flu news


AVIAN INFLUENZA - INDIA: (BIHAR) CROW, H5N1
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A ProMED-mail post
http://www.promedmail.org
ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
http://www.isid.org
Date: Sat, 18 Feb 2012
Source: The Times of India [edited]
http://www.downtoearth.org.in/content/a ... -institute


Crows are dying in Bihar from bird flu
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It is official now. Crows are dying in Bihar because of bird flu. This was revealed in the report of the Bhopal-based High Security Animal Disease Laboratory (HSADL), officials said on Saturday [18 Feb 2012].

The HSADL has confirmed in its report that avian influenza was killing the crows in Gaya district.

After the confirmation, the Bihar government has directed the animal husbandary department officials to begin necessary measures to deal with the situation.

http://www.promedmail.org/?p=2400:1000: ... 702832:::::


Alarming: In One Week H1N1 Deaths in Mexico Increase by 67 Percent


The AH1N1 flu virus has left a total of 135 people dead in Mexico so far this year, with the number of fatalities up 67 percent in just one week, according to figures released by the authorities.

The total number of deaths from AH1N1 flu reported by Mexico’s Health Secretariat up to Feb. 9 was 81, with another 54 the following week.

The secretariat said Friday that deaths from the AH1N1 strain of flu from Jan. 1 to Feb. 16 represents 91 percent of the 149 fatalities from the different types of flu now active in the country.

At the same time, 4,440 cases of people infected with the AH1N1 flu virus have been reported in the same period of time, which also represents 91 percent of the total 4,884 flu cases.

Three seasonal flu viruses are currently active in Mexico - AH1N1, AH3N2 and influenza B - but the AH1N1 is by far the most prevalent this year.

http://www.hispanicallyspeakingnews.com ... ent/14061/



NSC wants rules on research that could lead to biological weapons


WASHINGTON _ The National Security Council is moving to exert greater federal control over scientific studies of highly lethal diseases and toxins in the face of mounting fears that the research could be used by terrorists and rogue states, according to people with knowledge of the process.

Under the NSC’s guidance, the government plans to issue guidelines for research grants that would give agencies the authority to delay or restrict publication of findings they considered susceptible to "dual use" by terrorists or enemy states. The new guidelines are expected to be issued in the coming weeks.

But the possibility of stricter guidelines is also raising concerns about scientific openness and increased red tape that could slow the release of findings that would save lives.

http://www.bostonherald.com/news/nation ... l_weapons/


Vietnam nearing production of bird flu vaccine

HA NOI, Vietnam - Vietnam may begin producing bird flu vaccines for humans next year, according to the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology's director Nguyen Tran Hien.

The institute, which started researching development of the vaccine in 2005, is now producing an experimental version of the vaccine and testing its safety and effectiveness.

"These tests will facilitate the production and use of the vaccine for humans," Hien said.

The institute planned to carry out clinical trials of the vaccine at the end of this year, said Hien, adding that their research results would then be submitted to the Ministry of Health.

The institute's statistics showed that between 2007 and 2010, there were five to seven people contracting bird flu each year in Vietnam. The cases were reported in provinces across the country, and most people had become infected after being in contact with or eating poultry during the end of winter and beginning of spring. However, there is still no concrete proof that the disease can be transmitted from human to human.

Bird flu had reemerged in 10 provinces across the country, including Thanh Hoa, Quang Tri, Soc Trang and Ha Nam.

Concerns have grown over bird flu recently as the virus is mutating into a new form that will require the development of a new vaccine.

Hien has warned that unless proper preventive measures are taken, more people may catch bird flu.

http://www.interaksyon.com/article/2485 ... lu-vaccine


Something is going on,but they are so busy with this new lab mutated bird flu, that no one is really saying whats going on in the real world




HPAI Affects Wild Bird Species
20 February 2012


HONG KONG - Dr Thomas Sit, Chief Veterinary Officer/Assistant Director from Hong Kong's Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department has reported an outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza.

The World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) received follow-up report no. 8 on Friday, 17 February.

An oriental magpie robin was found dead on 7 February at Yuen Long as a result of the outbreak.

An intensive surveillance system is in place for all poultry farms, poultry markets and pet bird shops in Hong Kong. The H5N1 infected wild birds and goose carcass from unknown source were detected in ongoing surveillance programme on wild birds.

The dates of the outbreaks are the same as the dates the birds were collected (i.e. 17 December 2011, 30 December 2011, 1 January 2012, 12 January 2012, 20 January 2012 , 30 January 2012 , 6 February 2012, 7 February 2012 and 8 February 2012 respectively).

