Saturday, 1 September 2007, 02.45 BST
Bird Flu: Person-to-person confirmed
BIRD flu has spread between humans on several occasions, a new study of deaths in Indonesia last year has found.
When seven members of a Sumatran village family died last May, the spread of H5N1 avian influenza virus from person to person was suspected but could not be confirmed.
A study of the outbreak by the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Centre in Seattle, Washington, has for the first time proved the virus spread between a "cluster" of people, researchers said.
The World Health Organisation has warned that if the bird flu virus mutated to easily spread between humans it could spark a global pandemic, killing millions. Indonesia, with 84 bird flu deaths, the highest toll in the world, has tried to play down fears of the spread.
The head of research for the Indonesian Health Ministry, Triono Soendono, refused to discuss the study's findings as it was "just one" piece of research. He claimed experts had concluded the case was not human-to-human transmission.
But the WHO assistant director for communicable diseases, David Heymann, said it was likely the Sumatran virus was spread by human-to-human contact. "We believe there has likely been transmission through intimate or close contact," Dr Heymann said.
The virus had remained "fairly stable" and there was "no evidence of anything spreading from that [family] cluster to others in the community".
The study's senior author, Ira Longini, said computer analysis established human-to-human transmission in the Sumatra cluster. "The world really may have dodged a bullet with that one, and the next time we might not be so lucky," Dr Longini said.
Dr Heymann said the WHO was aware of at least two other cases where human-to-human transmission of the avian influenza virus was suspected.
There was strong evidence in the case of a Thai mother and daughter who lived apart, he said. The daughter appeared to have contracted the virus after visiting her mother in hospital.
The Fred Hutchinson researchers also examined a second family cluster outbreak in Turkey last year, but did not have the evidence to confirm or refute human-to-human transmission.
In the Sumatran case, seven family members contracted the H5N1 strain of bird flu, one of the biggest clusters in the world. Six died and another female relative died before being tested.
Source: Sydney Morning Herald
BBB comment: This looks ominous indeed. Never mind the fact that 2 other cases are suspected, this Seattle study is the first proof that we never wanted to hear of.
Sunday, 26 August 2007, 10.00 BST
Test on dead ducks at a poultry farm in Germany have tested positive for the deadly strain of H5N1 bird flu virus.
The poultry farm in Bavaria has now been sealed off and 160,000 birds at the farm are being killed to prevent further spread of the virus.
Whilst the number of outbreaks in Western Europe are small, nearly 200 people have died globally from the H5N1 bird flu virus ... 46 of these being in Vietnam.
Thursday, 16 August 2007, 21:22 GMT
£155m flu vaccine deal signed
The Government has agreed a £155.4 million contract for a flu vaccine in the event of a pandemic.
The Department of Health, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and Baxter Healthcare signed the four-year deal, which would see the firms supply a vaccine as soon as a pandemic strain was notified by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Health minister Dawn Primarolo said: "These contracts mean the UK is on the front-foot if a flu pandemic occurs and are the latest steps towards ensuring we are as fully prepared as possible."
She continued: "We take the potential threat posed by pandemic flu very seriously and, as the WHO has recognised, the UK is among the best prepared countries in the world.
"With GSK and Baxter already committed to
produce a tailored vaccine for the NHS as soon as the pandemic is
identified, we are confident that we are putting in place another
important component of our preparation for a flu pandemic."
The Government has already stockpiled more than 14 million courses of the antiviral Tamiflu, which could treat a quarter of the population.
A vaccine against the exact flu strain could only be made once the strain has been identified by WHO.
Souce: AOL
BBB comment: As a vaccine against the exact strain can only be made once the strain is identified, what worth are the 14 million Tamiflu tablets now ? Like taking sugar lumps for a migraine?
H5N1 bird flu virus will be rampant if it gets hold! Over 40 million people died in 1918 when the flu pandemic circled the world.Did you know that?
Thursday, 16 August 2007.
Glaxo sells more H5N1 vaccine to US, launches trial
The British pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) recently announced another major order of prepandemic H5N1 influenza vaccine from the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), along with plans to launch a North American clinical trial of the vaccine.
