Ghana investigates bird flu case

[Treyfish]

Ghana investigates bird flu case
ACCRA, May 01 -- Information reaching Joy News says the Veterinary Services Department of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture is investigating a case of bird flu infection in Ghana.
A discovery was said to have been made at the port city of Tema.
Joy News sources at the Veterinary Services Department say even though initial checks suggest it might be bird flu, further checks will be needed for a definite conclusion to be reached.
According to the sources a blood specimen is being readied for analysis at the World Health Organisation?s laboratories in Italy.
Bird flu is a deadly strain of a virus that attacks poultry and kills them after a short period.
The deadly H5N1 bird flu can kill humans and has killed at least 88 people in Asia and the Middle East since 2003.
There is presently a ban on the importation of poultry and poultry products including feathers into Ghana from countries that have previously reported infections including Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire, Egypt and Niger.
Meanwhile a four-day forum has been held at Jema in the Kintampo South District of Brong Ahafo to sensitise 45 assembly members and heads of department on the Avian Influenza.
The forum, organized by the Kintampo South District Agricultural Development Unit of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, would enable the participants to keep surveillance on the disease and help in its prevention.
Mr. John Kweku Appiah, district director of the Ministry, explained that the forum was meant to reinforce public awareness about the bird flu so they could collaborate with agricultural extension officers to detect, prevent and control the disease.
Mr. Appiah advised the general public to properly boil and cook eggs before consumption and advised the participants to educate their people to report symptoms of any strange disease among their birds to the veterinary services.
Mr. Yaw Adjei-Duffour, District Chief Executive, expressed regret about how the poultry industry nearly collapsed some years back because of rumours that the disease had been detected in the country. He appealed to the participants to help erase any wrong perceptions about the disease in the communities.
The District Chief Executive advised the youth to go into poultry keeping to improve their livelihood. - myjoyonline

http://news.africast.com/africastv/article.php?newsID=61850

[HenryN]

Re: Ghana investigates bird flu case

Commentary at

http://www.recombinomics.com/News/05010702/H5N1_Ghana.html

[Sally Furniss]

Re: Ghana investigates bird flu case

A discovery was said to have been made at the port city of Tema.

Joy News sources at the Veterinary Services Department say even though initial checks suggest it might be bird flu, further checks will be needed for a definite conclusion to be reached.

According to the sources a blood specimen is being readied for analysis at the World Health Organisation?s laboratories in Italy.

The above comments suggest H5N1 has been detected in Ghana. Most samples sent to WHO labs for confirmation are locally positive, and most samples are confirmed, especially when the positive host is a bird.

Qinghai H5N1 in Ghana is not unexpected. H5N1 has been confirmed in the Ivory Coast to the west, Burkina Faso and Niger to the north, and Nigeria and Cameroon to the east. Moreover Ghana is within the intersection of the Black Sea / Mediterranean Flyway as well as the East Atlantic Flyway.

The sequence of H5N1 in Ghana would be of interest. The first human H5N1 case was reported in Nigeria earlier this year, and the H5N1 contained a number of regional polymorphisms, including some also found in Egypt. H5N1 in Egypt this season is markedly more complex, and sequences from Ghana can be compared to 2006 isolates from neighboring countries in western Africa.

[yielddude]

Re: Ghana investigates bird flu case

Bird flu: Ghana awaits results

Posted on: 2-May-2007

The World Health Organization is expected to make a pronouncement today on what is suspected to be Ghana?s first case of avian influenza, otherwise known as bird flu.

Bird flu is a deadly strain of virus that attacks poultry birds and kills them after a short period.

Officials of the Veterinary Services Department have since Monday bee investigating a case in Tema where some birds are suspected to have died from the virus.

Preliminary tests by veterinary officials suggest Ghana might be recording its first case of the virus. The officials however said a confirmation is required from the WHO laboratory in Italy before any such conclusion can be reached.

The case of suspected bird flu was discovered on a small poultry farm along the Tema Akosombo road.

