Avian/Pandemic Influenza Daily Digest: December 2008

Dec 26, 2008

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Dec 24, 2008

DNI Avian Influenza Daily Digest

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December 24, 2008 15:15 GMT

This digest is produced by the United States Government, Office of the Director of National Intelligence, Washington DC, USA. Articles and resource documents in this digest are from open sources and unclassified.

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Article Summaries ...

Announcement

Happy Holidays
Dear AI Digest subscribers, The AI Digest will not be published on Christmas Day (December 25th) and New Years Day (January 1st). Thank you for another great year of successful collaboration on Avian and Pandemic Influenza! Happy Holidays, Claudinne
Announcement

Conferences and Training

US PACOM Hosting OSINT Conference April 2009

Regional Reporting and Surveillance

Vietnam: Ducks lay golden eggs for delta farmers
12/23/08 Vietnam Bridge--Duck raising in closed farms has brought in more profits for Mekong Delata residents than free-range duck raising.
Regional Reporting and Surveillance

More avian flu found in Bangladesh poultry
12/23/08 CIDRAP--Agriculture officials in Bangladesh said today that they have detected another H5N1 avian influenza outbreak on a farm, the country's fifth one since the virus reemerged in poultry flocks in October.
Regional Reporting and Surveillance

India: Government increases efforts to check bird flu outbreak
12/24/08 Business Standard--The government has increased its efforts to contain the recent outbreak of ?bird flu? (or avian influenza) in West Bengal and Assam.
Regional Reporting and Surveillance

OIE: LPAI Chinese Taipei, Immediate Notification
Low pathogenic avian influenza (poultry), Chinese Taipei Information received on 20/12/2008 from Dr Watson H T Sung, Director General, Director General Office, Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine, Taipei , Chinese Taipei Summary Report type Immediate notification...
Regional Reporting and Surveillance

India: 30,000 birds culled in flu-hit W Bengal district
12/24/08 Gulf Times--Over 30,000 poultry have been culled in the bird flu-hit Malda district of West Bengal while in Assam culling operations have been affected in some areas due to resistance from people, officials said yesterday.
Regional Reporting and Surveillance

Bangladesh confirms bird flu outbreak
12/24/08 Reuters--Authorities in Bangladesh have stepped up surveillance after a fresh outbreak of the deadly H5N1 strain of avian influenza was discovered, officials said on Wednesday.
Regional Reporting and Surveillance

Science and Technology

X-ray structure of NS1 from a highly pathogenic H5N1 influenza virus
12/23/08 Nature--[Abstract]--The recent emergence of highly pathogenic avian (H5N1) influenza viruses, their epizootic and panzootic nature, and their association with lethal human infections have raised significant global health concerns1, 2. Several studies have underlined the importance of non-structural protein NS1 in the increased pathogenicity and virulence of these strains3, 4. NS1, which consists of two domains?a double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) binding domain5, 6 and the effector domain7, separated through a linker?is an antagonist of antiviral type-I interferon response in the host8, 9. Here we report the X-ray structure of the full-length NS1 from an H5N1 strain (A/Vietnam/1203/2004) that was associated with 60% of human deaths in an outbreak in Vietnam1, 2. Compared to the individually determined structures of the RNA binding domain and the effector domain from non-H5N1 strains, the RNA binding domain within H5N1 NS1 exhibits modest structural changes, while the H5N1 effector domain shows significant alteration, particularly in the dimeric interface. Although both domains in the full-length NS1 individually participate in dimeric interactions, an unexpected finding is that these interactions result in the formation of a chain of NS1 molecules instead of distinct dimeric units. Three such chains in the crystal interact with one another extensively to form a tubular organization of similar dimensions to that observed in the cryo-electron microscopy images of NS1 in the presence of dsRNA. The tubular oligomeric organization of NS1, in which residues implicated in dsRNA binding face a 20-Å-wide central tunnel, provides a plausible mechanism for how NS1 sequesters varying lengths of dsRNA, to counter cellular antiviral dsRNA response pathways, while simultaneously interacting with other cellular ligands during an infection.
AI Research