HHS ordered enough vaccine in bulk form to provide 22.5 million 15-microgram (mcg) doses, the company announced on Aug 3. The order is in addition to the bulk equivalent of 5 million 15-mcg doses that HHS ordered in November 2006, officials said.
The cost of the new vaccine order is $97 million, according to Marc Wolfson, a spokesman for the HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response in Washington, DC.
The new order includes 9 million doses produced in the 2006 "manufacturing campaign" and 13.5 million doses to be produced in the 2007 campaign, GSK reported. The vaccine is based on clade 2 strain of the H5N1 virus.
GSK will make the bulk vaccine at its facility in Ste. Foy, Quebec, and store it in Marietta, Pa.
When HHS announced the plan to buy H5N1 vaccine from GSK in November 2006, the agency said it was ordering 800,000 doses, not the 5 million doses cited in the company's Aug 3 announcement. Wolfson of HHS and Ken Inchausti, a GSK spokesman in Philadelphia, explained that the two announcements involve the same amount of bulk vaccine, but the HHS statement was based on a dose of 90 mcg, whereas the company announcement assumed a dose of 15 mcg.
"The confusion between the 5 million doses that GSK talks about and what we have is that we're still ordering it at the bulk rate of 90 [mcg] per dose," Wolfson told CIDRAP News. "They're doing tests that could possibly take it down to 15 [mcg] per dose, and if you do the math, that's where the difference comes."
Based on 90 mcg per dose, HHS currently has 2.3 million doses of GSK vaccine in its H5N1 vaccine stockpile, Wolfson reported.
The vaccine contract provides that HHS may direct the company to formulate the bulk vaccine into doses in the future, GSK said. In addition, HHS has an option to buy the vaccine in combination with one of the company's proprietary adjuvants, or immune-boosting chemicals, which could reduce the amount of vaccine antigen needed to induce a protective immune response, the company reported.
Funds for the vaccine contract will come through the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) in the HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, according to GSK.
Clinical trial starting
GSK
also announced the start of the first North American clinical trial of
its prepandemic H5N1 vaccine. The trial is described as a phase1/2
study that will compare the safety and immunogenicity of the H5N1
antigen alone and in combination with one of GSK's adjuvant systems in
675 adult volunteers. Inchausti said the trial will be conducted at
sites in Montana, California, Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Kansas, and
Nevada and in Halifax and Quebec, Canada.
The company said it plans to follow up later this year with a phase 3 trial that will involve about 4,400 volunteers. Results of the phase 1/2 trial are expected in early 2008.
Last March, GSK reported that in a clinical trial, one of its adjuvanted H5N1 vaccines triggered a strong immune response with two 3.8-mcg doses, or about half of the 15-mcg dose typically used for each viral strain in seasonal flu vaccines. The company also said tests showed that the vaccine, based on a Vietnam strain of H5N1, generated cross-reactive immunity against an Indonesian strain.
GSK, Baxter sign vaccine deals with UK
In
other developments, both GSK and US-based Baxter International today
announced agreements to sell vaccine to the United Kingdom in the event
of a flu pandemic.
Under the GSK agreement, the company will make preparations to provide a "tailored" vaccine as soon as possible after a pandemic is declared by the World Health Organization, according to a company news release. GSK said it also has agreements to sell pandemic vaccines to Switzerland, Denmark, and Iceland.
Baxter, based in Deerfield, Ill., said
its European subsidiary in the UK signed an agreement giving the UK an
option to buy Baxter's vaccine in the event of a pandemic. The
company's candidate pandemic vaccine is produced in vero cell culture
rather than in eggs, the conventional medium for flu vaccine
production. Baxter said it recently enrolled volunteers for a phase 3
clinical study of its cell-based H5N1 vaccine in Europe.
Source: CIDRAP
BBB comment: Interesting that the pharmaceutical companies are now manufacturing in volume ahead of any likelihood of flu pandemic. Are we blurring Avian flu and "normal" flu here? This last statement is surprising: "Baxter said it recently enrolled volunteers for a phase 3
clinical study of its cell-based H5N1 vaccine in Europe"
Tuesday, August 14, 2007 - 03.30
Foot & Mouth Outbreak - Scientist warns of False Sense of Security
Dr Ken McClure is to the medical world what John Grisham is to the legal world. Now a full time author, Dr McClure has a PhD in molecular genetics, won the Difco Triennial Prize for research into microbiology, and discovered a new cell division gene, ftsK, named after him, whilst working for the Medical Research Council.
