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?

Impact of Bird-Flu on the Map of Europe

The Impact of Bird-Flu on the Map of Europe

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

Sources:

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

www.birdflubreakingnews.com

                                                                  

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

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

David Nabarro, UN influenza coordinator

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sources:

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

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

www.birdflubreakingnews.com

Pregnant Vietnamese Woman dies of Bird-Flu in a “Bird-Flu-Free Province”.

After repeatedly declaring many of its provinces free of Bird-flu, the Government of Vietnam has been forced to admit that H5N1 had been found in some of the Bird-Flu-free provinces.

A Country or a province in a Country is declared bird flu-free after it goes 21 consecutive days without a new case, according to the ministry.

Last week the Government of Vietnam finally informed the global community of nations, that “only three provinces are still plagued by bird flu – Dien Bien in the north, Quang Binh in the center and Dong Thap in the Mekong Delta region.”

That was of course before Bird flu has killed a Vietnamese woman who was seven months pregnant, who died in Ha Tay one of the Bird-flu-Free provinces!

She died in the Bach Mai hospital in Hanoi after being admitted from a farm in the northern province of Ha Tay, the largest poultry supplier to the country’s capital.

A doctor in Ha Tay province says there are no bird flu outbreaks in the area where she lived.

Her death brings the death toll in the country to three in less than two months.

Two people — a 20-year-old man and a 28-year-old woman — died in June of avian influenza, the first fatalities announced since November 2005.

Since May, six human cases have been reported here, three of them fatal.

This entire Bird-Flu-free and not Bird-flu-free drama has been played out by the Vietnamese Government, as if it was a Monty Python sketch.

(The following may not have taken place exactly as described below,  but as Monty Python could well have plated it. The overall effect would be the same though.)

“We have got another one!” The  Big Vietnemese Government Boss would shout “From today, at 3 PM exactly, Province number 9 is Bird-Flu-Free!”

A little later, some one would hesitantly whisper “ Sir, Bird-Flu has been found again in the province number 9″

“What! Number 9 again?”  the Big Boss official would thunder, “OK then, the ### Number 9 Province is NOT Bird-Flu-Free at this time”

“Mind you, the province number 9 is free of TB, Cholera and Malaria and many other deadly deceases. It just has a little bit of Bird-flu at this time”

And so on.

It was almost funny to see a Government behave in that way.

I say funny, but you know what I mean.

As I have been saying in this blog for a while, the World Governing bodies such as WHO were apparently OK with this nutty rule of declaring a country free of Bird-Flu, if no new cases were found for a period of 21 days.

Even worse is the rule of declaring a part of a country, such as a province to be bird flu free, if there have been no new cases of the H5N1 found in that particular province.

I ask you, since there are no custom checks or travel restrictions between provinces, how can a province be guaranteed to be free of infection, if the bordering province has H5N1 in its poultry and more importantly, in its wild birds?

The WHO folks have not replied to repeated requests for an explanation for their silence/acquiescence with this less than honest practice.

I had requested a comment from what I consider to be the two top blogs in this subject area, Effect Measure and H5N1 Croftsblogs, to comment on this mad situation.

Did not get a response from Effect Mesure.

Crawford Kilian of the H5N1 did reply.

He is a kind soul and a gentle one at that.

So while he seemed to be able to see the basic problem with the 21 day rule, he did not use his understated, but universally acknowledged authority in any way, to put pressure on the related institutions to rectify or at the very least re examine the this situation.

I would like to ask WHO and all of the great and powerful people, who had such a good time at the Pandemic flu SUMMIT, to re examine the 21 day rule for a country to be declared free of Bird-flu.

More importantly the option to declare part of a country free of Bird-flu needs to be urgently revisited.

 

The Bird-Flu leadership Summit?

There was this Bird-Flu leadership Summit, recently held in America, headed by lots of Industry and Government big shots.

Of course it was by and for only the folks in the good old USA, because as you know, there is nothing of importance out side of here.

Accept that the Bird-Flu virus IS out side of the USA and it is slowly creeping from the East to the West, towards the Americas.

 Photo Kenneth Wong

I wonder if any one who was part of the above mentioned Summit, would let me know if the problem of the H5N1 entrenched in foreign lands was discussed at the Summit.

If so, has any actual action of any kind resulted from the said discussions or is any action planned in the near future?

Vietnam spending Millions of Dollars for Bird-Flu-free status.

Vietnam was one of the first countries to be infested with the Bird-Flu virus. There were 3 human Bird-Flu fatalities Back in 2003, followed by 20 deaths in 2004 and 19 deaths resulting from the H5N1 virus in 2005.

