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Avian Influenza Daily Digest
September 8, 2008 15:00 GMT
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Article Summaries ...
Quid Novi
Indonesia: Chicken die-off reported in Central java Province
Regional Reporting and Surveillance
Low-pathogenic avian flu hits Idaho game farm
9/5/08 CIDRAP--Agriculture officials in Idaho announced yesterday that they were investigating an outbreak of low-pathogenic avian influenza at a game farm in the southwestern part of the state after a federal lab confirmed the virus in pheasants.
Regional Reporting and Surveillance
Bird flu-free Taiwan enjoyed bumper exports of frozen duck in 2007
8/9/08 Earth Times--Taiwan had a bumper year in frozen duck exports in 2007, as it was the only country in Southeast Asia spared by bird flu, the Central News Agency (CNA) said Saturday. Quoting Council of Agriculture (COA) figures, it said Taiwan held on to its traditional frozen duck export markets and opened some new.
Regional Reporting and Surveillance
India may approach OIA due to ?no bird flu? reports
8/9/08 Financial Express--With no reports of bird flu cases close to the last three months in the country, India is considering an approach to the France-based Organisation for Animal Health (OIA) for according it 'the avian influenza free country' soon. Besides, India and neighbouring Bangladesh have set up a joint mechanism through a series of meeting held amongst officials to share and monitor information on bird flu cases in the poultry industry. India has been maintaining that the virus came from Bangladesh through the illegal poultry trade. Even agriculture minister Sharad Pawar had supported this view.
Regional Reporting and Surveillance
Vietnam: Accurate information helps reduce losses from bird flu
8/9/08 Vietnam Bridge--VietNamNet Bridge - The provision of accurate information regarding avian influenza will help the government make correct decisions in preventing and controlling the disease, said a workshop in Hanoi.
Regional Reporting and Surveillance
Turkey: 4,500 People Attended Avian Influenza Briefing in Kula
8/9/08 ARGUS--A local source reports 4,500 people attended an avian influenza briefing in Kula, Manisa Province, organized by the District Agriculture Director, District National Education Director, District Mufti and Kula Free Veterinarians, in connection with a 2 month education project. Among the attendees, there were 7 veterinarians, 23 teachers, 8 muftis, civil society organizations, hunters, village heads, family members and elementary school pupils. Authorities reportedly visited health organizations, cottage hospitals, schools, cafes and homes.
Regional Reporting and Surveillance
UK: Flu outbreak 'could affect 750,000 under fives'
8/9/08 Telegraph--Children's wards would be unable to deal with the sheer numbers of youngsters hit by the virus, because of a lack of beds, a new report shows. The warning is contained in official draft guidance on how the health service should respond to the threat of a pandemic flu.
Regional Reporting and Surveillance
Alarm as Indonesia thumbs nose at West over bird flu
8/9/08 AFP--With nearly half the world's human bird flu deaths, concern is building over Indonesia's refusal to share virus samples and its health minister's increasingly strident denunciations of global "conspiracies".
Regional Reporting and Surveillance
Nigeria: Nasarawa Seeks Support of Community Leaders Over Bird Flu
9/8/08 All Africa--In order to eradicate bird flu at the grassroots, Nasarawa State government has involved traditional rulers, women groups and community leaders in the fight against the disease. This was disclosed to newsmen in Lafia by the Avian Influenza Control Project Communication Desk Officer, Mallam Abubakar Tanko.
Regional Reporting and Surveillance
Science and Technology
Association Between Number of Wild Birds Sampled for Identification of H5N1 Avian Influenza Virus and Incidence of the Disease in the European Union
9/8/08 Transbound Emerging Diseases--[abstract]--Fourteen European Union (EU) countries have been affected by highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) of the subtype H5N1 since 2005. Many of the H5N1 HPAI cases have been identified in wild bird populations from aquatic habitats. The objective of this contribution was to assess the association between the H5N1 HPAI incidence, estimated by a co-kriging approach, and the number of wild birds sampled for H5N1 HPAI surveillance in EU countries. The probability that a sample for H5N1 HPAI surveillance collected in the EU was obtained from a given country was associated (P < 0.01) with the probability that a H5N1 HPAI case reported in the EU was located in the same country. The relation between probability of sampling and probability of infection in the Netherlands and in Spain was significantly higher (P < 0.01) than that estimated in other EU countries, suggesting that political or social factors may have selectively influenced the number of samples for H5N1 HPAI surveillance collected in those two countries. The approach presented here will be useful for post hoc comparison of the relation between probability or risk for disease and the intensity of surveillance activities among administrative divisions of a region.