A specimen collected from the farm has already been sent for further analysis with the results expected later on Wednesday. Officials of the Veterinary Department spent almost the whole of Tuesday investigating farms and poultry within the environs of the first suspected case to ensure there had been no further spread.

If confirmed, Ghana will be the latest country in the sub-region to have the virus. All of Ghana?s neighbors have already reported cases of bird flu infection.

Nigeria, Niger and Egypt are the other countries in Africa with reported cases.

An emergency news conference on the bird flu situation in the country is scheduled for this afternoon. It will be addressed by the Ministers of Health and Agriculture, the Director of Public Health and the WHO country representative.

?H5N1? the deadly strain of Avian Influenza is highly contagious among birds, and can be deadly to them. The virus does not usually infect people, but infections with these viruses have occurred in humans.

Most of these cases have however resulted from people having direct or close contact with infected poultry or contaminated surfaces.

http://www.myjoyonline.com/archives/health/200705/4145.asp

[Anne]

Re: Ghana investigates bird flu case

<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tbody><tr><td class="colored_in_333 boldWeight">http://www.focus-fen.net/?id=n111452

First H5N1 case in Ghana confirmed in poultry: WHO </td> </tr> <tr> <td> </td> </tr> <tr> <td background="Images/bg_line3.gif"> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> 2 May 2007 | 20:11 | FOCUS News Agency</td> </tr> <tr> <td> </td> </tr> <tr> <td background="Images/bg_line3.gif"> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> Accra. Ghana's first case of the highly pathogenic H5N1 bird flu has been confirmed by local laboratories and a U.S. naval laboratory in Egypt, a World Health Organization official said on Wednesday cited by Reuters.
Some 1,600 birds had already been incinerated at the infected chicken farm 20 km (13 miles) east of the capital Accra near the port of Tema, Dr Harry Opata, WHO disease prevention and control officer, told Reuters.
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[HenryN]

Re: Ghana investigates bird flu case

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100&#37;" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class="colored_in_333 boldWeight">http://www.focus-fen.net/?id=n111452

First H5N1 case in Ghana confirmed in poultry: WHO

</TD></TR><TR><TD></TD></TR><TR><TD background=Images/bg_line3.gif></TD></TR><TR><TD></TD></TR><TR><TD>2 May 2007 | 20:11 | FOCUS News Agency</TD></TR><TR><TD></TD></TR><TR><TD background=Images/bg_line3.gif></TD></TR><TR><TD></TD></TR><TR><TD>Accra. Ghana's first case of the highly pathogenic H5N1 bird flu has been confirmed by local laboratories and a U.S. naval laboratory in Egypt, a World Health Organization official said on Wednesday cited by Reuters.
Some 1,600 birds had already been incinerated at the infected chicken farm 20 km (13 miles) east of the capital Accra near the port of Tema, Dr Harry Opata, WHO disease prevention and control officer, told Reuters.


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NAMRU-3 had just set up a lab there a few days ago. Look for Ghana sequences coming from NAMRU-3.

[HenryN]

Re: Ghana investigates bird flu case

<CENTER>Bird Flu scare in Tema

Tema, May 02, GNA - Officials at the Central Veterinary Service in Tema are investigating an alleged Avian Influenza (Bird Flu) outbreak within the municipality.
</CENTER>
Some officials told the Ghana News Agency on Wednesday that, the Service had not recorded any Bird Flu outbreak as reported by some private radio stations in Accra.

