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Serbia reports bird flu
http://www.swisspolitics.org/en/news...ews_id=6518946
Serbia reports bird flu as Iraqi dies
02.03.2006 - 16:12
LONDON (Reuters) - Iraq, Serbia and Germany reported the latest cases in the spread of bird flu on Thursday and health officials and researchers around the world prepared to fight a possible deadly avian flu pandemic among humans.
Iraq said a woman had died in a suspected case of the H5N1 bird flu virus and Serbia said it had detected its first case of bird flu in a dead swan that was being tested to see if it had the deadly strain.
A cat in Germany became the first mammal in Europe to test positive for the Asian strain of H5N1 causing some concern in pet-loving nations, despite the World Health Organisation saying it did not increase the risk to humans.
The latest cases in Europe and the Middle East came hours after U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt said it was "just a matter of time" before wild birds and possibly poultry flocks in America contracted H5N1.
U.S. officials said they bought more than 14 million courses of antiviral treatments from GlaxoSmithKline Plc and Roche Holding AG to prepare for a possible human bird flu pandemic.
The United States plans to have enough medication to treat 25 percent of its population in the event of an outbreak.
In Tokyo, Japanese researchers said they had developed a new way of producing the anti-flu drug Tamiflu, considered one of the best defences against bird flu in humans, that does not rely on natural ingredients and may help ensure more stable supplies.
The H5N1 avian flu virus has killed 94 people in seven countries -- Turkey, Iraq, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, China and Cambodia. It has infected 174, giving it a more than 50 percent fatality rate, but experts are unsure if some people may have had less serious infections that went undetected. Since 2003, H5N1 bird flu has been found in more than 30 countries.
Experts fear that H5N1 will mutate just enough to allow it to pass easily from person to person. If it does so, it could cause a catastrophic pandemic, killing tens of millions of people, because humans lack immunity to the virus.
Iraq said the woman who died of the suspected case of H5N1 lived in the province around the town of Nassiriya in southern Iraq and more tests were being carried out in Baghdad and Cairo.
Two fatal cases of human bird flu, in a teenage girl and her uncle last month, were previously confirmed in the northern Iraqi province of Sulaimaniya, close to the border with Turkey.
SERBIA FINDS BIRD FLU IN SWAN
Serbia said on Thursday it had detected its first case of bird flu in a swan found dead in the region of Sombor, close to the Croatian border.
The Ministry of Agriculture in Belgrade said in a statement the bird tested positive for the H5 strain of avian influenza and samples would be sent to a British laboratory to determine whether the more dangerous H5N1 strain was present.
In Africa, where the H5N1 virus has been detected in Niger and Nigeria leaving African governments worried, Zimbabwe's health ministry warned people in rural areas against keeping poultry in residential houses.
The southern Africa country has been on alert since the H5N2 strain of avian flu, which is not dangerous to humans but can kill birds, was detected among ostriches last December.
The Greek government said on Thursday that it would help poultry farmers hit by bird flu fears with state-backed loans.
Greece has yet to find a single case of bird flu in farmed poultry but chicken consumption has dropped by up to 80 percent since the virus was discovered in the country in February. To date, 19 cases of bird flu have been found in migratory birds.
The Bahamas government said a mystery spate of bird deaths in the Bahamas involved only five birds, not the 21 initially reported, reducing the likelihood of a bird flu outbreak.
The H5N1 virus has been detected in birds in around 20 new countries over the past month alone, crossing into Europe and Africa. The spread is blamed on migratory birds, although some people argue that the poultry trade might play a role.
France, Europe's largest poultry producer, last week became the first country in the European Union to report an outbreak of bird flu on a farm. As many as 43 countries outside the European Union have since banned or restricted French poultry imports.
Dutch farmers have not decided yet whether to vaccinate free range chickens against flu, fearing that vaccination could damage exports, industry groups said on Thursday.
The farm ministry said last week Japan planned to ban Dutch imports when the country starts vaccinating as consumers shun meat from vaccinated animals because of possible health risks.
Dutch farmers fear other countries will ban imports from the Netherlands, a top world poultry exporter and Europe's second biggest producer after France.
