(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 3 November 2006
||border=1 width=90%
| Cases Discussed | Jun-06 | Jul-06 | Aug-06 | Sep-06 | Oct-06 | Nov-06 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Died, no tests | 2 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 17 |
| Died, tested positive | 4 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 15 |
| Other tested positive | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| Suspected symptoms | 4 | 2 | 46 | 38 | 34 | 0 | 124 |
| Tested negative | 0 | 6 | 26 | 19 | 7 | 0 | 58 |
| Totals | 10 | 14 | 81 | 64 | 50 | 0 | 219 |
Please visit these threads for latest information from these regions or to add news
| No | Region Name | No | Region Name | No | Region Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | USA | 8 | East Africa | 15 | Arab Peninsula |
| 2 | Canada, Greenland and the Arctic Circle | 9 | Southern Africa and Madagascar | 16 | Central Asia |
| 3 | Central America and Caribbean | 10 | Northwest Europe and British Isles | 17 | Southern Asia |
| 4 | South America and Surrounding Islands | 11 | West and Southwest Europe | 18 | Mainland East Asia and Japan |
| 5 | Northern Africa | 12 | Central and Southeast Europe | 19 | Southeast Asia |
| 6 | West Africa | 13 | Eastern Europe and Baltic Region | 20 | Australasia Melanesia and Micronesia |
| 7 | Central Africa | 14 | Middle East and Caucasus Region | 21 | Pacific Islands and Antarctic |
(Please see the thread Volunteers Needed as Lookouts Worldwide if you want to help)
Separate threads for India, Indonesia and Nepal – see links below
(From WHO as at 31 Oct - latest update) Total human cases worldwide 256, deaths 152 (2006 – 109 with 74 deaths)
Canada
China
France
India
Indonesia
Nepal
Sri Lanka
Ukraine
United Kingdom
United States of America
‘’’ Vietnam
General
Link to news thread for 3 November (link News Reports for November 3 )
(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.
Ontario can’t be sued over West Nile virus Canadian Press
Toronto — Family and victims of West Nile virus cannot sue the Ontario government for failing to prevent its spread, the province’s highest court ruled Friday.
“People need to remember that back in 2002, the government was not telling us how serious a threat West Nile Virus was and what we needed to do to protect ourselves,” said Ms. Anweiler.
“Had I known back then that I was in danger, I could have protected myself.”
Lawyer Doug Elliott, who acted for the plaintiffs, said the case was important to “all Ontarians.”
“If this ruling is allowed to stand, it may mean ordinary people can never hold public health officials accountable in a court of law when their careless mistakes hurt and even kill people,” Mr. Elliott said.
The plaintiffs said they were considering asking the Supreme Court of Canada to review the case.
They have 60 days to do so.
COMMENT
Please read “Join Conversation” at the bottom of the news story. This kind of public sentiment may be why governments will always down play a medical threat. We have to wait for the Supreme Court decision, which may become a precedent should pandemic hits and many people die needlessly.
Sorry link for “ontario” story
I hope this isn’t old news but in light of the WHO’s complaints about fast testing this seemed interesting. The Ithaca Journal in New York.
ADVERTISEMENT
Kionix high-speed bird flu test could create county jobs By Tim Ashmore Special to The Journal
Kionix Inc. announced today that it will enter a partnership with New York state to develop a rapid test for avian influenza, commonly known as bird flu.
The local company, a designer and maker of microelectromechanical devices, will use a $250,000 state grant and other economic development incentives to hire staff and open new production facilities.
ADVERTISEMENT
Kionix developed the diagnostic device for point-of-use detection of avian influenza that takes less than an hour, according to company officials. A good portion of the technology, known as microfluidics, was developed at Cornell University and Penn State before it was purchased by Kionix.
Roche cuts price for flu drug
Preparing for avian flu pandemic, increased production capacity for Tamiflu
<snip>
On Friday, George Abercrombie, head of North American operations for Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche, spoke about how Roche is preparing for an outbreak of avian flu during a forum at the N.C. Biotechnology Center.
