Avian Influenza (Bird Flu)

(CIDRAP News) – Vietnamese health officials announced yesterday that two more patients tested positive for H5N1 avian influenza, while animal-health officials suggested that unvaccinated ducks may be to blame for Vietnam's recent rash of poultry outbreaks.

(CIDRAP News) – A nationwide survey indicates that many Americans have misconceptions about food safety issues related to avian influenza, researchers from Rutgers University said yesterday.

(CIDRAP News) – A 4-year-old Egyptian girl was reported to have H5N1 avian influenza today, as the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed that a 10-year-old girl from the same area died of the illness 2 days ago.

(CIDRAP News) – A World Health Organization (WHO) official in Egypt today said a 10-year-old girl is being treated for H5N1 avian influenza and is in critical condition, according to news services.

(CIDRAP News) – Antibodies gleaned from four Vietnamese patients who survived H5N1 avian influenza were used successfully to prevent and treat H5N1 infection in mice, suggesting that the same approach might be useful in humans, according to a recent report by an international team of researchers.

(CIDRAP News) – Health ministers from Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) nations, wrapping up a 2-day meeting in Sydney today, promised to share H5N1 avian influenza samples.

(CIDRAP News) – Officials from Indonesia's avian flu commission said today that the H5N1 avian influenza virus may have mutated in a way that makes it more transmissible from birds to humans, but a World Health Organization (WHO) official said the WHO had seen no evidence of such a change, according to news services.

(CIDRAP News) – Fewer than half of physicians who responded to a survey at a recent conference in Europe said they thought an influenza pandemic was very likely in the next few years, according to a report in the journal Archives of Disease in Childhood.

(CIDRAP News) – Vietnam's health ministry announced over the weekend that a poultry slaughterhouse worker was being treated for H5N1 avian influenza, and the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed today that China's most recent H5N1 patient has died.

(CIDRAP News) – The US Food and Drug Administration recently released separate documents outlining the kinds of clinical data required for licensing of new seasonal and pandemic influenza vaccines.

In a May 31 news release, the agency said the guidance documents were designed to facilitate the rapid development and approval of new vaccines by outlining the regulatory pathways for companies.