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

Supari the Amazing Indonesian Health Minister

Here is a great Q & A session with Siti Fadilah Supari, the Indonesian Health Minister, from IndCoup, a really resourceful blogger  from Jakarta.

(I found the blog on the blogs section of the www.birdflubreakingnews.com)  

The Health Minister talks about the TREE MAN, she is against Indonesians exercising, suggests that NOT smoking is more harmful than smoking and has amazing ideas about breakfast and er.. a certain part of the male anatomy!

Here is an excerpt (and the entire interview follows below):

Q: Will sit-ups help prevent me from getting a bit soft around the middle?

A: Definitely not! When you exercise a muscle, it gets bigger. So you should only be doing sit-ups if you want a bigger tummy.

Q: Onto sex. What do you think of condoms?

A: Yes they are good idea – I purchased one recently in Jakarta at Sudirman Park for Rp3 billion. Not sure what they’ve got to do with sex though.

Q: No I mean condoms not condos. You know fiesta, durex and the like. But anyway do you think Indonesia is doing enough to promote condom use?

A: Doing enough to promote condom use?! Of course we are! Haven’t you ever heard of Dolly?

Q: You were quoted as saying a penis was the greatest breakfast for women. Why?

A: Because it has a mushroom head, a sausage, two eggs and cream. All the nutrients to make a woman healthy and happy.

Here is the full Interview by IndCoup:

Indonesian Health Minister Siti Fadilah Supari is raising a storm for playing hardball with the WHO. We’ve caught up with her and asked her a few questions…

Q: I`ve heard that cardiovascular exercise can prolong your life. Is this true?
A: Well, your heart is only good for so many beats, and that`s it… so don`t waste them on exercise. Everything wears out eventually. Speeding up your heart will not make you live longer; I mean that`s rather like saying you can extend the expected life of your car by driving it faster. Want to live longer? Just sleep all day long like most teenage Indonesians do.
Q: Should Indonesians exercise more?
A: No. Why should they? My philosophy is: No Pain Is Good.
Q: The WHO estimates at least 25% of all deaths in Indonesia by 2020 will be due to cigarette smoking…
A: But the other 75% will be deaths from NOT smoking – clear proof that NOT smoking is more harmful than smoking.
Q: But Siti – scientists have proven that cigarettes are harmful to the health of children…
A: Fair enough, use an ashtray.
Q: The average Indonesian diet is drowning in fat. Everything seems to be fried. Your opinion?
A: Foods these days are fried in vegetable oil. How could getting more vegetables be bad for you?
Q: What`s the secret to healthy eating?
A: More vegetables. Eat up your nasi goreng.
Q: Will sit-ups help prevent me from getting a bit soft around the middle?
A: Definitely not! When you exercise a muscle, it gets bigger. So you should only be doing sit-ups if you want a bigger tummy.
Q: Onto sex. What do you think of condoms?
A: Yes they are good idea – I purchased one recently in Jakarta at Sudirman Park for Rp3 billion. Not sure what they’ve got to do with sex though.
Q: No I mean condoms not condos. You know fiesta, durex and the like. But anyway do you think Indonesia is doing enough to promote condom use?
A: Doing enough to promote condom use?! Of course we are! Haven’t you ever heard of Dolly?
Q: You were quoted as saying a penis was the greatest breakfast for women. Why?
A: Because it has a mushroom head, a sausage, two eggs and cream. All the nutrients to make a woman healthy and happy.
Q: Onto “Tree Man” Dede. Why won’t you let him get treatment in the US?
A: To show how much we care about him, we just so happened to appoint a team of doctors the day the story was broken on the Discovery Channel. Prior to that he had lived a peaceful life and didn’t need any help whatsoever. He was even making a good living by working as part of a local Freak Show. His ailment is a blessing and not a curse! And now you think we should allow him to get free medical treatment overseas?!! My God as if any Indonesian would want that!!! … but paying for it ourselves is okay of course … (smiles, blushes slightly)
Q: And what about WHO claims that Indonesia’s refusal to share bird flu virus samples raises the risk of a global pandemic breaking out?
A: As if these foreigners would do anything for us!
Q: Er.. aren’t you forgetting Aceh?
A: Mau minum segelas Bir Bintang mister? It’s made from vegetables you know….

Indonesian Health Minister Siti Fadilah Supari

Sources:

http://indcoup.blogspot.com/2007/11/exclusive-q-session-with-siti-fadilah.html

www.birdflubreakingnews.com

There are FIVE Bird-Flu Viruses now!

According to TEMPO INTERAKTIF, the premier Indonesian Magazine, the development of H5N1 bird flu virus in Indonesia has been faster than that of any other country. 

In fact it appears that the Bird-Flu virus in Indonesia, has mutated and split in to Five different varieties of the H5N1 strain.

AIRLANGGA UNIVERSITY.

Dr.C.A. Nidom a molecular biology researcher from Airlangga University, Surabaya, said on Monday (26/11),

that in Indonesia the H5N1 virus has already mutated to five subdivisions.

“In other countries however, the mutation found was only three virus variants,” said Dr. Nidom.

The subdivisions of mutated virus in Indonesia are divided into type A, B, C, C1 and D.Categories A and B have spread in Sumatra, with category C in Kalimantan.

Category C1 has spread in several places, while category D is found in Papua and southern Sumatra.

“We’re also surprised that the virus in Indonesia is under local law, so between one area and

 the other they’re different. The virus even mutated,” added Dr Nidom.

Therefore, now a molecular review is still required in order to identify the different characteristics

of the virus types.

That way different strains of the virus can be handled differently, according to their individual characteristics.

