H5N1

Clashes looming between Dominicans and Haitians

Via HaitiLibre.com: Haiti - Social : Risk of Dominican-Haitian clashes on January 3. Excerpt:

"Today, we are invaded by Haitians, they are responsible for most thefts and assaults committed in our neighborhoods, they throw garbage in the streets they live in boarding houses with no bathrooms and defecate in plastic bags that they throw them in front of houses, schools, businesses and other places, we are desperate" reported José Francisco Consuegra President of the Council of district of La Mina. 

Recalling that a survey conducted by community groups in San Jose and La Mina estimated between 1.800 to 2.700 the population of undocumented Haitian living in these neighborhoods, without counting another 400 which are arrived last Saturday, said Consuegra. 

Residents of neighborhoods of San Jose, Mina and Cristo Rey in the south of Santiago (North) in Dominican Republic, explained in the Dominican press, that if on January 3, 2011 the Directorate General of Immigration did not take steps to arrest and repatriate illegal Haitian population living in their neighborhoods, the population will expel them by force. 

José Francisco Consuegra has insisted that the attitude of people is not racist or discriminatory, but now he finds that the Haitians outnumber Dominicans in their neighborhoods. 

An officer of the immigration authorities, under cover of anonymity, acknowledged that its services actually received dozens of complaints each day from these communities concerning crime or incivility on Haitians, recalling that its services can not follow all these complaints its office being mobilized on the prevention and control of illegal border crossings.

WHO: Egypt H5N1 update 39

WHO has published Avian influenza - situation in Egypt - update 39.

The Ministry of Health of Egypt has announced two new cases of human infection with H5N1 avian influenza. 

A 28 year-old woman from Damanhour district of El Beheira governorate developed symptoms on 12 December. She was admitted to hospital on the 14th and subsequently discharged on the 22nd in good and stable condition. She has a history of exposure in a market where live animals are sold. 

An 11 year-old girl from Esna district of Luxor governorate developed symptoms on 18 December and was admitted in the hospital the following day. She experienced severe respiratory symptoms requiring mechanical ventilation and died on 23 December. No information is available regarding poultry exposure. Investigations into the source of infection are underway.

Laboratory tests have confirmed H5N1 virus and both patients were treated with antiviral medications. Of the 115 cases confirmed to date in Egypt, 38 have been fatal.

Dominican Republic: President leads anti-cholera campaign

Via DiarioLibre.com: LF to head outreach for cholera prevention. Excerpt:

President Leonel Fernandez will head up today's activity of prevention and control of cholera. It is expected that more than 5,000 volunteers and health personnel will attend the ceremony. They will talk of the strategies and initiatives that have made possible an adequate handling of the disease in the Dominican Republic. 

The activity is organized by the Ministry of Public Health and is programmed for 10:00 o'clock in the morning in the Carlos-Teo- Cruz Boxing Coliseum. Persons that have contracted the disease and currently enjoy good physical health will give testimony. 

The authorities reported that at the same time that is an outreach program for the prevention of cholera going on all over the national territory, through the work of health promoters and volunteers in barrios and other sectors of cities throughout the country. 

The head of Public Health, Bautista Rojas Gomez, said that the mobilization includes the daily visit to home and the insistence on the message regarding what to do to prevent the sickness.

Korea: B2B H5N1 feared spreading

Via JoongAng Daily: After foot-and-mouth, avian flu feared spreading. Excerpt:

Avian influenza, the bird flu that can also sicken and kill humans, could be spreading in Korea after poultry farms in both South Chungcheong and North Jeolla reported suspected cases, according to the government yesterday. 

If these poultry farms are confirmed to have the H5N1 flu virus, Korea will be plagued with infectious animal diseases on a nationwide scale, except for South Gyeongsang, South Jeolla and Jeju. Since Nov. 29, foot-and-mouth disease has spread to five cities and provinces and led to the culling of around 550,000 livestock. 

The Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said yesterday that one duck farm in Cheonan, South Chuncheong, and a chicken farm in Iksan, North Jeolla, reported suspected cases of the avian flu virus the day before. 

Health officials are ramping up quarantine measures in case the two farms are confirmed to be infected. Hundreds of chickens at the Iksan farm have already died. Test results are expected this morning.

Indonesia: B2B H5N1 outbreak in Central Java

I'm delighted to see that Ida at Bird Flu Information Corner is back: Temanggung, Central Java ::: Bird flu in chickens. Excerpt:

Total 350 chickens died of bird flu H5N1 in Dusun Draju, Desa Mergowati, Kecamatan Kedu, Central Java. Of all, 300 are broilers from a partnership commercial farm and 50 are backyard chickens belong to locals. This incident has been confirmed by Head of Livestock and Fishery Service (Disnakkan), Slamet Saryono. 

“We received reports of bird flu suspicion, and then confirmed it by rapid test to the dead chickens,” said Slamet.

