“OBAMA SPEAK” Electing Bird Flu President USA

Many believe that in addition to all the domestic, economic and diplomatic disasters facing the next US President, there could well be an added disaster of the Bird Flu pandemic looming just over the horizon.

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So we have been taking a look at the candidates for the job of the President of America and the way we all feel about them during the election process.

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One of the most interesting things to have come to light recently is the “Obama Speak” for lying to the nation, about his proclamations about NAFTA.

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What did his man tell the Canadians?

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“It is more politics than policy”

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Now that is what I call eloquent!

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Normally that would be OK. We all know how politicians are!

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However, when some one like Obama, who has nothing else to show for but his “honesty”, shows him self to be less than honest, then it really, really hurts. 

Mini Lakes Of Egg Yolk as Bird Flu Panic Grows.

In a clear display of panic, hundreds of thousands of Eggs are being destroyed in the state of West Bengal in India, creating mini lakes of rapidly decaying egg yolk, in hastily dug ditches.

Meanwhile India’s worst outbreak of bird flu spread as health authorities battled to stop it reaching the densely populated city of Kolkata amid heavy rain that hampered culling efforts.

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Authorities reported the disease had affected two more districts, bringing the number hit by avian flu to 12 out of West Bengal state’s total of 19.The fear of the H5N1 virus is spreading to other parts of India as well.–                                                                                                                                               –                                                                                   –

In neighbouring Bangladesh from where the Indian outbreak is believed to have spread, health teams slaughtered a large number of birds in a border area amid a worsening bird flu situation across the country.

Some 2,646 chickens, ducks and pigeons were culled and 1,140 eggs destroyed in Bangladesh’s southern Patuakhali district, about 160 km south of capital Dhaka Thursday night after detection of avian influenza.

There are also reports of a large number of Crows dying of the H5N1 virus in Patuakhali in southern Bangladesh.

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The deadly bird flu virus has also killed 30 chickens in Thailand, marking the second outbreak of bird flu in 10 months, livestock officials said yesterday.

This is the second outbreak of bird flu in Thailand since March 18, 2007.

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The World Health Organization (WHO) today confirmed that a 34-year-old man from Vietnam has died of H5N1 avian influenza.

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While in Indonesia, a 30-year-old man has died of bird flu, the health ministry said Thursday, bringing the toll to 98 in the nation worst hit by the H5N1 virus.

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In the UK, a sixth swan from a bird sanctuary has tested positive for avian flu, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) confirmed.The news comes after restrictions on the movement of poultry or other captive birds in the Wild Bird Monitoring Area around Abbotsbury Swannery in Dorset, England were lifted at 3pm on Friday.-                                                                                                                                                    –The Bird Flu Virus has spread to 15 countries since the beginning of this year!

Bird Flu Panic In India

The Bird Flu virus is creating a growing sense of panic in India.

For the first time, there is a real sense of fear of the killer virus, not only in the effected states of Bengal and Bihar but all over India.

 The Times Of India Editorial put it this way- An Excerpt:

More than 6,00,000 eggs are piling up in Namakkal, the poultry capital of Tamil Nadu, even as egg prices slide with the fall in demand.

Thousands of broiler chickens are waiting in the wings as poultry entrepreneurs pray for importers to resume buying. The avian flu outbreak in West Bengal has simply devastated the poultry farmer in Tamil Nadu — setting the industry back by over Rs 500 crore — though the distance between the two states is thousands of kilometres and there is absolutely no sign of the virus in the south. Meanwhile, the government of West Bengal — where the H5N1 flu virus has now infected poultry in half the state — is unable to contain the outbreak.

It is wasting precious time sparring with the Centre, which has accused the state government of not doing enough on time.

The West Bengal government must act quickly to contain the outbreak, before it spreads to neighbouring states. Five persons have been quarantined in West Bengal as they have shown symptoms of avian flu, but as yet there are no confirmed cases.

Right now the impact on the poultry industry is much more disconcerting. It is losing out on huge export orders to countries in the Gulf among others. Fear of a possible pandemic is turning consumers away from chicken and eggs.

This is a pity since they are a relatively affordable source of protein. Poultry exporters say that they want the central government to divide the country zone-wise so that there is a clear understanding of which parts are affected and which are not. Zoning would help producers label their products.

This proposal should be implemented. Zoning and labelling would help revive exports somewhat. The World Health Organisation says this is the worst outbreak of H5N1 virus in India till date.

But the infrastructure and laboratory facilities to enable documentation, testing, detection and research in both animal/bird and human samples are inadequate.

Iran admits to Bird Flu! Could Homosexuals in Iran be the next revelation?

The world woke up yesterday, to find that Iran was not after all,  immune to the Bird Flu “due to the country’s moral strength”.

“Iran filed with the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) yesterday says the outbreak occurred in Mazandaran, a northern province that fronts on the Caspian Sea.”

The above was an amazing case of no doubt “pure coincident” as this admission of the bird flu outbreak, followed a news item from MEMRI, that was published by the birdflubreakingnews.com !!

The news item from MEMRI reported that the Iranian authorities had prohibited the country’s media from covering the problem of avian flu in Iran.

Iranians have since then accused the MEMRI, of having political motives to report news “to make Iran look bad. “.

I do not know about the political leanings of MEMRI but that was the ONLY source other than the Glorious Iranian Press about what is going on in that darkened country.

birdflubreakingnews has thousands of blogs and bird flu related news items on its site, from every country in the world (even from an imprisoned country like Burma) but almost nothing from Iran!