On BBC Radio Southern Counties today, which covers the Foot & Mouth outbreak area, presenter Gordon Astley described Dr McClure's book The Lazarus Strain as about "the escape of a virus, a bird flu virus, from a secure establishment. That sound familiar to those of you living in Pirbright?"
Ahead of the Game
"You are ahead of the game often and you were this time"
Whilst conceding this was true, Dr McClure said "The basic question behind The Lazarus Strain is how secure is a secure lab, and to all intensive purposes, Pirbright has answered that question"
He continued "If a virus can get out of that (Category A lab), this is extremely alarming and embarrassing ..."
"People are being lulled into a fall sense of security because everyone is so relieved that it doesn't look like there's going to be a big Foot & Mouth outbreak and in a few weeks time, it is going to go away ...."
Warning
Although the official report is not out yet, Dr McClure said:
"Unless HSE (Health and Safety Executive) establish EXACTLY how the virus got out from that place, as I say, there is no such thing as a secure lab and next time it could be Porton Down."
Porton
Down is home to the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory, known as
Dstl, Porton Down. It is believed to be one of the UK's most sensitive
and secretive government facilities for military research, including
chemical and biological weapons defence. CBD Porton Down most notably
contributed to the Independent Inquiry into Gulf War Illness, commonly
referred to as the Lloyd Report. It has come under scrutiny with regard
to Gulf War Syndrome effecting soldiers from the 1991 Gulf War.
Pandemic
Dr McClure explained "What grabbed my attention was
that a group of American scientists decided to resurrect the 1918 flu
virus. This was a virus that caused the 1918 Pandemic that circled the
world and killed up to 40 million people ie more people than died in
the Great War itself! Today, at the moment, this virus is held in a
Category A BL-4 lab, a lab similar to Pirbright". He conceded that many
in the scientific world thought this to be a "crazy idea".
Forte
As to McClure's forte of writing about an outside
possibility which subsequently turns into scientific fact, Dr McClure
said that he had completed writing The Lazarus Strain
over 2 years ago, well before stories of bird flu virus appeared on our
TV screens. Further, on bird flu, he gave the chilling warning that
"until the strain exists, you cannot make a vaccine to counter it, as
it keeps changing its protein code"
Meantime, we await the official Report on exactly how the virus escaped from Pirbright, the Category A secure establishment.
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Breaking News / Nation
RP bans poultry products from 2 US states due to avian flu
MANILA, Philippines -- Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap has ordered a temporary ban on all imports of domestic and wild birds from Virginia and Nebraska in the US, after American authorities confirmed the presence of avian influenza in the two states.
Yap justified the ban and said this was necessary to protect the health of the people and the poultry industry in the country, which has so far managed to be free of the bird flu.
“I have ordered DA quarantine officers and inspectors at all major airports and seaports to stop and confiscate all shipments of live birds, poultry and poultry products into the country originating from Nebraska and Virginia,” he said in a statement.
The Philippines, Brunei and Singapore are the only three avian flu-free countries in Southeast Asia.
Dr. John Clifford, deputy administrator of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service of the US Department of Agriculture, submitted a report on July 23 to the Animal Health Organization on the presence of low pathogenic strains of avian influenza H5N1 in Virginia and H7N9 in Nebraska.
The ban covers all “domestic and wild birds and their products, including day-old chicks, eggs and semen,” according to Yap.
The agriculture secretary ordered the immediate suspension of the issuance of Veterinary Quarantine Clearances to all imports covering these products from Togolese Republic in West Africa.
The DA earlier imposed a similar ban on all live bird and poultry imports from Korea, the United Kingdom and Japan after the bird flu virus was detected in these countries.
The ban on poultry products from Japan has been lifted since May after the Bureau of Animal Industry said that the risk of AI contamination from bird and poultry products originating from this country was negligible.
Source: INQUIRER.net25-year-old Egyptian woman is infected by deadly bird-flu strain
CAIRO, Egypt (AP) - Bird flu has infected an Egyptian woman, bringing to 38 the number of those afflicted with the deadly strain of the disease in Egypt.
