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Reuters - Fri Jun 1, 6:23 AM ET Chickens are seen inside a cage at a poultry market in Nanjing, China's Jiangsu province, April 27, 2007. China has shared human bird flu samples for the first time in more than a year, giving a boost to international efforts to track the deadly H5N1 virus, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday. (Sean Yong/Reuters) (CHINA) |
Fri Jun 1, 2007 7:15 AM EDT. Worker vaccinates a day-old chick against bird flu at the Wadi Hatcheries in Sadat City, Egypt March 13, 2007. Indonesian teenager dies of bird flu. The girl's death takes the human death toll from the H5N1 virus to 79 in Indonesia, the highest in the world. (INDONESIA) |
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AFP/File - Fri Jun 1, 12:15 PM ET Birds for sale are contained in a cage at a bird market in Hong Kong in March 2007. A starling has tested positive for the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus in Hong Kong, agricultural officials said Friday.(AFP/File/Tengku Bahar) (HONG KONG) |
AFP - Fri Jun 1, 12:29 PM ET A poultry trader transports live chickens in the northern province of Bac Ninh. Deadly bird flu has spread to two more provinces in Vietnam, the government said Friday, bringing to at least 14 the number affected by the resurgent disease.(AFP/Hoang Dinh Nam) (VIETNAM) |
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AFP/File - Fri Jun 1, 12:27 PM ET A vendor brings chickens to sell at a market in Jakarta, 31 May 2007. A teenage girl has died of bird flu in Indonesia, taking the death toll in the nation worst hit by the virus to 79, a health ministry official said Friday.(AFP/File/Jewel Samad) (INDONESIA) |
AFP - Sat Jun 2, 12:58 AM ET A woman holds a duck at a roadside market 20 km (12 miles) outside Hanoi May 22, 2007. A 19-year-old man tested positive for the H5N1 strain of the virus early this week after being admitted to the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Hanoi, a doctor there told AFP. .Hanoi's Bach Mai hospital told the paper two other suspected bird flu victims had been admitted on Thursday and Friday, one of whom died late Friday. (VIETNAM) |
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Reuters - Sat Jun 2, 1:43 PM ET A hawker displays cooked chickens in Hanoi June 2, 2007. A Vietnamese man who works at a poultry slaughterhouse outside Hanoi has been infected with bird flu, the country's second human case in less than a month, state media on Saturday quoted a doctor as saying. REUTERS/Le Nguyen (VIETNAM) |
Engineer Who Survived Pandemic Of '68 Creates Model To Track Outbreak
Sat, 02 Jun 2007 1:04 AM PDT Nearly 40 years ago, MIT Professor Richard Larson spent a week sick in bed with the worst illness he'd ever had-the particularly virulent strain of flu that swept the globe in 1968. (PANDEMIC) |
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Expert: Pandemic inevitable, so we'd better prepare - PA
Sun, 03 Jun 2007 10:05 PM PDT In contrast to the infection patterns for the seasonal flu we see every winter, Phuoc Tran, executive director for the south central district of the Pennsylvania Department of Health, said most of the victims of Spanish Influenza were healthy, young adults. "Essential services collapsed as the disease spread," Tran said. (PANDEMIC) |
AFP - Sat Jun 02 11:13 PM A motorcyclist rides through a checking-point on an alley covered of lime powder leading to the hamlet Hau Duong hit by a bird flu outbreak, on the outskirts of Hanoi, Mar 9, 2007. Ten ducklings died and 80 others fell sick in a farm in Thai Binh province on Thursday, and tests found they had the H5N1 virus, the Animal Health Department said in a report.(VIETNAM) |
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Sun June 3, 10:20 PM "There may be a bit of complacency when it comes to recognizing the pandemic potential of H7 viruses," said Michael Perdue, a World Health Organization expert. (PANDEMIC) |
AP - Mon Jun 4, 5:46 AM ET This undated photo released by the University of Georgia School of Law on Thursday May 31, 2007 shows Andrew Speaker at the John Marshall Law School in Atlanta, Ga. Andrew Speaker, 31, who has a rare and dangerous form of tuberculosis that has proved resistant to drugs is under the first federal quarantine since 1963. This photo appeared in the Spring/Summer 2003 Advocate, the school magazine. (AP Photo/University of Georgia School of Law) (PANDEMIC) |
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Mon Jun 4, 1:26 PM ET Henk Bekedam, the World Health Organization's representative in China, during a press conference in Beijing, June 2005. A Chinese soldier has died from bird flu, taking the death toll from the virus in the world's most populous country to 16, the World Health Organization said on Monday. (CHINA) |
Jun 4 2007 Wales chief veterinary officer Dr Christianne Glossop last week announced that the H7N2 strain of bird flu had been found on T'n Llwyn farm, in Llanfihangel Glyn Myfyr, near Corwen which has also been linked to the market. (UK) |
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AFP/File - Tue Jun 5, 2:58 AM ET A pet shop in Shanghai. A teenage soldier in China has died from bird flu, the health ministry reported Tuesday, but a WHO official said the country's 16th death from the virus was not cause for major alarm(AFP/File/Liu Jin) (CHINA) |
AP - Tue Jun 5, 5:55 AM ET In this image taken Sunday, May 27, 2007 and made available Tuesday, June 5, 2007, a Chinese vendor holds up several chicken at a poultry market in Hefei, eastern China's Anhui province Sunday May 27, 2007. A 19-year-old Chinese soldier has died of the H5N1 bird flu strain, the country's 16th reported death from the virus, the World Health Organization and China's Health Ministry said Tuesday, June 5. (AP Photo) (CHINA) |
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AP - Tue Jun 5, 8:53 AM ET A Chinese woman shops at a market for poultry in Nanning, southwestern China's Guangxi province on Tuesday, June 5 2007. A 19-year-old Chinese soldier has died of the H5N1 bird flu strain, the country's 16th reported death from the virus, the World Health Organization and China's Health Ministry said Tuesday. WHO has said that Cheng's case was China's 24th of 25 human infections that occurred without a reported outbreak among poultry, indicating a weak surveillance system and a still-circulating virus. (AP Photo/Color China Photo) (CHINA) |
Tue Jun 05 4:44 AM Getting ready for the worst: From bird flu to anthrax, the county must be prepared to handle all health emergencies - WI . Steve Lenser, a microbiologist with the La Crosse County Health Department, tests for food, water and soil contaminants found in the water reservoirs. Photo by Jo Anne Killeen (PANDEMIC) |
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06 Jun 2007 03:04:14 GMT A vendor sells cooked food at a market in Shenyang, northeast China's Liaoning province June 6, 2007. China will launch a sweeping offensive against dangerous medicines and bad food, the government announced in a new plan that also promises stronger international cooperation. China branded the U.S. warning against using its toothpaste as irresponsible, saying low levels of DEG were not harmful. REUTERS/SHENG LI (CHINA) |
