Sally Furniss
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Bird Flu Fatalities Climb, Mark Deadliest Quarter Yet
(Update2) March 30 (Bloomberg)
-- Bird flu deaths in Egypt, which may be confirmed by the United Nations this week, will bring the year's toll to 31 people and mark the quarter as the deadliest yet as the virus spreads from Asia to Europe and Africa.
The World Health Organization is scheduled to report within a few days the results of tests on two women who died this month, the UN agency said on its Web site yesterday. Three other people in Egypt also tested positive for the lethal H5N1 avian flu strain by a U.S. Naval Medical Research Unit, the WHO said.
``Since the first outbreak was confirmed on Feb. 17, more than 25 million birds have died or been destroyed'' in Egypt, the WHO said. ``Egypt has a large population of poultry, many of which are kept on roof terraces in close proximity to humans.''
The pace of human infections is accelerating after 31 countries reported outbreaks in animals since February. Diseased fowl raise the risk to humans and create opportunities for the virus to mutate into a pandemic form that may kill millions. A human case was reported every second day on average this year. The fatality rate rose to one every three days, compared with one a week in the first quarter of 2005.
Since 2003, the H5N1 strain of avian flu has killed at least 105 of 186 people infected, the WHO said on March 24. It will adjust the tally after tests are completed on the Egyptian cases, it said yesterday.
Fears the H5N1 virus will mutate and spawn a deadly pandemic have focused attention on vaccines and antiviral medication designed to fight the illness.
Sanofi Vaccine
Sanofi-Aventis SA yesterday said improving its avian flu vaccine is a priority after a study found an early version of the product was only about 50 percent effective.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has spent $250 million to date on avian-flu vaccine, mostly from Sanofi, HHS spokesman William Hall said in an interview yesterday. The agency aims to stockpile enough vaccine for 20 million people. The new study results released yesterday means the supply of vaccine ordered by the U.S. will protect only about 4 million people, Hall said.
At the dose that worked best in the study, the vaccine triggered a protective immune response in 53 percent of test subjects, researchers reported in today's issue of the New England Journal of Medicine released late yesterday.
Improving the vaccine is ``a top priority for our company,'' said Len Lavenda, a spokesman at Sanofi's vaccine unit in Swiftwater, Pennsylvania. ``We want to protect as many people as possible, as soon as possible. To conclude that this result is as good as it gets would be premature.'' He said Sanofi, based in Paris, also pland to add production capacity.
Relenza Drug
GlaxoSmithKline Plc's Relenza drug yesterday won U.S. approval for the prevention of seasonal influenza. The medicine, an inhaled powder, already is approved by the Food and Drug Administration to treat the flu. Roche Holding AG's Tamiflu, a capsule, is the only treatment also approved for prevention. The drugs may help protect people who are exposed when the flu breaks out in a family or a community, the FDA said. Both are being stockpiled for a possible outbreak of bird flu amid evidence they help fight the virus in laboratory animals.
A second outbreak of H5N1 was found in a wild duck in northern Cameroon, Agence France-Presse reported yesterday, citing a statement from the West African country's Agriculture Ministry. The outbreak occurred at Lake Malape, near the border with Nigeria.
`Desperate Need'
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan yesterday asked wealthy countries to keep their promises made in January to give money for the fight against bird flu and said significant new funds may be needed for Africa.
Health officials in poorer nations need help monitoring the avian flu virus and small farmers need payment for poultry they've killed to slow its spread, Annan said in a statement. The original pledge of $1.9 billion, made at a conference in Beijing, may not be enough, he said.
``Nowhere is this more the case than in Africa, from where I have just returned,'' Annan said in the e-mailed statement. ``There is an immediate and desperate need for expertise, funds, transport and equipment.''.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000101&sid=aBeFrzZAehcs&refer=japan
(Update2) March 30 (Bloomberg)
-- Bird flu deaths in Egypt, which may be confirmed by the United Nations this week, will bring the year's toll to 31 people and mark the quarter as the deadliest yet as the virus spreads from Asia to Europe and Africa.
The World Health Organization is scheduled to report within a few days the results of tests on two women who died this month, the UN agency said on its Web site yesterday. Three other people in Egypt also tested positive for the lethal H5N1 avian flu strain by a U.S. Naval Medical Research Unit, the WHO said.
``Since the first outbreak was confirmed on Feb. 17, more than 25 million birds have died or been destroyed'' in Egypt, the WHO said. ``Egypt has a large population of poultry, many of which are kept on roof terraces in close proximity to humans.''
The pace of human infections is accelerating after 31 countries reported outbreaks in animals since February. Diseased fowl raise the risk to humans and create opportunities for the virus to mutate into a pandemic form that may kill millions. A human case was reported every second day on average this year. The fatality rate rose to one every three days, compared with one a week in the first quarter of 2005.
Since 2003, the H5N1 strain of avian flu has killed at least 105 of 186 people infected, the WHO said on March 24. It will adjust the tally after tests are completed on the Egyptian cases, it said yesterday.
Fears the H5N1 virus will mutate and spawn a deadly pandemic have focused attention on vaccines and antiviral medication designed to fight the illness.
Sanofi Vaccine
Sanofi-Aventis SA yesterday said improving its avian flu vaccine is a priority after a study found an early version of the product was only about 50 percent effective.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has spent $250 million to date on avian-flu vaccine, mostly from Sanofi, HHS spokesman William Hall said in an interview yesterday. The agency aims to stockpile enough vaccine for 20 million people. The new study results released yesterday means the supply of vaccine ordered by the U.S. will protect only about 4 million people, Hall said.
At the dose that worked best in the study, the vaccine triggered a protective immune response in 53 percent of test subjects, researchers reported in today's issue of the New England Journal of Medicine released late yesterday.
Improving the vaccine is ``a top priority for our company,'' said Len Lavenda, a spokesman at Sanofi's vaccine unit in Swiftwater, Pennsylvania. ``We want to protect as many people as possible, as soon as possible. To conclude that this result is as good as it gets would be premature.'' He said Sanofi, based in Paris, also pland to add production capacity.
Relenza Drug
GlaxoSmithKline Plc's Relenza drug yesterday won U.S. approval for the prevention of seasonal influenza. The medicine, an inhaled powder, already is approved by the Food and Drug Administration to treat the flu. Roche Holding AG's Tamiflu, a capsule, is the only treatment also approved for prevention. The drugs may help protect people who are exposed when the flu breaks out in a family or a community, the FDA said. Both are being stockpiled for a possible outbreak of bird flu amid evidence they help fight the virus in laboratory animals.
A second outbreak of H5N1 was found in a wild duck in northern Cameroon, Agence France-Presse reported yesterday, citing a statement from the West African country's Agriculture Ministry. The outbreak occurred at Lake Malape, near the border with Nigeria.
`Desperate Need'
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan yesterday asked wealthy countries to keep their promises made in January to give money for the fight against bird flu and said significant new funds may be needed for Africa.
Health officials in poorer nations need help monitoring the avian flu virus and small farmers need payment for poultry they've killed to slow its spread, Annan said in a statement. The original pledge of $1.9 billion, made at a conference in Beijing, may not be enough, he said.
``Nowhere is this more the case than in Africa, from where I have just returned,'' Annan said in the e-mailed statement. ``There is an immediate and desperate need for expertise, funds, transport and equipment.''.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000101&sid=aBeFrzZAehcs&refer=japan
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