AI Research
Evolutionary and Transmission Dynamics of Reassortant H5N1 Influenza Virus in Indonesia
9/8/08 PLoS--[full text]--H5N1 highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) viruses have seriously affected the Asian poultry industry since their recurrence in 2003. The viruses pose a threat of emergence of a global pandemic influenza through point mutation or reassortment leading to a strain that can effectively transmit among humans. In this study, we present phylogenetic evidences for the interlineage reassortment among H5N1 HPAI viruses isolated from humans, cats, and birds in Indonesia, and identify the potential genetic parents of the reassorted genome segments. Parsimony analyses of viral phylogeography suggest that the reassortant viruses may have originated from greater Jakarta and surroundings, and subsequently spread to other regions in the West Java province. In addition, Bayesian methods were used to elucidate the genetic diversity dynamics of the reassortant strain and one of its genetic parents, which revealed a more rapid initial growth of genetic diversity in the reassortant viruses relative to their genetic parent. These results demonstrate that interlineage exchange of genetic information may play a pivotal role in determining viral genetic diversity in a focal population. Moreover, our study also revealed significantly stronger diversifying selection on the M1 and PB2 genes in the lineages preceding and subsequent to the emergence of the reassortant viruses, respectively. We discuss how the corresponding mutations might drive the adaptation and onward transmission of the newly formed reassortant viruses.
AI Research
Epidemic- and pandemic-prone acute respiratory diseases - Infection prevention and control in health care
9/8/08 WHO--Full Text pdf [download]...
Science and Technology
Chlorine inactivation of highly pathogenic avian influenza (H5N1)
9/7/08 EPA--Two Asian strains of H5N1 highly pathogenic avian influenza virus were studied to determine their resistance to chlorination. Experiments were conducted at two pH levels (pH 7 and 8) at 5 oC. CT (chlorine concentration x exposure time) values...
AI Research
Human Trials Of Universal Flu Vaccine Begin At Oxford University
8/9/08 Medical News Today--Clinical trials of a new vaccine that could protect against multiple types of flu are beginning at Oxford University. If successful, the 'universal' flu injection would transform the way we vaccinate against influenza and could offer immunity to a bird flu pandemic.
Vaccines
Pandemic Preparedness
Early recognition, reporting and infection control management of acute respiratory diseases of potential international concern
9/8/08 WHO--Full text pdf [download]...
Pandemic Preparedness
CDC chief states flu pandemic is coming
8/9/08 Lacrosse Tribune--Ready or not, a flu pandemic is coming, says Dr. Julie Gerberding, director of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Pandemic Preparedness
Full Text of Articles follow ...
AI Research
Association Between Number of Wild Birds Sampled for Identification of H5N1 Avian Influenza Virus and Incidence of the Disease in the European Union
9/8/08 Transbound Emerging Diseases--[abstract]--
Martinez M, Perez AM, de la Torre A, Iglesias I, Muñoz MJ.
Centro de Investigación en Sanidad Animal, CISA/INIA, Carretera de Algete a El Casar Valdeolmos, Madrid, Spain.
Fourteen European Union (EU) countries have been affected by highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) of the subtype H5N1 since 2005. Many of the H5N1 HPAI cases have been identified in wild bird populations from aquatic habitats. The objective of this contribution was to assess the association between the H5N1 HPAI incidence, estimated by a co-kriging approach, and the number of wild birds sampled for H5N1 HPAI surveillance in EU countries. The probability that a sample for H5N1 HPAI surveillance collected in the EU was obtained from a given country was associated (P < 0.01) with the probability that a H5N1 HPAI case reported in the EU was located in the same country. The relation between probability of sampling and probability of infection in the Netherlands and in Spain was significantly higher (P < 0.01) than that estimated in other EU countries, suggesting that political or social factors may have selectively influenced the number of samples for H5N1 HPAI surveillance collected in those two countries. The approach presented here will be useful for post hoc comparison of the relation between probability or risk for disease and the intensity of surveillance activities among administrative divisions of a region.
