Asia - Common strategy to fight bird flu

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Monday, May 01, 2006

Common strategy to fight bird flu

Health ministers from seven South Asian nations have decided to develop a common strategy to combat bird-flu in the region.

The health ministers said after their meeting in the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka on Wednesday that ?an impending pandemic influenza? posed a threat to the region?s 1.40 billion people.

The ministers have decided to ?develop influenza preparedness strategy covering both animal and human health,? the statement said Thursday. The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) groups Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Among the SAARC nations, only India and Pakistan have reported bird flu cases in the past two months while the remaining give countries were on ?highest alert? to safeguard their poultry industry. AFP

 

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Re: Asia - Common strategy to fight bird flu

BIRD FLU VACCINE MASS PRODUCTION BEGINS

The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) has begun mass production of the indigenous bird flu vaccine to pile up a stock of at least three to four lakh doses.

ICAR Director-General Mangala Rai said the council already had about 5,000 doses of the new vaccine. This was developed by scientists of the Bhopal-based High Security Animal Disease Laboratory of the ICAR in a record four months.

The ICAR had provided Rs 8 crore to this laboratory, the only one of its kind in the country, to develop this vaccine after the outbreak of the highly pathogenic avian influenza in February in the areas around Navapur and Jalgaon in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat.

This had resulted in the death of thousands of birds and culling of about 10 lakh others in the area. The poultry industry had suffered substantial economic losses and is still struggling to get back on its feet.

Rai said all tests and trials for the new vaccine were over. The last test was conducted on July 14 and the vaccine has now been given clearance for large scale production.

HSADL has capacity to produce 40,000-50,000 doses of this vaccine every month. Production can be enhanced to produce if the need arises, the ICAR chief added.

He said that although he hoped the viral disease will not recur in the country, the chances could not be ruled out, especially when temperatures drop after October. But the ICAR is ready to cope with any contingency, Rai maintained.

So far, there are only two internationally recognised drugs which are believed to be useful for prophylaxis (prevention) and treatment of bird flu. These are oseltamivir (commercially marketed under the Tamiflu brand) and zanamivir (commercially called Relenza).

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), laboratory studies of these drugs have shown they can reduce the severity and duration of the illness caused by seasonal influenza. Both of these are patented drugs and need to be imported.

According to HSADL sources, the indigenous vaccine is a �killed homologous vaccine�, developed from the cell culture of birds suffering from the H5N1 bird flu virus that had surfaced in February. The cell culture virus was inactivated by different concentrations of formalin for the production of the vaccine.

During trials, the laboratory had used three preparations of the vaccine containing 1,000, 10,000 and 100,000 TCID (tissue culture initial dose) virus per dose, respectively.

The preparation, containing 100,000 TCID virus, was found to provide 90 per cent protection against the bird flu. This vaccine gave the best results when administered intramuscularly to the birds.

The laboratory is also working on developing other vaccines, including a DNA vaccine, against bird flu but that is expected to take some time, it is pointed out.

Source: http://www.birdflubreakingnews.com/...php?leftnm=lmnu2&subLeft=1&autono=99155&tab=r
Surinder Sud / New Delhi July 24, 2006

 

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THAILANDE - VIRUS OUTBREAK

THAILANDE - VIRUS OUTBREAK

VIRUS OUTBREAK
BIRD FLU PATIENT NUMBERS SOAR

July 29, 2006

The health minister is demanding definitive answers on the general prescription of anti-viral drugs to fight bird flu.

Pinij Charusombat asked a special medical committee to report on the prescription of anti-viral oseltamivir, after an escalation in the number of people exhibiting symptoms similar to those caused by bird flu.

He is worried the uncontrolled use of the drug could lead to resistant strains of the killer virus.

The anti-viral oseltamivir is commonly known by one of its trade names, Tamiflu. It is the only drug that successfully treats people infected with the virus.

A 17-year-old in Phichit on Wednesday became the country's first victim of the virus this year. Since then, the number of people in hospital with suspected bird flu has increased.

In Phichit, there were 11 cases on Thursday but that had doubled to 22 yesterday.

Nationwide there are 55 suspected sufferers waiting on test results. There are 10 cases in Sukhothai and seven in Suphan Buri, with the rest scattered.

Hospitals in bird-flu red zones are receiving doses of Tamiflu and influenza test kits.

Medical Science Department director-general Dr Paijit Warachit said there were now more suspected cases because awareness was higher.

Pinij said his committee comprised infectious-disease experts from leading hospitals. They will standardise flu treatment.

Public Health permanent secretary Dr Pratch Boonya-wongsaviroj said the committee started work yesterday. It had visited hospitals in Phitsanulok and was advising doctors on treatment.

