Avian Influenza (Bird Flu)

(CIDRAP News) – Seven people in Karo district of North Sumatra, Indonesia, are being treated for suspected H5N1 avian influenza, raising concern that the disease may have resurfaced near where human-to-human transmission was documented in an extended family in May.

(CIDRAP News) – Amid a rising number of cases of suspected avian flu in birds and humans, Thailand's health minister yesterday declared that all of the country's provinces are on alert, triggering tighter rules on bird transport and disposal.

(CIDRAP News) – A Thai province is culling 300,000 chickens after a laboratory test confirmed an avian influenza outbreak, and the country's health ministry is monitoring 80 patients who are suspected of having avian flu.

(CIDRAP News) – In an experiment designed to mimic events that could launch an influenza pandemic, a synthetic influenza virus made by combining an H5N1 avian flu virus with a human flu virus turned out to be no more contagious in an animal model than the natural H5N1 virus, US scientists are reporting this week.

(CIDRAP News) – Researchers who studied Iowa duck hunters and wildlife workers have reported the first laboratory evidence of transmission of an avian influenza virus from wild birds to humans, though not the deadly H5N1 strain.

(CIDRAP News) – Laos has reported its first major outbreak of H5N1 avian influenza in more than 2 years, on a poultry farm in an area bordering part of Thailand that has recently been hit by the disease.

(CIDRAP News) – An H5N1 avian influenza vaccine made by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) triggered a good immune response in human volunteers at a much lower dose than other H5N1 vaccines reported so far, which means that hundreds of millions of doses could be produced by next year, the company announced today.

(CIDRAP News) – The World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed today that a 17-year-old boy who died on Jul 24 in the Phichit province of northern Thailand had H5N1 avian influenza, marking the country's first case this year.

The WHO statement said the case was confirmed by Thailand's Ministry of Health. The country had not recorded a human H5N1 case since December; its toll now stands at 23 cases with 15 deaths.

(CIDRAP News) – Three international health agencies announced yesterday the launch of a joint early warning system to allow a quicker response to animal diseases that can spread to humans (zoonoses).

(CIDRAP News) – Thailand is facing its first outbreak of H5N1 avian influenza in birds in 8 months, along with flu-like illnesses in a number of people in areas with sick birds, according to news services.