Quid Novi
Indonesia: Chicken die-off reported in Central java Province
9/8/08 ARGUS--A local source reported bird die-offs of 87 chickens in Purworejo village (Wonogiri district, Wonogiri regency, Central Java province) within the past week. Rapid testing confirmed the presence of avian influenza. Reportedly, residents waited 5 days before reporting these die-offs. Local authorities have sprayed disinfectant in the area.
Article URL(s)
http://www.solopos.co.id/sp_search_tamu.asp?keyword=flu+burung#
AI Research
Evolutionary and Transmission Dynamics of Reassortant H5N1 Influenza Virus in Indonesia
9/8/08 PLoS--[full text]
Tommy Tsan-Yuk Lam1, Chung-Chau Hon1, Oliver G. Pybus2, Sergei L. Kosakovsky Pond3, Raymond Tze-Yeung Wong1, Chi-Wai Yip1, Fanya Zeng1, Frederick Chi-Ching Leung1*
1 School of Biological Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China, 2 Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom, 3 Department of Pathology, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, United States of America
Abstract
H5N1 highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) viruses have seriously affected the Asian poultry industry since their recurrence in 2003. The viruses pose a threat of emergence of a global pandemic influenza through point mutation or reassortment leading to a strain that can effectively transmit among humans. In this study, we present phylogenetic evidences for the interlineage reassortment among H5N1 HPAI viruses isolated from humans, cats, and birds in Indonesia, and identify the potential genetic parents of the reassorted genome segments. Parsimony analyses of viral phylogeography suggest that the reassortant viruses may have originated from greater Jakarta and surroundings, and subsequently spread to other regions in the West Java province. In addition, Bayesian methods were used to elucidate the genetic diversity dynamics of the reassortant strain and one of its genetic parents, which revealed a more rapid initial growth of genetic diversity in the reassortant viruses relative to their genetic parent. These results demonstrate that interlineage exchange of genetic information may play a pivotal role in determining viral genetic diversity in a focal population. Moreover, our study also revealed significantly stronger diversifying selection on the M1 and PB2 genes in the lineages preceding and subsequent to the emergence of the reassortant viruses, respectively. We discuss how the corresponding mutations might drive the adaptation and onward transmission of the newly formed reassortant viruses.
Pandemic Preparedness
Early recognition, reporting and infection control management of acute respiratory diseases of potential international concern
9/8/08 WHO--Full text pdf [download]
Science and Technology
Epidemic- and pandemic-prone acute respiratory diseases - Infection prevention and control in health care
9/8/08 WHO--Full Text pdf [download]
AI Research
Chlorine inactivation of highly pathogenic avian influenza (H5N1)
9/7/08 EPA--Two Asian strains of H5N1 highly pathogenic avian influenza virus were studied to determine their resistance to chlorination. Experiments were conducted at two pH levels (pH 7 and 8) at 5 oC. CT (chlorine concentration x exposure time) values were calculated for different levels of inactivation. Results confirm that free chlorine concentrations typically used in drinking water treatment would be sufficient to inactivate the virus.
Record Type: DOCUMENT (JOURNAL/PEER REVIEWED JOURNAL)
Projected Completion Date: 02/28/2007
Record Last Revised: 09/08/2008
Record Created: 09/07/2008
Record Released: 09/07/2008
OMB Category: Other
Record ID: 199103
Organization:
U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
OFFICE OF RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
NATIONAL HOMELAND SECURITY RESEARCH CENTER
WATER INFRASTRUCTURE PROTECTION DIVISION
Citation:
RICE, E. W., N. ADCOCK, M. SIVAGANESAN, J. D. Brown, AND D. E. Stallknecvht.
Chlorine inactivation of highly pathogenic avian influenza (H5N1).
EMERGING INFECTIOUS DISEASES. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, 13(October 2007):1568-1570, (2007).
URLs/Downloads:
CHLORINE INACTIVATION OF HIGHLY PATHOGENIC AVIAN INFLUENZA VIRUS (H5N1) Exit EPA's Web Site
Show Additional Record Data
Contact
KATHY A NICKEL
phone: 5135697955
email: nickel.kathy@epa.gov
Description:
Regional Reporting and Surveillance
Low-pathogenic avian flu hits Idaho game farm
9/5/08 CIDRAP--Agriculture officials in Idaho announced yesterday that they were investigating an outbreak of low-pathogenic avian influenza at a game farm in the southwestern part of the state after a federal lab confirmed the virus in pheasants.