Dutch scientists want to inject wild swans with bird-flu
12/24/08 Digital Journal--The plan to inject swans with a bird-flu virus - said to be harmless in laboratory experiments -- in a year-long GPS-tracking programme of wild swan colonies migrating to arctic Russian Federation countries and to West European countries and the United Kingdom, was approved by the Dutch minister of Health. And the Dutch society for the protection of birds also does not object to the plan.
AI Research

Vical Pandemic Influenza Vaccines Achieve T-Cell Responses and Cross-Clade Reactivity in Humans
12/08 Bio Medicine--Vical Incorporated (Nasdaq: VICL) today announced that the company's Vaxfectin(R)-formulated H5N1 pandemic influenza DNA vaccines induced T-cell responses against a matching strain of influenza virus and demonstrated cross-clade antibody responses against a different strain in a Phase 1 clinical trial. The company previously reported that the vaccines had achieved potentially protective levels of antibody responses in up to 67% of evaluable subjects in the trial's higher dose cohorts. Vical researchers presented the expanded data, as well as new nonclinical data from the company's RapidResponse(TM) DNA vaccine manufacturing program, this week at the DNA Vaccines 2008 Conference.
Vaccines

Pandemic Preparedness

USA: Hawaii Screening of passengers for flu called a success
12/24/08 Honolulu Star Bulletin--A voluntary screening process for flulike illnesses among international arrivals at Honolulu Airport worked so well it may be done more often next year, a state Health Department official said.
Pandemic Preparedness

Glaxo Prepares Work Force For Worst-Case Flu Scenario
12/23/08 Dow Jones Newswire--GlaxoSmithKline PLC (GSK) wants to be one of the safest places to work in the event of a flu pandemic. The U.K. drug maker has spent nearly two years making contingency plans to protect its global work force so the company can continue manufacturing the drugs and vaccines it thinks will be critical if a major flu outbreak hits. Whether the preparations are enough is an open question, as experts note that factors outside Glaxo's control could render the best-laid plans moot.
Pandemic Preparedness

Full Text of Articles follow ...

AI Research

X-ray structure of NS1 from a highly pathogenic H5N1 influenza virus

12/23/08 Nature--[Abstract]--Nature 456, 985-988 (18 December 2008) | doi:10.1038/nature07444; Received 28 July 2008; Accepted 23 September 2008; Published online 5 November 2008

Zachary A. Bornholdt1 & B. V. Venkataram Prasad1,2

1. Department of Molecular Virology and Microbiology,
2. Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Baylor College of Medicine, One Baylor Plaza, Houston, Texas 77030, USA

Correspondence to: B. V. Venkataram Prasad1,2 Correspondence and requests for materials should be addressed to B.V.V.P. (Email: vprasad@bcm.tmc.edu).

The recent emergence of highly pathogenic avian (H5N1) influenza viruses, their epizootic and panzootic nature, and their association with lethal human infections have raised significant global health concerns1, 2. Several studies have underlined the importance of non-structural protein NS1 in the increased pathogenicity and virulence of these strains3, 4. NS1, which consists of two domains?a double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) binding domain5, 6 and the effector domain7, separated through a linker?is an antagonist of antiviral type-I interferon response in the host8, 9. Here we report the X-ray structure of the full-length NS1 from an H5N1 strain (A/Vietnam/1203/2004) that was associated with 60% of human deaths in an outbreak in Vietnam1, 2. Compared to the individually determined structures of the RNA binding domain and the effector domain from non-H5N1 strains, the RNA binding domain within H5N1 NS1 exhibits modest structural changes, while the H5N1 effector domain shows significant alteration, particularly in the dimeric interface. Although both domains in the full-length NS1 individually participate in dimeric interactions, an unexpected finding is that these interactions result in the formation of a chain of NS1 molecules instead of distinct dimeric units. Three such chains in the crystal interact with one another extensively to form a tubular organization of similar dimensions to that observed in the cryo-electron microscopy images of NS1 in the presence of dsRNA. The tubular oligomeric organization of NS1, in which residues implicated in dsRNA binding face a 20-Å-wide central tunnel, provides a plausible mechanism for how NS1 sequesters varying lengths of dsRNA, to counter cellular antiviral dsRNA response pathways, while simultaneously interacting with other cellular ligands during an infection.

