Forum: News Reports November 29

CHRONOLOGY-Bird flu developments

Wed 29 Nov 2006

Nov 29 (Reuters) - A 35-year-old Indonesian woman has died of bird flu, taking the country’s human death toll from the virus to 57, the World Health Organisation (WHO) confirmed on its Web site on Wednesday.

Late last month an Egyptian woman died of bird flu, bringing the total number of human deaths in Egypt to seven. Here is a brief chronology of some of the major bird flu developments in 2006:

Jan 18 - International donors pledge $1.9 billion to combat the spread of bird flu at a conference in Beijing.

Feb 8 - The first African cases of the deadly H5N1 strain are detected in poultry in the northern Nigerian states of Kano, Kaduna and Plateau.

Feb 11/12 - Italy says six wild swans found in Sicily and on the southern mainland tested positive for H5N1. In Greece, three swans found south of Thessaloniki test positive for H5N1. These are the first known cases of the strain in the EU. Several countries subsequently report outbreaks in wild birds.

Feb 17 - Egypt finds its first cases of H5N1 in chickens.

Feb 18 - India announces its first cases of H5N1, finding the virus in poultry in a western state.

Feb 22 - The EU approves plans by France and the Netherlands to vaccinate millions of hens, ducks and geese against bird flu.

Feb 25 - France confirms H5N1 at a farm in the east where thousands of turkeys have died. It is the first case of the virus in domestic farm birds in the EU.

May 11 - Djibouti announces its first case of human H5N1, the first confirmed case in a person in the Horn of Africa.

July 26 - Pharmaceuticals group GlaxoSmithKline Plc says a bird flu vaccine for humans that uses only a very low dose of active ingredient has proved effective in clinical tests.

Aug 8 - China says its first H5N1 human case was in 2003, and not in 2005 as it had originally reported.

Sept 26 - WHO’s new influenza pandemic task force calls on countries to share all virus samples and genetic sequencing data, key to developing a vaccine against a bird flu pandemic.

Sept 28 - China shares long-sought samples of H5N1 in what many scientists view as a breakthrough in cooperation.

Oct 31 - Scientists in Hong Kong and the United States say they have detected a new strain of H5N1 bird flu virus in China and say it may have started another wave of outbreaks in poultry in Southeast Asia and move deeper into Eurasia. China later rejects the report.

Nov 28 - South Korea says it has found a second case of H5N1 bird flu at a poultry farm, after confirming days earlier it had its first outbreak in three years of the strain.”

http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/CrisesArticle.aspx?storyId=L29316575

South Korea kills pigs, dogs over bird flu fear; pets won’t be slaughtered

Wednesday, November 29, 2006

CBC - excerpts

“City official Park Kyung-hee said 426 pigs and four dogs have so far been killed along with 127,200 chickens. Some 6.8 million eggs have been destroyed.

“Dogs and cats that are raised at individual homes are not our target,” said a quarantine official, who asked not to be named because he’s not authorized to talk to media.

She has said nearly 700 dogs - bred on farms for consumption - were to be killed, but said Wednesday it was unclear when the slaughter would take place, with efforts focused on destroying more susceptible animals like poultry and pigs for now.

Park said the killing of such non-poultry animals was in accordance with national guidelines, adding that mice will also be killed.”

http://www.cbc.ca/cp/health/061129/x112902A.html

China issues bird flu alert

Nov 29, 2006

By Xinhua, Beijing,

“Officials in Heilongjiang, Jilin and Liaoning have been ordered to work round the clock to collect and send suspicious samples to the state bird flu laboratory, according to the ministry. “

http://www.rxpgnews.com/china/China-issues-bird-flu-alert_6458.shtml

UN: Progress Made In Bird Flu Fight

November 29, 2006

NBC30.com

UNITED NATIONS — The U.N. on Tuesday reported progress in the fight against the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu, but said that risks remain and at least $1.3 billion is still needed as the virus threatens poor regions like Africa.

Dr. David Nabarro, senior U.N. system coordinator for avian flu and human influenza, said “a lot has been achieved” in bringing the highly pathogenic H5N1 virus under control, “particularly in Southeast Asia, the Far East, and in Europe during the past few months.”

He told reporters that many Asian countries including Vietnam, Thailand and China have made substantial progress in programs to cull infected flocks and quickly control outbreaks of the virus. “But I’m afraid that the danger is still very much there,” Nabarro said. - excerpt

http://www.nbc30.com/health/10420717/detail.html

Flu Viruses May Be Preserved in Ice for Millennia (Update1)

Nov. 28 (Bloomberg) — “Influenza viruses may be preserved in glaciers and Arctic ice for thousands of years and released into the environment when the frozen water is thawed, potentially touching off lethal pandemics, researchers said.

Global warming may speed the release of the microbes, increasing the frequency of outbreaks, according to a study in the December issue of the Journal of Virology. The study is based on tests of water and ice from three lakes in Siberia, where large populations of migratory waterfowl breed before traveling to North America, southern Asia, Europe and Africa.

