News & Perspective

WHO confirms Vietnam's recent H5N1 deathThe World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed the death of a 23-year-old woman from H5N1 avian influenza. Her Feb 21 death raises the country's death toll to 53 among 109 cases, second only to Indonesia, which has 141 WHO-confirmed cases.[Feb 24 WHO statement]

(CIDRAP News) – At an Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) symposium in Washington, DC, today on seasonal and pandemic influenza, a group of experts fielded questions from reporters on some of the new trends and emerging issues, including prepandemic strategies for H5N1 avian influenza vaccines, now that some countries are stockpiling them.

(CIDRAP News) – A pharmaceutical company is reporting good results in the first clinical trial of an H5N1 avian influenza vaccine that uses a whole, killed H5N1 virus grown in cell culture—a combination of techniques that entails some risk but may boost immune response and shorten production time.

(CIDRAP News) – France's agriculture ministry said today that three swans found dead in Moselle department in the eastern part of the country tested positive for H5N1 avian influenza, making France the third European country in recent weeks to report new outbreaks in wild birds.