Regional Reporting and Surveillance

Vietnam: Ducks lay golden eggs for delta farmers

12/23/08 Vietnam Bridge--Duck raising in closed farms has brought in more profits for Mekong Delata residents than free-range duck raising.

The new method has boosted disease control and healthier breeding, especially since the outbreak of avian flu a few years ago.

Nguyen Quoc Nam, a resident of Thap Muoi District in Dong Thap Province, now earns up to VND40 million (US$2,300) per year after he made the move from free-range.

"Before, I had to follow ducks from one province to another. It was quite hard," said Nam.

Nam said that people raising wandering ducks even had to hire vehicles to transport the ducks, then hire land for the ducks so they could feed.

Moreover, the risk is high because breeders cannot control diseases in their duck flocks, since many different flocks can be dropped in the same field.

"Many households were left impoverished after ducks got diseases and died," he said.

The situation eased after the farming model was applied in the province.

With the instruction by staff from the province?s Agricultural Techniques and Expansion Centre, Nam started to raise 500 ducks on a farm of 2,000sq.m. He planted fruit trees to shade the ducks and dug a pond to raise fish, using ducks? stools for food.

"When epidemics broke out in the commune, my ducks weren?t affected because they are injected with preventive drugs regularly in a clean environment," said Nam.

Raising poultry using bio-safety methods has also been launched in other provinces in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta area such as An Giang, Tay Ninh, Long An, Binh Duong, Soc Trang, Bac Lieu and Tien Giang, according to Nguyen Thanh Son, deputy head of the Department of Livestocks Breeding.

Trinh The Thanh in Chau Thanh District of An Giang Province now has 1,300 ducks, which earns him a tidy VND90 million ($5,200) per year.

"My ducks have never suffered from diseases," he said.

Phan Thanh Binh in Tinh Bien District of An Giang Province is raising some 2,500 ducks in his 2ha-farm and gets a profit of more than VND355 million ($20,000) per year.

"With this model, I can control the number of eggs laid and administer regular preventive injections," Binh said.

According to Pham Thi Hoa, deputy director of the province?s Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, the model is designed to prevent the occurence of avian flu.

With more than 2.2 million ducks, An Giang Province has the second largest number of the poultry in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta area. More than 87 per cent of households still raise wandering ducks. Hoa said that the province wanted to see 50 per cent of households raising ducks on farm by the end of 2008.

According to statistics supplied by the Department of Livestocks Breeding under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the total number of ducks raised in 10 provinces of the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta ranges between 18 and 20 million per year. However, since the outbreak of avian flu in the country, farmers in the region have lost more than 10 million ducks.

"It?s time to strengthen the development of raising ducks in farms with proper control on diseases," said Nguyen Thanh Son.

Son added that the model has more advantages than raising free-range ducks, since farmers can control and prevent disease epidemics and reduce environmental pollution. They can also raise fish in farms to boost their income.

"When the avian flu broke out in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta region last year, all farm-ducks escaped it," said Pham Thi Hoa.

However, Son also said that the model was applied haphazardly throughout the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta region because many farmers could not afford to set up farms for duck raising.

The raising of free-range ducks has been a traditional job in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta provinces, where there are large crop fields. Free-range ducks can be let loose around the fields to find their food; farmers only have to feed them in their first two or three weeks.

Many farmers still raised ducks in this old method due to low investment capital, said Nhi Thi Kim Bach, head of the Department of Veterinary of Thap Muoi District in Dong Thap Province.

"Duck raising in closed farms will need considerable initial investment in order to take off," she said.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has asked the National Agricultural Expansion Centre and other relevant units to improve the training for farmers. Provinces are being asked to support farmers to set up farms for the sake of the country?s sustainable development.

Currently, Dong Thap Province has the largest number of ducks in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta region with more than 4 million. By the end of 2007, the country had more than 68 million ducks.

The Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta region exports about 52,000 of duck eggs per year.

Announcement

Happy Holidays

Dear AI Digest subscribers,

The AI Digest will not be published on Christmas Day (December 25th) and New Years Day (January 1st). Thank you for another great year of successful collaboration on Avian and Pandemic Influenza!