AFP/File - Wed Jun 6, 4:26 AM ET A doctor examines a woman at a temporary medical centre set up for bird flu checks in Medan, Indonesia, May 2007. Researchers in Indonesia, the country worst hit by bird flu, have found preliminary evidence which suggests humans could be more susceptible to infection.(AFP/File/Rahmad ) (INDONESIA) |
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AFP/File - Wed Jun 6, 1:37 PM ET Veterinary service workers collect chickens during a culling operation on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur in February 2006. An isolated new outbreak of the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu has been detected among poultry in a village on the outskirts of the Malaysian capital, officials said Wednesday.(AFP/File/Tengku Bahar) (MALAYSIA) |
Reuters - Wed Jun 6, 12:16 PM ET Malaysian health officials collect a bird from a cage at a village in Paya Jaras outside Kuala Lumpur June 6, 2007. Malaysia has detected the H5N1 bird flu virus in chickens in a village near the capital and has begun culling poultry nearby as a protective move, authorities said on Wednesday. REUTERS/Stringer (MALAYSIA) |
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Wed, 06 Jun 2007 12:04 PM PDT A veterinarian examines a falcon for avian influenza at Abu Dhabi's Falcon Hospital in 2005 (SAUDI ARABIA). Veterinarians who work with birds are at increased risk for infection with avian influenza virus and should be among those with priority access to pandemic influenza vaccines and antivirals, according to a study conducted by researchers in the University of Iowa College of Public Health. (US) |
Reuters - Thu Jun 7, 2:42 AM ET Malaysian health officials collect a goose at a village in Paya Jaras outside Kuala Lumpur June 7, 2007. Malaysia has confined bird flu to three villages near its capital as teams of government workers and volunteers cull flocks of chickens and ducks to stamp out the H5N1 virus, health officials said on Thursday. REUTERS/Stringer (MALAYSIA) |
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Reuters - Thu Jun 7, 2:55 AM ET Malaysian health officials collect chickens in bags at a village in Paya Jaras outside Kuala Lumpur June 7, 2007. Malaysia has confined bird flu to three villages near its capital as teams of government workers and volunteers cull flocks of chickens and ducks to stamp out the H5N1 virus, health officials said on Thursday. REUTERS/Stringer (MALAYSIA) |
AP - Thu Jun 7, 5:12 AM ET Chinese women prepare poultry products at a market in Loudi, southern China's Hunan province, Wednesday, June 6, 2007. China has stepped up anti-bird flu measures along its border with Vietnam after at least two people there contracted the potentially deadly virus in recent weeks, state media reported Thursday..(AP Photo/EyePress) (CHINA) |
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AFP - Thu Jun 7, 3:15 PM ET A veterinary services employee attempts to catch chickens in a coop during a culling operation in Sungai Buloh, near Kuala Lumpur. Thousands of birds were being destroyed Thursday after avian flu resurfaced in Malaysia but the source of the outbreak remained unclear, a health official said.(AFP/Tengku Bahar) (MALAYSIA) |
Reuters - Thu Jun 7, 6:46 AM ET A worker injects a chicken with vaccine at a hennery in Huai'an, east China's Jiangsu province, June 6, 2007. (Patty Chen/Reuters) (CHINA) (VACCINES) |
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Thu. Jun. 7 2007 8:22 AM ET Indonesian authorities suggested Wednesday that the H5N1 avian flu virus appears to be changing in ways that may allow it to transmit from poultry to people more easily. Officials of the World Health Organization said they have seen no evidence to support the claim. They suggested Indonesia should share the data so other scientists can help investigate whether the virus is undergoing changes that might increase the pandemic risk it poses. (INDONESIA) |
Thu, 07 Jun 2007 10:27 PM PDT BBC News A low-risk strain of bird flu has been found at a smallholding near St Helens in Merseyside. The infected birds included a peacock, peahen and their chicks. (UK) |
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Thu, 07 Jun 2007 11:54 PM PDT Test results positive for low pathogenic h7 avian influenza near St Helens, England Government News Network Tests have provided positive results for low pathogenic avian influenza in poultry on a non-commercial small holding near St Helens, Lancashire, England. Birds at the holding were purchased from the market held in Chelford on Monday 7th May associated with the recent outbreak of H7N2 low pathogenic avian influenza in Conwy, North Wales. Fred Landeg, Deputy Chief Veterinary Officer said: "The tests were carried out as part of the normal tracings activity which is underway following the outbreak in Wales. This is an extensive exercise, and this is the only premises to date with evidence of infection." (UK) |
AFP/File - Fri Jun 8, 12:12 AM ET IBM's logo. IBM researchers on Friday released free software to help public health officials prevent pandemics of diseases such as bird flu or dengue fever(AFP/File/Gabriel Bouys) (RESEARCH) |
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AFP - Fri Jun 8, 2:53 AM ET China's vice-minister of Health, Ma Xiaowei (front L), listens as the final declaration is read during a press conference at the conclusion of the APEC Health Ministers' Meeting in Sydney. APEC health ministers agreed Friday to share samples of the bird flu virus to help develop effective vaccines, setting aside disputes over who "owns" the disease.(AFP/Torsten Blackwood) (CHINA) |
AFP/File - Fri Jun 8, 12:55 PM ET Parakeets huddle together in a box as they await cleaning to be sold as pets in March 2007 at a bird market in Hong Kong. A dead magpie has tested positive for the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus in Hong Kong, agricultural officials said Friday.(AFP/File/Tengku Bahar) (HONG KONG) |
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AFP/File - Fri Jun 8, 4:32 PM ET A veterinary services employee(L) takes a swab from a rooster to test for the H5N1 avian influenza virus during a culling operation in Sungai Buloh, near Kuala Lumpur, 06 June 2007. Five Malaysians are in hospital with flu symptoms after an outbreak of deadly avian influenza among poultry in their village, the health minister said Friday.(AFP/File/Tengku Bahar) (MALAYSIA) |
Reuters - Fri Jun 8, 3:25 PM ET A chicken is seen at a shop in Cairo, April 11, 2007. A 10-year-old girl from southern Egypt has been infected with the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus, and is in "very critical" condition, a World Health Organization official said on Friday. REUTERS/Tara Todras-Whitehill (WHO) |
