Bird Flu Center

The Sudden death of thousands of chickens over the course of a few days has been cause for panic in Haryana’s Bhiwani District, as poultry farmers feared the highly-pathogenic H5N1 virus was to blame for the event.

They complain that the veterinarians are powerless in stopping the wave of deaths among birds. However, there has been no official confirmation of the presence of the bird flu disease in the community.

West Bengal has culled about 160,000 birds so far, with another 100,000 have died from the contagious strain of avian influenza.

Indonesia recorded its 101st human bird flu death on Wednesday, the last in a series of events that marks the spread of the disease through the Asian continent. The latest victim is a 32-year-old man whose source of infection is not yet known.

Tibet is facing its own virus problem, as a poultry farm was shut down and quarantined, following an outbreak of the virus which killed 1,000 birds. Another 13,000 poultry were culled in an attempt to stop the spreading of the highly contagious virus.

India, meanwhile, reports the spreading of the H5N1 bird flu virus to three district of the West Bengal state, where a massive poultry culling campaign has been initiated, leading to the killing of more than 129,000 birds. The good news so far is that no cases of human infection have been reported yet.

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.

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.

As poultry culling intensifies at the farm in India where the latest outbreak of bird flu was detected last week, there is dispute over the nature of the illness of one of the farm’s workers. A 40 year old man was admitted to hospital with flu like symptoms, but doctors at JN hospital, as well as those at RIMS, denied he is a case for the isolation wards set up in both of the units. The patient’s relatives say he is appearing to have all the avian influenza symptoms presented in the media. He developed high fever and was taken to hospital by his family, but eventually taken home.

The man regularly engaged in the feeding and caring of the livestock at the farm in question. Although health department staff have taken blood samples from farm workers the results are yet to be learned.

Reports that bird flu outbreaks have been signalled in neighbouring Myanmar have urged India to keep an eye on the situation and step up surveillance measures near the border. Nearly a week ago an international animal health organization reported an outbreak of avian influenza in the state of Mon, southern Myanmar.

Veterinarians are now monitoring poultry health in the areas close to the border and rapid response teams have been set up to intervene at the slightest sign of disease. India shares a 1,600 km border with Myanmar and this is seen by some by a potentially dangerous lapse in the preventive measures instituted in Asia.

Vietnam officials are looking to urgently acquire 50 million doses of flu vaccine for poultry, after avian influenza has started resurfacing, killing two people. A national campaign to vaccinate poultry in Vietnam is jeopardized as the country only has 15 million doses available. Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has signed an order to approve the import of 200 million more, in the attempt to stop the spread of the disease in one of the most affected countries in the world.

An important vaccination program was adopted in 2005 which was widely appreciated in the international community and was efficient until recently, when bird and human cases started reappearing. The Animal Health Department reports that 8 provinces in northern and central regions of the country have reported outbreaks of the virus.

Vietnam, one of the most heavily hit countries by the bird flu disease, has added woes as an unusual form of pig flu has infected humans as well. While avian influenza reappeared in the central region of the country, killing hundreds of ducks in a farm, two people have fallen victims to a pig disease in northern Vietnam. Thousands of pigs have been killed in recent weeks and two out of 22 hospitalized victims of the pig disease have died. The virus causes severe internal hemorrhage as well as high fever.

Infection is usually due to the person eating pork from a diseased pig or inhaling the air next to the sick animal. Transport of pigs and pork from infected areas is expected to be banned to attempt to stop the spread of the disease.

A declaration from India’s Joint Secretary in the Ministry of health on Thursday confirmed that the most recent outbreak of bird flu in poultry farm from a northeastern province of the country was due to the most dangerous strain of the disease, H5N1. Health workers have already been dispatched in the state of Manipur to assess the condition of about 450,000 people in the area of the poultry farm where the virus was discovered. As of yet, there have been no reported cases of farm workers or veterinary personnel presenting flu like symptoms.

Two government laboratories separately confirmed the presence of the H5N1 avian influenza virus. This comes after India declared itself as a bird flu free country almost a year ago. Two important outbreaks of the disease had previously let to the culling of around a million birds.

The death of a young Indonesian boy marked the 81st victim in the fight against bird flu in the Asian country over the weekend. The boy was living in a city located in West Java’s Banten province and according to reports he died on Sunday in one of the biggest hospitals in the country’s capital, Jakarta.

