UNCLASSIFIED
Avian Influenza Daily Digest
October 15, 2008 14:00 GMT
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Article Summaries ...
Announcement
Adventurer exposed flu's mysteries
10/15/08 Canberra Times--Graeme Laver, who died in Britain while en route to an influenza virus conference in Portugal, was one of Australia's most able and productive scientists. He was a world leader in the study of influenza viruses. His successes were recognised by election to the Royal Society of London in 1987, and by being a co-recipient of the Australia Prize in 1996. Laver was from Melbourne. Educated at Invanhoe Grammar, then Melbourne University (BSc Chemistry 1954; MSc Biochemistry 1956). He did his PhD studies at St Mary's Hospital, now part of Imperial College, London, and was appointed to the staff of the John Curtin School of Medical Research, ANU, in 1958. In the '60s he worked on the biochemistry of both adenoviruses and influenza viruses, but concentrated his efforts entirely on the latter after some early successes. Influenza was, and still is, a major international public health problem.
Announcement
Quid Novi
Bangladesh: AI reported at poultry farm
Regional Reporting and Surveillance
OIE: Togo follow up report #1
Highly pathogenic avian influenza, Togo Information received on 10/10/2008 from Dr Batawui Komla Batasse, Directeur de l'élevage et de la pêche, -, Ministère de l'Agriculture de l'Elevage et de la Pêche , Lomé, Togo Summary Report type Follow-up report No....
Regional Reporting and Surveillance
Indonesia: Health Minister Supari addresses crowds
10/15/08 Khlaeej Times--Taking centre stage in front of a crowd of students, academics and supporters, Indonesia's Health Minister Siti Fadilah Supari is in her element.
Regional Reporting and Surveillance
Australia: Progress slowing for universal flu vaccine, say scientists
10/15/08 ABC News (Australia)--ELEANOR HALL: Flu pandemics killed tens of millions of people around the world throughout the last century and experts say we're long overdue for the next one. But while prevention is the number one public health measure, scientists are reporting slow progress in the search for a flu vaccine.
Regional Reporting and Surveillance, Vaccines
Working on Avian Influenza in Nigeria
10/15/08 OhMyNews--International Organization for Migration, UN addressing needs of migrants and mobile population Since 2007, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in collaboration with national partners working on avian influenza in Nigeria have been carrying out social mobilization campaigns on bird flu in the Federal Capital Territory. The overall objective of the IOM Avian Influenza Project in Nigeria is to work with the national and United Nations stakeholders to contribute toward consolidated action plan for avian and human pandemic preparedness specifically addressing the needs of migrants and mobile population in Nigeria.
Regional Reporting and Surveillance
Japan to send medics to Indonesia to monitor new flu outbreaks
10/15/08 The Mainichi Daily--The government will dispatch a medical team to Indonesia to start monitoring possible outbreaks of a new type of influenza. The Foreign Ministry will send five doctors and one medical worker from the International Medical Center of Japan to Indonesia on Oct. 20 in an attempt to survey new cases of flu as part of a project to support Indonesia's medical surveillance system.
Regional Reporting and Surveillance
DEFRA: Veterinary Laboratories Agency publishes Annual Review 2007/08
10/14/08 DEFRA--The Veterinary Laboratories Agency (VLA) succeeded in testing over 12,000 samples for avian flu in just a 15 day period. This and other achievements are detailed in the VLA's Annual Review for 2007/08, published today.
Regional Reporting and Surveillance
Indonesia: Ag Ministry outlines poultry plans
10/15/08 Jakarta Post--Jakarta will clear out smaller-scale poultry industries by 2010 as part of its efforts to prevent more deaths from bird flu, agricultural authorities said Tuesday. Muhammad Azhar, the Agriculture Ministry's coordinator for bird-flu control, said only six poultry-processing plants located on Jakarta's outskirts would be eligible to distribute chicken meat to traditional markets. Two years ago the city issued a poultry-restriction bylaw to enable such efforts.
Regional Reporting and Surveillance
Other Emerging Infectious Diseases
China: Cholera case confirmed in HK
10/15/08 Xinhua--The Center for Health Protection of the Department of Health of Hong Kong has confirmed a cholera case involving a six-year-old local boy.
Other Emerging Infectious Diseases
Science and Technology
Supplement Launched At Successful Influenza Conference: Milestone Influenza Publication By Elsevier Journal Vaccine
10/15/08 Medical News Today--Last month during an influenza conference organized by the European Scientific Working Group on influenza (ESWI), the Elsevier journal Vaccine released a supplement dedicated to influenza vaccines (http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/0264410X). This publication provides a comprehensive, state-of-the-art overview on influenza vaccines and was supported by the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations (IFPMA).
AI Research, Vaccines
Pandemic Preparedness
Pandemic Flu Models Improve Food, Quarantine Strategies
10/15/08 Medical News Today--The 1918 flu pandemic killed more than 40 million people worldwide and affected persons of all age groups. While it is difficult to predict when the next influenza pandemic will occur or how severe it will be, researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have developed models to help organizations like the American Red Cross and Georgia Department of Education prepare emergency response plans.