During the entire 2006 however, there were no human fatalities, even though there were at least 4 cases of human infection of the virus.

Vietnam was praised around the world for its apparent victory over the H5N1 virus and was held out as a model for other countries in the region to follow.

The year 2007 brought the Bird-Flu back in Vietnam with one human fatality and a growing number of the cases of human infection.

The country is fighting hard to contain the virus and has spent 125 billion VND (US$7.8 million) this year on vaccines against bird flu, according to Bui Quang Anh, Head of the Veterinary Department of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD).

The MARD has also warned provinces of the high risk of outbreaks in July, especially around the Mekong delta.

MARD Deputy Minister Bui Ba Bong urged relevant agencies to focus on water fowl and work on immediate plans to vaccinate newly-hatched ducks in a bid to tighten control over the spread of infection.

It is surprising therefore that after going through all of the above, the Vietnamese Authorities are still trying to declare some of it’s provinces Bird-Flu-Free, simply because there have not been any further infections for a few weeks!

You would think that the powers-that-be in Vietnam, one of the first Bird-Flu infested countries in the world, would know better. 

Here is a news item related to the above from Bernama:

http://www.bernama.com.my/bernama/v3/news.php?id=270034

Second Human Fatality in Vietnam

Via VietNamNet Bridge, 21/06/2007

A female patient from Nam Dinh has died as a result of the Bird-Flu H5N1 virus, at the National Institute for Transmitted and Tropical Diseases, said the institutes’s Deputy Director Nguyen Hong Ha.

The patient was hospitalised on June 8 with heavily injured lungs, respiratory failure. After ten days of treatment, the situation didn’t improve due to the virus resisting the medicines.

 

The woman’s health got worse and worse and she died at 6.30am on June 21 after 13 days in the hospital.

 

This is the second type A/H5N1 patient in Vietnam to have died recently, after 17 months with no reported case of bird flu in a human.

 

Here is a Link to the news Item in VietNamNet Bridge:   http://english.vietnamnet.vn/social/2007/06/708976/

Bird-Flu Outbreak a Tourist Attraction???

Who would have thunk it?

On on the 29th of March 2006, a dead Whooper Swan was found floating in Cellardyke harbour, small village in Fife, Scotland.

Subsequent tests on the blood samples from the wild swan confirmed that the swan had died of the highly pathogenic H5N1 variant strain.

News of the presence of the Bird-Flu virus in the city would be greeted with horror by any city council any where in the world.

Not so in Cellardyke however! 

It appears that the H5N1 infected swan has created a wave of “horror Tourism” with thousands of visitors flocking over to the very beach on the shore of Cellardyke, where the swan with the Bird-Flu had been found floating lifelessly!!

Cellardyke community councillor Martin Dibley loves the the unaccustomed experience of finding himself and his little village under the world’s spotlight with journalists, photographers and film crews flocking to his village.

Here is the news item from the Edinburgh Evening News:

http://edinburghnews.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=532692007&format=print

Fri 6 Apr 2007

 Bird flu scare has tourists flocking in

BIRD flu has helped Cellardyke experience a mini-tourism boom.

It is a year today since Britain’s first case of deadly bird flu was confirmed in a dead swan which had washed-up in the harbour slipway.

The normally sedate fishing village in the East Neuk of Fife was thrust under the world’s spotlight with journalists, photographers and film crews – as well as scientists – flocking to the area.

Cellardyke community councillor Martin Dibley said: “People still come along to see where the swan was found and anytime bird flu is on the news we get a mention. But to be honest it has all been quite positive.

“I think it showed the village and the area in a positive light.

“Everyone was saying how nice the area was and how friendly the people are and it has in a bizarre way increased tourism a little bit.

Mr Dibley said that property in the area has been snapped up in the last year.

He added: “It is more to do with people seeing it on the news and thinking ‘what a nice little place that is’.”

New Bird-Flu Research tool from the Imperial College London

A new way of understanding how highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) spreads among farm birds is published today.

The new study, carried out by mathematical modellers from Imperial College London and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, focuses on how H7N3, H7N7 and H7N1 strains of the virus were transmitted between different farms in three recent outbreaks.

The study could help analyse the success of different control measures in the event of future outbreaks.

Imperial College London is rated as the world’s ninth best university in the 2006 Times Higher Education Supplement University Rankings, Imperial College London is a science-based institution with a reputation for excellence in teaching and research that attracts 11,500 students and 6,000 staff of the highest international quality. 