The virus has been identified as subtype H5N8, according to a Sep 3 report that the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) filed with the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE). The farm contains about 30,000 game birds that are raised for hunting activities, the report said. Besides pheasants, the farm has chukars, partridges, and mallard ducks.
State officials quarantined the farm on Aug 29 but have not culled any birds at the site, located in Payette County. However, Larry Hawkins, a USDA spokesman, said 300 birds that the farm shipped to California for a bird dog event before the virus was detected were quarantined and culled, the Associated Press (AP) reported today.
The farm's owner did not report an unusual number of bird deaths, but in late August sent three dead pheasants to a lab at Pennsylvania State University for a diagnostic work-up, according to the OIE report. The lab found Pasturella and Mycoplasma in the samples. Routine tests also revealed avian influenza. Sequence testing at the USDA's National Veterinary Services Laboratory led to the H5N8 finding on Sep 3.
The virus seems to trace back only to the pheasant pen, which contains about 1,000 birds, the report said.
Officials have not determined the source of the virus but suspect that it came from contact with wild birds. Bill Barton, a veterinarian with Idaho's Department of Agriculture, told the AP that the pheasants were kept in an outside pen that was covered with plastic mesh. He said they could have been exposed to the virus from wild birds that flew or roosted overhead.
David Halvorson, DVM, a veterinary pathologist and avian flu expert at the University of Minnesota in St. Paul, told CIDRAP News that a wild-bird source of the virus sounds plausible. "They [the game birds] are like live decoys. They'll attract wild birds to their pens because of the feed and water," he said.
Though low-pathogenic H5N8 hasn't been seen in the United States over the past several years, there's nothing alarming about finding the virus at the Idaho farm, he said. "It's not unusual to find an oddball low-path virus."
Barton said the findings of the investigation will determine how long the birds should be quarantined and if culling is necessary, the AP reported. He said authorities are testing birds at farms within a 2-mile radius of the site and disinfecting the affected game farm.
Pandemic Preparedness
CDC chief states flu pandemic is coming
9/8/08 Lacrosse Tribune--Ready or not, a flu pandemic is coming, says Dr. Julie Gerberding, director of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Gerberding talked about preparing for the pandemic threat at a national conference Thursday at Logistics Health in La Crosse. No one knows when the pandemic is coming or what strain of flu virus will cause it, but it is overdue, she said.
Director of the Center for Disease Control, Dr. Julie Gerberding, speaks Thursday during a flu pandemic preparedness conference at Logistics Health's Riverside Center South. PETER THOMSON photo
She said she has only two meetings a week at the CDC and one focuses on flu pandemic preparations. ?We take it very seriously,? Gerberding said, adding that the national strategy is to ?save lives and sustain a civil society? during a pandemic.
She said politicians are not talking about a flu pandemic or the bird flu virus, which may or may not be the virus that causes the next pandemic.
?No one is talking about it, and it?s not on their radar screen,? Gerberding said.
She said CDC officials are closely monitoring the bird flu virus, which has a death rate of 63 percent among the 385 cases reported worldwide since 2003.
?It is a moving target, and we have to stay on top of it,? Gerberding said.
She said CDC scientists have created a potential vaccine in case the virus develops into a pandemic strain and are conducting more research to develop a vaccine. They have recreated the virus that caused the 1918 flu pandemic to better understand it.
Gerberding said organizations and corporations need to come up with preparedness plans and confront the impact of a flu pandemic. Some people believe a pandemic won?t happen, while others feel too overwhelmed to do anything, she said.
?Complacency is the enemy of health protection,? she said.
Gerberding said CDC officials are working to decrease the time to detect a virus and strain by improving diagnostic tests and to protect people with stockpiled antiviral medication and speedy containment of the virus.
The CDC is building 18 global disease detection and response centers around the world, Gerberding said.
Despite all the planning so far, epidemiologist Michael Osterholm, who helped lead the CDC before Gerberding was appointed director, said everyone needs to be more prepared due to our global economy.
Osterholm, director of the infectious disease center at the University of Minnesota, said the death rate from the next pandemic could exceed 300 million.
Critical products and services including food, water and basic drugs won?t get to people due to transportation and energy problems in a pandemic, he said. Global supply chains may be severely challenged, he said.
?No one has addressed the food system yet,? Osterholm said.
