Forum: News Reports for November 1

(If you want any of the links to open in a new window, hold down the shift key and then click on the link)

Summary from Indonesia Outbreak as at 31 October 2006

Lookout Posts – here are the links (if no Lookout Post exists, it will not be highlighted)

Please visit these threads for latest information from these regions or to add news

(Please see the thread Volunteers Needed as Lookouts Worldwide if you want to help)

Summary of News for 31 October 2006

(From WHO as at 31 Oct - latest update) Total human cases worldwide 256, deaths 152 (2006 – 109 with 74 deaths)

Egypt

• WHO confirms 7th death (link http://tinyurl.com/yeju4c)

India

• See separate thread for discussion (link India III )

Indonesia

• Translation of news within the thread at 12:37, 14:54
• Separate thread for outbreak discussion (link Indonesia Outbreak XIX )
• Separate thread for Summary of cases (link Case Summaries and Maps )

Nepal

• Mystery illness kills at least 20 in Nepal (link http://tinyurl.com/yxk5nv)
• See separate thread for discussion (link Nepal )

New Zealand

• Planners prepare for possible pandemic (link http://tinyurl.com/wz72l)

United Kingdom

• Increase in wild bird surveillance for avian flu (link http://tinyurl.com/yzy3yo and http://tinyurl.com/v4aq9)

United States of America

• Diseases affecting Yellowstone Wildlife Park, universities conduct research projects (link http://tinyurl.com/yycdxl)
• Assessment of Public Health Infrastructure to determine preparedness (link http://www.hsaj.org/)
• Book: Bird flu – a virus of our own hatching (link http://tinyurl.com/y26ure)
• Scientist gets out word: U.S. preparations for pandemic must pick up (link http://tinyurl.com/y39poz)
• Public works may have to address avian flu (link http://tinyurl.com/y6ot3h)
• Pandemic vaccine rationing proposal favours the young (link http://tinyurl.com/y8u5pb)
• (California) L.A. officials warned to prepare for avian flu (link http://tinyurl.com/sdej6)
• (Oregon) County to hold flu pandemic drill (link http://tinyurl.com/yjadpc)
• (Kansas) Awareness, knowledge keys to fighting pandemic, seasonal flu (link http://tinyurl.com/yjfta6)
• (Illinois) Norovirus cancels flu pandemic meeting at Isle of Capri (link http://tinyurl.com/yekdfh)
• (Michigan) Pandemic drill Wednesday will feature vaccine, not a placebo (link http://tinyurl.com/y3marh)
• (Pennsylvania) Hanover Hospital ready for pandemic (link http://tinyurl.com/y8m2no)
• (Pennsylvania) preparing for a pandemic (link http://tinyurl.com/ya8ysx)
• (California) Newsbriefs from Southern California (link http://tinyurl.com/yc9hgp)

General

• Scientists discover new drug-resistant strain of bird flu (link http://tinyurl.com/u94ra)
• The antibodies being used for current vaccine development are 2004 strain – not effective against Fujian strain (link http://www.sawfnews.com/)
• WHO: Preparing the world for a flu pandemic (link http://tinyurl.com/yf546y)
• WHO: New bird flu variant doesn’t seem to pose greater human health risk (link http://tinyurl.com/yk5m6q)
• H5N1 strain could start wave of bird flu outbreaks (link http://tinyurl.com/yhvox7 )
• Japanese candidate offers ‘political courage’ in WHO race (link http://tinyurl.com/y2pfcp)

Link to news thread for 31 October (link News Reports for October 31 )
(Usual disclaimer about may not have captured everything. Feel free to add your own where omissions have occurred.)
Please note that I copy the links directly from the thread so if they don’t work you may need to re-visit the Thread.

FAO first bird flu workshop held in Tehran

Wednesday, November 01, 2006 - ©2005 IranMania.com (link http://tinyurl.com/y22vhr)

LONDON, November 1 (IranMania) - First bird flu tutorial workshop was inaugurated at the General Veterinary Department of Tehran Province, the Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA) reported.

Sponsored by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), representatives from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Turkey, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan and Iran were among the participants in this seminar.

The chairman of Iran Veterinary Organization (I.V.O) Hossein Hassani said that Iran has so far been successful in fighting against bird flu despite the existence of numerous bird-breeding centers in both urban and rural areas.

He also said that Iran Veterinary Organization is adequately ready to implement FAO plans.

At the inaugural ceremony, officials from FAO delivered speeches on the measures taken by the organization to control avian flu.

According to officials, serious strategies to prevent transmission of the disease from infected regions to non-infected areas, and minimizing the onset epidemic from human to human are among FAO’s measures to fight against bird flu.

They also named the qualitative and quantitative improvement of poultry products, and the promotion of hygiene in rural areas, wherein birds are bred, as the effective measures to prevent the disease.

Information on bird flu cases poorly recorded, scientists say

Errors and vagueness in data about wild birds hamper efforts to track the disease

The highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza has been detected in at least 55 countries in Asia, Europe, and Africa. This often fatal disease is of pressing concern because it can be transmitted from birds to humans, although such transmissions have been rare so far. Unfortunately, according to a Roundtable article in the November 2006 BioScience, the journal of the American Institute of Biological Sciences (AIBS), critical information about incidence of the disease in wild birds—even the species of the infected bird—is often recorded inaccurately or not recorded at all. The deficiencies in data collection, the authors write, “can lead to unwarranted assumptions and conclusions that in turn affect public perceptions, practical control and management measures, and the disposition of resources.”

More on this story at http://tinyurl.com/y9lzm9

(USA) Stopping Killer Flu Requires Good Science, Good Government, Barton Says

WASHINGTON - U.S. Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, issued the following statement today as part of a hearing entitled, “Assessing the National Pandemic Flu Preparedness Plan”:

“An influenza pandemic has happened before in America, though probably not in the living memory of anyone in this room. Still, the odds are that it will happen again sometime, and so the administration is certainly correct to sound a warning and to prepare for the worst. We know that when it occurs, this pandemic could lead to widespread sickness, many deaths, and serious damage to the nation’s economy.

