Scientists' warnings about H5N1 bird flu increased dramatically over the past five years, but nothing was done to try to prevent the disease going
pandemic. Instead of controlling the epidemic, authorities controlled the information released to the public.
The first line of defense in the bird flu strategy focuses on protecting tourism and the poultry trade. Governments and government-funded agencies are
protecting business, specifically international corporate interests, not people.
Quarantining domestic animals around the world might have worked to stop bird flu's spread, even last fall. But that would have cut industry
profits.
Now, the plan is to quarantine people - and position to profit from endemic infections world wide.
More bird flu cases reported in
Germany
Mar 2, 2006, 13:42 GMT - Berlin - Three more cases of bird flu were registered in Germany on Thursday, bringing to 136 the number of animals infected
with the feared H5N1 strain of the virus.
***
Possibilities of bird flu outbreaks in Spring: official
BEIJING, March 2 (Xinhuanet) -- There are possibilities of bird flu outbreaks in China during spring and more cases of infected humans may be
reported, said Vice-Premier Hui Liangyu on Thursday, at a televised national conference on the prevention and control of the disease.
The forecast is based on a comprehensive analysis, the Vice-Premier said, calling on people to be aware of the gravity of bird flu in the country
and to make every effort to implement preventative measures.
***
Bird flu
killed 495,000 fowl in February (Russia)
March 2, 2006. MOSCOW, RUSSIA -- The bird flu strain known as H5N1 has killed half a million domestic fowl in southern Russia in the past month
despite efforts to control the outbreak by culling poultry, the Emergency Situations Ministry said Wednesday.
About 495,000 birds in southern Russian regions near the Caspian and Black Seas have died since Feb. 3 from the virulent strain of bird flu, which
also can infect humans, ministry spokesman Viktor Beltsov said. An additional 220,000 birds were killed in an attempt to stem the outbreak, he
said.
***
Suspected bird flu death in Iraq
A woman has died in a suspected case of the deadly bird flu virus H5N1 close to the town of Nassiriya in southern Iraq.
Two fatal cases of human bird flu - in a teenage girl and her uncle last month - were previously confirmed in the northern province of Sulaimaniya,
close to the border with Turkey.
Meanwhile, a cat that was found dead in northern Germany with the H5N1 bird flu virus had the highly pathogenic Asian strain that can be transmitted
to humans, an institute specialising in veterinary diseases said.
And Serbia has detected its first case of bird flu in a swan found dead in the region of Sombor, close to the Croatian border.
***
Indonesian Children Treated for Bird Flu Symptoms Die
March 2 (Bloomberg) -- An Indonesian girl and her brother who were treated for bird flu symptoms died, according to a hospital in Indonesia. The World
Health Organization confirmed that an Iraqi man died of the virus.
***
Iraq checking four possible human cases of bird flu
BAGHDAD, Feb 28 (Reuters) - Iraq said on Tuesday it was making checks for three suspected human cases of bird flu in Baghdad and one in the
northeastern province of Dayala.
"There are three suspected cases in Baghdad and one in the town of Kefry, in Dayala," said Ibtisam Aziz, head of a health minister task force
charged with monitoring the disease.
***
Distrust of authorities major barrier in Nigeria bird flu
fight
4:13 a.m. March 1, 2006 - JAJI, Nigeria – The peasant farm hands were deeply suspicious as they watched the police marksmen trying to control bird
flu kill 168 ostriches the farm had reared over eight years. Days later, when the 160 workers were invited for tests to see if they, too, were
infected, nearly everyone fled.
“Most of them feared they would end up like the ostriches, to be shot dead for having the virus,” said one of the more enlightened of the Sambawa
Farms workers, Ibrahim Hassan, who turned up promptly for medical checks.
...International experts have looked askance at Nigeria, where H5N1 is believed to have spread widely before it was detected and has since cropped up
in neighboring Niger.
***
Govt. intensifies sensitization on bird flu
Lusaka, March 2, ZANIS – Government says sensitization programmes aimed at educating poultry farmers in the country about the Deadly H5N1 influenza,
popularly known as ‘bird flu, have started. ...Health deputy minister, Chilufya Kazenene told the Zambia News and Information Services (ZANIS) in an
interview today that the sensitization programmes, which are aimed at breaking the myths surrounding the disease, have started in all the border
posts.