Roche makes Tamiflu, one of two antiviral drugs that are effective against the avian flu virus. It also makes and markets Fuzeon, an HIV/AIDS treatment discovered by Durham-based Trimeris.
Abercrombie, a former Glaxo Wellcome executive in Research Triangle Park, talked to staff writer Sabine Vollmer about Roche’s avian flu plans and Trimeris.
Q What steps has Roche taken to prepare?
It takes nine to 12 months to make Tamiflu, and global sales average about 5 million courses of treatment per flu season. We cannot simply flip a switch and make Tamiflu in the case of a pandemic. To help governments stockpile the drug, Roche has lowered the price it charges governments by about 60 percent and increased production capacity to about 400 million courses of treatment per year. A course of treatment is 10 capsules.
Roche also came up with a response plan [for its own operations], which includes factoring in an employee absenteeism rate of about 40 percent at the height of an outbreak and stockpiling basic supplies to continue production.
<snip>
NEWS
In-Forum- ‘ Dr. Mary Ann McNeilus will present a seminar on avian flu at 2 p.m. Sunday in Room 101, Comstock Memorial Union at Minnesota State University Moorhead, 615 14th St. S.
McNeilus will explain why relying solely on vaccines and expensive drugs is ill-advised. She’ll demonstrate simple, inexpensive treatments.
She is a health and preventative medicine lecturer. For the past 15 years, she and her husband……giving assistance to the Amish community there. They also travel often to southeast Asia to provide medical assistance there.”
http://tinyurl.com/yenrxf
Anybody in the area interested?
MaMa, your link goes to a log-in page.
NawtyBits, I see that you are right. I saw the article by clicking on the NewsNow listing and found the full article. Now when I go click on it it’s only a log in page. How odd.
Winnipeg Sun Fri, November 3, 2006
“Calls flooded in to Winnipeg radio stations about strange sightings in the Steinbach area are likely related to a bird flu training exercise.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency confirms they’re testing avian influenza outbreak control exercises southeast of Winnipeg, but won’t specify an exact location.
Baffled Manitobans were phoning at least two Winnipeg radio stations this morning about seeing unusual activity outside of Steinbach.”
Again, it’s only a test.
(Up to 34,000 chickens may have been culled in the exercise)
Edmonton Journal
Saturday, November 4, 2006
It’s OK: We’re from your government
WINNIPEG (Canada) - There are a bunch of dead chickens, but no, the sky isn’t falling…”
(Subscription site)
I can’t believe they killed 34,000 chickens for practice. I hope they at least donated the food to the homeless.
Gastrointestinal Virus Outbreak at Boise Hospital
4 patients are sick and 8 staff members. Symptoms are nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. They have closed the hospital until they ‘know what they are dealing with.’
Please google title for more info.
Possible Norwalk virus. “Most people feel better in a couple of days.”
These are two seperate articles. The first one says that it is a possible norwalk virus and people infected with norwalk usually get better ‘within one to two days.’They are not stating that these people are getting better within that time frame .Thankyou for the link to the second article Jane. Maybe someone could post the first so we can compare.(Sorry for the computer illiteracy.)
Here’s the first article: http://www.ktrv.com/Global/story.asp?S=5628253
Three more patients and 8 staff members are now ill. It started on Sunday with the admission of a nursing home patient, who developed the GI illness a few days later. “Now” 8 staff members are ill. They have closed the hospital for disinfecting.
Re the Canada drill - Well, I did find this, but I still think it’s strange.
Sky is not falling Bird Flu Exercise Causes Panic
“..Using carbon dioxide, about 34,000 chickens were euthanized in the mock outbreak, said the CFIA’s Dr. Sandra Stephens.
BIRDS OFFERED UP
“We’re doing a total mock-up of that situation, right from how we would take them out of the barn to how we would dispose of them,” she said.
Coming to the end of their production lives of about a year, the birds were offered up by Unger Poultry, a producer near Landmark, roughly 20 km southeast of Winnipeg.
Workers wearing white coveralls, bright green rubber gloves and full masks could be seen outside massive metal barns, which were cordoned off with yellow ribbon often seen at crime scenes. Stephens said roughly 60 people from the various agencies were taking part in the event.
