Bird Flu Central

Human bird flu 'mutating'

2005-11-28T06:28:00.000-11:00

Beijing - The H5N1 strain of bird flu seen in human cases in China has mutated as compared with strains found in human cases in Vietnam, state press said on Monday, citing a health ministry spokesperson.

Chinese labs have found that the genetic order of the H5N1 virus seen in humans infected in China is different from that found in humans in Vietnam, Xinhua news agency reported.

By Nov. 25, the World Health Organization (WHO) had reported 132 laboratory-confirmed human cases of bird flu including 68 deaths.

more here

Myanmar -- the world's bird flu black hole?

2005-10-08T16:53:00.000-11:00

BANGKOK, Oct 9 (Reuters) - With big chunks of its territory in rebel hands and a military government shrouded in riddles, mystery and enigma, Myanmar presents the global fight against bird flu with a unique set of problems.

Officially, the H5N1 avian influenza strain that has killed millions of birds and scores of people across Asia since late 2003 has not landed in the former Burma, even though neighbouring China, Thailand and Laos have all had outbreaks

However, given the dearth of reliable information that comes out of Yangon, as well as the junta's dubious track record with the truth, many international observers are worried about a cover-up of potentially global significance.

The fear is that the virus will infect birds in Myanmar then -- either through a cover-up or a lack of monitoring in remote or rebel-run areas -- will remain undetected for long enough to mutate, "go human" and unleash a killer flu pandemic on the world.

more from Reuters

Turkey reports first cases of bird flu

2005-10-08T14:26:00.000-11:00

STANBUL, Turkey (AP) - Turkey's agriculture minister confirmed the country's first cases of bird flu on Saturday and ordered the destruction of all birds in the village where it was detected to prevent the disease from spreading, the Anatolia news agency said.

Military police have also set up roadblocks at the village near Balikesir in western Turkey, 250 miles from Istanbul. The officers checked vehicles to make certain no birds were going in or out.

Anatolia, quoting officials, said the birds in Turkey died of the H5 type of bird flu — but it was not immediately clear whether it is the exact strain that health officials are particularly worried about.

more at USA Today

Bird flu pandemic: Is fear justified?

2005-10-08T14:19:00.000-11:00

We're bombarded with predictions of a bird flu pandemic that could kill millions.

But public health officials say there's no reason to panic.

For now, there is no avian flu in the United States. But federal and state officials are watching closely to see if the virus that is killing birds in Southeast Asia will mutate into a form that could be easily transmitted from person to person.

If that occurs, "no one will be immune," said Dr. Jeffrey Engel, N.C. state epidemiologist. Because no one would have built up immunity to a new virus, more people would become infected and more would die than in a regular flu season.

more at Charlotte Observer

Efforts underway on bird flu vaccine for humans (Boston Globe)

2005-10-08T06:08:00.000-11:00

WASHINGTON -- While the White House yesterday pressed domestic vaccine manufacturers to bolster the nation's ability to fend off an avian influenza pandemic, a vaccine to prevent humans from being infected with a strain of bird flu now circulating in Asia is already being produced and an experimental bird flu vaccine will soon be tested in humans.

Sanofi Pasteur Inc., the American subsidiary of a French drug maker, Sanofi-Aventis, has been producing bird flu vaccine at its plant in Swiftwater, Pa., since early September through a $100 million contract with the federal government.

Meanwhile, GlaxoSmithKline has refined the way it makes vaccine to increase production value from its plant in Dresden, Germany. Glaxo's move has the potential to increase plant capacity sixfold, a company executive said, transforming a production run that would make enough vaccine for 5 million people into one that could treat as many as 30 million. But first, clinical trials in humans must confirm the vaccine's safety and effectiveness.

More at Boston.com

U.S. Moves to Prepare for Possible Bird Flu Threat

2005-10-07T17:17:00.000-11:00

"FRIDAY, Oct. 7 (HealthDay News) -- With concern mounting over the threat posed by bird flu, President George Bush met Friday with executives of major vaccine manufacturers to discuss an expansion of the country's ability to make enough vaccine to counter a possible pandemic."