Here is a link to the article from the Imperial College London:

http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/newsandeventspggrp/imperialcollege/newssummary/news_4-4-2007-10-24-53?newsid=9494

Teenage girl from Jakarta is the 93rd Indonesian infected with Bird Flu.

A teenage girl in Indonesia is infected with the deadly bird flu virus, becoming the 93rd confirmed case in the country worst hit by the disease, a health official said Thursday.

The girl who was identified only as R, was transferred from Carolus Hospital in Central Jakarta to Sulianti Saroso bird flu referral hospital on April 2, 2007, said Ningrum, a staff with the Health Ministry, Thursday.

“The laboratory test has confirmed of H5N1 positive,” Ningrum was quoted by Antara news agency as saying.

Here is the news item as reported by the 

 Young girl latest Indonesia bird flu case  05-Apr-2007 | 306 words, 1 images

JAKARTA (AFP) — A teenage girl in Indonesia is infected with the deadly bird flu virus, becoming the 93rd confirmed case in the country worst hit by the disease, a health official said Thursday.

The 15-year-old lives in the country’s sprawling capital, Jakarta, and is in intensive care in one of the city’s hospitals, a spokesperson from Indonesia’s bird flu information centre said.

“Specimens taken from her have tested positive for the H5N1 virus in two tests,” said the official, referring to the deadly strain that has killed 72 people here.

Meanwhile a 29-year-old man died Wednesday in Solo after showing bird flu symptoms, said Refiono, a doctor from the hospital that treated him. Solo lies about 500 kilometres (300 miles) from the capital.

“Results of tests have yet to be completed but the patient’s body is being treated as a bird flu case,” the doctor told AFP, adding the victim had been in contact with infected chickens.

Most human infections have occurred after contact with sick birds. The government has banned the popular practice of keeping poultry in backyards in Jakarta to try and stop the spread of the disease.

The World Health Organisation says the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu has infected 288 people and killed 170 of them, mostly in Southeast Asia, since 2003.

Scientists say multiple strains of the disease originated in southern China and spread elsewhere.

They worry the virus could mutate into a form easily spread among humans, leading to a global pandemic with the potential to kill millions.

The fear stems from the lessons of past influenza pandemics. One in 1918, just after the end of World War I, killed 20 million people worldwide.

© 2007 AFP Copyright © 2003-2006 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved.

New Bird-Flu Research tool from the Imperial College London

A new way of understanding how highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) spreads among farm birds is published today.

The new study, carried out by mathematical modellers from Imperial College London and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, focuses on how H7N3, H7N7 and H7N1 strains of the virus were transmitted between different farms in three recent outbreaks.

 

The study could help analyse the success of different control measures in the event of future outbreaks.

Imperial College London was rated as the world’s ninth best university in the 2006. Imperial College London is a science-based institution with a reputation for excellence in teaching and research that attracts 11,500 students and 6,000 staff of the highest international quality. 

Here is a link to the article from the Imperial College London:

http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/newsandeventspggrp/imperialcollege/newssummary/news_4-4-2007-10-24-53?newsid=9494

Bird-Flu, now in an American Turkey “Farm”!!!

knocking softly at America’s door?

A strain of the H5N1, Bird-Flu virus, different from the one that has been killing birds and humans in Asia and Africa, has been found in a turkey farm in West Virginia.

Even though this has resulted in the killing of 25,000 West Virginia turkeys, the public has been told not to worry!

“People should not be worried,” said Buddy Davidson, a spokesman for the state Agriculture Department. “This should not

 affect the average person at all.”

 Recently a virulent strain of the Bird Flu virus had been discovered at the now infamous Barnard Matthews Turkey Factory farm in England.

I am sure that we all want to know,  if the conditions in the turkey farm in West Virginia, are as bad as were found at the Barnard Matthews Turkey Factory farm in England.

 

What kind of a “farm is it?   Is it really a farm?

Or is the word “farm” being used to describe a windowless shed, where the unfortunate turkeys spend all of their wretched lives in unnatural cramped conditions without ever seeing the light of the day?

Experts agree that the H5N1 virus is much more likely to mutate within domestic poultry under such “factory farm” conditions than it is in the wild bird population.

Here is a link to a report by AP via Via KSBW Channel:

http://www.theksbwchannel.com/health/11510370/detail.html

Bird-Flu vaccine that no one wants???

We have recently had a major international tussle between the WHO and the Indonesian Government regarding the possible manufacture of a vaccine for the H5N1 virus.There has been a continuing effort from the commercial companies around the world to come up with effective vaccine for the H5N1 virus.

