Chickens with Air Conditioning, safe from Bird Flu virus

A new way to keep the chickens safe from the H5N1 virus is now being practised by Vietnamese farmers, according to Viet Nam News.

 While the avian flu epidemic spreads nationwide, many big chicken farms in Mekong Delta provinces are still safe from the scourge due to their self-contained chicken raising process and the automatic system of cooling.

 

Chickens are kept in self-contained coops equipped with cooling systems, suitable for every kind and age of chickens.

 

These cooling systems include fans with a diameter of 1.5m moving air over cold water, said Vo Van Thach, the owner of the biggest farm in An Phuoc Commune worth VND1.2 billion.

 

The temperature of each coop is regulated automatically and adjusted according to each type and age of chicken.

 

It is these systems that create a fresh living environment for the chickens, sheltered from pathogens such as the H5N1 virus.

 

“My chicken flocks are safe from the epidemic,” said Tran Thanh Dai in Soc Trang City.     

 

 

 

 

 

 

Credits:

 

 

 

 

www.birdflubreakingnews.com

http://vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn/showarticle.php?

num=03AGR240508http://www.savagechickens.com/blog/2007/06/be-cool.html  

 

 

What protects Iran, North Korea and Azerbaijan from the Bird flu virus?

IRAN is Bird Flu Free.

 

“Iran presented great achievements it made in the field of campaign against flu and scientific breakthroughs in dealing with the epidemic.” says the Islamic Republic News Agency

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Iran’s Telecommunications Ministry will start filtering “immoral” video and audio messages sent via mobile phones, state television reported recently.”The Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution, a body set up after Iran’s 1979 Islamic revolution, has instructed the ministry to buy the equipment needed to prevent any misuse of Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS), it said. … It did not give details of the techniques it would use to filter such messages, when it would start or how it would define “immoral” messages.”

So is North Korea!

 

 

 

 

The North Koreans strongly believe that it is due to the moral strength of Kim Jong-Il their Dear Leader, that their land has proved to be too tough a nut for the H5N1 virus to crack.

And now Azerbaijan is also Free Of Bird Flu.

 

This year, the Azerbaijan State Service carried out three monitoring exercises. None of them revealed the virus.

 

 

 

 

What is it that the totalitarian countries like Iran, North Korea and Azerbaijan have that apparently protects these countries from the killer virus?

 

 

 

Sources:

 

http://capital.trend.az/?show=news&newsid=1206865&catid=516&subcatid=475&lang=EN

 

http://www.textually.org/picturephoning/archives/2007/04/015722.htm 

 

www.birdflubreakingnews.com

 

http://beconfused.com/tags/korea/

Of Word-Jacking and the Birdflu President

It seems very likely that the next US president will encounter the BirdFlu Pandemic in America during the next four years.

 

Read on.

 

 

It is now almost certain that the US of A will sleep walk in to another nightmare lasting at least a further four years.

All because Bill Clinton “did not have sex with that woman”?

How does that take any thing away from one of the most successful women of our time?

What did she do?

 

I mean, other than not letting any event in her personal or public life bring her down.

 

what did she do?

 

I know. She is not black. That must be it.

So America elects another novice who is still waiiting for the President of Canada to speak to him.

Like Bush he will, I am told, have the best people to guide him.  

 

These “best people” will be guiding the new President through a most crucial time for the world.

 

At a time when China and Russia are rapidly moving in to a cold war posture, not to mention the problems in Iran in Pakistan (hope he will NOT bomb Pakistan) and in the caves in Afghanistan!

This is hardly the time to take chances.

I had recently written a post about WORD-JACKING by Bush and by Obama.

It has now been turned in to a video on the UTube by some one who apparently can also see through the all pervasive fog of National guilt and political opportunism.

Here it is:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4tzfpSUzQ8

 

Never thought that after the disasters of the last eight years, I would be supporting a Republican candidate for the post of the next president!

Combodia Fights the Bird Flu virus

Here are three video news bulletins from the Apsara News Cambodia, telling us about the efforts of the Government of Cambodia, Border authorities, in their fight against the H5N1 virus.

Interesting.

