H5N1

Pakistan culls 25,000 chickens

From the Daily Times in Pakistan: 10,000 bird flu vaccines obtained, 25,000 chickens culled in NWFP.

The Ministry of Health has obtained 10,000 doses of bird flu vaccine for humans while veterinary workers culled 25,000 chickens on two quarantined farms in NWFP [Northwest Frontier Province] amid fears on Tuesday of an outbreak of the deadly virus in Pakistan.

The H5 strain of the bird flu virus was detected in two farms in Abbottabad and Charsadda in NWFP on Monday and samples have been sent to a laboratory in London to confirm whether it is the lethal H5N1 strain.

Nasir Khan, the health minister, told journalists in Islamabad the results from London were expected today [March 1]. He said provincial authorities had been told to test workers at the farms where the H5 strain was detected for the disease.

Indonesia: A day late and a dollar short

Long ago, the American comedian Jack Benny made a running gag out of his supposed stinginess. In one famous sketch, a holdup man points a gun at him and barks, "Your money or your life!"

Long pause. "Well?" demands the holdup man.

"I'm still thinking it over," Benny snaps back.

So is the Indonesian government: Bird flu compensation lower than stated.

The Jakarta administration's fumbling response to the bird flu crisis was highlighted Tuesday, when an official announced the government was backtracking on an earlier promise to provide Rp 10,000 (about US$1) in compensation for every culled bird and chicken.

"Compensation will range from Rp 2,500 to Rp 10,000, depending on the type of bird. We will pay a maximum of Rp 10,000 for chickens and rare and exotic birds. Compensation will be Rp 5,000 for doves and Rp 2,500 for quails," Jakarta Animal Husbandry Agency head Edy Setiarto said.

The story goes on to say that whatever the amount, "lengthy bureaucratic procedures" will delay payments. The government evidently wants to think it over.

A disturbing echo of 1918

Via Xinhuanet: Local authorities launch bird flu awareness campaign. But that's not the story. H5N1 may have taken its first known unborn victim:

Both victims of a recent bird flu infection remained in critical condition yesterday as local authorities launched campaigns telling villagers to stay away from sick and dead fowl.

According to the doctor in charge, the 26-year-old woman farmer in East China's Anhui Province has lost one of her unborn twins.

"We don't know for sure if the H5N1 infection caused the death in the two-months-pregnant woman," a doctor who identified himself only with the surname Li told China Daily in a telephone interview.

The woman remained in the No 2 People's Hospital in Fuyang. The medical team treating her are required to file a daily report to the Ministry of Health, but the report has not been made public.

In Yingshang County, the woman's home, authorities were busy yesterday
spreading bird flu knowledge among rural residents in about 30 villages.

"We have used television, banners and leaflets to urge villagers to stay away from sick birds, report suspicious cases and handle the dead chickens in a sanitary way," Sun Wei, an official with the county government, said yesterday by telephone.

The story goes on to tell us that the 9-year-old in Zhejiang is still in critical condition.

In the Spanish flu, pregnant women suffered horrifying mortality rates, and many of those who survived still lost their babies. If H5N1 is capable of the same kind of damage, we had better put women like Ms. Li at the top of priority list.

Spread of bird flu: Experts are puzzled

The International Herald Tribune offers a story on the Spread of bird flu: Experts are puzzled. Among other puzzles, scientists don't know which species are infected and how dangerous those species are as vectors.

Niger shuns "bird flu" chickens

BBC News Online reports that Niger shuns "bird flu" chickens.

A day after the deadly strain of bird flu was confirmed in Niger, there are hardly any chickens on sale in the capital's markets.

A BBC correspondent says consumers have been wary of buying poultry since the H5N1 strain was confirmed in neighbouring Nigeria.

Despite public concern, the government is making no official comment until after Tuesday's cabinet meeting.

There has been no culling of poultry in the areas where bird flu was confirmed.

The BBC's Souleymane Issa Maiga in Niamey says the bodies of some 1,100 dead chickens and ducks have been incinerated in Magaria and Ban Barde, the two areas where the H5N1 strain was found.

These are both near the border with Nigeria.

The whole article is also worth reading for its concise summary of other developments in the African H5N1 story.

Bird flu: Are pet cats at risk?

BBC News Online offers some comfort to anxious cat people: Are pet cats at risk?

Paul Hunter, professor of health protection at the University of East Anglia in the UK, points out that like all predators, felines hunt weaker animals.

"Cats tend to go for sick birds, so it is not unexpected if cats catch and kill infected birds," he told the BBC news website.

The risk of cats getting the H5N1 virus is real. But according Dr Hunter, it is "not huge".

He notes that in affected areas in Asia, where people live in close proximity with poultry, hundreds of thousands of humans have handled infected birds - and yet less than 200 are known to have contracted the virus.

Then again, very few of those humans have actually caught the infected birds, eaten them raw on the spot, and left only the feathers.

What should Ghana do?

From the Accra Daily Mail: With H5N1 breaking all over the place, what should Ghana do?. The author, Dr. Yaw A. Nsiah, offers a sensible and well-thought-out program. But can the GOG (government of Ghana) actually carry out Dr. Nsiah's program?

B2B H5N1 "endemic" in UK?

BBC News Online reports a potentially serious difference of opinion in Britain over the future of H5N1 in the UK, and how to deal with it: Farmers surprised by flu comments.

Professor Sir David King, the government's chief scientific adviser, told the BBC it may become "endemic" and remain for "five years plus".

He also ruled out using the existing vaccine against the H5N1 strain.

The National Farmers' Union said it "simply did not accept" his view that the virus would become prevalent.

"If someone is saying we are going to see this endemically within the UK commercial flock that is a surprise," the NFU's chief poultry adviser said.

Read the whole article. We may be hearing similar disputes in the Americas before long.

Niger: WHO's assessment is grim

Thanks to the reader who sent the link to WHO's new report on the Avian influenza situation (poultry) in Niger .

During February, significant mortality of chickens and ducks was observed in five outbreaks in two administrative districts near the border with Nigeria. Positive test results were reported yesterday on samples taken from dead ducks in Magaria and Dan Barde, located in one of the two districts. Investigation of the additional outbreaks is under way. Staff at the WHO country office in Niger reported today that no human cases are presently under investigation for possible H5N1 infection.

I keep thinking about rinderpest, and about its accidental introduction to Somalia by the Italians a century ago. It swept through East Africa to the Cape of Good Hope in a matter of a few years, despite all efforts to stop it. It not only destroyed the pastoral societies that had lived by their cattle, but also transformed the landscape and ecosystem. Tsetse fly flourished in the bushlands no longer burned off by herders and browsed by their cattle.

It may be that the loss of a major protein source in sub-Saharan Africa will cause similar ecological upheaval as people move to new food sources...or away from sources of human infection.

B2B reaches Sweden

Here's the Guardian Unlimited on B2B H5N1 reaching Sweden. The story includes a good survey of other flu-related news.