<snip> “Authorities including the president are worried that the flu virus could spread around the globe. <snip> “In response to this threat, last week the president outlined a national strategy. Secretary Leavitt also recently released an updated and detailed Pandemic Influenza Preparedness and Response Plan.

“At today’s hearing, Secretary Leavitt will tell us about the national strategy, the Influenza Preparedness Plan and other recent actions taken by the Administration. These include the increasing the program for global surveillance and cooperation with the international community and developing an H5N1 vaccine. Even though this particular vaccine is not the final vaccine for the actual pandemic strain, this step is important for preparing for surge production of a later vaccine. The Department of Health and Human Services also is working with State public health officials for pandemic planning.

<snip> “Some may argue that we have failed to meet our responsibilities by not providing unlimited money to respond to this potential crisis. Too often, Washington’s response to anything new and challenging is to panic. Too often, our response to potential threats is to hide behind a wall of money. <snip>

“It’s the labor theory of value written into public health. The harder we work to spend your money, the healthier you will be. But I think wasting taxpayers’ money will not keep people from catching the flu.

“We need to sort out our real weaknesses from our imagined ones, and determine where the application of money and good sense will actually improve our preparedness and stop the flu.

<snip>

“The president is calling on us for legislation to respond to a global health threat. I look forward to hearing the testimony of Secretary Leavitt about the administration’s ongoing efforts and then working with him as we develop a plan that delivers good science and good government.”

Full statement at http://tinyurl.com/yyc86k

Ecologists Will Study West Nile Virus, Malaria, Bird Flu And Other Infectious Diseases

Main Category: Infectious Diseases / Bacteria / Viruses News Article Date: 31 Oct 2006 - 22:00pm (PST)

Over the past 20 years, unprecedented changes in biodiversity have coincided with the emergence and re-emergence of numerous infectious diseases around the world. To address this problem, the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have announced funding for eight projects under the Ecology of Infectious Diseases (EID) program, a multi-year, joint-agency effort now in its seventh year of funding.

“The joint program supports efforts to create a predictive understanding of the ecological and biological mechanisms that govern relationships among human-induced environmental changes and transmission of infectious diseases,” said Samuel Scheiner, program director in NSF’s biological sciences directorate, which funds the EID program along with NSF’s geosciences directorate.

<snip>

This year’s awards include developing a better understanding of the effects of avian migration and human-caused change on the distribution and risks of avian influenza; predicting variations in West Nile virus transmission in different regions; the changing dynamics of malaria and other diseases in Papua New Guinea; disease resistance in estuarine populations like oysters and the response to climate change; sudden oak death and links among pathogens, hosts and environments; the influence of environmental change on how parasites move through human, invertebrate and environmental pathways; and others.

<snip>

Previous research looked at diseases only after they had reached humans, or only at non-human animals, said EID program directors at NSF and NIH’s Fogarty International Center. The EID program links those different components to produce a comprehensive understanding of disease transmission, said Joshua Rosenthal, NIH program director for EID.

Full story at http://tinyurl.com/y3u4fr

(South Africa) EU allows SA ostrich imports

November 01, 2006, 08:30 (link http://tinyurl.com/y5jk8r)

The European Union will from today again allow imports of South African ostriches and ostrich products. A ban was implemented in July following the outbreak of the H5N2 strain of avian influenza in the Southern Cape.

The South African ostrich industry has been losing R100 million per month in exports since the ban was introduced. A previous 18-month export ban was only lifted a year ago, because of an outbreak of bird-flu in 2004.

I saw a tv commercial from GlaxoSmithKline. The commerical indicaets they are working on a vaccine for bird flu. I am a bit suprised this has hit MSM.

They give a web site, but I did not write it down fast enough. A little searching and I found this one: http://www.gsk.com/infocus/influenza.htm

UK experts to help draw up flu pandemic model Cynthia Busuttil

(Report from Malta) A statistician from the Health Division will be working with British experts to prepare a model of how the next influenza pandemic might affect the island. Data from last century’s three pandemics - 1918, 1957 and 1968 - will be used to create the model, Nigel Lightfoot, director for emergency response within the UK’s Health Protection Agency’s Centre for Emergency Preparedness and Response, told The Times. It is hoped the information will shed light on what could happen when an influenza pandemic strikes, making it easier for decision makers to make their plans.

“The plan is to look at records for the past pandemics so we can tell the government what we think will happen during a next one.” Dr Lightfoot, who was in Malta last week, explained that this exercise has already been carried out in the UK. Experts are assuming that the influenza pandemic will have an attack rate of between 25 and 30 per cent with about two per cent of those who fall ill dying.

<snip> “In bigger countries, the likelihood is that it will start in one area and move to another, and then another. But here it is more likely to pass through the population faster. The advantage is that it will be over quicker.”

Dr Lightfoot, who had a look at the local plan during a meeting with the pandemic preparedness committee, believes Malta is “up there with the frontrunners”, saying the government is taking the threat very seriously. “Things have moved a long way” over the past 18 months, he said. <snip> The government needs to finalise its policy on what to do about mass social gatherings and the public advice to be issued during a pandemic, something which is considered as most important by the World Health Organisation.

<snip> If people fall ill they should stay at home while the business community needs to plan how to cope when employees are sick. Those who do not take it seriously enough will find they have problems once the pandemic hits. Another thing that needs to be taken into consideration is school closures.

<snip> Asked about border closure, Dr Lightfoot said unless this is done 100 per cent it would only delay the virus entering a country by a week or two. Full border closure means a country might run short of needed supplies. “I think internationally everyone is agreeing that there is no need to close borders.”

