N5H1 Flu - World Wide Update ... Part 3

[Graywolf]

Sorry I have to keep making new threads for the same thing, but once they get so long, editing them becomes a nightmare! Getting on with it, this first article is a bit stronger?, scarier? than usual. It comes from:
http://www.dailypress.net/stories/ar...rticleID=10608

Expert says global flu threat real
By Julie Knauf jknauf@dailypress.net

ESCANABA — Bird flu may not be front and center in the media anymore, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a threat. The potential for an influenza pandemic -a global outbreak of the disease — is merely a “matter of time,” said Dr. Ralph Cordell of the Centers for Disease Control.

Cordell visited Bay College Friday as part of the Delta-Schoolcraft Intermediate School District’s National Safe Schools/Healthy Students Conference Friday and Saturday. While there, he discussed the likelihood of a flu pandemic and methods that communities can use to prepare for one as recommended by the CDC.

“The fact that (a flu pandemic) hasn’t happened, doesn’t mean it won’t happen,” said Cordell. The current status of bird flu, or avian influenza, resembles a fire in a hearth. “The fireplace is where the action is going on, but every once in awhile, a spark pops out, gets on the rug and starts to burn it,” he said.

Similarly, while bird flu originated in birds, it has crossed over into the human population, said Cordell. For the time being, the flu strain is generally not spread from human to human contact. However, it does have a couple disturbing characteristics, he said.

First, the death rate of bird flu in humans is approximately 60 percent, 30 times greater than the death rate of the Spanish flu pandemic in 1918.

Secondly, flu strains change frequently, sometimes so much that an entirely new vaccination must be produced to fight it — a process that can take six to nine months. In the meantime, humans’ immune systems struggle to fight the strain, said Cordell.

“The worst time to put on a life preserver is when the boat goes down,” he said. To prepare for a possible pandemic outbreak, the CDC recommends the following:

Good hygiene, as well as social distancing, are both important to prevent the possible spread of disease. “I’m a big believer in hand washing, but it’s only part of the solution,” said Cordell. “Communities need to address crowding and social contact also.”

Opportunities for residents to practice good hygiene should be increased (for example, placing antibacterial gel dispensers in school hallways).

Workplaces also need to allow employees non-punitive sick leave. The best approach is to regard ill workers as no different than a person who comes to the office with a pistol, said Cordell. A disease with the potential for serious illness or death is an equal or greater threat to employees as that of a gun, he said.

“There really needs to be a culture shift,” continued Cordell. Societal attitudes encourage many people to go to work when they’re ill, if necessary, but “they really need to just start staying home, regardless of how long it takes to get well.”

During a pandemic outbreak, persons infected should voluntarily quarantine themselves at home until the illness passes.

Other ways residents can decrease the incidence of the disease would be to use face masks and respirators.

All of these preparations, implemented by communities and public health officials, are intended to delay an outbreaks peak number of cases, help limit the burden on hospitals and medical care facilities and diminish cases until a vaccine is available to the public, said Cordell.

Remember, “(a flu pandemic) is more than just a runny nose and some aches and pains. It’s a global disease threat. It could have started already and we just don’t know it,” he said.

This is the only one that I am posting tonight. Most of them are getting redundant, where only the country or county changes, but the preps are basically the same ... you know SSDL Same s**t, different location. I did however embolden a couple of interesting sentences in this article that I thought stood out!
Graywolf

[Graywolf]

Got a hot one today. The first is from:http://www.sj-r.com/sections/news/stories/114741.asp

School of medicine alumnus: Flu pandemic will happen
By DEAN OLSEN STAFF WRITER
Published Saturday, May 19, 2007

Public-health officials at the state and federal levels have been wise to begin preparations for a worldwide flu outbreak, one of the federal government's top medical advisers said Friday during a visit to Springfield.

"It's absolutely, positively going to happen - a pandemic of influenza," said Dr. Gregory Poland, director of the vaccine research group at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.

"But here's the dilemma: No one knows when, we don't know with what virus, and we don't know how severe it will be."

Poland, a 1980 graduate of Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, is one of the world's experts on vaccines and "biodefense."

But even he doesn't know the likelihood of the bird-flu strain in Europe and Asia morphing into a pandemic.

The H5N1 strain has infected at least 305 people in Europe, Asia and Africa since 2003 and killed 185 of them, according to the World Health Organization. Scientists believe most of the victims contracted the virus through close contact with birds; no human-to-human transmission has been documented.

Poland said the H5N1 strain is "high-risk. It's one amino-acid mutation away from being able to be transmitted from human to human."

If the most virulent form of bird flu reaches the bird or human population of the United States, he expects to be on plane immediately from his home in Minnesota to Washington, D.C., where his expertise as an unpaid consultant would be needed.

"That would be a national emergency," Poland said. "This is a way for me to serve my country."

Doing research on vaccines and giving briefings to President Bush and other federal officials - which he has done in recent years - seemed unthinkable when Poland was a biology major at Illinois Wesleyan University, even though he had wanted to be a doctor since he was 5 years old.

"In my wildest dreams, I never, ever would have thought of this," said Poland, who grew up in the Chicago area, the son of a U.S. Marine Corps officer. "I am so blessed that I sometimes wonder, 'Am I in a dream?'"

As a medical student in the late 1970s, however, Poland said he and his classmates at SIU discovered their potential when they took 400 tests in a year and were required to eventually pass all of them.

"One of the things I learned, painful though it was ... that we could be pushed to our limits, and we could rise to that challenge," he said. "If there's one thing that has propelled me in my career, it has been that."

Poland, 51, a general internist and married father of three, will receive the "distinguished alumnus" award during the medical school's graduation ceremony today. To be honored by his peers is humbling, he said.