The recent problems with the Tamiflu reported in Japan has made the creation of an alternative vaccine even more urgent.

So then why is it that even though there has apparently been an effective and inexpensive vaccine against the H5N1 since July of this year, yet there has been no interest shown by the world medical community in this product?

The said vaccine has been developed by the HSADL, (High Security Animal Disease Laboratory) a research institute based in Bhopal, India.

HSADL, which has the technique for identifying the avian influenza virus among poultry, tested thousands of bird samples, including droppings of migratory birds. It had conducted the tests for the H5N1 variant of bird flu and had isolated 48 virus strains from more than 80,000 bird samples during its vaccine trials.

The cost of the vaccine has been worked out at 27 paise per dose. It is expected to go up to 35 paise (A VERY small fraction of the cost of Tamiflu) including the trader’s profit and cost of transportation.

As reported by the World Poultry Magazine, the HSADL joint director H.K. Pradhan said: “The vaccine can be used immediately after a bird flu outbreak to control the spread of the virus as well as for vaccination in anticipation of an outbreak.

“The immune response is good and the protection offered by the vaccine has been found to be above 90%. The protection should last up to six months for hens. For a broiler it needs to be administered only once,” he added.

The point is that the H5N1 vaccine was developed back in July 2006, and since then but no drug manufacturing company has contacted the lab to buy either the preserved doses or the formula for commercial use!!!

What is going on?

Is the vaccine not fit for the purpose?

Is it too cheap and since no one will be able to make any profit from selling it, so no one one wants to distribute the vaccine?

Why is it that no one wants to use this apparently cheap and effective vaccine against the bird-flu virus????????

 

More Bird Flu for Indonesia!

More Bird Flu for Indonesia!

71 people (the highest number in the world) have now been killed by the Bird Flu virus in Indonesia. 

Why has Indonesia been specially selected by God for all this trouble?

Bird-Flu a valuable asset for Indonesia?

Indonesia WILL and then it will NOT and then it WILL and then…..

The Indonesians believe that they need to extract as much out of their “asset”- the bird flu that has been ravaging their country- as they can.

So they have been holding back on the tissue samples of the recent victims of the H5N1 virus in their country from the WHO scientists.

They want guarantees that the Indonesians would not be over charged for any vaccine that results from the resaerch conducted on the tissue samples of the Indon victims.

The Indonesians should remember that the entire world had rushed to their aid (without any previous agreements or guarantees) when the recent tsunami had devastated parts of Indonesia. Billions of dollars were sent by people from all over the world to help the victims of the tsunami.

For a country that seems to have been earmarked for repeated disasters by God for some reasons, the Indon people should start by sending positive vibes to the world community.

Here is a very good article by Revere at the Effect Measure, where they have been following this situation closely:

The Indonesian vaccine solution (again)

Category: Bird flu • Vaccines Posted on: March 28, 2007 7:42 AM, by revere

So the vaccine sharing summit in Jakarta is over and Indonesia says they will begin sharing virus again. The proviso is that they can’t be shared with pharmaceutical companies until a vaccine-sharing agreement is hammered out with WHO and that will take an estimated 3 months. I’ll be surprised if it is done that quickly, but Hope springs Eternal. Meanwhile the scientific community will be able to see the sequences (at least that’s how I read it) and WHO can prepare seed strains but not distribute them. The agreement should also allow determination if any markers of antiviral resistance have appeared and permit developmnet of diagnostic tests.

We don’t know the details of vaccine sharing because they don’t exist yet. The meeting seemed to accomplish the main thing, get Indonesian provision of the isolates unstuck so surveillance functions can resume. But what we know about the proposed strategy for vaccine sharing doesn’t sound very promising to us:

The meeting endorsed WHO’s efforts to link vaccine manufacturers in developed and developing countries to speed the transfer of influenza vaccine manufacturing technology.”We have struck a balance between the need to continue the sharing of influenza viruses for risk assessment and vaccine development,” Heymann said, “and the need to help ensure that developing countries benefit from sharing without compromising global public health security.”

Individual countries will negotiate how vaccine is made available to them.

“WHO is not involved in financial negotiations, either in selling viruses or buying vaccine,” he added. “Countries will negotiate bilaterally with vaccine manufacturers. We will certainly facilitate if countries are asking for support, but it won’t be standard.”

WHO best practices for sharing flu virus were developed for seasonal influenza vaccine, which has a market in developed countries but in only a few developing countries.

“H5N1 vaccines are a different issue,” Heymann said. “We will now modify our best practices to ensure that they are transparent to the developing countries which are providing samples and which have requested to share in the benefits resulting from those viruses.”

