H5N1

Indonesia: Cirebon H5N1 suspect is cleared

Via Bird Flu Information Corner: Cirebon bird flu suspect not confirmed. Excerpt:

A suspect bird flu [avian A/H5N1 influenza] patient who was treated for 8 days in the regional Public Hospital Gunung Jati, Cirebon City, has now been declared bird flu negative. 

The patient was allowed to return home after receiving results from the laboratory of the Penelitian Dan Pengembangan Kesehatan Hall of the Department of the Health.

West Bengal blames latest outbreak on Bangladesh

Via The Times of India: Bird flu strikes Cooch Behar. Excerpt:

After Malda and Darjeeling, bird flu has now spread to Cooch Behar. The administration has been asked to begin culling from Sunday. 

"The Mathabhanga and Dinhata areas of Cooch Behar have been hit by bird flu. I have ordered culling operations from tomorrow," state animal resources development minister Anisur Rahaman said on Saturday. 

Blood samples sent from Nagar Bhangni and Uttar Dangkoba villages, where a large number of chickens died over the past few days, have tested positive for H5N1 virus at laboratories in Kolkata and Bhopal, said district officials. 

While Nagar Bhangni village falls under Dinhata-II block, Uttar Dangkoba comes under Pachagarh panchayat in Mathabhanga subdivision. 

The state government, however, prefers to describe the latest findings of the avian influenza in these areas as isolated cases - along with the earlier outbreaks in Malda (first week of December) and Darjeeling (first week of January). 

"The virus has not travelled to Cooch Behar from Darjeeling or Malda. It came to Darjeeling and Malda from across the Bangladesh border. The Cooch Behar cases must be isolated ones," said the ARD minister. 

So, there is no need to panic, he added, advising everyone not to shun poultry or poultry products.

Vietnam: Another kind of Tet offensive

Asia has been worrying about the lunar new year, with millions traveling in crowded conditions and then sitting down to big family dinners with lots of chicken. According to Thanh Nien Daily, it's been a tough start to the Year of the Ox in Vietnam, but so far no one's come down with H5N1:

A hospital in the central province of Phu Yen has treated more than 300 emergency cases in three days from the Lunar New Year’s Eve on Sunday to Tuesday. 

Head of the Phu Yen General Hospital, Bui Tran Ngoc, said yesterday that on Sunday and the first two days of the Lunar New Year, the hospital received 361 cases in which 188 had to be admitted as inpatients. 

Ngoc said 151 people were hospitalized on Tuesday, the second day of Tet, one of whom was declared dead on arrival from knife wounds. 

Most of the cases brought to the hospital were traffic accidents, and about nine involved fights, Ngoc said.

Premonitions: Malaria kills airline steward

Via The Independent, a very disturbing story: Malaria kills BA steward and leaves two seriously ill. Excerpt:

Britain's largest union demanded an urgent investigation yesterday after a British Airways cabin crew member died from malaria and two others were left seriously ill from the disease. 

A BA air steward caught the most deadly strain of malaria after working on a flight from Heathrow to Ghana. Two more became ill after flying to other destinations. 

Officials from Unite, which represents cabin crew, raised their concerns with senior Whitehall figures that the incident could be linked to accessibility of anti-malarial tablets. 

Steve Turner, the Unite national officer, said: "We would like to see a full investigation into the death of a BA cabin crew member from malaria and to see malaria tablets more readily available, as they once were." 

BA used to provide its 9,000 worldwide crew with free anti-malarials at airport terminals, but now provides drugs only where a prescription has been issued. The company doctor is based at Heathrow. 

Union sources said that crews flying around the world, often at short notice, found it difficult to get free access to the tablets, and as a result many cabin crew members had stopped taking them.

China: The official word on Ms. Shu

The Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention doesn't update its site as often as I would like, but neither does any other official health website. 

In any case, the CCDCP has posted this item: Human infection of bird flu reported in central China. Excerpt:

A 21-year-old female farmer was confirmed infected with bird flu in central China's Hunan Province, said the provincial health bureau on Saturday.  

The farmer, surnamed Shu, fell ill on Jan. 23 in Xupu County of the province and was hospitalized at the county's People's Hospital on Jan. 26, said a statement from the bureau.      

Shu was transferred to a hospital in Changsha, capital of the province, on Thursday. So far she has been in a stable condition and become better.     

According to the test result on Friday from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the farmer tested positive for the H5N1 strain of avian influenza. 

An investigation found that Shu had contact with fowls that died of disease before becoming sick.     

