Flu Wiki Forum - Recent Comments

Bird flu outbreak reported in five countries

Carol@SC — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 19:09:51 GMT

Reports are coming from Nepal, Bangladesh, Indonesia and Vietnam of bird flu outbreaks resulting in the deaths of thousands of birds thus far. Egypt is reporting more human cases of illness caused by the disease.

There is confusion in Kathmandu, Nepal where hundreds of birds are reportedly becoming ill quickly and dying fast. Health authorities have been experiencing difficulty getting the proper permission to take samples to confirm the deaths are being caused by H5N1, and thus a bird cull has not occurred yet, although it is anticipated that this will change shortly.

One adult has reportedly contracted the virus (in Nepal).

In Bangladesh, the bird cull is well under way, with nearly 120,000 birds killed on one farm alone. After 400 chickens died suddenly on Saturday, a test confirmed bird flu, and most of Kazi Farm's birds were killed. Thousands of eggs were destroyed as well. So far there have been no reports of human contraction of the virus, and the virus has been found only on the one farm. (Snip) It is not known if the virus has spread to other farming operations.

H5N1 has also been determined to be the cause of illness in a woman in Hanoi, Vietnam. An outbreak of the disease had occurred in a Vietnamese village in late February. Officials reported in early March the outbreak had been contained after thousands of birds were culled.

The deaths of thousands of chickens in Jambi, Indonesia in the past month have been confirmed as caused by the Avian flu. Officials in Jakarta are relocating illegal poultry slaughter houses in an attempt to curb the spread of H5N1. Backyard farming has also been banned. The death of one person in February was attributed to the bird flu in Jakarta, but the country has not released information on outbreaks of the disease.

Egypt is reporting more cases of human illness caused by bird flu, although it is not known how many birds have been affected.
(Snip)
Seven deaths have been attributed to the virus this year, with a total of 289 deaths since 2003. The WHO has long promoted Avian Flu as the possible source of a pandemic with the killing proportions of the influenza pandemics seen in the early 1900's, although the pandemic has not materialized. While no one can safely predict how the H5N1 virus will mutate, there are fears that it will mutate into a virulently deadly form for humans in the near future.

Vietnamese scientists report "The swine flu A/H5N1 virus has mutated into seven antigen groups since it appeared in the country." http://www.digitaljournal.com/...

Oops - link:

Cathy M — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 15:43:24 GMT

http://www.signonsandiego.com/...

CA: H1N1 virus widely seen to be tailing off in San Diego Cty

Cathy M — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 15:43:02 GMT

In the latest sign that the second wave of swine flu has largely ended, no new infections were reported in the county's most recent weekly survey of influenza activity in the region.

That marked the first local break in the global pandemic since the first two cases of the disease, also called H1N1 influenza A, were discovered in San Diego County nearly a year ago.

On Monday, officials at Sharp HealthCare's five hospitals will drop restrictions for visiting patients, including an age limit for visitors, that were put in place when the pandemic emerged.

[more]

TX: Over 100 cases of Type A flu in Comal County (in 2010)

Cathy M — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 15:39:36 GMT

http://herald-zeitung.com/stor...

The number of seasonal and novel influenza cases has been waning in recent months in Comal County - a sign officials believe proves the effectiveness of increased vaccination efforts last fall.

[snip]

Since the beginning of 2010, the Comal County Office of Public Health has recorded 112 cases of Type A novel flu, of which H1N1 "swine" flu is a subtype, eight cases of seasonal flu (Type B), one case of the flu without a confirmation on its type and 86 cases of flu-like illness that tested negative for any flu type.

In the past two weeks, three people have died and one person has ended up in the intensive care unit. Two others have been hospitalized in Comal County since the swine flu pandemic began, with no deaths reported.

While the rate of Type A flu is traced by Comal County (it contacts 35 health care providers weekly throughout the county that report any cases of flu), it does not typically test for what subtype of the novel flu virus a patient has. That is done by the state.

