Indonesia: Bali: Suspected Human #H5N1 #Bird_flu Case

7/20/12
Again, A Citizens Suspect Bird Flu Virus Bali bird flu that recently a little forgotten, now re-emerged a surprise. As a warning to the public, a resident in the village of Grasshoppers, District Kediri, Tabanan, Bali, believed to have contracted the deadly virus.

H5N1 virus was detected in the attack last week. Suspect cases of bird flu this time also begins with the death of poultry several days in a row. Despite the negative results of the examination, Tabanan regency through the Department of Health said the alert.

Patient suspect bird flu was found in the health center Kediri III, Village Beraban. One resident, Yun (27), sudden high fever. After three days of fever attacked with the heat to 38 degrees Celsius, the victim was rushed to the clinic.

The results of medical detection, this woman allegedly infected with bird flu virus. Because, before falling fever, chicken sudden death of the victim. Totaling seven tails. "Due to suspicious, we refer the victim to a special room of Tabanan Hospital bird flu," said Kadis Tabanan Health, Dr. Nyoman Suratmika told reporters.

Described, the results of rapid tests on the negative end of bird flu victims, including those found in birds died suddenly. However, team or intelligence suvrvailen Health Department continue to monitor the development of the victim.

According Suratmika, victim condition improved after three days in intensive care. "The heat down and allowed to go home. But, we continue to monitor developments," he explained.

Although negative, the control of the spread of bird flu virus remains tight. Therefore, this deadly virus could emerge at any time. Usually preceded by the sudden death of poultry and row.

Anticipating a similar case, the Department of Health set up at least 9 tamiflu box. This medicine is for people who likely contracted the bird flu. "If it appears the case, we already have special wards in hospitals. Everything can be handled here," said Suratmika.

Cases of bird flu appeared in 2011 in the village of Tabanan babahan, Penebel. To suppress such cases, poultry farmers are required to maintain health of livestock, especially free-range chicken that used to live in freedom. Previous experience, the bird flu virus mostly attacks the wild chicken, and then transmitted to the residents.

Vietnam: Bird flu re-emerges in Quang Binh Province

Previous posts on Vietnam outbreaks in Human & Poultry can be found here, here and here.

7/17/12

QUANG BINH — The Animal Health Department of central Quang Binh Province announced on Monday that H5N1 flu or avian flu had broken out in the region.

The news was released after samples from dead ducks in the communes of Son Thuy, Loc Thuy and An Ninh were found to be positive for H5N1.

According to health department head Pham Hong Son, his department and the local Agriculture and Rural Development had sprayed the infected areas with disinfectants.

Son said blockades had been set up and poultry had been banned from moving in or out of the area.

In February, Viet Nam experienced large-scale outbreaks of bird flu, which killed two people and 6,000 poultry in provinces across the country

Taiwan: Smuggled birds with H5N1 virus confiscated at airport

Wed, Jul 18, 2012


A batch of smuggled birds carrying the H5N1 avian influenza virus was discovered at the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and destroyed without anyone being infected, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday.

Thirty-eight live birds were found in the carry-on luggage of a Taiwanese traveler returning from Macau on July 7.

A few days later, laboratory test results showed that the birds, bought in Guangzhou, China, were carrying the virus.

“This marks the third time the virus has been detected at the nation’s borders,” Centers for Disease Control Deputy Director-General Chou Jih-haw (周志浩) said, adding that the previous cases were found in smuggled poultry in 2003 and 2005.

The smuggler and eight other individuals who had been in close contact with him were monitored for any signs of disease, but as of Monday, they had not displayed symptoms, Chou said.

The CDC destroyed the birds and informed the relevant authorities in Macau and China, he said.

There has not yet been a confirmed case of human H5N1 infection in Taiwan, according to CDC statistics.

Figures from the WHO showed that there have been 607 reported cases of human H5N1 infection worldwide since 2003 and 358 people have died from the disease.

The mortality rate is as high as 60 percent.

Medicago Press Release: Q&A: How real is the threat of a global pandemic involving H5N1 or a related virus?

Wed Jul 18, 2012 8:34am EDT
Andy Sheldon is the CEO of Medicago Inc. (TSX: MDG) (OTCQX: MDCGF) (PINK:MDCGF).

His firm has completed a Phase I and a Phase II clinical trial of an H5 pandemic flu VLP vaccine candidate and he shares with BioMedReports an overview of progress on several fronts in this exclusive interview. Read More

How real is the threat of a global pandemic involving H5N1 or a related virus?
Very real. Two studies published this year in Nature and Science highlight the pandemic potential of viruses possessing an H5 HA, and it appears to be much easier than previously thought. The continued evolution of H5N1 viruses reinforces the need to prepare and update candidate vaccines to H5 viruses and, together, the two papers demonstrate that the natural evolution of an H5N1 virus to a transmissible, highly pathogenic human pandemic virus is possible.
-snip-
[Click on title above for link]

The full interview with Andy Sheldon is the CEO of Medicago Inc is available at:

http://www.biomedreports.com/20120718100206/qaa-andy-sheldon-the-ceo-of-medicago-inc.html

Healthcare investors and Biotech traders interested in accessing BioMedReports' new complete database of clinical trials and upcoming FDA and world-wide regulatory decisions which can be used to make more profitable trades and see upcoming catalysts can go to: http://biomedreports.com/fdacal.html

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When two rights make a wrong

July 15, 2012

Nissin joins the TWiV crew to discuss an outbreak of lethal disease among Cambodian children, and recombination among attenuated herpesvirus vaccines leading to pathogenic viruses.
Click the arrow above to play, or right-click to download TWiV 191 (71 MB .mp3, 99 minutes).

Click on Title above for link to Video

Attenuated Vaccines Can Recombine to Form Virulent Field Viruses

Science 13 July 2012:
Vol. 337 no. 6091 p. 188
DOI: 10.1126/science.1217134

Abstract

Recombination between herpesviruses has been seen in vitro and in vivo under experimental conditions. This has raised safety concerns about using attenuated herpesvirus vaccines in human and veterinary medicine and adds to other known concerns associated with their use, including reversion to virulence and disease arising from recurrent reactivation of lifelong chronic infection. We used high-throughput sequencing to investigate relationships between emergent field strains and vaccine strains of infectious laryngotracheitis virus (ILTV, gallid herpesvirus 1). We show that independent recombination events between distinct attenuated vaccine strains resulted in virulent recombinant viruses that became the dominant strains responsible for widespread disease in Australian commercial poultry flocks. These findings highlight the risks of using multiple different attenuated herpesvirus vaccines, or vectors, in the same populations.