Siti Fadilah Supari, the Indonesian Health Minister

Sources:

http://www.tempointeraktif.com/hg/nasional/2007/11/26/brk,20071126-112338,uk.html

www.birdflubreakingnews.com

Bird-Flu and the two million strong gathering at the Hajj

The Saudis have “culled” more than 3.5 million Chickens to try and fend off the Bird-flu virus from their country..

I believe that is the largest amount of poultry destroyed due to a Bird-Flu outbreak at one time in the world.

The problem of the current outbreak of the killer virus for the Saudis, could be made more problematic due to the the Hajj.

The month of Dhul Hijjah begins on December 11, 2007, with the week of the Hajj beginning on December 18, 2007.

An estimated two million pilgrims participate in this annual pilgrimage of Hajj.

Even though Mecca, the destination of the pilgrims, is at some distance from Jeddah,

(the current location of the Bird-Flu outbreak), the added risk of millions of pilgrims,

from as far away as Indonesia gathered in the Kingdom is a potential problem.

Flu Pandemic in Slow Motion

It is as if we are watching a pandemic in slow motion.

What we have right now is not the “normal viral Pandemic mode”, resulting in a large number of human fatalities, during a limited period of time.

Instead, there has been a regular drip drip of people dying of the virus almost every week, over the last 4 years or so.

Every now and then, one Government Agency or the other issues a warning, that there is a “real risk of a global pandemic breaking out”.

In response, the global media creates huge bold headlines of the warning, each media source often adding a bit of spice to the said announcement.

This is followed by a few “anti-panic-journalists” who (and I kid you not) offer bets to any one who will take the bet, that there will be no such pandemic!

After a few days the headlines are focused on the next political or commercial crises, or may be a juicy kidnap story and the threat of a viral outbreak is forgotten by all, accept a few bloggers -such as this blog:)- who are apparently obsessed by the Bird-Flu virus.

Every now and then, there is a bold declaration from the Health Minster or a Prime Minister of a country, stating that their country is now “bird-Flu-Free”.

A few weeks later there is yet another outbreak of the virus in that very country.

In the mean time people keep on dying.

Little children seem to be a favourite of this killer virus.

After each of these deaths, there is a flurry of activity from the media, trying to get as much detailed information about the victim as possible.

It seems that the Bird-Flu Blogs vie with each other, to try and get the name of the victim out in public domain before any one else does.

This, even though the authorities and presumably the parents of the child do not wish for the name of their child be made public and provide only the initials of the name of the child.

But then I suppose the Bird-Flu Blogs need to have some kind of a scoop.

Another death of a child fron the Bird-Flu virus is hardly a new story now a days.

So now I have to report another such story.

There is yet another child victim of this Bird-Flu virus as reported by Reuters.

According to an official of the Health Ministry of Indonesia, a toddler from Tangerang, west of the capital Jakarta, has died of bird flu.

The four-year-old girl died on Monday after being admitted to hospital two days earlier, health ministry spokeswoman Lili Sulistyowati said by telephone.

The little girl, who had been suffering from fever, died after being transferred to Persahabatan hospital in Jakarta.

Apparently the officials were still investigating the case, but four chickens had previously died in the girl’s neighbourhood, another official at the ministry’s bird flu centre said.

Why were we not told of the fact that a toddler had indeed been admitted to the hospital in Indonesia with the dangerous viral infection?

We do not know.

I await with baited breath, for the Big Bird-Flu Blogs to tell me the little child’s name however.

Sources:

www.birdflubreakingnews.com

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L23739948.htm

Eight Indonesian suspected bird flu patients hospitalised

Eight Indonesian suspected bird flu patients hospitalisedThe Bird-Flu toll seems to keeps growing and growing in Indonesia!May be because of all the criticism of the Indonesian Government for the secrecy and lack of any information related to the progress of the H5N1 virus, today we have an unusual announcement from Indonesia.

The Vietnam News Agency is reporting that Eight suspected bird flu patients were admitted on October 7, to the Adam Malik hospital in the North Sumatran city of Medan.

The hospital spokesman Nur Rasyid Lubis said that the conditions of six of the patients had improved while that of the two others, including a pregnant woman and a three-year old toddler, remained serious.

Professor Luhur Suroso, at Medan’s Adam Malik Hospital.

Lubis added that there were no indications that the eight patients had bird flu because their conditions were improving.“We are still waiting for laboratory test results to determine whether they are bird flu positive or not,” Nur Rasyid was quoted as saying.Meanwhile, a 44-year-old Indonesian woman who died on October 6 in Riau province of Sumatra Island was positively infected by avian influenza, bringing the country’s death toll from the disease to 87

Sources:

http://www.vnagency.com.vn/Home/EN/tabid/119/itemid/217057/Default.aspx

www.birdflubreakingnews.com

www.internews.org/prs/2006/20060616_indo.shtm 

http://www.cnn.com

Interactive Map of Global Bird-Flu Spread since 2003

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

I had posted this map here a while back.

Worth another look:

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

Bird-Flu Rumors?

Here is a bird-flu-funny, made out of Lucy Silag’s post at the Salon.com.

Hope Lucy will forgive us for the following, but this is just the kind of a gossip conversation, concerned hens would be having these days about the dreaded Bird-Flu. 

Psst! Have you heard…?

By Lucy Silag

Bird-Flu Risk for Chicken Swinging Rabbis.

I do not belong to any fanatic anti meat eating group, but I have always believed that the ritual killing of animals known as Kosher or Halal, in which the blood of the animal is allowed to flow from a ritual cut as the creature basically bleeds to death, hung upside down, is amazingly cruel.

It is also extremely dangerous, due to the possibility of all kids of infections that are passed on via the blood of animals and birds.

I believe that it is no coincident, that the majority of the countries in which the Bird-Flu virus has recently been found to have flourished, are those countries, where the Halal ritual is regularly practiced.