Health officials say that the victim had displayed regular symptoms of bird flu on July 1st, being admitted in hospital four days later. Further tests confirmed the initial diagnostic, but it is yet uncertain how the boy contracted the virus initially. Indonesian authorities have been alerted by a new wave of avian flu infections and a new ban on backyard poultry farms has been placed in the case of nine provinces.

A new case of bird flu has been reported at a duck farm located in northern Vietnam last week. This brings the number of provinces and cities infected with the dangerous H5N1 virus to 16, according to a government statement on Thursday.

A total of 240 were found dead in Viet Tri City, during the first four days of June alone. Medical staff have been culling the rest of the 130 birds in the location, as test results confirmed that H5N1 virus was present in the dead ducks.

The first human case of infection in China since January 10th was confirmed yesterday, when government authorities announced that a 37 year old farmer in a province in eastern China had contracted the disease. The patient is reported to have recovered, however now a 44 year old farmer was also diagnosed with avian influenza. The first case of human infection with the H5N1 virus was reported in the country in 2005, however, the government last year disclosed that new tests revealed that a soldier that had died in 2003 had also been infected with the virus.

Just days after a case of bird flu was reported in a person living in the north of the country, the disease has reappeared in a southern province. The confirmation came from the Animal Health Department on Thursday, when it was announced that the latest outbreak was found in Mekong Delta province of Vinh Long. Just two weeks ago, the authorities had declared that all the previous outbreaks spotted there, as well as in seven other provinces in the South had been contained. So far around 800 ducklings were slaughtered and the areas were sterilized.

The Islamabad zoo (Pakistan) has confirmed the presence of the highly pathogenic H5N1 virus. A gift batch of peacocks is believed to be the initial source of infection. The Zoo has been closed for the moment, as after several deaths of ducks and geese it was discovered that the disease affecting the birds was avian influenza. Further birds were called immediately, while the entire premises has been fumigated. Other birds were administered water and oil-based vaccines against the virus. At the moment it is estimated that the zoo will reopen in March if no more cases of bird flu are found.

The Afghan health ministry has officially confirmed the existence of bird flu in the country. The disease was discovered in the eastern province of Nangarhar. The initial suspicion of a human case was unfounded, as further testing showed it was a case of malaria. Birds are being culled as a measure of stopping the spread of the virus. Afghanistan has previously been hit by Avian influenza last, without any human victims reported.

The highly pathogenic H5N1 bird flu strain has been confirmed in a zoo in the Pakistani capital. It seems the disease has already killed 24 birds, as the National reference Laboratory for Poultry Disease took samples for testing and later confirmed the presence of the virus. Measures of screening, disinfection and isolation of birds have already been taken, while help has also been sought from the National Institute for health and the World Health Organization

Indonesia has once again started to share its samples of bird flu collected from its victims with the World Health Organization. However, a condition has been imposed that in the future developing countries will share equal access to an affordable vaccine, when it is developed. Indonesian authorities had drawn heavy criticism just weeks ago when they announced that samples would no longer be shared with WHO. Several countries are trying to develop an effective vaccine for the disease and some claim that a new substance could be available as early as May.

Indonesia has announced that a 6 year old is the latest person to fall victim to the bird flu virus in the Asian country. That brings the number of human cases recorded in the country this month to five. Regular outbreaks of H5N1 are reported in countries such as China, Egypt, Indonesia and Thailand, places where humans have always lived near domestic animals and where poultry is raised on a large scale in backyards. 269 people from 10 countries have been known to be infected with the virus since it was first discovered in 2003.

An avian influenza bird flu was reported at a poultry farm in the southwestern part of Japan. So far there have been no reported cases of infections to humans, but local officials have already began preparations to cull all the 50,000 birds located on the farm. A similar number of birds will be culled at a farm nearby. Early tests had revealed that the birds were infected with the highly pathogenic H5N1 variant of the bird flu virus.

The fifth person to have died in Indonesia in the past two weeks from the dangerous bird flu virus has prompted authorities to launch a new campaign against the raise of backyard chickens. Residents are now urged to sell or even give up their poultry. The virus is once again causing havoc around the country and the latest victim is a 19 year old woman from the town of Garut. The total death toll in Indonesia has now gone up to 62. Meanwhile, officials in South Korea are planning their own campaign designed to slaughter thousands of birds and isolate the disease.