Full story at http://tinyurl.com/y4bugz

WHO blasts Chinese ministry for not sharing new bird flu strain samples

The Associated Press Published: November 1, 2006 (link http://tinyurl.com/skq24)

BEIJING The World Health Organization on Wednesday criticized China’s Agriculture Ministry for not sharing samples of a newly discovered strain of bird flu that has become the primary version of the disease in southern China and parts of Asia.

Scientists said this week that the strain — called H5N1 Fujian-like — was found in almost all poultry infections and some human cases in China in the past year and was now prevalent in Hong Kong, Laos, Malaysia, and Thailand. While it’s normal for new strains of viruses to emerge, it is imperative for health officials to know if one has become dominant, said Julie Hall, an infectious disease expert at the WHO’s Beijing office.

“There’s a stark contrast between what we’re hearing from researchers and what the Ministry of Agriculture says,” Hall said in an interview with The Associated Press. “Unless the ministry tell us what’s going on and shares viruses on a regular basis, we will be doing diagnostics on strains that are old.”

<snip> The ministry’s reluctance has been an ongoing source of aggravation at the WHO and international health experts have repeatedly complained about Chinese foot-dragging in cooperating in investigating emerging diseases like bird flu and severe acute respiratory syndrome.

“This is a new disease. Nobody knows how to tackle it, nobody in the world has all the answers,” Hall said. “But if they share … then we will all gain from that.”

<snip> Hall said the ministry has reported only three outbreaks of bird flu in provinces where one out of 30 geese and ducks in live markets tested positive for H5N1 in the yearlong surveillance program, which began in June 2005, indicating that the disease was still prevalent. Additionally, 95 percent of the poultry tested after October 2005 were positive for the Fujian-like strain, according to the results of the study reported in Tuesday’s issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

“The ministry needs to tell us just how many substrains are circulating in China and whether some strains are dominant or becoming more dominant,” Hall said.

<snip>

http://tinyurl.com/yyc78j

A heads up for a new Horizon documentary on UK TV Tuesday 7 November 2006, 9pm on BBC2. Don’t know how good it will be. Horizon used to be one of the best researched and presented series on tv but in recent years it’s gone down the plug hole.

uk bird, Can you or someone record it for me please? I’m in Asia and won’t be back in the UK till after. Thanks!

AnnieB- You beat me to all the good stuff!

Good morning. It’s getting harder to find news that others haven’t, and that’s good. Guess I’m going to have to get up earlier to catch that worm! Have a good day.

AnnieB – at 01:38 Do you know when this was released from Barton’s office? It appears to be from Feb or March of this year. I went to the site and there is no date.

Three days in a row Bird flu has been in the headline news for Google news. Wow-MSM must be picking up on this. (The stories are all stories that have allready been linked here)

I’ll record it for you anon_22, though don’t get your hopes up it will be any better than any of the other pandemic stuff recently aired.

Floridian Doc – at 08:27

I also got the impression that the article was dated.

BIRD FLU: VIRUS NEAR GROSSETO ITALY- HUNDREDS OF WILD DUCKS CULLED

(AGI) - Grosseto, Nov. 1 - “After the discovery of avian influenza yesterday in the Grosseto area, hundreds of animals will be put down. Late yesterday evening, the Health Ministry asked the National Avian Influenza Centre for its advice concerning the whether the ministerial decree DM 22/9/2000 should be urgently applied regarding the wild duck breeding grounds on which bird flu has been found, with the H5 strain and of the N type, still a phase of definition, but having ruled out that it is the “N1?, the most contagious.

The ministerial decree referred to provides for the culling of all the animals on the farm. The Health Ministry made the decision along with the Tuscany regional government and the healthcare body of Grosseto on the way to go about the matter in this specific case, and supplied instructions for the culling itself. In addition to the putting down of the wild ducks, the ministerial orders provide for other measures to limit the likelihood of the spread of the virus, which consist mostly in the establishing of a surveillance zone with a kilometre radius around the farm in question, surveillance which will begin immediately after the ordinance by the mayor of Grosseto and which will last for three weeks after the culling. In the zone the entire bird population will once again be checked, even birds intended for use by single families, as was done previously, since the entire area is inside or very close to a humid zone used by migratory birds. For the period in question, all the animals checked are to be considered under seizure and will have to be kept on the farms, prohibited from coming in or going out, including both the birds themselves and their products, meaning eggs and chicks.

The culling of the farm-bred wild ducks will be carried out within a few days by a specialized firm, and the bodies will be destroyed and buried on the land where they are found after having their bodies disinfected. The owners of the animals culled will be reimbursed for the market value of the animals, established by an ad hoc committee provided for by law in the case of forced culling. “(AGI) .

http://tinyurl.com/tvwvl

uk bird,

Thanks! I’ll try to stay cool and not strangle the VCR (or whatever it is that you use) out of frustration.

But, seriously, I’m a little curious about the 3 full pages of (albeit) Times 2 on Monday. Could it be that MSM is getting ready to get serious about this story again?

anon_22 – at 09:12

But, seriously, I’m a little curious about the 3 full pages of (albeit) Times 2 on Monday. Could it be that MSM is getting ready to get serious about this story again?

Mmmm, I won’t hold my breath.

Perhaps more significant and more worrying will be the Panorama on BB1 Sunday 10:15 pm Soaring gas bills are pushing up the cost of heating our homes - and forcing up electricity bills too. Steve Bradshaw investigates why prices are rising. [S]

One of the biggest vulnerabilities to UK stability in a crisis would be the gas.

http://tinyurl.com/3fp3h

Something I noticed while I was looking for this program was a ‘suggest a story’ link. Perhaps the Fluwiki would make a good story for them and thus put OUR opinion over rather than the standard line?

http://tinyurl.com/y27xhl

Klatu at 09:12

Italy - The news from 31 October 2006 - http://tinyurl.com/yjgqsm - Prima Pagina (in Italian) say it’s a low pathogenic strain. The ill ducks were found during routing examinations of farm birds regularly undertaken since last year. The only question I have is how can they be wild ducks if they are raised at a farm?