Logistics Health, the Coulee Region Public Health Consortium and the La Crosse Medical Health Science Consortium sponsored the conference. More than 150 business and organization personnel attended in person, and another 1,200 people watched the Webcast. A majority of the Fortune 500 corporations were represented.
Tommy Thompson, the former Wisconsin governor who is now president of Logistics Health, hired Gerberding and Osterholm when he was secretary of U.S. Health and Human Services.
?Planning is important for survival,? Thompson said.
Regional Reporting and Surveillance
Bird flu-free Taiwan enjoyed bumper exports of frozen duck in 2007
9/8/08 Earth Times--Taiwan had a bumper year in frozen duck exports in 2007, as it was the only country in Southeast Asia spared by bird flu, the Central News Agency (CNA) said Saturday. Quoting Council of Agriculture (COA) figures, it said Taiwan held on to its traditional frozen duck export markets and opened some new.
Taiwan in 2007 raised 11 million ducks with production value of six billion Taiwan dollars (about 193 million US dollars), out of which, revenues from export totaled 800 million dollars (26 million US.)
In an interview with CNA, Lin Chih-yuan, deputy manager of the Ger Chuan Foods Inc, a leading duck meat exporter, said: "Even Japan, which has high hygiene standards for imported meat, welcomes Taiwan duck meat. "In 2007, Taiwan sold 5,000 tons of duck meat to Japan to make Beijing duck."
Taiwan had also succeeded in entering the South Korean market in 2007, exporting to South Korea 7 tons of frozen duck or duck meat. In 2008, Taiwan has exported 30 tons of frozen ducks to Singapore.
Regional Reporting and Surveillance
India may approach OIA due to ?no bird flu? reports
9/8/08 Financial Express--With no reports of bird flu cases close to the last three months in the country, India is considering an approach to the France-based Organisation for Animal Health (OIA) for according it 'the avian influenza free country' soon. Besides, India and neighbouring Bangladesh have set up a joint mechanism through a series of meeting held amongst officials to share and monitor information on bird flu cases in the poultry industry. India has been maintaining that the virus came from Bangladesh through the illegal poultry trade. Even agriculture minister Sharad Pawar had supported this view.
The animal husbandry department under the ministry of agriculture, in February 2008, had made a formal request to the Bangladesh government through the ministry of external affairs to share the genetic history of its virus. After much deliberation, Bangladesh shared data on the genetic make up of the H5N1 virus strain, which had been found 'similar' to the bird flu virus and had caused India's worst Avian Influenza outbreak earlier this year. "Bangladesh has been proactive and most forth coming in sharing information," an official with the animal husbandry department told FE.
India and Bangladesh share a 4,095-kilometre border. India had reported its first case of bird flu in Maharashtra back in 2006 but later that year declared itself 'bird-flu free'. However, the country has suffered two more outbreaks since then, the latest and worst being in West Bengal, where it erupted earlier this year.
According to OIA, the avian influenza-free country status is given if a nation reports no outbreak of bird flu for a stretch of three months from the time it completes disinfection and clean-up of the previous outbreak site. "We are closely monitoring the situation, and will approach OIA soon," the official said. The country produces more than 2.0 million tonne of broiler chickens annually and is the fifth largest producer in the world. The country is the largest producer of eggs, with a production of around 44 billion pieces. The Rs 40,000-crore domestic poultry industry provides direct and indirect employment to more than 2 million people.
Regional Reporting and Surveillance
Vietnam: Accurate information helps reduce losses from bird flu
8/9/08 Vietnam Bridge--VietNamNet Bridge - The provision of accurate information regarding avian influenza will help the government make correct decisions in preventing and controlling the disease, said a workshop in Hanoi.
Addressing the opening ceremony of a two-day workshop for journalists on Sept. 4, the Rector of the Hanoi School of Public Health (HSPH), Le Vu Anh, said that economic losses caused by bird flu outbreaks in Vietnam constituted one percent of the country?s gross domestic product (GDP).
The US Deputy Chief of Mission , Virgina E. Palmer, praised Vietnam for its achievements in bird flu prevention and control, which has set an example for other countries to follow.
As one of the first of the 61 countries reporting an outbreak of the H5N1 bird flu virus in poultry, Vietnam experienced four major outbreaks between Dec. 2003 and Aug. 2008, with 106 reported human cases, 52 of which were fatal.