When he spent time at SIU during the school's early years, he said he benefited from what at the time was a nontraditional curriculum - one that forced students to work through medical problems rather than memorizing information from a textbook.

"They made you think in a sequenced, disciplined way, and that's not native to most people," Poland said. "Certainly, what I've been able to accomplish I did standing on the shoulders of the faculty here."

Dean Olsen can be reached at 788-1543 or dean.olsen@sj-r.com.

[Graywolf]

Well, today, I did find one article that was encouraging, but the rest were bleak as normal. I will give you the good one first, and it came from:http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?p...fer=healthcare

Avian Flu Virus May Be Nearing End as Fewer Birds Die (Update2)
By Jason Gale

May 21 (Bloomberg) -- The avian flu virus that threatens to spark the first pandemic in almost four decades may be nearing the end of its natural cycle after it killed fewer wild and migratory birds this year, an international veterinary body said.

Kuwait, Bangladesh and Ghana reported initial outbreaks of the H5N1 strain of avian influenza in domestic fowl between late February and early April, according to the World Organization for Animal Health. In comparison, 38 nations recorded initial infections in the first seven months of 2006, mostly in wild birds. The fewer reports of outbreaks in wild birds ``could indicate the disease is coming closer to the end of a cycle,'' the Paris-based group said today.

Signs the H5N1 threat may be receding would indicate the $2.5 billion pledged by nations including the U.S. and Japan to fund efforts to monitor, manage and eradicate H5N1 and to prepare for a pandemic have been successful. A flu outbreak killing 70 million people worldwide may cause global economic losses of as much as $2 trillion, the World Bank said in June.

``If we were to say we've won, the war is over, we'd be in a worse mess,'' said Juan Lubroth, head of infectious diseases in the animal health service of the Food and Agriculture Organization. ``This problem is not going to disappear in one or two years.''

The spread of H5N1 to 59 countries during the past four years brought the world closer to another pandemic than at any time since 1968, when the last of the previous century's three major outbreaks occurred, world health experts say.

Increased Risk

Diseased birds increase the risk of human infection and provide chances for H5N1 to mutate into a form that's as contagious to people as seasonal flu.

H5N1 infected 306 people in a dozen countries since late 2003, according to the World Health Organization. About 60 percent of cases were fatal. Most have occurred in Vietnam, as well as Indonesia, Egypt and China, where the disease is endemic in poultry.

The virus may take as many as 10 years to eradicate from Indonesia, and possibly Bangladesh and Egypt, Lubroth said.

``I think we will see this disease diminish, not disappear, but definitely diminish'' as countries improve their surveillance, detection and response to it, he said in a telephone interview from Rome.

In January and February, Vietnam, Japan, Thailand, Hong Kong, Hungary, the U.K., Pakistan, Turkey, Russia, Laos, *****ia, Afghanistan and Myanmar reported fresh outbreaks. Almost all of them have been controlled.

Quicker Reporting

Countries such as Ghana, Vietnam and Myanmar are reporting the disease soon after finding it, Lubroth said. ``I would say, three years ago they would not have been able to have done so.''

Most countries overcome avian influenza outbreaks when they occur in animals, the World Organization for Animal Health said. ``The veterinary services in the majority of these countries have successfully dealt with these outbreaks,'' it said.

Still, poultry flocks continue to be infected in countries including Indonesia, *****ia and Egypt, which ``shows the international community needs to keep up its high level of prevention and control measures of the disease in animals,'' Bernard Vallat, the agency's director general, said in the statement.

Warmer Winter

The fact fewer countries reported H5N1 in wild birds this year may be attributed to a combination of reasons, including a possible drop in virus levels in the environment, a warmer winter in parts of Europe and the faster response of veterinary authorities, Lubroth said. There is no certainty the same pattern will be repeated next year, he said.

``The more we study H5N1, the more questions we have,'' Lubroth said. ``Why is this year different from last year, that still has to be teased out.''

Also veterinarians have yet to find those species that are carrying H5N1 and can't be sure whether wild birds are picking up the virus from poultry farms and ``therefore they are more the victims than culprits,'' he said. ``We really have not found the `smoking gun' in wild life. We've not found the wild bird that is happily flying around and shedding H5N1.''

China culled 53,000 poultry over the weekend to control an H5N1 outbreak that killed more than 11,000 fowl in the southern province of Hunan, the central government said on its official Web site, citing provincial health officials.

In Bangladesh, which reported its first outbreak in February, the virus has spread to eleven of 64 districts, the FAO said in a statement today.

``The bird flu situation in Bangladesh remains serious and the country will have to engage in a long-term strategic campaign'' to control the virus's spread, the Rome-based agency said.

Bangladesh, with a population of about 150 million, is one of Asia's poorest. The South Asian country has about 220 million chickens and 37 million ducks. Five million people are directly employed by the poultry industry, and millions of households rely on poultry production for income generation and nutrition, the agricultural agency said.
To contact the reporter for this story: Jason Gale in Singapore at j.gale@bloomberg.net

Next we go back to the doom, gloom articles. The first can be found at:
http://www.news-tribune.net/features...yword=topstory

Speaker: Government doing little to prepare for next pandemic
By Wally Kennedy
THE JOPLIN GLOBE (JOPLIN, Mo.)

JOPLIN, Mo. —
Participants at the Pandemic Planning Conference at Missouri Southern State University learned that they are pretty much on their own when it comes to planning for the next killer flu.

“The federal government should be doing more research to answer many of the questions that you have when planning for the next pandemic," said keynote speaker Gregory Evans, director of the Institute for Biosecurity at Saint Louis University. “Since that is not happening, you really need to do as much at the local level as possible to get ready. We have to depend on ourselves and not expect the feds to be there for us.”

