[In this post: (1) India; (2) China; (3) Indonesia; (4) Thailand; (5) Egypt; (6) Germany. See original texts at the source sites. EDITED.]
--------
-
(1) [INDIA, POULTRY, HUMAN, AVIAN INFLUENZA] INTERVIEW-"Uncontrolled" bird flu in region worries India
14 Aug 2007 10:04:06 GMT
Source: Reuters
By Kamil Zaheer
NEW DELHI, Aug 14 (Reuters) - India is intensifying preparations to deal with avian influenza as it borders countries with "uncontrolled outbreaks" in poultry and is also close to nations with human cases, its top health official said.
Federal Health Secretary Naresh Dayal referred to Myanmar and Bangladesh -- which have seen several outbreaks in poultry this year and share a long border with India's remote northeast.
"We are surrounded by countries with uncontrolled outbreaks in poultry and birds," Dayal told Reuters in an interview on Tuesday. "And further, there is Vietnam and Indonesia."
Indonesia and Vietnam -- both within a couple of hours flying distance from some Indian cities -- have reported human deaths from bird flu this year.
Indonesia says it has 83 confirmed bird flu deaths since 2003, the highest for any nation.
"Worldwide, human-to-human transmission is feared. We have to be able to tackle that if, God forbid, it starts," Dayal said.
Globally, there have been more than 300 confirmed human cases of bird flu since 2003 due to the H5N1 strain and nearly 200 deaths, according to the World Health Organisation.
The H5N1 virus remains mainly a disease affecting birds, but experts worry it may mutate into a form easily transmitted from person to person.
-
SELF-INTEREST
India this month managed to contain an outbreak of bird flu in chickens in its remote Manipur state bordering Myanmar, which had two flare-ups in poultry in July alone.
India has stepped up vigil on its borders with Myanmar as well as Bangladesh, said Dayal, adding that New Delhi had offered to help its two neighbours fight the disease.
"We are willing to provide help to Bangladesh. It is also in our own interest," he said, adding India was also ready to help Myanmar fight the virus if requested.
New Delhi has reported no human case from its three major outbreaks in poultry since 2006, but health officials are worried about its northeast region, which also borders China, where 16 human deaths have been reported since 2003.
Authorities are increasing the number of laboratories that can test for bird flu in humans.
Besides the three existing facilities, New Delhi will set up a new laboratory in the northeastern state of Assam as well as the eastern city of Kolkata, Dayal said.
India has an emergency stock of 900,000 anti-viral Tamiflu tablets and has prevented its sale at retail outlets to ensure no one self-medicates and develops resistance to the drug.
Dayal said more "regional response teams" were being trained to react quickly to deal with any suspected human cases, a crucial need in a densely populated country where the state medical infrastructure is overstretched and of poor quality.
"We will have to react fast but there is no need for panic," he said.
AlertNet news
-
SOURCE
------
-
(2) [CHINA, INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION] WHO's Representative in China Plans to Step Down
By NICHOLAS ZAMISKA
August 14, 2007 5:17 a.m.
HONG KONG -- Henk Bekedam is stepping down as the World Health Organization's chief representative in China after five years on the job, despite calls from Chinese health officials for him to stay on longer.
Hans Troedsson, the WHO's representative in Vietnam, will succeed the 49-year- old Dr. Bekedam, who said that the shift was part of a normal rotation at the WHO. Next week, he is expected to start his new job as director of health- sector development for the WHO's Western-Pacific regional office in Manila, reporting to Shigeru Omi, the regional director.
During Dr. Bekedam's tenure, the WHO's representative in China has been a key player in global public-health issues, given China's central role in contagious diseases such as bird flu and SARS.
A senior official within the Chinese Ministry of Health who has worked with Dr. Bekedam over the years said that despite occasional disagreements, the two sides worked well together and "he has contributed a lot." The official added that China's minister of health had personally requested that the WHO delay his new appointment because the ministry felt that Dr. Bekedam was "familiar with the health sector and he can provide more help."
A WHO official outside of China confirmed that Dr. Bekedam's next posting had been delayed somewhat because "the Chinese wanted to hang on to Henk," but that they eventually agreed to his replacement.
Dr. Bekedam says China has made major strides in opening to the outside world about diseases threats within its own borders, prompted in large part by the outbreak of SARS in 2002 and 2003, which killed nearly 800 people world-wide.
Chinese government officials initially attempted to cover up cases of the disease.
Dr. Bekedam was born in the Netherlands and worked in Malawi, Zambia, and Cambodia, among other places, before coming to China in 2002.
-
SOURCE
-----
-
(3) [INDONESIA, HUMAN, AVIAN INFLUENZA] Tests on Bali flu victims
Aug 14, 2007 10:25 PM
Test results due on Wednesday will show if two more Balinese villagers have fallen victim to the potentially deadly H5N1 bird flu virus.
A two-year-old girl with bird flu-like symptoms remains in a Bali hospital in a stable condition and appears to be improving, a spokeswoman at Indonesia's Ministry of Health said.
Test results will determine if she has the virus that killed her 29-year-old neighbour Ni Luh Putu Sri Windani on Sunday in the first confirmed fatal case of bird flu on the tourist island.
Windani's five-year-old daughter also died eleven days ago after suffering flu -like symptoms. No samples are available for testing, but authorities say it's likely she also died from H5N1.