 Video 1. 

 http://www.probetv.com/view_video.php?viewkey=55c253d0e60dbfa71672

Video 2.

http://www.probetv.com/view_video.php?viewkey=773755d2857aacadb1cb&page=&viewtype=&category=

Video 3.

http://www.probetv.com/view_video.php?viewkey=211726dcce4c0e971e21&page=&viewtype=&category=

Bird-Flu-Free Zones to be set up in Pakistan

Do you remember the time, when there were Smoking and No Smoking sections in all of the flights?

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This meant that of the, ten rows of seats in the Business Class of an aircraft, the first few were Non Smoking and the remaining seats immediately behind those seats, were Smoking seats, or vice verse.

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No body seemed to have mentioned the above arrangement to the smoke from the cigarettes however.

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The smoke would naturally waft along the entire section of the business class.

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Pakistan is one of the few places on the planet, where smoking is still pretty much allowed in most places.

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May be that is why the Government of Pakistan has come up with a brilliant plan to fight the Bird Flu virus in that country.

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The powers that be in Pakistan (not sure if any one knows who they are at this time) have decided that they are to create Bird-flu-Free-Zones in the country.

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These Bird-Flu-Free -Zones will be areas of Pakistan,  where the Bird Flu virus will be banned.

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I guess that means that the rest of Pakistan will be free to have the H5N1 virus roam around at will!

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Exactly how this Moses like separation of natural elements is to be managed is not very clear.

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However, here are excerpts from a report from The News: 

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The Government of Pakistan is considering setting up ‘bird flu free zones’ and ‘poultry disease free units’ containing all bio-security measures in order to control the avian influenza .

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The sources said that all possible steps would be taken at the proposed zones to prevent the virus and diseases.

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The main focus will be on disposal of birds, restriction of wild birds and visitors, disinfection of vehicles, proper vaccination techniques, use of anti-viral spray and maintenance of health environment.

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Moreover, the sources said that there were (currently) no rules and regulations for registration of poultry farms though in the past there was some procedure wherein the Agriculture Development Bank used to grant loans for setting up farms with requirement to produce feasibility report.

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However, if the number of birds (at a poultry farm) was 100,000 or over, then a feasibility report as well as induction of a doctor was deemed necessary.

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Director Poultry Production and Research Sindh (PPRS), Dr Ali Akbar Soomro said that they have trained 16 ‘master trainers’, who have been provided necessary kits to conduct regular surveillance of poultry farms, he told The News.

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Moreover, the institute has set up three laboratories in Karachi, Hyderabad and Sukkur respectively, while seven teams are engaged in creating awareness against the diseases across the province.

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They are working in 14 districts and do not have staff in the newly-created nine more districts of the province, Soomro said.

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However, their areas of concerns are commercial layer farms, commercial broiler farms, backyard poultry and pet birds, where they are stressing for adopting preventive measures. Dr Ali Akbar Soomro added.

Bird-Flu Olympic Games in Beijing?

Other than inviting the His Holiness the Dalai Lama to officiate the ceremony, China would do almost any thing to ensure the success of the Olympic Games to be held in Beijing later this year.

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The Olympic Games are to be the showcase of the new soon to be a superpower.

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Nothing must be allowed to stand in the way of the spectacular events and ceremonies planned by the Chinese Government for duration of the games.

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There is one little thing however, that has been causing increasing concern for the rulers of China.

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It is of course the Bird Flu virus, which seems have returned to China, its country of origin, and is randomly manifesting it self in various parts of the country, over the last year or so.

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There have been human victims of the deadly virus in China and the BirdFlu has also been found in wild birds and domestic poultry in China.

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According to the authorities in the southern Chinese special administrative region (Hong Kong) there are now reports of yet another bird, a dead oriental magpie robin, suspected to have died of the H5 bird flu virus. –                    -The dead bird was collected near the management center in Tai Po Kau Nature Reserve on Friday, the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department said, adding that the case was subject to further confirmatory tests.

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At the same time, there have been rumors of a young girl who had apparently succumbed to the Bird Flu virus in Hong Kong.

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A local newspaper reported yesterday that the three-year-old girl ‘s death was probably caused by the deadly H5N1 strain of virus, triggering worries of possible outbreak of human-to-human bird flu pandemic.