The federal government has known about H5N1, the virus that causes bird flu and the most likely culprit for the next pandemic, since 2003, Evans said. But, he said, the government is suffering from what he described as “preparedness paralysis.”

In addition, he said, the public has become complacent because the H5N1 virus has not grabbed headlines of late.

“This is a very bad virus and one we need to worry about,” Evans said. “H5N1 continues to spread, and eventually it will get to the United States. The more it spreads, the more opportunity it has to mutate (into a virus that spreads from human to human).”

He said experts think the mutation that will allow the virus to spread from human to human is likely to occur in Asia, but no one knows where that mutation might occur. He pointed to historical evidence indicating that the Spanish flu of 1918-19 that killed 500,000 people in the United States started in Kansas and was spread to Europe by soldiers in World War I.

“Nearly half of those killed were healthy adults between the ages of 18 and 44. H5N1 attacks the young, too,” he said. “Since 2003, there have been 278 human cases of H5N1 and 168 deaths. That’s a death rate of over 50 percent.”

Evans pointed to face masks as an example of the research that needs to be done. He said the use of face masks was encouraged when a recent SARS outbreak occurred in China.

When the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome unfolded, only those with the disease were encouraged to wear the masks to avoid spreading the virus. As a result, wearing the mask became an indicator that a person had the disease, and because of that, no one would wear them, he said. In response, health officials encouraged both well and ill people to wear the masks. That decision, he said, was somewhat effective in curtailing the spread of the disease.

Evans said the federal government, particularly the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has not provided guidance on the type of face masks that should be used, the proper use of them and whether local health departments should be stocking a supply.

School officials, he said, also need to know the absentee threshold for the closure of schools.

“We don’t have a threshold for closing schools,” he said. “Is it 30 percent of students and teachers absent, or is it something else?”

Doug Domer, an assistant superintendent in the Joplin R-8 School District, said his district has been concerned about a lack of direction.

"We are basically on our own in determining when to close schools," he said.

Domer said that in the most recent flu season, the absentee rate approached 20 percent. He said it is likely that schools would be closed if the absentee rate for teachers and students reached 30 percent.

“It’s scary to think about,” he said.

This next article comes from OSHA ... our government in action. See it at:
http://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owad...SES&p_id=14190

2007 - 05/21/2007 - U.S. Department of Labor's OSHA unveils new pandemic flu guidance for healthcare workers
National News Release 07-742-NAT
May 21, 2007 Contact: Sharon Worthy David Sims
Phone: (202) 693-4676 (202) 693-1999

U.S. Department of Labor's OSHA unveils new pandemic flu guidance for healthcare workers

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has unveiled new safety and health guidance that will help healthcare workers and their employers prepare for a possible influenza pandemic. Pandemic Influenza Preparedness and Response Guidance for Healthcare Workers and Healthcare Employers (available at http://www.osha.gov/Publications/OSH...mic_health.pdf) was released today by the agency.

"During an influenza pandemic, the healthcare community will be on the frontline," said Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA Edwin G. Foulke Jr. "This new guidance provides information and tools to help protect healthcare workers."

A comprehensive resource for healthcare planners and practitioners, the new guidance offers information and tools to assist the industry in preparing for and responding to an influenza pandemic. It includes technical information on infection control and industrial hygiene practices to reduce the risk of infection in healthcare settings; workplace preparations and planning issues; and OSHA standards that have special importance to pandemic preparedness planners and responders in the industry.

Specifically, the guidance provides a wide range of information and tools helpful to pandemic planners, including: Internet resources, communication tools, sample infection control programs, and self-triage and home care resources. It also offers how-to advice on diagnosis and treatment of staff during a pandemic, developing planning and supply checklists, and risk communication.

Under the President's National Strategy for Pandemic Influenza: Implementation Plan, the Department of Labor was tasked with promoting the health, safety and welfare of employees and providing guidance to assist employers in protecting the health and safety of employees during a pandemic. In February, OSHA released its Guidance on Preparing Workplaces for an Influenza Pandemic, which provides general guidance for all types of workplaces; describes the differences among seasonal, avian and pandemic influenza; and presents information on the nature of a potential pandemic, how the virus is likely to spread and how exposure is likely to occur.

Should a pandemic occur, OSHA will furnish up-to-date information and guidance to the public through the www.pandemicflu.gov Web site.

Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. OSHA's role is to assure the safety and health of America's working men and women by setting and enforcing standards; providing training, outreach and education; establishing partnerships; and encouraging continual process improvement in workplace safety and health. For more information, visit www.osha.gov.

###
U.S. Labor Department releases are accessible on the Internet at www.dol.gov. The information in this news release will be made available in alternate format upon request (large print, Braille, audio tape or disc) from the COAST office. Please specify which news release when placing your request. Call (202) 693-7765 or TTY (202) 693-7755. DOL is committed to providing America's employers and employees with easy access to understandable information on how to comply with its laws and regulations. For more information, please visit www.dol.gov/compliance.

Then we have this article from:
http://www.marketwire.com/mw/release...5627&tsource=3

Novation Survey on Pandemic Flu Preparedness Shows Hospitals Will Run Out of Supplies in Less Than One Week

Materials Managers Have Plans in Place, Identified Key Suppliers and Supplies
IRVING, TX -- (MARKET WIRE) -- May 21, 2007 -- Hospitals across the country are preparing for the increasing reality of a global flu pandemic. Novation, the health care contracting services company of VHA Inc. and the University HealthSystem Consortium (UHC), surveyed materials managers to determine the status of their pandemic disaster preparations. While more than half of the hospitals surveyed (68 percent) reported that they have devoted resources to developing comprehensive pandemic-specific disaster plans, 79 percent of them reported that they could continue operations without external resources for less than one week. Fifty-four percent said that operations could continue for 1-3 days and 25 percent say they will be able to operate between 4-7 days without external resources.

