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Avian Influenza Daily Digest
September 29, 2008 14:00 GMT
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Article Summaries ...
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Announcement
Quid Novi
Vietnam: Bird flu recurs in Ca Mau Province
Regional Reporting and Surveillance
Myanmar steps up control of trans-border animal diseases
9/29/08 China View--Myanmar is making arrangements to establish more animal quarantine laboratories in two areas bordering Thailand as part of its bid to step up control of trans-border animal diseases under the two countries' cooperation program in the aspects, the local 7-Day News reported Thursday.
Regional Reporting and Surveillance
Cote d'Ivoire: Experts call for common strategy to fight bird flu
9/29/08 afriquenligne--Experts on livestock development and trade as well as their counterparts in professional associations drawn from all 15-Member States of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) have called for the adoption of a common strategy in the fight to prevent and control avian influenza.
Regional Reporting and Surveillance
Hong Kong: Price of poultry set to jump
9/29/08 The Standard--Fresh chicken prices could rise by about 20 percent as supply slumps due to the shutdown of market stalls in the battle against bird flu.
Regional Reporting and Surveillance
Togo: Poultry is culled after bird flu outbreak
9/29/08 AFP--Authorities have culled some 5,000 birds over the past two days in the capital of the west African state of Togo following the discovery of bird flu there early this month, an official said yesterday.
Regional Reporting and Surveillance
Other Emerging Infectious Diseases
Dengue pandemic in Pacific: WHO
9/19/08 Radio Australia--The World Health Organisation's representative in Samoa says too much money is being spent on preventing birdflu from reaching the Pacific at the expense of combatting dengue fever.
Other Emerging Infectious Diseases
Nigeria: Govt Neglect Cause of High TB Rate
9/29/08 All Africa--The Chief Medical Director of Borno State Specialist Hospital, Maiduguri, Dr Mohammed Ghuluze, has lamented the recent ncrease in cases of tuberculosis which he said was as a result of long term neglect of its administration by government and upsurge in the level of poverty in the country.
Other Emerging Infectious Diseases
Science and Technology
Naturally Occurring 'Protective RNA' Used To Develop New Antiviral Against Influenza
9/29/08 Science Daily--Researchers from the University of Warwick, Coventry, United Kingdom have developed a new antiviral using naturally occurring influenza virus "protecting virus" that may defend against any influenza A virus in any animal host.
Antivirals
Full Text of Articles follow ...
Other Emerging Infectious Diseases
Dengue pandemic in Pacific: WHO
9/19/08 Radio Australia--The World Health Organisation's representative in Samoa says too much money is being spent on preventing birdflu from reaching the Pacific at the expense of combatting dengue fever.
The WHO has declared a dengue pandemic in the Pacific and is calling for a co-ordinated regional response to the situation.
Dr Kevin Palmer has told Radio Australia's Pacific Beat program that thousands of cases of the virus have been confirmed across the region and the number is increasing.
"It's gotten so that it's having an impact not only the health of the people of the Pacific but also on the economies which rely on tourism and dengue basically kill off their tourism industry," Dr Palmer said.
Regional Reporting and Surveillance
Myanmar steps up control of trans-border animal diseases
9/29/08 China View--Myanmar is making arrangements to establish more animal quarantine laboratories in two areas bordering Thailand as part of its bid to step up control of trans-border animal diseases under the two countries' cooperation program in the aspects, the local 7-Day News reported Thursday.
The two border areas are Myawaddy and Kawthoung in southeastern Kayin state.
The Myanmar side is to offer building and health workers, while the Thai side is to provide technical knowhow and materials, the report said, adding that a Thai delegation from the Animal Development made a study trip to Myanmar last week as a preparatory move.
Myanmar has been placing emphasis on control of trans-border animal diseases, introducing animal quarantine laboratories in border trading areas with neighboring countries.
Under an agreement between the Livestock Breeding Veterinary Department (LBVD) of Myanmar and the Agriculture Department of China's Yunnan Province reached in 2006, animal quarantine labs inareas such as Muse, Lashio, Kengtung and Myitkyina, where border trade activities are carried out, are being built.
