Bye, bye birdie!

700,000 birds culled in Nigeria since Avian flu outbreak, WHO official says
Time is GMT + 8 hours
Posted: 21-Oct-2006 00:15 hrs
A Nigerian health worker disinfects a chicken cage during a visit to Dan Barde village in March. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has said that around 700,000 birds have been culled in Nigeria since the outbreak of avian flu in February.


Around 700,000 birds have been culled in Nigeria since the outbreak of Avian flu in February this year, according to a World Health Organisation (WHO) official.
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The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) quoted Chijioke Osakwe, as giving the figure in a paper he presented at a public function in southeastern city of Enugu.
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Osakwe said the birds were culled at a cost of 560 million naira (4.3 million dollars/ 3.4 million euros).
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He said the country's poultry industry had 140 million birds, with "backyard" poultry farmers accounting for 60 per cent of the total, NAN said.
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The industry, he said, contributed nine per cent to the country's Gross Domestic Product.
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Quoting the World Bank's prediction of a 800-million-dollar annual loss in the global poultry sector due to the ravaging bird disease, Osakwe said efforts must be made by all stakeholders and the citizens to stem its spread.
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Avian flu was found in at least a dozen of Nigeria's 36 states, including Lagos, the nation's economic capital.
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The Nigerian government paid financial compensation to poultry farmers whose birds were culled across the country.
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Osakwe described bird Avian flu as a virus that did not require a passport to enter any country, and likened it to the "Spanish file" which spread across the globe, killing between 20 million and 40 million people between 1918 and 1919. — AFP

Around 700,000 birds have been culled in Nigeria since the outbreak of Avian flu in February this year, according to a World Health Organisation (WHO) official.
.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) quoted Chijioke Osakwe, as giving the figure in a paper he presented at a public function in southeastern city of Enugu.
.
Osakwe said the birds were culled at a cost of 560 million naira (4.3 million dollars/ 3.4 million euros).
.
He said the country's poultry industry had 140 million birds, with "backyard" poultry farmers accounting for 60 per cent of the total, NAN said.
.
The industry, he said, contributed nine per cent to the country's Gross Domestic Product.
.
Quoting the World Bank's prediction of a 800-million-dollar annual loss in the global poultry sector due to the ravaging bird disease, Osakwe said efforts must be made by all stakeholders and the citizens to stem its spread.
.
Avian flu was found in at least a dozen of Nigeria's 36 states, including Lagos, the nation's economic capital.
.
The Nigerian government paid financial compensation to poultry farmers whose birds were culled across the country.
.
Osakwe described bird Avian flu as a virus that did not require a passport to enter any country, and likened it to the "Spanish file" which spread across the globe, killing between 20 million and 40 million people between 1918 and 1919. — AFP
Around 700,000 birds have been culled in Nigeria since the outbreak of Avian flu in February this year, according to a World Health Organisation (WHO) official.
.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) quoted Chijioke Osakwe, as giving the figure in a paper he presented at a public function in southeastern city of Enugu.
.
Osakwe said the birds were culled at a cost of 560 million naira (4.3 million dollars/ 3.4 million euros).
.
He said the country's poultry industry had 140 million birds, with "backyard" poultry farmers accounting for 60 per cent of the total, NAN said.
.

Still coming...

Posted on Fri, Oct. 20, 2006

Experts caution: Avian flu pandemic is still possible
BY ASHLEY TUSAN JOYNER
News-Democrat

Avian flu has yet to spread in the United States as it has in other countries, namely Indonesia.

But, to think we're in the clear of a similar outbreak of infectious disease would be a misunderstanding, scientists say.

So far this year, a person dies from the disease roughly every four days, compared with about once every nine days last year, according to a recent report on World Health Organization data. Of the 108 confirmed human cases of avian flu thus far this year, 73 have been fatal -- an increase from the 97 cases and 42 deaths in all of last year.

"The problem is there is absolutely no way to predict the course of avian, or bird, influenza," said Col. Jerry Jaax, an expert on infectious disease, who spoke at Southwestern Illinois College on Thursday. "This particular strain of flu, which mutates exceptionally easily -- almost constantly -- possesses two of the three general characteristics that we would be concerned about bringing about a pandemic flu."

One: It has been able cause disease in humans. Two: It has been able to travel from birds to humans. And, there are even isolated incidents of human-to-human transmission, the third major trait of a seemingly pandemic-bound disease.

The last major flu pandemic was is 1918, when up to 150 million people worldwide died from illness.

Thursday night, students and faculty welcomed Jaax and his wife, Col. Nancy Jaax, as part of a semester-long speaker series in the science and math division at SWIC.

The couple, both retired Army veterinarians and current academics at Kansas State University, are acknowledged experts in the medical defense against chemical and biological agents.

