Vietnam to test dengue fever vaccine on children

Last updated: 8/30/2011 16:15

A nurse takes care of dengue fever patients at Ho Chi Minh City Children’s Hospital No.1.

The Pasteur Institute in Ho Chi Minh City is going to test dengue fever vaccines at two Mekong Delta’s towns in September, following safe experiments on humans worldwide, the institute chief has said.

Doctor Tran Ngoc Huu, head of the institute and chairman of the research project, told the Tuoi Tre recently that dengue fever has been causing the most deaths and the third highest number of infections among 28 popular infectious diseases in Vietnam.

Figures from the Ministry of Health showed that Vietnam has reported around 30,000 dengue fever infections in Vietnam during the first eight months this year, mostly in the central and southern regions.

Experiment for the vaccine will be done on 1,402 children in Long Xuyen of An Giang Province and 934 in My Tho of Tien Giang Province.

Huu said the participants range in age between two to 14 years old, are healthy and join in the research voluntarily with their parents' agreement.

After the experiment, which is the last stage of the project, the vaccine will be assessed for its effectiveness and the research will be presented to authorities before wide use of the vaccine, he said.

Huu said that the vaccine, currently named as Dengue-CYD, was produced and has been studied for around 20 years by France-based Sanofi Pasteur, which has provided several vaccines being used in Vietnam.

The vaccine has been studied in 13 countries including the US and Australia, and in both infected and uninfected countries, he said.

After trials on animals, experiments on more than 6,200 people between one and 45 years of age have shown that the vaccine is safe and caused similar side effects like other vaccines in use such as swelling, redness and pain at the injection spot, fever and headache, the doctor said.

He also confirmed that the experiment result from each country is only announced after the result has been looked over by the National Council of Ethics on Human Research.

However, Huu said that the vaccine is not used widely in any country yet.

The doctor said Sanofi Pasteur has promised to sell the vaccine to Vietnam’s Ministry of Health at good price.

He said the vaccine will be widely used no sooner than 2014.

Experts called on the avian flu virus mutations prevent

2011 August 30 22:30:06

Hong Kong virologist warned today that no vaccine can prevent the spread of the territory of China and Vietnam is the H5N1 avian influenza virus mutants, and called for strict monitoring of all sectors of bird flu, so as not to spread to humans.

Although scientists are not currently determine whether the virus more lethal to humans, but they say that this mutant and the original virus were sufficiently different to make human use against the original H5N1 virus strain of the vaccine for its failure.

University of Hong Kong's top virologist Peres (Malik Peiris), said: "There are one kind of human H5N1 candidate vaccine, World Health Organization (WHO) recommended, but it can not completely control this mutant, but this situation is not uncommon because the H5 virus constantly changes, and we also need to develop new vaccines to the light. "

FAO said yesterday, H5N1 avian flu new variant is spreading within China and Vietnam, and the current vaccine is clearly unable to control this variation. FAO warned that bird flu may be "massive relapse."

Guangdong Provincial Health Department: unexplained illnesses must be reported within 2 hours

201 2011-08-31 07:56:00

Found that the plague, cholera, avian flu or unexplained disease outbreaks, the hospital must be reported within 2 hours through the network. Guangdong Provincial Health Department recently released "Report of Guangdong Province, health surveillance of infectious diseases" and 5 guidelines, called on all localities to regulate and strengthen supervision of infectious diseases.

Guangdong Province reported infectious diseases in accordance with health supervision guidelines, the relevant departments of medical institutions should have a "department of infectious diseases register."

Found in Group B infectious diseases and pulmonary anthrax, SARS, polio, highly pathogenic avian influenza cases or suspected cases, or find other infectious diseases and unexplained disease outbreaks should be within 2 hours to report infectious disease report cards through the network; no direct reporting responsibility to implement the network reporting unit should be within 2 hours with the fastest means of communication (telephone, fax) to the local county-level disease prevention and control report and sent out within 2 hours of report cards of infectious diseases.

The other B and C class infectious disease patients, and to report the suspected patients of infectious pathogen carrier in the diagnosis, direct reporting responsibility for the implementation of network reporting unit should be reported within 24 hours of the network; no direct reporting responsibility to implement the network reports units should be sent out within 24 hours of report cards of infectious diseases. Responsibility Report and the report were the fastest means of communication units to escalation. Meet public health emergencies should be reported within 2 hours

Australia: Newcastle strain of mutant swine flu

September 01, 2011

Hunter New England Health says a drug-resistant mutant strain of swine flu has been detected in the Newcastle region, the largest outbreak reported worldwide.

