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Embassy: Indonesia Cat May Spread Bird Flu

Wednesday, February 07, 2007

JAKARTA, Indonesia — The U.S. Embassy in Indonesia is advising Americans to avoid contact with stray cats in the country, citing confirmed reports of the animals carrying the deadly bird flu virus.

In a posting on its Web site Wednesday, the embassy addressed the risk from the H5N1 virus in Indonesia, where that strain of bird flu is endemic in chickens and has killed more humans than in other nation.

"There have been confirmed reports that wild and stray cats have been shown to carry H5N1," the embassy said. "While there have been no documented cases of feline-to-human transmission of H5N1, it is important to avoid contact with wild and stray cats."

The World Heath Organization had no immediate comment.

Last year, South Korea slaughtered wild cats as part of its efforts to prevent the spread of bird flu in poultry. U.N. food and agriculture officials criticized the move as not based on science.

The embassy said that cats that "reside mainly inside a residence" were not seen to be at risk of catching H5N1. The virus has killed 163 people around the world, around one-third of them in Indonesia.

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press.

What's going on in Egypt?

FACTBOX-Bird flu's spread around the globe
07 Feb 2007 11:01:34 GMT
Source: Reuters


Feb 7 (Reuters) - The World Health Organisation (WHO) has confirmed that bird flu killed a 17 year-old Egyptian woman.

The new case brings to 20 the number of people known to have been infected with bird flu in Egypt, which has the largest known cluster of human cases outside Asia.

H5N1 was also found to have been responsible for the deaths of 2,500 turkeys on a farm in eastern England -- the first outbreak in British poultry.

The outbreak of highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza began in Asia in 2003 and has spread rapidly over the past year.

Following are some facts about the H5N1 avian flu virus and its spread around the globe.

* Since the virus re-emerged in Asia in 2003, outbreaks have been confirmed in around 50 countries and territories, according to data from the World Organisation for Animal Health.

* More than 30 countries have reported outbreaks in the past year, in most cases involving wild birds such as swans.

* The virus has killed 166 people since 2003, according to WHO. Countries with confirmed human deaths are: Azerbaijan, Cambodia, China, Egypt, Indonesia, Iraq, Nigeria, Thailand, Turkey and Vietnam.

* In total, the virus is known to have infected 272 people since 2003, according to WHO. Many of those who have died are children and young adults.

* Vietnam and Indonesia have the highest number of cases, accounting for 105 of the total deaths.

* The H5N1 virus is not new to science and was responsible for an outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza in Scotland in 1959. Britain confirmed new cases in Scotland in April 2006 and in Suffolk earlier this month.

* H5N1 is not the only bird flu virus. There are numerous strains. For example, an outbreak in 2003 of the H7N7 bird flu virus in the Netherlands led to the destruction of more than 30 million birds, around a third of the country's poultry stock. About 2.7 million were destroyed in Belgium and around 400,000 in Germany. In the Netherlands, 89 people were infected with the H7N7 virus, of whom one (a veterinarian) died.

* The H5N1 virus made the first known jump into humans in Hong Kong in 1997, infecting 18 people and killing six of them. The government ordered the immediate culling of the territory's entire poultry flock, ending the outbreak.

* Symptoms of bird flu in humans have ranged from typical influenza-like symptoms, such as fever, cough, sore throat and muscle aches, to eye inflammations (conjunctivitis), pneumonia, acute respiratory distress, viral pneumonia, and other severe and life-threatening complications. (Sources: OIE, WHO, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

AlertNet news is provided by Reuters

Pakistan has a new outbreak

A fresh outbreak of bird flu has been confirmed in the Pakistani city of Rawalpindi, a year after thousands of chickens were culled to contain the disease, news reports said Wednesday.

Forty birds at a poultry farm in Islamabad's twin city died of the H5N1 strain or were killed while infected, according to the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock.

Pakistan's first recorded cases of bird flu were found in February 2006 in the North-West Frontier Province, prompting authorities to cull 40,000 chickens.

The prevention measures reportedly cost poultry farmers and related industries almost 200 million dollars.

Experts fear the disease could mutate and infect the human population, causing a global pandemic that would wipe out hundreds of millions of people.

According to latest figures released by the World Health Organization, the H5N1 strain has claimed the lives of 163 people, mainly in Asian countries.

© 2007 DPA

Veterinarian does not have bird flu

Vet tests negative for bird flu

By Andrew Jack, Jenny Wiggins and Fiona Harvey in London,and Chris Condon in Budapest

Published: February 7 2007 02:00 | Last updated: February 7 2007 10:00

A vet called in to deal with the outbreak of bird flu in Suffolk after he was admitted to hospital with what was described as a “mild respiratory illness”, has not been infected with the H5N1 virus, the Health Protection Agency said on Wednesday.

“We are confirming that he has tested negative for avian flu and for normal flu,” a spokeswoman for the agency said. “He will now be treated as a normal patient.” a spokesperson said.

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The European Commission had earlier criticised countries imposing blanket bans on UK poultry, even as fresh import restrictions were announced.

Michael Mann, an EU spokesman, said the embargoes were unjustified after member states agreed that culling and transport restrictions in eastern England and southern Hungary were sufficient precautions. No EU state has imposed bans but some tightened domestic prevention measures.