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According to the Centre for Health Protection, the younger girl came down with fever, cough, runny nose and vomiting on Feb. 29 and consulted a private doctor on the same day. She sought medical treatment from Tuen Mun Hospital on March 1, but her condition deteriorated and she died that evening.

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Dr. Thomas Tsang the controller of the Centre for Health Protection of Hong Kong said that the six-year-old girl was admitted to Tuen Mun Hospital on March 2 and her three- year-old sister, who also suffered from flu-like illness symptoms, died on March 1.

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Dr. Tsang said the girl’s death was a rare occurrence and a post-mortem will be conducted yesterday.

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That is what I am worried about.

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With the Beijing Olympic Games only months away, would the Chinese authorities admit to any human fatalities resulting from the Bird Flu virus in China?

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Censorship in China is the norm rather than an exception, could it be that the Chinese Government would try and hush up any such cases and not report them to the WHO?

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I mean the Chines do not want the Beijing Olympic Games to be known as the Bird Flu Olympics do they?

Sources:

Macau Daily Times

China.org

birdflubreakingnews

Animals To Humans Infectious Diseases Map

From the BBC, a map of the world, showing risk levels of emerging diseases transmitted from wildlife.

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The researchers say the majority of hotspots are located in lower-latitude developing nations.

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http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/08/sci_nat_enl_1203600692/html/1.stm

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Electing the Bird Flu President USA

It is clear to us all that the next President of the USA is likely to encounter all kinds of serious problems.

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Many believe that in addition to all the domestic, economic and diplomatic disasters facing the next US Presidet, 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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During the last few months one thing has become very clear about the way the Americans elect their President.

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The US election 08 clearly tells us that in America, no matter how qualified a woman is, she has very little chance of getting the top job, against a man who wants the same job.

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It is much more important for the Americans to see how the woman looks, sounds or pleases them in some other way, than it is to see if she is the best qualified for the job.

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We can all deny this but if we are really honest about it, we would all have to admit this as a fact.

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It is like getting a male pilot with only one year training to fly a jumbo jet, because he is a man and “he inspires us”, as opposed to a woman who has flown jumbo jets for decades and has weathered all kinds of storms, but “we do not like her”.

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But then that is how George W was elected.

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Was he not the guy you could have a drink with?

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Of course the fact that GW had no idea about running a country, was no problem as he could always “surround himself with the best”!

–            –

We deserve what we get and should not moan about it after the fact.

Is Anjalina Paslain from India, infected with the Bird Flu Virus?

Is Anjalina Paslain, the 21 year old girl from Shillong, infected with the Bird Flu Virus?

National Institute of Communicable Diseases in Delhi is “not ruling out the possibility of bird flu”

Via The Times of India

SHILLONG: A girl suspected to be suffering from bird flu was admitted at Shillong Civil Hospital on Thursday sending Meghalaya health department into a tizzy. State Director of Health Services Dr K H Lakiang said the 21-year-old girl, Anjalina Paslain was admitted with fever and rashes and had been kept in the isolation ward.

The girl, who hails from Sipung in the Jaintia Hills district was first admitted at the local health center, after which she was taken to a private hospital in Shillong, which during the day referred her to the government civil hospital.

Dr Lakiang said: “The blood and stool samples have been collected and will be sent for tests for bird flu virus to the National Institute of Communicable Diseases in Delhi on Friday,” he said.

“Nothing can be said as of now,” he said, while not ruling out the possibility of bird flu.

District Surveillance Officer (Integrated Diseases Surveillance Cell) Dr M Basaiawmoit and other senior officials of the health department also did not rule out the possibility, but said nothing could be confirmed till the test results were received.

Sources:

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Suspected_bird-flu_case_in_Meghalaya/articleshow/2802452.cms

www.birdflubreakingnews.com

US Government Pandemic Warning to US Citizens abroad

If the WHO declares a pandemic, Americans who are overseas should be prepared to remain in country for an extended period.

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You should avoid non-essential travel beyond your home and workplace and you should limit activities that could expose you to others who may be ill.

reat blog from the blogs section of –                                                                      –                                                              –

Based on varying conditions abroad, Americans should prepare contingency plans and emergency supplies (non-perishable food, potable water or water-purification supplies, medication, etc.) for the possibility of remaining in country for at least two and up to twelve weeks.