According to them, they had sensitised poultry farm owners within the municipality on the symptoms and handling of affected birds. They contended that post mortem conducted on some dead fowls by the Service did not suggest an outbreak of the disease as speculated. The officials assured the public, especially those within the municipality not to be alarmed as investigations were still on going.

http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/artikel.php?ID=123393

[HenryN]

Re: Ghana investigates bird flu case

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2007-05-02-ghana_N.htm

[Treyfish]

Re: Ghana investigates bird flu case

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100&#37;" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class="colored_in_333 boldWeight">First H5N1 case in Ghana confirmed in poultry: WHO </TD></TR><TR><TD></TD></TR><TR><TD background=Images/bg_line3.gif></TD></TR><TR><TD></TD></TR><TR><TD>2 May 2007 | 20:11 | FOCUS News Agency</TD></TR><TR><TD></TD></TR><TR><TD background=Images/bg_line3.gif></TD></TR><TR><TD></TD></TR><TR><TD>Accra. Ghana's first case of the highly pathogenic H5N1 bird flu has been confirmed by local laboratories and a U.S. naval laboratory in Egypt, a World Health Organization official said on Wednesday cited by Reuters.
Some 1,600 birds had already been incinerated at the infected chicken farm 20 km (13 miles) east of the capital Accra near the port of Tema, Dr Harry Opata, WHO disease prevention and control officer, told Reuters.


</TD></TR><TR><TD>http://www.focus-fen.net/?id=n111452 </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

[Treyfish]

Re: Ghana investigates bird flu case

First H5N1 case in Ghana confirmed in poultry-WHO
02 May 2007 17:44:42 GMT
<!-- 02 May 2007 17:44:42 GMT ## for search indexer, do not remove-->Source: Reuters

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ACCRA, May 2 (Reuters) - Ghana's first case of the highly pathogenic H5N1 bird flu has been confirmed in sick chickens by local laboratories and a U.S. naval laboratory in Egypt, a World Health Organisation official said on Wednesday.
Some 1,600 birds had already been incinerated as part of efforts to control the outbreak on a farm 20 km (13 miles) east of Ghana's capital Accra, near the port of Tema, Dr Harry Opata, WHO disease prevention and control officer, told Reuters.
"It's confirmed," Opata said. "Initial confirmation was done by the veterinary lab here in Accra ... and supported by a U.S. naval services laboratory in Cairo, Egypt."
"We'll assume the whole farm was infected ... about 100 chickens a day were dying in the past 3-4 days," he said.
At least 200 million birds have died or been culled because of the H5N1 strain as it has spread from Asia around much of the world during recent years. The first case in Africa was detected in poultry in early 2006 in Nigeria.
The human death toll stands at 172. Experts are worried that weak human and animal health services in sub-Saharan Africa may allow the virus to go unnoticed -- giving it more chance to mutate into a form that could pass between people and trigger a human pandemic.
But so far just one human death from the disease has been recorded in sub-Saharan Africa, in Nigeria. http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L0242608.htm


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[HenryN]

Re: Ghana investigates bird flu case

Commentary at

http://www.recombinomics.com/News/05020701/H5N1_Ghana_Confirmed.html

[HenryN]

Re: Ghana investigates bird flu case

Bird flu confirmed in Ghana

First case reported in West African nation.

BY STAFF REPORT |ACCRA, Ghana | May 2, 2007


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The first case of the deadly H5N1 avian influenza has been found in Ghana, the World Health Organization reported Wednesday.

Infected birds were found on a chicken farm near the port of Tema, east of the capital Accra. The birds were being destroyed.

The bird flu case was the first reported in the West African nation, which has banned the importation of poultry from countries that previously reported infections, including Nigeria, Egypt and China.

Since 2003, there have been 291 confirmed human cases of bird flu worldwide, resulting in 172 deaths, according to the World Health Organization. Health officials fear that if the H5N1 strain mutates, it could spread rapidly from person to person.



Find this article at:
http://www.disasternews.net/news/art...articleid=3144

[HenryN]