Pandemic Preparedness
Full Text of Articles follow ...
Quid Novi
OIE: Russia Follow up #8
Highly pathogenic avian influenza,
Russia
Information received on 15/10/2008 from Dr Nicolay Vlasov, CVO, Veterinary services, Ministry of Agriculture and Food, Moscow, Russia
Summary
Report type Follow-up report No. 8 (Final report)
Start date 12/01/2007
Date of first confirmation of the event 26/01/2007
Report date 15/10/2008
Date submitted to OIE 15/10/2008
Date event resolved 08/05/2008
Reason for notification Reoccurrence of a listed disease
Date of previous occurrence 08/2006
Causal agent Highly pathogenic avian influenza virus
Serotype H5N1
Nature of diagnosis Clinical, Laboratory (advanced), Necropsy
This event pertains to the whole country
Related reports
* Immediate notification (09/02/2007)
* Follow-up report No. 1 (19/02/2007)
* Follow-up report No. 2 (26/02/2007)
* Follow-up report No. 3 (19/03/2007)
* Follow-up report No. 4 (07/09/2007)
* Follow-up report No. 5 (12/12/2007)
* Follow-up report No. 6 (24/12/2007)
* Follow-up report No. 7 (11/04/2008)
* Follow-up report No. 8 (15/10/2008)
New outbreaks
Outbreak 1 Severniy, Tselinny, ROSTOVSKAYA OBLAST
Date of start of the outbreak 23/12/2007
Outbreak status Resolved (23/01/2008)
Epidemiological unit Village
Affected animals
Species Susceptible Cases Deaths Destroyed Slaughtered
Birds 5455 59 59 138 0
Affected population backyard poultry
Outbreak 2 Market "Sadovod" , Moskow, MOSKOVSKAYA OBLAST
Date of start of the outbreak 19/02/2007
Outbreak status Resolved (16/03/2007)
Epidemiological unit Village
Affected animals
Species Susceptible Cases Deaths Destroyed Slaughtered
Birds 1455 325 81 1374 0
Affected population backyard poultry
Summary of outbreaks Total outbreaks: 2
Total animals affected
Species Susceptible Cases Deaths Destroyed Slaughtered
Birds 6910 384 140 1512 0
Outbreak statistics
Species Apparent morbidity rate Apparent mortality rate Apparent case fatality rate Proportion susceptible animals lost*
Birds 5.56% 2.03% 36.46% 23.91%
* Removed from the susceptible population through death, destruction and/or slaughter
Epidemiology
Source of the outbreak(s) or origin of infection
* Probably, hunted wild ducks and geese
Epidemiological comments The last outbreak started on 8 April 2008. Culling, disinfection and ring vaccination of backyard poultry in surrounding localities finished on 8 May 2008. Since then, there have been no further outbreaks in the country. Therefore, according to the Article 10.4.4. of the OIE Terrestrial Animal Health Code (2008), Russia declared itself free from highly pathogenic avian influenza with effect from 8 August 2008.
Control measures
Measures applied
* Control of wildlife reservoirs
* Stamping out
* Quarantine
* Screening
* Zoning
* Vaccination in response to the outbreak (s)
Administrative division Species Total Vaccinated Details
KRASNODARSKIY KRAY Birds 32000 inactivated vaccine
* Disinfection of infected premises/establishment(s)
* No treatment of affected animals
Measures to be applied
* No other measures
Future Reporting
The event is resolved. No more reports will be submitted.
Regional Reporting and Surveillance
OIE: Togo follow up report #1
Highly pathogenic avian influenza,
Togo
Information received on 10/10/2008 from Dr Batawui Komla Batasse, Directeur de l'élevage et de la pêche, -, Ministère de l'Agriculture de l'Elevage et de la Pêche , Lomé, Togo
Summary
Report type Follow-up report No. 1
Start date 09/09/2008
Date of first confirmation of the event 16/09/2008
Report date 10/10/2008
Date submitted to OIE 10/10/2008
Reason for notification Reoccurrence of a listed disease
Date of previous occurrence 31/12/2007
Causal agent Highly pathogenic avian influenza virus
Serotype H5N1
Nature of diagnosis Clinical, Laboratory (advanced)
This event pertains to the whole country
Related reports
* Immediate notification (18/09/2008)
* Follow-up report No. 1 (10/10/2008)
Outbreaks There are no new outbreaks in this report
Epidemiology
Source of the outbreak(s) or origin of infection
* Unknown or inconclusive
Epidemiological comments Modified stamping out was carried out on 26 September 2008 in a 3-km-radius area around the outbreak. 7,771 poultry in a traditional breeding system were destroyed or died.