So now, Rabbis in Brooklyn’s Orthodox Jewish and Hasidic communities are taking a hard look at an annual religious ceremony in which the faithful swing live chickens over their heads!

This ceramony is called KAPPAROT, the fowl-whirling event occurs each year between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur – which take place next month – and is meant to transfer the sins of the believer to the chicken, which is then sacrificed.

Kapparot, which is from the same Hebrew root as Yom Kippur and literally means ‘atonements,’ is a custom which aims to awaken the drive toward repentance while engaging in charity on the eve of Judaism’s central day of prayer.

The practice of kapparot using live fowl entails the following:

A male or female chicken is taken in hand, corresponding to the gender of the taker or family members on whose behalf they are performing the ritual.

Psalm 107:17-20 and Job 33:23-24 are recited and the live bird is swung around the person’s head three times.

While swinging the live bird, the person recites the following three times: “This be my substitute, my vicarious offering, my atonement. This cock (or hen) shall meet death, but I shall find a long and pleasant life of peace.”

Recently, as reported by the CrownHeights.info, after a series of troubling incidents, in which birds were found improperly dumped after the ceremony, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals have launched a campaign against the above practice.

“The kapparot ritual must be examined. It is a serious health concern that children handle live, feces-covered and possibly diseased chickens and wade through the blood of slaughtered poultry,” PETA said in a letter sent to the city Health Department.

Earlier this month, a group of about a dozen respected rabbis met to look at the evidence of trouble. Afterward, they called for an upgrade of the process, including how the birds are trucked in, where they are held before the ritual, and how they are slaughtered.

“It’s not going to be stopped,” said Isaac Abraham, a Hasidic community activist. “We have to make sure everything is done in a proper way.”

Abraham said that at least 50,000 chickens are used in ceremonies across Brooklyn.

They are usually gripped by their feet and neck and briefly swung above the head.

The birds are then handed over to be slaughtered. Most wind up as a meal for someone.

Abraham said that the swinging is not cruel.

“It doesn’t hurt them,” he said. “[They are held] just like you see any animal pick up its cubs by the neck.”

PETA and the Hasidic community have long battled over the ceremony, and have even clashed at protests.

PETA spokesman Bruce Freidrich said the chicken swinging is not required, and some Jewish communities have abandoned the practice.

According to The Forward newspaper, some Orthodox groups swing money over their heads instead of chickens.

Also, some historical Jewish thinkers, such as Moses Maimonides, deemed the practice pagan and argued it should be abandoned, the paper said.

The practice was vehemently opposed by various rabbis throughout Jewish history.

The Rashba (Solomon ben Aderet, 1235-1310) relates that he found the custom to resemble the forbidden rites of the Amorites, proscribed by the Torah. “I distanced myself from this custom greatly and instructed that it be nullified, and with grace from Heaven my words were heard and the practice no longer remains in our city,” he wrote.

PETA even invoked the threat of bird flu being spread by mass handling of chickens.“The risk of communicable avian diseases and bacterial contamination is alarming, and the inhumane treatment and mishandling of animals at every stage of the process must be prevented,” the group said.The Health Department did not immediately have a comment on the letter from PETA.Here is a video, watch it, if you have a strong stomach!: 

(Click here to watch)

Sources:

www.birdflubreakingnews.com

http://www.crownheights.info/index.php?itemid=8083

www.israelnationalnews.com

“People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals”
 

And now… Bird-Flu in Bulgaria

AFP is reporting that Bulgaria’s veterinary service confirmed Friday an outbreak of Newcastle disease in poultry in the northwest of the country, the farming ministry said in a statement.

Local veterinary authorities in the village of Kravoder sent bird samples for testing to the national lab Tuesday after 33 birds in two separate farms died with Newcastle-like symptoms, it said.

The national lab in Sofia confirmed Friday that the birds had died of the milder version of bird flu which is highly contagious among birds but poses no hazard to humans.

The remaining 53 birds at the two farms had been preventively (as a precaution) killed.

Local veterinary authorities closed the poultry slaughterhouse in Kravoder and also planned to vaccinate some 24,000 birds in farms in nearby villages over the weekend to prevent a spread of the disease, the statement said.

Sources:

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5gPLsspw5RSBnZb-TZZoEolf8WzAw

www.birdflubreakingnews.com

www.wiiw.ac.at/e/bulgaria.html 

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

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

India “Surrounded” by Countries with Bird-Flu.

Mr Naresh Dayal, the Federal Health Secretary in the Government of India, worries about  the possibility of the Bird-Flu virus mutating in to a human to human virus.

“Worldwide, human-to-human transmission is feared. We have to be able to tackle that if, God forbid, it starts,” he said in an interview with Reuters.

Mr Dayal was very concerned about the fact that the counties neighbouring India seemed to have “uncontrolled” outbreaks of Bird-Flu.

“We are surrounded by countries with uncontrolled outbreaks in poultry and birds,” Dayal told Reuters in an interview on Tuesday. “And further, there is Vietnam and Indonesia.”                                              

Indonesia and Vietnam — both within a couple of hours flying distance from some Indian cities — have reported human deaths from bird flu this year.

Indonesia says it has 83 confirmed bird flu deaths since 2003, the highest for any nation.

In addition, Myanmar as well as Bangladesh, another two of India’s neighbour countries, have reported cases of Bird-Flu. 

India has stepped up vigil on its borders with Myanmar as well as Bangladesh, said Dayal, adding that New Delhi had offered to help its two neighbours fight the disease.

“We are willing to provide help to Bangladesh. It is also in our own interest,” he said, adding India was also ready to help Myanmar fight the virus if requested.

