All News

(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.

(CIDRAP News) – The US government recently agreed to collaborate with France's Institut Pasteur (IP) on efforts to increase the world's ability to detect influenza viruses that could lead to a human flu pandemic.

(CIDRAP News) – The rapidly growing list of countries facing H5N1 avian influenza in birds has swelled to include Egypt, France, and India in the past 4 days, and the virus is suspected in Bosnia as well.

(CIDRAP News) – Two human cases of H5N1 avian flu have been confirmed by the World Health Organization (WHO) in recent days—one each in Iraq and Indonesia—and dozens of sick people in several countries are being tested.

In addition, the WHO said today that studies of the human H5N1 cases in Turkey have produced no clear evidence that the virus has changed its behavior in humans or improved its ability to spread from person to person.

(CIDRAP News) – Critical for businesses in preparing for a flu pandemic will be taking care of their primary asset—their employees. This was an overarching theme expressed by participants in this week's Business Planning for Pandemic Influenza: A National Summit, held in Minneapolis.

(CIDRAP News) – One expert's advice to leaders trying to prepare the world for an influenza pandemic: Don't be scared of scaring people.

Peter M. Sandman, PhD, a risk communication expert from Princeton, N.J., told those attending a Minneapolis conference on business planning for pandemic flu that fear is what motivates people to take sensible precautions in the face of a real threat.

(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) – If the next influenza pandemic imitates past ones and plays out in waves, the first wave might serve as a warning that gives the world a little time to prepare for the worst, a leading expert on the pandemic of 1918 told business leaders at a Minneapolis meeting this week.

(CIDRAP News) – A large majority of about 300 business officials at a conference in Minneapolis believe that an influenza pandemic would significantly affect their business, but only 18% of the companies have completed a preparedness plan, according to a poll taken yesterday.

(CIDRAP News) – Putting an additional stressor, such as a flu pandemic, on an infrastructure that is already stressed and running at a stretched capacity merits great concern, said experts convening yesterday at a national summit on business planning for pandemic influenza in Minneapolis.

Editor's Note: This article was updated Aug 16, 2006, to correct a potentially misleading statement in the 3rd-to-last paragraph regarding Seattle residents' concerns.

(CIDRAP News) – A major influenza pandemic would make it very difficult for the US healthcare system to maintain routine services, a reality that few Americans are aware of, a public health official said at a preparedness conference in Minneapolis today.

(CIDRAP News) – Speakers at a national conference in Minneapolis today sought to impress business leaders with the potentially disastrous effects of an influenza pandemic without scaring them into thinking that preparing for one is futile.

(CIDRAP News) – As the H5N1 virus spreads, so does the toll of human illness cases and deaths known or suspected to be due to the deadly influenza.

(CIDRAP News) – The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued new recommendations last week in an effort to push the percentage of healthcare workers who receive influenza shots above the 40% range, where it has been stalled for years.

(CIDRAP News) – The H5N1 avian flu virus is continuing its relentless spread from bird to bird, with individual deaths in some countries marking new territory for the virus and massive die-offs and culling showing how quickly it can become entrenched.

The pathogen has been reported in wild birds in five new countries—Azerbaijan, Nigeria, Greece, Italy, and Bulgaria—in the past week. In addition, an H5 virus has been reported in Slovenia.

(CIDRAP News) – An analysis of influenza viruses collected from thousands of wild and domestic birds in China and Hong Kong suggests that H5N1 viruses have been circulating in southern China for nearly a decade and have spread repeatedly from there to spark outbreaks across Asia.

(CIDRAP News) – China and Indonesia reported fatal human cases of H5N1 avian influenza today, while Azerbaijan joined the list of countries with outbreaks in wild birds.

In addition, there were reports that the virus was spreading to more farms in Nigeria, which was revealed this week as the first African country hit by the pathogen.

(CIDRAP News) – Deadly H5N1 avian influenza was reported on farms in two more Nigerian states today as United Nations officials warned that the virus's emergence in Africa represents a serious crisis.

(CIDRAP News) – Chinese officials today reported the country's 11th human case of H5N1 avian influenza, in a 26-year-old woman from an area where no poultry outbreaks have been reported, according to news services.

(CIDRAP News) – The H5N1 virus has materialized deep in Africa, killing about 40,000 poultry on a commercial farm in northern Nigeria, according to the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE).

Tests at an OIE reference laboratory in Padova, Italy, yesterday confirmed the presence of H5N1 as the culprit in an outbreak that began nearly a month ago, on Jan 10, the OIE report said.