"Our survey provides some real insight into the supply crisis hospitals would face during a global flu pandemic," said Christine Miller, senior clinical manager at Novation. "Clearly, hospitals have dedicated a great deal of time to analyzing and making preparations to ensure they have adequate supplies in the event of a pandemic."

Novation distributed online questionnaires to 303 materials managers from VHA and UHC. Sixty-eight responses were received for a 22 percent response rate.

The survey probed for items included in pandemic-specific disaster plans. The majority of respondents (93 percent) have identified key products and suppliers that are essential to provide treatment to patients during a pandemic. Two-thirds said they have created collaborative plans with other hospitals, as well as their distributors. In addition, more than half of respondents have established automatic delivery of additional products and supplies upon notification of an outbreak, can manage critical business functions through an alternate location and can support existing business functions with limited staffing through cross training/skills development. Other findings include:

-- More than half of respondents (60 percent) have a dedicated/separate
inventory of key products and supplies with an increased production of
these key products and supplies.
-- Nearly one third (31 percent) have preprinted disaster preparedness
order forms.

One item that will be in short supply during a flu pandemic will be respirators. More than three-quarters (78 percent) of respondents have plans in place to obtain additional respirators. Some hospitals (39 percent) plan to purchase them, while others (22 percent) plan to rent them. Another 39 percent said they will purchase and rent additional respirators.
More than half (60 percent) of respondents said their organization has designated a specific job title that only functions as the key lead role in disaster preparedness. Examples of job titles for this role include director of materials management, emergency preparedness director and committee, infection control coordinator and director of nursing.

When asked details about the plan, materials managers reported that additional aspects of hospital care were addressed. Aspects include emotional support of families, financial responsibility, cohorting/isolating patients, infection control issues, staffing issues, security and access, education and surge preparedness. When asked about the biggest challenge they will face in preparing and planning for a pandemic flu outbreak, respondents said buy-in within the hospital, logistics, public panic, security, and space and money to store back-up supplies, staffing, medication and other items that have short shelf life.

To help hospitals prepare for disasters, Novation has developed a Disaster Supply Needs Assessment Tool. The tool calculates supplies needed on-hand based on bed count and/or surge capacity to care for patients for one week. In addition to the tool, Novation has created a Disaster Preparation Resource Guide that provides resources to assist members in preparing to treat patient and protect health care workers in the event of a disaster.

About Novation

Based in Irving, Texas, Novation is the leading health care contracting services company, delivering unmatched savings and value to nearly 2,500 members of VHA Inc. and the University HealthSystem Consortium (UHC), two national health care alliances, and nearly 9,000 members of Healthcare Purchasing Partners International (HPPI). Through its competitive bid process, Novation develops and manages contracts with more than 500 suppliers, both large and small. By combining scale and agility with clinical knowledge and product expertise, Novation offers the most extensive range of innovative contracting services, including: contract development, contract and supplier management, custom contracting, enhanced savings programs, online contract management and analytical tools, order management and online supplier connectivity. VHA, UHC and HPPI members used Novation's contracts to purchase more than $31.6 billion in supplies in 2006.

Next, a new lab being proposed for the US, find the story at:
http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=608194

UW, town in tiff over lab turf
$450 million facility near Madison would employ 300 people
By JOHN DIEDRICH
jdiedrich@journalsentinel.com
Posted: May 21, 2007

Wisconsin is in the running to land the nation's new high-security lab that will study foot-and-mouth disease, bird flu and other deadly animal illnesses.

Buy a link hereThe $450 million lab is projected to employ at least 300 people and generate more short-term jobs to build it. The National Bio- and Agro-Defense Lab would dovetail with the University of Wisconsin-Madison's expertise in animal and human health studies and help serve the state's agricultural industry, supporters say.

"We have an opportunity to have a high-level, high-class facility," said Mark Bugher, director of the University Research Park.

But there's a snag with the lab's proposed location.

UW officials, who pitched the project, suggested putting the lab on land the university owns southeast of Madison, in the Town of Dunn. A number of residents have come out against the idea, some citing safety concerns, others because they don't see a 520,000-square-foot, guarded building fitting in with the character of their quiet community.

"The whole point of land use is there are certain appropriate uses of land," said George Corrigan, a patent attorney who owns a home in Dunn. "This would change the area dramatically."

Wisconsin's proposal is one of 17 being considered by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which will run the lab. Federal officials were here in late April and expect to whittle the candidate locations down to three to five finalists by the end of June.

But before that group is announced, the Dane County Board took up the issue and voted to oppose the project at a May 3 meeting. The board would be asked to rezone the town's land for the project.

Backers argued that opposition and the board's vote were premature because all details of the project weren't out. They said an environmental study would take residents' concerns into account. Opponents said they have seen enough.

The opposition might be enough to spike the project here.

Chris Kelly, a spokesman with Homeland Security, said Wisconsin isn't the only site with opposition, but he noted that some bidders have had only positive reaction.

"It is a factor," Kelly said. "We are very observant of community interest and acceptance of (the lab)."

To get the lab, there must be at least 30 acres and support to accommodate development of the building, access to research facilities and a good work force and support from residents and the larger agricultural community.

Support is strong from farmers, said Bill Bruins, a dairy farmer in Waupun and president of the Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation. He said the lab would support the state's multibillion-dollar farm animal industry.

"It is extremely important and in the best interest of Wisconsin that we keep livestock in our state strong and healthy, and I tell you what, what better tool to have in your toolbox than the best lab in the country and maybe world to detect and diagnose animal diseases?" Bruins said.

