Norway Tests for Bird Flu; 12 Indonesians Get Treated
Norway Tests for Bird Flu; 12 Indonesians Get Treated
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000100&sid=aZkovkmL4oi4&refer=germany
Norway Tests for Bird Flu; 12 Indonesians Get Treated (Update1)
March 9 (Bloomberg) -- Norwegian authorities are testing birds to determine whether they died of avian influenza in what may be the country's first outbreak. At least a dozen people are being treated for the lethal virus in Indonesia.
Two dead and one sick wild duck were found south of the city of Stavanger yesterday, near the remains of another 10 dead fowl, Norway's veterinary institute said on its Web site today. Two children were hospitalized in Jakarta, taking to at least 12 the number of suspected bird flu patients in Indonesia.
The rate of infections in humans has increased this year as the virus spread to more parts of Asia, and to Africa, Europe and the Middle East. The virus is reported to have infected an average of three people a week this year, killing an average of two a week. Last year, 23 cases, including 14 fatalities, were reported in the first 10 weeks.
``We need to step up control to reduce contact between wild birds and poultry, and also contact between humans and wild birds,'' Gao Qiang, China's Minister of Health, told reporters in Beijing. China has reported 15 human cases of bird flu, including 10 deaths, and has screened 38,000 people for the virus.
At least 96 of 175 people infected with the deadly H5N1 strain of the virus since late 2003 have died, mainly in Asia, according to the World Health Organization in Geneva.
Almost half Indonesia's 20 fatalities have occurred this year. The 1-year-old boy and 4-year-old boy admitted to Sulianti Saroso Hospital yesterday aren't related, said Ilham Patu, a senior doctor at the hospital. Ten others are being treated for suspected avian flu, he said.
Generic Drug
The generic drug amantadine worked against some lethal strains of bird flu, indicating the older class of antiviral medicines may be a cheaper option to Roche Holding AG's Tamiflu in fighting the virus in humans.
Amantadine prevented the H5N1 virus from replicating in laboratory tests on strains isolated in Indonesia and China, said Maria Cheng, a WHO spokeswoman. The medicine, which isn't one of the recommended treatments for avian flu, is made by companies including Forest Laboratories Inc.
In Indonesia, doctors still prefer to treat patients with Tamiflu because amantadine has more serious side effects and doesn't work against many influenza virus strains, said Hariadi Wibisono, director of vector-borne disease control at the country's health ministry.
Veterinarians from the U.S. to Kenya are stepping up checks for bird flu, reported to have spread to 22 countries in five weeks. The spread of the disease in birds raises the risk of human infection and may spark a pandemic such as the 1918 flu outbreak that killed 50 million people worldwide.
Infected Mammal
A beech marten from the Baltic Sea island of Ruegen, where Germany's first cases of bird flu were detected last month, has tested positive for the H5N1 virus, the Federal Research Institute for Animal Health said. It's the second type of mammal after three cats to be infected with bird flu in Germany, where a total of six states have now detected the virus in wild birds.
``It is noteworthy that the spectrum of the H5N1 infected mammals has spread,'' the institute said in a statement. It's the first time a marten, a weasel-like creature, is known to have bird flu.
In Sweden, after the first discovery on Feb. 28 of infected ducks in Oskarshamn, authorities yesterday said they had found at least three infected birds in Oxeloesund, and one infected bird in the center of Karlskrona, a town on Sweden's southern coast.
Romania, Serbia
Blood samples from a swan and a moor hen in the town of Mangalia, by the Black Sea, tested positive for the H5N1 virus, the Romanian Agriculture Ministry said. Samples from the town of Harsova, in the country's east, also tested positive for the H5 subtype of the virus. As many as 42 outbreaks have been reported in Romania since October, according to the ministry.
Serbia said a U.K. laboratory confirmed that a wild swan within its borders was infected with the H5N1 virus, Agence France-Presse reported. The swan was found dead near the Danube River, near the border with Croatia and Hungary, AFP said.
The virus has spread to more than 130 farms in almost a third of Nigeria's 36 states, the WHO said. About 450,000 fowl have either died or been culled since Africa's first outbreak began in January. No human cases have been reported in Nigeria or neighboring Niger, where avian infections have so far been confined to the Magaria area.
``Continuing vigilance for human cases in Nigeria is essential,'' the WHO said. ``Virus isolated from poultry in Nigeria is genetically almost identical to viruses that recently caused fatal human cases in Turkey and Iraq.''