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AFP/File - Fri Jun 8, 5:14 PM ET An Egyptian worker cleans a chicken farm near Jamasa city, 170 kms north of Cairo in April 2007. A 10-year-old girl tested positive on Friday for the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu, raising to 35 the number of cases reported in Egypt, a World Health Organisation official said.(AFP/File/Khaled Desouki) (EGYPT) |
New bird flu case linked to Wales Tests found 22 chickens and three ducks tested positive for avian flu at the farm in St Helens, Lancashire, the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said yesterday. (UK)
IBM Offers Software to Track Bird Flu IBM said Thursday that it is giving health authorities and others around the world expanded access to free software it partly developed in San Jose to help track bird flu and other infectious diseases. (RESEARCH) |
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May 17, 1:24 pm EDT Hospitals across the Alleghenies and the state conducted drills to test their preparedness for a bird flu pandemic. (US) |
June 09, 2007 12:30am Unprepared ... after a $600m preparation programme, Australia is yet to develop a vaccine to the deadly bird flu virus / AP (AUSTRALIA) (VACCINES) |
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AP - Sat Jun 9, 2:52 AM ET A poultry vendor hauls chicken livestock at a meat market in Kuala Lumpur, Thursday, June 7, 2007. The virulent H5N1 strain of bird flu has been detected in Kampung Paya Jaras Hilir outside Kuala Lumpur, one year after Malaysia was declared free of the disease. total of eleven Malaysians were under observation in hospital Saturday as officials denied there was a second outbreak of bird flu in the country. (AP Photo/Marcus Yam) (MALAYSIA) |
Reuters - Sat Jun 9, 7:52 AM ET A Malaysian health official collects chicken eggs at a village in Paya Jaras outside Kuala Lumpur June 9, 2007. Malaysia has found no human cases of bird flu so far, with 10 of 11 people taken to hospital with symptoms having tested negative, a Health Ministry official said on Saturday. REUTERS/Stringer (MALAYSIA) |
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Reuters - Sunday June 10, 4:35 PM KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Two people have been quarantined in a Malaysian hospital after displaying symptoms of the bird flu virus, the health minister said on Sunday. (MALAYSIA) |
Reuters - Mon Jun 11, 6:19 AM ET Chickens are seen in a cage in a market in Cairo, Feb 14, 2007. (IRIN) - Ten-year-old Mayada Tohami has become the youngest person in Egypt to die of bird flu since the first human case was recorded in the country in March 2006. Hers was the 15th death of the 35 human cases reported to date. (EGYPT) |
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AP - Mon Jun 11, 9:24 AM ET Chinese children handle ducks at a market in Loudi, central China's Hunan province, Sunday, June 10, 2007. The 19-year-old Chinese soldier who died of the H5N1 bird flu strain, is the country's 16th reported death from the virus, the World Health Organization and China's Health Ministry said last Tuesday. Authorities are on the look out for the next outbreak of the bird flu virus. (AP Photo/EyePress) (CHINA) |
MSNBC - Mon Jun 11 11:34 AM A group of 6-week-old ducks waddle away from visitors on Jim Skinner's Duck and Partridge Farm last month in Mount Pleasant Mills, Pa. Experts looking for a better way to destroy future poultry flocks infected with bird flu think they may have found it in an unlikely form: foam. (US) |
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AFP/File - Mon Jun 11, 12:14 PM ET A poultry vendor waits for customers at a wet market in Kuala Lumpur in 2005. Four people are in hospital in Terengganu state after possible exposure to bird flu, Malaysia's health minister said Monday as officials monitored for new outbreaks of the deadly virus.(AFP/File/Teh Eng Koon ) (MALAYSIA) |
AFP/File - Mon Jun 11, 12:15 PM ET Health workers and poultry owners get ready to slaughter poultry during a mass culling operation in Jakarta in January 2007. Some fowl infected with bird flu in Indonesia appear healthy, making it difficult to detect outbreaks of the virus which is often deadly for humans, an official said.(AFP/File/Jewel Samad ) (INDONESIA) |
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Mon, 11 Jun 2007 07:25PM KUALA LUMPUR The private sector should have a contingency plan in the event of a pandemic, Health Minister Datuk Seri Chua Soi Lek said today. (MALAYSIA) |
AFP/File - Mon, 11 Jun 2007 9:56 AM PDT Traders at Onipanu poultry market in Lagos, 01 February 2007. The risk of the H5N1 virus transferring from animals to humans in Nigeria has not increased since a woman died last month in the first fatality in west Africa from bird flu, a UN official has said.(AFP/File/Pius Utomi Ekpei) (NIGERIA) |
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Reuters - Tue Jun 12, 9:07 AM ET A woman transports ducks by bicycle at a roadside market 20 km (12 miles) outside Hanoi, May 22, 2007. Two Vietnamese women have tested positive for the H5N1 bird flu virus, but one has recovered while the other is in intensive care, a state-run newspaper reported on Tuesday. (Nguyen Huy Kham/Reuters) (VIETNAM) |
Reuters - Tue Jun 12, 9:35 AM ET Women walk past Vietnam's National Institute of Infectious and Tropical Diseases in Hanoi June 13, 2007. Two Vietnamese women have tested positive for the H5N1 bird flu virus, but one has recovered while the other is in intensive care, a state-run newspaper reported on Tuesday. REUTERS/Kham (VIETNAM) |
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AFP/File - Tue Jun 12, 12:13 PM ET A farmer walks his flock of ducks on a newly harvested rice field in northern Vietnam. Vietnam's first bird flu patient in 18 months has made a full recovery, but health authorities warned Tuesday that the deadly virus is spreading in the country's fowl population.(AFP/File/Hoang Dinh Nam) (VIETNAM) |
AFP/File - Tue Jun 12, 2:10 PM ET Veterinary services employees attempt to catch chicken in a coop during a culling operation in Sungai Buloh, near Kuala Lumpur, 06 June 2007. Five Malaysians have been quarantined with suspected bird flu following an outbreak of the deadly H5N1 strain of the virus last week, the country's health minister said Tuesday.(AFP/File/Tengku Bahar) (MALAYSIA) |
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AFP via Yahoo! News - Jun 12 10:15 PM "We must figure the right way to move ahead to make sure that sharing of these public goods -- the viruses -- also leads to sharing of the benefits," said Heymann during a panel discussion about pandemic diseases at the Pacific Health Summit in Seattle. "We have to take this to heart very clearly." (PANDEMIC) |
AFP/File - Wed Jun 13, 4:41 AM ET Health officials wearing protective suits, slaughter suspected bird flu infected poultry in Medan, May 2007. A top United Nations official said Indonesia is among countries in the world facing the biggest difficulties in fighting deadly bird flu.(AFP/File/Rahmad ) (INDONESIA) |