The lab would replace an aging lab on Plum Island off New York, which has been criticized for security lapses. The new lab will have the highest security rating and study diseases that pass from animal to animal and from animal to human. It also would study "evolving bioterrorism threats" over the next 50 years, Homeland Security says.

The project is set to be awarded in November 2008 and built by 2014.

By the time UW learned about the project, others were already working up plans. Wisconsin bidders aren't sure how others got the jump, but it forced them to move quickly. The university pitched using land at its Kegonsa Research Campus, where it has two other research buildings. The lab would be on 40 acres near Lake Kegonsa. Officials saw that the town's land use plan allowed for agricultural labs and figured this fit.

A giant office building is not what the town had in mind, according to Corrigan.

Irwin Goldman, associate dean for research in the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, who helped write the proposal, said the lab would be a perfect fit for the university and the state. But he isn't interested in ramming the plan down Dunn's throat.

Since the opposition arose, other communities in the area have suggested they get the lab. Goldman is hopeful that federal officials may like Wisconsin's plan so much that they consider another site. But Kelly, of Homeland Security, said the selection process does not allow for new sites to be considered.

Corrigan said he isn't worried about the lab's safety, as some are, noting that other UW labs safely deal with pathogens. For him, the issue comes down to arrogance by the university to think it could put the lab in Dunn without thinking about the town's rights.

"They thought they could steamroll the town, and they are finding out the town has a little more wherewithal than they expected," he said.

The Farm Bureau's Bruins said he appreciates Dunn's rural character, but he said residents have to consider what's best for all.

"I have learned in my position it is very seldom what I want, it is always about what is best for the greater good. This is one of those situations," he said.

Well, hope this has brightened your day as much as it has mine!!!!
Will post more when something interesting rears it's ugly head.
Graywolf

[Graywolf]

Howdy everyone,
Found just a couple today that I though you might want to see. The first one is about a facility being built to produce flu vaccines. Find it at:
http://etna.mcot.net/query.php?nid=29521

Cabinet approves WHO-assisted flu vaccine factory construction plan

BANGKOK, May 22 (TNA) – Thailand's cabinet in its Tuesday meeting approved construction of a new pharmaceuticals factory to produce vaccines against human influenza and an avian influenza or bird flu, according to Deputy Government Spokesman Natthawat Suthiyothin.

Last week the World Health Organization granted Thailand an award of about two million US dollars
toward the project.

According to the project proposed by the Ministry of Public Health, the Bt1.4 billion (about US$41million)
facility will be situated in Sara Buri, about 100 kilometres north of Bangkok, Mr. Natthawat said.

The National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB) has reviewed and approved in principle the plan's overview focusing on major issues including the objectives of the plan and the need for the flu vaccine to be used in the kingdom, as well as its investment worthiness.

The plant is intended to produce both human flu and bird flu vaccines certified by the Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) of the World Health Organisation (WHO), the spokesman said. (TNA)-E009

The second article is a bit more ominous, as it related to 8 deaths over the
N5H1 flu that cannot be connected to exposure to birds. It is found at:
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/0..._who_indonesia

WHO confirms 15 Indonesian bird flu cases logged during virus sharing impasse

Wed May 16, 11:12 AM By Helen Branswell

(CP) - World Health Organization formally acknowledged 15 H5N1 avian flu cases from Indonesia on Wednesday, cases that have gone unconfirmed since a virus-sharing impasse with that country began late last year.

As part of the announcement, the WHO said it will no longer require an outside laboratory to confirm test results from Indonesia, saying the agency has confidence in the country's capacity to accurately diagnose cases.

That decision follows a formal assessment of Indonesia's national testing laboratory that was carried out by a team of WHO virologists and laboratory scientists. The scientists were drawn from the WHO collaborating centre in Tokyo, the national influenza centres of India and Thailand, the WHO regional office for Southeast Asia and the WHO's country office for Indonesia.

As a consequence, Indonesia joins China, Cambodia and Thailand as countries that do not need an outside laboratory to confirm their diagnoses.

The 15 Indonesian cases, which include 13 deaths, push the global count of human infections to more than 300 since this outbreak of H5N1 began in late 2003. The global case count now stands at 306 confirmed cases, including 185 deaths, stretched over 12 countries.

The WHO statement announcing the development notes that seven of the newly confirmed cases were known to have been exposed to sick or dead poultry. No source of infection was found for the remaining eight cases.

The cases date back to Jan. 25, with the bulk - 10 - occurring in March.

Confirmation of the cases - which Indonesia has been announcing in the media as they have occurred - push that country's toll up to 96 cases, 76 of them fatal, since the country started experiencing human infections in mid-2005.

Indonesia is by far the hardest-hit country in terms of H5N1 human cases. While Vietnam's total case count - 93 - is close to Indonesia's tally, only 42 of Vietnam's cases succumbed to the infection. Vietnam hasn't recorded a case of H5N1 in humans since November 2005.

The impasse over virus sharing relates to Indonesia's demand that it and other H5N1-affected countries should have guaranteed and affordable access to any H5N1 vaccines in the event the virus triggers a pandemic.

[eeyore]

Absolutly great stuff, thank you for your diligence Graywolf

[Graywolf]

Found this tonight at:
http://uk.reuters.com/article/health...70522?rpc=401&

Some health staff wouldn't work during a pandemic

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A survey of U.S. healthcare workers suggests that not all will be willing to be on the frontlines if there should be an outbreak of bird flu or other infectious disease. Some will opt to play it safe and stay home, according to the survey.

"This survey tells us that the US government and the medical community may not be doing a very good job at educating our healthcare workers about what measures would be in place to keep them safe and how successful these measures would be," said Dr. Charlene Irvin of St. John Hospital and Medical Center, Detroit, Michigan.