I have had “unconfirmed reports” about cases of H5N1 for a long time now, but I have not been able to get a confirmed source for such outbreaks.

We would not need MMRI, if only the Iranian Government sources had been able to tell the world, the truth about what is going on in that country.

Is it possible that now the Iranians will also admit to have homosexuals in their distinctly non-pink country?

J M Tom

Year of the Rat will soon be upon us

According to the Chinese Zodiac, the Year of 2008 is a Year of the Rat, which begins on February 7, 2008 and ends on January 25, 2009.

First in the cycle of 12 Animal signs, Rat Year begins the sequence and recurs every twelfth year.

Year of the Rat  February 7, 2008 – January 25, 2009

With the current year leaving us with a legacy of an increasing number of bird flu victims from a growing list of Nations.

Let us hope that there will be no plagues of any kind in the soon to be upon us year of the Rat!          

A Happy new years to every one 🙂

free Tamiflu for all visitors to Indonesia?

You have to hand it to the Indonesians for their chutzpah, in launching the new Visit Indonesia 2008 tourism campaign, at the same time as we hear about at least five Indonesians apparently infected with the deadly bird flu virus.

The campaign slogan, inaugurated by Indonesian Tourism Minister Jero Wacik last week, is also plastered on Indonesia’s flag carrier Garuda planes, Website and on its promotional TV ads, with a tag line: “Celebrating 100 years of a nation’s awakening”.

Some have suggested that the new slogan should be “free Tamiflu for all visitors to Indonesia” instead!

The country is embarking on the campaign to revive its flagging tourism industry which recorded a drop of about four million foreign tourist arrivals, in 2006.

Some of the reasons for the drop in tourism are:

Indonesia’s has not been in the good books of its Gods and the country has had to go through multiple disasters one after the other.

There was the devastating 2004 year-end tsunami, followed by severe flooding and there have been several volcanic eruptions since then.

Also, due to numerous air crashes, some involves its national carrier Garuda, air travel, which is a necessity for residents of the country’s far-flung islands, saftey has also become an issue.

To top it all, the European Union has banned Indonesian air carriers flying over the EU airspace!.

Then there have been a series of bombings by Islamic-based extremist group which operates under the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) organization in the Southeast Asian region has kept tourists further at bay.

A Jakarta court has just opened the trial of Abu Dujana, who is being charged with plotting terrorist activities, including in possession of explosives.

He is being blamed for the 2002 Bali bombings, which resulted in the death of 202 people, mostly Australian tourists.

However, the most worrying problem for the potential visitors to Indonesia is of course the Bird Flu virus, which has killed more people in Indonesia to date, than any where else in the world.

Siti Supari, the controversial Indonesian Health Minister has not made things easy for her country, by taking on the WHO and other global agencies by refusing to let the world scientific community have the tssue samples, from the Indonesian victims of theBird Flu virus.

The government’s apparent poor handling of the on-going bird flu health scare which undoubtedly will be on the mind of tourists visiting the country.

May be they should offer free Tamiflu to all tourists to Indonesia, just in case.

Source:

http://www.eturbonews.com/470/indonesia-launches-2008-tourism-campaign-howls-protest

Bird-Flu Mutates to Mix with Swine-Flu

Researchers have identified a new strain of swine influenza—H2N3—which is a mutated virus gene, composed of avian and swine influenza genes.

H2N3 which belongs to the group of H2 influenza viruses that last infected humans during the 1957 pandemic.

The research team at Agricultural Research Service, studied an unknown pathogen that in 2006 infected two groups of pigs at separate production facilities.

Both groups of pigs used water obtained from ponds frequented by migrating waterfowl.

Molecular studies indicated the unknown pathogen was an H2N3 influenza virus that is closely related to an H2N3 strain found in mallard ducks. But this was the first time it had been observed in mammals.

Influenza viruses have eight gene segments, all of which can be swapped between different virus strains.

Two of these gene segments code for virus surface proteins that help determine whether an influenza virus is able to infect a specific host and start replicating—the first step in the onset of influenza infection.

In the newly isolated swine H2N3, the avian H2 and N3 gene segments mixed with gene segments from common swine influenza viruses.

This exchange—and additional mutations—gave the H2N3 viruses the ability to infect swine. Lab tests confirmed that this strain of H2N3 could also infect mice and ferrets.

These findings provide further evidence that swine have the potential to serve as a “mixing vessel” for influenza viruses carried by birds, pigs and humans. It also supports the need to continue monitoring swine—and livestock workers—for H2-subtype viruses and other influenza strains that might someday threaten swine and human health.

Results of this study were published online this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

ARS is the U.S. Department of Agriculture‘s chief scientific research agency.

The research Scientists:

Agricultural Research Service (ARS) veterinarians Juergen Richt, Amy Vincent, Kelly Lager and Phillip Gauger conducted this research with Iowa State University (ISU) visiting scientist Wenjun Ma, ISU veterinarian Bruce Janke and other colleagues at the University of Minnesota and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. The ARS veterinarians work at the agency’s National Animal Disease Center in Ames, Iowa.

Sources:

http://www.ars.usda.gov/News/docs.htm?docid=1261

www.birdflubreakingnews.com

Bird Flu may be “Hushed Up” in Pakistan – Health Minister!

Here is an amazing statement by the current “caretaker Health Minister” of the North West Frontier Province of Pakistan, as reported in the news item below, via Daily times: 

NWFP caretaker Health Minister Syed Kamal Shah told Daily Times that so far around six to seven cases of the disease had been reported in the province.