Happy Holidays,
Claudinne

AI Research

Dutch scientists want to inject wild swans with bird-flu

12/24/08 Digital Journal--The plan to inject swans with a bird-flu virus - said to be harmless in laboratory experiments -- in a year-long GPS-tracking programme of wild swan colonies migrating to arctic Russian Federation countries and to West European countries and the United Kingdom, was approved by the Dutch minister of Health. And the Dutch society for the protection of birds also does not object to the plan.

But Dutch Christian-Democrat parliamentarian Henk Jan Ormel is aghast by the plan by the Erasmus Medical Centre in Rotterdam. Ormel demands that the health minister must immediately withdraw his permission - fearing that the bird-flu experiment in the wild could form a great danger to human public health and pose a danger for wild bird populations. The fact that the bird-flu virus they plan to inject the wild swans with is 'harmless in the laboratory', is no guarantee it won't act differently in the wild, Ormel said in a radio interview.

The researchers want to capture and deliberately infect 16 wild Bewick Swans with this 'harmless' bird- flu virus and follow these animals during their transmigrations to the arctic regions of Russia and back to Western Europe in the spring with GPS-tags -- to establish 'how the bird-flu spreads itself in nature'. An uninfected control group will also be tagged and followed.

The researchers claim there would be 'no danger to public health' but also admitted that the GPS-tracking collars do cause the swans hardships during their long migrations because the animals need to work harder to carry the extra weight, and thus lose energy more rapidly.

The Netherlands is a 'hot-spot' for migratory fowl which makes it the perfect test laboratory for such an experiment, the researchers believe.

Ormel said on Dutch radio today that he's not convinced that such plans would be safe for public health in Europe. "I find it extraordinary that the medical centre's media statement s claims that the virus is 'safe in the laboratory but that it could act differently in nature,' he said

For the university medical centre's press release in English: see:

There definitely are enormous risks, the parliamentarian warned, reminding his audience of the devastating flu epidemic which forced the Dutch domestic fowl into indoor holding pens and which had also infected many species of wild waterfowl in 2003. It was only through their diligence in collecting the diseased animals that the Dutch population did not get infected by this bird-flu.

The media statement from Erasmus Medical Centre says that 'in the laboratory wild birds and poultry show no signs of illness from the specific avian influenza virus that will be administered. This may differ under natural conditions where maintenance and migration may be more energetically challenging. "

"Under these circumstances, infection might result in slight discomfort,' the statement says... "such as a temporarily reduced appetite. We know from previous experience that it takes the swans a couple of days to get fully accustomed to the GPS logger. Throughout this winter and the following winter (2009 -2010) all swans will be monitored regularly from a distance, their behaviour observed and data from the GPS loggers downloaded. For this purpose, the researchers are supported by a network of volunteer ornithologists. The GPS loggers will operate for one-and-a-half years.

The researchers from the Netherlands Institute of Ecology and Erasmus Medical Research Centre are highly motivated, they say, to ' increase the understanding of avian influenza viruses in wild birds.'

"At the moment, there is a widespread presumption that migratory birds are responsible for the spread of highly pathogenic avian influenza. This often leads to extensive and expensive measures, such as the vaccination and sheltering of domestic poultry.

"This research on low pathogenic avian influenza will serve to quantify the contribution of migratory birds in the spread of avian influenza viruses. The Netherlands is a 'hot spot' for migratory birds including large numbers of waterfowl, making it an obvious site for conducting this research."

The university also has a large research department to research the flu viruses, which constantly change themselves and therefore remain a threat to public health.

Their researchers point out that there were three major influenza pandemics in the 20th century : a worldwide influenza epidemic that can kill millions. And the influenza pandemics of the last century were related to avian flu viruses - which produced a deadly new variant that causes illness and is moreover, very contagious among humans.

Researchers at its Virology department are always working to prepare for the growing risks of an influenza pandemic. Early next year they are holding a seminar and a numbef of public exhibitions about the evolution of the H5N1 influenza virus; about its global spread, the policy measures, the vaccinations and virus inhibitors.
See

Ormel first wants a guarantee from Health Minister Ab Klink that this experiment 'definitely would not endanger the health of animals and humans' -- before withdrawing his demand to cancel the project. The minister has not yet responded to his request - parliament is in recess at the moment.

