Avian Influenza (Bird Flu)

(CIDRAP News) – A new test developed by federal experts offers preliminary detection of H5 avian influenza in human patients in about 4 hours, compared with 2 to 3 days for other methods, government officials announced today.

(CIDRAP News) – The World Health Organization (WHO) tally of human cases of H5N1 avian influenza rose to 161, including 86 deaths, with the final confirmation of 12 cases in Turkey and one in Iraq this week.

(CIDRAP News) – A pair of new studies suggest that influenza vaccines based on adenoviruses, one of the causes of the common cold, may offer major advantages in the quest for protection from flu pandemics.

(CIDRAP News) – A national conference scheduled Feb 14 and 15 in Minneapolis will give business leaders an opportunity to learn from experts about the risk of pandemic influenza and help figure out how their industries can prepare for it.

(CIDRAP News) – Updated information on a teen-aged girl's death means that Iraq has joined the unenviable fraternity of nations hit by human cases of H5N1 influenza.

(CIDRAP News) – The World Health Organization (WHO) has released a draft plan for nipping a potential influenza pandemic in the bud, saying that even if such an attempt fails, it may buy precious time to make more vaccine and improve other preparations.

(CIDRAP News) – A 22-year-old chicken seller in Indonesia died yesterday after testing positive for avian influenza, and a young Chinese woman whose case was reported previously also succumbed to the disease this week.

The Indonesian man died after a week of hospitalization, according to an Agence France-Presse (AFP) report quoting Ilham Patu of the Sulianti Saroso Hospital in Jakarta.

(CIDRAP News) – An influenza vaccine conference in Atlanta this week brought predictions of a record supply of flu vaccine next year and talk of extending vaccination recommendations to include children between the ages of 2 and 6.

(CIDRAP News) – Roche announced yesterday it was again shipping its antiviral drug oseltamivir (Tamiflu) to all US markets, lifting restrictions imposed last fall because of concern about people hoarding the drug out of fear of a potential influenza pandemic.

Jan 26, 2006 (CIDRAP News) – The latest World Health Organization (WHO) fact sheet on avian influenza shows that the complex mysteries of the H5N1 virus, while compelling, make it difficult to anticipate what the virus will do next.