H5N1

India: No humans infected with H5N1 bird flu in Bihar so far

Via The Times of India: No humans infected with bird flu in Bihar so far. Excerpt and then a comment:

PATNA: No case of humans getting infected with the bird flu virus has been detected in Bihar so far, a senior state government official said. 

"Among the reported cases of suspected or confirmed bird flu, we have not come across with any such incident (of humans getting infected with the virus) so far," Health department Principal Secretary Sanjay Kumar told reporters here. 

The first incident of suspected avian influenza was reported from six villages of Asarganj block of Munger district in December. 

The state has, so far, found samples positive for bird flu from four places - two places in Munger and one each in Banka and in the zoo in Patna. 

"There are chances that the animal husbandry department employees may get affected (with bird flu) as they come in contact with dead birds, but no such incidents have come to our notice," he said.

India has dealt repeatedly with serious H5N1 outbreaks in poultry, but has never, to my knowledge, reported a human case. I have no idea why this should be the case, when both Pakistan to the west and Bangladesh to the east have seen such cases.

Branswell on the Nagoya Protocol

Via STAT, Helen Branswell writes: Science with borders: A debate over national rights could inhibit research. Excerpt:

There is something that is weighing heavily on the minds of some infectious diseases scientists these days. It’s not the challenging Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, though that is deeply concerning. It’s not a new flu virus or slashed research budgets or laboratory safety violations. 

It’s an international treaty. More specifically, it’s an agreement within a treaty that could, depending on how negotiations play out, make it extraordinarily difficult to conduct disease surveillance or forge research collaborations around the world. 

The agreement — known as the Nagoya Protocol — could drown researchers in oceans of paperwork and hobble the world’s scientists when they must next race to combat a new disease disaster, some fear. 

The protocol is part of the Convention on Biodiversity, an international treaty aimed at protecting each country’s control over its own biological resources. It lays out ways by which biological resources may be shared and the benefits of those resources be distributed.

But since the protocol came into force in October 2014, debate has raged about whether the genetic sequences of pathogens — the string of code that characterizes a flu bug making the rounds or an Ebola virus isolated from a stricken health worker — are subject to the agreement. 

More than 100 countries have ratified the protocol. The United States, which is not a party to the Convention on Biodiversity, has not. 

Some involved in the debate argue genetic sequences aren’t covered by Nagoya, and that the free sharing of digital genetic information is so entrenched in scientific practice — scientific journals require it of their authors — that there’s no going back. Plus, some argue, to subject genetic sequence data to further bureaucracy would be counterproductive to science and dangerous to public health. 

But a large number of developing countries insist that the protocol gives them as much sovereignty over the genetic sequence data of viruses, bacteria, fungi, and other pathogens found within their borders as it does over plants that are crucial to drug production. 

In an age of synthetic biology, when a virus can be made from scratch by following a genetic sequencing recipe plucked from a public database, to have the genetic information is to have the bug itself, these countries argue. 

That’s not science fiction. At the start of the 2009 H1N1 pandemic, scientists at the J. Craig Venter Institute used the genetic sequence of the new virus to make the seed strain for flu vaccine. Until then, making the seed viruses for influenza vaccine production had always required an actual flu virus.  

The dispute and the uncertainty generated by this debate are already rippling through academia and the pharmaceuticals industry. Some manufacturers, for instance, opted not to use a vaccine virus recommended by the World Health Organization for the 2019 Southern Hemisphere flu vaccine because it came from Switzerland, whose Nagoya-based access procedures were felt to be too onerous. Easier, they decided, to use a similar virus from elsewhere instead. 

“I think it’s really worrying,” Dr. Jeremy Farrar, head of the Wellcome Trust, said of the debate and its implications. “This has to get resolved.”

Vietnam: Provinces take action against disease outbreaks among cattle, poultry

Via VietNamNet.bridge: Provinces take action against disease outbreaks among cattle, poultry. Excerpt:

An outbreak of H5N1 avian influenza occurred in late December in Can Duoc District in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta province of Long An, according to Dinh Thi Phuong Khanh, deputy director of the province’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Development. 

On December 21, as many as 400 chickens at a poultry-breeding farm in hamlet 4 in Long Son Commune showed symptoms of the disease, but the farm’s owner did not report the problem to authorities and tried to treat the animals by himself.  

The disease was transmitted through the air and nearly 3,600 of 5,500 ducks at two farms nearby died on January 3. 

After samples from dead ducks were found to be positive for H5N1, Can Duoc District’s People’s Committee announced that H5N1 bird flu had broken out in Long Son Commune.  

The district’s People’s Committee issued a plan on disease prevention to stall the spread of the deadly flu.  

Local authorities were asked to burn dead animals, spray disinfectants, carry out strict surveillance, and set up three quarantine booths to closely monitor the situation.  

The province also provided H5N1 avian flu vaccines to poultry farming households and large livestock farms with 2,000 animals in affected areas and in high-risk neighbouring areas such as Long Cang, Long Hoa, Tan Trach and Phuoc Van communes. 