The finding may help explain the constant emergence of influenza A-type viruses that cause seasonal epidemics and occasionally set off pandemics capable of killing millions of people. Disease trackers are monitoring flu viruses amid an outbreak of the H5N1 strain, known to have infected 258 people in 10 countries in the past three years, killing 153 of them.

`One expectation in relation to this phenomenon would be an increased rate of release of these microbes during times of global, or local, warming events and a decrease during cooler periods,’‘ said the authors, led by Gang Zhang from Ohio’s Bowling Green State University.

Last year was the warmest in more than a century, according to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York. Climatologists there monitoring global annual average surface temperatures found that the four previous hottest years since the 1890s were 1998, 2002, 2003 and 2004.” - excerpt

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601086&sid=aDePCieuArC0&refer=latin_america

anonymous — 29 November 2006, 10:24 soo, do they eat mice, too…?

South Korea Cull area increased from 500m to 3km, affecting 770,000 livestock. The decision will be made Thursday. The city is under criticism for mobilizing only street sweepers and daily workers for the cull and disinfection. <snip>”In the worst case scenario, we will forcibly mobilize public servants to complete the culling,” a city official said.

(END)

So.Korea enlarges quarantine area

Thinlina — 29 November 2006, 10:55 wrote:

anonymous — 29 November 2006, 10:24 soo, do they eat mice, too…?

Yes, mice can be infected through inhalation. If you have some bird/dog/cat poop infected with H5N1 on the ground, mice can be infected too. Mice are one of the mammals they use for avian flu lab experiments.

Novartis to sell bird flu vaccine in ‘08

11/29/06 - Daily Record - excerpt

BLOOMBERG NEWS

“Novartis AG, the Swiss drug maker that bought vaccine maker Chiron Corp. earlier this year, plans to sell its experimental bird flu vaccine to the public in 2008.

The shot would be given at doctors’ offices in combination with a seasonal flu dose, Joerg Reinhardt, head of Novartis vaccine unit, said yesterday in an interview in London. The Basel, Switzerland-based company said it submitted the vaccine to European Union regulators and hopes for approval by end of 2007.

Direct sales would open up access to individuals living in countries that don’t stockpile the shots and could help protect more people from a deadly strain of avian influenza called ?5N1 that is spreading in Asia, Africa, the Middle East and parts of Europe. Governments and health organizations worldwide are stocking up on influenza treatments in preparation of a possible global outbreak.”

http://www.dailyrecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061129/UPDATES01/611290375/1005/NEWS01

China issues alert against bird flu from ROK

Pigs & Dogs Culled

(Xinhua)

Updated: 2006–11–29 12:48

BEIJING — “China has instructed six provinces to step up vigilance following an outbreak of bird flu in the Republic of Korea (ROK), according to the Agriculture Ministry.

The ROK has confirmed two outbreaks of bird flu, with 236,000 chickens as well as pigs and dogs culled.

Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning, Shandong, Jiangsu and Zhejiang are all relatively close to the ROK.

The Chinese Agriculture Ministry said the outbreak poses a serious threat to China as the two countries are located on the same bird migratory route.” - excerpt

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2006-11/29/content_746008.htm

Map of Heilongjiang one of 6 provinces mentioned above:

Uganda: Bird Flu - Transporting Chicken On Public Vehicles Prohibited

New Vision (Kampala) November 28, 2006

Posted to the web November 29, 2006

“As the Government takes measures to prepare for a possible outbreak of Avian Influenza (Bird Flu), the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF) has abolished transportation of domestic birds aboard passenger vehicles.

“Christmas is around the corner and a lot of chicken and turkeys will be ferried to the city.

“Let traders stay warned they should get separate vehicles to move these birds around as a way of taking precautions against the disease,” said Nicholas Khauta, the commissioner for Animal Health and Entomology at MAAIF.” - excerpt

http://allafrica.com/stories/200611290672.html

Health Canada warns of adverse reactions from Roche’s Tamiflu

11.29.2006, 12:48 PM

OTTAWA (AFX) - “The Canadian health authority Health Canada has warned of adverse effects of Roche Holding AG’s antiviral drug Tamiflu and asked the Swiss pharma group to include new warnings on the package insert.

Health Canada points to ‘international reports of hallucinations and abnormal behaviour, including self harm, in patients taking the antiviral drug Tamiflu’.

While the connection with the drug in these cases has not yet been proven, high fever or other complications of influenza can affect mental state, which in turn can lead to abnormal behaviour, Health Canada said.

Health Canada said it will continue to monitor the safety of the drug. “

http://www.forbes.com/markets/feeds/afx/2006/11/29/afx3213323.html

Internet rumours of a human bird flu case in Rimouski exasperate hospital

Wednesday, Nov 29, 2006

(CP) - “The power of the Internet rumour mill slammed up against a hospital in Rimouski, Que., on Wednesday, leaving infection control specialists and pediatricians bewildered by claims they were treating a child gravely ill with H5N1 avian flu.

