India: It?s Spreading

[Cautel]

No Human Bird Flu Cases In India, All Samples Tested Negative

No Human Bird Flu Cases In India, All Samples Tested Negative

No Human Bird Flu Cases In India, All Samples Tested Negative

23 Feb 2006
Article Date: 23 Feb 2006 - 14:00pm (UK)

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/healthnews.php?newsid=38288#


Of the 94 samples tested so far for human bird flu infection, all have come back negative, say authorities in India. There is still one more to come, we will know the result on Saturday. This is a great relief for the Indian government as dozens of people have been calling in to hospitals complaining of flu like symptoms. It seems the cases are just of normal colds and human flu.

Over 700,000 birds have been culled in Maharashtra state over the last week as government agencies try to stem the spread of the H5N1 bird flu virus strain among birds. Authorities are now dealing with the clean up after such a massive undertaking - cleaning up the farms, burning feathers and bird faeces.

The town of Navapur, population 30,000, has been completely sealed off - there are checkpoints around the town, trains are being diverted so they do not stop in the town, and all schools have closed for the time-being.

Officials say anyone with a temperature who tries to leave Navapur will not be allowed to leave.

India's poultry industry is massive. As people shy away from buying chicken meat and some neighbouring countries have banned chicken imports from India, the country's poultry industry is experiencing a drastic fall in activity.

Do As I Say, Not As I Do

While government officials tell people that eating chicken and eggs is safe, if cooked properly, many people are annoyed at the Indian parliament's decision to ban chicken and eggs from the menu of its restaurants. The military, railways and the main airlines are also shunning poultry products.

Written by: Christian Nordqvist
Editor: Medical News Today

 

[Mellie]

Bird outbreaks

Bird outbreaks

Theresa42 posted this last night in the maps section

Map of what's going on in India (as far as I know...). I came up with this map late in the day on Tuesday and at the time I was pretty sure it wasn't a complete picture -- I just included everything I was aware of at the time. Now it's definitely not up to date -- there have been suspicious cases reported elsewhere. I will post a new map as soon as possible. >>

Red dots = confirmed bird flu cases
Orange dots = reports of suspicious bird deaths
Yellow dot = reports of suspicious human cases (death/hospitalizations)

Marharashtra & Gurajat in the west where the confirmed bf cases in chickens is, plus several suspicious cases in humans. Also, where Ganesh Sonar/Sonarkar died.

Chennai in the south where "protein signatures of the ?highly pathogenic? H5N1 strain were spotted" in 3 poultry workers in 2002(!).

Other areas = other reports of suspicious bird deaths.

 

[Sally Furniss]

India: 400 dead birds found.

India: 400 dead birds found.

400 dead birds found in India, bird flu suspected

NEW DELHI: About 400 Siberian migratory birds found dead in Orang Abad India, suspected of died by the bird flu virus.

The dead birds found about 30 kilometers? distance from Orang Abad, Indian TV reported. Local authorities suspecting the birds? death by deadly bird flu strain. However no symptoms of the disease found in other birds.

Meanwhile, Indian chicken prices have plummet from Rs. 50 KG to Rs. 18 after confirmation of the disease in the South Asian country. http://www.geo.tv/main_files/world.aspx?id=107922

 

[Clytie]

Opinion: We saw bird flu coming... (India)

Opinion: We saw bird flu coming... (India)

[February 24, 2006]

We saw bird flu coming...

(Indian Express Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)
http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/-we-saw-bird-flu-coming-/2006/02/24/1405893.htm

The irony about the bird flu is that we all saw it coming. But, as usual, when it came to implementation, we did nothing. Consequently, millions of birds are being culled mercilessly even as threat of pandemic continues to loom large.

Shockingly, instead of following a time-tested system of eliminating the virus, we are using unacceptable mechanisms in dealing with it. Most of the workers are either not using gloves and protective clothing, masks or lack the training to do the job. In fact, India has not even deemed it necessary to import N95 masks that are absolutely essential to filter the virus.

