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!

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

The growing Danger from the Zoonoses.

Zoonoses are defined by the WHO as “Diseases and infections which are naturally transmitted between vertebrate animals and man”.

 

In an article in the scientific American today, David Biello says that the best way to beat bird flu and other zoonotic diseases, he says, is to keep humans and wildlife healthy.

 

A zoonotic agent may be a bacterium, virus, fungus, parasite, or other communicable agent.

Zoonoses cover a broad and growing range of diseases and they can be transmitted by bacterium, virus, fungus, parasite, or a number of other (also growing) agents.

A recent study shows that these zoonoses such as H5N1 bird flu, West Nile and Ebola now account for as much as 58 percent of human pathogens and the number is growing fast.

 

In just the past five years, WHO has identified more than 1,000 epidemics stemming from such pathogens.

 

“There are more flu infections in more countries than ever before,” said veterinarian William Karesh, head of the Field Veterinary Program of the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), during a WSC Conferance in New York City last week.

 

These diseases are hard to stop because they are not only spread by wild animals, mosquitoes and the like but, even more commonly, by billions of livestock animals, such as chickens, ducks and geese raised for food in vast factory farms.

 

Zoonotic outbreaks are triggered by a range of factors, including man-made changes to natural habitats that bring humans into contact with wildlife as well as airplanes and other forms of transport that allow “speedy, long-range dissemination of any disease agent,” says veterinarian Arnon Shimshoni of The Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

 

“There is an artificial distinction between the health of wildlife, livestock and people,” Karesh said. Sickness in one of these groups, can mean sickness in all.

Credits:

 

www.birdflubreakingnews.com

 

http://www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/diseases/zoonoses/

 

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=how-to-clip-bird-flus-wings

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=

Electing the Bird Flu President USA

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

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

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

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During the last few months one thing has become very clear about the way the Americans elect their President.

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

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

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

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

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But then that is how George W was elected.

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

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

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

Why are the Crows Dying of H5N1 in Bangladesh?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Of Sunni, Shia, black Americans & US Election08 (Electing BirdFlu President Part 2)

The Sunnis of Iraq will only vote for a Sunny candidate.

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Not because of proven ability. Just because he is a Sunny.

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The Shia of Iraq will vote only for a Shia candidate.

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Not because of proven ability. Just because he is a Shia.

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The black Americans will only vote for the black candidate.

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Not because of proven ability. Just because he is black.

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The election08 has uncovered the real racial divide that exists in America.

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So how would this effect America and the rest of the world over the next four or even eight years?

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Well, let us look back to the election in the year 2000.  

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When good old W was elected for the first time, every one in the entire world was flabbergasted, that a person with no experience with the nations of the world, who had given in to drugs and alcohol in his “week moments”, (but he was now born again and so was all better) was elected in to the most powerful job in the world.

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It was said W would have the best advisers in the world, so he did not really have to have any experience of his own.

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And more importantly, he said that he was a “uniter” and not a divider.

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The Americans swallowed it all.

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As a result there is conflict every where you look and millions around the world have paid with their lives.

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The USA is more divided than it has ever been in recent history.

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So did we learn a lesson?  

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Oh no, not Americans.

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Now we want to elect another “UNITER” who will have the best advisers and so it does not matter that he has no real experience of global politics (or even much of local politics).

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Surely no one can pull the same stunt again?

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Oh yes he can!

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The only problem is that this time the stakes are much higher than they were back in 2000 or even in 2004.

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There is a global war, world wide crash of the Dolloar, credit crunch, National health care disaster, BirdFlu and a lot more.

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This is a time for effective action and not fire side discussions, in a smoking jacket and a pipe, making thoughtfull comments on things can be.

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So will the Americans wake up to the crisis facing us all?

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Well, Americans have an amazing talent for self destruction.

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So, here is what is likely to happen.

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The I-so-want-to believe lot in the Democratic party will try and purge their collective guilt of life long prejudice (kept totally repressed in the subconscious) by voting for a man just because he is black!

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The black Americans will vote for the black candidate, not because he has proven abilities in face of real problems and crisis, but just because he is black.

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The republicans will NOT do that.

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A large number of the Democrats will also NOT vote for the black candidate.

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That is because there is a real racial Divide in America.

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I know that hurts, but that is the truth. (we are on our way to a color blind, no prejudices society, but we are not there yet.)

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So as a result the Republicans will be back in power again, this time apparently  with an agenda to be in Iraq for a hundred years!

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And there will be no one to blame for all this will there?

BIRD FLU VIDEO

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

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

Mini Lakes Of Egg Yolk as Bird Flu Panic Grows.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

J M Tom

2008 the year of the Flu Pandemic?

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

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

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

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

This year is different however.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Bird Flu Good news at last!

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

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

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

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

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

Breakthrough

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sources:

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

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 🙂

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

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
 

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