Klatu at 09:12

Italy - The news from 31 October 2006 - http://tinyurl.com/yjgqsm - Prima Pagina (in Italian) say it’s a low pathogenic strain. The ill ducks were found during routing examinations of farm birds regularly undertaken since last year. The only question I have is how can they be wild ducks if they are raised at a farm?

FrenchieGirl – at 09:37 wrote:

‘’‘FrenchieGirl – at 09:37 Klatu at 09:12

“Italy - The news from 31 October 2006 - http://tinyurl.com/yjgqsm - Prima Pagina (in Italian) say it’s a low pathogenic strain. The ill ducks were found during routing examinations of farm birds regularly undertaken since last year. ‘’‘The only question I have is how can they be wild ducks if they are raised at a farm?” “”“

Your question should be answered shortly.

New bird flu virus strain emerges: study - Ducks susceptible to BF year-round

17:06, November 01, 2006

People’s Daily Online

They found that ducks and geese were the most common carriers, and they were susceptible to bird flu year-round. Chickens tend to succumb only in the winter, but the researchers discovered cases in 11 out of the 12 months of their study, up from four out of 12 months the previous year.” - excerpt

http://tinyurl.com/y3cvxy

- this may help connect the dots

British scientists create new bird flu map

daelnet.co.uk

second story on left

www.daelnet.co.uk

sorry

L.A. officials warned to prepare for avian flu

Article Launched:10/31/2006

LOS ANGELES — “Although the spread of the avian flu is slowing in Europe and is unlikely to hit the U.S. soon, Los Angeles County health officials warned school districts and government agencies on Monday to continue preparing for its eventual arrival.

“What’s known now is that the spread of the avian H5N1 virus has seemed to slow down,” said Sadina Reynaldo, an epidemiologist with the county Department of Public Health. She emphasized government officials and the public should continue to prepare for a pandemic.

Reynaldo made the comments during a flu conference for about 200 education leaders and school emergency specialists to focus on preparations for a flu pandemic that could result in widespread student absences and force school closures.”

http://tinyurl.com/sdej6

Note of Appreciation to All Posters:

   Thank you for placing the country name prominently in the header, as Klatu did at 09:12. Some of us have a hard time determining the geographic region from just the name of a city. Nepal can look like Thailand or Indonesia, Italy like Spain or even Latin America.

   You have my appreciation for your effort to let me know the country right up front…

     Thanks!

ok, so Italy is culling for low path H5N1, but we’re not concerned about the “North American” H5N1?

AnnieB – at 01:38

(USA) Stopping Killer Flu Requires Good Science, Good Government, Barton Says

Are you sure this is current news? Cos the Assessing the National Pandemic Flu Preparedness Plan hearing was held on November 8, 2005.

Yhere’s a huge differnce between preparing for avian H5N1 and an human influenza pandemic regardless of the flu organism that is causing the pandemic (altho the most likely candidate for the job at this time is H5N1).

I’d be happier to see MSM etc address this properly.

In case you missed it (I did), The Jakarta Post is now back on line.

http://www.thejakartapost.com/headlines.asp

Hi folks - some questions to answer from above.

Cottontop at 05:48 - being in the country that is first to see the sun each day (NZ) I sometimes feel like I am doing the ‘nightwatch’ alone on the Wiki. It does also mean that I am probably the only one picking up the stories as they appear on NewsNow and other such links ;-) (I can tell you that I get confused with the dates as well as it is 0800 2 Nov here as I write this …)

Floridian Doc and anon_22 at 13:46 This story came through on the NewsNow link (and is still there) and, as you say, there is no date on the actual article … Looking at the link now, it has 11082005 on it .. definitely an old story. However, we could use it as a baseline for progress … ;-)

Have a good day folks - off out to enjoy some sunshine

tjclaw1 at 13:11 - my thoughts exactly when I read the article - if it is low path why cull? If culling is required for low path then why not all low path? Any suggestions anyone??

Also, isn’t even low path H5N1 supposed to be reported to the OIE? I see nothing there. http://tinyurl.com/8phhe

Maybe the mandatory reporting applies to everybody else and the US is “exempt?”

German cat dies of bird flu, virus spreads

“PARIS (AFP): Bird flu fears have heightened in Europe after a cat died of the disease in Germany, the first time the virus has been found in a mammal on the continent. The German announcement on Tuesday was the latest worrying development as bird flu sweeps past hastily erected protective measures in large parts of the world.

The dead cat was found on the Baltic island of Ruegen, where the highly pathogenic form of H5N1 bird flu was detected earlier this month, said Germany’s national veterinary laboratory, the Friedrich Loeffler Institute…

Then, late Tuesday, the ‘French agriculture ministry confirmed another case of H5N1 in a wild swan in the eastern Ain department, bringing to 18 the total number of wild swans and ducks known to be infected with the deadly flu strain.

Sweden for the first time identified ducks infected with an unidentified strain of bird flu, feared to be the H5N1 strain.

Elsewhere, H5N1 was detected for the first time in Bosnia, the southern German state of Bavaria and on a poultry farm in southwestern Russia where 103,000 birds were reported to have died in a week”

http://tinyurl.com/ykkyx6

DennisC at 14:25

That sounds like last years news.

AnnieB - at 14:16

Well, we here in the U.S. are bf free and intend to stay that way. We have recently redifined low path as “not bf” and that will help us to remain “bf free.” (Thus, again, policy trumps science).

I think what they are saying in the U.S. by their recent actions is that they are betting that human cases will not arise from the low path being discovered in (several? many? bunches?) of states here. They’re also betting that our poultry industry has enough bio-hazard security to keep out that low path threat too.

That’s the bet they’ve apparently made, and they could be wrong. But, they’ve made that decision over one that would lead to repeated headline reports in the media here of “bird flu” being found locally and all the fuss and worry that would make (see the story of the UK swan, as an example of what they are worried about).