Control measures
Measures applied
* Control of wildlife reservoirs
* Quarantine
* Movement control inside the country
* Zoning
* Disinfection of infected premises/establishment(s)
* Modified stamping out
* Vaccination prohibited
* No treatment of affected animals
Measures to be applied
* No other measures
Diagnostic test results
Laboratory name and type Padoue (Italie) (OIE?s Reference Laboratory)
Tests and results
Species Test Test date Result
Birds virus sequencing 18/09/2008 Positive
Future Reporting
The event is continuing. Weekly follow-up reports will be submitted.
Regional Reporting and Surveillance
Indonesia: Health Minister Supari addresses crowds
10/15/08 Khlaeej Times--Taking centre stage in front of a crowd of students, academics and supporters, Indonesia's Health Minister Siti Fadilah Supari is in her element.
Her hair swept up into the voluminous bouffant favoured by Indonesia's wealthy women, the bespectacled 57-year-old delivers another scalding critique of global injustice at the university discussion on 'It's Time for the World to Change: Divine Hands Behind Avian Influenza.'
The audience bursts into applause at her broadsides.
Supari is in charge of the response to bird flu in the country most heavily hit by the virus. With 112 dead and counting, Indonesia accounts for nearly half of all human deaths from the disease.
If the H5N1 virus mutates into a form easily transmissible between humans, setting off a worldwide pandemic, it will likely happen here.
But while most governments have set about tracking the spread of the bug, Supari has turned the fight against avian influenza into a broader struggle.
Since late 2006 Supari has refused to share all but a handful of Indonesia's virus samples with the World Health Organisation (WHO), demanding the system is changed to give poor countries control over where their viruses go, and a share of any profits from vaccines.
Addressing the crowd, Supari accused rich countries and the WHO of a conspiracy to trick poor nations into giving away virus samples, which she says are passed on to drug companies for their own profit.
'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, they have to go into debt and it turns and turns again,' she said.
The claims are part of a list of accusations -- which include raising the possibility that a US lab could use Indonesian virus strains to createbiological weapons -- that have turned Supari into a polarising figure in global health.
While Supari's stand has earned her hero status among many Indonesians, critics say keeping virus samples from the world's scientists leaves humanity more exposed to a nightmare pandemic.
A cardiologist, she was picked in 2004 by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to fill a quota of four women in his cabinet.
Supari is not a member of any political party and she says she did not start her job spoiling for a fight with the West. Rather, she says she was shocked after being offered vaccines containing Southeast Asian H5N1 strains taken without their home countries' permission.
Supari claimed vindication in early 2007 after Australian drug company CSL came forward with a trial vaccine containing Indonesian bird flu strains.
CSL says that under WHO rules it is under no obligation to compensate Indonesia or guarantee access, company spokeswoman Rachel David says.
'The concerns that were raised by the Indonesia health minister (in 2007) were legitimate, and of course she was concerned about the access of Indonesia to pandemic vaccines, but it was essentially not something CSL was in a position to help with,' she says.
Supari herself appears immune to criticism that she is endangering world health. She says she wants to protect Indonesians and have a global virus sharing mechanism that is 'fair, transparent and equitable.'
'What Indonesia has been doing so far is to save humankind, and Indonesia is of the view that (under) the current system, which is unfair, untransparent and not equitable, the danger is much more than the pandemic itself.'
Many developing countries have rallied behind Indonesia's efforts to push changes at WHO talks this year.
'She wants to have a transparent mechanism and I think it's not a bad idea. It's good for everybody,' says Makarim Wibisono, a senior Indonesian diplomat pushing Indonesia's case at the WHO in Geneva.
Quid Novi
Iraq: LPAI reported in Duhok
10/15/08 The Kurdish Globe--After the discovery of a harmless strain of the bird flu in the province's poultry, procedures are being developed to prevent its spread. "More than 50,000 chicks were destroyed at two poultries in Semel town because of the H9 strain of bird flu," said Luqman Tayeb Omer, general director of the Duhok veterinary office. He gave assurances that this type of bird flu is not dangerous to humans, but he also stressed that strict procedures must be taken to contain it.
The veterinary office is developing a plan with related sides, especially the health and agriculture directories in the province. Omer showed optimism and stressed that the owners of the two infected poultries have already shown cooperation in fighting the disease.
Mosul is suspected to be the source. "According to our information, this disease is found in Al-Hamdaniya, Talkef, and Shalalat districts near Mosul. It came from there. Thus, the government should take measures to prevent chicks from being brought here from those areas," said Omer.
The hatcheries in Duhok are clean from the infection, Omer stated. "There are two hatcheries in the province: one in Semel and the other in Miruna district. In every period of 21 days, the two hatcheries produce 24,000 to 26,000 chicks." They are now being supervised.
Regarding the danger of the H9 strain, Omer gave further assurances that "this type of disease is found in several world countries and does not affect humans if necessary procedures are taken."
Bassim Ali Askar, a student of veterinary medicine at Duhok University, said: "There must be protections and health procedures, but eating these chickens is not dangerous." He warned that this disease can spread through touch, but if the meat is boiled well it can be safely consumed.
The danger of H9 is to poultries and their production, said Askar, and the disease has to be controlled to avoid economic damages.