They are best known for their successful containment of an outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus among an ape colony in Reston, Va., in 1989. The case became the basis of national bestseller "The Hot Zone" by Richard Preston, and was later adapted for film in "Outbreak."

Today, numerous other infectious diseases including Lyme Disease, the Nipah virus in Southeast Asia and an antibiotic-resistent strain of tuberculosis, though adolescent in age, present serious threats for the future of disease containment, and are demanding scientific attention, accordingly.

"The government has identified 50 or 60 or more organisms that could be used as bioterrorism agents, and I think surveillance is the key to both things," Jaax said. "Dollars spent on countering bioterrorism can serve a dual purpose in the less politically-charged area of emerging diseases."

Contact reporter Ashley Tusan Joyner at ajoyner@bnd.com or 239-2562.
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Do you think this will work?

Taiwan To Cover Farms With Netting To Prevent Bird Flu

TAIPEI (AP)--Taiwan is covering its poultry and pig farms with nets to prevent migratory birds from infecting local flocks and livestock with the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus, an agricultural official said Tuesday.

The island is a sanctuary for birds escaping the harsh Siberian winter. Each September they migrate to Taiwan, across Japan and Korea or over the east coast of China - a country that has suffered at least 14 human deaths from the virus since 2003.

Taiwan has not reported any human cases of H5N1, but several fowl smuggled from China tested positive last year. "Migratory birds are a key risk factor for bird flu, and smuggled birds another," said Huang Kuo-chin, an Agricultural Council official in charge of quarantine.

As a precaution against the spread of the disease, Taiwan's Cabinet allocated NT$1 billion (US$30 million) toward plastic and steel netting to cover the island's 20,000 poultry and pig farms. Farm owners are expected to cover half their costs.

Huang said the first farms to get the nets were those near marshes and swamps where migratory birds settle. He said farm owners were willing to pay part of the costs because the nets also guard against migratory birds stealing feed.

Taiwan also set up 10 stations to monitor migratory birds and created an alert system to be activated if any of the birds are found to be carrying H5N1.

"Although we haven't had any confirmed bird flu cases, Taiwan is one of the Southeast Asian countries that has taken the most stringent precautionary measures," Huang said.

Taiwanese quarantine officials will visit their counterparts on the mainland later this month to track the routes of migratory birds and seek more effective measures to prevent bird flu, Huang said.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

Everyday more deaths and dying to report in Indonesia

Indonesian Woman Is Latest Bird Flu Casualty
By VOA News
16 October 2006


The World Health Organization says yet another person in Indonesia has died from bird flu, bringing the nation's death toll to 55.

The agency said in a statement Monday that a 27-year old woman died from the virus in Central Java province Friday, five days after she developed symptoms of the disease.

The W.H.O. says it is still investigating how she was exposed to bird flu.

Earlier Monday, Indonesian health authorities said Monday an elderly woman in West Java in the town of Bandung died overnight from bird flu.

And on Saturday, an 11-year-old boy died from the virus in a Jakarta hospital.

Indonesia has the highest number of bird flu-related deaths in the world.

The disease has killed at least 149 people worldwide over the past three years. Most victims contract the virus from dead or sick birds.

Some information for this report provided by AP.

Traveller guide developed

Bird flu guide for travellers launched

By Nissar Hoath, Staff Reporter


Abu Dhabi: The Secretariat of the National Committee for Emergency Response to Bird Flu has launched a mini guide for travellers.

The guide contains advice in Arabic, English, German, French and Hindi and is part of the awareness campaign entitled 'Better Safe than Sorry' which was launched in 2005.

The guide is being distributed not only at the country's airports but also at land and sea entry points. It targets those departing or arriving from affected areas around the world, the Environment Agency - Abu Dhabi (EAD) announced yesterday.

It explains what the disease is, its causes and how it started. Moreover, the guide instructs travellers to refrain from bringing any live birds, poultry, meat, eggs or feathers into the UAE. It recommends avoiding visiting any poultry farms soon after their return to the UAE.

"The guide also highlights the emergency hotline in case of any emergency (8009990), which is constantly receiving inquiries from the general public," EAD said in a statement.

Dubai Municipality, one of the members of the committee, has set up an avian influenza operations room in its Veterinary Section. The municipality also received, stored and distributed specific amounts of the necessary safety and hygienic equipment to the rest of the committee members, in cooperation with Dubai's Department of Health and Medical Services.

The EAD, in cooperation with the Ministry of Environment and Water and the Emirates Bird Records Committee has continued to monitor avian influenza by implementing its nation-wide wild birds monitoring surveys on islands and other key areas.

These surveys began in October 2005. Last month, 31,230 birds of 107 species were monitored and recorded in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and the Northern Emirates from the selected monitoring sites.

No birds showed any signs of the disease.