These labs will help transfer information speedily and test thesafety of live animals and animal byproducts intended for export and import through border trade, experts said.
In December 2007, under an agreement signed between the LBVD and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the latter will provide aid worth of 102 million Japanese yen (about 829,000 U.S. dollars) to Myanmar to help the country fight five animal diseases including avian influenza by setting up laboratories, exchanging information and conducting refresher courses for the diseases control, according to an earlier report.
Regional Reporting and Surveillance
Cote d'Ivoire: Experts call for common strategy to fight bird flu
9/29/08 afriquenligne--Experts on livestock development and trade as well as their counterparts in professional associations drawn from all 15-Member States of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) have called for the adoption of a common strategy in the fight to prevent and control avian influenza.
They have also called for a common regulation on the establishment of farms and the movement of poultry products in the region.
In a communiqué after a weeklong workshop in Abidjan, which ended on Wednesday, the experts proposed new strategies for revitalizing activities of the regional plan of action for the prevention and control of avian influenza and the different available networks.
These include the epidemiological surveillance network, national diagnostic laboratory network, sector socio-economic network and avian influenza communication network.
The workshop considered how to return the poultry sector to the pride of place it once enjoyed.
The participants called for an increased investment in animal health, taking into account the need to enhance veterinarian assistance to players in the poultry sector, strengthening epidemio-surveillance programmes in member states as well as developing, enhancing and applying bio-security in the whole poultry sector.
"All rescue measures will be carried out within the framework of the implementation of the ECOWAS Common Agricultural Policy (ECOWAP)," they said in the communiqué received by PANA on Thursday.
It said participants at the workshop assessed the status of implementation of the regional mechanism of coordination of the prevention and response against avian influenza and validated results of the socio-economic impact study of avian influenza as it affects West Africa.
It noted that the sector's downward trend began in early February 2006 when the first outbreak of avian influenza was reported in Nigeria and six other Member States - Niger, Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Togo and Benin - with the attendant socio-economic consequences, including a marked drop in the consumption of poultry and poultry products, their prices, closure of poultry farms, a ban on imports and exports of poultry and poultry products, among others.
It said the workshop also stressed the need to stimulate the consumption of poultry and its products through effective sensitization campaigns and provision of accurate information to all stakeholders, especially consumers, those involved in production, processing and commercialization of poultry and its products.
"In this regard, participants recommended the establishment of a mechanism for collecting, storing, managing and disseminating data on the poultry sector.
"In particular, they urged the development of a geo-referenced repertoire of poultry farms, sites and markets and the creation of a web site dedicated to issues related to avian influenza in the region."
The communiqué said while considering the need to share best practices, participants encouraged a stronger interface between countries on cross-border diseases and the strengthening of partnerships between research-development centres on the poultry industry.
"This strengthening of information and communication, which should form part of a larger set of integrated programme of activities on the prevention and control of avian influenza, would greatly benefit both affected and non-affected countries."
Participants noted the collaboration between the ECOWAS Commission and the Regional Centre for Animal Health (CRSA) in Bamako, the Commission's technical arm on matters relating to animal health and the revitalization of the poultry sector, and called for strengthening of the diagnostic capacities of Member States.
Specific support was called for Liberia and Sierra Leone where the capacities of their veterinary services need to be shored up.
While expressing concern over the inadequate financing of programmes, they called for the rapid intervention of the ECOWAS Commission to enable an urgent mobilization of funds from the African Development Bank (ADB) and other sources for the control of avian influenza in the region.
The regional emergency intervention fund domiciled at the ADB was established in 2006 to finance joint actions within the context of the prevention and control of avian influenza and the revitalization of the poultry industry.
Participants, in addition, requested the support of the ECOWAS Commission in the promotion of funding at concessional rates for poultry operators at all levels.
"The availability of funds will enhance the execution of specific responsibilities to be undertaken by Member States as recommended by the workshop.
"Such responsibilities include the preparation of a research development plan with minimum standards of bio-security applicable in village-based poultry farming, the development for risk management strategies in the poultry sector, the establishment of a consistent budget for financing plans and different networks (laboratories, epidemiological surveillance, socio-economy and communication) as well as the promotion of the cultivation of grains such as maize and soya beans to improve farmers' access to feed input."