The woman, identified as Naema Abdo Gamil, 25, was admitted to a government hospital Saturday and has since been transferred to a hospital in Cairo, the Health Ministry said in a statement carried by the official news agency, MENA.
She was in stable condition Sunday, said health ministry spokesman Abdul Rahman.
Gamil contracted the lethal H5N1 virus after coming in contact with a dead chicken in the Mediterranean province of Damietta, about 175 kilometres northeast of Cairo.
Fifteen of the 38 people infected with H5N1 in Egypt have died.
Most of the fatalities have been women or girls whose families raise poultry in backyards and who had daily contact with chickens or turkeys.
Egypt is one of the countries most affected by the H5N1 strain outside Asia, where the bird flu outbreak began. The country lies on a main route for migratory birds, which are believed to have brought the disease.
The H5N1 strain of bird flu has hit 45 countries and killed at least 191 people worldwide since 2003. It has resulted in the culling of millions of birds.
Source 680NewsSunday, July 15, 2007
U.S. Not Ready for Outbreak, Say Americans
(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Most people in the United States believe their government would not respond properly to a national emergency, according to a poll by Ipsos-Public Affairs released by Associated Press. 59 per cent of respondents express little confidence in the administration’s preparedness to handle a major outbreak of an infectious disease.
Laboratory tests have confirmed the presence of the H5N1 strain of avian influenza in several countries around the world. The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that the virus could mutate into a form that can be transmitted among people.
Since 2003, 317 cases of bird flu in humans have been confirmed, and 191 fatalities have been reported in 12 Asian and African countries.
In November 2005, U.S. president George W. Bush outlined the federal government’s plan to deal with a possible outbreak of pandemic influenza, saying, "Our strategy is designed to meet three critical goals: First, we must detect outbreaks that occur anywhere in the world; second, we must protect the American people by stockpiling vaccines and antiviral drugs, and improve our ability to rapidly produce new vaccines against a pandemic strain; and, third, we must be ready to respond at the federal, state and local levels in the event that a pandemic reaches our shores."
On Jul. 2, John Lange, the U.S. State Department’s special representative on avian and pandemic influenza, declared: "The H5N1 virus is highly persistent; it is spreading in poultry populations, and the threat that it will mutate to become a human pandemic continues. (...) At least 178 countries have drafted or finalized their national pandemic preparedness plans. (...) One element of such preparedness is the Community Mitigation Guidance prepared by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention."
Polling Data
How confident are you that the U.S. government is prepared to handle a major outbreak of an infectious disease?
| Very confident | 9% |
| Somewhat confident | 32% |
| Not too confident | 33% |
| Not at all confident | 26% |
Source: Ipsos-Public Affairs / Associated Press
Methodology:
Telephone interviews with 1,000 American adults, conducted from Jun. 4
to Jun. 6, 2007. Margin of error is 3.1 per cent.
Saturday, June 30, 2007
Irish Government to make preparations
Mary Upton, the sitting TD for Dublin South Central, has asked for a bio-security unit to be set up to supervise the preparations.
This follows 2 incidents last week where the H5N1strain was detected in chickens at a farm in The Czech Republic as below and in Germany where the deadly H5N1 strain was detected in wild birds in the states of Bavaria and Saxony.
Tuesday 26 June, 2007 00.50am
| Deadly bird flu strain confirmed at Czech poultry farm PRAGUE - The H5N1 bird flu strain, known to be deadly to humans, was confirmed Thursday to have infected animals at a poultry farm in a village of Tisova in the country’s east, the State Veterinary Administration said. ‘It is the first occurance in a poultry breed,’ said Josef Vitasek, the administration’s director of animal welfare and health protection department Josef Vitasek. The disease was detected at the farm after nearly a third of a 6,000-head turkey flock had perished earlier in the week. A team of epidemiologists, firefighters and soldiers is to cull the remaining animals on Thursday and then disinfect the farm, which is currently cordoned off by the police, Vitasek confirmed. The veterinary authority has imposed standard security zones of 3 and 10 kilometers around the farm, in which poultry farmers and breeders must follow a number of restrictions such as a ban on moving or selling their animals. Prior to the Tisova case, 14 wild swans were found infected with the H5N1 virus in the country’s southern regions last year, Vitasek said. ‘Avian influenza had been never registered on the Czech territory before that,’ he said. |
Monday 25 June, 2007 6.04pm
Bird flu silences once bustling HK songbird market
In its heyday, Hong Kong's famous Bird
Garden market bustled with shoppers bargaining in Cantonese for exotic
birds for sale as pets or for Buddhist rituals. But the Bird
Garden, one of Hong Kong's more colourful sights, is deserted these
days after a migratory bird for sale at the market in the densely
populated Mongkok district was found to be carrying the H5N1 bird flu
strain.