According to the Head of the Preventive Medicine Department of the Health Ministry, Nguyen Huy Nga, Vietnam is one of the nations facing a high risk of bird flu re-emergence, as 97 percent of those infected were exposed directly or indirectly to the virus. However, he confirmed that there is no evidence of human-to-human H5N1 transmission in Vietnam .
At the workshop entitled ?Getting the story?, jointly held by the HSPH and the US Embassy in Hanoi , participants discussed challenges to bird flu prevention and control in Vietnam , such as clamping down on the smuggling of poultry and the lack of knowledge amongst vets in dealing with the virus.
There is currently no effective bird flu vaccine for humans, and one of the conclusions arising from the workshop is that more effective measures should be in place to prevent the spread of the disease from wild animals and migrating birds.
Regional Reporting and Surveillance
Turkey: 4,500 People Attended Avian Influenza Briefing in Kula
8/9/08 ARGUS--A local source reports 4,500 people attended an avian influenza briefing in Kula, Manisa Province, organized by the District Agriculture Director, District National Education Director, District Mufti and Kula Free Veterinarians, in connection with a 2 month education project. Among the attendees, there were 7 veterinarians, 23 teachers, 8 muftis, civil society organizations, hunters, village heads, family members and elementary school pupils. Authorities reportedly visited health organizations, cottage hospitals, schools, cafes and homes.
Article URL(s)
http://www.manisahaber.net/?x=detay&id=614
Regional Reporting and Surveillance
UK: Flu outbreak 'could affect 750,000 under fives'
8/9/08 Telegraph--Children's wards would be unable to deal with the sheer numbers of youngsters hit by the virus, because of a lack of beds, a new report shows. The warning is contained in official draft guidance on how the health service should respond to the threat of a pandemic flu.
Doctors warn that an outbreak could kill up to 750,000 Britons.
Some experts believe that a pandemic flu is overdue and that it could be fatal for millions across the world.
Last month the Government announced that a possible flu pandemic was the greatest threat facing Britain.
A new "risk register" placed an outbreak of pandemic flu above terrorism as the emergency that would have the largest impact.
Around the same time ministers confirmed plans to double stocks of a drug which can lessen the length and severity of flu symptoms.
The flu pandemic of 1918 killed more than 200,000 people in Britain and up to 40 million across the world.
New guidelines drawn up by the Department of Health warn that if such a disaster did happen again then three quarters of a million young children could be affected.
It warns that the NHS does not have enough children's beds to cope with demand.
During the last outbreak of pandemic flu in 1969 the illness was most severe in the under fives and the over 50s.
The guidance, called "Pandemic influenza: Surge capacity and prioritisation in health services", warns that "given the existing number of beds, it is likely that the demand for paediatric critical care will outstrip capacity".
The document also reiterates advice that hospitals should effectively become quarantine zones, allowing no visitors, and with one single entry point and heightened security.
Hospitals should also draw up criteria by which to discharge patients as soon as possible, to help them cope with increased demand, the report warns.
It also advises that hospitals could have to cancel all planned operations and divert every possible resource to dealing with the crisis.
Norman Lamb, the Liberal Democrat health spokesman, said: "This report demonstrates the scale of the challenge that the NHS faces and the absolute importance of having sufficient facilities in place to cope with the crisis that could develop in such circumstances.
"The potential impact of pandemic flu is such that we have to treat it as seriously as we do terrorism and it must be given the highest possible priority.
"Disease can spread like wildfire. Robust planning is of critical importance."
A spokesman for the Department of Health said: "Internationally, Britain is at the forefront of preparations for a flu pandemic.
"No country can expect to escape the impact of a pandemic when it happens, which is why the Government is aiming for Britain to be as well prepared to respond and recover as possible."
The World Health Organisation has reported that Britain's pandemic flu preparations are among the best in the world.
An influenza pandemic is defined as one which spreads worldwide.
Vaccines
Human Trials Of Universal Flu Vaccine Begin At Oxford University
8/9/08 Medical News Today--Clinical trials of a new vaccine that could protect against multiple types of flu are beginning at Oxford University. If successful, the 'universal' flu injection would transform the way we vaccinate against influenza and could offer immunity to a bird flu pandemic.
Current vaccines are only effective against certain strains of flu. New formulations have to be developed every year according to which types of flu are thought likely to be circulating that winter.
