Avian Influenza (Bird Flu)

(CIDRAP News) – Health ministries in China and Egypt reported four new human H5N1 avian influenza cases over the past few days, including three from different parts of China, two of which were fatal.

Today's World Health Organization (WHO) confirmation of a case in a 2-year-old Egyptian girl pushed the global H5N1 case count to 400. If the WHO confirms all of the new cases and deaths, the total will rise to 403 cases, 254 of them fatal.

(CIDRAP News) – Canadian officials are investigating the possibility of an avian influenza outbreak at a turkey farm in British Columbia (BC), a day after animal health officials in Bangladesh reported the H5N1 virus struck three more sites.

(CIDRAP News) – Veterinary authorities in Egypt today reported H5N1 avian influenza outbreaks in two governorates, as Chinese officials beefed up their avian flu reporting system and took other measures to limit human exposure to the virus.

(CIDRAP News) – Indonesia has confirmed two more fatalities from H5N1 avian influenza, a 29-year-old woman and a 5- or 6-year-old girl, both of whom lived near the country's capital, Jakarta, according to news reports.

(CIDRAP News) – China's recent spike in human H5N1 avian influenza cases appears to lack the hallmark of nearby poultry outbreaks, a development that some public health officials worry could signal asymptomatic infections in birds.

Veterinary experts, however, suggest the pattern could point to surveillance gaps or the consequences of routine vaccination.

(CIDRAP News) – Animal health workers in Nepal are culling thousands of poultry in response to the country's first outbreak of H5N1 avian influenza, as officials in India said the virus spread to another Indian state, Sikkim in the northeastern part of the country.

(CIDRAP News) – China's health ministry has announced that a 16-year-old boy who was recently listed in critical condition with an H5N1 avian influenza infection has died.

(CIDRAP News) – China's health ministry today reported three new human H5N1 avian influenza cases, one of them fatal and the other patients hospitalized in critical condition, according to a statement from the World Health Organization (WHO).

In the first case, a 27-year-old woman from Jinan City in Shandong province got sick on Jan 5, was hospitalized, and died on Jan 17, the WHO reported.

(CIDRAP News) – A 21-month-old Egyptian girl has been hospitalized with an H5N1 avian influenza infection, the country's health ministry said yesterday.

(CIDRAP News) – Hong Kong health officials reported today that the H9N2 avian influenza virus that recently infected a 2-month-old girl from mainland China has not acquired any genes from human-adapted flu viruses, implying that it is unlikely to pose a major danger to humans.