The director-general of WHO is committed to working with pharmaceutical companies and donors to develop a possible stockpile of vaccine for developing countries if they need vaccine, he added, but this is at an early stage of feasibility study. (Cheryl Pellerin, US State Dept. Washington File)

The fundamental problem, as we noted before, is that there isn’t enough productive capacity to make enough vaccine, even for the rich countries. Saying to developing countries, “You negotiate with Big Pharma and have them show you how to make vaccine in your country” doesn’t sound like it will work. We need an international effort to establish regional vaccine institutes on a global basis, financed by governments and international donors and outside the market system.

The Indonesians got what they asked for. Like everything else related to bird flu in that country, it probably won’t work.

Bird-Flu in Bangladesh Fast Food????

I guess that it is not really surprising that some people in Bangladesh would try and make a quick Taka (a buck to you) by selling poultry that is said to be infected with the Bird Flu virus.

The Weekly Blitz from Bangladesh reports that  some unscrupulous businessmen and poultry farm owners are selling Bird Flu infected Chickens to various fast food shops and bakeries in
Bangladesh at a through away price. Most of the fast food shops, including some famous international chains are buying these infected chickens at one twentieth prices!

Talking to Weekly Blitz, a (member of the) staff with a famous fried chicken outlet in city’s Gulshan area disclosed on anonymity that owners of such establishments are buying large number of suspected chicken at the rate of TK 10-15 each and storing these in their freezers in order to meet the requirement for several months. The staff said, generally in normal situation, price of such chicken ranges between TK. 110-150 each.

For the full article from The Weekly Blitz  go to www.birdflubreakingnews.com

Bird-Flu Panic in Tripura

The state of Tripura is in the north east corner of India.

It’s Himalayan range of mountains are covered with vast forests and many unexplored areas.

Tripura is blessed with some of the most beautiful scenery in the world. 

However, I guess as a karmic balance to all the above, Tripura also shares a border with Bangladesh.

So not only is Tripura on the migrating route for a large number of wild birds, but also it now has a H5N1 infected neighbour! 

What is more, Tripura imports large quantities of poultry from Bangladesh!!

No wonder there is a bit of a panic going on in the state of Tripura.

So much so that as many as 266 trained ARD assistants (Animal Resource Development departments) will be given the duty of vigilance across the border. 

Err.. 266 “trained ARD assistants” are there to stop the Bird Flu from entering into Tripura, across thousands of Kilometers of partially unexplored Himalayan territory.

Tripura residents should have no worries then??? 

Here is an article from Medindia:

Bangladesh has proved an unlucky neighbor for Tripura, as the northeastern state of India which borders it, is under bird flu alert.

Bird flu in Bangladesh has proved a fear factor as not only is it in close proximity to Tripura, the state also imports chicks and eggs from Bangladesh.

In the wake of the scare, the Family Welfare Preventive Medicine and the Animal Resource Development departments have jointly taken all possible steps to tackle avian flu. This is according to ARD director Narayan Chandra Das.

The state has been asked to take precautionary measures by the Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry.

A total of 266 trained ARD assistants will be given the duty of vigilance across the border.

Source-Medindia
ANN

Bird Flu better than no Chickens!

For the really poor people in Bangladesh, having their poultry, in most cases their only source of income destroyed is no better than actually getting the bird flu.

Says Rashida Bagum a small backyard chicken farmer in Gazipur, north of the capital Dhaka, “with the Bird Flu there is a chance that God willing we may survive the disease.” she said, “but if we lose our flock then our family will without a doubt,  die of starvation as there is no one to help us here.”

While there have been discussions of some kind of compensation for the poultry farmers who are to loose their flocks during the current emergency, no one could tell me as to how much the compensation would be or when it is likely to be paid to the poultry farmers.

Via Asok Banga reporting from Gazipur, Bangla Desh writing for www.birdflubreakingnews.com

More Human Bird Flu in Indonesia!

More bad news for Indonesia!

It seems that there is another person infected with the H5N1 virus.

A resident of Mojokerto, in East Java, 39-year-old Wetono Hadi is currently isolated at RSUD Dr Soetomo Surabaya.

Teguh Syilvaranto — the Vice Director of Dr. Soetomo Hospital — said that the patient made contact with birds and they are investigating this issue. Mrs. Fatonah (38) also said that his husband got a high fever last Monday.

Via Detiknews.  Full article here, but in Bhasa only:

www.detiknews.com/index.php/detik.read/tahun/2007/bulan/03/tgl/24/time/201038

/idnews/758232/idkanal/10

“Super Strain” of Bird Flu from Chicken & Turkey Factory Farms???