"This approach to influenza vaccination is unsatisfactory for use against seasonal influenza, and of little use when new types of flu begin to infect humans from birds," says Dr Sarah Gilbert of the Jenner Institute, University of Oxford. "It leaves manufacturers with a few months to produce the necessary stocks, the vaccine has to be administered to at-risk populations within a short time window, and those receiving the injection will all have to be vaccinated again the following year."
Existing flu vaccines work by inducing protective antibodies to proteins on the outer surface of the influenza virus. These proteins differ between strains and change over time, so each vaccine only works against a specific strain.
The Oxford scientists led by Dr Gilbert are taking a new approach. They have developed a novel vaccine that targets internal proteins essential to the flu virus that change very little over time or between strains.
"By targeting the internal proteins of the virus, we can come up with a universal flu jab," explains Dr Gilbert. "The same vaccine would work against all seasonal flu and protect against bird flu."
Such a universal vaccine would not change from year to year, removing the need for annual immunisations. All ages could receive the injection at any time of year, and manufacturers would be able to produce supplies continuously at a sufficient level.
"Children would be protected, we'd see economic benefits through reduced sickness in people of working age, and the elderly, who respond less well to vaccination, would be better off through lack of exposure to flu," explains Dr Gilbert.
In the Phase I clinical trial, 12 healthy volunteers are receiving the single injection of the new vaccine. Their immune response will then be monitored over time. Should this trial be successful, further clinical trials will be necessary before the vaccine can be approved. The research is funded by the Wellcome Trust.
The vaccine developed by Dr Gilbert and colleagues induces T cells, part of the body's immune system, to kill any cells infected by the flu virus, so controlling the infection. The body maintains a low-level T cell response to flu from previous flu infections which the vaccine should boost to levels high enough to protect against subsequent infection.
-- A flu pandemic with potentially devastating effects across the world could occur if bird flu acquired the ability to be transmitted between humans. There were four such pandemics in the 20th century, with the 1918 pandemic causing an estimated 40-50 million deaths worldwide. According to the World Health Organization, there have been 385 cases of the H5N1 avian influenza being transmitted from birds to humans since 2003, resulting in 243 deaths.
-- Flu caught during the winter months, or seasonal flu, has a huge annual impact worldwide. In the US alone, flu causes illness in tens of millions of people, hundreds of thousands of hospitalisations, and tens of thousands of deaths. It also has a large economic burden. Figures from Europe suggest that flu accounts for around 10% of sick leave, with the cost of lost productivity in France and Germany alone estimated at ?8.3-12.6 billion per year.
-- Oxford University's Medical Sciences Division is one of the largest biomedical research centres in Europe. It represents almost one-third of Oxford University's income and expenditure, and two-thirds of its external research income. Oxford's world-renowned global health programme is a leader in the fight against infectious diseases (such as malaria, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and avian flu) and other prevalent diseases (such as cancer, stroke, heart disease and diabetes). Key to its success is a long-standing network of dedicated Wellcome Trust-funded research units in Asia (Thailand, Laos and Vietnam) and Kenya, and work at the MRC Unit in The Gambia. Long-term studies of patients around the world are supported by basic science at Oxford and have led to many exciting developments, including potential vaccines for tuberculosis, malaria and HIV, which are in clinical trials. http://www.medsci.ox.ac.uk
The Wellcome Trust
The Wellcome Trust is the largest charity in the UK. It funds innovative biomedical research, in the UK and internationally, spending around £600 million each year to support the brightest scientists with the best ideas. The Wellcome Trust supports public debate about biomedical research and its impact on health and wellbeing. http://www.wellcome.ac.uk
Regional Reporting and Surveillance
Alarm as Indonesia thumbs nose at West over bird flu
8/9/08 AFP--With nearly half the world's human bird flu deaths, concern is building over Indonesia's refusal to share virus samples and its health minister's increasingly strident denunciations of global "conspiracies".
Indonesia stopped sharing the samples with the World Health Organisation (WHO) in December 2006 on fears pharmaceutical companies would use them to make vaccines that are too expensive for poor countries.
The initial move by Health Minister Siti Fadilah Supari earned international plaudits for taking on an unfair global system, but with WHO negotiations at an impasse, Supari's increasing belligerence is raising alarm.
The minister has broadened her critique of an "unfair, neocolonialist" global health system, raising the possibility earlier this year the United States was using the virus to develop biological weapons in her book "It's Time for the World to Change: Divine Hands Behind Avian Influenza."