The dangerous bird flu, known as H5, spread throughout parts of Kurdistan Region in February 2006, killing two people. Thousands of chickens were destroyed as a result.
Announcement
Adventurer exposed flu's mysteries
10/15/08 Canberra Times--Graeme Laver, who died in Britain while en route to an influenza virus conference in Portugal, was one of Australia's most able and productive scientists. He was a world leader in the study of influenza viruses. His successes were recognised by election to the Royal Society of London in 1987, and by being a co-recipient of the Australia Prize in 1996. Laver was from Melbourne. Educated at Invanhoe Grammar, then Melbourne University (BSc Chemistry 1954; MSc Biochemistry 1956). He did his PhD studies at St Mary's Hospital, now part of Imperial College, London, and was appointed to the staff of the John Curtin School of Medical Research, ANU, in 1958. In the '60s he worked on the biochemistry of both adenoviruses and influenza viruses, but concentrated his efforts entirely on the latter after some early successes. Influenza was, and still is, a major international public health problem.
During and after World War II this virus became the focus of work for a group of gifted Australian scientists; initially the legendary Macfarlane Burnett and his colleagues at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, but when Burnett decided to redirect the work of the institute to immunology, the influenza work moved to John Curtin, Melbourne University and the CSIRO Division of Biotechnology, Parkville. When this project started, influenza was an enigma. The disease appeared in the human population almost every winter, sometimes killing millions, as in 1918, but in other years affecting only a few. It also occasionally infected horses, pigs and chickens. The human disease had been known for many centuries, but the virus that caused it was not isolated until 1933, when it was found that ferrets were very susceptible to it. By the time Laver joined the project, Burnett and his colleagues had shown how to grow influenza in chicken embryos, how to purify the particles of the virus, and had even produced a vaccine containing inactivated particles. Laver's first key discovery, reported in 1964, was to show that the infectious particles could be disassembled gently using detergents, and the resulting mixture could be fractionated to yield purified preparations of two important surface proteins, the haemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA). This discovery was the key to all that followed.
First, Laver with his long-term colleague Rob Webster, a New Zealander working at John Curtin, showed that the HA subunits provided an effective and safe vaccine, which is now used worldwide. Later Laver showed that the NA subunits could be crystallised. Next the crystals were studied by the CSIRO crystallographers, Peter Colman and Jose Varghese, so that, together with the amino acid sequences determined by Colin Ward and others, the 3D structure of the NA subunits was determined. This structure was used by the modeller Mark von Itzstein, then at Monash University, to design inhibitory compounds, leading eventually to the anti-flu drugs, Relenza and Tamiflu. Over the years of these studies Laver used at least 300,000 hens' eggs (16.5 tonnes), his laboratory supplied the X-ray crytallographers of the world with the precious and beautiful NA crystals, and although some were even grown in micro-gravity on the Mir Space Station, they were no more perfect than those from the laboratory at John Curtin. Outside their laboratories Laver and Webster also unlocked the central mystery of influenza where did it come from?
A report of a lethal outbreak of influenza in terns in South Africa, reported in 1961, caught their attention. They discussed it while picking their way one Christmas among the dead migratory mutton birds that often litter the beaches of NSW at that time of year. They wondered whether influenza was the link between the demise of terns and mutton birds, indeed whether the link between all influenzas was birds. Laver in Australia and Webser, by then at St Jude's, Memphis, set out to search for the virus in waterbirds, both freshwater and marine. In the early '70s Laver organised a series of expeditions to the coral cays of the Capricorn- Bunker Group off Gladstone and later the Outer Barrier Reef, while Webster established a similar project in North America The virus was found to be widespread and diverse in the birds of both continents, especially after Webster showed that the digestive system was the primary site of infection in birds. Their hunch proved to be a winner, and Webster continues, to this day, chasing the bird flus of the world. Laver was a born adventurer. As a member of Melbourne University Mountaineering Club he was one of the first non-Aboriginal Australians to explore the south-west of Tasmania.
He returned to Australia from his PhD studies by driving from London to Bombay overland before boarding a boat. Volcanoes, the more active the better, fascinated him, and his list of known climbs, usually with one of his children, include Grimsvotn (Vatnajokull, Iceland), Kilauea (Hawaii), Mt Augustine (Cook Inlet, Alaska) and Mt Narahoe (New Zealand). After working on a shark- fishing boat as a student, he was at home at sea and took family and colleagues on flu-collecting trips to various coral cays of the Barrier Reef. He organised meetings to discuss influenza viruses in places that challenged those wishing to attend, including Palau, Kona, Hawaii and Thredbo. In 2001 he joined the Australian Army Alpine Association Expedition to Everest for a week. Colleagues and their children were taken gold panning, opal fossicking and bush-bashing. He was always a working scientist, avoided committee work, rarely had more than one other person working in his laboratory, but acquired a very large circle of local and international collaborators. A great iconoclast ''Yes, that's interesting, but what's the evidence?'' he enjoyed the comment of a colleague who stated that he excelled at ''pouring petrol on troubled waters, and then setting it alight''.
