Bird flu patient in critical condition in Indonesia

'A 35-year old woman, who has been treated in hospital since Nov. 8, is in a critical condition in Indonesia, a director at the Indonesian Health Ministry said in Jakarta Tuesday....

She is among the 74 people having contracted avian influenza in the country, 56 of which have died.

Indonesia, which has been affected the hardest in this regard, has become one of the front lines in the fight against the H5N1 virus.

The fact the country ranks first in terms of the number of victims of the virus has made bird flu top on the agenda of the forthcoming meeting between U.S. President George W. Bush and his Indonesian counterpart Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in Bogor, a town near Jakarta, on Nov. 20, Indonesian presidential spokesman Dino Pati Djalal has said.'...more

Bird Flu Kills Third Indonesian in a Week, WHO Says (Update1)

Oct. 17 (Bloomberg) -- Bird flu killed a 27-year-old woman on Indonesia's Java island, the third person to die of the virus there in less than a week, the World Health Organization said.

Tests on the woman from Central Java province showed she had the H5N1 strain of avian influenza when she died last week, the WHO said in a statement yesterday. A 67-year-old woman from West Java province and an 11-year-old boy from a southern suburb of the capital, Jakarta, also died from the disease. ...

The virus is reported to have killed a person every four days this year, more than double the 2005 rate, creating chances for it to mutate and spread easily among people. '...more

Clearly we are starting to see the beginning of the 2006 "flu season" with these three bird flu deaths in Indonesia. For an excellent commentary on where we are currently, please see "H5N1 and encephalitis in Indonesia" posted on October 17th by "Revere" on Effect Measure.

Stay tuned to birdflubeacon.com for continuing coverage on bird flu in 2006.

Study: Bird flu shot could get booster

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Tuesday, October 17, 2006
WASHINGTON — 'A unique study suggests there may be a way to kick-start people's protection against bird flu just in case it triggers a worldwide outbreak years from now.

If a flu pandemic began, it would take several months to tailor a vaccine to the precise strain causing illness and then to make enough vaccine for every American....

Scientists have long wondered if giving shots in advance might help - a vaccine that wouldn't fully protect but would introduce people's immune systems to a brand-new type of flu.

On Friday, University of Rochester scientists reported the first evidence that this "prime-and-boost" method could work.'...more

This is an important study that could provide critical protection for medical personnel on the front lines dealing with thousands of very sick people overnight if H5N1 becomes the next pandemic. We will continue to follow it at birdflubeacon.com.

Bird flu case in Thai dog raises questions about infection

'Thai scientists have reported a case of H5N1 influenza infection in a dog, a finding that lengthens the unusually long list of mammals this avian flu virus can infect....

Since H5N1 flared up in Asia in late 2003, tigers, leopards, domestic cats and now dogs have become infected with the virus by eating infected chicken or duck carcasses. Other mammals — a stone marten, and a small number of pigs — have also been shown to be susceptible to infection, though in those cases the mode of transmission isn't yet documented...

The authors say the proof that dogs too can be infected with this virus “warrants concern and highlights the need for monitoring domestic animals during outbreaks in the future.”'...more

Those of us who have been following bird flu have known for a couple of years that dogs have died from the H5N1 virus. We are glad to see it is now being reported in the medical journals. Stay tuned to birdflubeacon.com for continuing coverage.

Egypt detects new human H5N1 bird flu case

Tue 10 Oct 2006 6:29 PM ET
CAIRO, Oct 10 (Reuters) - 'Authorities have detected Egypt's first human case of the highly pathogenic H5N1 bird flu virus since May, a World Health Organisation official said on Tuesday....

Hanan Aboul Magd, 39, has been in hospital since Oct. 4 and has been treated with the drug Tamiflu. Her condition was stable, state news agency MENA reported.'...more

Bird flu found in pigs in Indonesia's Bali

Mon Oct 9, 2006 5:26 PM IST162
JAKARTA (Reuters) - 'The H5N1 bird flu virus has infected pigs on the Indonesian resort island of Bali, a senior agriculture ministry official said on Monday.

"There were two pigs that were infected by bird flu in Bali. These were old cases that happened last July," Musni Suatmodjo, agriculture ministry director of animal health, told Reuters....

Pigs are a concern because they are susceptible to many of the viruses that infect humans. Swines can act as mixing vessels in which genetic material from avian flu viruses can mix with human influenza viruses, potentially producing new and deadly strains for which humans have no immunity.'...more

This is not good news. Scientists have long speculated that the H5N1 would mutate into a human to human form using pigs as a mixing vessel. This development should be watched closely. Stay tuned to birdflubeacon.com.

Cats can carry bird flu, study says

Adisti Sukma Sawitri, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

'Recent studies have revealed that cats can contract the avian influenza virus and that there is no evidence that migratory birds are responsible for the spread of the disease.

A study conducted by the Indonesian Environment Information Center (PILI) in Yogyakarta found that stray cats had caught the H5N1 virus through contact with infected poultry at traditional markets. ...

A vet from the Bogor Institute of Agriculture, I Wayan Teguh Wibawa, said separate studies had shown there was no proof anywhere in the world that migratory birds carried the virus.

Studies of migratory birds in Malaysia, China and Australia that have been carried out over the past six years have shown no migrant birds in the three regions had the H5N1 virus, he said. ...

"It is very important to vaccinate poultry and keep home environments free of poultry feces," he said.

A recent serology test conducted on 20 chickens around the houses of victims in Bandung showed that the virus could also be transmitted by healthy chickens.
'...more

The results of these studies are interesting for these countries, but at birdflubeacon.com, we seriously doubt that migratory birds are not responsible for some of the transmission of bird flu around the globe. Stay tuned for further coverage on this issue and other bird flu issues around the world.

Bird-Flu Festers in Indonesia as Deficit Hinders Disease Fight

'...Fatalism, geography and a lack of money are hindering Indonesia's battle against bird flu, as public health officials say the struggle to avert a global pandemic may hinge on the Southeast Asian nation. ...

``It's the No. 1 place that we should be concentrating our efforts on identifying outbreaks and containing them,'' says Ira Longini, an epidemiologist at the University of Washington in Seattle and an adviser to the U.S. on influenza issues.

While Indonesia -- like China, Vietnam and Thailand -- has traced clusters of disease, vaccinated poultry, disinfected coops and culled infected birds, a widening budget deficit has limited spending on the bird flu fight. Corruption concerns have slowed international donations, says Tri Satya Putri Naipospos, vice chairwoman of the government committee on the disease.

Indonesia's sprawl also makes it difficult to combat the disease, says Burkhard Rieke, a doctor at the Center for Travel Medicine in Dusseldorf, Germany. ...'more

This is a very good article that explains why we should all be worried about bird flu becoming a pandemic out of Indonesia. Stay tuned to birdflubeacon.com for continuing voerage of the global spread of bird flu.