The World Health Organisation's Collaborating Centre for Influenza in Melbourne found 14 per cent of the flu samples taken from the local region this winter were resistant to the drug Tamiflu, which is used to ease flu symptoms.

However, it appears the virus is not particularly severe, as there were no deaths among the 25 people infected and none were admitted to an intensive care unit.

Public Health physician Doctor Craig Dalton says it is not yet clear why the mutant strain has appeared in the Newcastle region.

"We're looking at the cases and we can't find anything particularly eliminating at this stage," he said.

"These people had not received Tamiflu prior to the collection of the specimen, so that means they didn't get the anti-viral treatment and then develop resistance.

"They'd obviously been infected with a strain that was already resistant to Tamiflu."

Continued {click on title for full story]

Bird flu flies back into the news

• 08:00 31 August 2011

Millions of ducks are flying south from Siberia this week, and some are carrying a virus that could lead to a resurgence of H5N1 bird flu in poultry – and people – across Eurasia.

"We're issuing an alert because we expect in the coming weeks to see the virus pop up in unexpected places across a wide area," says Jan Slingenbergh, head of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization's early warning system for animal diseases.

H5N1 has cost poultry farmers an estimated $20 billion so far. It has also infected 565 people, of whom 331 died. Virologists are trying to discover the mutations that could enable H5N1 to spread between people and go pandemic.

Dominant strain

The FAO is concerned about a strain of H5N1, called 2.3.2.1, which has been circulating for several years but is now emerging as dominant in birds in Asia.

It is no more virulent than previous strains but it is well adapted to many wild migratory species, so the virus has been carried to countries where H5N1 had been eliminated from poultry, including Bulgaria, Romania and Israel.

H5N1 outbreaks in poultry peaked in 2006, with 4000 across Eurasia and Africa. Extensive culling and vaccination quelled the virus, and by 2008 there were just 302 outbreaks. With the spread of 2.3.2.1, outbreaks are back on the rise. Some samples of the strain in China and Vietnam show its continuing evolution.

"The more cases you get in birds, the more it might spill over into humans," says Slingenbergh.

WHO, OIE downplay importance of new H5N1 variant

Robert Roos News Editor

Aug 31, 2011 (CIDRAP News) – The World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) took pains today to downplay the significance of a new H5N1 avian influenza variant that another major international organization warned about this week.

In an Aug 29 statement, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said a new H5N1 strain called clade 2.3.2.1 had emerged recently in Vietnam and China and that existing poultry vaccines were ineffective against it. The statement also cited recent increases in H5N1 bird outbreaks and warned about a possible major resurgence of the virus.

The WHO said today that its Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System recognized the H5N1 variant in February. "Based on available information, this evolution of the H5N1 virus poses no increased risk to public health," the WHO statement said. "It is not considered unusual because influenza viruses are constantly evolving, especially in areas where they circulate regularly in poultry."

The agency further said clade 2.3.2.1 does not change the public health implications of H5N1 viruses, given the available information. "Human cases of H5N1 infection remain rare and sporadic events, occurring mostly in areas where H5N1 viruses circulate regularly in poultry," the statement said.

The OIE made similar points in a statement today. It said the emergence of clade 2.3.2.1 is a result of minor genetic changes that typify the natural evolution of the virus.

"This is not immediate cause for alert but, as with the emergence of any new strain, reinforces the need for sustained monitoring of viruses in animal populations so that changes in viruses circulating in the field are detected at an earliest stage and that most appropriate disease control strategies are chosen to best protect animal and public health, the OIE said.

The agency also commented that avian flu vaccines, like human flu vaccines, need to be tested regularly to see if they are effective against the viruses in circulation. The OIE reference laboratory in Harbin, China, has developed a vaccine that, in trials, has protected poultry from clade 2.3.2.1, the statement said. Once available for field use, the vaccine will be employed in countries where the new variant has been identified.

"Registration and manufacturing of a poultry vaccine with the new seed strain is in progress," the OIE said.