The discovery a week ago of a daurian starling bird with
the virus prompted health officials to ban the sale of birds in the
market until further notice. Government workers dressed in
surgical masks and suits disinfect the area daily and health officials
are checking for signs of disease among hundreds of birds left in the
market. Vendors fear Hong Kong's latest H5N1 outbreak could
herald an end to what was a colourful, lively age-old trade, already
hit hard since 1997 when the virus made its first known jump to humans,
killing six people in Hong Kong. "It will be very hard for
business to get back to normal. In fact, it has been really tough since
1997 when we first had bird flu," said feed seller Tang Ip-wah, 75.
The virus has re-emerged a few times in Hong Kong since 1997, resulting
in mass poultry culls. Since late 2003, the virus has killed 191 people
out of 313 known cases worldwide. No one knows for sure how people
contract it, but most cases were due to direct contact with infected
birds, mostly chickens.
The virus's appearance a decade ago
dampened enthusiasm in Hong Kong for the Chinese tradition of keeping
birds. The latest outbreak at the market, the main source of birds for
Hong Kong residents, mayprompt more bird owners to get rid of their
pets. Bird raising in China dates back to the 17th century, when
Manchu nomads conquered Beijing, founded the Qing dynasty and
introduced their obsession with these winged creatures. Freed from the drudgery of work, the newly rich elite spent their days in tea houses showing off their exotic birds.
The hobby has lived on in Hong Kong and some elderly men continue to
congregate each morning around dawn in parks, so that their pets can
sing along with other birds. But repeated outbreaks of H5N1 in
Hong Kong in poultry since 1997 have led some bird lovers to release
their pets, especially after the government warned against kissing pet
birds in 2005. Large numbers of birds are still bought for
release into the wild, especially by Buddhists who believe they will
benefit in their next lives by giving freedom to living creatures.
"Many people have given up their hobby, released their birds," said Tan, the feed seller.
"Now with this, there will be no recovery. I could hardly make ends
meet even before this. If it wasn't for them, I wouldn't be here," said
Tan, pointing at his eight pet birds in ornate Chinese bird cages.
The Bird Garden had largely been left alone by Hong Kong authorities
during bird flu outbreaks, but concern had risen over the past few
months when 16 wild birds were found dead with the disease -- most of
them near the market. Stricter laws from February 2007 required imported birds -- mostly from mainland China -- to have health certificates. STRICT LAWS, BUT ENFORCEMENT TOUGH
China has strict quarantine laws, demanding all animal exports go
through a stringent series of inspections before they are allowed to
leave the country. But even Chinese officials readily admit that
enforcement is a problem.
China has a vast, porous border, stretching
from snowy mountains to steamy jungles and a rugged coastline, making
it easy for smugglers to traffic endangered species, antiques,
cigarettes and even people. The daurian starling bird found with
H5N1 last week was left at a market stall by its owner. Health
officials discovered it was infected during routine testing of bird
faecal samples. The starling -- a migratory bird that breeds in
China and Mongolia and migrates to South and Southeast Asia in the
winter -- had no health certificate, raising suspicion it might have
been smuggled or illegally captured. The government is still
hunting for the person who left the bird at the market to find out
where the starling came from. The government has no plan to shut
the bird market permanently, but stallholders seem to think it's
inevitable as the demand for live birds continues to plummet because of
health fears. "Business was already thin ... Before last week,
we were only making around HK$350 (US$45) a day. Now we make nothing at
all. I don't see any hope for us," said Mr Chan, a feed seller.