He added two of the patients had died in November and that officials were awaiting results of the samples that they had dispatched to the NIH.

“If the results come out to be positive then the samples would be sent to the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta for further confirmation,” he said.

“I am trying to get the results but poultry is a big industry with many stakeholders, some of whom may want to hush up the issue.”

“The strain detected in the Bird Flu-infected people is called H5N1, which is the most dangerous of all other strains,” he added.

Shah also said that currently there were three people in the hospitals of Peshawar and Abbottabad. However, he declined to say something about the infected doctor.

He said over 70 percent of the poultry industry was based in NWFP and added that “closure of the industry is under-consideration, as human lives are more precious and important than any industry.”

Sources:

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007%5C12%5C18%5Cstory_18-12-2007_pg7_28

www.birdflubreakingnews.com

“Crack” Bird Flu expert Team in Pakistan!

I hear that a “Crack team of Bird Flu experts” has left for Pakistan to investigate the Bird-Flu outbreak over there.

Not sure if that was a real story or a spoof.

If true, then where is this team going?

Will they be checking in to the North West Frontier Hilton?

Or may be they are going to talk to the local politicians, bureaucrats in Pakistan to find out as to what is going on in that part of the world?

Well, I am afraid that the politicians and the bureaucrats in Pakistan are totally clueless about all of this.

The news about a possible bird flu outbreak in that area is not new.

There have been reports of lots of chickens mysteriously dying in the Afghan/Pakistan border area since the last winter.

It is not easy to understand here in the West, as to how cheap human life really is in that region and therefore, news of many people dying (let alone chickens dying) does not result in big headlines.

This is the North west Frontier of Pakistan, a region where the writ of Pakistani law has never fully extended, and which is thought to be a likely hiding place for Osama bin Laden.

I suppose the “crack team of experts” will immediately meet up with the other crack team, already investigating the disappearance of Osama in that same area.

Senator John McCain of the Bird-flu reporters?

Peter Cordingley the WHO Asia-Pacific spokesman has said that prompt notification was helping keep the virus in check after Pakistan announced its first human death and Burma (Myanmar) revealed its first human case.

      Peter Cordingley

“People have learned that hiding cases just makes things worse,” Cordingley told AFP.

Peter Cordingley also included China in his praise.

So Burma, China and Pakistan have been praised as being transparent with all the information regarding the H5N1 virus outbreaks by the WHO.

I find my self getting to be more and more like Senator John McCain  of the flu web reporters!

 !!!!!!

Is no one else upset at the above?

Surely the excuse of “having to deal diplomatically” with these “transparent nations”, can not be accepted forever by those of us who see the results of such folly on almost a daily bases!

Hiding a potential pandemic is no better and can be far worse than hiding a rogue nuclear weapons program

Bird Flu in Pakistan – The real story.

I have been watching with amused admiration, the energy and the effort spent by all of the Flu news/blog folks, on the Pakistani H5N1 outbreak.

To begin with, even at the best of times, it is very unlikely that any reliable news would be able to seep out of even the main cities of Pakistan, let alone the North West Frontier area of that country.

That is the region after all, where you-know-who has been hiding all these years without a trace!

To top all that, the Pakistani Government has had its hands full for many months with matters that it thinks are much more important than a simple pandemic.

I mean, in pandemic a few million people can die. That is all.

What is that to a country with one of the largest populations in the world?

As all of you must know, the State of Emergency imposed by General Musharraf (now a civilian but still in charge) has been “removed” from Pakistan TODAY, by its now civilian President.

So does that mean that now we will be able to get all the news from the newly “free Pakistan”?

Certainly not.

Now Pakistan is in the process of holding a general election for the post of the Prime Minister.

That is a very important post.

Lots of money can be made if you are the PM of Pakistan.

All those lovely Billions from the US to start with.

In fact the two main candidates have both been accused by several international bodies of corruption at a huge scale.

So I am afraid a pandemic or two is not really important at this time for that country, where it is now the time to play Politics.

British Lords to look in to the spread of infectious diseases

The British Lords have now decided to examine the effectiveness of action by intergovernmental organisations, to control the spread of infectious diseases.

Their Lordships are to examine how cross-border policy issues are being addressed through UK membership of intergovernmental bodies.

The Committee, which is chaired by Lord Soley, has chosen for its first inquiry to examine how effectively the global spread of communicable diseases is being controlled through action by intergovernmental organisations. 

The Committee will be looking not only at what medical agencies, such as the World Health Organisation, are doing but also at how other bodies, such as the UN Children’s Fund and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, are involved and will be assessing, among other things, whether there is adequate synergy between the various participants.

The Labour peer Lord Soley, Chairman of the new Committee, said:

“Infectious diseases are no respecters of national frontiers.  Much good work to prevent or control them is being done by a range of intergovernmental organisations of which the UK is a member.

“Our Committee wishes to assess how effective these efforts are proving to be and how well coordinated they are. We also want to see what intergovernmental preparations are being made to cope with emerging diseases.

“We will be focusing initially on HIV/AIDS, Malaria, Tuberculosis and Avian Influenza, all of them actual or potential killers on a large scale.

Our Call for Evidence has gone to a wide range of bodies with acknowledged expertise in the subject, but we would welcome evidence from anyone who feels he or she can contribute”.

Of course with the recent accusations of “Money for titles” leveled at the British Government, added to the practice of the ex Prime Minister Blair of “stuffing the House of Lords with his labour cronies”, the Noble House of Lords is considered by some, to be not as NOBLE as it once was!