Mr. Kazenene’s sentiments follows media repots that poultry farmers were selling their chickens at K1000 instead of K20000 after being misled by
some traders that their chickens were at a high risk of contracting the disease.
***
UN aims to soften bird flu blow to tourism
The United Nations agency responsible for world tourism is preparing for an eventual pandemic of bird flu in humans to try to minimise its impact on
the tourist industry, the agency's chief said Wednesday. ..."For the moment, bird flu is a phenomenon affecting birds, it's an epidemic affecting
animals, not people," said Francesco Frangialli, head of the World Tourism Organisation.
But if the virus mutates and can be passed from human to human, "the tourist industry will suffer," he said. "The important thing is that it does
not suffer more than necessary."
***
First case of H5 bird flu found in Serbia
BELGRADE, March. 2 (Xinhuanet) -- A swan found dead in northwest Serbia has tested positive for the H5 strain of bird flu, but further tests at a
British laboratory will determine whether it is the deadly H5N1 virus, according to a statement issued by the Agriculture Ministry on Friday.
***
Hungarian firm may build bird flu vaccine plant in Russia
BUDAPEST. March 2 (Interfax) - The Hungarian-based Serbolab Company is considering the construction of a bird flu vaccine plant in Russia, Chelyabinsk
regional economic development minister Yury Klepov told a Thursday press conference in Budapest.
The $30 million plant might be built in the Chelyabinsk region, he said. The Hungarian Export-Import Bank may fund the project, he added.
[Ed. Either no one told these guys the horse already left the barn - or more likely -
authorities fully expect H5N1 bird flu to become endemic, and
anticipate having to deal with the "problem" for a long, long time.
***
Seven areas of Southern Federal District have bird flu
MOSCOW. March 2 (Interfax) - Bird flu outbreaks have been confirmed in seven areas of the Southern Federal District, the Agriculture Ministry's press
release said with the reference to the Federal Veterinarian and Phytosanitary Control Service.
Kabardino-Balkaria, Dagestan, Chechnya, Kalmykia, Adygeya, Krasnodar and Stavropol territories have had bird flu outbreaks caused by migratory
birds.
***
Bird Flu: Is anyone ducking the issue?
Almost half of Indonesians and Turks have stopped eating chicken as a result of the threat of bird flu, a recent Synovate survey has discovered.
Americans and Canadians, on the other hand, have not lost their taste for poultry, which is also true of close to half of respondents in Hong Kong and
Thailand.
***
EU-wide safety precautions for pets announced
Pet owners across the European Union must take safety precautions to stop their animals catching bird flu - that is the latest recommendation from the
bloc's veterinary experts. They have warned that people living in areas affected by the deadly H5N1 virus must keep dogs on leads and cats indoors to
stop them coming into contact with infected birds. ...The EU is also asking for dead stray cats and dogs found in affected zones to be reported to
authorities.
Many experts blame the rapid spread of avian flu on migratory birds. The H5N1 virus has been detected in about 20 new countries over the past month
alone.
***
Bird flu moving faster than anticipated
March 2, 2006 - Avian flu has spread in Europe more quickly than Finnish authorities had anticipated, admits Prof. Liisa Sihvonen, who heads the
virology unit of EELA, the National Veterinary and Food Research Institute of Finland.
It was previously believed that the disease would not reach these latitudes until later in the spring. Sihvonen took part earlier this week in a
meeting of the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) in Paris, where the consensus view was that the cold winter in Eastern Europe had got birds
on the move.
***
Fears of bird flu in Bahamas
March 2, 2006 - Nassau: Experts yesterday probed the unusual deaths of 14 birds in the southern Bahamas amid fears that the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus
strain had reached the Americas.
***
Antiviral Medication Noncompliance During an Avian Flu Pandemic
According to officials, it is not a question of “if” the avian flu virus will mutate but “when?”
On March 1st, the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC) issued their recommendation to control the virus with a particular focus on children, the main carrier of the flu. To
this end, the US government is procuring millions of doses of Tamiflu® as its first line of defense. However, the pediatric version of this drug
has an extremely bitter taste making it not only difficult for children to swallow but to keep down. In response, specialty pharma FLAVORx, Inc has
developed four flavors to mask the bitterness and ensure 100% compliance.