Unlike in Japan, where poultry was accounted for and farmers compensated, in India many farmers preferred not to report cases of birds dying en-masse. Worse, there were reports of small farmers in Maharashtra shifting their poultry stock to neighbouring states like MP to save them. Clearly, there is a lack of trust in the prevailing machinery that promises compensation but seldom delivers.

As for medical aids, we are poorly equipped. A city like Mumbai is understood to have only 20 ventilators in comparison to the many thousands positioned in each city in the US. Ventilators are essential to address respiratory distress in case of an outbreak.

France should be more than willing to provide us with testing kits that it has already deployed successfully to combat the virus in its home ground. Our government should waste no time in ordering these kits, ventilators, N95 masks and other protective gear, so that the damage control regime is quickly put in place.

Disaster management is a subject that perhaps only exists in files in our country. Should the pandemic hit India, there is likely to be complete chaos. Neither the hospitals nor the doctors are trained to handle such a crisis. A blueprint, if any, to tackle the emergency is mysteriously shrouded in secrecy at the health ministry. There are indeed no reasons to panic for now, but at the same time we need to be prepared for the worst.

The whole issue brings the focus back on Indian research. Ever since independence, there has been little or no incentive for the pharma industry to invest in basic research. Reverse engineering was considered to be a cheap and effective alternative to time-consuming, costly research. But with India having become IPR compliant, we urgently need to put the R&D house in order. Beginning with the budget, it is of paramount importance to provide every possible incentive to R&D-based industries so that at least in the future India is better prepared.

The writer is co-chairman of the pharma committee of ASSOCHAM and president, Nicholas Piramal India Ltd

 

[ukcz]

Re: Opinion: We saw bird flu coming... (India)

Re: Opinion: We saw bird flu coming... (India)

When I saw the headline I thought that Vafie was here. ;-)

 

[Vibrant62]

Re: Opinion: We saw bird flu coming... (India)

Re: Opinion: We saw bird flu coming... (India)

Unfortunately, for the news we have seen from India and the range of reactions to it, from poorly informed members of govt to relative panic amongst the populations in some areas, and added to the points made above, a human outbreak there will be disasterous for India's population.

As an emerging powerhouse economy, I wonder how long before businesses and their related political interests begin to grap the magnitude of the threat if they remain haphazard about continement and eradication measures. Once they do, expect to see massive military involvement (IMHO) and harsh measures to contain outbreaks in birds.

I am concerned about the lack of WHO involvement, and the fact that no samples have been sent elsewhere for genetype sequencing. I hope that these will be forthcoming soon.

 

[Sally Furniss]

India reports second bird flu outbreak in poultry

India reports second bird flu outbreak in poultry

<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"> <tbody><tr><td class="text" width="75%">Sunday, February 26, 2006</td> <td align="right" width="25%"> http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/print.asp?page=2006\02\26\story_26-2-2006_pg4_14
</td></tr></tbody> </table> India reports second bird flu outbreak in poultry
* Expands cull zone as virus spreads to Gujarat

NEW DELHI: Animal health officials have expanded the zone for slaughtering chickens in western India after the discovery of a second outbreak of bird flu, government officials said on Saturday.

Chickens at two farms in Gujarat state four kilometres from the Maharashtra state border town of Navapur, the epicentre of the initial outbreak, were confirmed positive with the H5N1 strain of bird flu on Saturday.

?Samples from two farms in Utchal (in Surat district) have been confirmed for avian influenza,? Upma Chawdhry, joint secretary in the national animal husbandry department, told AFP.

Confirmation of the new outbreak came two weeks after samples were taken.

Chawdhry said all chickens had already been killed at the two farms which were within the 10-kilometre zone where officials had by Wednesday finished slaughtering all farm birds after the initial confirmed outbreak. ?The poultry have already been culled ... and operations completed at these farms,? she said, adding, ?It is not a cause for concern.?

Officials will now widen the slaughter zone by a few kilometres and kill several thousand more backyard chickens on Saturday at a few more villages, Surat district senior administrator Vatsala Vasudeva told reporters. ?We will now take Utchal as the epicentre ... a few extra villages will be added and culling is being undertaken today (Saturday),? she said.