Dr. Patrick Dolce, the hospital’s head of microbiology, confirms there is no case of H5N1 flu in the hospital.

Dolce says the hospital doesn’t even have a pediatric patient suffering from any respiratory illness.

“This is totally untrue. There is no case of respiratory illness in any children right now in the hospital. No cases at all,” Dolce said.

He added that when he raised the rumours with a colleague, the infectious disease specialist on duty Wednesday, “she laughed at me.”

Several Internet websites on pandemic influenza reported rumours that North America had its first human “bird flu” case in an unlikely spot - Rimouski, a city of about 42,000 people on the St. Lawrence River north of Quebec City.

Hospital administrators, who were initially unaware of the rumours, took some perplexing calls. A concerned man identifying himself as a physician called from Italy to check out the reports.

Dolce says the rumours are entirely untrue. “

http://www.mytelus.com/news/article.do?pageID=canada_home&articleID=2467478

My regular software translators have the flu. I’d appreciate any assistance translating the following Indonesian article. Probably nothing, Merci.

Rabu, 29 November 2006 12:48 WIB

Indonesia Catat Korban Meninggal Virus AI Ke-57

JAKARTA—MIOL: Seorang perempuan berusia 35 tahun menjadi korban meninggal dunia ke-57 akibat virus flu burung (avian influenza-AI).

Keterangan dari Departemen Kesehatan menyebutkan perempuan tersebut meninggal dunia pada Selasa (28/11) dini hari.

“Wanita itu meninggal pada Selasa pukul 00:15 di Rumah Sakit Sulianti Saroso setelah menjalani perawatan selama lebih dari sepekan,” menurut keterangan dari Pusat Informasi Flu Burung Nasional Depkes, Rabu.

Dengan kasus terbaru itu, maka sejauh ini jumlah kasus infeksi positif flu burung di Indonesia tercatat 74, dengan jumlah kematian 57 kasus. (Tr/AFP/OL-03)

The biosurveillance money pit

second farm in South Korea has HPAI

Department of Agriculture and Forestry think the virus was spread by vehicles traveling along highway 23, between the farms. Other farms in the area will be inspected. (The farms are 3km apart.) Maybe this time it will post. http://www.tinyurl.com/ymeqpg

Doctors announce new viral fever Maldives Nov.29

Doctors announced on Tuesday that there is currently a viral fever with new properties. Some of the symptoms are high fever, headaches, aches in joints and muscles, dizziness and nausea and weakness.

According to Dr. Raazee, samples of a previous virus had proven that the earlier virus was not Chickengunya.

The viral fever has spread to the islands in the other atolls.

The Maldives are Southwest of Sri Lanka where over 5,000 people are currently sick.

This looks like the story anon. wanted translated. The victim, a resident of Taman Adiyaksa, Tangerang, Banten Province, was transferred from one hospital to another to another and died. She is the 57th Indonesian victim. She was 35 years old. She fell sick on Nov. 7 and died Tues. (11/28?). “A connection to poultry has not been established.”

57th Indonesian bf victim dies

Thanks Jane

November 29

Canadian Press.

“Niman, who lives in Pittsburgh, wrote that several independent sources were reporting a child in hospital in Rimouski was sick with H5N1 disease.

Word of the rumour was e-mailed to several news organizations in Quebec, though not, it would appear, by Niman.

Suddenly the Rimouski hospital was getting calls from a man identifying himself as a physician from Italy and from news organizations. “We had a call from the New York Times,” said an amazed Dolce.

In an interview, Niman said he heard the rumour from two independent sources he trusted. Later, he called back to say he believed he might have been the victim of a hoax, saying the first call he took appeared to be from someone impersonating a person he knew.

The bloggers who write the respected public health website Effect Measure were also approached with the rumour, but chose not to run with it.

One of the anonymous bloggers - they go by the name Revere - said the decision was based on years of experience in public health.

The bloggers who write the respected public health website Effect Measure were also approached with the rumour, but chose not to run with it.”

http://agonist.org/20061129/internet_rumours_of_bird_flu_case_in_rimouski_quebec_are_totally_untrue

Helen has done a great job as usual. In case you are wondering, she does not care for Dr. N.

Fool me once shame on you. Fool me twice shame on you.

Comment- Give it a rest.

I believe that he was not the first to report the Quebec mystery and I’m grateful to the person who did last night. (And for the record, I *do* care for Dr. N..) Whether it was a misunderstanding, whether it was a deliberate hoax, whether there’s a cover-up, or whether it’s a mix, we’re learning more efficiently how to handle our PPF/ reactions/ civility.

S Korea slaughters Dogs, Cats, Pigs, Mice

People’s Daily

 09:16, November 30, 2006      

“South Korean quarantine officials in Iksan City on Tuesday began the slaughter of pigs and dogs although international health experts have questioned the necessity of killing non-poultry species to prevent the spread of bird flu.

But the officials insist the decision to slaughter pigs and dogs was not unusual and that the step has been taken in other countries without public knowledge.”

http://tinyurl.com/yj3vsm