Bird Flu – Egyptian Woman Dies Bringing Total To 3 Dead In One Week In Egypt

An Egyptian woman who had been in contact with sick birds died of the avian influenza virus on Monday, the third death in the most populous Arab country from bird flu in less than a week, the Health Ministry said.

The ministry said in a statement Firdaus Mohamed Hadad of Menoufia province in the Nile Delta was taken to hospital on Saturday and died early on Monday.

“She suffered from a high fever and difficulty breathing and had a pulmonary infection after coming into contact with birds suspected of being infected with avian flu,” the statement said. “She was placed on a respirator but died at dawn on Monday.”

The death was the 18th bird flu fatality and the 43rd human case in Egypt since the deadly H5N1 virus arrived in early 2006.

It came a day after a 25-year-old Egyptian woman died of bird flu in the Nile Delta city of Mansoura. Another woman, Ola Younis, died of bird flu on Wednesday in Beni Suef province south of Cairo.

It is the third winter that the virus has struck after lying low during Egypt’s hot summers, when it is much less likely to spread from one carrier to another.

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Bird Flu Scare – Alarm Over Dead Pigeons in Jeddah

The death of a large number of pigeons at a public park in Al-Hamrah district in Jeddah is worrying both the general public and government officials.

On learning about the deaths, the Ministry of Agriculture yesterday sent a veterinary team to find out if it was caused by bird flu or some other disease.

Mahmoud ibn Saeed, assistant director general of Agricultural Ministry in Jeddah, told Arab News yesterday that the preliminary investigations by the doctors revealed that the bird deaths were caused by polluted water. The official said that similar cases were reported in the past. Then the deaths occurred after the birds drank water from sewages and other polluted sources, he said.

“The results of the laboratory reports on the bird deaths would be available shortly and there is no reason to panic,” said Saeed.

The ministry is on guard about any development related to birds in the light of the cases of bird flu reported from some parts of the Kingdom, he said.

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U.S. Still Not Ready To Cope With Biological Attacks and Flu Pandemics

According to a newly released report the U.S. remains unprepared to deal with disasters such as biological attacks and flu pandemics.

The report by the Trust for Americas Health says many states still lack a stockpile of drugs, masks, gloves and other equipment needed to battle with a pandemic despite five years of constant and detailed warning.

The report says until all states measure up, the United States is not safe and also says overall federal funding for state and local preparedness has declined.

Trust for Americas Health is a nonprofit organization which has been issuing reports every year for five years.

According to the report seven states performed adequately in each of the 10 categories that were measured, which earned them a score of 10; top scores went to Illinois, Kentucky, Nebraska, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Virginia, while bottom were Arkansas, Iowa, Mississippi, Nevada, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

The Trust says the 2001 anthrax attacks, in which five people died, and the disasters caused by hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005, should have been a wake-up call and galvanized more action.

The report says though those disasters highlighted a range of problems with U.S. preparedness, preparedness remains spotty and 13 states are without adequate plans to distribute emergency vaccines, antidotes, and medical supplies from the Strategic National Stockpile.

Another 21 states do not have statutes that allow for adequate liability protection for healthcare volunteers during emergencies and 12 states do not have a disease surveillance system compatible with the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions National Electronic Disease Surveillance System.

Seven states have not purchased any portion of their federally subsidized or unsubsidized antivirals to use during a pandemic flu and seven states and along with Washington D.C. lack sufficient capabilities to test for biological threats.

The Department of Health and Human Services say states have until June 2008 to get their orders in.

This is despite health experts worldwide predicting the threat of a pandemic of some sort, with the H5N1 avian influenza currently doing the rounds as the most likely candidate.

Experts have expressed concern that federal funding levels for hospital preparedness, now at about $400 million annually, are inadequate and health officials say money for emergency preparedness needs to be distributed through the states.

World Health Organization experts are currently investigating a cluster of human H5N1 cases in Pakistan where some form of human to human transmission of the virus appears possible.

The virus which is a disease passed between birds usually involves close contact with infected fowl to affect humans.

Egypt – Egyptian Woman Dies of Bird Flu

An Egyptian woman of 25 has died of bird flu, the Egyptian Ministry of Health said on Wednesday.

It was the first human death in Egypt from the virus since June and the 16th since the disease arrived in early 2006.

Story will be updated when additional details become available.

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Bird Flu – Preparing For Disaster

On a snowy day, Catherine A. “Jackie” Mitchell spread her message of influenza pandemic awareness.

Set up outside Kmart on Route 20, Mitchell had a poster board that proclaimed “Are You Pandemic Ready?”

She had a table set up with examples of what someone would need if an outbreak happened, stores were closed and supplies scarce: water, hand sanitizer, salt, cleaning wipes, canned soup and tuna and bleach.

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Bird Flu Outbreak in South Russia Spreads

A fifth case of bird flu has been confirmed at a farm in the Rostov Region, south Russia, close to the site of previous outbreaks, the regional emergencies ministry said.