Animal health officials in Maharashtra said on Friday they must still find and kill backyard chickens in 70 villages before completing the slaughter of all birds around India?s first H5N1 outbreak in Navapur, confirmed a week ago.

Indian officials said late on Friday all 95 samples collected from people suspected of carrying bird flu following confirmation of the first outbreak tested negative.

The announcement eased fears the infection might have spread to humans here in the country of more than one billion people where many live in close proximity with poultry.

However, senior health ministry official Vineet Chawdhry said two more people were taken to hospital on Friday in Navapur ? which was put under quarantine on Thursday ? to be kept under observation. ?The two have so far not shown any symptoms of bid flu. They have been kept under observation because they were reportedly in contact with poultry,? Chawdhry said.

Checkpoints were set up on all roads in and out of Navapur and trains passed through its station without stopping as officials urged only those who needed to make essential trips to travel.

Doctors have been on alert for symptoms among the 60,000 residents of Navapur and villages within 10 kilometres of the first outbreak. A total of 108 people had signs of fever, according to Maharashtra figures released on Friday. But officials said they believed none was infected with the H5N1 strain of bird flu that has so far killed more than 90 people worldwide.

Up to nine people had also been taken for observation to a health community centre in the town of Vyara in Gujarat after health officials screened people living in 71 Gujarati villages, said Surat district administrator Vasudeva. afp

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2006\02\26\story_26-2-2006_pg4_14

 

[sharon sanders]

No New Cases of Bird Flu in India

No New Cases of Bird Flu in India

"No new case of bird flu"
Special Correspondent



NEW DELHI: The Government on Saturday `clarified' that there were no fresh cases of avian influenza. The `clarification' came following reports that several new cases of the disease had been detected at Uchchal in Surat district of Gujarat.
A statement issued by the Department of Animal Husbandry (Ministry of Agriculture) said the poultry farms of Uchchal taluk adjoin the infected area of Navapur in Maharashtra, where the disease was first detected. The Gujarat Government had sent a few samples from Uchchal for testing after reports of large-scale death of poultry in Navapur and these samples have tested positive for the bird flu virus at the High Security Animal Disease Laboratory in Bhopal.
The affected birds have been culled in the affected region and Maharashtra has banned any outside movement of poultry from the State. "Clean-up and disinfection operations are continuing in Navapur and Uchchal, and measures have been taken to contain the spread of bird flu in the region," the statement said.
No need for panic

PTI reports:
The incident of bird flu at Uchchal should not be seen as a new case as the place fell within a two-three km radius of Navapur, Animal Husbandry Secretary P.M.A. Hakeem told PTI in New Delhi. ``There is absolutely no need for panic as Uchchal falls in the infected Navapur zone. This should not be seen as a separate incident as the two areas are adjoining,'' he said.

 

[DB]

India: 900 suffering from fever, bird flu ruled out

India: 900 suffering from fever, bird flu ruled out

http://www.zeenews.com/znnew/articles.asp?aid=278817&sid=REG

900 suffering from fever, bird flu ruled out Rourkela (Orissa), Mar 01: A mystery fever has afflicted about 900 people in a large slum on the outskirts of this steel city but health authorities have ruled out the possibility of bird flu.

Panic gripped the area, known as Panposh Basti which is home to 2000 families, as hundreds of people were hit by the fever over the last two days.

Sundargarh chief district medical officer Dr Premananda Pattnaik said the fever was not bird flu and health department personnel had already examined 241 blood samples which indicated that the fever was caused by an air-borne virus.

Some of the slides had indicated malaria, he said.

Forty one of the affected people had been admitted to the Rourkela government hospital since yesterday. The rest were treated as outdoor patients.

A team of physicians from the VSS medical college hospital from Burla would be at Panposh to take stock of the situation.

Pattnaik said a team of doctors and para-medical personnel from the district headquarter hospital at Sundargarh were already working at the Basti and making a door-to-door surveillance.