A total of 19,451 poultry, including 15,569 chickens, 810 pigeons, 1,950 pheasants and 1,122 silky fowls were culled in the Cheung Sha Wan Temporary Wholesale Poultry Market on 21 December 2011. The Wholesale Poultry Market was closed. Importation of live poultry and movement of poultry in local farms is banned for 21 days.

Surveillance and monitoring of local chicken farms has been stepped up. No H5 virus was detected in samples taken from the 30 chicken farms in Hong Kong. The Wholesale Poultry Market was reopened on 12 January 2012.

The source of the outbreak remains inconclusive.

http://www.thepoultrysite.com/poultryne ... rd-species


This is the one I mentioned yesterday about them knowing there would a resurgane of H5N1 because of a mutation of the virus and the poultry vaccines not working any more



Mutation of H5N1 virus could revive bird flu threat, says UN

Appearance of variant strain of virus in China and Vietnam appears to be resistant to existing vaccines

Monday 29 August 2011 20.34 BST


The United Nations has warned of a possible resurgence of bird flu and said a mutant strain of the H5N1 virus is spreading in Asia and elsewhere.

The UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) on Monday urged increased surveillance and preparation for a potential outbreak of the virus, which it says has infected 565 people since it first appeared in 2003, killing 331 of them.

The virus was eliminated from most of the 63 countries infected at its peak in 2006 after a poultry cull, but since 2008 it has been spreading in both poultry and wild birds, partly due to migration patterns, the FAO said.

"The general departure from the progressive decline observed in 2004-08 could mean that there will be a flareup of H5N1 this fall and winter," the FAO's chief veterinary officer, Juan Lubroth, said in a statement.

He said the appearance of a variant strain of the virus in China and Vietnam was a concern because it appeared to be resistant to existing vaccines.

The circulation of the virus in Vietnam poses a direct threat to Cambodia, Thailand and Malaysia as well as endangering the Korean peninsula and Japan, the FAO said.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/au ... -bird-flue



Could this be why,it does not matter that they release the new mutated lab virus,is because it has already mutated and its well on its way to being the next global pandemic



Flu cases down across Ontario

Doctors praise flu vaccination, remind people it's not too late to get one


The number of flu cases is down across Ontario this season.

Heading into the Family Day weekend, only 202 people had been diagnosed this season. That compares to 3,059 at this time last year.

While no one has a decisive reason, experts sure have their suspicions.

Doctor Alan Heimann is the Windsor Essex County Health Unit's medical officer of health in Windsor, Ont. He attributes the low low rates of flu to a few factors, including the success of the flu vaccination.

"It's the circulating virus; there just doesn't seem to be a lot of circulating virus around," he said. "The vaccine that we have has covered it."

Heimann said flu season runs until March and it's not too late for people to be vaccinated, especially if for people who are planning to travel to areas of the world where influenza is hitting hard.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/windsor/s ... tario.html



North Carolina reports it's first flu death


North Carolina has recorded the first death of a child from the flu for the 2011-2012 flu season.

State health officials have not yet identified the 6-year-old or said where the child lived.

They did say the child was at risk for complications from the flu because of an underlying medical condition.

At this time last year there were 14 flu-related deaths. Reported cases of the flu were widespread in the Carolinas and in almost all of the country.

Dr. Steve Keener, the Medical Director for Mecklenburg County, said the flu in our region has been sporadic.

"Regionally it’s pretty much on the low end of what we are experiencing in North Carolina which is not very much," he said.

http://www.wcnc.com/news/First-Child-Fl ... 69933.html

Unusual Cold Threatens Russian Fruit Crop

Russian agricultural officials say the abnormally cold temperatures are certain to have an adverse effect on this year's harvest.

In Saratov Kray, where temperatures have dropped to as low as -35 Celsius, First Deputy Minister of Agriculture Anatoly Kutsenko said only about half of the country's grapevines are sheltered by protective earthen barriers.

"Those parts of the grapevines that are above the earthen barriers could perish," he said.

Elsewhere, the problem is much the same.

In Krasnodar Kray, located on the Black and Azov seas, the head of the horticulture and viticulture department, Yevgeny Kritsky, said temperatures have dropped in some places to -31 Celsius and have been accompanied by strong winds.

"As concerns apples and plums," Kritsky said, "it should be expected 10 to 30 percent of them will die off."

Kritsky said just as alarming for the region is the lack of snow, which has sparked fears that more than just the fruit crop will be affected.

The chief agriculturalist of the Rostov-on-Don region, Igor Tatyanko, said the lack of snow cover on the fields, which acts as insulation against the frigid air, means autumn wheat in the area may be ruined.

