Commonground
Senior Moderator
Re: General Indonesian BF news
Re: General Indonesian BF news
hat-tip Monotreme:
Indonesia finds asymptomatic H5N1-infected poultry
hat-tip Monotreme
Indonesia finds asymptomatic H5N1-infected poultry
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/JAK342083.htm
JAKARTA, June 11 (Reuters) - Indonesia has found traces of H5N1 bird flu in apparently healthy-looking poultry, making it tougher to detect the disease in the country hardest hit by the virus, officials said on Monday.
Sick or dead chickens are used as a sign of H5N1 infection, but the appearance of "asymptomatic" chickens means humans could become more easily infected with bird flu. Indonesia has the world's highest death toll from the disease, killing 79 people.
"The poultry death rate is not so high, but there is a trend that chicken or poultry are infected by the virus but they don't die. So, the H5N1 virus is not fatal to poultry," Musny Suatmodjo, director of animal health at the agriculture ministry, told a news conference.
[snip]
For the first six months of this year, 12,000 birds have died of bird flu or been culled, while last year about 1.75 million poultry either died of the disease or were culled, Suatmodjo said.
Authorities fear healthy-looking poultry could shed the virus in their faeces, increasing the risk of spreading bird flu to people.
"The poultry deaths have come down. But there's something that we need to be cautious about. There is concern shedding may occur," Bayu Krisnamurthi, the bird flu commission chief, told reporters.
"There are some cases where humans were infected with the virus although there was no sick or dead poultry in their surroundings. But it can't be a general conclusion yet," he said, adding the commission was being cautious about this indication.
Hong Kong-based researchers have also detected such "asymptomatic" chickens and other poultry in mainland Chinese markets in recent years, which they believe were responsible for most of the H5N1 human infections there.
One published study of faecal samples taken from healthy poultry in markets in China in recent years found that one percent were infected with the virus.
The Indonesian Bird Flu Commission said last week the H5N1 bird flu virus in Indonesia might have undergone a mutation that allows it to jump more easily from poultry to humans.
_________________
Re: General Indonesian BF news
hat-tip Monotreme:
Indonesia finds asymptomatic H5N1-infected poultry
hat-tip Monotreme
Indonesia finds asymptomatic H5N1-infected poultry
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/JAK342083.htm
JAKARTA, June 11 (Reuters) - Indonesia has found traces of H5N1 bird flu in apparently healthy-looking poultry, making it tougher to detect the disease in the country hardest hit by the virus, officials said on Monday.
Sick or dead chickens are used as a sign of H5N1 infection, but the appearance of "asymptomatic" chickens means humans could become more easily infected with bird flu. Indonesia has the world's highest death toll from the disease, killing 79 people.
"The poultry death rate is not so high, but there is a trend that chicken or poultry are infected by the virus but they don't die. So, the H5N1 virus is not fatal to poultry," Musny Suatmodjo, director of animal health at the agriculture ministry, told a news conference.
[snip]
For the first six months of this year, 12,000 birds have died of bird flu or been culled, while last year about 1.75 million poultry either died of the disease or were culled, Suatmodjo said.
Authorities fear healthy-looking poultry could shed the virus in their faeces, increasing the risk of spreading bird flu to people.
"The poultry deaths have come down. But there's something that we need to be cautious about. There is concern shedding may occur," Bayu Krisnamurthi, the bird flu commission chief, told reporters.
"There are some cases where humans were infected with the virus although there was no sick or dead poultry in their surroundings. But it can't be a general conclusion yet," he said, adding the commission was being cautious about this indication.
Hong Kong-based researchers have also detected such "asymptomatic" chickens and other poultry in mainland Chinese markets in recent years, which they believe were responsible for most of the H5N1 human infections there.
One published study of faecal samples taken from healthy poultry in markets in China in recent years found that one percent were infected with the virus.
The Indonesian Bird Flu Commission said last week the H5N1 bird flu virus in Indonesia might have undergone a mutation that allows it to jump more easily from poultry to humans.
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