In Bhubaneswar, state health secretary R N Senapati said the government was looking into the situation and doctors' teams were being sent to find out the reason behind the outbreak of the fever.

Bureau Report

 

[Massive_Lemon]

Re: India: 900 suffering from fever, bird flu ruled out

Re: India: 900 suffering from fever, bird flu ruled out

Slides suggested malaria, but they say it was caused by an airborne virus. Well there's an interesting contradiction.

 

[Toaster2]

Re: India: 900 suffering from fever, bird flu ruled out

Re: India: 900 suffering from fever, bird flu ruled out

IS this the same outbreak as reported in Karnataka (that resembles Chikunguya symptoms ?) or yet another one ?

 

[ukcz]

Re: India: 900 suffering from fever, bird flu ruled out

Re: India: 900 suffering from fever, bird flu ruled out

From this report you can deduce that:
1. It's a virus
2. It's airborne
3. They know what it is (but don't say)
("health department personnel had already examined 241 blood samples which indicated that the fever was caused by an air-borne virus").

Finding malaria amoung the blood samples is about as shocking as discovering that a European has had a cold once in the past.

What is this virus with no name?

 

[MHSC]

Re: India: 900 is now 3000

Re: India: 900 is now 3000

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...how/1433399.cms


Mysterious fever grips Rourkela, 3,000 ill


[ Wednesday, March 01, 2006 11:58:18 amIANS ]


ROURKELA: About 3,000 people in Orissa's steel town of Rourkela have come down with a mysterious viral fever that has health officials completely baffled.

The fever was first reported in a small group at a slum cluster in Panposh on the outskirts of Rourkela, famous for its steel plant, on Monday. Since then, it has rapidly spread to other parts of the town.

The high fever is accompanied by vomiting, headache and acute colic pain, said a senior district health official.

Most of the patients have been admitted to government and private hospitals.

Results of blood tests on about 300 patients indicate that it could be an airborne virus, though a few were also found to be suffering from malaria, the official said.

Specialists from the Veer Surendra Sai medical college hospital at Burla have rushed to Rourkela and are carrying out further tests, he added.

 

[MHSC]

India 900 sick this morning now at 3000 sick

India 900 sick this morning now at 3000 sick

Tried to post this in breaking news, system wouldn't let me.


http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...how/1433399.cms


Mysterious fever grips Rourkela, 3,000 ill


[ Wednesday, March 01, 2006 11:58:18 amIANS ]


ROURKELA: About 3,000 people in Orissa's steel town of Rourkela have come down with a mysterious viral fever that has health officials completely baffled.

The fever was first reported in a small group at a slum cluster in Panposh on the outskirts of Rourkela, famous for its steel plant, on Monday. Since then, it has rapidly spread to other parts of the town.

The high fever is accompanied by vomiting, headache and acute colic pain, said a senior district health official.

Most of the patients have been admitted to government and private hospitals.

Results of blood tests on about 300 patients indicate that it could be an airborne virus, though a few were also found to be suffering from malaria, the official said.

Specialists from the Veer Surendra Sai medical college hospital at Burla have rushed to Rourkela and are carrying out further tests, he added.

 

[HatTrick]

Re: India 900 sick this morning now at 3000 sick

Re: India 900 sick this morning now at 3000 sick

Tried to post this in breaking news, system wouldn't let me.


http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...how/1433399.cms


Mysterious fever grips Rourkela, 3,000 ill


[ Wednesday, March 01, 2006 11:58:18 amIANS ]


ROURKELA: About 3,000 people in Orissa's steel town of Rourkela have come down with a mysterious viral fever that has health officials completely baffled.

The fever was first reported in a small group at a slum cluster in Panposh on the outskirts of Rourkela, famous for its steel plant, on Monday. Since then, it has rapidly spread to other parts of the town.

The high fever is accompanied by vomiting, headache and acute colic pain, said a senior district health official.

Most of the patients have been admitted to government and private hospitals.

Results of blood tests on about 300 patients indicate that it could be an airborne virus, though a few were also found to be suffering from malaria, the official said.

Specialists from the Veer Surendra Sai medical college hospital at Burla have rushed to Rourkela and are carrying out further tests, he added.