"As soon as the temperature goes up, we will take the wheat crops for accelerated cultivation to see if the fall crops have survived," Tatyanko said. He added that he feared it would be necessary to simply "plow up the fields and use them for the spring sowing."

In Kalmykiya, where temperatures have ranged between -10 to -20 Celsius, more than 20 degrees below normal, Deputy Agriculture Minister Gennady Ragozin said "the trees aren't damaged but the buds are frozen over and it looks like there won't be a harvest at all."

In Astrakhan, north of the Caspian Sea, officials say as much as 70 percent of fruit from orchards may be lost this year.

http://www.rferl.org/content/russia_cro ... 81121.html

Boats sink in Belgrade as thaw causes Danube ice chaos


A rapid thaw has brought chaos to the River Danube in the Serbian capital Belgrade where ice damaged boats, pontoons and floating restaurants.

The thick ice covering one of Europe's busiest waterways during the recent freeze began breaking up and moving on Sunday as temperatures rose.

In Belgrade, boats crashed into each other but there were no immediate reports of casualties.

One boat owner said the ice had moved so fast, boats could not be saved.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-17100001

Evacuation warning to Britons in Greece as country prepares to sign off yet another rescue package

Britons in Greece were warned yesterday they may have to be evacuated.

It comes as eurozone ministers prepare to sign off another £108billion rescue package for the crippled economy.

Foreign Secretary William Hague revealed Britons were being urged to register with the consulate as officials are updating plans to evacuate citizens ‘on a daily basis’ in case Greece goes under.

There has been widespread civil unrest in the country as the prospect of it defaulting on its loans and exiting the euro has grown.
Last night 3,000 protesters clashed with riot police in Athens as Greek prime minister Lucas Papademos flew to Brussels for last-minute preparations to seal the bailout deal.

As demonstrators poured into he capital's central Syntagma square riot police shielded the national assembly.

Economists do not expect the new package to resolve Greece's economic problems which could take up to a decade to tackle.

French finance minister Francois Baroin told Europe-1 radio that Europe's leaders were committed to agreeing a new bailout package.

'We now have all the elements of a deal - elements of a participation that remains voluntary for banks and private lenders, and for public lenders states, central banks,' he said.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... z1mvcpFV2F

Timebomb of 'impossible to treat' diseases in UK as experts see a rise in antibiotic-resistant infections


A rise in antibiotic-resistant blood poisoning - caused by the E.coli bacteria - is posing such a huge risk that experts fear the country could be facing a timebomb of diseases that are impossible to treat.
The growth of antibiotic-resistance has become so serious that experts now say it is as much of a threat to global health as the emergence of new diseases such as Aids and pandemic flu.

It is now such a cause for concern that health professionals believe the issue has become the medicine world's equivalent to climate change, it has been reported.


According to the Independent, Professor Peter Hawkey said common infections are threatening to turn into untreatable diseases by the 'slow but insidious growth' of resistant organisms.

The clinical microbiologist, and chair of the Government's antibiotic-resistance working group, told the Independent: 'It is a worldwide issue - there are no boundaries.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/artic ... z1mvdb9fzv

Report: Millions of jobless file for disability when unemployment benefits run out

Being unemployed for too long reportedly is driving people mad and costing taxpayers billions of dollars in mental illness and other disability claims.

The New York Post reported Sunday that as unemployment checks run out, many jobless are trying to gain government benefits by declaring themselves unhealthy.

More than 10.5 million people -- about 5.3 percent of the population aged 25 and 64 -- received disability checks in January from the federal government, the Post wrote, a 18 percent jump from before the recession.

Among those claiming disability, 43 percent are asking for benefits because of mental illness, the Post wrote. A growing number of those people are older, former white-collar workers.


Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/02 ... z1mvgGyj6M

Record Rice Harvests Seen Boosting Stockpiles to Decade High: Commodities


Rice stockpiles are poised to reach the biggest in almost a decade as record harvests boost supplies and imports decline for the first time in three years.

Inventories may gain 3 percent to 100.1 million metric tons, the most since 2003, as global imports contract 7.5 percent, the U.S. Department of Agriculture says. The Thai export price, a global benchmark, may tumble as much as 11 percent to $500 a ton in the first half, the lowest since June last year, the median of 11 trader and exporter estimates compiled by Bloomberg shows.