"Open and honest discussion may turn out to be the most important feature" of a pandemic influenza plan, Irvin predicted. "No workers means no plan, so no matter what you have on paper, and stored in the closet (masks, gowns, gloves), the plan won't work if no workers show up."

Results are based on surveys completed by 169 nurses, doctors and other hospital workers regarding their willingness to report to work in the event of bird flu pandemic. The average age of those surveyed was 38 years and 32 percent were male.

About 50 percent of the hospital workers said "yes" they would report to work, while 42 percent said "maybe" and 8 percent said "no, even if I would lose my job."

Doctors (73 percent) were more likely than nurses (44 percent) or other hospital personnel (33 percent) to indicate that they would report to work in the event of bird flu pandemic.

"I was very surprised that only 44 percent of nurses said they would report to work as usual," Irvin admitted. "Additionally, that only 33 percent of the ancillary support (secretaries, transporters, environmental workers) -- that ironically have less exposure to infection than doctors or nurses -- were planning on reporting to work as usual."

Men were more likely than women to indicate that they would report to work (66 percent versus 42 percent). For the "maybe" responders, the factor making the biggest difference (83 percent) was their level of confidence that the hospital would protect them.

Eighteen percent said a financial incentive to come to work would make no difference, even up to triple pay.

"Clearly, we have work we need to do to educate healthcare personnel about the realistic risk given the infection control measures we would be using," Irvin said. "The SARS outbreak can be used as a close template for what to expect; once strict infection control measures were followed, the infection rate in healthcare personnel plummeted."

Getting "realistic" information out to the public about the risk of bird flu is also important, Irvin said, noting that "the 50 percent mortality risk reported (in the media) is likely an over-exaggeration. Experts predict the mortality risk will be closer to the influenza pandemic of 1918 at less than 5 percent."

I like the "less than 5% note there! I guess he didn't read today's earlier article saying that of the fifteen people in Indonesia that got the N5H1 strain of flu, 13 out of 15 people died! Humm! Yeah, that's 5% alright! New Math!
And here is another little fact, that I can't get the story to pull for, but the blurb was found at:
http://www.scidev.net/content/news/e...1-may-2007.cfm

Twenty undergoing treatment for bird flu in Indonesia
Twenty Indonesians are currently undergoing treatment for H5N1 bird flu, according to an official from the country's bird flu information centre (Source: Agence France Presse).

This is Graywolf Cronkite, and that's the news for today, May 22, 2007.
(Gosh, did I date myself or what?)

[Graywolf]

Found this article at: http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/Story...&IssueID=30065 It is starting to look like, Indonesia might just be the area this pandemic originates from sometime in the future.

Bird flu death sparks fear

HANOI: Health experts are investigating Vietnam's first suspected human bird flu case in 18 months, a World Health Organisation (WHO) official said yesterday, as Indonesia confirmed its 77th death and Pakistan reported a fresh outbreak among poultry.The WHO is looking into the suspected bird flu case in Vietnam following a series of new outbreaks on poultry farms, a WHO spokeswoman said.

If confirmed it would be the first human infection in one-and-a-half years in Vietnam, one of the countries hardest hit by the virus, with 42 human fatalities between 2003 and November 2005.

In Indonesia, a five-year-old girl is the latest victim of the disease, taking the country's death toll from the virus to 77, a health ministry official said. Indonesia is the country worst hit by the virus.

The girl died last Thursday at a hospital in Solo city on the main island of Java, said the official from the ministry's bird flu information centre.

Authorities believe she was infected by sick chickens, with 20 dropping dead around her home in recent weeks.

Speaking about the suspected case in Vietnam, WHO spokeswoman Dida Connor said: "We're working closely with the ministry of health on a suspected H5N1 case. If this were to be a human case, it would not be surprising."

Vietnamese state media have reported that an initial test last Sunday on a 30-year-old farmer from northern Vinh Phuc province, now in a critical condition in a Hanoi hospital, had proved positive for bird flu.

The man had helped slaughter chickens for a wedding about one month ago from a neighbouring farm, where several of the flock of 500 birds later died. A Vietnamese veterinary team this week went to assess the farm.

Connor stressed that the WHO was awaiting Vietnamese test results on the case, which would then have to be verified by the UN health body's laboratory tests.

"We don't yet have an official confirmation of this suspected case, but we are following it closely," health ministry spokesman Nguyen Duc Long said.

The disease racing through Asian poultry stocks remains hard for people to catch, but experts fear it could mutate into a form that spreads easily among humans, potentially triggering a pandemic that could kill millions.

[Graywolf]

Got a few for you today. The first comes from:
http://www.delmarvanow.com/apps/pbcs.../70525037/1002

British authorities identify human cases of bird flu
Strain is mild, not the feared H5N1
By The Associated Press

LONDON (AP) — Four people have tested positive for a mild strain of bird flu, British authorities said Friday.

The cases — which are not the feared H5N1 strain, but the less dangerous H7N2 subtype — were reported after poultry died at a small farm in north Wales. Tests were performed on nine people associated with the farm, and the Health Protection Agency said in a news release that four people had tested positive for the H7N2 strain of the virus.

Three of the nine were hospitalized, but have since been discharged, the agency said.

The Welsh health authorities said that in all but one of the four human cases the virus had spread from poultry. The other case may have been transmitted from person to person.

“Although the number of people involved is very small, we could be dealing with some spread of the H7 flu virus within the household setting,” said Dr. Marion Lyons, a communicable disease specialist with the Welsh health service. “We are treating this possibility very seriously.”

Officials are now following up all close contacts of the people who were ill as a precaution.

The H7 subtype of bird flu is believed to be less virulent than H5, but it has in the past caused human cases, and was responsible for a large outbreak in the Netherlands. In that outbreak in 2003, there were 89 mild cases of H7N7, and one person died.

