Thailand 'clean' but bird flu spreading

[dr dave soul monsta]

Avian influenza is continuing its spread among birds in many countries worldwide, with widespread outbreaks reported in Burma, according to a summary prepared by Cidrap, the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota.

More than 100 outbreaks have occurred in poultry in Burma since the presence of H5N1 avian flu was announced there about a month ago, officials from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said.

As avian cases spread in many parts of the world, officials in Thailand issued a final report on H5N1 to the OIE, (World Organisation for Animal Health) claiming victory in their lengthy battle against the virus. The March 31 follow-up report said it had been 140 days since the last case of highly pathogenic avian flu in Thailand. That announcement comes in tandem with broad-based surveillance that included more than 57,000 cloacal swab samples collected in February.

The bulk of the Burma outbreaks appear to be occurring in Mandalay in the central region, and Sagaing in the northern part of the country, said He Changchui of the FAO. Two FAO teams have been on the ground in Burma, said the Cidrap summary.

David Nabarro, avian flu coordinator with the United Nations, said the country has major problems. "We're going to be focusing on Burma a lot in the next few days and weeks, trying to make sure that the authorities and civil society in that country are able to cope better," he said.

A World Health Organisation (WHO) team is to travel to Rangoon at the end of April to assess how well people are being protected from the H5N1 virus spreading in poultry, Reuters reported.

Burma's military leadership is known for secrecy. The WHO describes communicable diseases as a major health problem in the nation, the Cidrap report continued.

Other nations are fighting more public battles with the virus:

- Niger began culling poultry Apr 9, more than a month after H5N1 was first found in the country. The country had sought international help, saying it couldn't conduct the culling on its own, Reuters reported Apr 9.

- Nigeria reported another nine outbreaks, mainly in commercial poultry, in Bauchi, Kaduna, and Jos, the country noted in an OIE report filed at the beginning of this month. The affected species include ostriches, emus, and black-crowned cranes.

- Israel has seen two new outbreaks in Jerusalem and HaDarom, totaling 50,000 birds, an OIE report said.
The OIE continues to log more individual bird deaths and wild bird outbreaks in Europe, including in Croatia, Czech Republic (according to AFP), Denmark, France, Germany, Poland, Slovenia, and Switzerland.

In the United Kingdom, debate swirled over the significance of an H5N1-infected swan found dead and partially consumed in northern Scotland on Mar 29.

"The one swan doesn't mean it (the virus) has arrived here," said Sir David King, the government's chief scientific adviser, on April 9 in a story from The Independent newspaper.

DNA testing has identified the bird as a whooper swan, a migratory species that winters in Britain, according to an online report today by The Guardian newspaper.

Charles Milne, the Scottish chief veterinary officer, said it wasn't possible to tell where the swan contracted the lethal virus, The Guardian reported.

"We are working on the assumption that the bird migrated to this country, but it's impossible to say precisely where it died," Milne was quoted as saying. Other media reports today speculated that the dead bird may have floated ashore from another country.

Of 3,397 birds tested in recent months, including 428 swans from Feb 1 to Apr 1, only the dead whooper swan has tested positive for H5N1, according to the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA).


[BKK Post]

[JimboPSM]

From BBC News today http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-p ... 262765.stm

Thailand hit by bird flu outbreak

Thailand has suffered an outbreak of the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu, its first for six months.

The virus was confirmed following the deaths of around 100 ducks in the northern Phitsanulok province.

Meanwhile, neighbouring Vietnam says bird flu has reached a seventh province in the Mekong Delta region.

Health officials across Asia are on alert as a growing number of countries have reported cases in both birds and humans in recent weeks.

Four people have died from the virus in Indonesia this year, while China has confirmed a human infection.

Japan is culling 12,000 birds after an outbreak at a farm south-west of Tokyo at the weekend. It is not clear if the virus is the deadly H5N1 strain.

As a result of the outbreak, Hong Kong says it is banning all imports of poultry from Japan with immediate effect.

Hong Kong itself is carrying out further tests after initial tests on a dead Crested Goshawk showed it carried the H5 strain of the virus.

Bird flu has claimed more than 150 lives since it began ravaging Asian poultry farms in late 2003.

There had been a noticeable drop in the number of cases in recent months as a result of improved surveillance and vaccination programmes across the region.

However, the virus is more active during colder, winter months.

Hans Troedsson, of the World Health Organization (WHO) in Vietnam, said there was still a danger the virus could mutate into a form that is easily passed between humans.

[caller]

My wifes sister and BIL have lost their jobs because the chicken factory they worked in at Korat has closed. She thinks, "maybe because of bird flu". Not sure in what context?