Rice slumped 15 percent from a three-year high in November as India, the second-biggest grower, lifted a three-year ban on exports of non-basmati grain and Thailand, the largest shipper, bought less than expected in the first four months of a government stockpiling program. That’s boosted supplies of the staple for half the world at a time when farmers are planting record wheat and corn crops. Global food costs fell 10 percent from a record in February 2011, according to the United Nations.

“Indian exports created havoc in the earlier supply-and- demand calculations,” said Jac Luyendijk, the chief executive officer at Preverenges, Switzerland-based SAT Swiss Agri Trading SA, who has worked in the rice industry for about two decades, including stints at Andre & Cie. and Nidera. “We have a very negative outlook.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-2 ... ities.html

One killed as severe storms tear across Oklahoma



One person was killed and another person was injured when a severe thunderstorm destroyed a mobile home in southern Oklahoma.

Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management spokeswoman Michelann Ooten says the fatality occurred in Pontotoc County near Ada Monday afternoon. Ooten says another person was critically injured and was flown by medical helicopter to an Oklahoma City hospital.

No names were released.

That storm was part of a cluster of severe storms that rolled across the state.

Near Oklahoma City, a storm knocked light poles onto vehicles, toppled signs and broke windows at the Edmond Hyundai automobile dealership. General manager David Patel says no one was hurt, and officials didn't know how many vehicles were affected.


Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/02/20/on ... z1n0eakz00

Europe finally agrees to bail out Greece AGAIN: £110bn deal struck after months of wrangling and 13 hours of late-night talks... but will we be back here in six months?


Eurozone governments have come to the rescue of Greece by approving a second £110billion bailout to prevent the collapse of its stricken economy - after months of wrangling and a last round of 13 hours of crucial late-night talks in Brussels.

Finance ministers from Greece and the 16 other countries that use the euro agreed at 4.30am this morning to hand out the additional bailout loans to save it from a potentially disastrous default next month.

The eurozone and the International Monetary Fund, which will provide the money for the new bailout, hope the new programme will eventually put Greece back into a position where it can survive without external support and secure its place in the euro currency union.



However, while the ink was still drying on the deal, sceptics said they feared that without growth Greece would again slip into economic chaos and would need a further bailout six months down the road.


Former British Labour chancellor Alistair Darling predicted the bailout would fail to resolve the crisis.
He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'I am very sceptical about this for two reasons. It had to be done but it does not get you out of the woods at all.

'Even if Greece manages to do everything that has been asked for it, in eight years' time they will still have a debt of 120 per cent of their GDP. You have to ask, with a frail economy like Greece, whether that is possibly realistic in terms of seeing Greece come through that.

'The second thing, which is a problem which is also affecting the other, more weak economies in Europe, is where are the policies that are going to get growth. If you don't get the growth, you don't get the income to get down your borrowing and therefore your debt.

'That is a real problem now. The eurozone, with this ridiculous treaty they have locked themselves into, are almost going to inflict perpetual inflation... further cuts, further suppressing of growth, and that points, to me, to the fact that, I suspect, Greece will be back at the table at some point and, if the eurozone is not very fortunate, other countries will be back as well. It is highly unsatisfactory.'

Financial analysts also believe the deal falls far short of what Greece needs to prevent financial collapse.

Francis Lun, managing director of Lyncean Holdings in Hong Kong, said: Greece is a hopeless case. I don't think you should throw good money after bad. It's a bottomless pit. It doesn't make sense.'


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... z1n0fSM19Z

'We mustn't tempt anyone with our weakness,' says Putin as he announces $770bn plan to update military hardware to preserve vital resources

Russia needs to modernise its military hardware to protect it from foreign attempts to grab its resources, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said today.

While Putin didn’t name any specific nation eyeing Russian mineral riches, in the past he has repeatedly accused the United States of trying to weaken Russia in order to sideline a rival.

'We mustn't tempt anyone with our weakness,' Putin wrote in the government daily newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta in an article intended to burnish his image as a strong leader before a presidential election on March 4.


He said the government plans to spend around 23 trillion roubles ($768.46billion) over a decade to modernise its armed forces.

It will purchase more than 400 intercontinental ballistic missiles, more than 600 combat aircraft, dozens of submarines and other navy vessels and thousands of armoured vehicles.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... z1n0he27oe

Oil prices spike on Iran export halt. Is $4 gas next?


Oil prices rose Monday after Iran cut exports to Britain and France, raising worries that higher gas prices may follow suit.

Iran's oil ministry said Sunday that it would stop exporting oil to French and British companies. The announcement came just days after Iran threatened to cut supplies to some European Union countries in retaliation for sanctions put in place by the EU and United States.

http://money.cnn.com/2012/02/20/markets ... ?iid=HP_LN