $7,500 a dose.

She began having leg weakness within a few days and the disease process that progressed over a few weeks until her husband took her to the emergency room when she could no loner walk. It's an interesting and frightening story.

She was diagnosed with Guillain-Barré Syndrome that is often directly related to vaccines.

Here is an interesting read:

The NVICA, a "no-fault" compensation system, was passed in 1986 to shield the pharmaceutical industry from civil litigation due to problems associated with vaccines. Under the law, families of vaccine-injured persons are required to file a petition which may be heard by a Special Master in the vaccine court. Successful claims are paid from a Trust Fund that is managed by the Department of Health and Human Services, with Justice Department attorneys acting as the legal representatives of the Fund. Sadly, it is estimated that less than 25% of those who qualify for a hearing actually receive compensation.

Processing a claim through the vaccine court can take up to 10 years. In the end, no blame or culpability is assigned and most families are denied of much needed financial relief. In the mean time, medical bills pile up, the daily potential for more children to be harmed goes on and the heartbreak continues, all due to government legislated protection of products that are believed by many to be the "sterling backbones" of our country's public health policy.

Who can parents and vaccine-injured adults hold accountable for injuries caused by vaccines? The system is designed so that no one-neither a person nor an entity-can be tagged with accountability: Not the vaccine manufacturer; not the doctor who recommended the vaccines nor the person who administered them; not the members of the Advisory Committee of Immunization Practices (ACIP) who added the vaccine to the pediatric schedule; not the IOM members (Institute of Medicine) who perpetuate the mantra "vaccines are safe and effective" and stonewall opportunities for change and improvement. No one is to blame, that is, except the "defective child" who could not tolerate the immunological onslaught caused by the vaccines. "The secretary made the changes in response to an Institute of Medicine report. [FN49] But the Secretary did not follow the recommendation that the onset of chronic arthritis occur within six months of vaccination, but rather limited the onset to 42 days, simply for the stated purpose of limiting the number of claims that would qualify for the table, under the theory that to accept the recommendation would be too costly to the program. She acted for this reason even though the program has a $1.2 billion dollar surplus which is rapidly rising since only about half of the excise tax is currently being awarded................Although she is the adverse party to the claimant, a Federal Court of Appeals has found she is free to do unconditionally as she pleases in changing the vaccine table, thereby making her case against the claimant much easier in many cases. ......although the plaintiff had three experts opining that her fibromyalgia (FMS) was caused by an MMR vaccine, it was deemed by the Special Master that a causal connection between the rubella vaccine and chronic arthropathy is tenuous and has not been medically established.......this author personally knows as he sits here typing this paper that, with absolute certainty, the MMR vaccine does cause FMS."----Stan Lippmann 1998. "Assume the following scenario: A child was given the oral polio vaccine; the father (wage earner), changes the child’s diaper and he becomes paralyzed from the neck down because the vaccine administered causes contact polio, a fact known both to the regulator, the vaccine manufacturer and physicians since the early 1960s.

The parent remains completely paralyzed with his motor functions completely destroyed, while his sensory functions are not affected one iota. Basically, he can only move his eyes. The medical expenses for the first 18 months are nearly $1 million, but he has no insurance. During the 18 months he is aware of everything, but he cannot move any of his limbs or any part of his body, other than his eyes. Eventually, the polio causes respiratory failure and he dies.

It is now time to bury this innocent victim. His widow has no money, since no income was coming in for the last 18 months. The government/respondent not only will not pay for the funeral, it won’t even pay for the burial plot. The government/respondent’s position is very simple — if you die the only thing the estate is entitled to is $250,000; the $1 million in medical expenses are the obligation of the widow. The costs of the burial and the burial plot are the obligation of the widow.

The fact that during those 18 months the widow, the children and the husband suffered unbelievably, and the widow and the children will continue to suffer for all the years to come, is unimportant. It is not compensable. A victim who dies as a result of the vaccine receives no money for the pain and suffering no matter how long they lived or how severe the suffering was for that victim. This is not a hypothetical case, but rather a recent decision handed down in the case of Clifford v. Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, July 30, 2002, No. 01-424V. " "Once a vaccine is mandated for children, the manufacturer and the physician administering the vaccine are substantially relieved of liability for adverse effects.........Should a physician advise against a mandated vaccine, he faces increased legal liability should the patient acquire the disease. Moreover, he may risk his very livelihood if he is dependent upon income from "health plans" that use vaccine compliance as a measure of "quality." "If a pediatrician fails to administer an officially recommended vaccine, and the child gets a preventable disease, the pediatrician could be sued for malpractice. If the child is injured as a side effect from such a vaccine, no pediatrician will be sued. HMOs cannot be sued. " "Vaccine manufacturers and others are sheltered from product liability lawsuits by a special 1986 act of Congress. (See the US Code 42 USC 300aa for details.) This act set up a fund to compensate those who can prove serious injury from vaccines."