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| China-Japan-Koreas | ||
| Bird flu 'out of control' in Chinese province | ||
| 2005-11-12 | ||
The Chinese government says the spread of the deadly H5N1 bird flu in one of its provinces is not under control and has warned of a potential disaster there. There have been three fresh outbreaks of the avian virus in the north-eastern province of Liaoning in 24 hours, and a new suspected human infection. And the Middle East has now seen its first definite case of H5N1 bird flu. The authorities in Kuwait have confirmed that a migratory flamingo found on a beach died of the lethal strain. They say another bird suspected of having the virus had the milder H5N2 strain. There have been six outbreaks in the past month in China and the government has responded with mass culls of poultry. The most recent outbreaks, which killed about 1100 chickens, prompted the authorities to cull 670,000 poultry in the areas affected, and place 116 people in quarantine. The outbreaks are being blamed on migratory birds, but the head of the UNâs Food and Agriculture Organization in Beijing said it was possible that they were due to village-to-village spread of the virus. A Chinese agriculture minister has warned that the country faces a âdisasterâ due to the use of sub-standard â and counterfeit â poultry vaccines. These can mask symptoms of the virus, making control difficult, or even introduce the virus.
Tests on four people suspected to have contracted bird flu are still being carried out, one in Liaoning and three in Hunan province. But the Chinese state news agency Xinhua reports that 121 people from the area in Liaoning who had suspicious symptoms have now been declared not to have the disease by the local health ministry. The highly pathogenic H5N1 virus has killed at least 62 people in Asia and more than 150 million birds since 2003. In its current form, the virus has killed 50% of people known to have contracted the virus. To date, there are no confirmed cases of human-to-human transmission, but experts fear the virus will mutate into a form that can pass easily among people and spark a global pandemic. After a meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, this week health experts unveiled a $1 billion plan to fight bird flu, with assistance from the World Bank. Vietnam, which has suffered 42 human fatalities â more than any other country â is currently treating two more suspected cases. It has announced that it is to begin part-production of the antiviral drug, Tamiflu, after agreeing a licence with Swiss drug company Roche. It is also planning a bird flu hospital near its border with Cambodia. The spread of the virus is expected to increase over the northern hemisphere winter â assisted by the regionâs widely held practice of keeping backyard poultry, which make large-scale, thorough culls almost impossible. Indonesia, which has suffered five confirmed human fatalities, has rejected a $10 million international loan, saying it wants grant money instead. | ||
| Posted by:lotp |
| #3 The pigs allow the virus to acquire mammal specific adaptations. I read a while back there might be 25 such adaptions required to become a full blown pandemic strain. How many can be acquired in pigs and how many can only be acquired by infecting humans is unknown. Despite all the hullabulloo over H5N1 in birds, I am certain that the actual threat of a pandemic strain coming directly from birds to humans is somewhere between very small and non-existant. |
| Posted by: phil_b 2005-11-12 22:40 |
| #2 A swine herd was found I think in Vietnam some months ago. The top epidemologist in the region said that each pig was acting like a small bio lab, with several strains fighting each other for dominance; but the herd as a group would take these "semi-finalists", and compete them with each other to generate the "best" strain. Definitely, herds and flocks speed up the mutation process thousands of times. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2005-11-12 16:43 |
| #1 Even worse - it's spreading from birds to pigs - BAD NEWS - we're one step away..... |
| Posted by: Frank G 2005-11-12 13:43 |