News & Perspective

(CIDRAP News) – Veterinary officials in Turkey have confirmed an H5N1 avian influenza outbreak in the western part of the country near the border with Greece, according to a report yesterday from the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE).

(CIDRAP News) – The Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche announced today it is scaling back production of oseltamivir (Tamiflu) because of waning demand, and simultaneously questioned whether countries stockpiling the drug are buying enough to protect their citizens in the event of an influenza pandemic.

(CIDRAP News) – To speed emergency responses to avian influenza and other animal and plant diseases, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) inaugurated a new crisis management center (CMC) at its Rome headquarters today.

(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.

(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) – Authorities in the former Soviet republic of Georgia today reported finding H5N1 avian influenza in swans, making Georgia the 16th country to report its first case this month.

Dead swans found in the village of Adliya, in the Black Sea coastal region of Adjara, tested positive, said Prime Minister Zurab Nogaideli, as quoted in an Agence France-Presse (AFP) report.

(CIDRAP News) – H5N1 virus has been found in wild birds in yet another European country, Slovakia, while tests of samples from 95 people in India have revealed no cases of avian influenza so far, according to reports today.

(CIDRAP News) – The World Health Organization (WHO) says H5N1 avian influenza has infected birds in 14 more countries since the beginning of this month, and recent genetic changes in the virus may have something to do with its rapid spread in birds.