New Delhi has reported no human case from its three major outbreaks in poultry since 2006, but health officials are worried about its northeast region, which also borders China, where 16 human deaths have been reported since 2003.

Authorities are increasing the number of laboratories that can test for bird flu in humans.

Besides the three existing facilities, New Delhi will set up a new laboratory in Assam as well as Kolkata, Dayal said.

Sources:

http://in.reuters.com/article/topNews/idINIndia-28974620070814

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/6392773.stm

http://www.oxfam.org.au/world/asia/asiamap.gif

www.birdflubreakingnews.com

Bird-Flu Sorrow in Sukabumi

Sukabumi is a Sanskrit word, dating back to the Hindu Indonesia, predating the Islamic invasion of the country.

The city is close to the Indian Ocean and is characterized by a long stretch of pristine sandy beaches, cliffs, a marine turtle habitat and the primary forest of Mount Halimun, the largest National Park in West Java.

It is not a surprise therefore, that the name Sukabumi in the Sanskrit language means “The Land of Happiness”.

The residents of Sukabumi are not happy at this time though, as the city has the dubious honour of hosting the latest human case of the H5N1 virus.

Ririn Meilani, a 12 year  old girl from Sukabumi, has been admitted to Syamsudin General Hospital, with high fever and respiratory problems, as a suspected bird flu sufferer.

Recently, a large number of chickens in her neighborhood had suddenly died for unknown reasons.

Ririn Meilani was hospitalized on last Thursday day evening.

Paramaedics took samples of her blood for specialised laboratory tests.

She is currently being treated at the hospital`s emergency care unit.

Ujang Suhendi, the girl`s father, said his daughter had been suffering from high fever and respiratory problems since June 16, when a number of chickens in their neighborhood died.

Around 75 percent of the chicken population in the area where Ujang lived, had died by mysterious causes.

Ririn had had contact with one of the dead chickens, he said. She is currently being treated at the hospital`s emergency care unit, he said.
On August 1, the local husbandry and animal health offices sent a team to check on all poultry in the area. But until Friday local residents were still uninformed about the results of the team`s work.

Syamsudin General Hospital Director Dr Suherman said there were indications Ririn was infected with the bird flu virus. However, to obtain confirmation of the suspicion samples of her blood would be sent to the Health Development and Research Agency in Jakarta for more conclusive laboratory tests.

A report of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said recently around 60 percent of all Indonesian households keep an estimated 300 million birds in their backyards.

Sources:

http://www.antara.co.id/en/arc/2007/8/3/girl-in-sukabumi-hospitalized-with-bird-flu-like-symptoms/

http://www.influenzareport.com/ir/images/image40.jpg

www.ykhoanet.com/cum/benhcum/01benhcum06.htm

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 strange death of Bird-Flu rapid response team member.

We have previously addressed in this blog, the “Cull” of the poultry being carried out within the quarantine zone set up by the Manipur State Government around the farm in Chingmeirong in Imphal East, where the recent outbreak was discovered.

As reported, there have been many arrests made of the poultry farmers within the zone who were suspected of trying to flee the quarantine zone with their live stock.

To add to this real human drama, we now have a strange death of one of the “Cullers” responsible for the destruction of the poultry within the quarantine zone.

A member of the rapid response team of Manipur’s veterinary department, which has been engaged in culling poultry since bird flu was detected in the state last week, died today after reportedly consuming formalin, a solution being used to spray the burial sites of culled birds.

Salam Babuyaima, a 53-year-old grade IV employee of the department, collapsed around 8.30am, when the team was preparing to depart for the day’s culling operations in Imphal East and West districts. He died at Jawaharlal Nehru Hospital an hour later.

Veterinary and health officials, who carried out routine health check-ups of the team this morning, ruled out any connection between his death and avian influenza.

The health officials said Babuyaima was found fit during the check-up.

Culling of poultry started on Thursday, following confirmation the previous day that more than 100 birds had died of the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu at a farm in Chingmeirong in Imphal East.

Officials said that before leaving for work today, Babuyaima was asked to keep an eye on the materials collected by his team for the operations.

“He was holding an 800ml bottle of formalin and spray equipment. The team went down with the items from the quarantine while the grade IV employee lagged behind. On being asked, he said he had consumed formalin,” an official statement said.

Babuyaima collapsed on his bed in the quarantine ward and was immediately rushed to the hospital, where he died.

The formalin he consumed was highly concentrated, an official said.

Veterinary and health officials informed chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh who has decided that the post-mortem report would be made public to dispel any fear regarding the cause of the death.

Veterinary director Th. Dorendro Singh also said the post-mortem report would be made public.

Officials are tight-lipped about why the employee consumed formalin. Investigations are on. Culling operations continued today in spite of the incident, however, progress was slow.

While 16,000 poultry were killed by 3.30pm yesterday, only 9,800 were killed by the same time today.

Here is alink to the news Item from the The Telegraph:

http://news.hinduworld.com/click_frameset.php?ref_url=/index.php&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.telegraphindia.com%2F%2F1070729%2Fasp%2Fnation%2Fstory_8120989.asp

Bird-Flu “Cull” in India, destroys Livelihoods.

The virus recently detected in Manipur, North East India, is one of the most worrisome H5N1 strains, which can in rare cases, infect and kill humans, usually those who spend a lot of time around infected birds.

It is understandable therefore, that the State Government has ordered a strict quarantine zone around the infected area.

The authorities have decided to destroy all chickens and eggs within the said quarantine zone.

Health workers have already killed around 25,000 chickens and destroyed thousands more eggs since Thursday to try and contain the virus. They plan to cull 150,000 in all within the quarantine zone by next week.

That is I suppose again the right thing to do, from the point of view of the Government.