"The state, in order to report this, they have to test for it," said Gwen Mills, director of public health services for the Comal County Office of Public Health. "Most of the time the doctors are not going to determine what type of flu it is," she said, because there is no difference in the way the flu is treated, regardless of type. "The flu is flu is flu."

[snip]

OH: Officials keep guard up despite little flu activity

Cathy M — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 15:34:24 GMT

http://www.dispatch.com/live/c...

If you're a flu watcher and mid-March arrives without much activity, it's usually time to consider breathing easy.

Flu has been uncharacteristically quiet since January. As of last week, Nationwide Children's Hospital's Dr. Dennis Cunningham said there had been only 10 cases there.

Still, flu experts aren't ready to sound an all-clear. They have been tackling a new form of the virus since April and are quick with reminders that the only thing that's certain about flu is that it's unpredictable.

But across the country and in central Ohio, flu activity is low. Most states are reporting only sporadic activity, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. What little is showing up still is mostly H1N1, not other varieties that were expected to surface this flu season.

It's unclear whether H1N1 will resurge, causing a third wave of illness as many feared.

[more]

Houston Has Steady Increase in Swine Flu

History Lover — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 15:04:49 GMT

March 14, 2010
http://apps.grouptivity.com/so...
Doctors have noticed a small rise in the number of flu cases at Texas Children's Hospital in the past few weeks, and health officials are hoping the coming months won't bring a repeat of last spring's rash of swine flu illness.

"It's a slight but steady increase over the last seven to 10 days - it's a little ripple," said Dr. Gail Demmler-Harrison, director of the hospital's diagnostic virology laboratory and also with the Baylor College of Medicine. "But it's been a sustained ripple of influenza A virus detections. So we're waiting to see what's going to happen."

There were two culture-confirmed cases of Type A influenza in December, three in January and seven in February - all found to be of the swine flu subtype, Demmler-Harrison said. Five cases of Type A influenza surfaced in the first week of March, but tests are still pending to determine if those are swine flu, she said. Plenty of vaccines to protect against the swine flu remain available, and more can be obtained if necessary, said Kathy Barton, spokeswoman for the Houston Department of Health and Human Services. The vaccinations can be found at numerous pharmacies and are available during regular business hours Monday through Friday at the city health department facilities, she said. Barton said she has heard of only two swine flu cases coming out of the city department's lab.

"Right now we haven't seen enough for our hair to be on fire, but we are concerned," Barton said. "This is exactly the time of year we saw it pop up last spring in Mexico, in March, and then it got to us in April. So it could happen again."
(more)

Earth Talk 3/14/2010

Carol@SC — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 13:26:52 GMT

Excerpt:

(Snip) more human development means fewer habitats suitable for such birds of passage (and other wildlife) But tired and hungry birds may not have the wherewithal or instinctual coding to seek out alternative resting areas, so they make do with habitat crowded and compromised by human incursion. Proximity to avian life hasn't presented too big of a problem for people in the past. But new concerns about the spread of bird flu (the H5N1 virus) via infected migratory birds - which presumably infect local populations of domestic birds - does have some scientists worried that persistent human expansion could indirectly lead to a pandemic of global proportions.

According to the World Health Organization, the role of migratory birds in spreading bird flu is not well understood, but we do know that wild waterfowl are a "natural reservoir" of mostly harmless H5 and H7 influenza A viruses. Recent research, though, suggests that these viruses may be mutating into more "pathogenic" (disease-producing) forms, such as H5N1, that can jump the species barrier and infect people and other animals.

It is unlikely that the bird flu making headlines a few years ago (the H5N1 strain) could lead to a human pandemic. The vast majority who got sick had direct contact with infected birds. It could be that the very sprawl that increases our chances of catching bird flu - by bringing us and our poultry farms into closer contact with disease-bearing migratory birds - will protect us in the end. http://thetimes-tribune.com/ne...

Count is a little different

Carol@SC — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 12:48:14 GMT

in the 2 articles I posted yesterday. Both articles were dated 3/12/2010. The article I posted above is dated 3/13/2010. The death count in Gujarat on 3/12 had reached 300 and the the total count on 3/12 in India is 1404. So there may have been 6 confirmed deaths instead of 4. The confirmed case count on 3/12 was 29,904 and the above article says there are 29,946. That is an increase of 42 confirmed cases in 24 hours. I wonder what the count in 24 hours would be if all the patients with symptoms had been tested. My point is, H1N1 is very active in India at this time.