He was also greatly amused that in the 1999 Sunday Times ''500 Most Powerful People in Britain'' he was 56th; 10 places after the Queen, 25 ahead of Pope John Paul II. Recently, as politicians have increasingly intruded into science, he resorted to using the media to promote the best use of flu drugs. In an inquiry held by the Royal Society he said, ''I have no financial interests in Tamiflu, in Gilead Sciences who created Tamiflu, or in Hoffman La Roche, who market the drug. I do, however, have strong personal interests in having Tamiflu available in the local pharmacy where I can get it quickly if I ever suddenly experience high fever, shivering attacks, muscular pains, headache and a dry cough. That is, when I have caught the flu and may be at risk of dying. And there are many thousands of others in a similar situation.'' Graeme Laver, like others before him, has become one of the legends.
Quid Novi
Bangladesh: AI reported at poultry farm
10/15/08 ARGUS--National media reports that during a workshop held in Dhaka on 12 October, the Animal Health director was quoted saying that the most recent case of Avian Influenza (AI) or "bird flu" was detected on 29 September in a poultry farm. Prior to this the last case of AI was on 18 March 2008. He said that the 6 month gap between the two cases shows that avian influenza has not been eradicated from Bangladesh, however with increased awareness the damage to the poultry sector can be kept at a minimum. The report also states that the virus has been noted outside of the poultry farms in the market, but does not provide any specific information. The report does not provide any further information regarding the location of the poultry farm, the number of poultry affected or the strain of the virus.
Article URL(s)
http://www.prothom-alo.com/mcat.news.details.php?nid=MTIyMTM1&mid=NQ
Other Emerging Infectious Diseases
China: Cholera case confirmed in HK
10/15/08 Xinhua--The Center for Health Protection of the Department of Health of Hong Kong has confirmed a cholera case involving a six-year-old local boy.
A spokesman for the center said on Monday that laboratory tests on stool specimens taken from the boy who was admitted to Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital last week for suspected cholera have yielded positive result for Vibrio cholerae Ogawa.
The boy arrived from Nepal on Oct. 3 and his travel companions have no symptoms. He is now in stable condition.
According to the center, this is the fifth cholera case reported to the center this year in the city, and there were three in 2007.
Regional Reporting and Surveillance > Vaccines
Australia: Progress slowing for universal flu vaccine, say scientists
10/15/08 ABC News (Australia)--ELEANOR HALL: Flu pandemics killed tens of millions of people around the world throughout the last century and experts say we're long overdue for the next one.
But while prevention is the number one public health measure, scientists are reporting slow progress in the search for a flu vaccine.
Dr Ian Barr from the World Health Organisation's Collaborative Centre for Influenza has examined the latest results of clinical trials at a world vaccine congress in Sydney.
He's been speaking with Karen Barlow.
IAN BARR: I think we're still in the early stages, clinical trials are underway but they're still in the phase one, so that's the early stage of development.
KAREN BARLOW: What are the barriers?
IAN BARR: It's a difficult task to do, I think that to try and get a truly universal vaccine which would cover all the influenza A strains and influenza B is a big task, so it's not something which is going to be easily achieved.
KAREN BARLOW: But is anything in the clinical trials showing much promise?
IAN BARR: I think it's too early to say at this stage, I think that, on the positive side, the initial trials have shown that the approach, some of the approaches have been safe, but we really need more time to test whether they're going to be efficacious.
KAREN BARLOW: This is all getting ahead of the next possible pandemic isn't it?
IAN BARR: Well we'd like to get ahead of the next pandemic, and certainly universal vaccines is one approach to that, the other approach is taking a more selective approach to identifying those targets and raising specific vaccines to those targets.
KAREN BARLOW: There are three Influenza strains currently circulating but is the real problem the seasonal Influenza that might be hitting the local populations?
IAN BARR: We'd like something to cover seasonal Influenza and if there was a potential pandemic or a pandemic did occur that a vaccine would cover both.
We'd take one or the other at this stage.
KAREN BARLOW: Is this one of the holy grails of medicine, to get this particular vaccine, this universal vaccine?
IAN BARR: Well I think it is and virologists and medical people have been working on this for over 75 years now, and I think that highlights the difficulty of the task, to try and get something which will be effective against all influenza strains.
It's a difficult beast, it's always changing its shape out there so it's a difficult one to come up with a comprehensive solution to.
KAREN BARLOW: You can't really put a time frame on this can you?
IAN BARR: Well as soon as possible, would be something I'd like, but you have to be realistic about these things. Clinical trials need to be done and clinical trials take years to derive a sufficient data set to establish whether these vaccines are effective or not.
ELEANOR HALL: That's Dr Ian Barr from the WHO Collaborative Centre for Influenza speaking to Karen Barlow.