For the local farmers though, who are going to lose all of their poultry stock, this is nothing short of disastorous.

It is almost impossible for the western mind, to imagine the kind of poverty that exists in these rural areas.

In most cases, the live stock is the only source of income for these very very poor farmers.

The state government has said it will give farmers 40 rupees (about 60 Cents) for every one of their chickens it has to cull.

However, such declarations by the Government, of compensation for the culling of any live stock, are no comfort for the poor farmers who regularly deal with the official red tape, bureaucracy and corruption.

No wonder that unhappy at the thought of their livelihood being destroyed, some poultry farmers have been trying to escape with their flocks before the “culling party” arrives.

More than a dozen farmers have so far been detained in local police stations until Saturday evening, by which time their flock will be dead, police said.

I dare say some of the fleeing farmers may have escaped capture!

Not sure where my sympathies lie in this case!!!

Here is a link to the news item from Reuters:

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/DEL157119.htm
.   

“Bird-Flu Panic in India” is not just another Headline Hype.

The Bird-Flu outbreak in the North East state of Manipur is creating havoc with the lives of the residents of the state as the Government launches emergency measures to fight the H5N1 Virus.

Following are a few news reports of the effects that the Bird-Flu outbreak is having in many parts of the country.

In Manipur, the Government has imposed a ban on the sale of Poultry. The police have shutdown all poultry shops.

Most poultry shops in Imphal, the capital of Manipur, including the traditional Murgi Bazar (Chicken Market) of Khwairamband remained closed for the second consecutive day on Friday.

The Manipur poultry farmers are even harder hit with their entire stock of Poultry being taken away and destroyed.

The “panic” seems to have spread to several other states as well, in this vast country.

The State Governments of Orissa, Punjab, Andhra Pradesh Rajasthan and many other states have issued emergency orders to try and prepare for the worse scenario.

There is a great concern in Andhra Pradesh(AP) in terms of an economic loss for the state.

The poultry association is panic struck for they fear a loss of Rs 200 crores (1 Carore is 10000000) a month if egg exports are stopped.

One crore table eggs from the state are exported every month to Gulf countries, including Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi.

Due to the bird flu scare last year these countries had banned the eggs from India . The total loss that year was put around Rs 1000 crores.

It is understandable that the poultry trade in that state is scared of a repeat of the same this year

In Punjab (another huge supplier of poultry) the poultry trade was also “consumed by fear” after the news of the pathogenic avian influenza in poultry of Manipur spread.

In Nagaland, right next to the afflicted Manipur, the things are very tense indeed.

The Nagaland Department of Veterinary and Animal Husbandry held a high-level meeting yesterday and decided to intensify the existing ban on import of poultry and pigs and their products from neighbouring Manipur and Myanmar.

They also decided to carry out fogging (de-infection) on all vehicles entering the State from Manipur at Khuzama and Phesama check gates and asked villagers in nearby areas to co-operate with the government officials.

An alert has also been sounded in Rajasthan.

‘We have sounded an alert and have asked the animal husbandry department officials to remain vigilant,’ Prabhulal Saini, Rajasthan’s Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Minister told IANS here on Friday.

He said that surveillance teams comprising of veterinary doctors and assistants have been constituted and they have been asked to visit poultry farms and places where migratory birds come. The teams will submit their reports to the animal husbandry department on a regular basis.

The state has a big poultry industry with over 6.3 million birds, out of which the Ajmer district has over 2.5 million birds. Officials of the animal husbandry department said that to save these birds from the disease, the department has decided to inspect all the poultry farms in the state.

There are similar stories from all over the country arriving every hour.

Sources:

http://www.medindia.com/news/Bird-Flu-Outbreak-Affects-Poultry-Business-in-Manipur-24181-1.htm

http://www.indiaenews.com/health/20070727/62767.htm

http://www.indiaenews.com/health/20070727/62820.htm

Prices of Chickens and Eggs Crash as Bird-Flu arrives in India.

The outbreak of the H5N1 virus in the extreme North East of India, at the India-Myanmar border, seems to have had an immediate effect on the psyche of the entire country.

 Even though the capital Delhi is over a thousand Kilometres away from the infected area, a day after the government confirmed the outbreak of bird flu, chicken prices fell by over 20 per cent in Delhi’s wholesale market while eggs became cheaper by Rs 8 per 100 numbers at Barwala in Haryana.“The prices fell to Rs 145 per 100 eggs today from Rs 153 yesterday at Barwala,” a poultry farmer said, adding this would influence prices in Delhi as well.Asked about the impact on chicken prices, he said: “The farm gate prices in Delhi declined to Rs 36 from Rs 46 per kg within a day of the announcement of bird flu.”

The poultry industry did not expect the outbreak of bird flu to hit domestic prices of chicken and egg in most of the major consuming centres in the north and other areas as the incident reported from a remote part of the country.

“We are all preying with all of our might that we do not have a human case of Bird-Flu as that would be absolutely devastating to the Poultry Industry in India”, said an official from the Agriculture Ministry, asking not to be named. India has had no human cases of bird flu as yet.

Control and containment measures were initiated after confirmation of Avian Influenza by the Government of India.

A high level meeting of concerned Departments, agencies and local representatives was chaired by the Chief Minister of Manipur, SHRI OKRAM IBOBI SINGH
on 25th July, 2007 in order to determine the strategy for control and containment.

All chickens and other domesticated birds within five kilometres of the Chingmeirong area (where the virus was detected) would be killed to prevent the spread of avian influenza, officials said.The state government, which described the situation as “very serious”, said it would compensate poultry owners. It was estimated that about Rs 60 lakh would be spent for this, the officials said.About 5,000 chicks and adult chickens at the government -run poultry farm in Mantripurkhri on Imphal’s outskirts would come under the knife along with 1.6 lakh birds being reared in private poultry farms.The culling operation would cover 128 small poultry units. Twenty rapid response teams will initially focus on eight villages surrounding the area of infection, said a statement issued by the Union agriculture ministry in Delhi.