The university researchers want to inject sixteen wild swans with the flu virus. They will be equipped with GPS bracelets. A test group of 32 non-infected wild swans will also be tagged. All the birds would be followed during their annual bird treks throughout the forthcoming winter and into next year.

A Dutch bird expert, Gerald Derksen of the Bird Protection Society, said in his email to me that this plan is not dangerous and they support it.

He said:
"The bird flu virus which is damaging for humans, type H5N1, occurs among wild birds but they do not show any symptoms. In various parts of the world some really wild ideas have now arisen to stop this virus from spreading. There even were plans for mass-exterminations of wild birds.

"Although this virus was found among wild birds, the infections among humans by this virus are directly linked only to their own domestic fowl and domestic birds.
"There is a large remaining question in the scientific world whether wild birds play any kind of role in spreading this virus at all. Many birds are carriers of this virus without ever having any symptoms.

"Because this virus is so widespread it is difficult to termine how exactly it is being spread - and to establish this for certain once and for all, the plan is to inject 16 small swans with a recognisable virus-variant which by itself is harmless, and from which the birds do not fall ill.

"This way, the spread of this virus among other wildlife can be put on the map once it can be traced. One achieves two goals: it determines whether wild birds spread the H5N1 virus at all, and whether they are the cause of human infection, or not. The stress caused while capturing these few wild birds will lead to better protection for millions of birds worldwide. Our Society will not object to this research.'

Regional Reporting and Surveillance

More avian flu found in Bangladesh poultry

12/23/08 CIDRAP--Agriculture officials in Bangladesh said today that they have detected another H5N1 avian influenza outbreak on a farm, the country's fifth one since the virus reemerged in poultry flocks in October.

Salahuddin Kahn, livestock department spokesman, said the outbreak occurred on a farm in Kurigram in the northern part of the country and that 100 birds were culled to control it, according to a report today from Agence France-Presse (AFP).

Kahn told AFP that Kurigram is the fifth district to be hit by the virus since October. Two states in western India that share borders with Bangladesh?Assam and West Bengal?have also battled recent H5N1 outbreaks.

Also today, a report by the Chinese news agency Xinhua said an H5 avian flu outbreak was detected on two farms in northern Belgium. The report, citing Belgian media as its source, said the virus is not the lethal form of H5N1 and is not dangerous to humans, but it did not list the N (neuraminidase) number.

Tests on Dec 19 detected the virus in ducks and geese in Bocholt, which borders the Netherlands, and also on a farm in Buggenhout in East Flanders province, the story said. The government ordered control measures, including the culling of 5,000 birds and indoor confinement of all birds within 1 kilometer of the affected farms.

Elsewhere, agriculture authorities in Taiwan recently confirmed an outbreak of low-pathogenic H5N2 avian influenza at a farm in Kaohsiung, on the southwestern part of the island, according to a Dec 20 report from the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE). The outbreak involved chickens, AFP reported on Dec 21.

Of the 18,591 birds at the farm, the virus killed 230 and sickened another 290, according to the OIE report. It said the remaining birds were destroyed.

Officials have not determined the source of the virus, but have disinfected and tested 76 poultry flocks in the area, the report said. Taiwan's last H5N2 outbreak occurred in March 2004, according to the OIE. That outbreak involved a commercial poultry farm.

In other developments, veterinary officials in Denmark are investigating a suspected avian flu outbreak on a chicken farm in a southwestern area, Reuters reported today. Routine blood tests revealed evidence of infection, though the report did list any details about the suspected pathogenicity or subtype.

Officials said they expected to have test results in a few days, according to Reuters.

Denmark's last avian flu outbreak, which occurred in April, involved a low-pathogenic H7N1 strain, according to a previous report from the OIE.

Conferences and Training

US PACOM Hosting OSINT Conference April 2009

12/08 USPACOM

On behalf of US Army Pacific (USARPAC), US Pacific Command's (USPACOM)
Executive Agent for Open Source Intelligence (OSINT), the US Army Asian
Studies Detachment (ASD) is proud and honored to host the first PACOM
Asia-Pacific OSINT Conference from 7-9 April 2009 at Camp Zama, Japan.
Additionally, 10 April 2009 is reserved for follow-on USARPAC-specific
discussions if required.