Hunan has launched an emergency response against the virus. Those who had close contact with the patient are under medical observation, but none of them has been found ill so far.

A personal note: I will turn 68 next week, and one of the lessons of reaching such an age is this: A 21-year-old was a toddler just yesterday, and tomorrow she ought to be a grandmother. Even for those of us who live very long lives, life is very brief.

I hope Ms. Shu dies long after 2050, surrounded by her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. As far away as that day may seem, it will come all too soon.

Abbotsford: H5 confined to one farm

Via CTV.ca: Tests show avian flu local to lone B.C. farm. Excerpt:

Avian flu found on one Fraser Valley turkey farm has not spread to any other farms in the quarantine area. 

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency says so far all commercial flocks have tested negative in the three-kilometre quarantine zone set up to stop a virus from spreading. 

Authorities had to destroy 60,000 turkeys earlier this week at a farm in Abbotsford, B.C., and the birds carcasses are being composed with in the barns to prevent further spread of the virus. 

The H5 virus was discovered in some of the birds in one barn on the farm. Further tests that would indicate how virulent the virus strain is still have not been completed.

That phrase "composed with in the barns" should be "composted within the barns."

I'm surprised that it's taking so long to finish the tests on the virus. The latest news from CFIA is available here.

West Bengal: B2B H5N1 confirmed in Cooch Behar

Via Zeenews.com: Bird flu in WB`s Cooch Behar district. Excerpt:

West Bengal's Cooch Behar district was on Saturday declared bird flu-affected with authorities directed to cull 45,000 birds, official sources said. 

Blood samples sent from Nagar Bhangni and Uttar Dangkoba villages, where a large number of chickens suddenly died tested positive for the H5N1 virus at laboratories in Kolkata and Bhopal, District Magistrate Rajesh Kumar Sinha said. 

Sinha said culling would begin from Monday at Nagar Bhangni village under Dinhata-II block and Uttar Dangkoba village under Pachagarh gram panchayat in Mathabhanga sub-division. 

Thirty culling teams comprising five members each would destroy 45,000 chickens, he said. 

The border has been sealed and trading and transport of chicken from the affected areas prohibited.

China: Woman recovering from H5N1

Via Reuters: China woman infected by bird flu, recovering. Excerpt:

A 21-year-old woman has caught the H5N1 strain of bird flu in central China's Hunan Province but is recovering in hospital, the official Xinhua news agency said on Saturday. 

The farmer was found sick on Jan. 23 after coming into contact with birds that died of the disease, Xinhua quoted provincial health authorities as saying. 

People who had close contact with the patient are under observation, but none of them has fallen ill so far. China has reported the case to the World Health Organization, Xinhua added.

The Xinhua story is here.

Nepal: Chicken smuggling continues

Via eKantipur.com: Smuggling of chicken on rise. Excerpt:

Though the government has banned the import of fowls and fowl products from India after the detection of bird flu, a large number of chickens and eggs are being imported to Sarlahi from India daily. 

They are being imported via Sangrampur and Parsa entry point of the district, it is said. 

The locals have blamed the local administration and police for being silent spectator despite the massive import of Indian broiler chickens and eggs at a time when the hazard of bird flu has gripped the country. 

They said one truckload of Indian chickens and eggs enters into the district everyday via Sangrampur and Parsa, from just in front of the police post. 

The smuggled goods are sold in the markets, located along the east-west highway.

Vietnam: A new human H5N1 case?

Via Reuters: Sickened Vietnamese man suspected to have bird flu. Excerpt:

A 32-year-old Vietnamese man has been hospitalised in the country's southern Mekong Delta with pneumonia and doctors suspect he may have caught bird flu, a state-run newspaper said on Saturday. 

Samples from the man in Vinh Long province suffering from fever, cough and pain chest were now being tested for the H5N1 virus at the Pasteur Institute in Ho Chi Minh City, the Thanh Nien (Young People) daily said. 

It did not say on how he fell sick. The Health Ministry has warned bird flu could spread during and after this week's Lunar New Year festival when chicken is consumed in vast quantities. 

In addition, winter creates an ideal environment for the avian influenza virus to thrive. 

Vietnam has this year confirmed one case of human infection in the northern province of Thanh Hoa, involving a 8-year-old girl who fell sick after having eaten duck and chicken raised on the family farm. She has recovered.

Thanh Nien Daily's English website doesn't have this story yet. The 8-year-old fell ill late in December, so technically she's a 2008 case.