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  

 

 

Bird Flu – Want the Good News or the Bad News?

A report from the Yonhap New Agency recently told us about of the latest outbreak of the Avian Influenza virus in South Korea.

 

Apparently, The strain of avian influenza that broke out in South Korea this year, is a type that has not caused any human infections, as opposed to the various other strains found in Southeast Asia.

 

The strain of bird flu that has swept the country for the past five weeks is different from those found in Indonesia and Vietnam, where the disease has been transmitted to humans, resulting in many human deaths, according to an intermediary report by the National Veterinary Research Quarantine Service.

The report also said that this year’s outbreak was different from the strains that occurred in 2003 and 2006 in South Korea.

 

Surely this is very good news for us all.

 

Yes and no.

 

The most frightening part of the report is the casual mention of the fact that ” this year’s outbreak was different from the strains that occurred in 2003 and 2006 in South Korea.”

 

Apparently, we should now expect new mutations of this killer virus on a regular bases!

 

The rate of the mutation of the various strains of the Avian Influenza virus is rapidly growing, with new and different strains of the virus popping up at a faster rate all over the place.

 

The fact that the current mutation in South Korea has not caused any human infections does not mean that the next mutated strain of the virus would also be as kind to us as the current strain.

 

So even though we can be thankful for the South Korean throw of the “mutation dice”, yet we should realise that every harmless mutation, increases the chances of a really bad strain of the virus appearing the next time.

 

Credits:

 

http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr 

 

www.birflubreakingnews.com  

 

 

BIRD FLU – Wild Birds or the “Factory Poultry Farms”?

BIRD FLU –  Wild Birds or the “Factory Poultry Farms”? 

 

The role of migratory birds and of poultry trade in the dispersal of highly pathogenic H5N1 is still the topic of intense and controversial debate.

 

On one side we have the mighty poultry farming sector, applying all kinds of pressure to absolve the “factory farms” from any blame for the increasing number of outbreaks of the H5N1 and other viruses.

 

From the Poultry farming sector’s point of view it is the wild birds, that bring the virus from the bird flu afflicted countries and infect the domestic poultry.

 

On the other side, we have equally passionate arguments from those who believe that it is the “factory farms” think Barnard Matthews, that are to blame for creating the un-natural conditions that result in the growth of the viruses.

 

Below is a “discussion” from the Virology Journal,  in a “provisional PDF document”:

 

http://www.virologyj.com/content/pdf/1743-422x-5-57.pdf

 

What it is saying is that they are still talking about this and not ready to say one way or another!

 

Then there is an article from PETA, :

 

PETA warns of deadly link between Factory-Farm Filth and Bird Flu

 

Here is the article:

http://www.indiaprwire.com/pressrelease/other/200805079360.htm

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 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.

– –  –

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

–                              –                                              –

–          –

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.

–                        –                                                                          –

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

–              –                                                                 –

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.

–                                    –                                                                              –

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.

            –                                                            –

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.

–                    –

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

–                                                 –                                                            –

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.

–               –

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.

–                                  –                                                               –

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.

–                                                             –

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

–                                                                           –

That is what I am worried about.

–                           –

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?

–                                                 –                                                                            –

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?

–                                                             –                                   –

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.

–                                                   –                                                                               –

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

–                                                      –                                                – 

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

—                                  —                                                              —

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.

–                                                                                                 –

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.

–                                                                                          –

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

–                                                                                         –

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

–                                                                                                  –

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

–                                                                                  –

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

–                                                                                                       –

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

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

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

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

STRANGE ABSENCE of BIRD-FLU from IRAN and NORTH KOREA.

Even though almost all the countries neighbouring the Islamic republic of Iran and also that of Democratic People’s Republic of Korea the DPRK have reported several outbreaks of the H5N1 virus, Iran and North Korea have not had a single case of the killer virus reported any where.

What is the secret that has provided protection from the dreaded Bird-Flu virus for these two great countries?

According to the Iranian authorities, it is due to the Righteous Path followed by the Government and by the Iranian people that God has spared Iran of this plague.

It is well known that there are no homosexuals in Iran.

Could that be another reason for the absence of the Bird-flu virus in that country?

“Iran has taken serious steps to prevent the bird flu outbreak,” Veterinary Organization chief Mojtaba Norouzi said.

It has obviously worked for the Iranians since there has been NO report of any bird flu there.

