Bird Flu Center

A study relying on mathematical analysis has been brought forward to confirm that several cases of avian influenza on humans, detected in 2006 in Indonesia, were due to the disease spreading from person to person. A team of US researchers have developed a tool by which to quickly run tests on contagious disease cases of outbreak, so as to assess the risk of a world epidemic occurring.

Health officials around the world estimate that a world epidemic of influenza is to be expected in the future and the H5N1 bird flu virus is seen as one of the biggest dangers. Most cases of human infections so far have been attributed to direct contact with birds. However, a few cases have arisen suspicion that the virus might have been passed on from human to human.

The scientists analyzed to clusters. One of them was the case of eight family members dying in Sumatra last year, while the other consisted of eight people being infected in Turkey, out of which four have died. The researchers say there is enough statistical evidence to confirm human to human transmission of the bird flu virus in the case of the Sumatra cluster.

Vietnam officials were praised for the country’s consistent efforts to contain the bird flu virus in their country, during a conference jointly organized by the government and the Food and Agriculture Organization in Hanoi on Monday.

May this year saw a reoccurrence of the disease in the Asian country, but previously to that, there had been over 12 months without a single avian influenza case detected in poultry. Four years ago, following the first cases on its territory, Vietnam put in place strict measures to combat the spread of the highly pathogenic H5N1 virus which causes bird flu. Surveillance, poultry culls and control on the movement of poultry around the country were all among the measures taken in order to reduce the risk of new infestation among birds or humans.

Families have also been discouraged from raising chickens in their backyard. Though with little success, intensive farming has been promoted among the population. The country will continue to vaccinate poultry against bird flu, as well as step up surveillance in several provinces which seem under threat.

German authorities have decided to close the doors of a poultry farm in the south of the country, after the presence of the H5N1 virus was confirmed in a number of birds in the area. Further checks on other samples from farm birds were taken in for analysis, as the farm raises around 44000 birds. Several cases of avian influenza were identified in Germany in June this year, as well as 2006. Also this week, Russia banned poultry imports from Italy, in an attempt to prevent the spread of the disease in the country.

Following a batch of tests carried out on dead birds in a Vietnamese province near the Chinese border, local authorities have confirmed that H5N1 avian influenza virus is responsible for 89 chickens and ducks that were found dead at a farm in Ban Loc Village. The confirmation came from the country’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development on Wednesday. Vietnam experienced the peak period of bird flu outbreaks earlier this year, in June, as 18 cities and provinces had to cope with the virus.

There are now three provinces on the government’s watch list for any avian influenza outbreaks, while 15 other provinces have been declared free of the disease, after going for 21 days without reporting any outbreak. Vietnam death’s toll for bird flu stands at 46 people, out of the 100 confirmed infections.

A 17 year old woman is the latest reported human victim in Indonesia’s continuous battle against bird flu. The country’s Health Ministry says the victim died on Tuesday in Tangerang, just west of Jakarta. Earlier the same week, another bird flu victim succumbed to the disease, as a woman residing on the island of Bali became the island’s first human victim of avian influenza. With 83 officially recorded human deaths of bird flu, Indonesia is still the country most affected by the illness.

The Indian government has completed a wide campaign of testing on thousands of people, as an outbreak of avian influenza sparked worries in the remote northeast. Four boys previously suspected to have been infected have tested negative for the disease however. The joint secretary in the health ministry gave the news to the press on Friday, as thousands of people in Manipur were also checked by health staff after the confirmed H5N1 outbreak in chickens from a small poultry farm in the area.