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AP - Wed Jun 13, 1:00 AM ET An Indonesian women cleans chicken at a market in Jakarta, Indonesia, Monday, June 11, 2007. Many Muslim countries are ill-equipped to tackle a bird flu outbreak because of insufficient financial resources and the public's lack of awareness about the disease, a U.N. health official said Wednesday, June 13, 2007. Hassan el Bushra of the World Health Organization said Muslim countries that are of the most immediate concern are the ones where there have been human cases of bird flu such as Indonesia, Egypt and Turkey. (AP Photo/Tatan Syuflana) (WHO) |
Reuters - Wed Jun 13, 12:15 PM ET Afghan veterinarians chat during a bird cull west of Kabul, March 22, 2006. Some Muslim countries are ill-prepared to tackle an outbreak of bird flu because of poor resources and public apathy, a WHO official said at a meeting of Islamic nations on Wednesday. REUTERS/Ahmad Masood (WHO) |
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Wednesday, June 13 03:08 pm LONDON (Reuters) - GlaxoSmithKline is to donate 50 million doses of its "pre-pandemic" bird flu vaccine for humans to a global stockpile for distribution in the world's poorest countries. Europe's biggest drugmaker said on Wednesday it would deliver the vaccine -- enough for 25 million people -- to the World Health Organisation (WHO) over a three-year period. The company's chief executive, Jean-Pierre Garnier, also urged governments of major European countries like Germany, France, Italy, Spain and Britain to place orders to secure a supply for their populations. Garnier said Glaxo's pre-pandemic shot would give "a degree of protection" until a precisely tailored pandemic vaccine could be produced -- a process that is likely to take four to six months from the time a pandemic strain is identified. The United States and some smaller countries have already placed orders for national stockpiles but there has been concern that the world's poor could be left without protection. As a result, the WHO has decided to set up a vaccine stockpile to distribute shots at short notice to poor countries. "None of the big (European) countries -- whether it's Germany, France, Italy, Spain, UK -- have come forward and made a final determination ... we hope they are going to come to a final decision because at some point we have to apportion our production," he added. The product has a shelf-life of three to five years. (VACCINES) |
Health department prepares cards for pandemic influenza - CumberlandJune 13, 2007 12:48 pm CUMBERLAND - The Allegany County Health Department's Office of Public Health Preparedness has created wallet-sized pocket cards to remind residents to be prepared for pandemic influenza. Each home in Allegany County will receive two of the cards in the mail this week. Experts say that it is not a matter of if a pandemic flu will happen, but when. A pandemic occurs when people all over the world get sick because they have no resistance to a new virus. Planning has been taking place on the local, state and federal levels. It is important not only for the government and leaders of the community to be prepared, but for every individual to be ready. "We ask that all residents take the time to fill in their personal emergency numbers and medications and place the card in their wallet," said Dr. Sue Raver, health officer. "Having this vital information with them in the time of an emergency could save their life or that of a loved one." The card explains how you can find important health information during a pandemic or other health emergency. The health department, in collaboration with other agencies in the community, has created a siren icon that will notify the public that a public health emergency is imminent or in progress. The siren appears on the health department and community partners' Web sites. In nonemergency times, the siren is blue, and will take Internet users to the Public Health Emergency Information page. The page contains information on pandemic flu and other public health emergencies. In an emergency, the siren will be red and will indicate that there is important information that should be read. The page will then include updated information on the emergency, where you can find more information regarding the emergency and steps you can take to keep your family safe. (US) |
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Thursday June 14, 09:30 AM WHO Director-General Dr. Margaret Chan said the organization had been given more preparation time than it could have hoped for ahead of an influenza pandemic. (WHO) |
Thursday, June 14, 2007 3:19 AM EDT A Chinese man stands near the replica of a fossilized skull and a small scale model depicting the Gigantoraptor erlianensis, whose fossilized bones were uncovered recently in northern China at an unveiling held in Beijing, China, Wednesday, June 13, 2007. The remains of a giant, birdlike dinosaur at least 35 times the weight of similar species have been found in China, a surprising discovery that indicates a more complicated evolutionary process for birds than originally thought, scientists said Wednesday.(AP Photo/Ng Han Guan) (CHINA) |
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AFP/Pool/File - Thu Jun 14, 11:06 AM ET Members of Hong Kong's Health Department wear protective suits during an exercise at Hong Kong airport, simulating a situation where a plane passenger is infected with a highly contagious disease. Revised International Health Regulations (IHR) enter into force on 15 June, aiming to boost the world's capacity to deal with the growing threat that infectious diseases such as bird flu can spread globally.(AFP/Pool/File/Alex Hofford) (HONG KONG) |
AFP/File - Thu Jun 14, 2:19 PM ET A motorist transports chickens in Jakarta in May 2007. A 29-year-old man has died of bird flu in Indonesia, bringing the death toll in the country worst hit by the virus here to 80, a health ministry official said Thursday.(AFP/File/Bay Ismoyo) (INDONESIA) |
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AFP/File - Thu Jun 14, 2:20 PM ET A chicken farm in Yangon. Military-run Myanmar has detected a fresh outbreak of bird flu among poultry north of Yangon and has slaughtered some 1,000 chickens, a livestock official said Thursday.(AFP/File/Khin Maung Win) (MYANMAR) |
Friday June 15, 3:37 AM The U.S. government has given two vaccine makers, MedImmune Inc. and Sanofi-Aventis , $132.5 million to fix up facilities in the United States so that production can quickly switch to making a pandemic influenza vaccine. (PANDEMIC) US gives companies cash to fix up vaccine plantsWASHINGTON, June 14 (Reuters) - The U.S. government has given two vaccine makers, MedImmune Inc. and Sanofi-Aventis , $132.5 million to fix up facilities in the United States so that production can quickly switch to making a pandemic influenza vaccine. Sanofi said on Thursday it had been awarded $77.4 million to redesign a plant in Pennsylvania and the Health and Human Services Department said it had given $55 million to MedImmune to retrofit its facilities in several states. The government has been keen to get vaccine factories established on U.S. soil because most vaccines for the U.S. market are now made in other countries. Experts fear that if a pandemic of influenza begins, countries will nationalize their own vaccine supplies. "We must prepare for a flu pandemic, although it may not be possible to be certain when the next one will come or how severe it will be," Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt said in a statement. "The contract covers costs for design, retrofit and the maintenance of the facilities at a state of readiness so the company can switch to pandemic influenza vaccine manufacture at the HHS's request," Sanofi pasteur, the vaccines division of the Sanofi-Aventis, added in a separate statement. (VACCINES) |