IMHO, they’re making a bet, that’s all. Let’s hope that bet works out for them. And let’s hope the same kind of bet won’t be made when pandemic human cases do arise. Hopefully the same people won’t be involved in making that decision. ;-)

Homesteader – at 14:31 - last year’s news

Thanks for catching that-

Yes, you are right-It sounds about like last year’s news but it was in todays (tomorrows? Nov 2) Jakarta Post.

I just checked -here is the dead German cat story from 28 February 2006 by the BBC

http://tinyurl.com/ob66y

I guess that means that the Jakarta Posts has been “off the air” for a week or so and still doesn’t have it all back together yet.

ITALY - ok, I’m home now, undisturbed, and I’ll have a go at extracting some info. It might not be exact, as I am not an Italian speaker/reader. So I’m using my French, Spanish and some left-over Latin.

Corriere della Serra - a serious newspaper - http://tinyurl.com/yxubt9 - I’ll post the Italian story in the Lookout Post for Southern and Southwest Europe, if anyone wants to give it a better try than I.

It’s the first case in Italy after the summer break. Previously in February and the spring, the provinces of Sicilia, Puglia and Calabria had cases.

The present case is low path. The fact that it has happened at the time of the great migration and in wetlands does not make for optimism. This because most certainly, the 8,500 birds seem to have been touched (… not too sure here). They are creating a protection zone inside where they will cull (all?) birds. The infection was transmitted in only a few days. Probably the virus arrived with the first arriving migrating birds.

There are 14 big raising farms in the province. In February, a sentinel bird had been found positive near the Laguna of Orbettello, but since then the virus had avoided the poultry farms.

Remark: they keep saying it’s low path, but refer to the spring infections as high path…

This is in today’s Bloomberg news- I am not sure if this is already known to “us”.

Indonesia

3 More Suspected Patients In Hospital Bandung

Doctors in Indonesia, the country with the most H5N1 fatalities, are testing three more people for the virus. A 3- year-old girl and her 14-year-old brother are being treated in an isolation ward at Hasan Sadikin Hospital in the West Java city of Bandung, said Hadi Yusuf, a doctor at the hospital.

The siblings from the Banjarnegara district had contact with diseased poultry, Yusuf said. A 62-year-old man from Bandung is also suffering from avian-flu-like symptoms, he said

http://tinyurl.com/w2cke

DennisC – at 15:59 This is in today’s Bloomberg news- I am not sure if this is already known to “us”. Indonesia 3 More Suspected Patients In Hospital Bandung

The siblings from the Banjarnegara district had contact with diseased poultry, Yusuf said. A 62-year-old man from Bandung is also suffering from avian-flu-like symptoms, he said

http://tinyurl.com/w2cke

My interpretation from one of the Indonesian translations suggested the 62-year-old did not have breathing problems or didn’t display any yet.

H5N1 Qinghai Fujian Recombination in China

Recombinomics Commentary

November 1, 2006 (excerpts)

“The recent paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences describes the widespread detection of the Fujian strain of H5N1 in China. The spread in China was clear from earlier sequences from fatal human infections in late 2005 and early 2006 as well as isolates from Laos and Malaysia followed by sequences made public from wild birds in Hong Kong.

 However, analysis of the other sequences indicate widespread acquisition of regions of identity with the Qinghai strain (see identities here), indicating the H5N1 was evolving via recombination, and the Qinghai strain was one of the contributing parents, in the vast majority of the Fujian isolates.

The widespread recombination and exchange of portions of genes highlight the need for a robust database, including both high and low path H5N1 from wild birds.

‘’‘Although the current sequence database has grown dramatically in recent weeks because of complete sequences from Indonesia, Qinghai sequences from the Capua lab via the NIAID influenza sequencing project, and China sequences from the Beijing Genome Institute, many holes in the database remain.

 In addition, the vast majority of the Qinghai sequences from Europe have not been released.  Although Weybridge presented phylogenetic trees on approximately 80 isolates, only 6 have been made public even though some samples were collected over a year ago.  

Similarly, only 4 of the 8 genes from H5 isolates in Canada have been released from the samples collected in August 2005. No sequences from this year isolated by the United State or Canada have been released.’‘’

In addition, 2005 and 2006 bird isolates collected in China have also been withheld including a large series from Qinghai Lake in the summer of 2005 as well as the many outbreaks in Chain reported in 2005 and 2006. A description of these isolates indicates many are also the Fujian strain, but additional strains, which likely include the Qinghai strain have also been described.

The latest data show that H5N1 continues to rapidly evolve and a full dataset is required to address both the evolution of H5N1 as well as match failures in Indonesia. An increased surveillance ands release of hoarded sequences is long overdue.”

http://www.recombinomics.com/News/11010601/H5N1_Fujian_Qinghai.html

The Wall Street Journal has an article with the headline “Bird Flu Efforts Are Criticized” but I’m not a subscriber. Googling didn’t get me anywhere. The headline looks promising-has anyone read the article?

Jane, will this help?

Flu Roundup: China`s dirty secret…tip of the iceberg.

 Nov 1, 2006, 23:08 GMT

LONDON, England (UPI) — “In an apparent failure to learn from the lessons of the 2003 SARS epidemic, the Chinese government has been holding back vital information relating to the emergence of a new strain of avian influenza, the World Health Organization said Wednesday.

Over the past year tests conducted across China have revealed the emergence of a new dominant strain of avian influenza, called H5N1 Fujian-like. Despite the fact that 95 percent of virus samples collected in China between April and June of this year transpired to be H5N1 Fujian-like, the Chinese Agriculture Ministry has yet to provide the WHO with samples of the new virus, severely hampering the world body`s ability to fight the disease.

In addition to becoming rampant in China`s poultry, H5N1 Fujian-like has also been spotted in poultry flocks in Hong Kong, Laos, Malaysia and Thailand, and has caused some human cases of avian influenza in China.

