All News

(CIDRAP News) – Some of the H5N1 avian flu virus samples from human cases that China has promised to send to a World Health Organization (WHO) laboratory have arrived in the United States, apparently ending an almost year-long lapse in sample sharing.

(CIDRAP News) – Veterinary officials in Wales confirmed a low pathogenic H7N2 avian influenza outbreak today at a farm near the northern town of Denbighshire, a day after Nigeria reported its first H5N1 avian flu outbreak since late January.

The world of pandemic influenza preparedness this past week experienced another roller-coaster ride of public attention—and a lack thereof.

(CIDRAP News) – H5N1 avian influenza has continued to flare up in poultry on two continents this week, with Vietnam, Ghana, and Pakistan all confirming new outbreaks in the past 2 days.

In Vietnam over the weekend, more than 2,000 ducks died, and another 6,000 were culled in various areas affected by outbreaks of H5N1, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported yesterday. The ducks had not been vaccinated.

(CIDRAP News) – As expected, the World Health Organization (WHO) approved a resolution on the sharing of influenza viruses and access to pandemic vaccines just before adjourning its annual meeting of member countries today.

(CIDRAP News) – Indonesia announced today that a 5-year-old girl died of H5N1 avian influenza, while a hospital official in Vietnam reported that a 30-year-old man is being treated for the disease, apparently marking the country's first human case in a year and a half.

(CIDRAP News) – To encourage the public to join discussions on pandemic influenza preparedness, the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) today launched a 5-week blog on the topic in conjunction with a Jun 13 leadership forum.

(CIDRAP News) – The World Health Organization (WHO) has negotiated a preliminary agreement designed to maintain the international sharing of influenza virus samples while ensuring that developing countries can obtain pandemic flu vaccines, news services reported today.

(CIDRAP News) – More than 11,000 birds died in China's latest avian influenza outbreak this weekend, Reuters News reported today, and another 53,000 birds were culled to bring the outbreak in the southern province of Hunan under control, according to China's Ministry of Agriculture.

(CIDRAP News) – Experts predict that an influenza pandemic will place a long and heavy burden on the medical community, which prompted the US Department of Labor (DOL) to develop guidance for healthcare worker safety that it released today at a press conference.

(CIDRAP News) – In the first half of 2007, countries reported fewer migratory bird deaths from the H5N1 avian influenza virus, but the virus is still circulating among poultry flocks in several countries, the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) said today.

(CIDRAP News) – A US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) panel yesterday recommended that the agency approve a smallpox vaccine made by British biotechnology company Acambis plc that is currently being stockpiled for the US government.

(CIDRAP News) – At the World Health Assembly meeting today in Geneva, global health officials agreed to postpone for 4 years a decision on when to destroy the world's remaining stores of smallpox virus.

(CIDRAP News) – The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) today released a detailed report about a 2-year-old Indiana boy who is recovering from a severe eczema vaccinatum infection contracted through contact with his father, a soldier who had recently received a smallpox vaccine.

Business continuity planners say they're talking to their employees and other stakeholders about pandemic preparedness. Is it really happening?

(CIDRAP News) – A US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advisory panel unanimously agreed Wednesday that FluMist, a nasal spray vaccine against seasonal flu, is safe and effective in children 2 years of age and older.

Second in a two-part series examining the numbers and epidemiologic factors surrounding the virus that many experts believe could lead to the next pandemic. Part 1 explored why the apparently lower number of human H5N1 cases in early 2007 does not mean the pandemic threat is receding.

(CIDRAP News) – The World Health Organization (WHO) today recognized 15 H5N1 avian influenza cases from Indonesia dating back to late January, a few weeks after the country stopped sending H5N1 virus samples to the WHO as a protest against developing nations' lack of equal access to pandemic vaccines.

(CIDRAP News) – At first glance, the Web page looks like an overhead shot of a fantastic game board: a map—identifiably Los Angeles—sprinkled with faceted roundels in a half-dozen colors.