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AFP/File - Fri Jun 15, 2:26 PM ET A farmer transporting cages of live chickens makes his way to a local market in the northern province of Hung Yen, 03 June 2007. Bird flu in Vietnam has spread to a mountainous province bordering China, officials said Friday, as animal health workers stepped up vaccinations to limit the spread of the virus.(AFP/File/Hoang Dinh Nam) (VIETNAM) |
Nhan Dan Fri, 15 Jun 2007 2:40 AM PDT Vietnam and US co-operate in bird flu control The five-year project will be carried out at an estimated cost of over US $7 million in nine provinces and cities across the country, namely Hanoi, Thai Binh, Lang Son, Hoa Binh, Thua Thien Hue, Khanh Hoa, Da Nang, Dong Nai and Tien Giang. (US) The Vietnam Administration of Preventive Medicine and the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on June 14 initiated a co-operative programme for fighting avian influenza. The first year of the programme, starting from April 2007, will be provided to the tune of US $1.15 million. US Ambassador to Vietnam Michael Marine stressed that this project will create a strong new partnership between the US and Vietnamese health organisations, and complement other avian influenza projects in Vietnam which were supported by the US Agency for International Development and the US Department of Agriculture. An outbreak reoccurred in Vietnam's 17 cities and provinces after being kept under control for more than 17 months. (VNA) (VACCINES) |
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Reuters - Fri Jun 15, 7:43 AM ET Airman 1st Class Brandon Terhune (L) and Senior Airman Justin Meier work on a connecting hallway for a portable hospital in preparation for a national emergency like the feared bird flu pandemic in Topeka, Kansas, June 3, 2006. New rules to help the United Nations contain public health emergencies took effect on Friday, requiring countries to disclose potential threats from disease, chemical agents, radioactive materials and contaminated food. REUTERS/Craig Sands (WHO) |
Fri Jun 15, 2007 10:44am ET Porous Borders Are Vector for Bird Flu Importation - DR Agharih was speaking in Kumbo, Friday, June 8, at the end of a three-day maiden contact tour of livestock farms in Bui Division. The Delegate told his audience that was composed mainly of livestock and crop farmers that he and his team were out to sensitise farmers in order to ensure that "we don't have the bird flu through our porous borders especially with neighbouring Nigeria where the virus is reportedly active." |
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AFP/File - Fri Jun 15, 2:28 PM ET Secretary General of the Organization of the Islamic Conference Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu addresses Malaysian Prime the opening of the inaugural OIC health conference in Petaling Jaya, 14 June 2007. Muslim nations will focus on key areas of child health and vaccine production to eliminate preventable diseases, senior health officials announced Friday in Malaysia.(AFP/File/Billion Lim) (VACCINES) |
Sat Jun 16, 7:15 AM ET Bird flu has hit Vietnam's northern Cao Bang province, raising the total number of affected localities nationwide to 18 so far, according to a local veterinary agency on Saturday. The country has so far this year vaccinated 140.5 million fowls, including 81.6 million chickens, 55.45 million ducks and roughly 3. 5 million white-winged ducks, said the department. (VIETNAM) |
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AFP/File - Sat Jun 16, 4:24 PM ET A farmer puts duckies in a basket as she prepares to take them to a local market in Thanh Oai district, northern province of Ha Tay, August 2006. Vietnamese state media on Saturday announced that a man had died of bird flu, the country's first human death from the disease since November 2005.(AFP/File/Hoang Dinh Nam) (VIETNAM) |
AP - Sun Jun 17, 3:57 AM ET Masked personnel stroll a pet bird market to disinfect shops Sunday, June 17, 2007, in Hong Kong after the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu was found. The Hong Kong government closed a pet bird market Sunday after a bird there was found to be carrying the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus strain. (AP Photo/Lo Sai Hung ) (HONG KONG) |
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AP - Sun Jun 17, 3:57 AM ET A masked person mop the floor of a pet bird market Sunday, June 17, 2007, in Hong Kong after the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu was found. The Hong Kong government closed a pet bird market Sunday after a bird there was found to be carrying the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus strain. (AP Photo/Lo Sai Hung ) (HONG KONG) |
Reuters - Sun Jun 17, 4:52 AM ET A woman walks outside the Bird Garden in Hong Kong's Mongkok district after finding the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu in the faeces of a daurian starling in one of its pet stores June 17, 2007. The Bird Garden, a tourist attraction in the territory, was closed on Saturday evening under strict surveillance until further notice. REUTERS/Bobby Yip (CHINA) |
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AFP/File - Sun Jun 17, 2:10 AM ET An animal health worker spays disinfectant on geese loaded on a motorbike at Ha Vy poultry market in Ha Tay province near Hanoi, Vietnam Tuesday Feb. 13, 2007 Vietnamese state media on Saturday announced that a man had died of bird flu, the country's first human death from the disease since November 2005. by Frank Zeller (AFP/File/Hoang Dinh Nam) (VIETNAM) |
Reuters - Mon Jun 18, 6:59 AM ET A woman inspects a duck at a wholesale poultry market in Hatay province, outside Hanoi June 18, 2007. Bird flu, which has killed one person since it re-emerged in Vietnam in early May, has flared up on several farms in a northern province despite efforts by the government to stop it from spreading. REUTERS/Kham (VIETNAM) |
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Mon, 18 Jun 2007 9:02 AM PDT A veterinarian takes a blood sample from a Magellan goose to test the effects of vaccination against bird flu at Zurich zoo December 7, 2006. A team at the University of Iowa College of Public Health analyzed blood samples from a group of American veterinarians who worked with chickens, ducks, turkeys, geese or quail. They found that their blood had increased levels of antibodies against the H5, H6 and H7 avian influenza viruses. (US) |