Swine flu death toll in Gujarat hits 300 mark http://in.news.yahoo.com/20/20...

Swine Flu Death Toll Reaches 1404 Mark in India http://topnews.com.sg/content/...

4 H1N1 deaths in Maharashtra, India toll rises to 1410

Carol@SC — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 12:09:17 GMT

Four more people have died of influenza A (H1N1) in Maharashtra, taking the toll due to the swine flu pandemic in India so far to 1410, (Snip) One of the deaths was reported during the day, while the other three had occurred earlier but were reported to the Union Ministry of Health & Family Welfare today.

Of the total swine flu deaths in the country so far, Maharashtra now accounts for 387, while 299 lives have been lost in Gujarat, 196 in Rajasthan, 148 in Karnataka, 95 in Delhi, 52 in Andhra Pradesh, 40 in Punjab, 38 in Haryana, 37 in Kerala, 30 in Madhya Pradesh, 19 in Uttar Pradesh, 13 in Uttarakhand, 11 in Chhattisgarh, 8 each in Chandigarh and Himachal Pradesh, 7 in Tamil Nadu, 6 in Puducherry, 5 in Goa, 4 in Jammu & Kashmir, 3 in Orissa, 2 in Assam and 1 each in Mizoram and Dadra & Nagar Haveli.

(Snip) 20 new cases of the flu were reported today, including 19 in Maharashtra and 1 in Gujarat. (Snip) the total number of laboratory-confirmed cases of the virus reported in the country so far has gone up to 29,946, (Snip) http://netindian.in/news/2010/...

MS: About 39,000 children, adults immunized against swine flu

Carol@SC — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 11:55:59 GMT

About 24,000 Mississippi Coast students - more than one-fourth of the school population - are vaccinated against swine flu, a magic number for the health of all ages in the six-county region. Health officials cite new studies that a 20 percent school vaccination rate means a 50 percent reduction in flu for the entire population. That is because children are the biggest spreaders of the virus to siblings, parents, fellow students, baby-sitters or anyone who might come in contact with them in public.

Another 15,000 Coast residents of various ages are immunized against swine flu, and public health clinics continue to offer the vaccine free. Across the state, the Mississippi State Department of Health reports 243,769 swine flu immunizations.

"If we succeed in preventing a third wave of the H1N1 virus this spring, it will be because of the winter school immunization programs and the way the community, schools and hospitals partnered with public health," (Snip) "Certainly we think there will be less flu because the school superintendents took a risk and stepped forward by allowing immunizations in the schools." http://www.sunherald.com/2010/...

Bangladesh slaughters 117,000 birds over avian flu

Carol@SC — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 11:13:49 GMT

DHAKA - At least 117,000 chickens were destroyed in northern Bangladesh Sunday after avian flu outbreak on one of the country's largest poultry farms,(Snip)

The deadly H5N1 strain of flu was detected on Saturday when 400 chickens died suddenly at the Kazi Farms complex in Thakurgaon town, (Snip) "Tests confirmed presence of the H5N1 bird flu in 15 sheds of the farm and we ordered destruction of all 117,600 layer chickens," he said.

Kazi Farms is Bangladesh's largest poultry bird and egg producer. General manager of the company Ataur Rahman said another 200,000 eggs had also been destroyed in the single largest outbreak of bird flu in the country. (Snip) Bangladesh's poultry industry is one of the world's largest, producing 220 million chickens and 37 million ducks annually. (Snip) http://www.google.com/hostedne...

