Indonesia: Cull goes on in East Jakarta
Via BeritaJakarta.com: Thousands of poultry culled in East Jakarta . Excerpt: East Jakarta Municipal Administration is very serious to protect its citizens from the threat of the H5N1 virus of bird flu.
Bird flu vaccine production still lags: Study
Drug companies would need four years to meet global demand for bird flu vaccines if a pandemic broke out today, but new technology could significantly boost production by 2014, a study says.
ConstanceDON'T Drink the Water; Don't Breathe the Air
Constance DON'T DRINK THE WATER; DON'T BREATHE THE AIR by Constance Daley American Reporter Correspondent St.
Def Jux Releases Camu Tao's Posthumous Debut And EL-P-Aided EP
Camu Tao's posthumous debut album, King Of Hearts , will be released on August 17 via Definitive Jux.
M.I.A.
The cluttered cover of M.I.A.'s third album speaks volumes. She's always gone for sensory overload in terms of aesthetic and message, but what are we to make of bad Photoshop? In the fickle Internet age, it's impressive the British/Sri Lankan artist has stayed relevant this long, especially since she found fame and fortune and currently enjoys a ...
TV Pick of the week: Survivors
Hollywood gets a lot of stick for its remake habits. But that venerable screen institution, the BBC, also finds it hard not to go fossicking in the attic for past glories to "re-imagine". Certainly it provides a fair bit of fuel for American remakes, whether it's The Office , State of Play or Edge of Darkness .
Arunachal key to flu medicine
The plant, Illicium griffithii , found in three districts of the Himalayan state, is a source of shikimic acid, the raw material used to manufacture oseltamivir, an anti-viral drug for influenza.
The Never-Ending Days of Being Dead, by Marcus Chown
Reading this book is a little like being at a party with an almost perfect DJ. The tracks Chown plays - a mixture of the familiar and the cutting edge - are not records, however, but the highlights of recent attempts to answer some of the biggest scientific questions there are, from "What is beyond the edge of the universe?" to "Why do we ...
CR Council a " Chickens and Art
The council waded once again into the seemingly endless backyard chicken saga. No need to ponder the question of which came first, the chicken, the egg or the backyard chicken ordinance.
A problem in Indonesia
The Indonesian Ministry of Health has begun reporting on H5N1 cases again, but this Avian Influenza Case Report Until June 2010 reflects its problems.
Indonesia: Possible H5N1 death in Sumatera
Via Ida's Bird Flu Information Corner, a translated report from Era Baru : Padang, West Sumatera ::: Bird flu suspect dies .
WTO backs China in US chicken import row
A World Trade Organisation panel has ruled in favour of the mainland in its dispute with the United States over an effective US ban on imports of cooked chicken, a mainland source said on Tuesday.
WTO backs China in U.S. chicken import row: Chinese source
A World Trade Organization panel has ruled in favor of China in its dispute with the United States over an effective U.S. ban on imports of Chinese chicken, a Chinese source said on Tuesday.
MomentumCALM DOWN, AMERICA
Momentum CALM DOWN, AMERICA! by Joyce Marcel American Reporter Correspondent Dummerston, Vt.
CIDRAP on the latest Egyptian H5N1 case
Via CIDRAP, Lisa Schnirring offers some useful background: Egyptian woman hospitalized with H5N1 infection .
Quangos cull to help save 180mn
Guardian News and Media / London Health Secretary Andrew Lansley yesterday announced a cull of regulators to save A 180mn in the health sector consigning the agency that handles public health emergencies to oblivion and splitting up the fertility watchdog.
A visit to Spirited Away creator's museum in Japan
A couple of days after we arrived in Tokyo, we visited the Ghibli Museum . It's in a suburb of Tokyo and was designed by the famous animator Hayao Miyazaki .
Andrew Lansley announces shakeup of health regulators
Health secretary Andrew Lansley has launched a A 180m cull of regulators aimed at cutting NHS costs and bureaucracy.
UK: Culling the quangos
Quangos are quasi- and nongovernmental organizations, and they're an endangered species in Coalition Britain.
Health watchdogs 'are to be axed'
The Health Protection Agency that handles public health emergencies such as swine flu is to be axed under reforms, the government has confirmed.





