News & Perspective

(CIDRAP News) – Health officials in China reported two new H7N9 infections, both from Fujian province, and four more deaths, boosting the outbreak's total to 130 cases, 31 of them (24%) fatal.

(CIDRAP News) – Leading medical researchers yesterday announced the formation of a consortium to unlock genetic and other data on avian influenza in the hope of improving the understanding of how viruses such as H5N1 spread and evolve.

Editor's note: This story was revised July 31 to clarify information about previous reports of H5N1 influenza viruses in Russia.

(CIDRAP News) – News services said today the avian influenza outbreak reported last week in Russia involves the dangerous H5N1 strain, while two more fatal human cases of the illness were reported in Vietnam.

(CIDRAP News) – US health officials are warning travelers to Vietnam to take special precautions to protect themselves from avian influenza.

Also, H5N1 avian flu has been detected in poultry in Cambodia for the first time since last September, and a Vietnamese official has said the widespread poultry outbreaks of avian flu in Vietnam may be starting to wane.

(CIDRAP News) – Two Vietnamese girls died of avian influenza over the weekend, and the disease may have claimed its first human victim in Cambodia, according to news services.

A 13-year-old girl and a 10-year-old girl became the 11th and 12th people to die of H5N1 avian flu in Vietnam since late December, according to reports. Their illnesses were first reported in the news media Jan 28.

(CIDRAP News) – New cases of avian influenza in Southeast Asia this week have heightened surveillance, as key international health organizations ratchet up concerns about the pervasiveness of the disease

A 14-month-old Vietnamese boy who died on Sep 5 has been posthumously confirmed as a victim of H5N1 avian influenza, news reports said today.

(CIDRAP News) – China reported an outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza in ducks today, while the World Health Organization (WHO) joined other international groups in appealing for a multinational campaign to stop the disease's march across Asia.