Meanwhile, a report from Churachandpur district said that over 200 fowls in a private farm had died some days ago.

Veterinary experts have rushed over to the area, to collect blood samples.

Here is a news item from the Press Trust of India:

http://www.ptinews.com/pti%5Cptisite.nsf/0/F8D337E21AC72F60652573240045544C?OpenDocument

India Confirms Bird-Flu, Central Government Control Room, to Fight the Virus.

No one is really surprised at the current Bird-Flu outbreak in India.

The surprise is in the fact, that with the neighbouring countries of Buma, Bangladesh and China all afflicted with repeated outbreaks of the H5N1 virus, it took so long for the Bird-Flu to manifest itself in the worlds second most populace country.

                                                                                     The Govenment seems to be taking the outbreak of the virus seriously though.

following consultations with Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), the centre has decided to set up a central control room in the Agriculture Ministry, to prevent spread of bird flu to other parts of the country.

The control room that will also have officials from Health and Animal Husbandry Departments will send out alerts across the country and seek information on any suspected cases of ‘bird flu’ in their respective areas.

Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, (one of the most powerfull cabinet ministers, with his base in Maharashtra and specially in Mumbai, the financial centre of India) is expected to review the “confirmed reports” of large scale bird flu tha has hit a Chingmeirong farm in Manipur earlier this month.

It is learnt that Pawar would brief the Prime Minister and other senior Cabinet colleagues on the bird flu that has hit the North Eastern state possibly due to a virus H5N1 which must have travelled from across Myanmar and Bangladesh borders. “Situation is grim” said an official on condition of anonimity. “The bird flu is likely to hit the economic sentiment at macro level while the poultry industry and their stocks are bound to be impacted” said this official source.

This is the third case of bird flu that has been reported with earlier cases in Maharashtra and villages bordering Gujarat. Sources said that the High Security Animal Diseases Laboratory in Bhopal has apparently confirmed the cases of bird flu after serum analysis extracted from the dead chicken in Imphal.

In view of the positive results given by two laboratories viz. HSADL, Bhopal and NIV, Pune, India is required to notify the outbreak of HPAI to the global community through the Office International des Epizooties (OIE) (World Organization of Animal Health).

Such notification is also required to initiate the control and containment operations for Avian Influenza. Accordingly, outbreak of Avian Influenza has been notified in Chingmeirong, East Imphal District on 25th July, 2007.

What is interesting is that the bird flu cases have been reported despite claims that a regular sero-surveillance was being done.

This surveillance includes collection of birds’ serum from across the country that is analysed on monthly basis at five designated laboratories in the country.

However, only the laboratory in Bhopal has the wherewithals for final confirmation of bird flu cases that have had serious impact on even advanced economies of the world.

For a country as large as India to have a single specialised laboratary capable of analysing the H5N1 virus is scandelous, according to the opposition partis in the country.

A spokesman for the opposition said that it was hoped that the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) and the Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar will take immideate steps to rectfy this glaring ommission.
Here is a Government of India Press Release:

http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=29399

Bird-Flu Risk from Stray Cats.

H5N1 virus has been found in cats in Europe as well as in Indonesia.

This means that there is yet another reservoir for the H5N1 virus, where it can have a chance to develop and mutate in its own time.

In January of this year, Chairul Anwar Nidom of Airlangga University in Surabaya, Indonesia, took blood samples from 500 stray cats near poultry markets in four areas of Java, including the capital, Jakarta, and one area in Sumatra, all of which have recently had outbreaks of H5N1 in poultry and people.

Of these cats, 20 per cent carried antibodies to H5N1.

(This does not mean that they were still carrying the virus, only that they had been infected – probably through eating birds that had H5N1).

Many other cats that were infected are likely to have died from the resulting illness, so many more than 20 per cent of the original cat populations may have acquired H5N1.

This is a much higher rate of infection than has been found in surveys of apparently healthy birds in Asia. “I am quite taken aback by the results,” says Nidom, who also found the virus in Indonesian pigs in 2005. He plans further tests of the samples at the University of Tokyo in February.

“We know the 1918 pandemic was a bird flu virus that adapted to mammals in some intermediate mammalian host, possibly pigs,” says Albert Osterhaus of Erasmus University in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. “Maybe for H5N1 the intermediate host is cats.” he adds.

It was Osterhaus’s lab which in 2004 found that cats can catch the H5N1 virus.

In addition to that, domestic cats live in very close proximity with humans.

Many more people have cats in the house than those who keep poultry in their homes.

So it is argued, that if the H5N1 virus can be transferred from poultry to humans, as is the case (though currently it is relatively rare for this to happen) then infected cats could well be another source of H5N1 infection for the virus.

Yulian Susanty, Chair of the Cat Fancy Indonesia  said that the city’s cat population needed to be controlled. “If it goes up to an alarming rate, it will be unhealthy for the people,” she said.

The exact number of stray cats in the city is not known, although Yulian said that with the short reproduction cycle of cats it would be a lot.

“I can’t give you an exact number. But in some places that we surveyed, such as in Manggarai Market and Tanah Karet graveyard, when we first surveyed the places two years ago, there are more than 100 female cats in each place. Today the number of cats there could reach the thousands,” she said.

She said that a female cat can give birth up to four times a year, meaning that each month 100 cats would probably produce 200 kittens.

“In a year, there could be up to more than 700 cats,” she said.

“And that’s only two sites in this city. Multiply them by the many other places in the city where stray cats live, then we have plenty,” she said.

