Avian Influenza (Bird Flu)

(CIDRAP News) – Avian flu experts in two of the countries with the most human H5N1 avian influenza cases to date—Vietnam and Thailand—are warning that the antiviral drug oseltamivir may mask the infection and complicate laboratory detection.

(CIDRAP News) – Indonesia has confirmed its 60th human case of H5N1 avian influenza, this one in a 6-year-old girl who is recovering, the World Health Organization (WHO) said today.

The girl is from Bekasi, a city southeast of Jakarta in West Java, not part of the Cikelet subdistrict, where several recent cases and suspected cases sparked concern about possible human-to-human transmission.

(CIDRAP News) – The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has published the genetic blueprints for more than 650 influenza virus genes to launch a new data-sharing program intended to stimulate influenza research.

(CIDRAP News) – A third human case of H5N1 avian influenza has been confirmed in a remote part of Indonesia where a number of suspected cases are being investigated, but most of the cases probably resulted from exposure to sick poultry, the World Health Organization (WHO) said today.

(CIDRAP News) – The World Health Organization (WHO) today changed the H5N1 avian influenza strains recommended for candidate vaccines for the first time since 2004, causing some experts to question how far the virus has evolved.

The WHO's new prototype strains, prepared by reverse genetics, include three new H5N1 subclades.

(CIDRAP News) – A World Health Organization (WHO) reference laboratory confirmed today that a 9-year-old Indonesian girl from the remote Garut district in West Java province who died on Aug 15 had H5N1 avian influenza virus.

(CIDRAP News) – A World Health Organization (WHO) reference laboratory confirmed today that a 62-year-old Chinese man from the far northwestern province of Xinjiang who died Jul 12 had H5N1 avian influenza. The WHO also confirmed another H5N1 case in Indonesia.

The Chinese man developed symptoms Jun 19, according to a WHO update today, and initial tests were negative. Tests repeated in July and August, however, produced positive results.

(CIDRAP News) –The federal government announced today that two swans in Michigan tested positive for both the H5 and N1 avian influenza subtypes, but initial genetic sequencing suggests that it is a low-pathogenic type rather than the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain spreading through birds in Asia, Europe, and Africa and causing deaths in humans.

(CIDRAP News) – US agriculture and interior secretaries announced yesterday that their departments are expanding wild bird monitoring for H5N1 avian influenza beyond Alaska in partnerships with the lower 48 states, Hawaii, and other Pacific islands.

(CIDRAP News) – The World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed today that a 17-year-old girl who died yesterday in Jakarta province had H5N1 avian influenza, marking the country's second case this week.

The WHO statement said the case was confirmed by Indonesia's Ministry of Health. Indonesia's case count now stands at 56 cases with 44 deaths—the most deaths in any country to date.