‘’‘Julie Hall, an infectious-disease expert at the WHO`s Beijing office, told the International Herald Tribune: ‘There`s a stark contrast between what we`re hearing from the researchers and what the Ministry of Agriculture says. Unless the ministry tells us what`s going on and shares viruses on a regular basis, we will be doing diagnostics on strains that are old.’

According to Hall, the Agriculture Ministry last provided the WHO with virus samples from poultry in 2004 — a shocking lack of consideration for the global battle to prevent an avian-influenza pandemic, as the best source of information in a disease stemming from poultry is the birds themselves.

‘This is a new disease. Nobody knows how to tackle it, nobody in the world has all the answers. But if they share … then we will all gain from that,’ the International Herald Tribune quoted Hall as saying.

‘The ministry needs to tell us just how many substrains are circulating in China and whether some strains are dominant or becoming more dominant.’

China`s reticence in sharing samples of the emerging strain may just be the tip of the iceberg,…

(excerpts)

http://tinyurl.com/yl4jv4

Klatu’s link did not work for me, but I did find the article at UPI’s own website:
http://www.upi.com/ConsumerHealthDaily/view.php?StoryID=20061101-031051-2882r

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, Microbiology

Emergence and predominance of an H5N1 influenza variant in China

( influenza A | molecular epidemiology | virus evolution )

G. J. D. Smith , X. H. Fan , J. Wang , K. S. Li , K. Qin , J. X. Zhang , D. Vijaykrishna , C. L. Cheung , K. Huang , J. M. Rayner , J. S. M. Peiris , H. Chen , R. G. Webster , and Y. Guan

State Key Laboratory of Emerging Infectious Diseases, Department of Microbiology, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, University of Hong Kong, 21 Sassoon Road, Pokfulam, Hong Kong Special Administration Region, China; and Virology Division, Department of Infectious Diseases, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, TN 38105

Contributed by R. G. Webster, September 20, 2006

“The development of highly pathogenic avian H5N1 influenza viruses in poultry in Eurasia accompanied with the increase in human infection in 2006 suggests that the virus has not been effectively contained and that the pandemic threat persists. “

Updated virological and epidemiological findings from our market surveillance in southern China demonstrate that H5N1 influenza viruses continued to be panzootic in different types of poultry. Genetic and antigenic analyses revealed the emergence and predominance of a previously uncharacterized H5N1 virus sublineage (Fujian-like) in poultry since late 2005.

Viruses from this sublineage gradually replaced those multiple regional distinct sublineages and caused recent human infection in China. These viruses have already transmitted to Hong Kong, Laos, Malaysia, and Thailand, resulting in a new transmission and outbreak wave in Southeast Asia.

Serological studies suggest that H5N1 seroconversion in market poultry is low and that vaccination may have facilitated the selection of the Fujian-like sublineage. The predominance of this virus over a large geographical region within a short period directly challenges current disease control measures.”

http://tinyurl.com/ymujcs

Encyclopedia Of Virology, Vols 1, 2 & 3

R. G. Webster & A. Granoff, Eds

Academic Press Ltd (1994)

“At more than 2,000 pages and with contributions from over 270 authors, this text aims to provide a reference source for the full range of viruses.”

http://tinyurl.com/yag8tg

http://www.stjude.org/faculty/0,2512,407_2030_3957,00.html

I think this qualifies to be posted here.Anytime I see “mystery and bleeding” I pay attention.

Mystery Illness ‘could be Herpes Encephalitis’ Dubai:Health authorities are investigating the death of a two-year-old boy who died two days after he was admitted for high fever ,unconsciousness and bleeding from the nose.

The toddler died on Tuesday after he was admitted to Al Qasimi Hospital on Sunday, according to

 the distressed father,who was later admitted to the hospital along with his 8-year old daughter for similar symptoms. 

“I can 100 per cent say that it is not haemorrhagic fever, dengue or Japanese encephalitis,” explaining that mosquitoes that carried these diseases were not found in the UAE.”11–2−06 www.gulfnews.com

This sounds like a step in the right direction, for ALL kinds of possible contamination:

Klatu – at 19:38

Comment

I have begun to have an enormous amount of respect for Dr. Julie Hall of the WHO. She is showing great courage in taking on the Chinese government in this way. And make no mistake about it, she is taking on the entire Chinese government, including President Hu. These problems with Ministry of Agriculture are long-standing. It is impossible that high-ranking members of the communist party don’t know what’s goint on. They know. They hide.

Conspiracy thread coming up.

Oops, my formatting left something to be desired. Sorry about that.

Navaho Nation, USA

Navajo Nation, VA to conduct pandemic trial

The Navajo Nation and the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Albuquerque will use this year’s flu season to experiment with how to handle a flu, possibly bird flu, pandemic.

“If there were an emergency, this process that we’re setting up would begin, and we would be prepared to begin these vaccinations,” said Patricia Olson, assistant to the director of Navajo Indian Area Health Service based in St. Michaels, Ariz.

The Navajo Nation’s efforts don’t include Albuquerque, but it plans to inoculate at least 32,000 people in one day, Nov. 9, working with three counties.

[snip]

For their two-day drive-through clinic, patients will be asked to park in a cordoned-off parking lot normally used by staff.

“This is more likely to be the place where we’d have them come though in the event of a pandemic flu,” Armstrong said.

The Navajo Nation and VA hospital and clinics are offering flu shots outside of the pandemic emergency exercises, as well.

http://tinyurl.com/yb8u5p

Another oops, that story at 21:51 was from the UK.

Klatu – at 19:38 and Monotreme – at 21:52,

Is it biological warfare if you work to protect your own population, while allowing other nations to flounder in ignorance, which ultimately kills millions of their citizens? Passive warfare? Is that an oxymoron?

China is playing a dangerous game.

  Those Navajos are very ambitious. Their reservation is larger than many states back East.

