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

Norfolk Poultry Worker Contracts H7N3 Bird Flu Strain, UK

One of the poultry workers who worked at Witford Lodge Farm in Norfolk, England, has become infected with the H7N3 Bird Flu virus strain. He is not in hospital, as H7 does not make humans very ill, but he has conjunctivitis. He or she had been in close physical contact with infected birds. The worker does not want to be named. Antiviral Tamiflu was administered to poultry workers on the farm as a precautionary measure. Source : Medical News

China denies bird flu cover-up

China, criticised for its initial cover-up of SARS three years ago, has defended its record on reporting human cases of bird flu as prompt and transparent, state media said on Saturday. China has reported 18 human infections of the H5N1 strain of bird flu, 12 of which have been fatal. The latest is an 8-year-old girl in the southwestern province of Sichuan who the China Daily newspaper said was in critical condition on Friday. Source : Reuters

H5N1 Bird Flu Confirmed in Ivory Coast

The bird flu cases were reported in the commercial capital Abidjan, in backyard free-range chickens, ducks and a sparrowhawk
      
The above comments confirm H5N1 bird flu in another African country, the Ivory Coast.  Although not unexpected, the report is one of the first documenting H5N1 in wild birds in Africa.  Most other African countries, such as Nigeria,       Niger, Cameroon, Burkina Faso, Sudan, and Egypt, only identified H5N1 in domestic poultry, because surveillance of wild birds was lacking.
      
H5N1 in the Ivory Coast increases the number of reported cases in the East Atlantic Flyway, which links Africa to western Europe and North America.
      
The latest report increases the likelihood of a significant increase in H5N1 reports in western Europe and North America. Source : Recombinomics

Vaccinating all schoolkids could prevent flu pandemic

The key to stopping a flu pandemic may lie in schoolchildren.
At school, kids are close together, they don't practice the best hygiene, and they help germs spread like pollen in spring. At home, they do the same with their families.
Giving them the best available vaccine at the earliest sign of a major epidemic might fend off a deadly pandemic, say two of the nation's most prominent influenza researchers, newly arrived at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.
"A lot of people believe kids are the best transmitters of the virus, and with a limited supply of vaccine, this might work," said Elizabeth Halloran, who has studied epidemics for decades. Source : The Seattle Times

Human Bird Flu Cases Top 200 After Egypt Confirms 12 Infections

Bird flu cases worldwide topped 200 after a dozen people were confirmed to have been infected with the virus in Egypt, the World Health Organization said.

``Of the 12 cases in Egypt, four patients have died and one remains hospitalized in stable condition,'' the Geneva-based United Nations agency said in an April 21 statement on its Web site. ``Seven patients have fully recovered and been discharged from hospital.''

An 18-year-old girl from the north Egyptian governorate of Minufiyah is the country's latest confirmed fatality, the WHO said. She developed symptoms on April 5 and died nine days later. Source: Bloomberg

H5N1 saturation : 8 UK Labs Work Overtime To Test Bird Carcasses For H5N1 Virus

All eight of Scotland's laboratories that can test for bird flu are to open over the weekend to help meet the rise in referrals of dead birds. Scientists say the number of samples being sent for testing has increased "substantially" since the UK's first H5N1 case was confirmed in Fife, reports BBC.

So far all the birds analyzed since the dead swan with the virus was found in Cellardyke have been negative. Initial announcement into the death of the swan suggest the virus was very close to those found in wild birds in outbreaks in Europe. Source : TradingMarkets

 

H5N1 Revealed: the secret No 10 plan to tackle bird flu food shortages

Emergency plans to tackle widespread food shortages in the event of a bird flu pandemic are being drawn up by ministers, according to secret Cabinet documents.

Off-duty firemen and retired lorry drivers would be pressed into service to ensure that essential food and drink supplies were delivered. Laws that restrict the daily hours of drivers and other vital workers would be suspended.

An extract from the secret Cabinet documents

The confidential papers - seen by the Sunday Telegraph - show that a serious lack of long-distance- HGV drivers willing to go to infected areas is seen in Whitehall as a potential "pinch point" if avian flu takes a grip. The papers reveal government concern over a lack of preparation for a pandemic among the biggest food firms.

They also show how, in the event of a serious outbreak overseas, the Government will give preventive medicine to embassy and consular staff - but not to British holidaymakers or UK nationals who live in an infected country.

The Government fears that any pandemic could last more than six months. The documents say that Whitehall should be on alert for a pandemic on an "extended time-scale - certainly for six months … and perhaps longer". They also suggest "more than one pandemic wave" of bird flu. Source Telegraph

H5N1 Uk : 'Closing schools will save lives' if bird flu pandemic strikes

Further details tonight emerged of Government plans to deal with a human flu pandemic.

The chief medical officer in the UK has advised schools should be planning closures in case the bird flu virus mutates into a form that can be transferred from human to human.

Sir Liam Donaldson has warned that a pandemic could kill 100,000 schoolchildren. He said school closures could halve that number.

In a letter to schools minister Jacqui Smith - leaked to The Sunday Times - he wrote: "Until the pandemic virus emerges we cannot know for certain which groups would be most vulnerable.

"If all age groups were affected equally, and the virus was particularly severe (ie at the upper end of our assumptions) the excess deaths in school-age children could be as high as 100,000. This would mean that potentially 50,000 deaths might be prevented by school closures." Source : 24dash.com

Rich nations slow to act on bird flu: FAO

The world's rich nations were too slow in responding to the first cases of bird flu, contributing a mere 36 million U.S. dollars to the fight against the disease, said the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) here Thursday.

There were estimates that some 1.9 billion dollars were needed, but rich nations only reacted when the disease had already reached Russia, said FAO chief Jacques Diouf. Bird flu could have been halted if developed nations had intervened when the first cases occurred in southeastern Asia.

"Although our technical staff are working in Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia and seven other countries in the region, it has already been too late," he said : Source :People daily's China

British bird flu death sets cat among pigeons

BRITAIN'S poultry industry will be watching for a consumer backlash against chicken and eggs following confirmation of the first case of H5N1 bird flu in Britain. As thousands of callers rang the Government's hotline with reports of dead swans, geese, gulls and garden birds, farmers and health officials repeated assurances that there was no risk to public health. The run-up to Easter is Otraditionally a bumper week for sales of poultry and eggs, and a slump could cost the industry dearly. Source : The age