Ukraine on Tuesday followed Japan, Russia, South Korea and Hong Kong in stopping imports, while other countries including Indonesia, Ireland, Macedonia and Bosnia said they were introducing or considering partial bans.

The action came after the cull of 160,000 birds at the Bernard Matthews turkey farm in Holton triggered by the detection of the H5N1 bird flu virus late last week, while exclusion zones were maintained and investigations continued into the source of infection.

Hungary's agriculture ministry and Bernard Matthews in Hungary said there was no link between the outbreaks in the UK and Hungary, where the company also has operations, and an outbreak was identified at a goose farm in January.

Bernard Matthews owns Saga Food, a meat processing company in western Hungary and about 200km from where the infected geese were discovered.

The ministry said the government had investigated a possible connection but found no evidence of infection or movement of products or personnel between Saga and the Suffolk plant.

The company said it had been co-operating closely with Defra and that there were no jobs at risk.

Meanwhile Indonesia confirmed it was withholding from foreign laboratories samples of the H5N1 virus strains that have killed several people this year.

Jakarta said it would make genetic data available, but in the build-up to a deal with Baxter, the US pharmaceutical group, set to be unveiled today, it would not share virus samples for free.

Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007

Declaring war on Turkeys

World braced for huge surge in bird flu cases · 160,000 turkeys slaughtered on farm · Don't panic over food, plead experts · Concern at delay in informing Defra Robin McKie and Nick Mathiason Sunday February 4, 2007 The Observer All the turkeys on the affected farm near Lowestoft will be culled. Photograph: Chris Young/PA The number of cases of the deadly bird flu virus is increasing around the world as scientists struggle to combat the disease that is now threatening to jump species and infect humans. The news comes as Britain confirmed its first ever case of H5N1 in a farm in Suffolk. More than 160,000 birds will now be slaughtered as the country's farming industry goes on high alert for more outbreaks. As the authorities responded to the outbreak in Suffolk, local residents questioned why it had taken some 48 hours after the first chicks died last Tuesday for the government's Department of Food and Rural Affairs, Defra, to be informed. But there was also wider concern. Japan and Nigeria have reported a series of cases of the lethal virus, and China, Egypt, Russia, South Korea and Vietnam have also revealed outbreaks in birds and in humans in the past two months. Indonesia began a mass bird cull in the capital city of Jakarta last Wednesday. At least 164 people are now known to have been killed by the disease across the globe. The rapid spread of avian flu can be traced to the fact that the H5N1 virus is mutating as it spreads through birds and a variety of mammals including cats, tigers and pigs, said Robert Webster, a researcher at St Jude Children's Research Hospital, in Memphis, Tennessee. Last night British health officials insisted the risk to the public was still negligible. It set in motion a series of emergency measures aimed at halting the spread of the disease among poultry in Britain. All the turkeys on the affected farm at Holton near Lowestoft, the largest poultry centre run by the breeder Bernard Matthews, are now being culled. Yesterday, piles of slaughtered birds were being scooped into open tractor trailers before being removed for incineration. An exclusion zone of three-kilometres (nearly two miles) has been set up around the farm. All poultry in the area are to be kept indoors and tested for the H5N1 virus. A further 10km zone has been established in which all movements of poultry are banned, and last night another 2,090sq km restriction zone was created to isolate poultry from wild birds. Other measures will include a ban on bird shows, poultry markets and pigeon racing. This follows a decision by Defra to revoke the national general licence on bird gatherings. Last night, the National Farmers' Union president, Peter Kendall, said his organisation had warned members to be vigilant. A spokesman for Matthews said his organisation could confirm there had been a case of H5N1 avian influenza at its Holton site. But he added: 'It is important to stress that there is no risk to consumers.' Dr Andrew Landeg, the government's deputy chief veterinary officer, revealed he had called in ornithologists in a bid to understand how wild fowl - now thought to be the most likely source of the Suffolk outbreak - might have carried the virus into one of the 22 turkey breeding sheds at the farm. Officials also needed to know what other areas of the country might now be at risk of outbreaks. Last night, it was revealed that Defra had identified several areas in Britain considered to be at particular risk of picking up H5N1 from infected wild fowl. The farm at Horton was one of them. Avian flu expert Dr Colin Butter of the Institute of Animal Health said it was now crucial that veterinary scientists discover whether the farm was the first place this strain of flu had emerged. It could be that the outbreak was an 'unhappy chance event', or it could indicate a significant level of the disease in wild birds indigenous to the UK, which in turn would make the virus harder to stamp out. Exclusion zones and culling would not be sufficient to contain the virus, Butter added. However, Landeg yesterday ruled out the alternative - the introduction of vaccinations for poultry, a measure already introduced in Holland - as being ineffective. As a result, farmers with free-range flocks may face serious threats to their livelihood. However, one organic poultry producer said moves to house birds permanently indoors would be counter-productive. 'My birds are resistant to the range of diseases that affect conventional flocks because their immune systems have been boosted through living outdoors. I accept that as a new strain of bird flu, special measures may be required in the short-term, but these should not be at the expense of the principles of good husbandry.' However, Landeg yesterday insisted that the disease could be contained. 'There's a good hope, if this is not the first case, we will be able to contain this disease.' It was revealed last night that five people in Indonesia have died from the virus since the beginning of the year while Japan yesterday confirmed its fourth outbreak of H5N1 bird flu this year and Thailand has reported three outbreaks during the past month.