The recommendations by the experts will be submitted to the next meeting of ministers of the Steering Committee of the Sub-regional Mechanism of Prevention and Control of Avian Influenza.
Noting the two new outbreaks in July 2008 in northern Nigeria, the ministers are expected to act urgently and involve their counterparts from Cameroon, Chad and Mauritania which participated actively in an ECOWAS meeting of Ministers in charge of Livestock, Public Health and African Integration in June 2006 in Abuja.
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Quid Novi
Vietnam: Bird flu recurs in Ca Mau Province
9/29/08 Deutche Press--Vietnamese authorities have detected the H5N1 avian flu virus in a flock of ducks on a farm in the southern province of Ca Mau, a government official said Friday.
Hoang Van Nam, deputy director of Vietnam's Animal Health Department, said inspectors had found on September 22 that bird flu had killed more than 50 of 500 ducks on a Ca Mau farm.
All the ducks at the farm were ducklings under 45 days old, and had thus not been vaccinated yet, Nam said.
Authorities have culled all the ducks at the farm.
'Bird flu occurs occasionally in Vietnam,' Nam said. 'We cannot extinguish it, but only limit its spread.'
On September 7, the Animal Health Department announced it had detected bird flu in a flock of 600 ducks on a farm in the southern province of Ben Tre, adjacent to Ho Chi Minh City.
According to Nam, bird flu outbreaks have been detected in 26 Vietnamese provinces since the beginning of 2008, killing 5 people and forcing authorities to cull more than 60,000 ducks.
H5N1 mainly affects poultry and wild birds, but can infect humans who have close contact with sick fowl. Scientists fear that if it spreads unchecked, the disease could mutate into a form which could be transmitted between humans, leading to a worldwide pandemic that could kill millions.
Bird flu has infected 105 people in Vietnam and killed at least 51 of them since it first appeared in the country in late 2003.
Regional Reporting and Surveillance
Hong Kong: Price of poultry set to jump
9/29/08 The Standard--Fresh chicken prices could rise by about 20 percent as supply slumps due to the shutdown of market stalls in the battle against bird flu.
More than 70 percent of poultry stall owners have handed back their trading licences under a government scheme to cut public exposure to live chickens.
One consequence of the move - for which stall holders who give up their licences are being compensated to the collective tune of HK$660 million - is that the supply of live chickens from the mainland will drop to 5,000 a day.
Secretary for Food and Health York Chow Yat-ngok said the price of live chickens could rise by up to 20 percent.
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At Cheung Sha Wan Wholesale Market yesterday, a catty was selling for HK$22.9 after running at an average of HK$18. Chow explained that as more poultry sellers handed back the licences the number of chickens available on the market would fall.
Around 70 percent of poultry wholesalers and retailers had handed back their licences by Wednesday, the deadline for applications to an ex-gratia payment scheme.
Only 131 poultry stalls - or about 28 percent of the previous total - were still in operation.
At a street market in Tai Po, the retail price of chicken increased from HK$35 to HK$40 per catty. There, some shoppers said they would be buying less chicken.
Chow said it was for consumers to make the call on whether to switch from live to frozen poultry.
Asked if the government had bowed to political pressure by paying out compensation despite not meeting the initial target of 80 percent of stall operators giving up their licences, Chow described the return rate of 72 percent as "ideal".
" I don't think with such policy, you can achieve the exact percentage that you plan," he said.
Antivirals
Naturally Occurring 'Protective RNA' Used To Develop New Antiviral Against Influenza
9/29/08 Science Daily--Researchers from the University of Warwick, Coventry, United Kingdom have developed a new antiviral using naturally occurring influenza virus "protecting virus" that may defend against any influenza A virus in any animal host.
Human influenza virus A is not only responsible for seasonal disease in humans, it is also the cause of worldwide pandemics of which the last three resulted in millions of deaths all over the globe. Currently, live and killed vaccines countering specific strains of the flu are available, however a vaccine for a new pandemic strain would take months to develop. Also, increased resistance to antivirals currently on the market has emphasized the need for a new effective prophylactic and therapeutic treatment method.