Well, at least not since the two officials who had annmounced two human fatalities a while back only to dissappear and be never heard from again.

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

Kim Jong-Il the Dear Leader     

                   The Fighting Forces of North Korea

Of course, their immediate neighbour South Korea, has reported seven cases of infection by the H5N1 strain of bird flu between November 2006 and March this year, hitting its poultry exports to Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan and elsewhere.

About 13,000 ducks were culled last month in Gwangju, 330km south of Seoul, after health officials discovered a low-virulence H7 strain of avian influenza.

To the North of North Korea is China, the original source of the H5N1 virus and host to repeated outbreaks of the Bird Flu virus.

Sources;

www.tdaxp.com/…/08/10/totalitarian-chicks.html

Brit Bird-Flu Agency faces $600 Million Budget Cuts.

Brits are asking: Where Have our Tax Pounds gone?  

In an Alice in Wonderland scenario, the Brits have decided to cut funding from the main agency that takes care of the problems related to Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

The British Government has announced that the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) is to face a budget cut of almost $600 Million!

The UK has not only been host to the latest Bird-Flu outbreak, but also, recently has had the devastating foot-and-mouth disease, along with the “bluetongue outbreak” which sounds as bad as its effect on the sheep.

The British public and the British Businesses have been paying increasing amount of tax over the last ten years during the Labour Government and find that more and more of their public services are either being reduced, or cut altogether.

Brits are asking where has our money gone?

Here is a very good post regarding the above, from Cllr Tony Sharp,

a Conservative Councillor for Brickhill Ward in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire in England.

http://tonysharp.blogspot.com/2007/11/why.html 

(I found Tony’s post in the blogs section of www.birdflubreakingnews.com )

Bird-Flu follows the Super Cyclone in to Bangladesh

A powerful cyclone has hit the coast of Bangladesh, with winds reported to be up to 240 kilometres (155 miles) per hour.

Cyclones are not new to Bangladesh and the authorities face a huge task if they are to prevent a major loss of life.

 

Bangladesh is one of the most densely populated countries in the world: nearly all the country is low lying and vulnerable to flooding.

An estimated 10 million people live in Bangladesh’s coastal areas and there is simply not enough room for all of them in the country’s 500 or more shelters.

If that was not enough, Avian flu has re-emerged in Bangladesh after four months, with five reported new outbreaks in poultry farms across the country since October.

The contagious viral disease was first detected in Bangladesh in March 2007. Since then there have been 55 outbreaks in 19 of the country’s 64 districts.

To halt a further spread of the virus, more than 250,000 chickens have been culled since the original outbreak.

“But indirect losses to farmers far surpass the direct loss,” veterinarian Abul Kalam Azad of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) told IRIN in Dhaka, the capital.

Many farms have downsized operations, resulting in significant layoffs and the suspension of business, while producers of poultry feed and farm equipment have also been hard hit.

“The whole US$2 billion industry is in a very nervous state,” Azad explained.

A fresh influx of migratory birds is raising further concerns. Hundreds of thousands of Siberian water fowl arrive in Bangladesh from mid-November, taking refuge in the country’s vast rivers, lakes and marshlands.

“The winter months are likely to see more outbreaks,” ASM Alamgir, a virologist at the Institute of Epidemiology Disease Control and Research, warned.

Risk factors “At 795 persons per square kilometre, Bangladesh has the highest population density in the world.

This close proximity of human beings is a risk element for transmission of any contagious disease like flu,” Nazrul Haq, a member of the government’s technical working group on avian influenza risk, said, adding that the hot and humid environment helps pathogens spread quickly. Further compounding the problem is the prominent role of poultry farming.

Almost all rural households keep chickens as a source of cheap protein, with about 2.4 million rural women depending on backyard chicken farming as their only source of livelihood.

Even well-off families in Bangladesh raise a few chickens to supplement their income. As a result, communicating appropriate bio-security practices such as separating domestic flocks from wild ones, hygienic slaughtering and waste disposal, use of masks while cleaning chicken coops, disinfection before and after working in poultry farms, as well as the use of personal protective equipment is already proving difficult

Sources:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/7096561.stm

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/IRIN/2b7c451a508fea8f8a09f9a55cd36b40.htm

www.birdflubreakingnews.com

Brit Bird Flu is the Virulent H5N1 Strain

The Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) has just announced that the strain of avian flu found in turkeys on a Suffolk farm is the dreaded H5N1.