Haiti: 10 candidates call for a provisional government

Via HaitiLibre.com: Haiti - Elections : The Group of 12 wants a provisional government. Excerpt:

The group of 12 [which are now 10] and which represents 19.37% of the vote, reiterated yesterday Wednesday, its positions which are : the cancellation of elections on 28 November, the departure of President René Préval the February 7, 2011 and the installation of a provisional government in order to hold new elections. 

"I give you a guarantee that on February 7, people will install a new president, at the head of an interim government, in replacement of René Préval to hold elections", said Jacques Edouard Alexis.

Haiti in the hands of the NGOs

Via Le Monde diplomatique: Haiti in the hands of the NGOs. This is a long and informative article. Excerpt:

For a long time now most Haitians have looked to NGOs rather than the state for public services. Before the earthquake, the UN World Food Programme fed almost two million Haitians, with the diaspora taking care of the same number (1). The earthquake has increased dependence. Whether they like it or not, in Port-au-Prince, NGOs are the only means of survival. 

Alongside the UN agencies (2), there are some 10,000 organisations around the world helping to support Haiti. More than 1,000 are on the island. Half are unknown to the state, yet identifiable by their logos to all Haitians. 

Following the old colonists, American and European NGO officials are in just about all the camps. With their luxury vehicles and expensive equipment contributing to the traffic snarl-up, they offer “work for wages” to more than 100,000 people employed in the clean-up. The wage, 200 gourdes (under $7 a day), is a small fortune, which in 2009 President Préval found too costly for the Haitian economy; he would not pay it despite a long struggle with the workforce. 

But in today’s Haiti, NGOs have more financial muscle than the state. Humanitarian aid accounted for a third of GDP in 2009. Hundreds of thousands of people live on it, employees and families. Some foreigners – blan in Creole – also live well: Haitians can see that in the restaurants and find enough in rubbish bins to feed the poorest. 

Practically every Haitian graduate seeks either to emigrate (3) or to join an NGO. It’s safer than working for the state or starting a business. In 2009, after years when “aid” was supposed to encourage “development”, the Haitian state was still dependent on 60% help from international organisations to balance its domestic budget. 

And even though things are improving, corruption costs the state huge sums in lost taxes. In 2008 and 2009, $300m of oil credits provided by Venezuela under the PetroCaribe agreement vanished. Almost the same amount was spirited away in the public works markets.

Canada: Three women at Surrey Pre-trial Centre sick with H1N1

This is getting a little close to home—Surrey is only about 30 minutes' drive from where I live. Via News1130: Three women at Surrey Pre-trial Centre sick with H1N1. Excerpt:

Three women inmates at the Surrey Pre-trial Centre caught the H1N1 flu just before Christmas.

The Solicitor General's ministry says the trio were given Tamiflu as soon as they started showing symptoms and they are being kept away from other prisoners. 

One of the women has recovered while the other two are still getting better.

OCHA: Cholera Fact Sheet #12, Fiscal Year (FY) 2011

Via ReliefWeb: Haiti – Cholera Fact Sheet #12, Fiscal Year (FY) 2011. The full report is a downloadable PDF. The blurb:

•The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) notes that the overall decrease in recent weeks of the cholera case fatality rate (CFR) may be a result of the impact of the humanitarian response to the outbreak, but may also be due in part to underreporting of cases in rural areas. The CFR is currently 2.1 percent countrywide and has declined by 0.2 percent since November 27. OCHA highlights that the CFR remains particularly high in Grand Anse Department. USAID's Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (USAID/OFDA) recently committed funding to grantee Catholic Relief Services (CRS) to provide health interventions in Grand Anse Department. 

•On December 29, USAID/OFDA also provided more than $400,000 to the Center for International Studies and Cooperation (CECI) to support WASH projects in Artibonite Department. USAID/OFDA funds will help reduce the vulnerability of approximately 250,000 people to cholera through the promotion of safe hygiene practices.

A fall in the CFR of 0.2 percent in one month does not sound like much progress.

OAS monitors arrive in Haiti for vote recount

Via AsiaOne News: OAS monitors arrive in Haiti for vote recount. Excerpt:

Four monitors from the Organization of American States arrived in Haiti Wednesday, on a mission to verify a recount of a disputed election that has plunged the quake-ravaged nation into crisis. 

OAS Assistant Secretary-General Albert Ramdin was also scheduled to travel to join the verification team, a spokesperson for the regional block told AFP. 

Ramdin said last week the mission was being held up because the Haitian government had not yet agreed on terms of reference with the OAS. 

Preliminary results of the November 28 poll had former first lady Mirlande Manigat in the lead with 31 percent of the vote, followed by ruling party candidate Jude Celestin with 22 percent. 

If those results hold, the two should advance to a run-off scheduled for January 16, but the count was rejected by popular singer Michel Martelly, who trailed Celestin in third by less than 7,000 votes. 

Martelly's supporters and others took to the streets after the results were announced, torching cars and government buildings and clashing with rival supporters and UN peacekeepers in violence that killed at least five people.