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(CIDRAP News) Authorities in Azerbaijan have reported that three people who died of suspected avian influenza were infected with an H5 virus, and further tests very likely will confirm it to be H5N1, the World Health Organization (WHO) said today.
(CIDRAP News) An Alabama cow has tested positive for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), Chief Veterinary Officer John Clifford of the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced today.
(CIDRAP News) Three new countries are reporting avian influenza in birds, although confirmation as H5N1 is awaited, according to news service reports today.
Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, has identified H5N1 in its own laboratories. A Reuters story indicates that UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) official Dr. Tang Zhengping says samples have been sent to labs in Australia and Thailand for confirmation.
(CIDRAP News) The H5N1 avian influenza again demonstrated its adaptability by infecting a weasel-like mammal in Germany called a stone marten, according to reports from Germany yesterday.
The marten was found alive but sick Mar 2 on the Baltic island of Ruegen, where three domestic cats were previously found infected with the virus, according to a World Health Organization (WHO) statement.
(CIDRAP News) The human toll of H5N1 avian influenza mounted again today with reports of the deaths of two young Indonesian patients, while authorities in Azerbaijan were investigating a cluster of 10 suspected human cases in one village.
The World Health Organization (WHO) listed one of the Indonesian victims as a 4-year-old boy from Semarang in central Java who fell ill on Feb 10 and died Feb 28.
(CIDRAP News) Pregnant women who come down with West Nile virus (WNV) infection probably run a fairly small risk of major birth defects in their babies, according to the first analysis of data collected in 16 states.
(CIDRAP News) Albania today became the latest European country to confront H5N1 avian influenza in birds, while US officials reported plans to greatly expand testing of wild birds for the virus in Alaska and on the West Coast this spring.
(CIDRAP News) China reported today that a 9-year-old girl died 2 days ago of H5N1 avian influenza, becoming the country's 10th person to succumb to the virus.
The girl, whose case was announced Feb 27, lived in the eastern province of Zhejiang, the World Health Organization (WHO) said. She fell ill on Feb 10 and was in critical condition by the time her case was made public.
(CIDRAP News) A second vaccine against human H5N1 influenza is being developed, US Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Mike Leavitt announced yesterday.
In a speech at an immunization conference, Leavitt announced that he has authorized the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to start work on a second vaccine, according to an Associated Press (AP) report published yesterday.
(CIDRAP News) To help consumers identify meat and poultry products that are being recalled because of contamination or some other hazard, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) is proposing to publish the names of retail stores that have carried the products.
(CIDRAP News) As the H5N1 avian influenza virus continued to claim human victims, World Health Organization (WHO) and other experts met in Geneva today for a 3-day conference to hone the agency's pandemic response plan.
(CIDRAP News) The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently announced a new initiative to reduce Salmonella contamination in raw meat and poultry, mainly by focusing more effort on processing facilities that need improvement and reporting test results faster.
(CIDRAP News) The European expansion of H5N1 avian influenza continued with discovery of the virus in two swans in Poland, while three cats in an Austrian animal shelter tested positive for the virus as well, according to reports today.
A Polish laboratory identified the virus in two swans found dead in the northern city of Torun, news services reported. The cases were the first ones reported in Poland.
(CIDRAP News) Public health experts will meet in Geneva next week to continue developing the World Health Organization's (WHO's) draft plan for quick action to head off a potential influenza pandemic.
The WHO announced the meeting as a Hong Kong official reported another possible human case of H5N1 avian flu in China, involving a 32-year-old man who died yesterday.
(CIDRAP News) The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) this week proposed voluntary guidelines to help food processors reduce the risk of pathogenic contamination of fresh-cut produce such as bagged salads and sliced pineapple.
Fresh produce has been blamed for a growing share of foodborne disease outbreaks in recent years, and in October 2004 the FDA announced an action plan for reducing disease risks linked to produce.
(CIDRAP News) China's vice premier said today that China may see more bird outbreaks and human cases of avian influenza this spring, as the government announced plans for an intensive hunt for cases among wild birds on a major migration route, according to news services.
(CIDRAP News) US health officials announced today they have ordered more than 14 million treatment courses of two antiviral drugs to add to the 5.5 million courses already bought in preparation for a possible influenza pandemic.
(CIDRAP News) Global and US health authorities have recommended two new influenza virus strains for use in the flu vaccine for the 2006-07 season.
(CIDRAP News) – Laboratory testing in the case of the New York City drum maker who recently contracted anthrax has supported the belief that he inhaled anthrax spores while working with contaminated animal hides, according to federal health officials.
(CIDRAP News) Europe braced for further spread of the H5N1 avian influenza virus today in the wake of reports that the virus was suspected in the deaths of two wild ducks on Sweden's Baltic coast and a domestic cat in Germany.
The cat was discovered last weekend on Ruegen, the island off Germany's north coast where H5N1 was first discovered on German soil, according to a Reuters report.
