H1N1- Ultimate News on influenza A - bird flu, swine flu & avian flu alerts

Experts say bird flu can no longer be controlled

According to Earthtimes.org and CNBC Dr David Nabarro warns :
The uncontrolled spread of bird flu across Europe. Asia and Africa suggests that the virus is rapidly moving and is closer to a critical mutation that makes it easily transmissible between humans, experts have said. This year alone the H5N1 virus has accounted for 29 lives and is responsible for the unfettered culling of tens of thousands of poultry animals.

"We expected it to move, but not any of us thought it would move quite like this," said Dr. David Nabarro, coordinator on bird flu efforts at the United Nations. "Something generally disturbing is going on at the moment. It's certainly in the bird world, and it's pushing up against the human world in a serious way." Source : Earthtimes

Cameroon : New Case of H5N1

The government of Cameroon, the fourth African country affected by the deadly H5N1 virus, has confirmed the presence of a second case of bird flu. Source : Reuters

H5N1 found in Southern Russia

The H5N1 strain of bird flu virus has been found in dozens of dead birds in Russia’s southern province of Volgograd, officials in the province told. Today the provincial veterinary laboratory confirmed the presence of the H5N1 virus in the blood of dead birds” found at a farmyard at the village of Vesyoly, a statement from Volgograd provincial administration said.source:  Mosnews

Oseltamivir Resistance in Influenza A (H5N1) Infection

De Jong et al. (Dec. 22 issue)1 report resistance to oseltamivir in two of three recent deaths from influenza A (H5N1) virus infection and recommend investigation into new antiviral drugs for use either alone or in combination with oseltamivir. Zanamivir is another licensed neuraminidase inhibitor.  Source : New Englang Journal of Medicine

Experimental Bird Flu Vaccine Falls Short

Only about half of the people who received an experimental bird flu vaccine produced antibodies indicating they were protected, researchers report.

Although the dose needed for even this modest effect was extremely high (about 12 times that of the annual flu vaccine), officials stopped just short of calling the trial a disappointment.

"We had hoped it would be better," acknowledged principal investigator Dr. John Treanor, a professor of medicine and an associate professor of microbiology and immunology at the University of Rochester Medical Center. Source : Forbes

Czechs testing dead bird for H5N1 bird flu strain

The Czech Republic is testing a dead swan for the H5N1 strain of bird flu, the first suspected case in the central European country. Source : Reuters

The mysterious death of Ms.Li in Shanghai

No evidence has been found suggesting that a migrant worker who died in Shanghai from bird flu on March 21 had any direct contact with poultry, city authorities told Interfax today.

The Ministry of Health confirmed on March 24 that bird flu caused the death of the 29-year-old woman. Shanghai municipal Department of Health had initially said she developed symptoms of "coughing and fever" and died of unexplained pneumonia. Source : Interfax China

2nd Egyptian dies from H5N1

An Egyptian woman died from the bird flu virus on Monday, an official from the United Nations health agency said, adding the woman was the second person in the country to die from the virus. Source : Reuters

Reinsurers to cough up for bird flu : EURO 10 BILLION FOR LOSS !

An article that confirms that now Bird Flu is planned , just when ?
HE global reinsurance industry, still reeling from last year's record hurricane season, might have to shoulder losses of up to E10 billion ($16.8 billion) if bird flu becomes a human pandemic, three times the tally of previous analyst estimates.

Hannover Re, the world's fourth-largest reinsurer, said its estimates suggested that half of its projected E125 million of life reinsurance profits for 2006 could be wiped out in the event of a bird flu pandemic in humans.

Wolf Becke, head of life reinsurance, the area most likely to be affected by the disease, said: "Medical experts agree that a pandemic is not a question of whether, just when."

Analysts said Hannover Re's impact assessment was more than three times higher than its own forecasts, based on a 10 per cent spike in mortality rates and a consequent hit to so-called embedded values.

If applied across the industry, that implied a potential loss of up to E10 billion, compared with estimates of up to $US90 billion ($127 billion) for the final bill from last year's hurricane season.
Source : Australian News

Flacon tested positive for H5N1 in Hong-Kong

Hong Kong Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) said Saturday that the Peregrine Falcon found in Tin Shui Wai earlier this week was confirmed to be H5N1 positive after a series of laboratory tests.

The bird was collected by AFCD staff on Tuesday in Grandeur Terrace upon a public referral and died the following day. Source : Xinhua