Nepal: Bird flu spreading fast in Parasi

Carol@SC — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 05:34:18 GMT

KATHMANDU: The government has been keeping the public in the dark despite the outbreak of bird flu in different parts of the country on the rise, it was learnt today. Around 500 backyard birds have died in Jhyalbas and Deurali VDCs of Nawalparasi district in the past few weeks. Following the outbreak, a team of veterinarians (Snip) was sent to the VDCs for a stamping out operation following verbal orders from Dr Ram Krishna Khatiwada, (Snip) the team had to return from the VDCs without any job done as they failed to receive a written order from the Department of Livestock Services (DLS) to carry out the same. (Snip) Dr Khatiwada said that the report of the sample was not ready. "It might come by Sunday evening," he said.

When asked about the team sent to the site, he said that was for the diagnosis and to make preparation for culling if the result was found to be positive. "We need to prepare for several things including financial matters before culling the birds in order to maintain international norms," he said. One of the team members said the condition in those areas was 'horrible' as more birds are being infected and dying fast. Sources said the birds of local resident Bal Bahadur Bakwal (Magar) of Jhyalbas tested positive for H5N1 virus in the central veterinary laboratory, Tripureswor.

The government had earlier failed to declare the outbreak in Budhabare-Jhapa, Chainpur-8 in Chitwan, Buddhanagar in Rupandehi and Fultekra in Nepalgunj on time. It may be noted that the authorities had revealed the outbreak only after The Himalayan Times reported that the government had been keeping the public in the dark. (Snip) the department is being run in an "unethical manner" and at the cost of public health. The government is once again trying to hide the outbreak of Bird flu in Nawalparasi district. http://www.thehimalayantimes.c...

Please post new news stories to ...

AlohaOR — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 05:10:55 GMT

News Reports for March 14, 2010

Thank you!

Egypt: Virus H5N1quay Left Vietnam with pathogenic stronger

Readymom — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 03:57:02 GMT

Hat Tip: Helblindi @ Pandemic Flu Information

Translation:

Virus H5N1quay Left Vietnam with pathogenic stronger
March 13, 2010 RFA

Reviews of Health launched today shows that A-H5N1 virus appeared in humans as well as poultry and pathogenic signs of stronger than before.

Dr Le Quynh Mai Dean viruses Central Epidemiological Institute said the latest research institutes and through more than 300 viruses isolated H5N1 influenza A-7 groups detected antigens on this dangerous virus.

Scientists have also found the exchange and integration between the influenza A-H5N1 virus circulating in Vietnam and is the co-evolution of gene segments between the different genes. (Continued in ENGLISH at PFI Forum: http://www.singtomeohmuse.com/... )

LOL!! Too much excitement!! n/t

Bronco Bill — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 03:51:16 GMT

yay1!!!!11

DemFromCT — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 01:39:56 GMT

Recent Active Diaries

Bronco Bill — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 00:36:35 GMT

For all who have missed the "Recent Active Diaries" link in the About blox....IT'S BAAAACCKK!!!!!

ROTFLMAO

Carol@SC — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 00:29:52 GMT

"Highly pathogenic avian influenza spreading to China"

That's a good one! It sounds like the "boys in Beijing" are trying to make like people from other countries (Indonesia & Egypt are named) are actually spreading bird flu to the mainland? Well, first of all, China denies having any bird flu cases (sure....we're all believing that one!) and second, I think they believe the world has forgotten where bird flu originated. Boys, there is not a chance in h*ll of that happening!

Hmmmm, they must be getting ready to announce some new human cases. Got to have someone blame!!!

China Inspecting Persons from Egypt and China for Bird Flu H5N1

cottontop — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 23:12:20 GMT

(Hat tip to treyfish)

State Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, "on the prevention of countries such as Egypt and Indonesia, people are infected with highly pathogenic avian influenza spreading to China's Notice" (2010 General Notice No. 25)
Time: 2010-03-12 17:07:49

snip

With regard to countries such as Egypt and Indonesia to prevent human infection

Highly pathogenic avian influenza spreading to China's announcement

World Health Organization (WHO) 2 24 and 26 reported so far Indonesia has confirmed 163 cases of human infection with highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 cases, including 135 cases of death; Egypt confirmed 99 cases of human infection with highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 cases, 30 cases had died. Recently, the two countries have continued to bird flu confirmed cases, and appears dead. In order to prevent human infection with influenza A H5N1 highly pathogenic avian influenza spreading to China, to Egypt and Indonesia to protect our health and safety personnel, according to "The People's Republic of China Frontier Health and Quarantine Law" and its Implementing Regulations of the relevant provisions of the notice are as follows:

One person from Egypt or Indonesia, if fever, cough, headache, general malaise and other symptoms, and immigration should take the initiative to an oral declaration of entry-exit inspection and quarantine institutions. After entering the above symptoms should seek medical care immediately to the doctor explain the recent travel history to receive timely diagnosis and treatment.

continued
http://news.china.com.cn/rolln...

China Inspecting Persons from Egypt and China for Bird Flu H5N1

cottontop — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 22:59:15 GMT

(new article to me. Hat tip to treyfish)

snip

With regard to countries such as Egypt and Indonesia to prevent human infection

Highly pathogenic avian influenza spreading to China's announcement

continued
http://news.china.com.cn/rolln...

Weekly update5 March 2010

cottontop — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 20:35:17 GMT

Pandemi H 1 N 1 - oleh Redaksi 12/03/2010 . 09:12
Weekly update5 March 2010 -- As of 28 February 2010, worldwide more than 213 countries and overseas territories or communities have reported laboratory confirmed cases of pandemic influenza H1N1 2009, including at least 16455 deaths.WHO is actively monitoring the progress of the pandemic through frequent consultations with the WHO Regional Offices and member states and through monitoring of multiple sources of information.

Situation update:Summary: In the temperate zone of the northern hemisphere, transmission of virus persists in some areas of Europe and Asia but influenza activity is declining and at low level in the most areas. The most active areas of transmission are currently observed in parts of Southeast Asia and East and South-eastern Europe.
Recently, influenza type B is increasingly reported in Asia.Pandemic influenza virus continues to circulate in South and Southeast Asian countries. In Thailand, activity has increased and Myanmar continues to report regionally circulating pandemic virus.

However, the overall intensity of activity nationally is still low in both countries. Respiratory disease activity is declining in all other countries of the area. In East Asia, transmission of pandemic influenza virus persists at low levels in most countries including Hong Kong SAR (China) and Chinese Taipei or has returned to baseline levels (Japan and the Republic of Korea).

Of note, seasonal influenza B virus activity has been increasing in the area and is now the predominant influenza virus in Mongolia, China, and parts of South East Asia. Japan has also reported clusters of influenza B related cases.In Australia and New Zealand, overall influenza activity remains low and at the levels experienced at the same time in previous years.
No new cases of H1N1 influenza have been reported this week from the island nations of the South Pacific.

Influenza activity is low in Western Europe and has largely returned to baseline levels. However, many countries of Eastern Europe (Russian Federation, Bulgaria, Armenia and Moldova) are still reporting some increased respiratory disease activity compared to their baselines.

The percentage of respiratory specimens testing positive for influenza decreased further in week 7 to around 3.5%.
The majority of those were positive for pandemic influenza and only a very few seasonal influenza H3N2 and influenza type B viruses were detected.In the northern temperate zones of the Americas, pandemic influenza virus continues to circulate at very low levels yielding an overall low and declining pattern of pandemic influenza activity.
However, in Mexico and Peru, there is a slight increase in respiratory disease activity, though the overall intensity remains low and it is unclear how much is related to pandemic influenza.

In Central America and the Caribbean, overall respiratory disease activity remains low in most places.In North Africa and West Asia, influenza activity is low. However, respiratory tract infections in the north western area of Pakistan and Afghanistan are reportedly increasing. Whether this increased activity is due to circulation of influenza is not known.In Sub-Saharan Africa, several West African countries are increasingly reporting pandemic influenza cases, though surveillance data from the area is quite limited.

Data from the rest of Africa suggests that influenza activity in most countries is low and transmission continues to be sporadic. Some detections of seasonal influenza H1N1, H3N2, and influenza type B are still being reported.The Global Influenza Surveillance Network (GISN) continues monitoring the global circulation of influenza viruses, including pandemic, seasonal and other influenza viruses infecting, or with the potential to infect, humans including seasonal influenza.