Monday June 18, 11:40 am ET
Pharmacokinetic and Safety Profile of the Intramuscular Formulation of Peramivir Supports Further Evaluation as Treatment for Acute Influenza
BIRMINGHAM, Ala., June 18 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: BCRX - News) presented results from two Phase I clinical studies of an intramuscular (i.m.) formulation of peramivir at the Options for the Control of Influenza Conference in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. This major international influenza conference is held only once every four years. Jon P. Stonehouse, Chief Executive Officer of BioCryst said "these findings suggest an excellent safety profile of peramivir when given as an intramuscular injection, and, secondly, the concentrations of peramivir in blood after intramuscular dosing are reassuringly high and are similar to levels after intravenous administration. We look forward to the completion of our ongoing Phase II study of i.m. peramivir in the treatment of acute influenza in outpatients." Avian influenza A viruses of H5N1 subtype are circulating among birds worldwide, the virus is considered extremely contagious in fowl. It is believed that all species of birds are susceptible to avian influenza, but domestic poultry, including chickens and turkeys, are among the more susceptible to the highly pathogenic strain. According to the World Health Organization, at least 261 people have contracted H5N1 avian influenza, of which at least 157 have died. Almost all of these infections are believed to have resulted from contact with infected poultry. (US) |
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AFP - Tue Jun 19, 1:15 PM ET Kiev pigeons : Pigeons besiege an elderly man passing in front of the Soviet era Monument of Russia-Ukrainian friendship in Kiev. Wild ducks that had been infected with bird flu, but recovered from it were registered in the Altai territory. Around 6 million poultry are located in high-risk zones of the Siberian federal district. Around 4.4 million of them have already been vaccinated. (RUSSIA) |
Tuesday, 19 June 2007, 15:15 CDT Bird Flu Fears Reignited. While the threat of a bird flu pandemic continues to hang over the world, authorities in the United Kingdom now believe a second strain of avian flu -- previously considered of little human risk -- does indeed pose a real danger to people.(PANDEMIC) |
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AFP/File - Wed Jun 20, 2:25 AM ET A farmer leaving a poultry market with live ducks loaded on her bicycle in the northern province of Ha Tay, March 2007. Vietnam plans to start its first human trial of a locally-made H5N1 bird flu vaccine as early as next month, using 20 to 30 volunteers, according to state health officials.(AFP/File) (VIETNAM) |
Wed Jun 20, 3:25 AM ET A Bangladeshi veterinary officer removes chicken from a poultry farm for slaughter March 23, 2007. Bird flu has spread to another district in Bangladesh, forcing authorities to cull 7,000 chickens, officials said on Monday. Bangladesh has more than 125,000 poultry firms producing 250 million broilers and six billion eggs annually. About four million Bangladeshis are directly or indirectly associated with poultry farming. (BANGLADESH) |
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June 20, 2007 6:05 pm U.S. Geological Survey biologist Dan Ruthrauff, right, removes a Western sandpiper, that will be tested for avian flu, from a mist in the Anchorage Coastal Wildlife Refuge in Anchorage, Alaska May 19, 2006, as Lee Tibbitts untangles other birds. This was the first testing of live birds for the virus in Alaska. The testing of shorebirds began Wednesday on an Anchorage coastal wildlife refuge. It's the first sampling of a summer-long project to swab birds for bird flu throughout the state. Nationwide, the goal is to sample 75,000 to 100,000 wild birds. In Alaska, about $4 million in federal money will be allocated to study about 15,000 birds. (ALASKA) |
AFP/File - Thu Jun 21, 2007 2:52 AM Firemen wearing protective gear on the boat carry out a dead bird at Podhradsky pond in the city of Hluboka nad Vltavou some 160km south of Prague, in March 2006. Czech veterinary authorities on Wednesday confirmed the country's first case of bird flu in poultry, found in a turkey. Turkeys where the virus was found totaled around 6,000. (CZECH) |
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AFP - Thu Jun 21, 1:06 PM ET A veterinary worker wearing a protective suit throws turkey into a container at a farm in Tisova village, some 160 km east of Prague. Czech officials confirmed Thursday the country's first outbreak of the deadly H5N1 bird flu strain in poultry, at a turkey farm in the centre of the country.(AFP/Michal Cizek) (CZECH) |
Thu Jun 21, 4:42 PM ET U.S. agencies have committed about $377 million to improve global preparedness for avian and pandemic influenza, said the report by the Government Accountability Office, the nonpartisan investigative arm of Congress. (PANDEMIC) WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States has pledged more than a quarter of all the funds being used to prepare the world for an influenza pandemic, but is still having trouble identifying which countries need the most help, according to a report released on Thursday. U.S. agencies have committed about $377 million to improve global preparedness for avian and pandemic influenza, said the report by the Government Accountability Office, the nonpartisan investigative arm of Congress. "This amounted to about 27 percent of the $1.4 billion committed by all donors combined; exceeded the amounts other individual donors, including the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, and Japan, had committed; and was also greater than combined commitments by the European Commission and European Union member countries," the GAO report reads. "The U.S. Agency for International Development and the Department of Health and Human Services have provided most of these funds for a range of efforts, including stockpiles of protective equipment and training foreign health professionals in outbreak response," the report added. |
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Reuters - Fri Jun 22, 4:53 AM ET A pharmacist displays Swiss drug maker Roche's Tamiflu bird flu anti-viral tablets at a pharmacy in Sarajevo, February 18, 2006. Using antiviral Tamiflu could halve the potential death toll from an influenza pandemic if it was used both to treat and prevent the disease, its maker Roche said on Friday. (Danilo Krstanovic/Reuters) (PANDEMIC) |
AP - Fri Jun 22, 8:34 AM ET A veterinary worker kills a hen with an injection in the village of Tisova some 100kms (about 60 miles) east of Prague Czech Republic, Friday, June 22, 2007. After the preliminary tests showed the presence of the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus in a nearby poultry farm Czech veterinary commission decided to kill all the poultry in a 3 kilometer radius of the village of Tisova. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek) (CZECH) |