Most of the cases in the Netherlands were conjunctivitis, a mild eye infection.

“The mortality rate of H7 viruses is not on the order of H5N1,” said Dr. Michael Perdue, a World Health Organization bird flu expert. Experts estimate that nearly half or more of all people who contract H5N1 die.

While H7 viruses tend to cause milder illnesses in humans, they still have the potential to ignite a global flu outbreak and should be watched.

“A low pathogenic H7 virus might not be picked up as easily as a highly pathogenic virus,” said Perdue, explaining that the mild symptoms of H7 infection might be mistaken for ordinary flu, causing experts to lose valuable time tracking an emerging pandemic.

Like all flu viruses, H7 evolves constantly. Other bird flu subtypes have also caused illnesses in humans. Surveillance in Europe for all bird flu viruses has greatly increased in recent years.

While global health experts have been focused on H5N1 as the strain most likely to cause the next flu pandemic, it is also possible that another subtype, such as H7, could ultimately be responsible. “I’d hate to predict anything with bird flu,” said Perdue.

The farm came to the attention of British authorities after a number of chickens died.

Dr. Christianne Glossop, the chief veterinary officer for Wales, said in a statement that the chickens had tested positive for H7N2.

A 1.6-mile exclusion zone was put in place around the farm, and the remaining chickens have been slaughtered.


The next story comes from:
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/st...2007,+02:21+PM

HHS Convenes America's Leaders to Help Americans Prepare for Pandemic Flu

Influential business, health care, faith-based and community leaders
participate in pandemic preparedness blog and forum hosted by HHS
WASHINGTON, May 24 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The U.S. Department of
Health and Human Services (HHS) has launched the Pandemic Flu Leadership
Blog, a five-week-long blog about pandemic preparedness. Participant bloggers include some of the nation's most influential business, health care, faith- based and community leaders. This online event is part of a new campaign to help Americans prepare for a potential influenza pandemic and engage U.S. leaders in the challenge to help others prepare.

"The conversation about individual preparedness for pandemic flu must
extend nationwide through all possible channels, including social media and the Internet," HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt said. "The blog summit is an
innovative and efficient forum for bringing together leaders for a lively
discussion on the pandemic preparedness movement."

HHS is one of the first government agencies to utilize the participatory nature of the Internet to create a dialogue around a specificissue or campaign. This effort to engage individuals in an online conversation is the one of many steps HHS will be taking to carry out its campaign to encourage Americans to prepare. By preparing now, individuals will be better able to withstand the impact of a pandemic, slow the spread of disease, and lessen the overall impact to themselves, their families and to society.

Ideas and dialogue generated during the leadership blog will contribute to HHS' upcoming pandemic influenza leadership forum in June, an event which will bring together approximately 80 U.S. leaders representing the business, faith, civic and health care communities. The dynamic leadership forum will call on participants to help Americans become more prepared for an influenza pandemic by leveraging their influence and expertise in their communities to actively promote individual pandemic preparedness.

"It may not be possible to predict with certainty when the next flu pandemic will occur or how severe it will be, but it is essential to prepare ahead of time and that time is now," Secretary Leavitt said. "We are the first generation ever to have an opportunity to prepare in advance of a pandemic. Government alone can't prepare the nation for a pandemic. This is a shared responsibility and the challenge requires leadership from those most trusted and respected in their communities."

The pandemic-focused leadership blog gives national leaders the opportunity to participate in an ongoing and critical conversation about the potential impact of a pandemic on individuals, families, communities and workplaces. Participating bloggers will be asked specific questions related to the threat of a pandemic in the U.S. and will collaborate on ideas for what can be done to help their employees, constituents, customers, congregations and clients prepare now.

Approximately 16 influential leaders, including leading authorities on pandemic flu, will blog throughout the next five weeks. A few of the participant bloggers include Pierre Omidyar, Founder and Chairman of Ebay and Co-founder of Omidyar Network; David Eisner, CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service; and Greg Dworkin, Founding Editor of Flu Wiki and Chief of Pediatric Pulmonology and Medical Director of the Pediatric Inpatient Unit at Danbury Hospital in Danbury, Conn.

The Pandemic Flu Leadership Blog will continue through June 27 and is open to the public and media. Comments are welcome and encouraged by all who visit the blog at http://blog.pandemicflu.gov.

In conjunction with the blog, HHS will hold a Pandemic Influenza Leadership Forum on June 13 in Washington, DC with representatives of the business, faith, civic and health care communities. Using materials prepared by HHS, local leaders will be asked to reach out to the people they represent with the essential steps necessary for pandemic flu preparedness. By preparing now, individuals will be better able to withstand the impact of a pandemic, slow the spread of disease, and lessen the overall impact to themselves, their families and society.

An influenza pandemic occurs when a new influenza ("flu") virus appears in humans; the new virus causes serious illness and death, and spreads easily from person to person worldwide. Past influenza pandemics, like the one that occurred in 1918, have led to: high levels of illness; death; disruption in normal, everyday activities like going to school, work, or other public gatherings, and economic loss. For more information visit:
http://www.pandemicflu.gov.

Note: All HHS press releases, fact sheets and other press materials are
available at http://www.hhs.gov/news.
SOURCE U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

The following story was found at:
http://www.news-medical.net/?id=25604

Another death in Indonesia from bird flu and thousands more birds culled
Disease/Infection News Published: Friday, 25-May-2007

Another death has been reported in Indonesia from bird flu along with another reported case in Vietnam. A 5-year-old girl from Central Java province died last week following the deaths of around 20 chickens near her village home and authorities are investigating the case.

Her death takes the death toll in the country from the deadly virus to 77.

The latest case in Vietnam is the first since late 2005 and the victim, a 30-year-old man from Vinh Phuc province near the capital Hanoi, remains in a serious condition.