Supari told a rapturous crowd at a book discussion last week that rich nations were creating "new viruses" and sending them to developing nations in order create markets for drug companies to sell vaccines.
"Indonesia sends a virus to the WHO but it suddenly it ends up with the US government. Then the US government turns the virus into dollars and we don't know what kind of research," Supari said.
"Then the virus is turned into vaccines (that are sent to) Indonesia and Indonesia has to buy them and if they don't buy them, it turns and turns again, and in the end developed countries make new viruses which are then sent to developing countries," she said.
"The conspiracy between superpower nations and global organisations isn't a theory, isn't rhetoric, but it's something I've experienced myself."
Bird flu scientists abroad and in Indonesia have raised concerns that while Supari seeks to reshape the global order, time is being wasted in understanding a virus that could potentially kill millions if it mutates into a form transmissible between humans.
Indonesia announced in August that 112 people have died from the virus, out of more than 240 worldwide since late 2003. Only a handful of samples and genetic sequences have been shared with the WHO and researchers.
The health ministry also earlier this year stopped publicly announcing bird flu deaths, only releasing information information weeks or months after victims have died.
"I'm a bit suspicious what she's doing is more politics and not in fact for the global health system," said Ngurah Mahardika, a virologist from Udayana University on Bali island.
"This will lessen the strength, the power of the preparedness of the global system ... (withholding samples means) we don't have any epidemiological and virological signal now of what the virus looks like," Mahardika said.
"This is really increasing our pandemic risk (because) we don't know about any signals of a pandemic."
While Supari has insisted Indonesia and other developing countries can stand on their own in researching the virus, Indonesian scientists say they too have been shut out from access to flu samples.
"The minister of health is keeping the virus in the laboratories but they are giving no access to Indonesian scientists at the moment," said Amin Subandrio, the head of the national bird flu committee's expert panel.
Subandrio, who has supported Supari in trying to extract a change in WHO rules to allow developing nations to secure supply of and revenue from vaccines taken from their virus strains, said withholding samples was nonetheless risky.
He said Supari's claim of a Western-led global conspiracy was not backed by evidence.
"I really cannot explain it 100 percent, but probably she received the wrong information from the wrong person," he said.
But while scientists and global health authorities express worry, Supari continues to enjoy popularity at home.
Her book has entered into multiple print runs in Indonesian and English and plans have reportedly been made for a film adaptation. Mainstream academics have also rallied to her side.
"I believe she represents a kind of minister or politician who has a very clear political standing," political scientist Bima Arya Sugiarto said.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has distanced himself from Supari's more controversial comments but has made no sign of moving her from her post.
"In Indonesia we recognise that there are issues to be resolved in the world health system but certainly we don't believe in conspiracy theories," presidential spokesman Dino Patti Djalal said.
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Indonesian Health Minister Siti Fadilah Supari is seen here during WHO's annual assembly, in May 2007, in Geneva. With nearly half the world's human bird flu deaths, concern is building over Indonesia's refusal to share virus samples and its health minister's increasingly strident denunciations of global "conspiracies".(AFP/HO/File/Peter Williams)
AFP/HO/File Photo: Indonesian Health Minister Siti Fadilah Supari is seen here during WHO's annual assembly, in May...
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Regional Reporting and Surveillance
Nigeria: Nasarawa Seeks Support of Community Leaders Over Bird Flu
9/8/08 All Africa--In order to eradicate bird flu at the grassroots, Nasarawa State government has involved traditional rulers, women groups and community leaders in the fight against the disease. This was disclosed to newsmen in Lafia by the Avian Influenza Control Project Communication Desk Officer, Mallam Abubakar Tanko.
He said the involment of community leaders and other interest groups was to ensure that the disease was reduced to minimal level, adding that students and pupils were also involved in order to carry everyone along in the fight
He said that through the local government desk offices and the three components of animal, human and community health, the project confrontating the disease through continuos disinfection .
He explained that the personnel were now concentrating on affected communities, bird markets and pockets of reported outbreaks.
The officer also said that women groups, traditional opinion, religious and community leaders were being sensitised on the dangers of the disease and the need for them to report suspected cases to the appropriate organs.
He commended the desk officers in the fight against the disease and urged them not to relent in their efforts.
He also appreciated the determination of the state government in the fight especially in meeting all the logistical needs of the project and called on local government administrators to also give more support to the project.