Meanwhile, a clade 2.3.2.1 virus caused the illness of a 59-year-old Hong Kong woman who contracted an H5N1 infection last November, probably while traveling in mainland China, according to a report today by The Standard, a Hong Kong newspaper. The story cited Hong Kong's Centre for Health Protection (CHP) as the source of the information.

Hong Kong health officials said at the time that the virus in the woman's case belonged to clade 2.3.2. She recovered from her illness, according to online information from the CHP.

Romania: Bird Flu H5N1 Alert News

2 Articles
All Excerpts.

August 31, 2011
It spreads a mutant form of bird flu - UN warns
A known microbiologist Hugh Pennington said that "while there is still no certainty that bird flu has mutated so that it is transmitted from person to person, there is a" reasonable speculation "that has become resistant to Tamiflu, the main drug used in Britain in fighting the virus. "
http://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?hl=en&ie=UTF8&prev=_t&rurl=translate.google.com&sl=ro&tl=en&twu=1&u=http://www.financiarul.ro/2011/08/31/se-raspandeste-o-forma-mutanta-a-gripei-aviare-avertizeaza-onu/&usg=ALkJrhgDXOrkHgQzCwMBl36imW6KXv_ZrA


August 31, 2011
Food and Agriculture Organization warns bird flu could recur
Millions of ducks flying in Siberia this week, and some carry a virus that could lead to the reappearance of H5N1 influenza, or flu, in birds and humans in Eurasia.

"We issue an alert because the next few weeks we expect the appearance of virus in unexpected places across a wide area," said Jan Slingenbergh, head of Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
"As more cases occur in birds, much more will be spread to humans," said Slingenbergh.
http://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?hl=en&ie=UTF8&prev=_t&rurl=translate.google.com&sl=ro&tl=en&twu=1&u=http://www.green-report.ro/stiri/organizatia-pentru-alimentatie-si-agricultura-avertizeaza-gripa-aviara-ar-putea-sa-reapara&usg=ALkJrhjOTHv_3cf4eP2LBCUVNVWldRuJsA

New Delhi: Government ready to deal with Berdflu

01 Sep, 2011
New Delhi: Food and Agriculture Organization (Afao) again Falne bird flu in Asia in the wake of warnings by the government today said that avian influenza is fully prepared to deal with bird flu.

Here,''said an official statement on avian influenza, commonly known as bird flu, the new and deadly strain of Mutant Afao report in respect of the warning has come. The government has taken seriously the warning of Afao and is ready for any situation.''

Before the bird flu Afao Falne warned about the possibility. Afao's Chief Veterinary - Medical officer,''said Yuan Lubrath Bangladesh, China, Egypt, India, Indonesia and Vietnam have the most problems, but no country is safe. ''

UK-Wales: Warning from UN over new strain of bird flu H5N1

Aug 31 2011
Excerpt:
The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation called on countries to adopt “heightened readiness and surveillance” against a resurgence of the virus.

Juan Lubroth, FAO chief veterinary officer, said: “Wild birds may introduce the virus, but people’s actions in poultry production and marketing spread it.”

In the past two years, avian flu has appeared in poultry or wild birds in countries that had been virus-free for some years.

Dr Roland Salmon, the director of Public Health Wales’ communicable disease surveillance centre, said the development of a mutant, vaccine-resistant strain of bird flu should not cause alarm.

“I don’t think this has a great deal of human health implications.

“Any problem that you’re likely to see in Britain is almost certainly going to kick off among British poultry, rather than among humans.

“You’re not going to suddenly get 50 people in Britain infected with bird flu, but you might get a flock of birds here infected,” he said.

Philippines Warns Populace on H5N1 Mutation, Malaysia Brushes News Off

3 Articles:

August 31, 2011
DA on alert against bird flu-infected products
MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Agriculture (DA) today assured that it is already implementing precautionary measures to prevent the entry of the deadly bird flu virus into the Philippines.

DA Secretary Proceso Alcala said in a radio interview that he has ordered the deployment of personnel in points of entry in the country to prevent the transport of infected chicken and other poultry products that may be affected by the deadly H5N1 virus.

Alcala said that he has also alerted the National Meat Inspection Service and the Bureau of Animal Industry.
-snip-
http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=722404&publicationSubCategoryId=200


08/31/2011
DOH: New bird flu strain deadlier
MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Health has warned the public of the threat of a new strain of bird flu virus, the H5N1.