Hans Troedsson, the WHO's representative in Vietnam says tests have still to confirm the virus but the man developed a fever and had difficulty breathing after he helped slaughter chickens at a friend's wedding some weeks ago.

News of the case comes shortly after Vietnam reported that bird flu had killed nearly 1,900 ducks on farms across the country in the past week.

In Pakistan authorities have also reported thousands of chickens have been culled at three poultry farms, while in Bangladesh authorities there are also battling to control numerous outbreaks of the virus and have culled 144,785 chickens on farms in 11 districts; no human cases have as yet been reported.

Ghana too has reported a second bird flu outbreak in the centre of the country, which is nowhere near the first case which was detected three weeks ago.

To date almost all human cases of the virus have resulted from direct contact with infected birds but the worry is that the virus will ultimately mutate, as they do, and become easily transferred between humans; this could trigger a pandemic with the potential to kill millions.

According to the WHO at least 185 people have died of bird flu since the H5N1 virus reappeared in Southeast Asia in 2003; the deadly virus has spread throughout much of Asia, parts of Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Scientists now believe the H5N1 virus has become more resilient and able to stay alive longer in higher temperatures and in moist conditions, which could mean the it poses a risk all year round rather than on a seasonal basis.

They are also concerned about the virus's persistence and ability to adapt to new environments and hosts.

Developing nations, led by Indonesia have been calling for guarantees of access to affordable vaccines in return for sharing influenza virus samples, which are used to develop commercial vaccines.

The WHO says sharing samples is vital in order to evaluate if viruses have mutated, become drug resistant or grown more transmissible and the agency has agreed to look at revamping its 50-year-old system for sharing influenza virus samples.

David Heymann, a senior WHO's bird flu official says a mechanism has been established to develop the best ways for virus sharing to ensure there is a fair and equitable distribution of pandemic influenza vaccines at affordable prices.

As it is the WHO expects there to be a shortage of vaccines in the event of a pandemic for at least another five years,as manufacturers are currently only able to produce 1.5 billion doses when at least 6.2 billion will be needed.

This means in fact that the world is not prepared for a pandemic should it occur in the near future, as there is not enough vaccine.

To date Indonesia has the highest death toll from the disease.

Another story found today is from:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/new...cle1838562.ece

From The TimesMay 25, 2007
Bird flu pandemic is inevitable, expert says after new outbreak
Melanie Reid

The director of Britain’s new centre for avian flu research said yesterday that it was a question of “not if but when” the disease would cause a pandemic.

Professor Tony Nash was speaking on the day that an outbreak of the flu was confirmed on a farm in North Wales, the third incidence in Britain. Professor Nash heads a £4.3 million research hub at the University of Edinburgh that will be at the forefront of global efforts to combat the growing threat to health.

The chief vet of Wales has confirmed that the death of 15 chickens on a farm in Conwy was caused by a less virulent strain of avian flu – H7N2 as opposed to H5N1. Two adults associated with the farm have shown flu symptoms and are being treated as a precaution.

The source of the infection is being investigated and a one-kilometre restriction zone is in force around the small farm. Officials said that the strain of the disease presented a low risk to humans.

Professor Nash said: “There were three flu pandemics in the 20th century, and we are somewhat overdue for another.”

The new research centre, the first of its kind in Britain, intends to develop new drugs against avian flu. By drawing together experts from the universities of Edinburgh, Glasgow and St Andrews, it hopes to plot the spread of the disease and explore its causes.

In February 159,000 birds were slaughtered on a Suffolk farm belonging to Bernard Matthews after the H5N1 virus was discovered.In April 2006, a dead swan was found on the slipway of the harbour at Cellardyke in Fife. It was the first incidence of H5N1 in Britain and was an isolated case.

The new Interdisciplinary Centre for Human and Avian Influenza Research, which has received £2 million from the Scottish Funding Council and £2.3 million from the collaborating universities, will open officially on September 1.

One of the scientists’ most important tasks will be to develop a range of “novel” antivirals (which can block virus replication) and construct a new generation of flu vaccines.

As well as seeking to tackle avian flu, biologists, virologists and epidemiologists will also work together on new treatments for human flu.

Professor Nash said: “This new centre will be unique in terms of influenza research with a variety of specialists working together with a common aim. Our ultimate hope is that we can achieve new ways of predicting and controlling major flu outbreaks, as well as discovering new therapies that quickly translate into products for humans and animals.”

Vaccines against H5N1 are still in the experimental stage and there are no published studies showing them to be effective.

Here is another article found at:
http://scienceblogs.com/effectmeasur...n_bird_flu.php

Turning the corner on bird flu?

Category: Bird flu
Posted on: May 25, 2007 7:03 AM, by revere

A couple of days ago the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) suggested we may have turned a corner in the bird flu fight. Whenever I see something like that it sends a chill down my spine, because invariably within a few days things happen to put the lie to this eternally springing hope, and this was no exception. We've got bird flu appearing in Vietnam (including the first confirmed human case since November 2005), China, *****ia, Bangladesh, Ghana, etc. Thirty countries so far this year (out of a total of 59 that have ever reported outbreaks). Yet another human case in Indonesia (hardly news anymore). So I took a look at the updated bar chart from WHO's Western Pacific Region to see what the human cases looked like in comparison to the past:


Couldn't get graph to load, but go to the web link and you can see it there.


At first glance it looks like this is a better year than last year. But if you remove the Chinese cases and the spike from the Turkish cases, things don't look a lot different. Why remove the Chinese cases? China has only reported 3 cases this season and not turned over any viral isolates. It's possible that China has had only three cases this year. It's possible. Do you believe it? Neither do I.

It's also possible we've turned a corner in the fight against bird flu. Do you believe it? Neither do I.