Regional Reporting and Surveillance
Working on Avian Influenza in Nigeria
10/15/08 OhMyNews--International Organization for Migration, UN addressing needs of migrants and mobile population Since 2007, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in collaboration with national partners working on avian influenza in Nigeria have been carrying out social mobilization campaigns on bird flu in the Federal Capital Territory. The overall objective of the IOM Avian Influenza Project in Nigeria is to work with the national and United Nations stakeholders to contribute toward consolidated action plan for avian and human pandemic preparedness specifically addressing the needs of migrants and mobile population in Nigeria.
According to a spokesman during a workshop the IMO organized on Social Mobilization of Migrant Poultry Workers Traders and Transporters in the ancient city of Kano on Oct. 14, the first workshop was held in Abagana, Anambra state, in the east of Nigeria on Sept. 23. The second took place in Lagos state in southern Nigeria last Tuesday.
"This is the second phase of the project, taking place at the state level. Four target states have been selected. They are Anambra, Borno, Kano and Lagos. The target groups are migrant poultry workers, traders and transporters," the spokesman added.
"This project aims to strengthen the capacity of the target group through the implementation of activities that provide avian influenza and pandemic preparedness information for behavior change."
Kano state Commissioner for Information Haruna Isa Dederi said during his formal speech at the opening of the workshop said, "As you are aware, Nigeria has recorded outbreaks of avian influenza resulting in loss of human lives and millions of poultry. As part of measures to curb future outbreaks and associated devastating consequences, governments at all levels in collaboration with the World Bank established Control Projects with some special officers across Nigeria. Activities undertaken include emergency response, intensification of disease surveillance. Advocacy, sensitization and behavior change campaign."
An avian influenza outbreak stormed Nigeria in 2006, which resulted in tragic loss of life.
Regional Reporting and Surveillance
Japan to send medics to Indonesia to monitor new flu outbreaks
10/15/08 The Mainichi Daily--The government will dispatch a medical team to Indonesia to start monitoring possible outbreaks of a new type of influenza. The Foreign Ministry will send five doctors and one medical worker from the International Medical Center of Japan to Indonesia on Oct. 20 in an attempt to survey new cases of flu as part of a project to support Indonesia's medical surveillance system.
It will be the first time for Japan to combat new flu viruses by seeing patients overseas. The dispatch is aimed not only at making an international contribution but also at applying field experience gained overseas to domestic cases.
Under the project, which comes in response to a request by Indonesia's Ministry of Health, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) will conduct medical surveillance in southern Sulawesi in central Indonesia for three years, using about 380 million yen from Japan's ODA budget.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), human transmission of bird flu was first confirmed in Indonesia in July 2005. The national death toll from avian flu rose to 112 as of Sept. 10 this year, comprising about half the fatalities worldwide.
However, the medical surveillance system in Indonesia has not been working sufficiently. It wasn't until three months later that the causal virus was determined in the first avian flu case. Although guidelines for surveillance were drawn up in 2006, the system is not functioning well amid insufficient education of and lack of cooperation with local medical staff.
With a large population and key traffic junctions, southern Sulawesi has been home to mass outbreaks of avian flu and could be an epicenter of an even wider spread of new flu viruses.
Under the latest project, surveillance teams will be set up in 20 prefectures and three cities in Sulawesi to monitor the outbreak of flu patients in conjunction with local public health centers, while sharing information with these institutions. After the project is completed, the surveillance system will be expanded to cover all 33 provinces in Indonesia.
"Early detection (of avian flu) in Indonesia is essential in reducing the damage in Japan," said Takanori Hirayama, 33, a doctor from the International Medical Center of Japan, who will join the medical team as chief adviser.
Pandemic Preparedness
Pandemic Flu Models Improve Food, Quarantine Strategies
10/15/08 Medical News Today--The 1918 flu pandemic killed more than 40 million people worldwide and affected persons of all age groups. While it is difficult to predict when the next influenza pandemic will occur or how severe it will be, researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have developed models to help organizations like the American Red Cross and Georgia Department of Education prepare emergency response plans.
"The models are flexible so that multiple scenarios can be investigated to see which options meet a certain goal," said Pinar Keskinocak, an associate professor in Georgia Tech's H. Milton Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering (ISyE). "This goal can be different for various groups, such as serving the most people given the availability of limited resources or minimizing the number of people infected while not negatively affecting businesses."
Details of the models, developed with ISyE associate professor Julie Swann and graduate student Ali Ekici, will be presented on October 12 at the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences Annual Meeting.
Knowing how many people will need food, how many food distribution facilities will be necessary, where the facilities should be located and how the resources should be allocated among the facilities is very important, according to Marilyn Self, who is the manager of disaster readiness for the Metropolitan Atlanta Chapter of the American Red Cross. Self has been collaborating with Georgia Tech researchers on this project.
"These models have provided solid food distribution data that has helped us formulate the questions we have to ask and the decisions that we have to make about food distribution during a pandemic on a local and statewide level," said Self.
The Georgia Department of Education is using Georgia Tech's models to investigate whether or not schools should be closed during a pandemic.
"Closing schools affects both families and businesses because parents will have to stay home and take care of children," said Garry McGiboney, associate state superintendent at the Georgia Department of Education. "We have to worry about important emergency workers like hospital staff members and law enforcement officers not being able to work because they have to tend to their children because schools are closed."
