Avian Influenza (Bird Flu)

(CIDRAP News) – A new subtype of H5N1 avian influenza virus has become predominant in southern China over the past year, possibly through its resistance to vaccines used in poultry, and has been found in human H5N1 cases in China, according to researchers from Hong Kong and the United States.

(CIDRAP News) – Because federal officials expect to keep finding low-pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza viruses in wild birds, they recently announced a new procedure for reporting the findings: posting them online but not issuing news releases.

(CIDRAP News) – A group of influenza experts convened by the World Health Organization cautioned today that governments shouldn't stockpile "pre-pandemic" H5N1 influenza vaccines now, because too little is known about the requirements for an effective vaccine.

(CIDRAP News) – A recent World Health Organization (WHO) report on 10 of the 12 confirmed H5N1 avian influenza cases that occurred in Turkey last winter adds to evidence that children and youth may be particularly susceptible to the infection.

(CIDRAP News) – A 39-year-old woman who was previously listed by the World Health Organization (WHO) as Egypt's 15th H5N1 avian influenza case-patient died today, the country’s state news agency reported.

She is the seventh Egyptian to die of the illness and the first fatality since May. The woman was from the Nile Delta town of Samanoud, which is about 60 miles northwest of Cairo, Reuters reported today.

(CIDRAP News) – Researchers from the University of Georgia report that wood ducks and laughing gulls are highly susceptible to H5N1 avian influenza, which suggests those two species could be sensitive indicators of the virus's presence in wild birds.

(CIDRAP News) – Government researchers reported this week that they have developed a vaccine that protects mice from the deadly 1918 "Spanish flu" virus, demonstrating that immunization against it is possible.

(CIDRAP News) – Federal officials announced yesterday that final tests confirmed that a mild strain of H6N2 avian influenza—not the deadly H5N1 type—was found in green-winged teals in Illinois last month. Meanwhile, initial tests on wild ducks in Ohio also suggest a mild strain of avian flu.