Re: Ghana investigates bird flu case

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=3 width="95%" align=center border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>Bird flu spreads in Ghana
</TD></TR><TR><TD>
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<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=3 width="95%" align=center border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>The deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu has spread to fowl in the West African nation of Ghana.
Earlier this week, Ghanaian officials said they were investigating a suspected outbreak of the disease in birds around the eastern port city of Tema. Though H5N1 had been documented elsewhere in the region, Ghana had not previously had a case confirmed, said Dr. George Amofa, head of public health for Ghana's Health Ministry.
Sophia Twum-Barimah, a spokeswoman for WHO in Ghana's capital, Accra, said the virus was first detected by a Ghanian lab and then confirmed by an Egyptian research center.
H5N1 has killed at least 172 people worldwide since it began its spread through Asian poultry in 2003, according to WHO. Most human deaths come from contact with infected birds, but experts fear H5N1 could mutate into a form that spreads easily among people.
Africa's most populous nation, Nigeria, was the first on the continent to report an outbreak of the disease last year. Outbreaks have also been reported in Cameroon, Djibouti, Egypt, Niger, Ivory Coast, Sudan and Burkina Faso.
Ghana had stepped up surveillance to try to prevent incursion of the disease: banning imported poultry and related products from Asia and some neighboring countries, including Nigeria and Ivory Coast.
The virus is particularly worrisome in Africa, where poverty and poor health care means disease spreads quickly.
In January, a young woman became the first Nigerian to die from H5N1. Djibouti and Egypt have also reported infections in humans and eleven people have died of the disease in Egypt.

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http://english.pravda.ru/news/hotspots/02-05-2007/90822-Bird_flu-0

[HenryN]

Re: Ghana investigates bird flu case

First H5N1 case in Ghana confirmed

• <LI class=byline><CITE>From correspondents in Accra</CITE>
• May 03, 2007

GHANA'S first case of the highly pathogenic H5N1 bird flu has been confirmed by local laboratories and a US naval laboratory in Egypt, a World Health Organisation official said overnight.

Some 1600 birds had already been incinerated at the infected chicken farm 20km east of the capital Accra near the port of Tema, Dr Harry Opata, WHO disease prevention and control officer, said.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,21663473-1702,00.html

[HenryN]

Re: Ghana investigates bird flu case

Health Agency Confirms
Ghana's First Case Bird Flu

Associated Press
May 2, 2007 3:06 p.m.
<!-- The Wall Street Journal Interactive Edition -->
ACCRA, Ghana -- The H5N1 strain of bird flu has spread to fowl in the West African nation of Ghana, a World Health Organization official confirmed Wednesday.
Sophia Twum-Barimah, a WHO spokeswoman in Ghana's capital, Accra, said the virus was first detected by a Ghanian lab and then confirmed by an Egyptian research center. The health minister said 145 other birds on the same farm were infected, but that no people had been infected.
"The public should remain calm. The situation is being technically and expertly handled," Health Minister Ernest Debrah told reporters. He added that there was "no need for panic or fear of poultry."
Ghanaian officials had said earlier this week they were investigating a suspected outbreak of the disease in birds around the eastern port city of Tema. Though H5N1 had been documented elsewhere in the region, Ghana hadn't previously had a case confirmed.
Mr. Debrah said measures had been taken to contain the virus, including the immediate closure of Tema area bird markets and a ban on transporting birds in or out of the area. He said more than 1,500 birds had already been destroyed as a precaution. The government has pledged to pay 50-90% of market value as compensation for culled animals.
<REPRINTSDISCLAIMER>The H5N1 virus has killed at least 172 people world-wide since it began its spread through Asian poultry in 2003, according to the WHO. Most human deaths come from contact with infected birds, but experts fear H5N1 could mutate into a form that spreads easily among people.
The HN51 virus is particularly worrisome in Africa, where poverty and poor health care means disease spreads quickly. Africa's most populous nation, Nigeria, was the first on the continent to report an outbreak of the disease last year. Outbreaks have also been reported in Cameroon, Djibouti, Egypt, Niger, Ivory Coast, Sudan and Burkina Faso.
Ghana had stepped up surveillance to try to prevent incursion of the disease: banning imported poultry and related products from Asia and some neighboring countries, including Nigeria and Ivory Coast.

<!-- article end --><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=477 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD style="WIDTH: 70px; LINE-HEIGHT: 1px" width=70> </TD><TD style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 11px; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helv, Helvetica" width=407>URL for this article:
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