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AFP/File - Fri Jun 22, 12:03 PM ET A veterinary worker wearing a protective suit throws a turkey into a container on 21 June 2007, at a farm in Tisova village, some 160 kms east of Prague. Six thousand turkeys at a Czech farm where the potentially lethal H5N1 strain of bird flu was confirmed this week have been slaughtered, officials said on Friday.(AFP/File/Michal Cizek) (CZECH) |
AFP/File - Fri Jun 22, 2:34 PM ET Poultry vendors at Tabligbo market, some 70 kms north of Lome in February 2006. The deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu was confirmed for the first time in Togo on Friday after tests were carried out on poultry found dead in the west African nation.(AFP/File/Emile Kouton) (TOGO) |
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June 22, 2007 QUESTION: Dr. Dewhirst: I have a small flock of Rhode Island Red chickens on my farm. I have been reading about avian flu and am concerned for my birds. How would I know if they were sick, and what would I do? |
Dear Listeners, Ask The Vet Radio has some exciting news to share! Due to the popularity of the show and the wonderful listener feedback and interaction with the website and newsletter, Ask The Vet Radio is now moving in a new direction. Starting January 2, 2007, Ask The Vet Radio will be on hiatus for roughly six months as we retool the show and head towards regional and nation syndication options. |
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AFP/File - Sat Jun 23, 1:11 PM ET Hundreds of chickens for sale are placed together in a chicken run in Jakarta in March 2007. A three-year-old who tested positive for bird flu has recovered from the potentially deadly illness after swift treatment, a doctor said Saturday.(AFP/File/Bay Ismoyo) (INDONESIA) |
AFP/File - Sat Jun 23, 1:27 PM ET A rooster stands for sale in an Egyptian street market of the populous district of Imbaba in Cairo 09 June 2007. A four-year-old Egyptian boy has been diagnosed as having contracted the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus, state news agency MENA quoted the health ministry as announcing.(AFP/File/Cris Bouroncle) (EGYPT) |
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Reuters - Sun Jun 24, 10:42 AM ET Firefighters inspect the lake Woehrder in Nuremberg June 24, 2007. The deadly strain of the bird flu virus has resurfaced in Germany in the bodies of at least three dead birds found in the state of Bavaria, Germany's first confirmed cases this year, officials said on Sunday. REUTERS/Michaela Rehle (GERMANY) |
AFP - Sun Jun 24, 5:15 PM ET A plate reading "Bird Flu - Not Touch or Feed Water Birds! - Dogs Must Be Leashed!" stands next to the Woehrder See lake in Nuremberg, southern Germany. Six wild birds in Germany have died of the feared H5N1 strain of bird flu, a German institute said on Sunday.(AFP/Timm Schamberger) (GERMANY) |
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Sunday June 24, 03:00 PM Health workers carry away dead chickens from a poultry farm in Gazipur, near Dhaka in this March 23, 2007 file photo. Health workers in Bangladesh have culled 78,000 chickens over the past six days after bird flu spread to another district in the north of the country, an official said on Sunday. (BANGLADESH) |
India strengthens defence against bird flu virus
Monday June 25, 02:14 AM Alarmed at the increasing outbreaks of bird flu in Bangladesh and Pakistan, the Indian Government has intensified its surveillance along borders and will set up six biosafety laboratories (BSL-3) in the country to strengthen its defence against the highly pathogenic H5N1 virus.
Since the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has termed the bird flu situation in Bangladesh "serious"-there were six bird flu outbreaks in Myanmar, 16 in Pakistan and 26 in Bangladesh-special attention is being given to the porous 4,000-km border with Bangladesh.
As the situation gets grim, officials from Bhutan and Nepal have been on a study tour to India to learn how it successfully contained the disease that had struck parts of Maharashtra, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh.
"We are surrounded by highly endemic countries and surveillance efforts have been stepped up," Upma Chaudhry, Central Animal Husbandry and Dairying Department Joint Secretary told The Indian Express. (INDIA) |
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Reuters - Sun Jun 24, 8:56 PM ET Pet shop owners place caged birds in the sun at the Bird Garden in Hong Kong in this June 21, 2007 file photo. In its heyday, Hong Kong's famous Bird Garden bustled with shoppers bargaining in Cantonese for exotic birds for sale as pets or for Buddhist rituals. But the Bird Garden, one of Hong Kong's more colourful sights, is deserted these days after a migratory bird for sale at the market in the densely-populated Mongkok district was found to be carrying the H5N1 bird flu strain. To match feature BIRDFLU-HONGKONG/BIRDS REUTERS/Bobby Yip/Files (CHINA) |
Reuters - Tue Jun 26, 12:48 AM ET Doses of a flu vaccine is seen lying on a table in San Luis Obispo, California in this October 31, 2006 file photo. The U.S. Agriculture Department is not fully prepared to cope with an outbreak of the highly pathogenic bird flu virus, a government report said on Monday. REUTERS/Phil Klein/Files (US) |
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Tue June 26, 2007 12:52 AM (KHNL) - The chances of the bird flu hitting Hawaii are pretty low. But state officials said they're ready for any bird flu outbreak, among birds or people. "I think we're pretty well prepared," said Jim Foppoli, state veterinarian. (US) |
Tuesday, 26 June 2007, 09:11 GMT 10:11 UK A dead swan was found at Cellardyke in Fife last year. The Cellardyke bird was identified as a whooper swan, not native to the UK. Scientists from around the globe are meeting in Aviemore to consider the latest ways of combating the threat of avian flu. (UK)
Experts meet on bird flu threat
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Tuesday June 26, 10:53 PM The year's first round of bird flu vaccinations, inoculating nearly 84 million chickens, over 59 million ducks and nearly 3.5 million white-winged ducks. Quang Ninh and Dong Thap provinces have reported no new outbreaks for 25 days, Bac Ninh, for 23 days, and Phu Tho, for 21 days. The period required for an affected locality to be deemed free from the epidemic is at least 21 days. Since May, bird flu has struck 18 provinces and cities. Five human infections have resulted in two deaths, bringing the death toll to 44 since 2003. Forty-four out of 64 provinces and cities have finished the year's first round of bird flu vaccinations, inoculating nearly 84 million chickens, over 59 million ducks and nearly 3.5 million white-winged ducks. Several other provinces are approaching the 21-day mark to be declared free of the H5N1 virus, including Nam Dinh, Hung Yen and Ha Nam, each free of the epidemic for 19 or 20 days.