Romania isolates bird flu village

2005-10-07T16:39:00.000-11:00

BUCHAREST, Romania (CNN) -- Romanian officials quarantined a Danube delta village of about 30 people Friday after three dead ducks there tested positive for bird flu -- the first such cases reported in the region.

Romania also suspended imports of chickens and other poultry from 15 countries, most of them in Asia.

There have been no immediate reports of sickness in the village. Flutur said officials were working to get vaccinations and medication to the people affected by the quarantine

more at CNN

Bush Presses Vaccine Makers on Bird Flu

2005-10-07T08:31:00.000-11:00

WASHINGTON -- Increasing fears of a bird flu pandemic are forcing U.S. officials to face up to problems with the country's troubled flu vaccine industry.

President Bush was scheduled to meet Friday with the heads of major vaccine companies "to press ahead to expand our manufacturing capacity for a vaccine to address this risk," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said, speaking of the possibility of a bird flu outbreak.

"We cannot handle the threats we face today with a broken flu vaccine system," said Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y.., who with Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., introduced legislation Thursday that would, among other things, financially guarantee a market in return for more vaccine production.

more at Washington Post

Meeting aims for coordinated bird flu response

2005-10-06T16:36:00.000-11:00

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Delegates from 80 nations and international agencies began a meeting on Thursday to formulate the best way to fight the growing outbreak of avian influenza before it can cause a human pandemic that could kill millions.

"The world is clearly unprepared, or inadequately prepared, for a pandemic of H5N1 influenza," U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt told the meeting.

Scientists fear the virus will mutate so that it is able to be easily transmitted among humans, triggering a pandemic that could kill millions and even tens of millions in a worst-case scenario.

more at reuters

Drug may be ineffective against bird flu

2005-09-30T15:36:00.000-11:00

A consignment of antiviral drugs bought by the British Government for nearly 330 million dollars to protect the public against a bird flu pandemic could be rendered useless after the emergence of a resistant strain of the virus.

Experts in Hong Kong gave warning yesterday that the human H5N1 virus which surfaced in northern Vietnam this year was showing resistance to Tamiflu, the drug widely considered the best chance of protecting the population.

Describing the case of Tamiflu-resistance, William Chui, of the Department of Pharmacology at the Queen Mary Hospital in Hong Kong, yesterday urged drug manufacturers to make more effective versions of Relenza, another antiviral also known to be effective in battling H5N1.

more at Times Online

Indonesia urges international action on bird flu

2005-09-30T06:23:00.000-11:00

JAKARTA, Sept 30 (Reuters) - Deadly bird flu knows no national boundaries and countries must cooperate to fight it effectively, Indonesia said on Friday.

Bird flu has killed more than 60 people in four Asian nations since late 2003 and has been found in birds in Russia and Europe.

n Jakarta on Friday, Indonesian foreign affairs spokesman Yuri Thamrin told reporters: "Bird flu is such a dangerous disease that can easily transcend national borders through animal and human migration.

"Moreover, the virus can mutate easily. So, a national effort is not enough. There should be international cooperation."

More at Reuters

WHO tries to calm flu fears

2005-09-30T06:09:00.000-11:00

Sep. 30, 2005 - The World Health Organization moved Friday to dampen fears over alarming predictions quoted by one of its own officials that a pandemic stemming from the bird flu virus ravaging parts of Asia could kill as many as 150 million people.

"We're not going to know how lethal the next pandemic is going to be until the pandemic begins," said WHO influenza spokesman Dick Thompson.

more at ABC news

New dog flu virus came from horses, experts say

2005-09-27T06:57:00.000-11:00

WASHINGTON, Sept 26 (Reuters) - A new dog flu virus that has killed some racing greyhounds made an unusual jump from horses to dogs and may threaten pets but not people, experts said on Monday.

And the virus can also infect dogs without making them sick, meaning it is not as deadly as some reports have suggested, they said.

But studying it has important implications for understanding the H5N1 avian flu virus now devastating flocks of poultry and which has killed 65 people in four Asian nations since late 2003.

more at Reuters