Dr. Lyndon Lee Suy, program manager of emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases, said there are now cases of the new strain in China and Vietnam.

H1N1 can be transmitted from one human to another, but H5N1 can be transmitted from an animal to human.

While there are no cases of death due to H1N1 last year, the new strain is another matter. The mutant H5N1 has a 60% mortality rate. This means 6 out of 10 patients die of the disease.

Dr. Eric Tayag, director of the DOH National Epidemiology Center, said 8 persons in Cambodia who were infected with the bird flu virus have died.

Lee Suy stressed the Philippines is still free of any bird flu cases. The country has banned the importation of livestock that are coming from countries with bird flu cases.

He said, however, that the threat is still there since there is a possibility for the smuggled livestock to enter the country.

Tayag also said migratory birds usually come in October.

He also warned those who own a poultry to take extra precaution because of the animal to human transmission of the disease “Pwedeng mahawa yung mga pumapatay ng hayop, nag-aalaga ng hayop at nagtatanggal ng balahibo, dahil droplets ang virus na ito.”

Some of the symptoms of H5N1 are cough, colds and fever. In severe cases, the lungs are affected and if not treated early, it can lead to death.

The Philippine Inter-agency Committee on Zoonoses, which includes the DOH, The Bureau of Animal Industry and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, will meet on Friday to discuss the matter.
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/08/31/11/doh-new-bird-flu-strain-deadlier


August 31, 2011
Malaysia brushes off bird flu warning
MALAYSIA has brushed off a warning by the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) about a resurgence of the deadly bird flu virus and a new mutant strain.

Health Minister Liow Tiong Lai was quoted in the New Straits Times today as saying that the country remained vigilant about the H5N1 virus but no new cases had been reported.

"The public should not worry. We will let them know about the latest developments on the virus," he was quoted as saying.

An aide confirmed his comments.
-snip-
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/breaking-news/malaysia-brushes-off-bird-flu-warning/story-e6frf7jx-1226126532483

WHO-Evolution of H5N1 avian influenza virus does not increase risk to public health

30 August 2011 -- WHO closely monitors the evolution of influenza viruses and is aware of recent reports of an H5N1 virus (described as H5N1 clade 2.3.2.1) circulating in poultry in parts of Asia. Based on available information, this evolution of the H5N1 virus poses no increased risk to public health. It is not considered unusual because influenza viruses are constantly evolving, especially in areas where they circulate regularly in poultry.

The WHO Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System, the group of experts that studies animal and human influenza viruses that may impact human health, recognized this new clade in February 2011.

WHO also routinely assesses the public health risk from all animal influenza viruses. Based on available information, the identification of this newly-reported H5N1 virus clade does not change the current public health implications of the H5N1 avian influenza viruses for humans. Human cases of H5N1 infection remain rare and sporadic events, occurring mostly in areas where H5N1 viruses circulate regularly in poultry. Human cases could occur wherever the viruses are present in poultry and when humans might be exposed to infected birds or contaminated environments.

Avian influenza viruses are pandemic mutation probability

2011 -08-31 06:35

Hungary's pharmaceutical laboratories (on) developed and produced to fight avian influenza H5N1 virus vaccine, but the variation of the virus has appeared, the original vaccine is effective remains to be seen. To prevent the spread of bird flu, South Korea, a large number of poultry slaughtered (down).

Headquartered in Rome, FAO issued a statement on August 29 said, any mutation of avian influenza H5N1 virus is being spread in Asia and other places, there may be a serious threat to human health.

Transmission of the virus and the migratory birds

FAO chief veterinary officer rubles Ross pointed out that China and Vietnam the situation deserves attention. Vietnam this spring to stop the vaccination of chickens, has been found in north-central Vietnam, the H5N1 virus variant....

...Ferrari World Health Organization officials in the reporter's telephone interview, said that the current understanding of the situation is that in parts of China and Vietnam has found out that the variation of the virus. As the virus mutate to the original vaccine is still effective, it needs to continue to observe. He believes that China's size and the large number of poultry from bird flu, the Chinese Government attaches great importance. He suggested that the emerging variant virus, should be highly concerned about China..

