Flu
Czechs confirm first case of H5N1 bird flu strain
|
|
Tests on a dead swan have confirmed the Czech Republic’s first case of the H5N1 strain of the bird flu virus, the Agriculture Ministry said on Wednesday.
The swan was found near the southern town of Hluboka Nad Vltavou, on the Vltava river.
Neighbours Austria, Slovakia, Poland and Germany have already confirmed cases of the virus.
SARS prepares Toronto for bird flu
|
|
oronto’s deadly brush with the SARS virus three years ago has uniquely prepared the city for the possibility of a bird flu pandemic, health officials say.
Drawing on lessons from the 2003 outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, city and provincial experts promise new screening measures, emergency plans to treat patients from home and tough laws detailing what health workers must do.
Rules still under government debate could ban travel, fix prices and order health-care professionals to provide necessary services in the event of a pandemic.
Bird flu infected mink found in Sweden
|
|
According to Swedish authorities a mink has been found with a strain of the H5 bird flu virus.
The National Veterinary Institute says the creature was put down as it probably had the highly pathogenic H5N1 virus.
The wild animal was found in the Blekinge area of southern Sweden where several bird flu cases have previously been found and it is thought the mink contracted the disease by eating wild birds which were already infected.
China needs better bird flu education
|
|
China needs better public education about the dangers of bird flu to ensure people who are infected receive timely treatment, a Chinese medical expert said on Tuesday.
In the two most recent human deaths, the victims waited too long before being treated, said Zhong Nanshan, a SARS expert and president of the Chinese Medical Association.
Second Egyptian dies from bird flu virus
|
|
A second Egyptian has died from the bird flu virus, Egyptian Health Minister Hatem el-Gabali said on Monday.
An official from the World Health Organisation (WHO) told Reuters the second Egyptian victim of the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain was a woman who had been in a critical condition on a ventilator before her death on Monday morning.
“This is the second death due to bird flu in Egypt,” Egypt’s state news agency MENA quoted Gabali as saying.
Mexico ministry denies bird flu found at US border
|
|
Mexico’s agriculture ministry denied rumors in U.S. commodities markets on Thursday that a case of H5N1 bird flu had been found near the U.S. border.
“We are free of highly-pathogenic bird flu,” Jose Angel del Valle, the ministry’s animal health director, told Reuters.
U.N., Africa to fight bird flu together
|
|
United Nations agencies and 45 African countries agreed on Wednesday to expand health and veterinary surveillance in a coordinated offensive against bird flu on the world’s poorest continent.
A joint declaration at the end of the continent’s biggest bird flu summit to date in Gabon’s capital Libreville said each country needed to implement internationally approved measures to fight the disease in birds and in the event of a human pandemic.
Bereavement, Marital Status Affect Response to Flu Shot in Elderly
|
|
Flu shots do not work as well in older adults who have recently experienced the death of a family member or close friend, a new study shows.
On the other hand, older adults who are happily married show stronger responses after flu shots than those who are unmarried, especially those who are widowed.
Bereavement and marriage “are the most key factors for older adults, rather than general life-events stress and social support, which have been related to immune response in previous studies of young adults,” said lead researcher Anna C. Phillips, Ph.D., of the University of Birmingham in England.
Serb kids from bird flu area hospitalized for checks
|
|
Three Serb children from a bird flu-affected area were taken to hospital after developing fever and flu-like symptoms, Serbia’s chief epidemiologist said on Friday.
A teenager put into isolation on Thursday after developing fever was also moved to hospital. All four come from a southwestern area close to the Bosnian border, where there was a suspected case of the deadly H5N1 strain in a cockerel.
“Three children were admitted to hospital today displaying symptoms of respiratory infection,” Predrag Kon told Reuters.
Russia says bird flu may hit U.S. in autumn, mutate
|
|
The deadly bird flu virus, which has hit Asia, Europe and Africa, may spread to the United States late this year and risks mutating dangerously there, Russia’s top animal and plant health inspector said on Thursday.
“We think that H5N1 (strain of bird flu virus) will reach the United States in autumn,” Sergei Dankvert told Reuters.
“This is very realistic. We may be almost certain this will happen after this strain is found in Great Britain, before autumn, as migrating birds will carry it to the United States from there.”
China warns of bird flu risk as spring arrives
|
|
Chinese Vice-Premier Hui Liangyu has warned that China could see more human cases of bird flu during the spring season when migratory birds return, increasing the risk of spreading the virus.
China has reported more than 30 outbreaks of the H5N1 strain of bird flu across the country in the past year and has had 14 human cases—eight of them fatal.
“In our country during the spring season there still exists a possibility of bird flu prevalence and outbreaks and there still exists a danger there could be more human cases,” Hui told a cabinet conference.
Lab confirms first Swiss bird flu case was H5N1
|
|
Laboratory tests have confirmed that a duck that died of bird flu last week in Geneva, Switzerland’s first case, had the H5N1 strain, the Swiss Veterinary Office said on Wednesday.
The tests were carried out by the European reference laboratory in Britain, the Veterinary Laboratories Agency, which announced the result on its website.
“VLA confirms highly pathogenic avian influenza of H5N1 subtype in a common merganser (a variety of duck) from Switzerland,” the laboratory said.
Minister says UK prepared to face bird flu
|
|
Britain’s farm and environment minister Margaret Beckett said on Monday that the country is well prepared to react swiftly to any outbreak of deadly bird flu.
The spread of the killer H5N1 virus across Europe to France took centre stage at this week’s National Farmers’ Union annual conference, more than doubling media attendance from last year.
Both NFU president Tim Bennett and Beckett warned that the poultry sector could be destroyed by media “scaremongering” about the disease.
Indonesia launches campaign against bird flu
|
|
Hundreds of Indonesian officials clad in white protective gear and masks fanned out across the capital on Friday to check thousands of fowl as authorities kicked off a door-to-door prevention drive against bird flu.
About 600 inspectors sprayed disinfectant in bird cages and chicken coops in the sprawling city where backyard chickens are common.
Bird flu has killed at least 19 people in Indonesia, the world’s second highest death toll after Vietnam, and many of the victims lived in or around Jakarta, which is estimated to have about 500,000 fowl.
Australia boost preparedness for Avian Influenza
|
|
Australia’s preparedness for a potential Avian Influenza pandemic will be boosted by four new projects at The Australian National University (ANU), funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC).
Researchers at the ANU College of Medicine and Health Sciences have received $110,000 for a project to strengthen the contribution of general practitioners to the control of pandemic influenza, $183,040 for a project that will examine the most effective ways to control an influenza pandemic, including strategies for effective use of limited antivirals, and $239,570 for research into inactivated flu vaccines.
Researchers at the ANU College of Science have received $237,807 to search for agents that prevent or disrupt the release of proteins, known as a cytokine storm, which causes death in flu victims.
