Avian Influenza (Bird Flu)

(CIDRAP News) – Russian officials today confirmed that suspicious bird deaths in three towns on the outskirts of Moscow were caused by highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza.

(CIDRAP News) – The World Health Organization (WHO) today confirmed a fatal H5N1 avian influenza case in a 37-year-old woman in Egypt, as the country’s health ministry announced that a 5-year-old boy had tested positive for the virus.

(CIDRAP News) – The World Health Organization (WHO) today reported "encouraging progress" on development of H5N1 avian influenza vaccines, while cautioning that global capacity to make the vaccines remains very limited.

Following a 2-day meeting of vaccine experts in Geneva, the WHO said new vaccines aimed at various strains of H5N1—considered the likeliest candidate to spark a flu pandemic—look promising.

(CIDRAP News) – Indonesia and the World Health Organization (WHO) agreed today that Indonesia will resume sharing its H5N1 avian influenza virus samples while the WHO will work to ensure that developing countries have access to pandemic vaccines based on viruses they supply.

(CIDRAP News) – The World Health Organization's (WHO's) latest analysis of human H5N1 avian influenza cases adds to previous evidence that young people are more susceptible to the virus and more likely to die of it than older people.

(CIDRAP News) – Egypt’s health ministry today announced that a 37-year-old woman has tested positive for H5N1 avian influenza, marking the country’s third case of 2007.

Editor's note: This story was revised Feb 13 to include a clarification about the number of avian flu cases in Indonesia that have been confirmed by the World Health Organization.

(CIDRAP News) – Indonesia’s health ministry yesterday announced two H5N1 avian influenza deaths, involving a woman and a boy from West Java, according to news services.

(CIDRAP News) – Turkey announced today an H5N1 avian influenza outbreak at a farm in the southeastern part of the country, as English authorities explored the possibility of a connection between recent outbreaks in Suffolk and Hungary.

A report submitted to the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) by Turkey's agriculture ministry said the outbreak began Feb 5 and affected poultry in a village in Batman province, about 460 miles from Ankara.

(CIDRAP News) – Predictions and observations at this week's conference on business preparedness for pandemic influenza ran the gamut from how fast a pandemic would circle the globe to how well the Internet would hold up, with many topics in between.

(CIDRAP News) – The Bush administration's new budget proposes adding funds for pandemic preparedness while cutting some support for bioterrorism and local preparedness, drawing mixed reviews from national public health groups.