To participate and view the latest results on American’s public take on government avian flu preparedness click on
www.surveymonkey.com... For more information, please contact Gunjan Koul at 240.223.0949.
[ED. I guess no one told Bush that Tamiflu doesn't work - even if patients take all their medicine.]
***
Bird flu advice for travellers outlined
Last Modified: 2 Mar 2006 - The Department of Health has published public health information for people travelling to countries affected by bird
flu.
The leaflet advises travellers not to visit bird or poultry farms and markets, to avoid close contact with live or dead poultry, not to not eat raw or
poorly-cooked poultry or poultry products, including blood, and to wash their hands frequently with soap and water.
***
Hawaii on front lines for bird flu
Mar. 02, 2006 HONOLULU - The plans, detailed and terrifying, are for the worst-case scenario.
One section of this city's bustling, tourist-filled airport could be converted into an emergency quarantine station for patients suspected of
carrying avian influenza. Special air filters would kick on to prevent the deadly virus from spreading. And medical personnel entering the quarantine
area would wear special protective suits.
As avian flu continues to spread across the globe, health officials are paying close attention to Hawaii, the nation's gateway to Asia and the state
where some experts believe the much-feared H5N1 virus could first be detected on American soil.
In what is being seen as a model for the rest of the United States, Hawaii has become the first state in the country to establish an airport
surveillance program to test visibly ill passengers for avian flu, many arriving from nations where the virus already has proved deadly.
***
Vets warn mushers about canine flu
March 2, 2006 - WASILLA -- More than a dozen veterinarians strolled through Iditarod Headquarters' parking lot Wednesday doing standardized tests on
canines racing in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. ...Most checkups were routine -- electrocardiograms, blood tests and physical examinations. But
lingering in the minds of some vets is a new canine virus that causes flu-like symptoms and spreads quickly.
Canine influenza was discovered less than three years ago on the East Coast. ...The virus, which causes fevers, joint pain and respiratory
complications, is commonly found in very old or very young dogs. And unless a mutation occurs, the virus only infects its host species.
"It's a horse flu and it just jumped species, much like the bird flu jumping to people," said Barker, who has been a vet for 10 years. "We were
unprepared."
***
Bird flu detected in Romania
Domestic fowl have tested positive for an H5 subtype of bird flu in three villages in eastern Romania. Samples from the dead hen, turkeys and geese
from the villages were sent to the capital Bucharest for further tests to determine whether they had the deadly H5N1 strain of the virus, said Danut
Culetu, the top government official for Constanta county, where the dead birds were discovered.
Authorities quarantined the nearby village of Topalu near the Black Sea, where domestic fowl tested positive for H5N1 in Bucharest laboratory tests.
The deadly virus has been found in nine places in Constanta.
***
Quarantines envisioned if bird flu hits
Florida county
March 02, 2006 - County health officials are quietly drafting a plan to combat the potential spread of bird flu that includes mass distribution of
antiviral drugs, house-to-house quarantines and closing of shopping malls and sports stadiums.
A surge of the influenza virus could overwhelm local hospitals and require hurricane shelters to be used as temporary health clinics, according to the
plan being written by the Palm Beach County Health Department. ... Nearly 7,000 people may need hospitalization if the bird flu virus infects 35
percent of the county's residents, according to the document. At that infection rate, the virus could kill from 1,041 to 2,207 county residents.
Because the virus possibly could be spread by contact or through coughs, the health department likely would advise the public to observe "social
distancing." That means no handshakes or hugs and staying at least 6 feet away from others. ... Like most parts of the country,
Palm Beach County
has no stockpiles of antiviral drugs to treat those who fall ill, although emergency managers said federal stockpiles can be shipped within six to
eight hours. ...Bornstein said the county's planning should address every possible scenario, including "worst case." ..."Hopefully it will be like
Y2K 2000," he said, referring to the doomsday theory that computers would crash as the year 1999 ended. "We'll prepare for it and hope nothing will
happen."
Good work. Thanks. 