Prevention and control of the full deployment of China

China's chief veterinarian at the state health shock in the interview with this reporter, said that China has taken note of the Ministry of Agriculture officials on the recent FAO global avian influenza situation and China issued a warning. China has always attached great importance to highly pathogenic avian influenza prevention and control. Through these efforts, the Mainland of China bird flu in poultry epidemic intensity significantly decreased, significantly reduced the frequency of onset, significantly reduced the incidence of the scope of the epidemic is declining.

According to reports from the monitoring results, there are wild birds infected in China phenomenon, in poultry in some areas also detected the virus, the avian flu virus-contaminated surface is still very wide, the phenomenon of virus mutation. However, in autumn and winter, large-scale outbreaks in mainland China are less likely, but the point of the epidemic in some areas like distribution, sustained multiple risk remains significant, regional epidemic prevention task is arduous.

Kang Zhenjiang tune in for the current avian influenza situation, the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture has made prevention and control work on the autumn and winter full deployment. He said that on the domestic variant strain of bird flu detected the problem, the Ministry of Agriculture has asked the National Avian Influenza Reference Laboratory and other units continue to follow closely, increased scientific research, strengthen surveillance, prevention and control technologies and reagents to do research work.

(Rome newspaper, Hanoi, Beijing, August 30th)

It's Back: Bird Flu Returns, and This Time It's Mutated

By Alice Park Tuesday, August 30, 2011

..Health authorities aren't sure how the new strain will impact the upcoming flu season, but they aren't taking any chances. When the World Health Organization's influenza experts met in February to decide on the strains to include in the upcoming seasonal flu shot, they also selected virus strains that wouldn't be part of this year's vaccine but should be stockpiled in case of an outbreak. And they selected an H5N1 version of the same clade as the mutant strain now circulating among the birds in China and Viet Nam. That means that the virus is ready to go for testing and development into a vaccine should it suddenly emerge as a problem among people.

There are no vaccines against new variants of H5N1

31/08/2011 2:23


From here last year will not keep up production of vaccines against new variants of the virus causing avian influenza H5N1 (H5N1 - 2.3.2.1) and thus the U.S. needs to focus maximum resources to minimize the risk infection from the movement of poultry, especially in border provinces. It is the opinion of the Office of the UN Food and Agriculture organization (FAO) in Vietnam.
Youth has an interview with Mr. John Weaver, Chief Advisor of the FAO office in Vietnam on the issue.


Advisor of the Office of FAO John Weaver








Biggest concern for the H5N1 virus-2.3.2.1 What, sir?

That means the vaccine is not strong enough to resist the new viruses. The reason is that the antigens of the new virus has changed - literally as antibodies produced by the vaccine is no longer able to recognize the "face" of the new virus.

How long to make a vaccine against the new virus?

Using the methods of modern molecular manipulation will help the rapid development of new vaccines appropriate. However, the production and testing of vaccines need a certain time period. I'm afraid to go to next year we can use this new vaccine.

What are the main sources of infection and need to do to reduce this risk?
The preventive measures should focus on limiting the maximum virus spread to both poultry and humans. The path to the virus can spread from bird to bird. Fertilizer, feathers, the transportation and clothing as well as the way to spread viruses.

"The preventive measures should focus on limiting the maximum virus spread to both poultry and humans"
Ducks, chickens and risk is the main source of infection. It is remarkable when infected, they do not have the clinical manifestations and therefore could not be detected. The key when dealing with bird flu in Vietnam is the lack of hygiene and biosecurity on farms, from the purchase of poultry at markets, as well as the slaughterhouses. Need to promote improved processing and trade of poultry.

He recommends that those people directly involved in the process of breeding, slaughter and movement of poultry?

Absolutely isolated birds are breeding with people living in the same area. Upon entering the poultry sector, needs to be replaced immediately shoes, wear protective clothing and hand washing. Not for the purchase of poultry breeding areas into it. No delivery conducted in animal feed and poultry sector. Buy only the native birds and clear origin and separated them in two weeks to ensure they are completely healthy. Report immediately to authorities when birds died or have signs of abnormal health.

For buyers of poultry at markets and slaughterhouses, always wash your body and spray disinfectant.


Mr. Van Register - Head of Epidemiology (Department of Animal Health, MARD) - 8.30 pm for the flu virus in poultry in northern provinces has variations. Phu Tho has found the H5N1 virus - 2.3.2 branch B (FAO called H5N1 virus - 2.3.2.1), the virus appeared in Vietnam. Previously, scientists had identified the virus in poultry in the north. According to States, the new virus has been identified as highly virulent than the virus before. The Veterinary Department is to test the ability of antibodies of the vaccine produced by the U.S., if the meet will be used for mass vaccination.