To estimate the number of meals required for a given area or determine if closing schools would be beneficial, the researchers first needed to determine how many people and/or households would be infected. To do this, they constructed a generic disease spread model, which described how the influenza disease would spread among individuals.
The researchers used U.S. Census Bureau tract data - including household statistics, work flow data, classroom sizes and age statistics - to test the model. Crowded areas, including Atlanta and its suburbs, were always affected around the same time regardless of where the disease initiated. However, the time required for the disease to spread to rural areas depended on where the disease started.
With this information, the Georgia Tech researchers used the disease spread model as a forecasting tool to calculate the number of meals that would be required in metropolitan Atlanta during a flu pandemic. They tested three major scenarios: feeding every household with an infected individual (someone symptomatic or hospitalized), every household with an infected adult, or every household with all adults infected.
The simulations showed that the 15 counties surrounding Atlanta would require approximately 2.2 million, 1.4 million or 150,000 meals per day for the respective scenarios during the peak infection period. For the entire pandemic, the number of meals would reach 62, 38 or 3.8 million for the three scenarios respectively.
The researchers also determined the number of meals that would be necessary if only those households that fell below a certain income level were fed. The results showed that 200,000; 120,000 or 14,000 meals per day would be required for the respective scenarios during the peak infection period in that case.
Interventions such as voluntary quarantine or school closures could also affect food distribution by changing the number of infected individuals.
"Voluntary quarantine means that if an individual is sick in a household, everyone in that household should stay home," explained Keskinocak. "However, we realize that not everyone will follow this rule, so the model assumes that only a certain percentage of infected individuals will stay home."
The researchers investigated the effects of voluntary quarantine on disease spread, as well as the best time to begin the quarantine and how long it should last.
The results showed that the number of people infected at the peak time and the total number of individuals infected decreased as the length of the quarantine was extended, but there was a diminishing rate of return. The researchers determined that an eight-week quarantine was the most effective in terms of reducing the number of individuals infected during the peak time if it was implemented at the beginning of the fourth week.
"These results are important because during a pandemic, communities have limited resources, including food and volunteers to distribute the food," noted Swann. "If fewer people require the resources, especially during the peak time period, organizations like the American Red Cross can meet the needs of more people."
The researchers also compared the two interventions - quarantine and school closure. The results showed that closing schools reduced the number of people infected with the virus. However, a four-week voluntary quarantine was found to be at least as effective as a six-week school closure for reducing the percentage of the population infected with the virus and the number of people infected at the peak time.
The Georgia Department of Education and the Metropolitan Atlanta Chapter of the American Red Cross have used the models to gain insight into the best ways for their organizations to respond to a flu pandemic.
"Running all of these different scenarios has helped us realize that we will have a lot more people to feed in metropolitan Atlanta during a pandemic flu than we imagined. The models have provided us with a realistic idea of where we'll need to locate community food distribution facilities and how many we might need to have given certain assumptions and decisions," said Self.
The researchers plan to conduct future work in two areas - developing models for other states and extending the model to also include vaccine distribution. The model may also be useful for other purposes such as estimating hospital capacity needs, according to Keskinocak.
"While we hope that a pandemic never occurs, our models will help Georgia and other states across the United States prepare response plans for the potential," added Keskinocak.
Regional Reporting and Surveillance
DEFRA: Veterinary Laboratories Agency publishes Annual Review 2007/08
10/14/08 DEFRA--The Veterinary Laboratories Agency (VLA) succeeded in testing over 12,000 samples for avian flu in just a 15 day period. This and other achievements are detailed in the VLA's Annual Review for 2007/08, published today.
The VLA is an Executive Agency of Defra, providing research and consultancy on livestock diseases and surveillance of new and emerging diseases for the Government and animal health industry.
Other achievements during the year include VLA's emergency response to three disease outbreaks, avian influenza, foot and mouth disease and bluetongue. Over 30,000 samples for avian influenza were tested during the year, with over 12,000 of these in a 15 day period after an outbreak in November 2007 in Suffolk.
During the Bluetongue vector free period from January to March, VLA tested approximately 90,000 samples in the high containment laboratory facilities on site. Peter Borriello, VLA's new Chief Executive, said:
"Having only been appointed as VLA's Chief Executive since 1 October 2008, I cannot claim credit for any of the work covered in the Review.
"However, I am honoured to have joined an organisation with such a rich history and am particularly pleased to report that during the last year, an independent audit of VLA's science acknowledged the Agency as a recognised centre of excellence. "During the year the Agency also continued to deliver evidence and advice to help Government, the industry and animal, as well as public, health. With global trade encroaching infections and emerging zoonoses there has never been a more important time for an Agency such as ours."
The Review also includes special feature articles on FLU-LAB-NET, a web-based global interactive community for avian influenza and a new initiative, the Fellowship Scheme, introduced to develop specific skills within VLA.