Also In Global Health News: Bird Flu In Bangladesh; Women's Health In Kenya; Drug-Resistant Malaria In Cambodia; Over-Diagnosis Of Malaria In Children
USAID Program To Prevent Spread Of Bird Flu In Bangladesh Expands All Headline News reports on a USAID-funded initiative to prevent the spread of bird flu in Bangladesh...
Intercell Reports Phase II Study Results Of Its Vaccine Enhancement Patch For Pandemic Influenza
Intercell AG (VSE: ICLL) announced the results of a Phase II clinical trial of its investigational Vaccine Enhancement Patch (VEP) system for avian H5N1 influenza. In this development program, Intercell is working under a contract with the U.S...
Emerging Pathogens Project
The Field Museum and the University of Chicago have announced the establishment of the Emerging Pathogens Project, a unique research program to study the evolution of species-switching parasites or pathogens that result in diseases such as bird flu, malaria, and AIDS. Many diseases have a long infection history in animals...
Avian Flu's Endurance In 5 Countries Poses Global Threat To Human Health, FAO Official Says
Though the world has made "great strides" in eliminating H5N1 (avian flu) from poultry since the "peak of its outbreak in 2006" in 63 countries, the virus persists in Bangladesh, China, Egypt, Indonesia and Vietnam, VOA News reports (DeCapua, 4/16). Juan Lubroth, the U.N...
New Tool Harnesses The Web And Supercomputers To Track Pathogens As They Evolve
Pathogens can now be easily tracked in time and space as they evolve, an advance that could revolutionize both public health and inform national security in the fight against infectious diseases...
Swine- And Avian-Origin Influenza Targeted By Immune Molecules
Antibodies are immune molecules that have a key role in protecting against infection with influenza virus. The target of the protective antibodies is the influenza protein HA, which varies so dramatically among influenza viruses that it is used to classify them into subtypes (H1-H16)...
Discovery Of An Influenza Detector Gene That Could Potentially Prevent The Transmission Of The Virus To Humans
A University of Alberta-led research team has discovered an influenza detector gene that could potentially prevent the transmission of the virus to humans. Katharine Magor, a U of A associate professor of biology, has identified the genetic detector that allows ducks to live, unharmed, as the host of influenza...
Also In Global Health News: Bird Flu; Burundi's Global Fund Grant; Maternal Mortality In Ghana; Food Security In Africa; More
WHO Warns Bird Flu Continues To Pose Threat Despite a reduction in the number of cases of avian flu (H5N1) since its peak in 2006, the WHO said in a statement Wednesday that "the newly confirmed human and poultry cases of avian influenza this year are a reminder that the virus poses a real and continuous threat to human health," Agence France-Presse reports (3/24)...
Infrared Thermal Detection Systems Useful For Patient Screening
Researchers at the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) found an Infrared Thermal Detection System (ITDS) to be a fast and effective fever screening tool in clinical settings during the H1N1 influenza pandemic. The ITDS detected fever in patients through split-second, non-contact skin temperature measurements...
$300,000 CIHR Grant Awarded To Medicago, The Research Institute Of The MUHC And McGill University
The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) have awarded a $300,000 grant for research focusing on the nature of the immune response induced by the action mechanisms of plant-made Virus-Like Particles (VLP) to Dr. Louis Vezina, Chief Scientific Officer of Medicago and to Dr. Brian Ward and Dr...
Inovio Biomedical H5N1 Avian Influenza DNA Vaccine Receives Korean Approval To Begin Clinical Trials
Inovio Biomedical Corporation (NYSE Amex: INO), a leader in DNA vaccine design, development and delivery, announced that its affiliate VGX International Inc. (Korean Stock Exchange: 011000) has received approval in Korea to begin a Phase I clinical trial in healthy volunteers for Inovio's SynCon? preventive DNA vaccine (VGX-3400) targeting H5N1 avian influenza...
News From The Journals Of The American Society For Microbiology
Campylobacter Bacteria in Cattle Manure May Survive Composting Contrary to popular belief, some disease causing bacteria may actually survive the composting process...
Pandemic Hybrid Of Bird And Human Seasonal Flu Possible Say Scientists
An international team of scientists has created a highly pathogenic laboratory hybrid of the H5N1 bird flu and human seasonal flu viruses by swapping just one gene, and propose that a similar genetic interaction could happen in nature between the current pandemic H1N1 swine flu and H5N1 avian flu strains, highlighting the importance of continued surveillance...