For more information on virological surveillance and antiviral resistance please see the weekly virology update

http://www.infeksi.com/data/ne...

Weekly update5 March 2010

cottontop — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 20:17:21 GMT

Pandemi H 1 N 1 - oleh Redaksi 12/03/2010 . 09:12

Weekly update5 March 2010 -- As of 28 February 2010, worldwide more than 213 countries and overseas territories or communities have reported laboratory confirmed cases of pandemic influenza H1N1 2009, including at least 16455 deaths.WHO is actively monitoring the progress of the pandemic through frequent consultations with the WHO Regional Offices and member states and through monitoring of multiple sources of information.

Recently, influenza type B is increasingly reported in Asia.Pandemic influenza virus continues to circulate in South and Southeast Asian countries. In Thailand, activity has increased and Myanmar continues to report regionally circulating pandemic virus.

No new cases of H1N1 influenza have been reported this week from the island nations of the South Pacific.Influenza activity is low in Western Europe and has largely returned to baseline levels. However, many countries of Eastern Europe (Russian Federation, Bulgaria, Armenia and Moldova) are still reporting some increased respiratory disease activity compared to their baselines. The percentage of respiratory specimens testing positive for influenza decreased further in week 7 to around 3.5%.

The majority of those were positive for pandemic influenza and only a very few seasonal influenza H3N2 and influenza type B viruses were detected.In the northern temperate zones of the Americas, pandemic influenza virus continues to circulate at very low levels yielding an overall low and declining pattern of pandemic influenza activity.

However, in Mexico and Peru, there is a slight increase in respiratory disease activity, though the overall intensity remains low and it is unclear how much is related to pandemic influenza. In Central America and the Caribbean, overall respiratory disease activity remains low in most places.In North Africa and West Asia, influenza activity is low. However, respiratory tract infections in the north western area of Pakistan and Afghanistan are reportedly increasing. Whether this increased activity is due to circulation of influenza is not known.In Sub-Saharan Africa, several West African countries are increasingly reporting pandemic influenza cases, though surveillance data from the area is quite limited.

For more information on virological surveillance and antiviral resistance please see the weekly virology update

http://www.infeksi.com/data/ne...

TX: 'Little ripple' in swine flu cases noted

Carol@SC — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 20:03:08 GMT

Texas Children's Hospital doctors, others watching to see if trend grows

March 13, 2010 - Doctors have noticed a small rise in the number of flu cases at Texas Children's Hospital in the past few weeks, and health officials are hoping the coming months won't bring a repeat of last spring's rash of swine flu illness. "It's a slight but steady increase over the last seven to 10 days - it's a little ripple," said Dr. Gail Demmler-Harrison, director of the hospital's diagnostic virology laboratory and also with the Baylor College of Medicine. "But it's been a sustained ripple of influenza A virus detections. So we're waiting to see what's going to happen."

There were two culture-confirmed cases of Type A influenza in December, three in January and seven in February - all found to be of the swine flu subtype, Demmler-Harrison said. Five cases of Type A influenza surfaced in the first week of March, but tests are still pending to determine if those are swine flu, she said. Continued: http://www.chron.com/disp/stor...

Bangladesh: Drive to cull 1 lakh fowls begins

Carol@SC — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 19:51:45 GMT

Sunday, March 14, 2010 - District Livestock Department yesterday started a drive to cull over one lakh (Note: 1 lakh = 100,000) poultry birds and destroy two lakh of eggs at Yakubpur branch of Kazi Breeders Limited here to stop the the spread of bird flu virus. Officials of the department said they will cull about 117,626 parent chickens and destroy about 210,000 eggs. (Snip) the drive would continue for two or three days.
(Snip)
Zahedul suspected that the bird flu virus might be transmitted from recently imported eggs from India. After the bird flu attack at Murshidabad in West Bengal, the government gave permission to import 20 crore eggs from India defying its rules that any poultry goods can not be imported from poultry industries of any country where bird flu has broken out, he alleged.