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Visit www.pandemicflu.gov to see examples of comprehensive planning checklists for individuals, businesses, schools, and other groups.

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During a pandemic, people should practice social distancing measures such as teleworking, limiting face-to-face meetings, avoiding crowds, and maintaining a distance of six (6) feet or more from other people.

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“whoever wrote this has never been to China. Probably only in Tibet, Xinjiang, or Inner Mongolia could one possibly get more than 6 feet away from another human being…

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Source:           GlobalizeThis.  A great blog

from the blogs section of www.birdflubreakingnews.com

         

Why are the Crows Dying of H5N1 in Bangladesh?

Up to now, Crows from all over the world have shown them selves to be immune to the H5N1 virus.

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At least there have never been a large number of crows found sick with, or dying from the Bird Flu virus, even in the countries like Indonesia and Vietnam, where the Bird Flu virus has been around for years.

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But that was before the recent and continuing mass deaths of crows in all parts of Bangladesh.

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The local parks in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh are littered with the corpses of crows, reportedly victims of the H5N1 virus.

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Could this be a new mutated strain of the H5N1 virus, that is lethal for the normally hardy crows? 

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If that was not bad enough, now we hear that there are mass deaths of crows reported in Pakistan as well! 

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BIRD FLU VIDEO

With all the doom and gloom about the increasing spread of the Bird Flu virus, here is a funny video related to the dreaded subject:

http://revver.com/video/650116/doreen-bird-flu/

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.

Spread of Bird Flu in to Bihar could be really bad news.

The State Government of Bihar today ordered culling of chickens in six panchayat areas in Katihar district, adjacent to affected Malda district of West Bengal, “as a preventive measure”, a day after imposing a blanket ban on entry of poultry from the neighbouring state.

Earlier, contrary to the claims of the West Bengal govt that bird flu has been contained, the deadly virus on Wednesday was detected in samples of dead chicken in Cooch Behar district.

The state of Bihar is under-developed even when compared to most of the other regions of India.

The poverty and lack of education, specially within the large Muslim population in Bihar makes it an ideal target for the killer virus.

Basic Hygiene and common sense give way to tradition and religious practices in this part of India

I have always believed that the number of the human victims of the bird flu are directly related to the custom of Halal, where the poultry is killed by making a cut in the throat of the bird and letting the blood flow out while the bird is held up side down by its feet.

Bihar like the State of West Bengal, is host to millions of refugees from the neighbouring country of Bangladesh, where H5N1 is thought to be endemic now.

So if bird flu in Bengal is bad, it could be a lot worse in Bihar.

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

2008 the year of the Flu Pandemic?

I have been following the H5N1 virus for a while now.

Since the year 2003, the bird flu virus repeatedly seems to appeare out of no where, for no visible reason, mostly in a remote (from the point of view of the west) country in the far east and then, after a short period of local panic, the virus disappears, again for no provable reason.

We have gotten used to this peak-a-boo game, with the deadliest of potential dangers to mankind to such an extent, that there are “journalists” taking bets against the chance of a pandemic-in-our-time.

There are others who think that bird flu is a social network tool and have regular get together shindings and a jolly good knees-up.

This year is different however.

The year started with the H5N1 virus ruling the roost, so to speak, in 10 countries just in the first 15 days of the year!

This time the outbreaks of the virus seem to be spreading much faster over a much wider area.

Portugal, Dominica, Israel, Benin, Vietnam, China, West Bengal in India, Bangladesh and Myanmar have all been hit by outbreaks.

On Wednesday, a fourth swan died of the H5N1 virus in the Abbotsbury reserve in Dorset, southern England.

So can this be the year that the dreaded pandemic visits mankind once again?

With the US Presidential election in full swing, will any one pay attention to what could be a vast shadow creeping silently over all of us?

Come to think of it, did any of the Presidential Candidates mention bird flu in any of the debates?

Is it even politically correct to mention the bird flu virus these days?

I mean would the color of the poultry and the birds (other than the totally white British swans) come into play?

Bird Flu Good news at last!

There has been a new step forward in the development of an effective vaccine against H5N1, the bird flu virus that’s also dangerous to humans.

By adding an agent that stimulates the immune system, it appears that the existing vaccine is effective against various strains of the bird flu virus.