Sources:

http://www.parliament.uk/parliamentary_committees/lords_press_notices/pn101207igo.cfm

www.birdflubreakingnews.com

BirdFlu NewsFlashes Dec 11, 2007

Additional Bird Flu Victim Tissue Samples For Indonesia

There is yet another human death resulting from the Bird Flu virus in Indonesia.

A 28-year-old woman from the outskirts of the Indonesian capital has been confirmed as dying of bird flu, raising the toll in the nation worst affected by H5N1 to 92, the health ministry said Tuesday.

The victim, named Mutiah, lived in the satellite city of Tangerang, just west of Jakarta, where three other bird flu deaths have been reported since October.

Mutiah, who sold ornamental plants has died here with officials suspecting she may be the nation’s 92nd bird flu death, an official from the agriculture ministry said Tuesday.

Two laboratory tests on the woman, who died on Monday at a hospital in Jakarta, showed that she was infected with the highly pathogenic virus, a statement from the ministry’s bird flu information centre said.

Unkind people in Indonesia are (no doubt maliciously) suggesting that the Indonesian Health Minister, Siti Supari is now boasting the largest amount of tissue samples in the world, from the Bird Flu victims, in the Indonesian Bird flu Human Tissue Bank.

http://www.antara.co.id/en/arc/2007/12/11/indonesian-plant-seller-suspected-of-bird-flu-death-ministry/ 

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5gGA9CiE7_wp_PvqOkvdQhNtDEeyA

http://www.france24.com/france24Public/en/administration/afp-news.html?id=071211174315.xz87pds3&cat=null

Bird Flu case suspected at South Korea Poultry Farm.

Here we go again!

Even though its neighbour is protected from the Bird Flu virus due to the devine powers of its dear leader, South Korea has no such protection and has once again succumbed to the killer virus.

A report today Tuesday, from Reuters (Yonhap news agency)  tells us that ducks at a poultry farm tested positive for an antibody to a bird flu virus.

There was no information on which strain of bird flu, at the farm in Paju, around 24.85 miles north of Seoul, had been identified. Results of further testing should be known in about two weeks, a local official told Yonhap news agency.

South Korea’s agriculture ministry was unable immediately to confirm the Yonhap report.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUKSEO9157220071211

Bird flu outbreak reported from farm in Russia’s Rostov region

A total of 35,000 chickens have died of flu at the Gulyai-Borisovskaya farm since December 5. The farm had 500,000 chickens. Lab tests confirmed it was the bird flu.

Marina Abramchenko, a spokeswoman for the local emergencies ministry said Tuesday.

Marina Abramchenko said the birds started dying November 29 from the lethal H5N1 virus at the farm, which holds some 500,000 birds, adding that quarantine restrictions have been introduced in the area.

“We have received the preliminary results of analysis,” Abramchenko said adding that the results showed traces of the H5N1 virus.

http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=12169841&PageNum=0

http://en.rian.ru/russia/20071211/91905749.html

How to find the cheapest Christmas turkey in UK?

No. It is not by calling Barnard Matthews for one of his “Turkey Specials”.

It is suggested by “This is Money” (Part of the Daily Mail group) that even though the availability of organic birds in the UK has been hit, elsewhere the predictions that the price of a turkey would soar have failed to materialise.

After the recent bird flu outbreaks in the UK, there were fears that the cost of Christmas lunch could rocket this year – with Waitrose announcing it would have no organic turkeys this year. But while the availability of organic birds has been hit, elsewhere predictions that the price of a turkey would soar have failed to materialise.

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/consumer/article.html?in_article_id=427456&in_page_id=5

British Lords to look in to the spread of infectious diseases

The British Lords have now decided to examine the effectiveness of action by intergovernmental organisations, to control the spread of infectious diseases.

Their Lordships are to examine how cross-border policy issues are being addressed through UK membership of intergovernmental bodies.

The Labour peer Lord Soley, Chairman of the new Committee, said:

“Infectious diseases are no respecters of national frontiers.  Much good work to prevent or control them is being done by a range of intergovernmental organisations of which the UK is a member.

“Our Committee wishes to assess how effective these efforts are proving to be and how well coordinated they are. We also want to see what intergovernmental preparations are being made to cope with emerging diseases.

“We will be focusing initially on HIV/AIDS, Malaria, Tuberculosis and Avian Influenza, all of them actual or potential killers on a large scale.

Of course with the recent accusations of “Money for titles” leveled at the British Government, added to the practice of the ex Prime Minister Blair of “stuffing the House of Lords with his labour cronies”, the Noble House of Lords is considered by some, to be not as NOBLE as it once was!

http://www.parliament.uk/parliamentary_committees/lords_press_notices/pn101207igo.cfm

More Human Bird Flu Tissue Samples For Indonesia

There is yet another human death resulting from the Bird Flu virus in Indonesia.

A 28-year-old woman from the outskirts of the Indonesian capital has been confirmed as dying of bird flu, raising the toll in the nation worst affected by H5N1 to 92, the health ministry said Tuesday.

The victim, named Mutiah, lived in the satellite city of Tangerang, just west of Jakarta, where three other bird flu deaths have been reported since October.

Mutiah, who sold ornamental plants has died here with officials suspecting she may be the nation’s 92nd bird flu death, an official from the agriculture ministry said Tuesday.

Two laboratory tests on the woman, who died on Monday at a hospital in Jakarta, showed that she was infected with the highly pathogenic virus, a statement from the ministry’s bird flu information centre said.

Two positive results of tests on blood and tissue samples from a victim are needed before Indonesian authorities confirm a bird flu infection.