Recently, there was the disastrous Barnard Matthews turkey factory farm episode, which resulted in the first Bird Flu outbreak in the British domestic poultry.

Now there is an increasing concern around the world about the link between the Bird Flu and other viruses and factory farming of poultry.

It is said that there is a strong possibility that these cramped unnatural conditions imposed upon the poultry in these factory farms help breed viruses and other diseases.

Dr. Michael Greger, director of public health at the Humane Society of the United States said that overcrowding in chicken confinements, where there are large numbers of chickens in inadequate ventilation, with little sunlight, all create an environment that could create a “super strain” of the influenza.

“The poultry industry is not only playing with fire,” Greger told students at ISU’s College of Veterinary Medicine. “They are fanning the flames.”

He said wild birds are attracted to large poultry sheds because there is food there. He said he is concerned that the virus could mutate into one that more easily spreads to humans. He said the virus has already changed from an intestinal virus in ducks to one that is spread through the air between chickens.

“By adapting to chickens, (the virus) is partially adapting to human beings,” he said, explaining that the respiratory tract of chickens resembles the respiratory tracts of primates, like monkeys.

A chicken industry spokesman said such confinements actually make an avian-flu outbreak less likely here. “The reason we put these birds in these facilities is to protect them,” said Kevin Vinchattle, executive director of the Iowa Poultry Association.
The above excerpts are from an article by Lisa Rossi & Tony Leys writing for The Des Moines Register.

To see the full article go to www.birdflubreakingnews.com

Is Tamiflu killing Japanese teenagers?

In Japan, Tamiflu is taken far more often than in any other country.

Japanese doctors prescribed the drug 24.5 million times between 2001 and 2005,compared to just 6.5 million prescriptions in the U.S.

Now,  there is a major concern in that country, that Tamiflu could be killing those who take it, specially if it is taken by teenagers. 

According to the Japanese Health Ministry, 54 people have died after taking Tamiflu — the drug governments around the world have stockpiled for use against avian flu — since the drug was approved for use in Japan in 2000. 

Most suspiciously, in multiple cases people, including those cases above, acted erratically after taking Tamiflu. Though the Health Ministry has said there is no clear evidence linking Tamiflu to the deaths, there is growing concern among doctors and parents in Japan over the drug’s possible side effects. 

The anti-Tamiflu forces in Japan are led by Dr. Rokuro Hama, an epidemiologist and internal medicine specialist who heads the Japan Institute of Pharmacovigilance, a medical industry watchdog.

Hama believes that Tamiflu can directly cause temporary neurological disorders in a small percentage of users — especially young people. That can lead to abnormal behavior, such as a seemingly happy, healthy teenager suddenly deciding to leap off a high-rise apartment building.  

Hama also notes that the Tamiflu doses taken in Japan can be as much as 10 times greater than the normal amount taken in the U.S., which could aggravate the side effects. “There is no possibility whatsoever” that there could be another cause behind the Tamiflu deaths, says Hama. “Ultimately it should be taken off the market.”   But according to the Japanese Health Ministry — and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) — the side effects that Hama has seen are more likely caused by influenza itself. In rare juvenile cases influenza can cause brain inflammation — encephalitis — that can lead to neuropsychiatric events.

In fact, it was in Japan in the mid-1990s that pediatricians first began reporting such cases, which led to intense nationwide surveillance of pediatric influenza. 

Hama notes, however, that it was around that same time that Tamiflu became widely used in the country. Cases that included neurological side effects seemed to spike at the same time that Tamiflu prescriptions rose in Japan.

Nevertheless, it is possible that the side effects accompanied the disease and that more such extreme cases were seen because doctors were looking harder.  

Above Excerpts are from a Time/CNN article by Brian Walsh & Michiko Toyama  Full article here: http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1601062,00.html?cnn=yes

Whats in a number? A lot if you have the Bird Flu!

Bird Flu is all about letters & numbers.

The familiar H5N1 is in fact really a flu which should only be effecting birds, but seems to also grab a few humans every now and then.

If and when the H5N1 virus does mutate in to a human version of the virus (and starts the dreaded human pandemic) we will hear for the first time of the new deadly combination of the letters and numbers.  

Even now, there are lots of different kinds of bird flu out there.

In the news today is the H9N2 virus, a “milder form of bird flu” which has effected a nine-month-old girl in Hong Kong.