Bird flu hits Thai Binh; four provinces pronounced clean(VIETNAM) |
Tuesday June 26, 11:00 PM A woman holds a duck at a roadside market 20 km (12 miles) outside Hanoi May 22, 2007. A 40-year-old man from Vietnam's southern Bac Lieu province has been hospitalized after showing bird flu symptoms, the local newspaper Young People reported Tuesday. (VIETNAM) |
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AP - Wed Jun 27, 8:44 AM ET Asia Moeller, left, and Karl-Peter Pfeiffer of the local veterinary office catch a crow on the waterside of a large pond near the eastern German town of Frohburg, Wednesday June 27, 2007. Some swans found dead here have tested positive for the deadly H5N1 strain of the bird flu. (AP Photo/Eckehard Schulz) (GERMANY) |
AFP/File - Wed Jun 27, 9:54 AM ET A Czech veterinary worker wearing a protective suit throws a turkey into a container at a farm in Tisova village, 21 June 2007. The fight against bird flu has improved around the world, but the situation remains critical in Egypt and Indonesia where the risk of the H5N1 virus mutating into a major human threat remains high, the UN health agency said.(AFP/File/Michal Cizek) (WHO) |
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AFP/File - Wed Jun 27, 12:45 PM ET A veterinary worker wearing a protective suit throws a turkey into a container at a farm in Tisova village, some 160 kms east of Prague on 21 June 2007. Czech authorities said Wednesday the H5N1 virus, which is potentially lethal to humans, had been found in a flock of chickens after its recent discovery among wild birds in Germany.(AFP/File/Michal Cizek) (CZECH) |
AFP/File - Wed Jun 27, 7:12 PM ET A child holds chickens at Tabligbo market, some 70 kms north of Lome, Togo, in 2006. Independent tests carried out in Italy have confirmed the presence for the first time of the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu in poultry from the west African nation of Togo, officials said Wednesday.(AFP/File/Emile Kouton) (TOGO) |
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Thu Jun 28, 11:32 AM ET Agriculture Minister Petr Gandalovic stressed on Wednesday that at this point there was no reason to fear an epidemic. "The two farms belong to the same farming cooperative and are located within five kilometers of each other and we are doing everything to make sure it does not spread from this territory." By Daniela Lazarova (CZECH) |
AP - Thu Jun 28, 11:34 AM ET A civil defense soldier, right, looks at firefighters in protective suits changing shifts during the decontamination of a large poultry farm where approximately 28,000 of broilers had been slaughtered as the H5N1 deadly strain of bird flu virus was detected on the spot in Norin, 140 kilometers east of Prague, Czech Republic, on Thursday, June 28, 2007. (AP Photo/CTK, Alexandra Mlejnkova) (CZECH) |
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Thu, 28 Jun 2007 1:10 PM PDT Health workers question students posing as flu victims during a disaster drill at Cal State San Bernardino on Wednesday. The exercise offered a chance for several public agencies to practice coordinating their responses to a pandemic flu. (Eric Reed) (US) |
Thursday, 28 June, 2007, 03:35 PM Health workers carry away dead chickens from a poultry farm in Gazipur, near Dhaka in this March 23, 2007 file photo. Bird flu has spread to another district in Bangladesh forcing health and veterinary workers to cull 5,000 chickens, officials said on Wednesday. (BANGLADESH) |
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FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS Nigeria: Countries Making Progress in Response to Avian InfluenzaThursday, 28 June, 2007, 09:35 PM "In the 15 or so countries in Asia, Eastern Europe and the Middle East, where the H5N1 virus was introduced during the past six months, it was rapidly detected and eliminated or controlled. Most affected countries have been very open about new outbreaks. This shows that countries are taking the H5N1 threat seriously. They are better prepared today and have improved their response systems," Domenech said at a press conference in Rome on the occasion of the Technical Meeting on Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza and Human H5N1 Infection. "Recent H5N1 outbreaks in Bangladesh, Ghana, Togo, the Czech Republic and Germany are a clear reminder that the virus still succeeds in spreading to new or previously already infected countries," Domenech said. "Even if bird flu has disappeared from our TV screens, it doesn't mean that the risk is over. Avian influenza is not a one time event -- the international community will have to live with the disease for several years to come," he added. He called for intensified monitoring of virus circulation particularly in countries that are using poultry vaccines. (FAO) |
Fri Jun 29, 12:03 PM ET Tulungagung (ANTARA News) - A nine-year-old child in Tulungagung, East Java, is suspected of having been infected with the bird flu virus, a hospital official said. (INDONESIA) Child in Tulungagung hospitalized with bird flu-like symptomsThe child, identified by its initials "EN" from Bungur, Karangrejo, is currently being treated at a local state hospital. The hospital`s spokesman, Triwidyono Agus Basuki, said here on Friday the child`s conditon was worsening. "We cannot as yet tell if the symptoms shown by the patient are really of birdflu because we have just sent samples of its blood to Surabaya for examination," he said. He said EN was admitted to the hospital on Thursday night with symptoms associated with bird flu. He said a number of chickens belonging to its granfather had died suddenly. "By chance, an animal health service official was conducting a counseling in the village. Upon hearing that a villager was ill with bird flu-like symptoms he immediately asked the child`s family to take it to a local health care center," he said. From there the child was later brought to the Dr Iskak Hospital and put in an isolation room. The animal health service official discovered at least 13 chickens had died suddenly in the village where EN lives. Two people in Tulungagung had died in the past one year of the virus. |
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Fri Jun 22, 1:34 PM ET A wild adult American Bald Eagle, center, is seen feeding two juveniles in a nest near Lake Palestine, Texas in this April 25, 2005 file photo. The Interior Department will announce on Thursday, June 28, 2007 that it is removing the majestic bird from the protection of the Endangered Species Act, capping a four-decade struggle for recovery. (AP Photo/Dr. Scott M. Lieberman) (US) |
Fri Jun 29, 6:17 PM ET Westport Weston Health District Director Sue Jacozzi, pictured at the District today, says Westport is constantly studying how to be a step ahead in pandemic flu preparations. Ed Kiersh for WestportNow.com (PANDEMIC) |
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Sat Jun 30, 1:11 AM ET SCIENTISTS have condemned culls of wild birds as a way of tackling outbreaks of avian flu. They say that while wild birds have been infected in some cases, domestic birds, the poultry industry and the trade in live and dead poultry hold the key roles in limiting any spread of the disease in future. More than 30 experts from 19 countries held an international summit on bird flu in Aviemore this week. It was organised by the Avian Flu Task Force under the UN international convention on migratory species. Since 2003, outbreaks of avian flu have led to the deaths of 191 people. In a post-conference statement, the delegates called for the urgent development of an early-warning system to alert authorities to future outbreaks. They raised concerns about the "continued misplaced practice of indiscriminate culling of wild birds in response to infection" which they said was contrary to the recommendations of many international organisations and intergovernmental conservation treaties. These bodies have stressed that attempts to eliminate avian flu in wild bird populations through culls are not feasible and may exacerbate the problem by causing further dispersion of infected birds. |