The dead woman's husband has also undergone tests, but is not in hospital, the spokeswoman said.
Any further confirmation of bird flu cases will be a blow to Bali's tourism industry, which is just now recovering from the terrorist bombings that shook the Indonesian island in 2002 and 2005.
Australian authorities are closely monitoring the situation in Bali, and travel advice warns of human deaths from bird flu.
Australia's Health Minister Tony Abbott said there was no reason to believe the virus had mutated into a form easily spread among humans.
"It is a disease of birds which is very hard for humans to catch," Abbott told ABC Radio.
"At the moment we have no reason to think that there is human to human transmission."
Bali Hotel and Restaurant Association (PHRI) deputy chief Ray Surya Wijaya said bird flu still appeared to be less of a worry to tourists than terrorism.
"For Australian tourists, what they are most worried about is security," Wijaya said.
"Significantly, this (case of) bird flu hasn't affected us yet. "If bird flu spreads to Ubud or other tourist destinations, that's the danger.
"What we also worry about is that this news will be used by other countries like Malaysia, Thailand ... to divert tourists to their countries."
There have been 83 confirmed human deaths from bird flu in Indonesia since the first human case two years ago.
Authorities continue to cull poultry around the village of Dauh Takad Aya, in Bali's north west, with hundreds of birds already slain.
"Everything within a one-kilometre radius has been sterilised," Jembrana local parliament head I Made Kembang Hartawan said.
"I don't know how many have been culled, but it was many. Even their favourite pets, we culled them.
"Even if it's very expensive, we have to do that."
A number of chickens had also died in the neighbouring village of Batu Agung in recent weeks, although tests were yet to confirm H5N1, he said.
Authorities are also tracing the dead birds amid reports some of the infected chickens had been fed to pigs.
"That would be certainly something that would be a concern," said John Weaver, a senior technical adviser with the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation.
"One of the issues will be tracing the movements of these birds." One theory suggests infected pigs could act as a mixing vessel, potentially
producing a new and deadly strain of the virus which is more easily transmitted to humans.
Weaver said there had been ongoing cases of bird flu in poultry in Bali since the first confirmed Indonesian case in January 2004.
-
SOURCE
-----
-
(4) [THAILAND, HUMAN, AVIAN INFLUENZA] Avian Influenza surveillance in human
As at August 13, 2007
Bureau of Epidemiology, Department of Diseases Control, Ministry of Public Health
-
I. Avian Influenza in human situation 2007
Since January 1, to August 13, 2007, the Bureau of Epidemiology has received reports of influenza or pneumonia cases in Avian Influenza Surveillance Network from the Provincial Health Offices and Disease Prevention and Control Regional Offices.
-
The investigation and analysis were summarized as follows:
-
1. Cumulative numbers of patients under surveillance are 1,608 cases, 67 provinces.
-
August 10-13, reports are 15 cases. Fourteen cases from Sukhothai, and 1 from Narathiwas.
-
2. Confirmed human case of avian influenza 2006 = 3 cases, with 3 death cases.
• The first death case, reported from Phichit province, Tabklo district is 17 years old male, He had onset on July 15, 2006 and died on July 24, 2006.
• The second death case, reported from Uthai Thani province, Sawang Arom district is 27 years old male. He had onset on July 24, 2006 and died on August 3, 2006.
• The third death case, reported from Nong Bua Lampoo province, Non Sung district is 59 years old male. He had onset on July 14, 2006 and died on August 10, 2006.
-
3. There is 1 case under investigate which waiting for laboratory result.
-
Conclusion:
• In 2005, there are 5 confirmed human cases of avian influenza, with 2 death
cases.
• In 2006, there are 3 confirmed human dead cases of avian influenza.
-
SOURCE
-----
-
(5) [EGYPT, POULTRY, HUMAN, AVIAN INFLUENZA] Bird Flu in Egypt - Warning against dealing with avian flu-stricken birds, 6/8/2007
The Ministry of Health and Population warned of direct contact with birds infected with bird flu.
The Ministry of Health spokesman Abdel-Rahman Shahin said avian flu could spread in high temperatures.
Fifteen people died of avian flu since the disease first appeared in Egypt in March 2006, and some 23 cases were recovered.
-
SOURCE
-----
-
(6) [GERMANY, WILD BIRDS, AVIAN INFLUENZA] The district Saalfeld Rudolstadt the check measures waived approximately six weeks after the outbreak of the bird flu with utilizable poultry again. (automated translation from german to english)
All 802 samples, which were taken in the past week in poultry existence, would have brought, communicated a negative result the Ministry of Health on Tuesday.
The stable obligation in the district exists however further.
Approximately six weeks ago with a house goose in Wickersdorf the highly sticking on variant of the H5N1-Virus had been proven.
1200 animals were killed as a precaution.
The check measures for the dam Windischleuba (circle Altenburger country) and the range Ebeleben (Kyffhäuserkreis/Unstrut Hainich circle) had been already waived in the past week.
At the latest in the middle of Septembers is to fall according to Ministry a decision over it whether the check measures at the dam Kelbra (Kyffhäuserkreis) can be waived.
There at the beginning of of August a dead bird was discovered last. Altogether within this range more than 200 dead black neck divers were found, most of it behind the national border in Saxonia-Anhalt.
-
SOURCE
-----
Posts
0 comments:
Post a Comment