Acting Chief Veterinary Officer Fred Landeg made the announcement at a press conference in London. All birds at the affected premises – including approximately 5,000 turkeys, 1,000 ducks and 500 geese – will be slaughtered.

A large number of British Police officers are at the entrance to the farm, and vehicles are being sprayed with a jet hose.

The DEFRA official while making the announcement said that the lineage of the virus found on the Suffolk farm is similar to the the dreaded H5N1 found in domestic hens in the Czech Republic in July, and in both domestic poultry and wild birds in Germany earlier this year.

He said that even though the migrating wild birds do visit the lake nearby, he could not be sure that the wild birds are the source of the virus at the free range poultry farm. 

Significantly, the infamous Barnard Matthews Turkey Factory Farm is also only 20 miles away from the Suffolk farm where the current outbreak of the virus has been found. 

 

It was confirmed yesterday that the birds had the H5 strain of the disease. There are 5,000 turkeys, plus 1,500 duck and geese on the farm, near Diss, on the Norfolk-Suffolk border.

The birds, which are by owned by Gressingham Foods, will all be slaughtered.

Overnight 10 per cent of turkeys in one of the farm’s sheds died showing a higher than “normal mortality rate”.

Fear of Birds

Fear of Birds

The other day I watched “Birds” the great 1963 Hitchcock’s classic, about repeated attacks by all kinds of birds on a woman (Tippi Hedren) in an isolated California community.

 

It was amazing to see the great director creating a real sense of fear, from a subject that is as ordinary as can be.

I mean, Birds are to be looked at and admired.

Birds are not to be feared.

But then that was before there was the Bird-Flu!

I wonder what the master director cold have done with the H5N1 virus!

Here is a short clip about a guy who is hand feeding seagulls!

“Hand Fed Seagull By Scarpace”.

 Hitchcock would have loved it:

http://www.fargone.com/2007/04/03/hand-fed-seagull-by-scarpace/

Sources:

www.birdflubreakingnews.com  

http://hitchcock.tv/mov/birds/images/hbirds.jpg

Interactive Map of Global Bird-Flu Spread since 2003

Here is another Global Bird-Flu map, this time an Interactive Map from MSNBC.

I had posted this map here a while back.

Worth another look:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12375868

More Indonesian Bird-Flu Censorship revelations?

A story via the Jakarta post, seems to casually reveal another, as yet unannounced Indonesian death, resulting from the H5N1 virus, way back in April of this year.

The story mentions the latest bird-flu victim from Jakarta, the 22 year old named as AR, who had apparently died last week, after suffering from high fever, headaches and respiratory problems.

It took the Indonesian Health Ministry till Monday of this week to announce that the cause of AR’s deaths was Avian Influenza.

The story then casually drops in the fact that the victims 19 years old sister had also died of similar symptoms, back in April of this year and now the Indonesian Health Ministry has confirmed that the cause of both deaths was avian influenza!

This amazing series of events can only be due to one of the following two reasons:

A. The Indonesian authorities are not able to identify (let alone treat) the people suffering from the H5N1 virus in that country.

If that is the case, then there can be hundreds of victims of the Bird-Flu in Indonesia, who were never officially unidentified as infected with the killer virus.

B. The Indonesian authorities are actively censoring the vast majority of the H5N1 cases and the leak of the information mentioned above, is the result of the carelessness of an official, who could well be in a lot of hot water by now.

If that is the case, then there can be hundreds of victims of the Bird-Flu in Indonesia, who were never officially unidentified as infected with the killer virus.

Come on Madam Supari, which of the two options mentioned above, is the truth?

Siti Fadilah Supari, the Indonesian Health Minister

On top of all the above, Siti Fadilah Supari, the Indonesian Health Minister had informed the world many months ago that Jakarta has been “cleared of all backyard poultry”, thus removing the possibility of the accepted mode of infection of the bird-flu virus (via contact with infected poultry).

We are now told that there still are a large number of poultry kept in the back streets of the slums of Jakarta.

The head of West Jakarta’s animal husbandry and fisheries office, Chaidir Taufik, said the agency carried out bird flu prevention activities in the area following the February floods.

“We thought there were no more birds in the area and we were quite surprised with the deaths and with our findings in the raid yesterday. We found over 100 chickens,” he said.

Chaidir said the administration was yet to do anything to prevent the spread of bird flu in the Kemiri market, saying that West Jakarta had too many markets for the administration’s staff.