Following two more outbreaks by the highly pathogenic virus H5N1, Korea’s government has raised the alert level to “precaution”, from the previous level of “attention”. The discovery was made at poultry farms in the North Jeolla Province. The decision has been made to cull all the chickens and ducks on a 3 km radius around the two farms, in an attempt to stop the spread of the disease. It is believed that around 800,000 poultry is raised in that area. The country killed 5.3 million birds in 2003, trying to contain the last known outbreak of avian influenza.

The results of a fifth bird flu monitoring in Azerbaijan will be released this week. The testing program lasted from October 25th to October 29th and took place with help from the Ecology and Natural Resources Ministry, the Health Ministry and the National Academy of Zoology. 41 wild birds were randomly selected from different regions across the country and tested for any traces of avian influenza. No dead birds were found during the monitoring.

Chinese scientists have reported the discovery of bird flu traces in sparrows, raising new question about the virus’ nature and the way it is spread. Sparrows are common, non-migratory birds and live in the Chinese mainland and until now it was believed the only migratory waterfowl can be a carrier and transmitter of the disease. Samples taken from sparrows were tested after an avian influenza outbreak was reported in the province of Henan. Chinese authorities say that there is no reason to believe that these sparrows pose any risk to humans so far.

The quarantine previously imposed in an area from the province of Inner Mongolia has been lifted, as announced by Chinese authorities. The measure had been imposed as a result of a bird flu outbreak that affected the region last month, but now a ceremony was organized to mark the end of the quarantine in Jiuyuan District. The last bird was culled 21 days ago and experts that have been monitoring the area say that no other outbreak of the disease has been observed ever since. The sudden death of nearly 1,000 poultry alerted the authorities on September 27 and testing later confirmed that the birds had been infected with the highly pathogenic H5N1 virus. Over 42 million birds have been vaccinated against avian influenza in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

As part of a larger plan to supply the country with the necessary means of prevention and protection against the avian flu, the Vietnamese ministry of health has announced that 1 million Tamiflu tablets, as well as 100 tonnes of Chloramin B have been stocked. The country has not detected any human case of bird flu in months, but testing is still being carried out across the country. Other preparations for the event of a flu epidemic include 1,000 respiratory machines, 500,000 sets of protective equipment and 1,000 sprayers of different kinds. People have been encouraged to get vaccinated against flu viruses, as the country’s producer of anti-flu vaccines has given reassurances that it can provide enough vaccine doses for the upcoming months.

People residing in the flood affected areas of Thailand have received warning that a bird flu outbreak might ensue once the water level declines the following month. Provincial livestock officials in those regions have been given instructions about spraying disinfectant from that moment on, to prevent such an event. The areas affected by floods is where many people raise breeding cows and goats for export. The residents have been provided with rations of dried grass for the livestock, while a further quantity awaits deployment in the region.

Cambodia has received words of praise from the United Nations, after a visit by a top bird flu official confirmed the country’s sustained and effective effort to deal with the disease. The country has recorded 6 human deaths due to the bird flu virus so far, but David Nabarro, the UN senior coordinator on bird flu, says that Cambodia has to be praised to the swift way in which it reacted to prevent the spread of the disease. Nabarro spent a day in the country to oversee the efforts to educate school children and their teachers on this matter. Four avian influenza outbreaks have been spotted in Cambodia in the last two months, but the last human victim was recorded in April this year. This is little in comparison to the country’s neighbours, Thailand and Indonesia recording a high number of fatalities in recent months.

Just hours after confirming the country’s 54th bird flu death, Indonesian officials have reported the case of a 27 year old woman who has also succumbed to the deadly virus. Tests carried out by two independent laboratories have confirmed the third case of its kind in only three days, bringing Indonesia’s death toll to a staggering number of 55 human victims, the highest in the world. The woman in question lived in the Central Java province and is reported to have died on Friday, after being suspected of an infection with the bird flu virus earlier this month. The source of the infection is still unclear. Other two victims were reported last weekend, with a young boy and a 67 year old woman both contracting the disease after coming into contact with sickened poultry.