Agencies were required to reach at least 90 per cent of H5N1 avian flu vaccine coverage in affected areas, and about 80 per cent coverage in threatened areas. 

Unseasonable weather in provinces across the country could contribute to the spread of the disease in coming weeks.

New Year's Eve, 2008

Just out of curiosity, I've checked what I'd been blogging about here on December 31, 2008...ten short years ago.

It was mostly bird flu; the H1N1 "swine flu" pandemic was almost six months in the future, and I hadn't yet realized that bird flu could not be considered apart from an enormous range of global-health issue. (Also in the future: Haiti's cholera, MERS, H7N9, Zika, and urban Ebola.)

So I was reporting on a two-month-old baby in Shenzhen who was recovering from H9N2. The case provoked authorities in Guangdong to tighten inspection of poultry markets.

Indian doctors in Manipur were working "round the clock" to prevent the spread of H5N1 to their city after an outbreak in Assam state.   

In Nigeria, the Bauchi state ministry of health was on the alert for H5N1 as well; it was about that time, I seem to recall, that Nigeria had one human case of H5N1, which had been fatal.

Here in Canada, Ontario was finally making public the rates of hospital-acquired infections from superbugs like C. diff and MRSA.

On New Year's Day, I was reporting a health scare about possible H5N1 in an Indonesian village. And I posted links to the old Flu Wiki Forum (no longer online) and Mike Coston at Avian Flu Diary (still very much online).

Ten years later we're watching a slightly different mix of bacteria and viruses, but the war goes on. It has been my good fortune to follow the war from a safe vantage point, while gaining ever deeper respect for the men and women fighting it from the villages of Asia and Africa and Latin America to the hospitals of Europe and North America. I hope my posts have accurately reported their extraordinary efforts.

H5N1 in Patna: 'Keep residents away from zoo'

Via The Times of India: 'Keep residents away from zoo'.

PATNA: The Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI) team from Uttar Pradesh has directed the Patna zoo authorities to keep people away from the premises as the avian flu (H5N1 virus) has killed eight birds there so far since December 16. 

IVRI experts Dr S Nandi and Dr Karikalan M, who reached Patna on Saturday, gave a PowerPoint presentation on Sunday to the zoo officials and the team members of chief wildlife warden regarding H5N1 virus (avian influenza) and precautionary measures to be taken. 

Zoo director Amit Kumar said the IVRI experts instructed the zoo staff to take all precautions before entering the premises. "Staff members should not use the same mask twice. In fact, they are not even bringing their bicycles inside," said Kumar and added that there was no need to panic. 

Six peafowls died last week due to bird flu last week. Another peafowl and a khalij pheasant died on Saturday.

India: No case of H5NI virus in hospitals

Via The Times of India: No case of H5NI virus in hospitals. Excerpt and then a comment:

PATNA: No case of bird flu was reported from city hospitals on Friday. Hospital authorities, however, said they were well prepared to tackle any such problem. The doctors have been put on alert while the health facilities marked isolation wards to separately keep and treat patients showing any symptom of bird flu.  

The state health department issued advisory to all civil surgeons and medical college and hospitals across the state earlier this week to be prepared to deal with suspected cases of bird flu. The presence of H5N1 strain of avian influenza, commonly known as bird flu, was detected from viscera of dead birds in six villages under Asarganj block in Munger district on December 21. Six peafowls died at Patna zoo between December 16 and 23. The lab test reports confirmed the presence of H5N1 virus in the dead birds. However, no case of human infection has been reported from any part of the state so far. 

PMCH medical superintendent Dr Rajiv Ranjan Prasad said, “We have arranged a five-bed isolation ward in our respiratory department to treat patients showing flu-like symptoms.” 

He said after conducting initial screening of suspected bird flu cases, we will send their samples to Rajendra Memorial Research Institute of Medical Science (RMRIMS) for laboratory tests. “We also have sufficient stock of Tamiflu medicines that will be given free of cost to any patient affected with H5N1 virus,” he said.

India has been dealing with H5N1 in poultry and wild birds for years, but it's never had a single human case. But Pakistan had a limited outbreak in 2007, and Bangladesh had its first human case in 2008. Why H5N1 has never infected humans in India is a mystery.

India: Government advisory to all districts against H5N1 bird flu

Via The Times of India: Government advisory to all districts against bird flu. Excerpt:

PATNA: The state animal husbandry department on Wednesday issued an advisory to all the 38 district magistrates in the state for prevention of spread of avian influenza or H5N1 (bird flu) after the outbreak of virus at Patna zoo and a village in Munger district. 

As per the advisory, the poultry farmers have been asked to keep their surroundings clean and feed high quality products. Besides culling, safe disposal of all such culled animals and animal products has also been suggested. 

The expert committee of animal husbandry department started serum surveillance in 9km radius of Patna zoo to assess the spread of virus outside the premises. 

Director of animal husbandry, Vinod Singh Gunjiyal, told this newspaper on Wednesday that four teams of experts would collect the sample of bird’s drooping, feathers and body part in the 9km radius of Patna zoo and send the samples to the National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases (NIHSAD) laboratory at Bhopal for test. 