Muhammad Nadhirin, an official at the centre, said that a team of five experts had been dispatched on Monday to the victim’s neighbourhood.

The team said that “the source of infection could be from poultry 100 metres (yards) away from the victim’s house, but we’re waiting for test results on whether the poultry is infected with the virus,” Nadhirin told AFP.

“The first test by the health ministry’s laboratory confirmed that she was infected with H5N1, but we are still awaiting the results of the second test,” said doctor Memed.

Two positive results of tests on blood and tissue samples from a victim are needed before Indonesian authorities confirm a bird flu infection here.

Dr. Memed said that it was still being determined whether the woman had been in contact with infected poultry or birds, the usual method of transmission of the virus to humans.“Teams are currently deployed in her neighbourhood to determine the source of infection,” Memed added.

Unkind people in Indonesia are (no doubt maliciously) suggesting that the Indonesian Health Minister, Siti Supari, is boasting that Indonesia now has the largest amount of Bird Flu human tissue samples in the world.

http://www.antara.co.id/en/arc/2007/12/11/indonesian-plant-seller-suspected-of-bird-flu-death-ministry/

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5gGA9CiE7_wp_PvqOkvdQhNtDEeyA

http://www.france24.com/france24Public/en/administration/afp-news.html?id=071211174315.xz87pds3&cat=null

www.birdflubreakingnews.com

It was Not Human to Human H5N1 after all. Phew……

The Chinese Officials have confirmed that the bird flu virus that killed a man and infected his father in Jiangsu Province was a “poultry-originated virus” and cannot spread from person to person, Mao Qun’an, spokesman of the Ministry of Health, said in a press conference this morning.

The H5N1 virus has not mutated according to the gene analysis of the virus, Mao said. The cause for the two infections was still being investigated, as both had no contact with poultry before becoming ill.

Mao Qun’an, spokesman of the Chineswe Ministry of Health

No clinical symptoms of bird flu have been found among the 83 people who have had close contact with the two patients, the ministry confirmed.

Sixty-nine people were in close contact with the first patient, and only his father has shown symptoms of bird flu. Six people who had close contact with both patients are still under close observation while 55 others have been released.

Here is the News Item from the official Chinese Site:

http://www.china.org.cn/english/health/234990.htm

Revalutionary new tool aginst the Bird Flu Virus.

A revalutionary new tool aginst the Bird Flu Virus.

Researcher tests water for evidence of bird flu

I believe that Todd M. Lickfett, a CMU graduate assistant has come up with a truly new idea in the fight against the Bird-Flu virus.

Like all good ideas, it is a simple one.

Lickfett believes he can greatly widen the scope of testing for a virus, by sampling the water where the birds congregate during migratory stopovers, instead of testing samples of the blood of individual birds!

Imagine 10,000 gulls in a pool of water, Lickfett said. The one gull you test might or might not have the virus. But if even one infected gull is in the pool, Lickfett theorizes, a sample of the contaminated water should detect it.

“Basically, it means you’ve effectively sampled all 10,000 birds in one swoop,” he said.

Similar research under way in Asia involves drinking water supplies of commercial poultry.

To test his wild bird method, Lickfett will collect water samples from sites including the Shiawassee National Wildlife Refuge in Saginaw County.

Lab tests have indicated bird flu viruses can live hundreds of days at cold temperatures. Lickfett hopes to show he can reliably detect it at migration sites, even long after the flocks have left.

If so, his method could test for the deadly bird flu strain.

Way To Go Lickfett !

Sources:

http://blog.mlive.com/chronicle/2007/12/researcher_tests_water_for_evi.html

www.birdflubreakingnews.com

Bird Flu mixed with Ebola would be the ultimate Nightmare!

The term Recombinant DNA is normally used for DNA that has been created artificially.

DNA from two or more sources is incorporated into a single recombinant molecule via the combination or insertion of one or more DNA strands, thereby combining DNA sequences which would not normally occur together.

However, recombination is also an important mechanism in virus evolution, allowing viruses to evolve more quickly by providing immediate direct access to many more areas of a sequence space than are accessible by mutation alone.

The exchange of genetic material between different virus species is called inter-species recombination.

This has the potential to generate, within a single genome replication cycle, an almost unimaginable number of genetically distinct virus strains, including many that might cause deadly new human, animal, or plant diseases.

As an example, the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) is formed by a combination of mammalian and avian viruses, according to a new study from the University of Toronto.

The study, published in the January issue of the Journal of Virology, sheds light on the SARS coronavirus, a deadly form of pneumonia caused by the same viral family as the common cold.

I have been interested in this “evolutionary shortcut” for a while now.

It was with a real sense of dread therefore that I read the following article from Recombinomics laying out the chilling possibility of a mutated combination of H5N1 with Ebola.

Even Hollywood could not produce any thing worse than that! 

Here is the article from Recombinomics:

The conventional wisdom was that Ebola is containable because it kills its victims faster than it can find new ones.

However, conditions on the ground are now proving otherwise.

While 61 cases have been identified, Zaramba says the health ministry is having difficulty detecting more cases or identifying people with whom patients had contact.

And as of the weekend, the disease had spread to three new zones in Bundibugyo district.

Local officials speaking on the condition of anonymity say that the death toll is almost twice that reported.

The above comments describe the worsening situation in Uganda.

Recent media reports suggest the outbreak has spread further this week, and the infections of health care workers raise transmission concerns.

The current strain was difficult to identify, and is likely a recombinant.  Recombination has been linked to the emergence of new Ebola strains, and some of these strains share a region of identity with H5 influenza.