  I wonder how they plan to get the folks who live back of beyond to the 3 clinics?I would think that a lot more than 3 would be neded.Off the top of my head ,I can name at least 10 IHS clinics and hospitals on the Big Res.

  Now, that might be a good place to SIP, way back in the Res, dirt roads, little population. Of course, the current residents might object to a bunch of belgona ( white folk)moving in.

Klatu, I didn’t expect another article about WHO and China. I expected something about the US plans and lack of communication. Did the WSJ really write about WHO under that title, “Bird Flu Efforts Are Criticized”? sigh.

Yes China is and we are losing!Go Julie!!BTW Didnt see it here yet ,or any where else.Here is who re[port to promed on the turkey outbreak of last winter.What the hell took so long?http://tinyurl.com/yln7t 20061101.3130 Published Date 01-NOV-2006 Subject PRO/AH> Avian influenza, human (171): WHO, Turkey

AVIAN INFLUENZA, HUMAN (171): WHO, TURKEY

A ProMED-mail post <http://www.promedmail.org> ProMED-mail is a program of the International Society for Infectious Diseases <http://www.isid.org>

Date: Tue 31 Oct 2006 From: ProMED-mail <promed@promedmail.org> Source: CIDRAP News [edited] <http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/cidrap/content/influenza/avianflu/news/oct3106turkey.html>

WHO: H5N1 cases in Turkey targeted children, youth

A recent World Health Organization (WHO) report on 10 of the 12 confirmed H5N1 avian influenza cases that occurred in Turkey last winter adds to evidence that children and youth may be particularly susceptible to the infection. The disease struck only children younger than 16, even though their parents had probably been exposed to the same probable source of infection, infected poultry, according to the 27 Oct 2006 issue of WHO’s Weekly Epidemiological Record [see: WHO bulletin with report on H5N1 cases in Turkey <http://www.who.int/wer/2006/wer8143.pdf> and ProMED-mail post: Avian influenza, human (161): age-related severity 20061008.2888].

“To some extent, this reflects the same age distribution observed globally, where 50.5 percent of cases occurred among people aged <20 years, and it suggests that age-related factors may influence susceptibility to the disease,” the report states. Of the 4 case-patients described in the report who died, all were teenagers, while all the survivors were younger children, aged 3 to 9 years. “This reflects closely the global situation where the highest case-fatality rate (73 percent) has been observed in the 10–19-year age group,” the article says.

Turkey was the 1st country outside Southeast Asia to have human cases. The WHO report discusses 10 cases that occurred in the eastern provinces of Van and Agri in late December 2005 and January 2006 and were investigated by WHO epidemiologists. The 2 other confirmed cases in Turkey were in other provinces, according to Mary K. Kindhauser, a WHO spokeswoman in Geneva. A total of 21 human H5N1 cases had been reported in January 2006 on the basis of tests in a Turkish laboratory. But the WHO recognized only 12 cases that were confirmed by a reference laboratory in the United Kingdom.

At the time of the outbreak, a WHO official reported that 2 Turkish boys had asymptomatic H5N1 infections. But those 2 cases were among the 9 that were never confirmed by the UK lab, Kindhauser told CIDRAP News by e-mail today [31 Oct 2006]. The 10 cases covered in the report included 3 family clusters, one involving 3 cases and 2 involving 2 each. But investigators concluded that person-to-person transmission in the families was unlikely, because in each family, the members fell ill within about a 2-day period, indicating they all contracted the virus from a common environmental source.

Although all 3 family clusters occurred near one another and within a 2-week period, “field investigations provided no evidence of human-to-human transmission between households,” the report says. The families had had no interactions, and the children attended different schools. Investigation indicated that close exposure to infected poultry was the primary risk factor for infection, the WHO says. All the patients had been exposed to backyard poultry, and at least 5 were known to have had contact with sick or dead poultry. The 3 families that had multiple cases had been sheltering their poultry indoors in late December 2005 because of severe cold. Two patients had pet pigeons, but the birds’ possible role could not be assessed because no samples were collected from pigeons in the area, the report says.

The article notes that 135 people in the 2 provinces had suspected cases of H5N1 and were hospitalized and treated with oseltamivir at the time, but testing ruled out all the cases.

References

(1) 30 Jun 2006, WHO bulletin with report on general epidemiology of H5N1 cases <http://www.who.int/wer/wer8126.pdf>.

(2) 30 Jan 2006, WHO situation update on Turkish cases <http://www.who.int/csr/don/2006_01_30/en/index.html>.

— ProMED-mail <promed@promedmail.org>

[ProMED-mail acknowledges the receipt of similar data analyses from Joseph P. Dudley, Ph.D. <jdudley@eaicorp.com> and thanks him for alerting us to the content of this WHO report. - Mod.CP]

[see also: Avian influenza, human (169):

WHO blasts Beijing over bird flu

CNN.com / 0250 GMT (1050 HKT), November 1, 2006 / http://tinyurl.com/yxacg9

BEIJING, China (AP) — The World Health Organization said its efforts to track the spread of bird flu have been complicated by the failure of China’s Agriculture Ministry to share samples of a newly discovered strain of the virus.

Scientific research released this week said that the new strain — called H5N1 Fujian-like — had spread widely over the past year, being found in almost all poultry outbreaks and some human cases in China and now becoming prevalent in Hong Kong, Laos, Malaysia, and Thailand.

Despite that prevalence, the Agriculture Ministry has not given the WHO any samples of the new strain, said Julie Hall, an infectious disease expert at the WHO’s Beijing office.

“There’s a stark contrast between what we’re hearing from the researchers and what the Ministry of Agriculture says,” Hall said in a telephone interview. “Unless the ministry tell us what’s going on and shares viruses on a regular basis, we will be doing diagnostics on strains that are old.”

While new strains of viruses emerge regularly, health experts need to know when one becomes dominant in order to develop methods to detect and fight the disease, said Hall.