Sources for the above:

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg19325883.800-deadly-h5n1-may-be-brewing-in-cats.html

http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailcity.asp?fileid=20070721.D05

Bird-Flu Factory-Farm Silver, for Olympic Swimming Legend, Sharron Davies

Bird-Flu Factory Farm Silver, for Olympic Swimming Legend, Sharron Davies

Since the Bird-Flu virus was discovered at one of Bernard Matthews’ turkey farms in Suffolk, England, in the beginning of this year, the ‘bootiful’ Bernard has been accused of a variety of sins.

 He was lambasted for keeping birds in horrible overcrowded conditions and for producing cheap meat for a quick buck.

An animal welfare charity called for a Government inquiry into the poultry industry after a court heard that two members of the staff at a Bernard Matthews plant played “baseball” with live turkeys.

Turkey catchers Daniel Palmer, 27, and Neil Allen, 30, both of Dereham, Norfolk, were secretly filmed hitting birds with a pole at the Bernard Matthews plant in Haveringland, Norfolk.

Both admitted ill treatment and were ordered to carry out 200 hours of community service.

However, after an investigation in to the Bird-Flu outbreak, the British Government’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) found that the Bernard Matthews Turkey Factory Farm had not broken any laws.

To make matters worse, the British Tax Payer had to fork up the money to compensate the Bernard Matthews Turkey Factory Farm for the “loss of the infected Turkeys”.

The British Members of Parliament “reacted with anger after the government confirmed Bernard Matthews will get nearly £600,000 compensation for healthy birds slaughtered following the avian flu outbreak”.

The British House of Commons leader Jack Straw told MPs “All of us are uncomfortable about the reports of high levels of compensation to Mr Matthews’ firm.”

Obviously, the Bird-Flu out break in his Turkey Factory Farm has created a disastrous Public Relations situation for the company.

So now, in an attempt to boost sales in the wake of the notorious bird flu outbreak in the Turkey Factory Farm the Olympic Swimming Legend Sharron Davies MBE, is to be roped in to try and promote the Bernard Matthews Turkey Factory Farm. 

The 43-year-old BBC swimming presenter and former Olympic medallist is a celebrity and a role model for young girls every where.

We have no doubt that she will visit the Turkey Factory Farm to see for herself, as to how the unfortunate birds are kept there before accepting this PR task.

India Awaits Bird-Flu Test Results.

The Himalayan region of the north east of India, right next to Tibet, Myanmar and Bangladesh, is the most densely forested, hard to access part of the subcontinent.

It is also teeming with thousands of different kinds of Birds and other animals, all potential carriers of the H5N1 virus.

This part of the Himalayas is also slap bang in the middle of the traditional migration route for millions of birds.

So with the neighbouring Myanmar and Bangladesh reporting repeated H5N1 cases in the poultry, it was only a matter of time that the dreaded virus was to manifest it self in India.

So it was an outwardly calm Th Dorendra, the Director of the Veterinary and Animal Husbandry Department, at the National Institute of Communicable Diseases at Imphal, who informed the media that  that more than 200 nasal and cloacal samples have been sent to Bhopal and also to the National Institute of Virology in Pune under the care of a doctor today.

He said that the results of the tests on these samples were expected in a few days.

Trying to reassure every one, he said that the consumption of chicken did not pose any health risk.

 

However, the Director appealed to the people to immediately inform the Veterinary and Animal Husbandry Department, if they were to come across any cases of sudden death of chicken and other fowls. 

He further said that” surveillance had been put within the 15 kms radius of the affected farm by posting officials of the Department.”

In the meantime, 1000 personal protection kits were brought to Imphal today. 

Thai Ministry of Public Health denies Death by Bird-Flu!

There is good news on the Bird-Flu front. At least I think it is good news.

According to a news item today in The Nation, one of the largest Thai News Papers, Thailand’s Ministry of Public Health now says that Wichian Boonraksa the 41-year-old man from the northern province of Phichit died of severe pneumonia, not avian influenza as earlier suspected.The man had bird flu-like symptoms and was admitted to hospital in Phichit on Friday and died on July 15, according to Dr. Mongkol Na Songkhla, public health minister.

“According to laboratory tests, the patient tested negative regarding the H5N1 virus and had no record of physical contact with sick or dead poultry”.

While at the same time, Xinhua News Agency, the state news agency of China, reports that Thailand’s northern Phichit Provincial Hospital announced on Monday, that the man who had bird- flu-like symptom died of liver virus disease, not bird flu.

Doctor Suchart Theparak, deputy director of the hospital, said Wichian Boonraksa, 42, had not been in touch with any chicken.

He said Wichian had chronic liver disease and the condition was complicated with lung infections.

Wichian, who died on Sunday, highly arose worry about the deadly disease since he had fever, cough, exhaustion and pneumonia, which are all the symptoms of bird flu.  

That is good news indeed!

However, I have a problem with the above comments relating to the claims that the vicitim had not been in touch with any poultry.

This is because according to a news item by the Vietnam News Agency yesterday, “The man lived next door to his elder brother’s cockfighting yard. Recently some of the birds had died of unknown causes” see http://www.vnagency.com.vn/Home/EN/tabid/119/itemid/204481/Default.aspx

Now if the victim did live next door to his elder brother’s cockfighting yard, then there can be no positive confirmation of the fact that he had not been in touch with any chicken”.

The above could of course be a simple misunderstanding.

It does not help create public confidence though.

Why is it that this entire Bird-Flu saga seems to get more and more like a political campaign with most of us believing less and less that we are told?