Quang Duan




Vietnam has not recorded a variant of the H5N1 influenza virus in humans

Prior information about the bird flu virus H5N1 mutating, Wednesday 30/08, Deputy Health Minister Trinh Quan Huan said repeatedly over the years, scientists in the country is the study of the variability of this virus but have not been convincing evidence that the H5N1 virus in humans has been transformed into a new strain.
At this point, the U.S. had not received official information from the World Health Organization confirmed the H5N1 influenza virus in humans in Vietnam has changed.

Bird Flu Warning - WebMD

[This post is by WebMD, and will be helpful to those of you just becoming familiar with Bird Flu H5N1]

Tuesday, August 30, 2011
by Daniel J. DeNoon

Bird flu is on the rise, warns the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

“[It] could mean that there will be a flareup of [bird flu] this fall and winter, with people unexpectedly finding the virus in their back yard,” FAO chief veterinary officer Juan Lubroth suggested in a news release.

Bird flu, for those who may have forgotten, is the bug that health authorities have been losing sleep over since it first infected humans in 2003. Officially called avian influenza, it’s caused by a virus known as H5N1. True to its name, bird flu has devastated chicken flocks in the 63 countries to which it spread.

There’s a lot of good news. Bird flu has never yet learned to spread easily from person to person. Nearly all human infections have come from close contact with poultry or consumption of raw (not cooked) chicken products. And thanks to drastic culling of infected chicken flocks, bird flu has been eliminated from most of the countries in which it has appeared.

The bad news is that when humans do get the bug, it causes a deadly illness. Of the 565 people known to have been infected, 331 have died — nearly a 60% mortality rate. And, the FAO says, bird flu “is still firmly entrenched” in Bangladesh, China, Egypt, India, Indonesia, and Vietnam.

What worries the FAO is that after winding down over the past five years, the last year has seen a rising number of poultry outbreaks, including outbreaks in countries that previously eliminated the virus or were never before affected.

“There is a legitimate concern we are seeing an upswing in the last year compared to the last five,” Lubroth said today in a telephone interview. “We are warning the world that this fall we may be seeing an increased geographical distribution.”

Lubroth suspects that wild bird migrations are spreading bird flu far and wide. He notes that the virus has recently popped up in faraway places such as Israel, the Palestinian territories, Bulgaria, Romania, Nepal, and Mongolia.

There’s another piece of potentially bad news. A mutant H5N1 bird flu virus is spreading in Vietnam. The mutant, dubbed H5N1 2.3.2.1, has evolved to escape the poultry vaccine currently used in Vietnam and perhaps elsewhere.

But there’s no sign that this mutant is more or less virulent than previous versions of H5N1, and no sign that it’s more easily transmitted from person to person. In fact, Lubroth suspects that humans already have been infected with the mutant strain, although the mutant’s genetic fingerprints have yet to be detected in an infected person.

How big a deal is this mutant? It’s nothing new for flu bugs to mutate, says virologist Ruben Donis, PhD, chief of the molecular virology and vaccines branch in the CDC’s influenza division.

“We are not extremely alarmed by this news,” Donis today told me. “This group of viruses has been circulating wildly in Vietnam, and so far there have been very few human infections. Vietnam had no human infections in 2011 so far.”

Lubroth agrees. “This [mutation] should not be interpreted as making the world a more dangerous place. Not at all,” he said.

New bird flu strain sparks warning for chicken farms

Mary Ann Benitez

Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Chicken farms have been urged to repair bird-proof nets and adhere to strict biosecurity measures after the United Nations warned about a new mutant strain of the deadly bird flu virus in the mainland and Vietnam.

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization warned about the appearance of the new mutant strain known as H5N1 - 2.3.2.1 that can "sidestep the defenses" of veterinary vaccines.

The Centre for Health Protection last night revealed that a 59-year-old woman, who returned from the mainland sickened by the H5N1 bird flu, had the mutant virus.

She was seriously ill when admitted to Tuen Mun Hospital on November 14 with pneumonia. Her case prompted activation of the serious response level under the government plan to deal with an influenza pandemic.