He said that they are very anxious for their other 19 farms in the district and Panchagarh after the spread of the virus. (Snip) they have already taken necessary measures to stop spread of the flu to other farms and chickens. They also supplied medicine to the poultry farms through their workers, (Snip) http://www.thedailystar.net/ne...

This is why I first started watching and tracking H5N1

maryinhawaii — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 19:20:39 GMT

I don't recall exactly how it first came to my attention or when, but as soon as I became aware of this deadly virus and it's potential to sweep the world with a broom that could potentially end our present civilization(TEOTWAWKI)I became an avid watcher.

Then along comes A/H1N1, a pandemic yes, but of such a mild nature that it makes all the "preppies" look like fools. Well, swine flu was never the pandemic we were prepping for, and that one is still out there and looming potentially larger all the time. Yet few seem to notice.

It's like Mother Nature has misdirected everyone's attention to H1N1, so few are watching H5N1 anymore (you, Carol, and AlohaOR being the exceptions). In addition, the relatively mild nature of the present pandemic has tended to create a "boy who cried wolf" scenario: No way my family will ever listen to any more alarms I send out about a potential H5N1 pandemic.

One thing i wish we could have on the main news diary as a regular feature is that graph we used to have of H5N1 cases by week or month, just to keep our attention on it. Also a weekly summary of such confirmed cases: I know there have been quite a few in Egypt and Vietnam and, I think, some in Indonesia so far this year. It would be helpful to have those summarized.

We need to keep our collective eye on H5N1, and not think that the threat has gone, or that we got H1N1 instead of H5N1, when it could well be history will write that we got it in addition to.

AI in poultry articles

bgw in MT — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 17:15:30 GMT

http://birdflucorner.wordpress...

Indonesia to establish animal derived infectious disease committee

March 10, 2010
Jakarta - Government is obliged to develop a special committee for animal derived infectious disease (zoonotic disease) after previous related committee, a bird flu committee, Komnas FPBI, had ended its term of duty on March 2010.

The urgencies had frequently showed up during the seminar of One World One Health: The Disease Battles of the 21th century, Tuesday (9/3).

"The Komnas FPBI has ended its term on this March, so we are now processing the next plan for infection disease control," said the consultant of Komnas FPBI, Arie Rukmantara.

The seminar which was held by the collaboration work between National Committee for Avian Influenza Control and Influenza Pandemic Preparedness (Komnas FPBI), was also exposing bird flu problems and other infectious diseases in other countries, like Thailand, India, and Indonesia.

One of infectious disease control speaker from West Kalimantan, Indonesia, the Head of Livestock and Animal Health Service, Abdul Manaf Mustafa, claimed that West Kalimantan was one of the areas which had been successfully eradicating bird flu outbreak. "We received the bird flu clear status on January 2010," said Manaf.

On 25 January 2010, Agriculture Minister announced West Kalimantan as bird flu clear area, as noted in a Decree of Agriculture Minister Number 316/Kpts/PD. 630/1/2010.

West Kalimantan province had been declared to have accomplished the intensive and systematic avian infectious disease eradication in West Kalimantan within 2005 to 2009.

Manaf also mentioned that established commitment between law practices and cooperating public, have been the key factor for the achievement. However, he also admitted some obstacles had hindered the progress of avian influenza eradication, such as the lacks of veterinary human resources and infrastructures, also participation of public.

Source: Indonesia national newspaper, Tempo Interaktif. http://www.tempointeraktif.com...
===AvianInfluenzaIndonesia===Posted by Ida
_______________________

http://koran.republika.co.id/k...

10 Villages in Kaur Bird Flu Alert

Friday, March 12, 2010 at 14:22:00
BENGKULU - as many as 10 villages in the subdistrict of North Kaur and Padang Vases Ilir, District Kaur, Bengkulu Province, declared a bird flu alert. Status was determined following the discovery of hundreds of free-range chicken that died suddenly and the positive of H5N1 virus.