This is not the first time that this “milder virus” has been found in China, two girls and a boy were confirmed to have H9N2 in 1999 and 2003 respectively

A news item from the news.gov.hk, (the official source of Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region) says that The Centre for Health Protection (CHP) is investigating a case of influenza A virus (H9N2) involving a nine-month-old girl, H9N2 is a mild form of avian flu.

Centre Controller Dr Thomas Tsang today said the Tseung Kwan O girl developed upper respiratory tract infection symptoms and a fever on March 4. She was admitted to United Christian Hospital on March 6 and discharged three days later. She has not travelled recently. However, she has gone to a Tseung Kwan O market with her family several times. Her family members have no symptoms but will have blood tests. The centre and the Food & Environmental Hygiene Department have sent staff to clean and disinfect their home.

Dr Thomas Tsang said two girls and a boy were confirmed to have H9N2 in 1999 and 2003 respectively.

That strain of the virus has been found in ducks and chickens for many years, however infection in humans is rare and usually milder than the potentially fatal H5N1 strain. “H9N2 differs from H5NI in a number of aspects, the most important being the severity of the illness,” he said.

Advantage Bird Flu!

In the continuing battle between the human race and the viruses, the Bird Flu virus has made its latest move.

A strain of the H5N1 virus has now been found to be resistant to one of the current drugs used against it.

According to a news item Via Reuters, the scientists have found that a strain of the H5N1 bird flu virus circulating in Thailand is resistant to the flu drug amantadine, and they called for rigorous study of H5N1 strains to better treat human victims.

Yong Poovorawan, a medical professor at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, said an H5N1 strain in the central part of Thailand had become resistant to amantadine, casting more doubt over its use to fight the disease .

“It would be very dangerous if we don’t know the sensitivity or resistance of the strain to amantadine and we use amantadine (to treat people infected with this strain of H5N1),” Yong said. He urged more rigorous surveillance and study.

“If you follow any new strain you will know the genetic changes, you analyse its molecular structure, make experiments to see which drug it is sensitive to and find out which is the best antiviral for any given strain,” he said. “It’s like a jigsaw, we have to find the pieces and see the big picture.”

There are two H5N1 strains circulating in Thailand, one in the northeast and the other in the central part of the country. Yong identified the strain in the northeast province of Nakhon Phanom as the Fujian-like strain, which an international group of virologists said in October may start another wave of H5N1 outbreaks in poultry in Southeast Asia and Eurasia.

The Fujian-like strain was first isolated in China’s southern Fujian province in 2005.”The Nakhon Phanom strain is the same as the Fujian-like strain…which is also in (the Chinese provinces of) Anhui and Zhejiang, and Laos,” Yong said. “From the molecular structure, we would say it is sensitive to Tamiflu and amantadine.”

Although H5N1 mostly affects birds, the big concern is that it could mutate into a disease that easily passes between people, triggering a global pandemic. The emergence of various strains of H5N1 is a matter of deep concern because each one may respond differently to different antiviral drugs and vaccines. “If there are too many strains and they are very different, we will not know the efficacy of the vaccines,” Yong said.

Vaccine no protection from BIRD FLU!

There have always been many objections to the practice of mass vaccination of poultry against H5N1 and other viruses, including the fact that vaccination can mask the onset of infection in poultry.

Now it seems that even the idea of some kind of a perceived protection from the H5N1virus is not true, as reported by Caroline Lovell, writing for the Farmers Weekly Interactive.

Here is the full article:

Vaccinated flocks infected by avian flu 19/03/2007 12:40:00 Farmers Weekly Interactive

Egyptian poultry flocks have tested positive to H5N1 avian flu despite being vaccinated against the virus, reported Reuters this month.According to an animal health official, who remained anonymous, 12 different locations in Egypt have had outbreaks in vaccinated flocks in 2007.The official said: “We have outbreaks in vaccinated chickens in many places.  This puts a question mark on vaccination procedures.  It is dangerous.”

The official blamed the outbreaks – on poultry units and in household flocks of chickens and ducks – on inadequate inoculation procedures instead of a resistance to the vaccination.  by Caroline Lovell

WHO and the Ancient Bird Flu news.

All over the media today, we have the news about the Egyptian boy infected by the H5N1 virus bringing the tally of infected Egyptians to 26.

The above is not a rumor but a statement from the Egyptian Health Ministry:

2-year-old boy becomes Egypt’s 26th case with deadly bird flu strain

A two-year old Egyptian boy contracted the potentially deadly bird flu strain, bringing to 26 the number of people to be diagnosed with the disease since it appeared in the country last year, the Health Ministry said Monday. Youssef Mohammed Mahmoud from the southern city of Aswan was admitted to a hospital there on Friday, suffering from fever and muscle pain, ministry spokesman Abdel Rahman Shahine told the state news agency, MENA. Mahmoud tested positive for the H5N1 strain of bird flu, MENA said, adding that the child’s family raises chickens in their home.