300 ill people, with most of them now in hospital? Am I reading that right? I can't be.

 

[DB]

Re: India 900 sick this morning now at 3000 sick

Re: India 900 sick this morning now at 3000 sick

300 ill people, with most of them now in hospital? Am I reading that right? I can't be.

No, there are 3,000 ill and most of them are now in the hospital.

They have done tests on 300 of 3,000 (10%) and found that they are being infected by an airborn virus.

 

[HatTrick]

Re: India 900 sick this morning now at 3000 sick

Re: India 900 sick this morning now at 3000 sick

No, there are 3,000 ill and most of them are now in the hospital.

They have done tests on 300 of 3,000 (10%) and found that they are being infected by an airborn virus.

How can 3000 additional patients be hospitalized in that area? Not that I'm not buying it, but "hospitalized" in India must surely have a different meaning from that with which I'm familiar.

Reported deaths yet?

 

[DB]

?Mystery? fever affects 3,000 people in Orissa

?Mystery? fever affects 3,000 people in Orissa

http://www.mumbaimirror.com/nmirror/mmpaper.asp?sectid=4&articleid=322006201643562322006201642140

Rourkela (Orissa): Despite efforts to contain it, an air-borne "mystery" fever here has affected around 3,000 people and the disease was slowly assuming epidemic form.

The viral fever was spreading unexpectedly and the number of affected people had crossed 3,000 till Wednesday, chief district medical officer Dr Premananda Patnaik said on Thursday.

The fever has been reported from Kishantola, Chhend Colony, Rukutola, Railway Colony, PHD Colony and Banglatoli, most of them located in slums.

Four doctors from Bhubaneswar and an equal number from V S S medical college at Burla had rushed to the spot to take stock of the situation.

Another team of 20 local doctors was pressed into service while a joint director of state health department was monitoring the situation.

Besides, five mobile camps were organised to check spread of the disease. About 800 new cases had been reported from different camps on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, 69 indoor patients have been discharged as their condition improved.

Patnaik said the patients were complaining of headache, severe body pain and vomiting tendency.

As many as 857 blood samples were tested and nine cases of malaria had been detected since the fever surfaced on February 28. While mainly adults were affected by the fever, doctors ruled out detection of bird flu virus.

 

[DB]

Re: ?Mystery? fever affects 3,000 people in Orissa

Re: ?Mystery? fever affects 3,000 people in Orissa

http://www.orissa.net/news/default.asp?NewsID=17750

ROURKELA , 03 Mar 2006
Mysterious fever changes its place

The mysterious viral attack of Panposh has now reached Rajgangpur. The collector of Sundargarh has already reached Rajgangpur. 70 inmates of Rourkela special jail have also been affected. Special Medical teams which have gone from Burla and Bhubaneswar and have started investigating the blood samples. Minister of health has said that steps have been taken to meet this challenge.

 

[DB]

India: 3,500 with 'Mystery' fever

India: 3,500 with 'Mystery' fever

http://www.newindpress.com/NewsItems.asp?ID=IEQ20060304214150&Page=Q&Title=ORISSA&Topic=0

Mystery fever: Nothing to worry, says administration
Sunday March 5 2006 08:03 IST
ROURKELA: Alarmed at the ?mysterious fever? outbreak at Panposh sub-division, the district administration has woken up to a series of precautionary measures. However, administration sources said the situation is fully under control.

More than 3,500 patients are reportedly suffering from the fever, which health officials could be ?viral fever?. Sources said 70 new cases were reported from Rourkela Special Jail. However, Chief District Medical Officer (CDMO) Dr Premanand Patnaik claimed that there had been a remarkable fall in the number of patients, reporting sick.

Of the 351 cases treated on Friday, 120 were repeat cases. In a bid to allay fear among the people about the disease, Rourkela ADM Shalini Pandit accompanied by Dr Patnaik, CMO of RGH Dr Pramila Mohanty and Medicine Specialist Dr S Basa of Rourkela Government Hospital addressed mediapersons.