A barn housing thousands of chickens was flooded with carbon dioxide. The chickens’ carcasses were put into a straw compost not unlike the garden-variety compost, though much larger, Stephens said.
The federal agencies tried to keep yesterday’s bird flu exercise under wraps. An official with the CFIA said it was to protect the privacy of the chicken producer.
Federal Agriculture Minister Chuck Strahl, in Winnipeg yesterday, defended the department’s decision to keep the drill a secret.
“If you say there’s going to be a surprise exercise tomorrow, that doesn’t work. There is an element of surprise to these things, that’s why they’re called exercises. You want to see how people react,” he said.
“I’m going to make a blanket statement — if you see somebody in a spacesuit, don’t worry.”
Thanks aurora
Is this new? Health officials investigate virus on Quad Cities Casino boatIowa Nov 1
“Cleanup crews are working at the Isle of Capri Casino and hotel in the Quad cities and health dept. officials are interviewing quests and staff after a ‘suspected ‘ norovirus outbreak at the casino.” I know we had boat in Kentucky,but just found this.www. desmoinesregister.com
I am running across all kinds of reports like this. Really don’t know if I should be posting them or not.
What if you had to kill 34,000 chickens because they had become infected with bird flu? What would be the best cover up? Ohh.. I think they found it, it’s called “mock outbreak”.
Aurora 16:00 and Anon-YYZ 1:23,
Only posting this here instead of on Canada 3 thread because of what you pointed out in those news articles. It seems the Conservative Federal Government is full of surprises these days and the reasons for their “decrees” certainly don’t come clean in my books. That government is SO secretive and appears to have all their conservative members sworn to secrecy when it comes to what is their secret agenda. ( A lot of ‘secrets’ in that statement, but, certainly not funny) Anyway, according to this article in CBC web news, Harper won’t be attending the EU summit meeting on Nov.27 afterall. I will post the URL for this article, but IMO, “Harper’s office said he simply wants to stay close to the House of Commons, according to the Globe” needs to be considered as possibly more than what it appears. That govt. just comes down with a sledgehammer, suddenly and without warning. Expect that if a pandemic hits, the ‘sledgehammer’ will be the way they’ll treat that as well.
Aurora 16:00 and Anon-YYZ 1:23,
Only posting this here instead of on Canada 3 thread because of what you pointed out in those news articles. It seems the Conservative Federal Government is full of surprises these days and the reasons for their “decrees” certainly don’t come clean in my books. That government is SO secretive and appears to have all their conservative members sworn to secrecy when it comes to what is their secret agenda. (A lot of ‘secrets’ in that statement, but, certainly not funny) Anyway, according to this article in CBC web news, Harper won’t be attending the EU summit meeting on Nov.27 afterall. I will post the URL for this article, but IMO, “Harper’s office said he simply wants to stay close to the House of Commons, according to the Globe” needs to be considered as possibly more than what it appears. That govt. just comes down with a sledgehammer, suddenly and without warning. Expect that if a pandemic hits, the ‘sledgehammer’ will be the way they’ll treat that as well. All they’ll offer in return is carrots or halloween candy.
aurora @ 1600 — they probably kept the exercise secret at least in part because of the high likelihood of animal rights activists objecting to the killing of the birds. In truth, layer hens have a useful (marketable) lifespan of about a year, and would have been butchered anyway. (There’s also little food value in layer hens. They’re all skin and bones.)
THe poultry industry is VERY concerned about AI and I can easily see a big corporation volunteering up a flock for practice.
I put this post under rumors also I received this in my Google Alert By Victor D”Angelo A New bird flu strain has emerged in China and is spreading quickly The new strain is vaccine-sensitive. “ This virus seemed to spread very fast over a big geographic region,” said Yi Guan, director of the State Key Laboratory of Emerging Infectious Diseases at the University of Hong Kong in China. Go to www.dogflu.ca under Human Health on left side go to Health News
Welcome Grandma! nice to have new people bringing us news.
Thank you KimT Have lurked for awhile.
I am just creating the News Summary then I will start a new thread.
You might like to hold your posting for about 20–30 minutes.
Cheers and thanks