Norway Tests for Bird Flu; 12 Indonesians Get Treated
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000100&sid=aZkovkmL4oi4&refer=germany
Norway Tests for Bird Flu; 12 Indonesians Get Treated (Update1)
March 9 (Bloomberg) -- Norwegian authorities are testing birds to determine whether they died of avian influenza in what may be the country's first outbreak. At least a dozen people are being treated for the lethal virus in Indonesia.
Two dead and one sick wild duck were found south of the city of Stavanger yesterday, near the remains of another 10 dead fowl, Norway's veterinary institute said on its Web site today. Two children were hospitalized in Jakarta, taking to at least 12 the number of suspected bird flu patients in Indonesia.
The rate of infections in humans has increased this year as the virus spread to more parts of Asia, and to Africa, Europe and the Middle East. The virus is reported to have infected an average of three people a week this year, killing an average of two a week. Last year, 23 cases, including 14 fatalities, were reported in the first 10 weeks.
``We need to step up control to reduce contact between wild birds and poultry, and also contact between humans and wild birds,'' Gao Qiang, China's Minister of Health, told reporters in Beijing. China has reported 15 human cases of bird flu, including 10 deaths, and has screened 38,000 people for the virus.
At least 96 of 175 people infected with the deadly H5N1 strain of the virus since late 2003 have died, mainly in Asia, according to the World Health Organization in Geneva.
Almost half Indonesia's 20 fatalities have occurred this year. The 1-year-old boy and 4-year-old boy admitted to Sulianti Saroso Hospital yesterday aren't related, said Ilham Patu, a senior doctor at the hospital. Ten others are being treated for suspected avian flu, he said.
Generic Drug
The generic drug amantadine worked against some lethal strains of bird flu, indicating the older class of antiviral medicines may be a cheaper option to Roche Holding AG's Tamiflu in fighting the virus in humans.
Amantadine prevented the H5N1 virus from replicating in laboratory tests on strains isolated in Indonesia and China, said Maria Cheng, a WHO spokeswoman. The medicine, which isn't one of the recommended treatments for avian flu, is made by companies including Forest Laboratories Inc.
In Indonesia, doctors still prefer to treat patients with Tamiflu because amantadine has more serious side effects and doesn't work against many influenza virus strains, said Hariadi Wibisono, director of vector-borne disease control at the country's health ministry.
Veterinarians from the U.S. to Kenya are stepping up checks for bird flu, reported to have spread to 22 countries in five weeks. The spread of the disease in birds raises the risk of human infection and may spark a pandemic such as the 1918 flu outbreak that killed 50 million people worldwide.
Infected Mammal
A beech marten from the Baltic Sea island of Ruegen, where Germany's first cases of bird flu were detected last month, has tested positive for the H5N1 virus, the Federal Research Institute for Animal Health said. It's the second type of mammal after three cats to be infected with bird flu in Germany, where a total of six states have now detected the virus in wild birds.
``It is noteworthy that the spectrum of the H5N1 infected mammals has spread,'' the institute said in a statement. It's the first time a marten, a weasel-like creature, is known to have bird flu.
In Sweden, after the first discovery on Feb. 28 of infected ducks in Oskarshamn, authorities yesterday said they had found at least three infected birds in Oxeloesund, and one infected bird in the center of Karlskrona, a town on Sweden's southern coast.
Romania, Serbia
Blood samples from a swan and a moor hen in the town of Mangalia, by the Black Sea, tested positive for the H5N1 virus, the Romanian Agriculture Ministry said. Samples from the town of Harsova, in the country's east, also tested positive for the H5 subtype of the virus. As many as 42 outbreaks have been reported in Romania since October, according to the ministry.
Serbia said a U.K. laboratory confirmed that a wild swan within its borders was infected with the H5N1 virus, Agence France-Presse reported. The swan was found dead near the Danube River, near the border with Croatia and Hungary, AFP said.
The virus has spread to more than 130 farms in almost a third of Nigeria's 36 states, the WHO said. About 450,000 fowl have either died or been culled since Africa's first outbreak began in January. No human cases have been reported in Nigeria or neighboring Niger, where avian infections have so far been confined to the Magaria area.
``Continuing vigilance for human cases in Nigeria is essential,'' the WHO said. ``Virus isolated from poultry in Nigeria is genetically almost identical to viruses that recently caused fatal human cases in Turkey and Iraq.''
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