Both influenza and filoviruses are negative sense RNA viruses and influenza is transported and transmitted by migratory birds that fly into Africa.

The new species may also have different transmission modes.

The symptoms of the cases are closer to those associated with H5N1 than those associated with Ebola.

The CDC has partial Ebola sequence data, but the relationship between those sequences and prior Ebola sequences remain unclear.

Release of the partial sequences would be useful.  The Ebola / H5 identity is in the envelope gene, and the region has differences in strains of Ebola as well as high and low path H5.

Sources:

http://www.recombinomics.com/News/12040703/Ebola_Uganda_Spread_Increase.html

www.birdflubreakingnews.com
 

Impact of Bird-Flu on the Map of Europe

The Impact of Bird-Flu on the Map of Europe

                                                               “Bird Flu Map”
 Thanks for the above to “Addshots”

Sources:

http://addshots.blogspot.com/2007/12/bbc-world-maps.html

www.birdflubreakingnews.com

                                                                  

Bird-Flu kills again in China, the land of its origin.

The killer Bird-flu has come back to China, the land of its origin.

A man in east China’s Jiangsu province died of bird flu on Sunday, the Jiangsu provincial health department reported.

 

               

Significantly, the man had no contact with dead poultry, according to the Chinese provincial health department.

The 24-year-old man, surnamed Lu, developed fever, chills and other symptoms on November 24 and was hospitalized on November 27 after being diagnosed “lower left pneumonia”. Lu’s illness deteriorated in the hospital and died on Sunday.A respiratory tract sample examination by Jiangsu Provincial Disease Control and Prevention Center on Saturday showed the man’s avian flu virus nucleic acid was H5 positive and N1 positive.

 A test done by the China Disease Control and Prevention Center on Sunday also indicated that the man was H5N1 positive and the Chinese Ministry of Health has confirmed Lu was infected with bird flu.

All of the 69 people who had close contact with Lu have been put under strict medical observation. So far, they have shown no signs of symptoms.

The Ministry of Health has reported the case to the World Health Organization and some countries and regions.

Officials from the Jiangsu Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Bureau said that no bird flu epidemic has been found in the province so far.

 Sources:

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-12/03/content_7187514.htm

www.birdflubreakingnews.com

www.essexcc.gov.uk

www.accci.com.au

Bird-Flu Spreads to 60 Countries in last 3 years!

David Nabarro, the UN’s influenza coordinator, said on Thursday that the avian influenza virus has been reported in 60 countries in the last three years.

David Nabarro, UN influenza coordinator

According to a UN-World Bank assessment on responses to avian influenza, the H5N1 virus has spread in the last three years, to East Asia and on to locations in North and West Africa, central Europe and as far as Britain.

It said the highly pathogenic HPAI virus was reported in 15 countries in 2005, and H5N1 in at least 55 countries and territories in 2006.

In six countries, including Indonesia, the virus is still enzootic, which means it is continuously present and being passed between poultry.

Additionally, “we have some major anxieties about the extent to which countries’ pandemic preparedness plans are really capable of being operationalized,” Dr. Nabarro said.

“When the pandemic strikes, viruses will not understand borders and they will spread to all countries and all people of the world will be at risk.”

The good news is, that most Goverments are able to mount an increasingly improved defence, in the event of an outbreak of the H5N1 virus.

David Nabarro, said the worldwide responses by most governments have led to improved measures to detect, contain and lessen the impact of dangerous pathogens. He warned, however, that the responses have been unequal and the risk remains that the bird flu virus could mutate into a strand easily transmitted among humans.

The bad news is that “Pathogens are becoming more mobile as a result of increases in international travel and trade, and changes in the ecosystems” according to David Nabarro.

They cause diseases that threaten the health and well being of the entire world population,” Nabaarro said. “The long-term security of the human race requires all nations to prepare together – so that when new disease outbreaks and pandemics do occur, responses will be adequate and meet the needs of all people and not just a fortunate few.”

Sources:

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=24848&Cr=avian&Cr1=flu

http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/150455.html

www.birdflubreakingnews.com

Supari the Amazing Indonesian Health Minister

Here is a great Q & A session with Siti Fadilah Supari, the Indonesian Health Minister, from IndCoup, a really resourceful blogger  from Jakarta.

(I found the blog on the blogs section of the www.birdflubreakingnews.com)  

The Health Minister talks about the TREE MAN, she is against Indonesians exercising, suggests that NOT smoking is more harmful than smoking and has amazing ideas about breakfast and er.. a certain part of the male anatomy!

Here is an excerpt (and the entire interview follows below):

Q: Will sit-ups help prevent me from getting a bit soft around the middle?

A: Definitely not! When you exercise a muscle, it gets bigger. So you should only be doing sit-ups if you want a bigger tummy.

Q: Onto sex. What do you think of condoms?

A: Yes they are good idea – I purchased one recently in Jakarta at Sudirman Park for Rp3 billion. Not sure what they’ve got to do with sex though.

Q: No I mean condoms not condos. You know fiesta, durex and the like. But anyway do you think Indonesia is doing enough to promote condom use?

A: Doing enough to promote condom use?! Of course we are! Haven’t you ever heard of Dolly?

Q: You were quoted as saying a penis was the greatest breakfast for women. Why?

A: Because it has a mushroom head, a sausage, two eggs and cream. All the nutrients to make a woman healthy and happy.