Serbia reports bird flu as Iraqi dies
02.03.2006 - 16:12
LONDON (Reuters) - Iraq, Serbia and Germany reported the latest cases in the spread of bird flu on Thursday and health officials and researchers around the world prepared to fight a possible deadly avian flu pandemic among humans.
Iraq said a woman had died in a suspected case of the H5N1 bird flu virus and Serbia said it had detected its first case of bird flu in a dead swan that was being tested to see if it had the deadly strain.
A cat in Germany became the first mammal in Europe to test positive for the Asian strain of H5N1 causing some concern in pet-loving nations, despite the World Health Organisation saying it did not increase the risk to humans.
The latest cases in Europe and the Middle East came hours after U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt said it was "just a matter of time" before wild birds and possibly poultry flocks in America contracted H5N1.
U.S. officials said they bought more than 14 million courses of antiviral treatments from GlaxoSmithKline Plc and Roche Holding AG to prepare for a possible human bird flu pandemic.
The United States plans to have enough medication to treat 25 percent of its population in the event of an outbreak.
In Tokyo, Japanese researchers said they had developed a new way of producing the anti-flu drug Tamiflu, considered one of the best defences against bird flu in humans, that does not rely on natural ingredients and may help ensure more stable supplies.
The H5N1 avian flu virus has killed 94 people in seven countries -- Turkey, Iraq, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, China and Cambodia. It has infected 174, giving it a more than 50 percent fatality rate, but experts are unsure if some people may have had less serious infections that went undetected. Since 2003, H5N1 bird flu has been found in more than 30 countries.
Experts fear that H5N1 will mutate just enough to allow it to pass easily from person to person. If it does so, it could cause a catastrophic pandemic, killing tens of millions of people, because humans lack immunity to the virus.
Iraq said the woman who died of the suspected case of H5N1 lived in the province around the town of Nassiriya in southern Iraq and more tests were being carried out in Baghdad and Cairo.
Two fatal cases of human bird flu, in a teenage girl and her uncle last month, were previously confirmed in the northern Iraqi province of Sulaimaniya, close to the border with Turkey.
SERBIA FINDS BIRD FLU IN SWAN
Serbia said on Thursday it had detected its first case of bird flu in a swan found dead in the region of Sombor, close to the Croatian border.
The Ministry of Agriculture in Belgrade said in a statement the bird tested positive for the H5 strain of avian influenza and samples would be sent to a British laboratory to determine whether the more dangerous H5N1 strain was present.
In Africa, where the H5N1 virus has been detected in Niger and Nigeria leaving African governments worried, Zimbabwe's health ministry warned people in rural areas against keeping poultry in residential houses.
The southern Africa country has been on alert since the H5N2 strain of avian flu, which is not dangerous to humans but can kill birds, was detected among ostriches last December.
The Greek government said on Thursday that it would help poultry farmers hit by bird flu fears with state-backed loans.
Greece has yet to find a single case of bird flu in farmed poultry but chicken consumption has dropped by up to 80 percent since the virus was discovered in the country in February. To date, 19 cases of bird flu have been found in migratory birds.
The Bahamas government said a mystery spate of bird deaths in the Bahamas involved only five birds, not the 21 initially reported, reducing the likelihood of a bird flu outbreak.
The H5N1 virus has been detected in birds in around 20 new countries over the past month alone, crossing into Europe and Africa. The spread is blamed on migratory birds, although some people argue that the poultry trade might play a role.
France, Europe's largest poultry producer, last week became the first country in the European Union to report an outbreak of bird flu on a farm. As many as 43 countries outside the European Union have since banned or restricted French poultry imports.
Dutch farmers have not decided yet whether to vaccinate free range chickens against flu, fearing that vaccination could damage exports, industry groups said on Thursday.
The farm ministry said last week Japan planned to ban Dutch imports when the country starts vaccinating as consumers shun meat from vaccinated animals because of possible health risks.
Dutch farmers fear other countries will ban imports from the Netherlands, a top world poultry exporter and Europe's second biggest producer after France.
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