Below are the links to the news items that I have mentioned, credit for these should go to www.birdflubreakingnews.com.

http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90782/6216740.html

http://nationmultimedia.com/2007/07/17/national/national_30041101.php

http://www.vnagency.com.vn/Home/EN/tabid/119/itemid/204481/Default.aspx

                                                                                                                                                                   

Indonesian Bird-Flu victim – It was the Chicken that done it!

The mystery of the last Indonesian victim of the Bird-Flu seems to have been solved.

According to an Indonesian health ministry official, the child who died of bird flu last weekend, appears to have caught the virus from dead or sick chickens in the area carrying the disease.

Medical experts had initially struggled to pinpoint the source of the infection in this case, as the victim was not known to have been in contact with poultry.There is always a concern when the cause of a human infection cannot be traced.

One possibility of the source of the infection was “human to human” infection of the H5N1 virus.

This would have suggested a serious mutation in the virus, with devastating results for all of us.

There has been lively discussion about this case in the global news media and the blogs, with arguments for and against a possible human to human infection mutation.

But not to worry, apparently a chicken was the culprit in this case after all, according to the Indonesia Government officials.

“She had indirect contact with dead chickens near her school,” Joko Suyono, an official at the ministry’s bird flu centre, said by telephone. 

Hmmmmmm. “indirect contact with dead chickens near her school”

This comment by the official conjured up visions of floating ghosts of dead chickens in my mind! 

The official said that tests on dead chickens found near the girl’s school showed they were infected with bird flu.

“We cannot know whether she touched sick chickens or not because she died. But we know surrounding her school the virus is endemic (in fowl),” he added.

Suyono said tests for the virus on people who may have had contact with the girl had proved negative and also said the findings in this case ruled out the possibility of the virus being transmitted between humans.

The official then answered without being asked, the unasked question hanging over this entire event:

“So far, there have been no human-to-human cases in Indonesia,” he said.

Let us all prey that he is right.

Here is a link to  the news item from Yahoo:

http://asia.news.yahoo.com/070714/3/34s2z.html

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?

Bird-Flu inflicted Vietnam has got to be kidding us all!

Vietnam is “havin a laugh” as the Brits would put it!

One of the facts about the current Bird-Flu outbreaks in an increasing number of countries is so weird and dangerous, that if it were to be explained to the average man on the street, it would not be believed!

As per World Health Organisation approved rules, a country afflicted with the most infectious and virulent strain of the Bird-Flu virus, can declare it self “Free of Bird-Flu”, if no cases of the Bird-Flu appear for 21 successive days.

Think of South Africa, declaring itself “free of HIV” after 21 successive days without a new case of the AIDS!

What is more, a country can even declare one of it´s provinces “Free of Bird-Flu”, if there have been no fresh cases of the H5N1 for 21 days in that province.

It is like saying that even though I still have Malaria, I have had no problems with my right leg for a while now, therefore my right leg is free of Malaria!         

This entire drama is played by the Governments of the effected countries, due to the pressure from the  local tourism and the commercial sectors.

Obviously, a country which has it´s birds and even it´s people dropping dead from the Bird-Flu virus, is not the most desirable destination for the visitors from other countries.  

Equally important is the fact that no country wants to import poultry, eggs and other related products from a Bird-Flu inflicted country.

As a case in point, today, the 10th of July 2007, Egypt banned all poultry imports from France and Germany after the potentially fatal H5N1 strain of bird flu was discovered in birds in those countries.

A ban of import of poultry from an infected country can have a devastating effect  on       it´s entire poultry industry and so the Government comes under tremendous pressure to declare the country free of the virus as quickly as possible.

There have been cases in authoritarian countries like China and Iran of total denial of the presence of the virus, even though various branches of the Government of each country had made statements to the contrary.

Other countries such as Indonesia, have made it extremely hard for the International press to obtain any information what so ever regarding the continuing outbreaks of the H5N1, in the Poultry, in other animals as well as in the humans.

It is almost a simple case of deception by the Governments of these countries.

They are trying to say to the world community, that their country is safe to visit and to import poultry and related products from.

At best this practice would expose the International community to unnecessary risk. 

At worse, well……….  

The most amazing part of this saga is the apparent acquiescence of the WHO in it´s approval of this dangerous practice.

The declaration today, from Vietnam (which has been declaring its Bird-Flu localities one after the other as the “regulation” 21 days period passes without an outbreak) would be funny, if it were not so very dangerous for us all.

Talking about Ninh Binh, one of its provinces infected with the Bird-Flu virus, the Veterinary Department stated, “It was regrettable for Ninh Binh when two new outbreaks occurred on July 9 just when the 21 day period was about to end”

Come off it Vietnam, you have got to be pulling our collective leg!

Here is a link to the news item from The Vietnam News Agency- 

http://www.vnagency.com.vn/Home/EN/tabid/119/itemid/203723/Default.aspx

The Brits Ban French Pigeon Racing. Tour de France will still go on though!

The Brits Ban French Pigeon Racing. Tour de France will still go on though!

International pigeon racing from continental Europe to Britain has been banned after H5N1 was discovered in wild birds in France, Chief Veterinary Officer Debby Reynolds from the Environment Agency said. Domestic racing will be allowed to continue, she said.But racing from continental mainland Europe, including the Channel Islands, has been banned as a precautionary measure.

Ms Reynolds, who is not a relation of the famous Hollywood actress, said: “Given the current period of uncertainty about avian influenza in Europe and the possibility that further spread may occur, a precautionary approach is being taken based on ornithological and veterinary advice.”

France confirmed on Thursday that three swans found dead in eastern France had been killed by the H5N1 bird flu virus.

It is believed however that Tour de France, the famous cycle race, which is expected to start its first lap from the UK on Sunday the 8th of July 2007, will still be allowed to go on as planned.

Here is a link to the news item from Javno:

http://www.javno.com/en/world/clanak.php?id=60108