A copy of the VLA Annual review can be found at http://www.defra.gov.u k/vla/reports/rep_annrev.htm, or by contacting 01932 357314 or enquiries@vla.defra.gsi.gov.uk
AI Research > Vaccines
Supplement Launched At Successful Influenza Conference: Milestone Influenza Publication By Elsevier Journal Vaccine
10/15/08 Medical News Today--Last month during an influenza conference organized by the European Scientific Working Group on influenza (ESWI), the Elsevier journal Vaccine released a supplement dedicated to influenza vaccines (http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/0264410X). This publication provides a comprehensive, state-of-the-art overview on influenza vaccines and was supported by the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations (IFPMA).
Influenza, commonly known as (the) Flu, continues to be a major cause of mortality, and vaccination remains the mainstay of efforts to prevent and control the disease. Flu spreads around the world in seasonal epidemics, killing millions of people in pandemic and hundreds of thousands in non-pandemic years.
In their editorial in the supplement, Marie Paule Kieny and Keiji Fukuda of the World Health Organization (WHO) specifically address the pandemic influenza vaccine challenge and stress: "that an efficient response at the outset of an influenza pandemic will depend on the robust global surveillance systems implemented by the WHO's Global Influenza Surveillance Network".
The Vaccine supplement focuses entirely on new developments in the area of human influenza vaccines, by bringing together key experts from many of the relevant disciplines in this field. "It is a highly valuable and very timely publication and I am convinced that it will be well-read across the world" stated Co-Guest Editor Gregory Poland, from the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine in Rochester, USA.
The 3rd European Influenza Conference in Portugal was organized by ESWI and had a scientific program including every aspect of influenza prevention, control and treatment. Beyond the science, the conference also offered sessions and workshops for governmental representatives and opinion leaders in healthcare. ESWI President and Co-Guest Editor of the Vaccine supplement Ab Osterhaus, from the Erasmus Medical Centre in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, considered the meeting a great success and said: "Communication and cooperation between scientists, policy makers and healthcare professionals is key to significantly reducing the burden of influenza, and the conference facilitated that process perfectly".
Regional Reporting and Surveillance
Indonesia: Ag Ministry outlines poultry plans
10/15/08 Jakarta Post--Jakarta will clear out smaller-scale poultry industries by 2010 as part of its efforts to prevent more deaths from bird flu, agricultural authorities said Tuesday. Muhammad Azhar, the Agriculture Ministry's coordinator for bird-flu control, said only six poultry-processing plants located on Jakarta's outskirts would be eligible to distribute chicken meat to traditional markets. Two years ago the city issued a poultry-restriction bylaw to enable such efforts.
"We hope by 2010 no live chickens will be sold at traditional markets. It's not an easy job for Jakarta, with its huge population and high density, to get rid of poultry industries, since these small-scale enterprises are the main income for many people. But this challenging target has to be met."
The planned restructuring of chicken farms and processing plants in the capital is apparently in line with key points in the 2007 much-praised bylaw on poultry restriction. Critics have only pointed out the government's inattention to enforcing the law.
Azhar, however, was not clear whether the city would provide compensation or alternative ventures for current chicken processing business owners who will be forced to close down their businesses.
The Jakarta Husbandry and Fisheries Agency estimated in 2007 about 700 commercial poultry farms were raising and slaughtering chickens in the city. Two-thirds of them were located in Central and East Jakarta.
Azhar said the 2010 target was part of Jakarta's long-term plans to prevent the spread of bird flu in the capital. Out of 112 confirmed deaths from the bird-flu virus crossing over to the human population, more than 20 occurred in Jakarta.
The city also plans to work closely with neighboring cities like Tangerang in Banten and Bekasi in West Java. Both supply large quantities of live chickens and meat to Jakarta.
"Chicken consumption in Jakarta is quite high. It's around 700,000 chickens every day and most are raised outside Jakarta," he said.
Azhar offered his comments during a workshop for journalists receiving grants from the Food and Agriculture Organization to work on news stories about bird flu.
Separately on Tuesday, delegates from Tajikistan -- jointly hosted by the United Nations Children's Fund and John Hopkins University -- visited two Banten schools in Serang and Pandeglang to take a look at how teachers discussed avian influenza in their classrooms.
Basil A. Safi from John Hopkins said the study excursion was aimed at looking at Indonesian experiences with handling bird flu during the last three years.
"Learning about experiences here can help Tajikistan better prepare for the future," said Safi.
"Tajikistan itself has yet to have a case of avian influenza, either in birds or humans. But, since many birds migrate from Asia to Africa, the country is considered to be at high risk," he said, adding they had led a similar tour in Egypt in June.
The delegates visited a state elementary school, SDN Cipocok Jaya 1, in Serang and an Islamic boarding school, Pesantren Daar el-Falaah, in Pandeglang.
They watched how teachers explained the lesson on how to prevent avian influenza to their students in a fun way.
The teachers conveyed essential prevention practices. Children learned to wash their hands before meals and to report any dead poultry immediately to neighborhood community leaders.
