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Avian Influenza Daily Digest
December 18, 2008 15:15 GMT
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Avian Influenza Situation In Cambodia
12/17/08 Medical News Today--The Ministry of Health of Cambodia has announced a new confirmed case of human infection with the H5N1 avian influenza virus. The 19-year-old male, from Kandal Province, developed symptoms on 28 November and initially sought medical attention at a local health centre on 30 November.
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Korea beefs up its bird flu defenses
12/17/08 Joongang Daily--The Korean government said yesterday that it has strengthened inspections at airports and harbors following several bird flu outbreaks in many mainland Asian countries.
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Taiwan COA conceals bird flu information on eve of three links
12/18/08 Taiwan News--On the eve of cross-strait three links being launched, sources have that chicken in Taiwan was infected H5N2 bird flu virus. Although the virus is not contagious to human, the Council of Agriculture is said to conceal the information for worries of any impact on major three links operations, according to a Chinese-language newspaper.
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Regional Reporting and Surveillance
Avian Influenza Situation In Cambodia
12/17/08 Medical News Today--The Ministry of Health of Cambodia has announced a new confirmed case of human infection with the H5N1 avian influenza virus. The 19-year-old male, from Kandal Province, developed symptoms on 28 November and initially sought medical attention at a local health centre on 30 November.
The presence of the H5N1 virus was confirmed by the National Influenza Centre, the Institut Pasteur in Cambodia, on 11 December. The patient is currently hospitalised and a team led by the Ministry of Health is conducting field investigations into the source of his infection. Contacts of the case are also being identified and provided with prophylaxis.
Of the 8 cases confirmed to date in Cambodia, 7 have been fatal.
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Korea beefs up its bird flu defenses
12/17/08 Joongang Daily--The Korean government said yesterday that it has strengthened inspections at airports and harbors following several bird flu outbreaks in many mainland Asian countries.
The Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said it has ordered customs inspectors and quarantine service officials to carefully check people and luggage arriving from China, India, Bangladesh, and Southeast Asia.
Outbreaks have been reported in Thailand, Laos, India and Vietnam in November with more confirmed this month in places like China.
It also said all poultry farmers in the country have been asked to conduct preventative decontamination of facilities and watch closely for any sudden rise in bird deaths. Regional authorities have been advised to frequently decontaminate vehicles used to transport birds and advise ordinary people not to visit bird sanctuaries.
The government speculates that past outbreaks in the country were caused by migratory birds arriving from Siberia and China.
Korea maintains a year-round watch on bird flu outbreaks, although the alert level is heightened during the winter. No virulent H5N1 strain of bird flu has been detected in recent months, although there have been cases of the less dangerous H5N2 types of avian influenza detected in bird sanctuaries in the Jeolla region, on the country?s southwestern coast.
The country has been hit three times with H5N1 avian influenza outbreaks, with the latest occurring in April and resulting in a record 8.46 million birds being culled at a cost of around 264 billion won ($199 million). Previous outbreaks took place in the winter months of 2003?2004 and 2006?2007.
No cases of human infection were reported in the latest outbreak, although the government said 10 South Koreans were infected in the two previous outbreaks without developing symptoms.
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Taiwan COA conceals bird flu information on eve of three links
12/18/08 Taiwan News--On the eve of cross-strait three links being launched, sources have that chicken in Taiwan was infected H5N2 bird flu virus. Although the virus is not contagious to human, the Council of Agriculture is said to conceal the information for worries of any impact on major three links operations, according to a Chinese-language newspaper.
Last month, chicken suddenly died en masse in a Tainan County farm. After investigation, the Animal Health Research Institute of the Cabinet-level COA report confirmed the cause to be H5N2 virus. However, COA executives did not report the epidemic to the Executive Yuan, nor would they intend to announce the information at the critical moment of commencement of air, shipping and postal links with China.
Even Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) shows the virus to be bird flu, the actual epidemic should be determined by the Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine along with experts, Institute Director Chao Parn-hwa (???) said.
Over ten thousand chicken was reportedly culled in a farm in Tainan County for H5N2 virus, according to southern Taiwan chicken farmers. The epidemic is said to spread to other two farms, one being closed down and the other monitored by authorities.
But the Animal Science Division and Animal Disease Control Bureau of Tainan County have denied any discovery of disease and chicken culling.
Former Executive Yuan Bird Flu Control Convention head Chen Chien-jen (???) said that the virus would not survive when meat is cooked and told consumers not to worry.
H5N2 avian flu once broke out in an egg chicken farm in Changhua County in January 2004 and was also found in 24 chicken farms islandwide. The government made public the information, culled all sick chicken and made compensation to farmers, getting the epidemic under control within two months. The World Organization for Animal Health published Taiwan?s closing report as early as April, 2004.
Migrating birds at an estuary were once found to contain H5N7 virus. Controversy ensued when the government regarded ?estuary? as offshore territory and therefore decided not to make announcement. But officials in the know questioned the reason for information concealment on the part of the COA since the pandemic occurred domestically this time and avian flu had just broken out in Hong Kong last week.
The epidemic in 2004 incurred a loss of NT$2.5 billion to chicken farming industry, so the government may be reluctant to cause scare among consumers, resulting in losses to farmers. However, experts worry that if chicken farms and consumers could not take preventive measures for a lack of information, Taiwan may be mired in the danger of avian flu.