Uncertainty has been the biggest problem in developing an effective vaccine against the variant of H5N1 that’s dangerous to humans.

Uncertainty about which strain of the virus it is, and uncertainty over which type of bird flu could develop into a flu virus that might cause a worldwide epidemic. That made it almost impossible to develop a preventative vaccine.

But with the discovery made by the British pharmaceutical company Glaxo Smith Klein, uncertainty over the virus strain has become less significant.

Breakthrough

The improved vaccine has been tested by Viro-Clinics, part of the Erasmus Medical Centre in Rotterdam.

According to virologist Ab Osterhaus, there are several reasons to speak of a breakthrough:

“The vaccine protects against different variants of the H5N1 virus, including new strains.” According to the virologist, that’s unique.“We have always had to react after the event, but now we can produce a vaccine that offers protection against new and forthcoming variants of the same virus.”What’s more, tests have shown that by adding the agent, a lot less vaccine is required. And that’s very important during a worldwide flu epidemic, when huge quantities of vaccine are needed.

The agent is a so-called adjuvant that is added to a medicine to strengthen its effectiveness.

In this case, the substance stimulates the immune system and improves the response to the vaccine.

The Erasmus Medical Centre tested the agent on people and on ferrets which, like people, suffer from flu viruses.

 Osterhaus explained the results: “The humans appeared to have a relatively broad immune response.

The ferrets were first vaccinated, then exposed to H5N1, and there too we witnessed a demonstrably broad protection against the virus.”

Sources:

http://www.radionetherlands.nl/currentaffairs/080103-bird-flu-vaccinewww.birdflubreakingnews.com 

Kill the Birds & Save the World

Here is a blood thirsty little game for you for the new year, from Galaxy Graphics.

You have to kill the birds (chickens actually) and stop the Bird Flu traveling from Thailand to the UK, via China and Turkey! 

Here is the link to the game:

http://www.galaxygraphics.co.uk/games/birdflu.php

Enjoy:)

Bird Flu from the Mother-In-Law

A tourist sparked a bird flu panic at the New Year celebrations at one of the hotels in Abu Dhabi.

According to a statement released by the Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi (EAD), “The visitor caused a state of panic and confusion as he told the management of the hotel that he suffered from avian influenza,”.

The tourist claimed that the Bird Flu infection was transmitted to him from his mother-in-law.

Warning hotel employees from coming near him, the visitor, who came to the country few days back, said he needed urgent medical attention.

But then, to make matters worse, he refused to be examined by a doctor from a private hospital who was called in for help by the hotel management, saying that he did not wish to transmit the disease to anyone.

The hotel authorities then called the police who contacted the National Committee for Emergency Response to Bird flu, headed by the EAD.Specialist physicians from the Department of Preventive Medicine rushed to the hotel, accompanied by a team of experts. Entry and exit to the hotel were blocked by the authorities.

At the end of clinical tests, the man was found to be intoxicated and not suffering from any form of disease and certainly not suffering from avian influenza!

Finally, results of tests and clinical examinations proved that the man was just intoxicated.

Almost an hour later, public was allowed to enter the hotel. However, the floor the man stayed was kept isolated.

Source:

http://www.gulfnews.com/nation/General/10178695.html

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 🙂

Portugese Hunters lose out to Bird-Flu.

Thousands of partridges which were being stocked in preparation for shooting by Portuguese hunters, will now be killed due to an out break of H5de, a subtype of the bird flu virus.

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According to Carlos Agrela Pinheiro, the director general of Veterinary affairs, the H5de strain of the virus was found in the towns of Lourinha and Mafra.

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In a statement, the the Portugese Ministry of Agriculture said that the two locations where the H5de virus had been found are used for breeding of partridges for the purpose of hunting.

—                                                           —                                                     

The H5de virus is not usually dangerous for humans.

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The poor partridges on the other hand, lose out either way.

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If they are healthy, they get shot by the hunters.

—                     —                                     —

If they get the bird flu, then they get killed any way.

—                     —                                  

Ah well….

—                  —                                 

 

Source:

http://www.prensalatina.com.mx/Article.asp?ID=%7B1BA1C569-DD9D-4BE8-B409-82F5CE487FB3%7D&language=ES

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