Here is the full Interview by IndCoup:

Indonesian Health Minister Siti Fadilah Supari is raising a storm for playing hardball with the WHO. We’ve caught up with her and asked her a few questions…

Q: I`ve heard that cardiovascular exercise can prolong your life. Is this true?
A: Well, your heart is only good for so many beats, and that`s it… so don`t waste them on exercise. Everything wears out eventually. Speeding up your heart will not make you live longer; I mean that`s rather like saying you can extend the expected life of your car by driving it faster. Want to live longer? Just sleep all day long like most teenage Indonesians do.
Q: Should Indonesians exercise more?
A: No. Why should they? My philosophy is: No Pain Is Good.
Q: The WHO estimates at least 25% of all deaths in Indonesia by 2020 will be due to cigarette smoking…
A: But the other 75% will be deaths from NOT smoking – clear proof that NOT smoking is more harmful than smoking.
Q: But Siti – scientists have proven that cigarettes are harmful to the health of children…
A: Fair enough, use an ashtray.
Q: The average Indonesian diet is drowning in fat. Everything seems to be fried. Your opinion?
A: Foods these days are fried in vegetable oil. How could getting more vegetables be bad for you?
Q: What`s the secret to healthy eating?
A: More vegetables. Eat up your nasi goreng.
Q: Will sit-ups help prevent me from getting a bit soft around the middle?
A: Definitely not! When you exercise a muscle, it gets bigger. So you should only be doing sit-ups if you want a bigger tummy.
Q: Onto sex. What do you think of condoms?
A: Yes they are good idea – I purchased one recently in Jakarta at Sudirman Park for Rp3 billion. Not sure what they’ve got to do with sex though.
Q: No I mean condoms not condos. You know fiesta, durex and the like. But anyway do you think Indonesia is doing enough to promote condom use?
A: Doing enough to promote condom use?! Of course we are! Haven’t you ever heard of Dolly?
Q: You were quoted as saying a penis was the greatest breakfast for women. Why?
A: Because it has a mushroom head, a sausage, two eggs and cream. All the nutrients to make a woman healthy and happy.
Q: Onto “Tree Man” Dede. Why won’t you let him get treatment in the US?
A: To show how much we care about him, we just so happened to appoint a team of doctors the day the story was broken on the Discovery Channel. Prior to that he had lived a peaceful life and didn’t need any help whatsoever. He was even making a good living by working as part of a local Freak Show. His ailment is a blessing and not a curse! And now you think we should allow him to get free medical treatment overseas?!! My God as if any Indonesian would want that!!! … but paying for it ourselves is okay of course … (smiles, blushes slightly)
Q: And what about WHO claims that Indonesia’s refusal to share bird flu virus samples raises the risk of a global pandemic breaking out?
A: As if these foreigners would do anything for us!
Q: Er.. aren’t you forgetting Aceh?
A: Mau minum segelas Bir Bintang mister? It’s made from vegetables you know….

Indonesian Health Minister Siti Fadilah Supari

Sources:

http://indcoup.blogspot.com/2007/11/exclusive-q-session-with-siti-fadilah.html

www.birdflubreakingnews.com

There are FIVE Bird-Flu Viruses now!

According to TEMPO INTERAKTIF, the premier Indonesian Magazine, the development of H5N1 bird flu virus in Indonesia has been faster than that of any other country. 

In fact it appears that the Bird-Flu virus in Indonesia, has mutated and split in to Five different varieties of the H5N1 strain.

AIRLANGGA UNIVERSITY.

Dr.C.A. Nidom a molecular biology researcher from Airlangga University, Surabaya, said on Monday (26/11),

that in Indonesia the H5N1 virus has already mutated to five subdivisions.

“In other countries however, the mutation found was only three virus variants,” said Dr. Nidom.

The subdivisions of mutated virus in Indonesia are divided into type A, B, C, C1 and D.Categories A and B have spread in Sumatra, with category C in Kalimantan.

Category C1 has spread in several places, while category D is found in Papua and southern Sumatra.

“We’re also surprised that the virus in Indonesia is under local law, so between one area and

 the other they’re different. The virus even mutated,” added Dr Nidom.

Therefore, now a molecular review is still required in order to identify the different characteristics

of the virus types.

That way different strains of the virus can be handled differently, according to their individual characteristics.

Siti Fadilah Supari, the Indonesian Health Minister

Sources:

http://www.tempointeraktif.com/hg/nasional/2007/11/26/brk,20071126-112338,uk.html

www.birdflubreakingnews.com

Indonesia wants Weird Treeman’s Virus samples back

In an amazing outburst, Indonesia’s Health Minister Siti Fadilah Supari, lambasted the US doctor currently treating the 35-year-old man, who has the rare affliction caused by the Human Papilloma Virus.

The Indonesian fisherman who developed tree-like growths on his hands and feet was being treated by specialist doctors who had taken some blood samples from him in order to try and find the right treatment for the disease.

Instead of being thankful to the doctors for their efforts, the Indonesian Health Minister criticised the doctors trying to treat the afflicted fisherman.

Mrs Supari, who has famously refused to share bird flu samples with international scientists, made her comments on Sunday after returning from a World Health Organisation (WHO) conference in Geneva.

“We are offended because the samples were taken from Dede without our permission,” she told reporters at the hospital where the man was being treated. “If they are taken abroad, they could become lucrative commodities.”

Her comments have now offended Dr Gaspari, an American dermatologist at the University of Maryland, who maintains that, while he took the samples without permission, his sole motivation was getting treatment for the man.

Known simply as Dede, the man, who lives in a village south of the capital Jakarta, has massive root-like warts growing from his arms and legs which have gone untreated for years.