“The area has a total of 68 large and neighborhood markets and I only have around 40 people,” he said.

Sources:

http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailcity.asp?fileid=20071003.C02&irec=1

www.birdflubreakingnews.com

Two Indonesian Children hospitalised as suspected Bird-Flu Patients.

The province of Riau in Indonesia seems to have once again become the scene of an outbreak of the Bird Flu virus.

According to ANTARA, the premier Indonesian news agency, two children aged under five years of age, were admitted to Arifin Achmad General Hospital  on Sunday night as suspected bird flu patients.

The two children, only identified by their initials as AZ and M, were being treated in the hospital`s isolated room, Doctor Azizman Saad, chief of the hospital`s bird flu control team, said on Monday.

One year old AZ had previously been treated at Awal Bross Hospital for three days.

However, since her body temperature did not decline she was later referred to Arifin Achmad Hospital, he said.

Meanwhile, the four year old M was brought by his parents to the hospital shortly after his body temperature rose, the Doctor said.

The two were declared suspected bird flu patients and were treated in the hospital`s isolated room, Dr Saad said.

The body temperatures of the two suspected bird flu patients had steadily dropped, said the Doctor, adding that AZ`s body temperature dropped to 37 from 38 degrees Celsius and M`s body temperature fell to 36 from 39 degree Celsious.

Doctor Saad said that based on the preliminary results of a rapid test, AZ tested negative and M tested positive for bird flu.

   Siti Fadilah Supari, the Indonesian Health Minister

Sources:

http://www.antara.co.id/en/arc/2007/9/24/two-suspected-bird-flu-patients-aged-under-five-hospitalized/

www.birdflubreakingnews.com

www.sinarharapan.co.id/…/2004/1126/kes1.html 

Beating Ducks to Death in China

I guess that I am not really surprised to find that the Chinese way of humanely “culling” chickens and ducks is to bash them on the head and body with a thick stick and basically beat them to death.

The ducks should consider them selves lucky really, I recall a video showing as to how cats and dogs are killed (for food) in China! Yes, the ducks are much much better off!

Here is an excerpt from a news item from The Standard, describing the “bashing-in the brains of the ducks in a massive cull in Guangdong province of China”:

A worker bashes in the brains of ducks in a massive cull in Guangdong province, following the confirmation of the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu among ducks in Guangzhou’s Panyu district.

The outbreak means Hong Kongers may have to dig deeper into their pockets if they want chicken to be on their menu for next week’s Mid- Autumn Festival. The latest bird flu outbreak in Guangdong has forced the SAR authorities to scrap an earlier decision to allow live chicken imports from the mainland to be increased to 70,000 birds daily to meet the demand for the festival, which falls on Wednesday next week.The Hong Kong Secretary for Food and Health York Chow Yat-ngok said yesterday imports of live poultry as well as frozen ducks and geese from Guangdong will be suspended for three weeks.

“All chilled and frozen duck and geese from Guangdong will be suspended for one week, and the government will scrap an arrangement to increase imports of live chickens for the Mid-Autumn Festival,” Chow said.

But he stressed that the move is only a precautionary measure. “So far, no problems have been detected among mainland poultry and poultry products supplied to Hong Kong.”

According to the mainland authorities, nearly 10,000 ducks that died of bird flu at farms around Panyu had been vaccinated against the disease, sparking fears that the virus may have mutated.

Initial tests showed that the birds died of the highly pathogenic H5N1 virus, which can be transmitted to humans.

Chow said Hong Kong will suspend all imports of live chickens, eggs and chilled and frozen poultry meat from farms within a 24-kilometer radius of the infected farms near Panyu.

Guangdong Animal Epidemic Prevention Center director Yu Yedong said the outbreak was not due to vaccination problems.

“It was because there wasn’t enough time for the vaccinations to produce sufficient antibodies before the ducks caught the virus, and most of the birds were baby ducks,” he said.

The Hong Kong Hospital Authority said yesterday all public hospitals have been placed on full alert for possible cases of avian flu in view of the outbreak in Guangdong.

Sources:

www.birdflubreakingnews.com

http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?pp_cat=12&art_id=53652&sid=15422261&con_type=1&d_str=20070918

Bird-Flu Outbreak in Vaccinated Ducks Triggers Mutation Fear

An outbreak of the dreaded Bird-Flu virus is bad enough for any country, it is specially feared in China, the land of its origin.