(Additional reporting by Ben Blanchard in Beijing)
Source
The discovery a week ago of a daurian starling bird with the virus prompted health officials to ban the sale of birds in the market until further notice. Government workers dressed in surgical masks and suits disinfect the area daily and health officials are checking for signs of disease among hundreds of birds left in the market. Vendors fear Hong Kong's latest H5N1 outbreak could herald an end to what was a colourful, lively age-old trade, already hit hard since 1997 when the virus made its first known jump to humans, killing six people in Hong Kong. "It will be very hard for business to get back to normal. In fact, it has been really tough since 1997 when we first had bird flu," said feed seller Tang Ip-wah, 75. The virus has re-emerged a few times in Hong Kong since 1997, resulting in mass poultry culls. Since late 2003, the virus has killed 191 people out of 313 known cases worldwide. No one knows for sure how people contract it, but most cases were due to direct contact with infected birds, mostly chickens.
The virus's appearance a decade ago dampened enthusiasm in Hong Kong for the Chinese tradition of keeping birds. The latest outbreak at the market, the main source of birds for Hong Kong residents, mayprompt more bird owners to get rid of their pets. Bird raising in China dates back to the 17th century, when Manchu nomads conquered Beijing, founded the Qing dynasty and introduced their obsession with these winged creatures. Freed from the drudgery of work, the newly rich elite spent their days in tea houses showing off their exotic birds. The hobby has lived on in Hong Kong and some elderly men continue to congregate each morning around dawn in parks, so that their pets can sing along with other birds. But repeated outbreaks of H5N1 in Hong Kong in poultry since 1997 have led some bird lovers to release their pets, especially after the government warned against kissing pet birds in 2005. Large numbers of birds are still bought for release into the wild, especially by Buddhists who believe they will benefit in their next lives by giving freedom to living creatures.
"Many people have given up their hobby, released their birds," said Tan, the feed seller. "Now with this, there will be no recovery. I could hardly make ends meet even before this. If it wasn't for them, I wouldn't be here," said Tan, pointing at his eight pet birds in ornate Chinese bird cages. The Bird Garden had largely been left alone by Hong Kong authorities during bird flu outbreaks, but concern had risen over the past few months when 16 wild birds were found dead with the disease -- most of them near the market. Stricter laws from February 2007 required imported birds -- mostly from mainland China -- to have health certificates. STRICT LAWS, BUT ENFORCEMENT TOUGH China has strict quarantine laws, demanding all animal exports go through a stringent series of inspections before they are allowed to leave the country. But even Chinese officials readily admit that enforcement is a problem.
China has a vast, porous border, stretching from snowy mountains to steamy jungles and a rugged coastline, making it easy for smugglers to traffic endangered species, antiques, cigarettes and even people. The daurian starling bird found with H5N1 last week was left at a market stall by its owner. Health officials discovered it was infected during routine testing of bird faecal samples. The starling -- a migratory bird that breeds in China and Mongolia and migrates to South and Southeast Asia in the winter -- had no health certificate, raising suspicion it might have been smuggled or illegally captured. The government is still hunting for the person who left the bird at the market to find out where the starling came from. The government has no plan to shut the bird market permanently, but stallholders seem to think it's inevitable as the demand for live birds continues to plummet because of health fears. "Business was already thin ... Before last week, we were only making around HK$350 (US$45) a day. Now we make nothing at all. I don't see any hope for us," said Mr Chan, a feed seller. (Additional reporting by Ben Blanchard in Beijing)
Source
Tuesday 12 June, 2007 5.00am
Bird Flu vaccine shortfall:
4 Billion DosesBut many other countries want to establish or expand their own vaccine manufacturing plants.
The WHO reported last October that it would take a huge international effort and cost as much as $US10 billion ($13.7 billion) to improve vaccine production.
Without this programme, a group of experts assembled by the agency found that under the most optimistic assumptions, maximum world capacity by 2009 for pandemic flu vaccine would be about 2.34 billion doses. Given a world population by then of 6.7 billion, there would be a shortage of over 4 billion doses.
Source: Michael Richardson
Saturday 8 June, 2007
A mutation that allows H5N1 bird flu to jump more easily from poultry to humans ?
The APEC Health Ministers conference in Sydney ended on Friday with a commitment to share virus specimens and vaccines and to work to encourage investor and consumer confidence to help Asia-Pacific economies recover in the event of a pandemic.