The ministry’s reluctance has been an ongoing source of aggravation at the WHO. International health experts have repeatedly complained about Chinese foot-dragging in cooperating on investigating emerging diseases like bird flu and the SARS pneumonia.

Telephones at the Agriculture Ministry were not answered on Wednesday and it did not immediately respond to faxed questions.

Some countries are slow to share genetic information or samples of viruses because they fear they will be pushed aside in the global race to produce a lucrative vaccine.

“This is a new disease. Nobody knows how to tackle it, nobody in the world has all the answers,” Hall said. “But if they share … then we will all gain from that.”

She said the ministry has not shared bird flu virus samples from poultry since 2004 — a key step in developing diagnostic tools and vaccines.

The study by Chinese and American scientists released this week found that one out of every 30 geese and one out of every 30 ducks in live markets tested positive for H5N1 in six southern Chinese provinces during yearlong surveillance, which began in June 2005.

In that same period, however, the ministry reported only three outbreaks in those same provinces, Hall said.

The study was conducted in Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Yunnan and Hunan, densely populated provinces where people live in close proximity to ducks, pigs and other farm animals, making the area a common breeding ground for flu viruses.

Out of 108 virus samples taken from infected poultry between April and June of this year, 103 — or 95 percent — had the Fujian-like strain, according to the results of the study reported in Tuesday’s issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The H5N1 flu has devastated poultry in China and several other southeast Asian countries and also has claimed more than 150 human lives. Most of the people affected lived close to flocks of chickens or other poultry.

Public health authorities fear that the virus will mutate into a form that can spread easily among people, raising the potential for a worldwide pandemic that could kill millions.

i HOPE I DIDNT DO THAT !SORRY IF I DID!

Comment: More older news being brought to our attention now via mainstream media.

Bird Flu-Infected Dog Suggests Human Risk From Pets, Study Says

By Jason Gale - Bloomberg / Nov. 2, 2006 / http://tinyurl.com/tk6eb

Bird flu infected organs of a dog in Thailand before killing the animal, highlighting the potential for pets to contract the lethal virus and potentially spread it to humans, researchers in the country said.

The dog probably picked up the H5N1 avian influenza strain from infected duck carcasses in the central Thai province of Suphanburi two years ago, the researchers said in a study published in this month’s Emerging Infectious Diseases journal. Five days after feeding on the carcasses, the dog developed high fever, panting and lethargy, and died a day later.

The virus was found in the dog’s lung, liver, kidney and urine, providing more evidence of the ability of H5N1 to cross the species to infect mammals, the study said. Disease trackers are monitoring for signs the virus is changing into a form more dangerous to people after it killed at least 74 people this year, as many as reported in the previous two years combined.

`Despite the low probability of H5N1 infection in domestic animals, the possibility of humans acquiring H5N1 infection from direct contact with infected cats and dogs warrants concern and highlights the need for monitoring domestic animals during H5N1 outbreaks in the future,’‘ said the authors, including Thaweesak Songserm from Kasetsart University and Alongkorn Amonsin from Chulalongkorn University.

<snip>

Felines, including domestic cats, are at risk of infection from H5N1 if they prey on birds, studies published in March by researchers at two Thai universities and a government research center showed. A 2005 study showed H5N1 was probably transmitted between tigers in Thailand and German officials in March confirmed an infection in a stone marten, a type of weasel.

Tests on the infected dog in Thailand showed it had a variant of H5N1 consistent with the strain circulating in the country at that time. Virus particles collected from the dog showed no sign of adaptation, the study in Emerging Infectious Diseases said.

The study is the first report of H5N1-related systemic disease in a domestic dog infected during the second wave of outbreaks in Thailand that occurred during October 2004, the authors said.

CDC PROCURES AVIAN FLU VACCINE AMID NEW PANDEMIC WARNINGS 2006–11–02 12:12:28

    Taipei, Nov. 2 (CNA) The Center for Disease Control (CDC) has ordered 190,000 doses of avian influenza vaccine to enhance Taiwan’s flu-fighting capability amid renewed pandemic warnings, a senior official said Thursday.

http://tinyurl.com/tmqx3

link for the full article is on this page (as a pop up);

http://tinyurl.com/y6rexw

“The vaccine is 70 percent to 80 percent effective and has a shelf life of between six months and two years, Chou said.

 Nevertheless, Chou added that although the vaccine has been proven safe and effective in preventing avian influenza in humans in initial clinical tests, it has not yet been approved for commercial sale. …

the vaccine will not be available to ordinary people. ….

The vaccine will be ready for use if an avian flu outbreak occurs this winter…

 If each medical professional gets two doses of the vaccine, Chou said, the stockpile will be enough to cover 90,000 individuals, or one-third of the country’s health care personnel.

Moreover, Chou said, the CDC has also kept in stock enough doses of Tamiflu — an oral anti-viral drug for treatment of influenza — for 2.3 million people, or 10 percent of Taiwan’s population in accordance with the recommendation of the World Health Organization.

I guess we shd be into Nov 2 news thread anyway in a few minutes??

that was me above

Hi team

I am attempting to create the News Summary then I will start the new thread. Going a bit cross eyed with the side-scroll though ;-)

treyfish, and anyone else,

When copying from Promed, make sure you delete their line of asterisks, cos that will cause massive sidescroll every time. Thanks!

anon_22

SORRY,SORRY,!ALSO ANON22,NO OFFENSE meant towards you or any other.Getting frustrated with the lack of chinese openness.I’m off to work.SAVE THE WORLD OR GET IT READY.

treyfish – at 06:10,

No need to apologize, but I just wanted you to know about the asterisks, cos they are d****d hard to find when you are trying to fix sidescroll. But ProMed is a good source, so I figure its worth it. :-)

Getting frustrated with the lack of chinese openness.

Join the club, so what else is new? Sorry to be cynical.

SAVE THE WORLD OR GET IT READY.

I figure that’s what we do, or try to, anyway.

:-)