What makes the recent outbreak of the H5N1 virus, found in the ducks in farms near Guangzhou’s Panyu district even worse, is the fact that the infected ducks had apparently been vaccinated (or at least partially vaccinated) against the H5N1 virus!

According to Guangdong Animal Epidemic Prevention Center director Yu Yedong, the 9,800 ducks that died at Sixian village had been vaccinated.

However, Yedong added that the ducks were given only the first shot of the vaccine, which is only be 65 percent effective, while a second shot would have made it 90 percent.

Even so, the outbreak in vaccinated ducks in Guangzhou, has triggered fears in Hong Kong that the Bird-Flu virus may have mutated.

Dr Ho Pak-leung, an infectious diseases expert at Hong Kong University, said there were worries the virus had mutated or the vaccine had not been effective.

Lo Wing-lok, another infectious diseases expert, called for a ban on the import of ducks from areas around Panyu.

Hong Kong Bird Watching Society chairman Cheung Ho-fai said migratory birds from Panyu are likely to carry the virus to the territory, although previous H5N1 cases in Hong Kong had been found to be unrelated to migratory birds.

The Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department said it will monitor the situation and step up inspections at local poultry farms.

Hong Kong New Territories Poultry-Culture (geese and ducks) Mutual Aid Association chairman Kwok Chi-yau said the outbreak has led to a 20 to 30 percent drop in poultry sales.

 Sources:

www.birdflubreakingnews.com

http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?pp_cat=12&art_id=53586&sid=15407483&con_type=1

Photo Credit  VOVNEWS

Bird-Flu goes back home to China

  Along with all kinds of other viruses, the Bird-Flu virus is said to have originated in China.

Now it seems that the deadly virus is back home, paying a visit to China’s southern city of Guangzhou.

According to information posted on the website of the Ministry of Agriculture, the city of Guangzhou has reported that a large number of ducks have died in a village, as a result of an  outbreak of a very virulent strain of the H5N1 virus.

On September 5, farmers in Sixian village, Xinzao Township in the Panyu district of Guangzhou started to report death of their ducks, and by September 13, 9,830 ducks had been reported dead, it said.

Samples of dead ducks were sent to the provincial animal disease prevention and control center, and initial lab tests showed the samples were positive with the highly pathogenic H5N1 virus.

Samples have been also sent to the National Avian Influenza Reference Laboratory for testing and the result is yet to be announced.

Local veterinary authorities had culled about 32,630 ducks as of September 14, it said.

Sources with the provincial department of agriculture said they have sent staff to disinfect the affected area, and no further deaths of fouls have been reported in the Panyu district or nearby areas.

As the world’s largest producer of poultry, livestock and aquatic products, China has much to lose from outbreaks of animal diseases.

It is estimated that animal diseases cost China 40 billion yuan annually.

China’s top legislature last month adopted the amendment to the law on animal epidemic prevention, which requires all animal owners to comply with compulsory vaccination policies, especially owners of poultry and livestock bred in rural backyards, and pets owners in urban houses.

Sources:

www.birdflubreakingnews.com

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-09/15/content_6730416.htm

www.port-technology.com/…/guangzhou2.html

Bird-Flu threat to Moon Festival celebrations.

The Chinese Moon Festival, (also known as the Mid-autumn Festival) which is normally celebrated on the 15th of the 8th lunar month, is is one of the most important traditional events for the Chinese.

It is as important for the Chinese, as Christmas and Thanksgiving is for the people in the West

The Moon festival is famous for, among other things, its “Moon Cakes”.

                   

Traditionally, Lovers are supposed to spend the romantic night of the Moon Festival together, tasting the delicious moon cake with some wine, while watching the full moon.

Even for two lovers who can not be together at that time, they can still enjoy the night by watching the full moon at the same time, so that they are emotionally together at that hour.

A lot of Chinese poetry has been devoted to this romantic festival which is said to bring happiness.

This year however, there could be a problem with the bringing of happiness via the Moon Cakes.

This culprit is the Bird-Flu virus, which is a real pain in the  er.. neck.

Not only is the Bird-Flu killing millions of birds and an increasing (though still limited) number of humans, but also, it is now causing all kind of life style problems for us all.

The Chinese Government has told its people not to take moon cakes containing egg yolk or meat abroad, because of the threat of bird flu and other such diseases.