''There are 10 villages declared alert, and our officers are doing virtox spraying in all the villages located along the Padang River Water Jar,''said the coordinator Local Disease Control Center (LDCC) UPTD Animal Husbandry Department of Animal Health and Animal Health Bengkulu Province , Emran Kuswady, Thursday (11 / 3).

Emran said that 10 villages were sprayed Ulak Great Village, Talang Besar, Talang I Jawi, Jawi Talang II, Air Dry I, Air Dry II, Talang Padang, Wood Mountain, Gunung Agung and Responsibilities Island.

According to him, since January 2010, a number of chickens died suddenly and in a week in early March and as many as 320 chicken died suddenly. Village''along the river has been sprayed because we estimate the transmission through the disposal of dead chicken carcass to Padang River Water Jar,''he said.

Until now, the team, Partisipatory Disease Surveillance Response (PDSR) Kaur district instructed to destroy all the surviving chickens in four villages, namely as many as 99 tails. ''After the sudden death of 320 chicken citizens, we instruct the team in Kaur PDSR to destroy all poultry that are still alive,''he said.

Estimates, the bird flu virus into the District through trade Kaur kabupaten chicken because the village is a container for the Great Ulak chicken. ''We think this virus came from a container of chicken and was instructed to not accept the supply of chicken in the next 60 days,''he said.

Emran warned residents to be cautious and avoid direct contact with poultry. He also recommends to the citizens not to dispose of dead poultry carcasses into the river because it would spread the virus. ''Dead birds should be burned or buried,''he said.

The discovery of bird flu cases in the District Kaur made a list of districts in Bengkulu province are infected with bird flu has become longer. Namely Bengkulu City, Mukomuko County, North Bengkulu, Bengkulu, Central District Kepahiang, Lebong District, Rejang Lebong and District Kaur.

Two other districts namely Seluma District and South Bengkulu so far have not found cases of bird flu. ant, ed: run

Widespread H1N1 Low Reactor G158E In US Raises Concerns

Carol@SC — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 13:41:09 GMT

Recombinomics Commentary

http://www.recombinomics.com/N...

Low Reactor G158E In 2010 Swine Pandemic H1N1

Carol@SC — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 13:35:57 GMT

Recombinomics Commentary

Recently released sequences by the US National Veterinary Labs in Ames, IA included two sequences from MN swine, A/swine/MN/8762-1/2010 and A/swine/MN/8762-2/2010, which have G158E.

Both sequences have a collection date of February 26, 2010, which represents the most current public 2010 pandemic H1N1 sequence and the first examples of G158E in swine pandemic H1N1. This polymorphism has been linked to a "low reactor" designation by Mill Hill and the CDC. It is also in the antigenic site associated with immunological escape from neutralizing monoclonal antibodies which react with 1918 and 2009 pandemic H1N1. The number of reported sequences with G158E is on the rise in Asia and Europe. Examples have also been reported in the United States although CDC has reported these examples as California/7 like, raising questions about recent antigenic characterizations. WHO has acknowledged inter-lab differences and has proposed a new standard using pooled human antibodies, which may produce uniform test results with lowered sensitivity.

The detection of G158E in February swine H1N1 isolates provides additional signals that the rate of H1N1 evolution is increasing. These sequences have D1381G, which is widely detected in human sequences including those in Ukraine and Norwat with D225G (Snip). the Minnesota swine isolates have a number of non-synonymous changes which are largely limited to swine isolates (Snip) only a handful of human 2010 sequences have been released. The largest number were just released by Greece, and 3/9 had D225G, which is another polymorphism being reported at increasing frequencies. The latest sequence from China, A/Beijing/22811/2009, was also just released. The December, 2009 isolate has 9 recently acquired non-synonymous changes in HA, once again signaling increased H1N1 evolution.

(Snip) H1N1 evolution is increasing, antigenic characterization tests are increasingly suspect. Similarly, the number of samples being collected and the release of data is on a decline, while the start of a new wave is being signalled. (Snip) http://www.recombinomics.com/N...

ROTFLMAO @ Carol!!

Bronco Bill — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 13:31:27 GMT

I most definitely did NOT see THAT coming!!! Thanks for the belly laugh!!