Virus Hybridization Could Create Pandemic Bird Flu
Genetic interactions between avian H5N1 influenza and human seasonal influenza viruses have the potential to create hybrid strains combining the virulence of bird flu with the pandemic ability of H1N1, according to a new study. In laboratory experiments in mice, a single gene segment from a human seasonal flu virus, H3N2, was able to convert the avian H5N1 virus into a highly pathogenic form...
Adamas Pharmaceuticals Announces In Vitro Data Demonstrating TCAD Therapy Is More Potent Than Double Combinations Or Monotherapy Against Resistant Flu
Adamas Pharmaceuticals, Inc...
Voluntary System Works For Swine Flu Vaccination
Social interaction between neighbours, work colleagues and other communities and social groups makes voluntary vaccination programs for epidemics such as Swine Flu, SARS or Bird Flu a surprisingly effective method of disease control...
Pandemic Preparedness Untested In Ontario Hospitals
One quarter of Ontario hospitals surveyed in a Queen's University-led study do not have an influenza pandemic plan and few plans that do exist have been tested. In addition, key players were not involved in developing the plans, and funding for pandemic preparedness was inadequate. "It's not good enough just to have a plan, you have to test it...
1918 And 2009 H1N1 Flu Probably Not Spread By Birds
The two strains of the H1N1 influenza virus responsible for the 1918 and 2009 global flu pandemics do not cause disease in birds. The results of the study, published in the February issue of the Journal of General Virology, also show it is unlikely that birds played a role in the spread of the H1N1 virus in these pandemics...
New Research Findings Can Improve Avian Flu Surveillance Programs
Genetic analyses of avian influenza in wild birds can help pinpoint likely carrier species and geographic hot spots where Eurasian viruses would be most likely to enter North America, according to new U.S. Geological Survey research...
NexBio Initiates Phase II Trial Of DAS181 (Fludase(R)) For Treatment Of Influenza, Including Pandemic Influenza A(H1N1)
NexBio, Inc. announced the initiation of a double blind placebo controlled multi-center trial in the U.S. and Mexico of DAS181 (FludaseŽ) for the treatment of laboratory confirmed influenza infection. DAS181 is an investigational host-targeted drug candidate that blocks entry of influenza virus into cells of the respiratory tract...
Also In Global Health News: ART Access In Zimbabwe; Indonesia Bird Flu Deaths; Kenya Floods; Solomon Island Tsunami
Zimbabwe Wants To Boost Access To ART By End Of 2010, Health Minister Says Zimbabwe's government plans work with international organizations to increase the number of people receiving anti-retroviral therapy (ART) to 300,000 by the end of the year, up from the 180,000 who currently get the drugs, Henry Madzorera, the country's health minister, said on Tues...
Compound Found To Safely Counter Deadly Bird Flu
The specter of a drug-resistant form of the deadly H5N1 avian influenza is a nightmare to keep public-health officials awake at night. Now, however, a study published this week (Dec...
Compound Found To Safely Counter Deadly Bird Flu
The specter of a drug-resistant form of the deadly H5N1 avian influenza is a nightmare to keep public health officials awake at night. Now, however, a study published this week (Dec...
Medicago Reports Positive Phase I Results For Its Avian Flu Pandemic Vaccine
Medicago Inc. (TSX-V: MDG) a biotechnology company focused on developing highly effective and affordable vaccines based on proprietary manufacturing technologies and Virus-Like Particles (VLPs), reported positive interim results from a Phase I human clinical trial with its H5N1 Avian Influenza vaccine candidate ("H5N1 vaccine")...
'Rational Drug Design' Identifies Fragments Of FDA-Approved Drugs Relevant To Emerging Viruses
A massive, data-crunching computer search program that matches fragments of potential drug molecules to the known shapes of viral surface proteins has identified several FDA-approved drugs that could be the basis for new medicines -- if emerging viruses such as the H5N1(avian flu) or H1N1/09 (swine flu) develop resistance to current antiviral therapies -- according to a present...

About Bird Flu

This map shows the recent extent (as of April 21, 2006) to which the bird flu virus has spread to wild and domestic birds as well as humans. Map credit: www.pandemicflu.gov