The Foreign Ministry reminded people heading to Australia for the September 25 Mid-Autumn Festival of strict quarantine laws, which prohibit the import of a wide range of food for fear of diseases such as bird flu, Newcastle disease and foot and mouth.

The strict Ausi quarantine laws carry fines of up to $49 000 and 10 years’ jail for failure to declare banned foods.

Other countries could well have similar penalties for unauthorised import of egg based products such as Moon Cakes.

Sources:

www.birdflubreakingnews.com

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=117&art_id=nw20070830095342640C269549

http://chineseculture.about.com/library/weekly/aa093097.htm 

Steep rise in the Bird-Flu Infection and Fatality Rate curve.

The World Health Organisation graph below, with the steep growth curve showing the slow but steady growth, in the Bird-Flu Infection and Fatality Rate since 2004, presents an alarming picture.

Bali to Censor News about the current Bird-Flu outbreak.

It seems that the powers-that-be in Bali, are heading towards media censorship as far as any news related to the Bird-Flu outbreak is concerned.

Anak Agung Bagus Netra, the spokesman for the Bali Administration said on Tuesday that Governor Dewa Beratha had ordered all information regarding bird flu be delivered only by the public relations department.

He said that the Bali Government Authorities were annoyed by recent media reports of the bird flu virus on the island, which it said were creating excessive public anxiety that could damage the image of the resort island as it recovers from two deadly terrorist attacks.

“We are talking about a new outbreak here. We can’t have (ill-informed) people speaking about it on behalf of the administration. This is about Bali’s image. These days any information can fly overseas in a second,” Netra told The Jakarta Post.

Meanwhile, Udayana University virologist Ngurah Mahardika suggested that tourist destinations such as Kuta, Sanur and Nusa Dua be free from fowl, following the rapid spread of bird flu virus on the island.

“This is a better move than simply taking chicken off menus,” Ngurah told the Post over the weekend.

Some hotels and restaurants in Bali had decided to drop chicken dishes from their menus.

The public have been told to abandon backyard farming, while traditional markets have been asked to sell chicken meat only, not live poultry, he said.

Ngurah said the human-fowl population density in Bali, especially in Denpasar, made the region prone to a bird flu outbreak.

Lagging precautionary measures, Ngurah said, could help the virus spread and develop more quickly, thereby increasing the threat of a pandemic on the island.

Sources:

http://www.balebengong.net/2007/08/29/bali-administration-annoyed-by-media-reports-on-bird-flu/

www.birdflubreakingnews.com

http://www.rambutan.org/maps/images/rc_map_bali.gif

160,000 Geese Gassed to death in Germany following Bird-Flu Scare.

German health officials launched the largest ever massacre of poultry following the latest outbreak of the Bird-Flu in that country.

160,000 geese were slaughtered over the weekend, after the deadly bird-flu virus was found in a poultry farm near the Bavarian city of Erlangen.

The cull was ordered after 400 geese were found dead.  

A team of eight vets and poultry workers at the farm in Wachenroth, Bavaria, started what officials called the biggest ever culling operation in Germany late on Saturday.  The birds were placed in three large containers where they were either gassed or electrocuted, officials said after the operation ended on Sunday afternoon.   

Tests by the Friedrich Loeffler Institute of Veterinary Medicine had found the lethal strain of the virus in five of the birds.

A three-kilometer exclusion zone was set up around the farm, near the city of Erlangen which is about 200 kilometers (120 miles) north of Munich, as officials began tracking down the cause of the infection.

Initial reports said the infected animals came from another poultry farm in the northern state of Lower Saxony, but this was later denied.

“We have not been able to pinpoint the source of outbreak,” said Bavarian Health Secretary Otmar Bernhard. Experts are expected to keep trying to determine how the virus entered the farm.

The H5N1 strain of avian influenza has killed nearly 200 people in recent years, mainly through direct contact with poultry.

Most of the victims have been in Asia.

There have been no human deaths from bird flu in Europe, where outbreaks were reported recently in several countries, including Germany and the Czech Republic.

Bird flu hit wild birds and some domestic poultry in other parts of Germany this year.

 Wild birds can infect domesticated birds with the highly pathogenic strain and it is feared that it could mutate into a strain that could be transmitted among humans.

Sources:

www.birdflubreakingnews.com

http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,2752566,00.html

goeurope.about.com/…/ss/pope_bavaria_7.htm

www.student.valpo.edu