“The experts will cover domestic birds and poultry near the zoo in the wake of reports of death of six peafowls due to H5N1,” he said.

India: H5N1 virus detected in Bihar's Munger district

Via United News of India: H5N1 virus detected in Bihar`s Munger district. Excerpt:

Munger, Dec 21 (UNI) Culling of birds today started on war footing at some villages and areas within one km of their radius in the district following the detection of H5N1 virus in these places. 

The H5N1 virus has been detected at Gorho, Ofroj, Belsihra, Mangrappa and Baijalpur villages of Ammaiya Panchayat under Asarganj block area. 

Official sources said that teams of Animal and Fisheries Resources Department from Patna and Munger districts are engaged in the culling of birds. More than 100 birds had been culled by this evening. 

A senior officer of the department Dr Chandrashekhar said here that all necessary steps were being taken to make the affected villages free from the virus.

'Outbreak culture' can derail effective responses to deadly epidemics

Via STAT, a must-read article by Lara Salahi and Pardis Sabeti: 'Outbreak culture' can derail effective responses to deadly epidemics. Excerpt:

An outbreak of an infectious disease creates a crucible in which forces are melded in an intense, high-stakes, pressure-filled environment. The situation is volatile, oftentimes unclear and rapidly evolving, and the pathogen may be life-threatening. The scenario is a test of humanity and our response to unpredictability. We often fail.  

In 2015, as the Ebola outbreak in West Africa had begun to slow down, we conducted an anonymous survey of more than 200 local and foreign Ebola responders about their experiences during the height of the epidemic. Nearly all of those surveyed mentioned that political and interpersonal challenges at times slowed their responses. Many said they feared the politics more than the virus. More than a quarter reported either witnessing, hearing about, or falling victim to illegal or unethical tactics while responding to the outbreak.  

Among the tactics they reported: money and other forms of aid disappearing before it reached its intended recipients; knowingly defective personal protective equipment sent to health workers treating Ebola patients; harmful competitive practices among research groups, like intimidation and data hoarding, to prevent others from conducting field research.  

These findings, which appear in our new book, “Outbreak Culture,” saddened but didn’t surprise us. It confirmed the experiences of individuals working in the lab that one of us (P.S.) heads at Harvard University, as well as firsthand accounts from health officials and responders uncovered through reporting done by the other (L.S.). Our survey findings, supplemented by interviews and previously published reports, suggested that the problem was more pervasive than a few serious anecdotes. 

Most of the experiences reported to us had little to do with the virus, but instead focused on the actions and reactions of individuals, groups, and organizations during the intense and at times chaotic responses to Ebola. This led us to believe that a culture can form in this environment, created by individual actors and larger agents, that has at times proven to be as lethal as the infectious agent itself. 

The creation of what we call “outbreak culture” is driven by multiple factors, from political motivation and life-threatening fear to personal gain and isolation. Behaviors as a result of outbreak culture can lead to confusion, collusion, and culpability amid an already chaotic situation.  

The toxicity that can emerge in outbreak culture isn’t limited to the response to Ebola. We’ve documented the same dysfunctions — and sometimes worse — during other large-scale epidemics. Outbreak culture fueled the stigmatization of groups of people susceptible to AIDS in the 1980s, led to the underreporting of initial cases of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in China in 2002, and delayed research into the 2006 avian flu outbreak in Indonesia. Outbreak culture also inhibited an adequate response to Zika.

India: Crow deaths trigger panic in Paradip

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Via The New Indian Express: Crow deaths trigger panic in Paradip.

PARADIP: Death of a large number of crows and pigeons has triggered panic in the port township with locals suspecting bird flu. In the last one week, nearly 30 crows and pigeons have died mysteriously in Nayabazaar, Badapadaia, Atharbanki, Neheruabangla and Sandhkuda.  

Veterinary officials have asked locals not to touch or handle the dead birds without gloves. The locals, including slum dwellers, have also been advised to bury the dead crows by digging deep holes so that the disease does not spread to other birds or other areas. While locals suspect bird flu to be the reason behind deaths, officials are yet to confirm it. 

Meanwhile, Veterinary officials rushed to areas where the dead crows were found and collected samples. A team of Paradip Municipality officials, led by Executive Officer Dillip Mohanty, also visited different areas of the town to take stock of the situation.  

In February, bird flu was reported from the port township after samples collected from different poultry farms and dead crows tested positive for the H5N1 virus. Two chicken samples collected from Badapadia and Sandhkuda had been confirmed H5N1 by Animal Disease Research Institute (ADRI) lab in Cuttack and High-Security Animal Diseases Laboratory in Bhopal. Around 1,823 birds were culled and 2,109 eggs destroyed in the wake of the bird flu confirmation. 

Additional District Veterinary Officer (disease control) Prashant Kumar Prusty said samples have been sent to ADRI for ascertaining the cause of the unusual deaths. “The Veterinary department officials are keeping a close watch on the avian species. There is no immediate cause of worry as suspected avian influenza impact on birds is yet to be established,” he added.