“The outbreak at two smallholdings was registered on Saturday, samples were taken and sent for analysis, they came back positive for bird flu,” the ministry said.

All 79 birds on the smallholding have been culled. A quarantine zone has been introduced in the Tselinsky district near the site of the first case of the deadly virus.

The first bird flu outbreak was discovered in late November at the Gulyai-Borisovskaya poultry farm in the Rostov Region. The farm’s entire population of 500,000 chickens was culled. Later a bird flu outbreak was registered at a smallholding close to the farm.

Another outbreak was then discovered at a farm in the Tselinsky district.

The Rostov Region is particularly vulnerable to bird flu as part of the Krasnodar Territory, which is on a route taken by migrating birds in winter. In September, the region was hit by the H5N1 strain and 230,000 birds were culled.

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Human-use Bird Flu Vaccine Safe and Effective

China announced here Monday that its human-use bird flu vaccine proves “safe” and “effective” during the second phase of clinical tests.

The vaccine was jointly developed by the Beijing-based vaccine producer Sinovac Biotech, the first in the world to develop SARS vaccine, and the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention. The program was also under support of the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Ministry of Health.

Zhang Jiansan, vice-general manager of the Sinovac Biotech, said the second phase of clinical tests was carried out from September to November with approval of the Chinese State Food and Drug Administration. A total of 402 people aged from 18 to 60 took the test.

Test results showed that the major index of the vaccine all reached international standard and performed well in human body. None of the test takers were found with serious negative reaction, which proved that the vaccine was safe.

Zhang said test takers of different ages were given different dosage of vaccine, and the result was also positive. “It means the vaccine could give multiple choices in treating flu infected people.”

“We were able to control the dosage and immunization procedure during the second phase of clinical tests, which also provided us scientific and effective methods to combat highly infective influenza,” Zhang said.

Observers said China has completed its technological preparation to combat influenza with the success of human-use bird flu vaccine research and clinical tests.

“China is also capable to produce human-use bird flu vaccine in appropriate quantity,” Zhang stressed

Five Family Members Infected With Bird Flu

Five members of a family in Indonesia’s densely-populated West Java province are suspected to be infected with the deadly bird flu virus, the state-run news agency Antara said yesterday.

Fathurahman told Antara that his three children, aged eight, 10 and 16, were suffering from high fevers, coughing and had difficulty breathing following an outbreak of the virus among local poultry

“Dozens of our chickens and ducks died suddenly. The veterinary office tested the dead poultry positive for bird flu,” Fathurahman told Antara.

The three children, along with two other siblings in their extended family aged 17 and 30, and suffering similar symptoms, were reportedly admitted to Serang hospital, about 80km 50 miles west of Jakarta, earlier this week.

The five flu suspects were transferred yesterday to Persahabatan hospital in Jakarta, which is designated to treat avian influenza patients, Serang district health office chief Encep Mukardi told Antara.
An additional two members of the family have also reportedly suffered bird flu-like symptoms, but have yet to be admitted to hospital.

The health ministry’s bird flu information centre could not be reached yesterday for comment. Indonesia has suffered the world’s highest death toll from the H5N1 virus, with 93 confirmed deaths out of 115 confirmed cases.

To Escape Bird Flu Move To The Country

People who lived in the country were much less likely to die with deadly flu than those who lived in towns and cities, according to a study of the worst pandemic to hit Britain.

During the 1918-1919 influenza pandemic an estimated 50 million people were killed worldwide by the virus, with the biggest toll felt by young adults, and scientists around the world are now studying historical records to find out what lessons can be learned in preparation for the next pandemic.

“Death rates were 30-40 per cent higher in cities and towns as compared with rural areas,” said Prof Gerardo Chowell of Arizona State University, one of the authors of the study of the impact on England and Wales published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society, Biological Sciences.

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Bird Flu Still World’s Most Lethal Threat

If everyone thought the mutated human killer variant of bird flu had died a death over the last few months, you would have been totally wrong. All the following were recorded this month:

China  a father and son were diagnosed with the virus. 60 per cent of all infected have died.

Pakistan – for the first time in the history of Pakistan, bird flu was confirmed after two brothers died.

Indonesia – a man from an area west of Jakarta died from bird flu.

Poland – a fresh outbreak of the deadly H5N1 virus bird flu was discovery at two poultry farms.

Benin – the west African country recorded its first suspected cases of bird flu.

Russia – an outbreak of bird flu on a farm in southern Russia.

Saudi Arabia – the bird flu scare has gripped Saudi Arabia and forced the government to cull almost 4.5 million birds.

But the most disturbing news this week is that scientists have created the human killer virus in the lab. The dreaded H5N1 avian flu, as feared, finally mutated last August into a virulent form that can easily spread from person to person, increasing the likelihood of a pandemic that could kill hundreds of millions much like 1918s infamous Spanish flu.

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