The "protecting virus" contains an altered gene that makes it harmless and prevents it from reproducing in a cell. If another influenza virus invades the cell it still remains harmless, but rapidly reproduces and prevents infection by literally crowding out the new influenza strain.
In the study researchers used a "protecting virus" (known as 244) as an influenza A antiviral therapy and tested it in mice. A 120-ng intranasal dose completely protected mice simultaneously challenged with 10 50% lethal doses of influenza A/WSN (H1N1) virus. The 244 protecting virus also protected mice against strong doses of H2N2, H3N2, and H3N8.
Prophylactic activity was maintained in mice at least 1 week prior to challenge and a clear therapeutic benefit was observed when administered 24 to 48 hours following a lethal challenge. Finally, the 244 protecting virus was noted to be 10- to 100-fold more active than previous defective influenza A viruses.
Journal reference:
1. Dimmock et al. Influenza Virus Protecting RNA: an Effective Prophylactic and Therapeutic Antiviral. Journal of Virology, 2008; 82 (17): 8570 DOI: 10.1128/JVI.00743-08
Adapted from materials provided by American Society for Microbiology.
Need to cite this story in your essay, paper, or report? Use one of the following formats:
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American Society for Microbiology (2008, September 26). Naturally Occurring 'Protective RNA' Used To Develop New Antiviral Against Influenza. ScienceDaily. Retrieved September 29, 2008, from http://www.sciencedaily.com /releases/2008/09/080926143749.htm
Regional Reporting and Surveillance
Togo: Poultry is culled after bird flu outbreak
9/29/08 AFP--Authorities have culled some 5,000 birds over the past two days in the capital of the west African state of Togo following the discovery of bird flu there early this month, an official said yesterday.
The poultry was killed and incinerated in Agbata, a Lome suburb where this most recent outbreak occurred, an official from the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries said.
Hundreds of villagers converged on an Agbata square to hand in their poultry to veterinarians for destruction.
Other officials moved door-to-door seizing any live poultry and killed them on the spot. Affected farmers were immediately compensated.
Officials say that, in all, more than 16,000 birds have to be destroyed and hundreds of houses disinfected.
The deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu was confirmed for the first time in the west African nation in June last year.
No human infections have yet been reported in the country.
The World Health Organization (WHO) says 243 people have died from bird flu worldwide since 2003, the vast majority of them in Asia.
The H5N1 bird flu virus mainly kills animals but scientists fear it could mutate into a disease that is easily transferrable from human to human and spark a global pandemic. ? AFP
Other Emerging Infectious Diseases
Nigeria: Govt Neglect Cause of High TB Rate
9/29/08 All Africa--The Chief Medical Director of Borno State Specialist Hospital, Maiduguri, Dr Mohammed Ghuluze, has lamented the recent ncrease in cases of tuberculosis which he said was as a result of long term neglect of its administration by government and upsurge in the level of poverty in the country.
Speaking to journalists in Maiduguri, the medical experts lamented that while the attention shifted to such ailments as HIV/AIDS, maternal mortality, poliomyelitis and bird flu among others, funds were not released for the administration of tuberculosis.
Gbuluze, who claimed that progress was made in the past in the administration of tuberculosis, said it was discouraging that the ailment has assumed a new dimension because of the failings of government which neglected anti-TB campaigns that resulted in lower awareness of the disease, and hard economy.
The medical practitioner, who lamented suspension of funding of the activities of the advocacy agencies which rendered the efforts made in the past a futility, called on states to fulfill their counterpart contributions to encourage the international agencies.
Gbuluze, who however admitted that no survey has been conducted to determine the prevalence of the disease in the country, noted that there was a low activity concerning the disease unlike before when it was the talk of both government and advocacy organisations in the country.
The doctors while underscoring the seriousness of the disease which affect many parts of the body especially the lung, stressed that it is important that contact should be avoided with infected persons and as much as possible and called on Nigerians to live in well-ventilated rooms because the disease flourishes in an un-ventilated environment.