Also today, 19 March 2007, we have the Avian influenza – situation in Egypt – update 9 from the World Health Organisation. This UPDATE from the WHO tells us that there have only been 25 infected people in Egypt to date! It mentions the last person to be infected with the H5N1 in Egypt as the 10-year-old girl from Aswan Govermorate, was admitted to hospital with symptoms on 13 March 6 DAYS AGO!!!

No wonder the WHO is getting less relevant each day as the source of information related to the Bird Flu virus!

Here is the WHO “Update”:

WHO – Avian influenza – situation in Egypt – update 9 – 19 March 2007

The Egyptian Ministry of Health and Population has announced a new human case of avian influenza A(H5N1) virus infection. The case was confirmed by the Egyptian Central Public Health Laboratory and by the US Naval Medical Research Unit No.3 (NAMRU-3).The 10-year-old girl from Aswan Governorate, was admitted to hospital with symptoms on 13 March and her condition remains stable. Investigations indicate that she had recently been exposed to sick poultry. Contacts of the girl are being kept under observation. Of the 25 cases confirmed to date in Egypt, 13 have been fatal.

Turkish Boy Dies Of Bird Flu AGAIN!

 Jan Tincher, who is apparently a Master Neuro-Linguistic Programmer writes a blog about AVIAN BIRD FLU.

Yesterday, the blog had the following headline:

Sunday, March 18, 2007Avian Bird Flu – wcco.com –

Turkish Youths Die Of Bird Flu —Health Officials Fear Case Point To Possible Pandemic–

A Turkish teenager whose brother died of bird flu also succumbed to the disease … was believed to have been brought by birds migrating from the Caucasus regions. …

The contributors to this blog run several Bird Flu sites, including the largest News and blog site on the web.

ALL of the Bird Flu related news passes through our desk each day and I knew of no such Turkish casualty.

So logged in to the blog to find that the headline was about a story back in Jan of this year (Jan 5, 2006 )! 

How and why do these bloggers do this?

Is there blogging on an auto drive?

Does the Master Neuro-Linguistic Programmer not look at the blog, that has her name and photo spread all over it?

It wastes so much time for those of us, who have to sift through all the rubbish to bring only the 100% relevant blogs on to our site!

Please Ms Tincher do take an occasional look at what you are publishing.

Those of you who like their news three months old can go to:http://tameyourbrain.com/blogabf/2007/03/avian-bird-flu-wccocom-turkish-youths.html

No Bird Flu in Myanmar! Just heat stroke, respiratory disease, enteritis, pigeon pox, injury, food poison.

From the “New Light Of Myanmar”, the official news source of the military government of Myanmar we have the following denial of the presence of the Bird Flu virus in the country.

It is trying to go a bit further in its PR efforts than similar dictatorships on the planet.

They are not making a simple declaration of “Myanmar is Bird Flu Free”.

The New Light Of Myanmar, the official organ of the Military Government provides a detailed (though totally incomprehensible) message about “The death of 24 crows, 13 pigeons and one sparrow” itemizing all of the diseases these dead birds DID have and therefore, obviously DID NOT have the Bird Flu!

Here is the article:   Death of birds in Yangon unrelated to bird flu.

The death of 24 crows, 13 pigeons and one sparrow was found in townships of Yangon Division from 10 March to date.

The death of six crows and three pigeons was found in Ahlon, Shwepyitha, Insein, Mingaladon, Pazundaung and Mayangon townships on 10 March, five crows and four pigeons in Insein, P a z u n d a u n g , K y i – m y i n d i n e , P a b e d a n , Thakayta, Hlinethaya and Hline townships on 11 March, three crows and pigeons each in Sangyoung, Hline, Thingangyun, Dawbon, Mayangon and Dagon Myothit townships on 12 March, three crows, two pigeons and one sparrow in Mayangon, Dagon Myothit, Mingaladon, Insein and Seikkyikhanaungto townships on 13 March, five crows in Pazundaung, Hmawby and Thakayta townships on 14 March and two crows and one pigeon in Insein Township today.

The majority death of birds in Yangon Division was due to heat stroke, chronic respiratory disease, enteritis, pigeon pox, injury and food poison, but unrelated to bird flu.

The Livestock Breeding and Veterinary Department came to the conclusion that the number of death of birds declined.