“We did take samples, and the reason we did was to render a diagnosis. We did it for humanitarian reasons, to help the patient,” Dr Gaspari said, stressing his willingness to put in writing that the samples were not for commercial use.

Mrs Supari has steadfastly refused to share samples of the deadly H5N1 strain of the Flu virus.

Sources:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/11/26/wtree126.xml

www.birdflubreakingnews.com

The real cost of the British Bird Flu outbreak

This has not been a great year for the British farmer.

The repeated (though thankfully limited) outbreaks of the Foot and Mouth virus, the Blue Tongue virus and of course the highly pathogenic Bird flu H5N1 virus.

As the Chinese say, these have been interesting times for the Brits and the new Prime Minister is rapidly getting to be known as “Bad Luck Brown”!

The current Bird Flu virus seems to be restricted to a relatively small area with “only” five farms proving to have the dreaded virus in the poultry flocks.

Nearly 29,000 birds had been culled on five farms, all run by Redgrave Poultry and managed by the same five staff, in the official response to the outbreak.

But the real toll is much higher. One hatchery alone voluntarily gassed 190,000 chicks because it did not want to move them outside the restricted area, according to NFU poultry board chairman Charles Bourns.

This hatchery was probably not alone in taking very drastic action, while there have also been problems in getting eggs to hatcheries from farms and in getting birds to slaughter due to the restrictions in place, Mr Bourns added.

Mr Bourns said it was ‘encouraging’ there had only been two confirmed cases and he was ‘optimistic’ the disease would be contained.

He said there appeared to have been ‘no impact at all’ on poultry sales since news of the outbreak broke, a sign, he believed, that consumers were getting the message the disease did not pose a health risk.

“But there is a huge hidden cost to avian flu outbreaks as a result of the restrictions, which are very necessary, but create all sorts of problems for those caught up in them,” he said.

He predicted the various avian flu outbreaks in the UK in recent years had cost the industry around £100m.

About 40 per cent of the country’s fresh birds come from East Anglia and an estimated 25 million birds are caught up in the restrictions.

Movement restrictions on birds, litter, eggs and by-products apply in 3km Protection Zones around the two outbreaks.

A 10km Surveillance Zone and a wider Restricted Zone covering Suffolk and most of Norfolk. Bird keepers in those zones are also required to house or otherwise isolate their birds from wild birds.

http://www.farmersguardian.com/story.asp?sectioncode=1&storycode=14633

Bird-Flu and the two million strong gathering at the Hajj

The Saudis have “culled” more than 3.5 million Chickens to try and fend off the Bird-flu virus from their country..

I believe that is the largest amount of poultry destroyed due to a Bird-Flu outbreak at one time in the world.

The problem of the current outbreak of the killer virus for the Saudis, could be made more problematic due to the the Hajj.

The month of Dhul Hijjah begins on December 11, 2007, with the week of the Hajj beginning on December 18, 2007.

An estimated two million pilgrims participate in this annual pilgrimage of Hajj.

Even though Mecca, the destination of the pilgrims, is at some distance from Jeddah,

(the current location of the Bird-Flu outbreak), the added risk of millions of pilgrims,

from as far away as Indonesia gathered in the Kingdom is a potential problem.

Tom Cruise Movie and Bird-Flu

A cute cartoon via “life of lab animals”.

« Life of Lab animals – unnatural love

Life of Lab animals – new Tom Cruise movie and bird flu

The original site:

( found in www.birdflubreakingnews.com)

http://spuriousmonkey.com/?p=116

British are Counting Their Chickens

The British Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) has organised a poultry census.

The census is being carried out within the 10km surveillance area set up around Redgrave Park Farm – where the highly-pathogenic H5N1 strain of bird flu was confirmed earlier this week – to establish exactly how many birds were there.

AN army of volunteers has visited more than 3,000 homes within the bird flu surveillance zone in a bid to prevent the virus spreading.

Defra’s regional operations director Heather Peck said: “We are still in what the chief veterinary officer has called a period of uncertainty.”

She said council workers had volunteered to help carry out this work and to give advice to residents on what to look out for.Speaking to the EADT on a visit to the region, East of England minister Barbara Follett praised farmers for the way they had dealt with the current bird flu outbreak and the bluetongue cases earlier this year, as well as those now leading efforts to contain avian influenza.“This is a really professional operation. What is so impressive is seeing so many different agencies working with the owners of poultry,” she said.“There is no sense of frantic activity but a great deal of care being taken regarding public safety.

Defra has traced every movement on and off Redgrave Park Farm, including checking feed lorries, waste trucks, straw trucks and rodent control workers.

Poultry at Grove Farm, Botesdale, was slaughtered on suspicion of having the virus after dozens of birds were found dead by officials. But tests on 30 birds showed they did not have the virus.

Redgrave Poultry’s operations director Geoffrey Buchanan said no evidence of bird flu had been found at three other sites operated by the company in the wider restricted area where precautionary culls are underway.

All four premises share staff with Redgrave Park, and were being culled because of fears they had been exposed to the virus through workers.

Mr Buchanan said Defra began culling birds at Hill Meadow Farm, Knettishall, Suffolk, yesterday and would be starting culls at Stone House, West Harling, Norfolk, and Bridge Farm, Pulham Market, Norfolk, last night.

Sources:

http://www.eveningstar.co.uk/content/eveningstar/news/story.aspx?brand=ESTOnline&category=News&tBrand=ESTOnline&tCategory=News&itemid=IPED17%20Nov%202007%2007%3A59%3A51%3A527 www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/…www.birdflubreakingnews.com

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