"The climate of fear that disease outbreaks such as avian influenza bring can rapidly sap the confidence and enterprise that underpins the economic dynamism of our region," Australian Health Minister Tony Abbott told the conference.
The health ministers endorsed a plan called "APEC Functioning Economies in Times of Pandemic Guidelines" which aims to assist in managing economies during a pandemic. The guidelines cover communications, essential services, financial systems and movement between and within countries.
"We recognize that healthy populations contribute to economic growth and development. Conversely, any threat to the health of a population can have a devastating effect on prosperity," the ministers from the 21-member Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum said in a statement.
The ministers said that the Asia-Pacific needed to replicate the co-operation seen during the SARS respiratory crisis in 2003 to combat the threat of a bird flu pandemic.
"The global nature of pandemic influenza and other virulent disease demands international solidarity, co-operation and co-ordination of efforts...for the sharing of information and resources," said the ministers.
There have been 189 deaths globally from the H5N1 bird flu virus since late 2003 and 310 known infections in total, according to World Health Organization (WHO) data. Indonesia has recorded 79 human deaths from bird flu, the highest in the world.
"WE MUST REMAIN VIGILANT"
The H5N1 strain of bird flu was mutating unpredictably and at a rapid pace, a senior WHO official told the health ministers.
"The virus is already entrenched, embedded in this part of the world and...it has been very, very unstable and changeable," said Dr Shigeru Omi, WHO Regional Director for the Western Pacific.
"If we put (these two points) together, it's a very clear indication that we have to remain vigilant."
Indonesia said on Wednesday the H5N1 virus might have undergone a mutation that allows it to jump more easily from poultry to humans, but stressed the findings were preliminary.
Indonesia is struggling to contain the disease because millions of backyard chickens live in close proximity to humans across the archipelago. Contact with sick fowl is the most common way humans become infected with bird flu.
"The possibility of a pandemic arising from avian influenza presents a significant threat to human health security," said the health ministers.
"It would be dangerous to assume that because there is no current global pandemic outbreak the job is done."
The ministers backed a WHO plan to share virus specimens, necessary to develop a vaccine, and to share vaccines in the event of a pandemic.
"We
aim to ensure and promote the transparent, fair and equitable sharing
of benefits arising from...information, diagnostics, medicines,
vaccines and other technologies associated with the sharing of virus
samples," they said.
Indonesia said last month it had resumed sharing samples with the WHO after a five-month hiatus. Along with other developing nations, Indonesia has been demanding guarantees that they will have access to affordable vaccines in the event of a pandemic.
SourceSunday 2 June, 2007 3.14am BST
Antiviral drugs are totally inadequate, |
|
Scientist’s chilling warning over flu pandemic |
By Iain Harrison
 AN award-winning scientist claims the drug most of the world is counting on to combat a potential bird flu pandemic could prove ineffective. |
|
 sundaypost.com |
Dr
Ken McClure, now a best-selling author, investigated what would happen
if a deadly flu virus was unleashed for his novel The Lazarus Strain.
The Lazarus Strain (published by Allison & Busby, priced £9.99, Monday, 28 May 2007, 16:34 GMT 17:34 UK
Children at a primary school are being offered anti-bird flu treatment as a pupil is thought to have the virus.
|
Pupils offered bird flu treatment
|
||||
The year five pupil at Ysgol Henllan, Denbighshire, is linked to a smallholding near Corwen, Conwy, where a mild form of the virus was found. A dozen children aged nine and 10 and two teachers are being given tamiflu treatments as a precaution. Four people have tested positive for bird flu and 12 have flu-like symptoms, but no-one is seriously ill. The number of people who may have had contact with the disease has risen to 142. Of the 142, 47 came into contact "in the household setting," 14 in the school and 81 in "the workplace setting". The child who is believed to have the virus is said to be responding to treatment at home.