A center spokeswoman said last night it has not detected any human H5N1 cases originating in the SAR this year.

Despite the warning regarding the vaccine, the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department will continue to use the Intervet Nobilis H5N2 jab in the mandatory program for chickens at local farms. This procedure has been in place since 2003.

In Vietnam, which suspended its springtime poultry vaccination campaign this year, most of the northern and central parts - where H5N1 is endemic - have been invaded by the new strain.

Eight dead wild birds in Hong Kong have been confirmed with the H5 virus this year. It was most recently detected in a goose in March.

"We will remind poultry farmers to strictly adhere to biosecurity measures such as repair the bird-proof nets in farms," a department spokesman said.

ABC News: Bird flu self-defense: 7 key questions answered

[Click on title for story. Click on the picture and the caption is the information]

No vaccine for the flu mutation H5H1

RFA 08.30.2011
The virologists yesterday warned no vaccine against the mutant strain of H5N1 bird flu virus is widespread in Vietnam and China, and called for strict supervision to prevent epidemic spread to humans.

The call was made after the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) UN warning on Monday about the possibility of avian flu back and the new variant is widespread in Asia and far more.
Currently scientists are not sure whether the new strain H5N1-2.3.2.1 is more dangerous in people or not, but it certainly is different from previous strains of virus to escape vaccine against H5N1 in humans.
It is known that H5N1 began to reemerge in recent months. Most notable is the 8 people in Cambodia died from H5N1 infection this year.
FAO said that Vietnam now has stopped vaccinating poultry for years, and new variants appear mainly in northern and central provinces.

Quang Ngai: confused because there is no influenza A/H5N1 vaccine

Sunday, 28/08/2011, 22:58 (GMT +7)

TTO - Deputy Agriculture and Rural Development Son Tinh district (Quang Ngai), said Dang Thanh Hau influenza A/H5N1 appeared on the household flock Men and Vi Pham Van Ngoc Dung has been destroyed. 28-8 am, however, remain in this community so dead duck district veterinary stations to coordinate the specialized agencies of the provincial samples sent four regional veterinary center for further testing.

The worrying thing is that after the outbreak occurs, the district petitions SDAH Quang Ngai for influenza A/H5N1 vaccine for vaccinating poultry enclosure. But now the source of this vaccine has not been granted the province to the district may only conduct disinfection and hygiene sector outbreak occurs.

The concern now than in summer-autumn rice crop, drop-duck status of the common run, while not A/H5N1 influenza vaccination should be easy to spread widely.

Bird flu may return big time in B'desh: UN

Dhaka/Rome, Aug 29
....
In Bangladesh, bird flu infections were widespread last year, and fresh cases are reported countrywide.
Director of the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) Prof Mahmudur Rahman said the UN alarm was justified.

"It's a hotspot for virus mutation as four strains – H5N1, H1N1, H3N2 and H9N2 – are circulating in the air," he said, but nothing can be predicted about virus mutation.

But if it (mutation) does not happen, then its fine, he said.

The H5N1 virus was eliminated from most of the 63 countries infected at its peak in 2006 after mass poultry culling, but since 2008 it has been expanding geographically in both poultry and wild birds, partly due to migration patterns, the FAO said.

"But we could not eliminate due to our poor bio-security measures in poultry farms," Prof Rahman said, adding, the virus is widespread in Bangladesh poultry.

"Even now, we are noticing outbreaks in unusual times," he said, referring to the Aug 27's outbreak in Chuadanga where over 21,000 chickens were culled.

H5N1 (virus) has the potential to cause severe illness in human with a high fatality rate.

"We are lucky as the strain (clade 2.2) of H5N1 which circulates in Bangladesh is less virulent, but can be changed into another class (2.1), which is highly infectious to human," the IEDCR director said.

Since the first outbreak in poultry in March 2007, Bangladesh has recorded three human infections so far...


The IEDCR director said livestock department should be "pro-active" to stave off the virus.

"They (livestock department) should encourage people to maintain bio-security in farms," he said, suggesting only those farms that ensure bio-security but still are affected by bird flu get compensated.

The government now compensates all farms after culling their bird flu-infected chickens.

The IEDCR advised people consume well-cooked poultry products and maintain personal hygiene - cough into the crook of elbow and wash hands with soap often - to keep the infection away.