News & Perspective

(CIDRAP News) – Thailand has reported its 21st human case of H5N1 avian influenza, while an infected flamingo was found in Kuwait and new poultry outbreaks surfaced in China, according to news reports today.

An 18-month-old boy in Bangkok was diagnosed with the H5N1 virus today, but he was already well on the way to recovery, according to an Agence France-Presse (AFP) report quoting Thawat Sunthrajarn, Thailand's disease control director.

(CIDRAP News) – Iran, Austria, Germany, and Slovenia have joined the list of countries with H5N1 avian influenza in wild birds in the past few days, and the virus may have spread to as many as nine states in Nigeria, according to recent reports.

(CIDRAP News) – European countries' plans for coping with an influenza pandemic are generally good but have a number of gaps, including a lack of detail on distribution of drugs and supplies, according to an analysis published last week by The Lancet.

(CIDRAP news) – The European Commission (EC) reported yesterday that 741 cases of H5N1 avian influenza have been detected among about 60,000 wild birds tested in European Union states since February.

The EC presented its data during the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)/World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) International Scientific Conference on Avian Influenza and Wild Birds, which concluded yesterday in Rome.