Today the team will go to Phichit, Sukhothai, Phetchabun and Kamphaeng Phet. Fears of new outbreaks have seen reports of unexplained bird deaths flooding in from many provinces. In Nakhon Panom, more than 12,000 chicken were culled yesterday after the death of chickens on several farms. Specimens have been sent for lab tests.

The Livestock Development Department of the Agriculture Ministry confirmed chickens from a Phichit farm had died of the H5N1 virus. Director-general Yukol Limlaemthong visited the farm yesterday.

Source:
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2006/07/29/national/national_30009865.php

 

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ASIA - Common strategy to fight bird flu

ASIA - Common strategy to fight bird flu

ASIA NEEDS $500m MORE TO FIGHT BIRD FLU: INDIA
The Daily Star, New Delhi

Asian countries need half a billion dollars more to combat a possible bird flu pandemic, India's health minister said yesterday, as health and agriculture experts from 11 Asian countries met in New Delhi.

They need about 882 million dollars to establish "reasonable levels of preparedness" for a human influenza pandemic, Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss told the meeting.

"The current gap in mobilizing these resources is around 65 percent," said Ramadoss. The bird flu threat "is a stress test for the international community and let us spare no effort to nip this potential global disaster in the bud."

The minister's statement came after the regional head of the World Health Organisation (WHO) warned the gathering that the world was at a "critical juncture in the history of human infectious diseases."

"If an aviation influenza pandemic begins, there will be a window of only a few weeks to take action to contain it," Samlee Plianbangchango, director of WHO for Southeast Asia, said.

Ministers and officials from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Indonesia, the Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal and Sri Lanka and Thailand attended the conference to discuss how to tackle the deadly H5N1 strain of the virus.

Representatives of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the World Organisation for Animal Health were also present.

The spread of the virus appeared to be gaining momentum earlier this year with at least 18 new countries confirming cases of the H5N1 in wild birds or in domestic poultry in February alone, according to the WHO.

Source: http://www.thedailystar.net/2006/07/29/d60729015028.htm

 

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ASIA - Common strategy to fight bird flu

ASIA - Common strategy to fight bird flu

SCRAMBLE TO CONTAIN BIRD FLU AFTER OUTBREAKS HIT REGION
August 3, 2006
By Nirmal Ghosh (The Straits Times)

Governments across Southeast Asia are scrambling to keep bird flu from spreading, amid reports of new outbreaks flaring up around the region.

In a particularly worrying development, Indonesia reported seven new suspected cases in a village in the Karo district in North Sumatra province, where bird flu killed as many as seven people in an extended family in May.

That outbreak triggered fears the H5N1 virus had mutated into a form that could spread easily between people.

The new patients, who are in stable condition, include three children who come from the same sub-district where the world's first case of human-to-human transmission of bird flu took place last year.

In Thailand, meanwhile, officials from 21 provinces met in Bangkok to tighten measures to curb the virus in the country's north and north-east, where 80 patients are being monitored for infection.

Malaysia is also maintaining a high alert along its border with Thailand.

The country is gearing up for a massive bird flu pandemic simulation exercise, and acting director-general of veterinary services Mustapa Abdul Jalil called for cooperation to ensure that dead or live chickens and their products were not smuggled in.

"We need the support of all government departments and agencies to nab smugglers," he said.

So far, at least 134 people worldwide have died from H5N1, with Indonesia and Vietnam the hardest hit with 42 deaths each.

Thailand has reported 15 fatal cases, the latest being a 17-year-old youth who died in Phichit province in the lower northern part of the country on July 24, the country's first human death in over seven months.

A Food and Agricultural Organisation official said that overall, "Thailand has been a success story mainly because of its effort on an inter-ministerial level in terms of mobilisation of people and money".

But he added that it was crucial to identify the source of the new outbreak: "Thailand's surveillance system, however good, needs to be enhanced."

Thai officials are trying to avoid a repeat of the Phichit case, in which the youth's family did not report their sick chickens, fearing their entire flock would be culled. Critics have urged the government to pay more compensation to farmers to encourage prompt reporting.

In a bid to contain the problem the government has said it will fine or jail anyone found transporting birds illegally, dumping carcasses in the open or burying dead poultry without informing livestock officials.

'We are confident that Thailand can control the spread of the outbreak' Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra told reporters on Tuesday.

But some governments, like those of Laos, Cambodia and Burma are ill-equipped for the fight.

In Laos, a poultry cull near the capital Vientiane has been under way since H5N1 was detected on a state-owned farm about 25km south of the city last month.

Thailand has offered to help Laos with expertise and resources, but Laos on Wednesday (Aug 2) cancelled a bilateral meeting on bird flu.

Source: http://www.asianewsnet.net/news.php?aid=3622