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  

 

 

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?

—                                      –                                                                                     –

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.

–    –

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.

–                           –

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

–                                                   –                                                              –

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

–                                                     –                                                                    –

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

–                                   –                                                       –

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

–                              –                                                 –

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 .

–                              –                                  –

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

–                                           –                                                       –                                                     –

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.

–                                        –                                             –

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.

–                        –                                  –

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.

–                             –

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.

–                                    –                                                    –                                                    –

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.

–                                        –                                                             –

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

–

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.

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

—                                  —                                                              —

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/

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.

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 

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.

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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.

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

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Ah well….

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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

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

Bidflu NewsFlashes Dec 10, 2007

Bidflu NewsFlashes Dec 10, 2007

New outbreak of avian flu

Poland has announced the fourth outbreak of avian flu, this time in the central region of the country. Polish veterinary officials are in the midst of culling over one hundred thousand chickens.

H5N1 has hit the heart of Poland’s poultry region. 52 large farms and several hundred smaller ones are located in the danger zone Police  have cordoned off a three kilometer area in central Poland. They have been sparing no expense  to contain the fourth outbreak of avian flu.

Full article:

http://www.polskieradio.pl/zagranica/news/artykul71453_New_outbreak_of_avian_flu.html 

WHO – Avian Influenza – situation in China – Update 5

The Ministry of Health in China has reported a new case of human infection with the H5N1 avian influenza virus in Jiangsu Province. The case was confirmed by the national laboratory on 6 December. The 52-year old male is the father of the 24-year old man who died from H5N1 infection on 2 December 2007. He is one of the close contacts placed under medical observation by national authorities. He developed symptoms on 3 December and was sent immediately to hospital for treatment. Of the 27 cases confirmed to date in China, 17 have been fatal.

http://www.who.int/csr/don/2007_12_09/en/

The Chinese Ministry ‘not optimistic’ about bird flu prevention!

It seems that the Chinese have finally decided to admit that:

A. There IS a big H5N1 problem in China

B. The Chinese authourities are not able to control it.

Here is the full article from China Daily:

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2007-12/11/content_6311044.htm

Nigeria: Bird Flu – Health Workers Fumigate Poultry Markets Ahead of Festivals

Ahead of the Eid-el Kabir and Yuletide celebrations which are characterized by increase in poultry consumption, officials of the National Avian Influenza Control programme in Yobe State have begun the fumigation of poultry markets, stores and cages with the aim of reducing the chances of spreading avian influenza virus and associated diseases.

Here is the link:

http://allafrica.com/stories/200712100918.html

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 Ministry of HealthNo 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

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.

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

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