The 12 children and two teachers have been identified as having been in prolonged close contact with the pupil, on days when there was a "small risk" of the child being infectious. There are 58 children at the school but only those 12 who have been in close contact with the infected child, will receive tamiflu - an antiviral medication which reduces the severity of any impact of the infection. The parents of each child are being contacted by staff at the National Public Health Service for Wales (NPHS). Dr Brendan Mason from the NPHS, said: "This is an unusual step for us to take because the risk of the infection being passed from the child to other pupils is so small. 'Very rare' "However, this particular virus usually only affects birds and is relatively unknown in humans. Its clinical characteristics have not been fully defined. "It is very rare to see this particular flu virus so we are taking every reasonable precaution to eliminate it from the community." The NPHS wrote to all parents to invite them to meet officials at 1700 BST on Monday and Tuesday. "From a public health perspective, the school will be safe to reopen as normal after the half term break. The risk of avian flu to the public is low." The confirmed case involved a smallholding at Llanfihangel Glyn Myfyr, Conwy.
Owners Tony Williams and Barbara Cowling, who have tested negative for the virus, called in a vet after their Rhode Island Red chickens began to die. They bought the chickens at Chelford Market at Macclesfield, Cheshire, some 70 miles (112 km) away, on 7 May. A total of 30 chickens from the smallholding have now been slaughtered after 15 birds died. Officials have stressed that the disease found at the Conwy farm was the H7N2 strain of bird flu, not the more virulent H5N1. The second possible case emerged on Saturday about 35 miles (56 km) away, at a farm on the outskirts of Efailnewydd, near Pwllheli. It has also been linked to the market. Officials have said there is not a "significant risk" to public health. A helpline has been set up to offer information about bird flu. The number is 0845 600 3678, and it is open from 0700 - 2000 BST daily.
They are asked to contact their local animal health office or the Defra helpline 08459 335577. Lines are open between 0900 - 1700 BST seven days a week. | ||||
This is an unusual step for us to take because the risk of the infection being passed from the child to other pupils is so small
Saturday 26 May 2007
British authorities identify 4 human cases of bird flu
LONDON (AP): Four people have tested positive for a mild strain of bird flu, British authorities said.
The cases -- which are not the feared H5N1 strain, but the less dangerous H7N2 subtype -- were reported after poultry died at a small farm in north Wales. Tests were performed on nine people associated with the farm, and the Health Protection Agency said Friday in a news release that four people had tested positive for the H7N2 strain of the virus.
Three of the nine were hospitalized, but have since been discharged, the agency said. The H7 subtype of bird flu is believed to be less virulent than H5, but it has in the past caused human cases, and was responsible for a large outbreak in the Netherlands. In that outbreak in 2003, there were 89 mild cases of H7N7, and one person died.
Most of the cases in the Netherlands were conjunctivitis, a mild eye infection.
"The mortality rate of H7 viruses is not on the order of H5N1,'' said Dr. Michael Perdue, a World Health Organization bird flu expert. Experts estimate that nearly half or more of all people who contract H5N1 die.
While H7 viruses tend to cause milder illnesses in humans, they still have the potential to ignite a global flu outbreak and should be watched.
"A low pathogenic H7 virus might not be picked up as easily as a highly pathogenic virus,'' said Perdue, explaining that the mild symptoms of a H7 case might be mistaken for ordinary flu, causing experts to lose valuable time tracking an emerging pandemic.
Like all flu viruses, H7 evolves constantly. Other bird flu subtypes have also caused illnesses in humans. Surveillance in Europe for all bird flu viruses has greatly increased in recent years.
While global health experts have been focused on H5N1 as the strain most likely to cause the next flu pandemic, it is also possible that another subtype, such as H7, could ultimately be responsible. "I'd hate to predict anything with bird flu,'' said Perdue.
The farm came to the attention of British authorities after a number of chickens died. Dr. Christianne Glossop, the chief veterinary officer for Wales, said in a statement Thursday that they had tested positive for H7N2.
A one-kilometer (1.6-mile) exclusion zone was put in place around the farm, and the remaining chickens have been slaughtered.
The Welsh health authorities said that in all but one of the four human cases the virus had spread from poultry. The other case may have been transmitted from person to person.
"Although the number of people involved is very small, we could be dealing with some spread of the H7 flu virus within the household setting,'' said Dr. Marion Lyons, a communicable disease specialist with the Welsh health service. "We are treating this possibility very seriously.''
Officials are now following up all close contacts of the people who were ill as a precaution.