The conference will provide an excellent opportunity to promote
collaboration among interested OSINT users, providers, and managers in
the Asia-Pacific theater. In addition to briefing mission capabilities,
the conference will more importantly bring key Asia-Pacific OSINT
players together for networking opportunities with the end goal of
setting the framework for establishing future collaborative
relationships.

Theme - "Leveraging OSINT Collaboration in the Asia-Pacific"

Objectives -

1. Increase awareness among national, international, and theater-level
participants on OSINT activities taking place in the Asia-Pacific
Region.

2. Facilitate new collaborative partnerships among attending
organizations and strengthen existing partnerships.

3. Determine types of "collaboration" desired among the OSINT
community.

- Joint collection and analysis operations
- Joint reporting
- Interagency analytical exchange
- Resource sharing

4. Discuss process options, existing tools, and tools required for the
collaborative process.

- opensource.gov
- Intelink-U / Intellipedia
- Wikis/Sharepoint
- Shared translation memories

Number of potential attendees - 100 (max 150)

Targeted participants - National and theater-level OSINT activities from
the U.S. and selected international partners.

Facility - Camp Zama Community Cultural Center (CCC)

Classification level - UNCLASSIFIED

The conference agenda is currently under development, but to date the
following organizations have expressed intent to provide presentations:

Office of Director of National Intelligence (ODNI)
ODNI Intelink-U
Open Source Center/Okinawa Bureau (OSC/OW)
Open Source Center/Seoul Bureau (OSC/SK)
Open Source Bureau (OSB) (Australia)
National Virtual Translation Center (NVTC)
Office of Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence (USD(I))Defense
Intelligence Agency (DIA)
National Geospatial Intelligence Agency (NGA)
NGIC/Reserve Linguist Support Program (RLSP)
Foreign Military Studies Office (FMSO)
US Embassy Tokyo Media Analysis Team (MAT)
US Forces Korea (USFK) J2 OSINT Cell
441st MI Battalion Technical Support Element (TSE)
ASD

Other expected attendees include representatives from OSC/China Program,
OSC/Korea-Japan Program, OSC/Bangkok Bureau (OSC/BK), OSC/New Delhi
Bureau (OSC/ND), HQ Department of the Army DCS G2, HQ US Army
Intelligence & Security Command (INSCOM) G2, and the Japan Ground Self
Defense Force's (JGSDF) Military Intelligence Command (MIC) and Basic
Intelligence Unit (BIU). Other potential international participation
could include the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence and BBC Monitoring.

Additional conference information and the registration form are located
at https://www.intelink.gov/wiki/Asia-Pacific_OSINT_Conference
(Intelink-U PASSPORT ID required). Please go to this site to register
for the conference. If you have trouble registering online, contact me,
Roger Pratt and Matt Parrish (cc'd) and we'll enter your registration
info for you.

POC: David Reese

Regional Reporting and Surveillance

India: Government increases efforts to check bird flu outbreak

12/24/08 Business Standard--The government has increased its efforts to contain the recent outbreak of ?bird flu? (or avian influenza) in West Bengal and Assam.

The measures taken by the government to check the outbreak in West Bengal include deployment of 328 animal health workers which have culled about 32,000 birds till now, according to a statement issued today by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

Earlier this month, the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Government of India, had notified the outbreak of the flu in Englishbazar block in Malda district of West Bengal.

Also, the first notification of the influenza in Assam came on 27 November in Hajo block of Kamrup district. Since then, 12 other epicenters of the viral activity have been notified by the department in Assam alone, where the government has deployed about 471 health workers who have achieved culling of a total of about 4,00,000 birds.

Avian Influenza or bird flu is an illness caused by an influenza virus that lives inside birds.

Vaccines

Vical Pandemic Influenza Vaccines Achieve T-Cell Responses and Cross-Clade Reactivity in Humans

12/08 Bio Medicine--Vical Incorporated (Nasdaq: VICL) today announced that the company's Vaxfectin(R)-formulated H5N1 pandemic influenza DNA vaccines induced T-cell responses against a matching strain of influenza virus and demonstrated cross-clade antibody responses against a different strain in a Phase 1 clinical trial. The company previously reported that the vaccines had achieved potentially protective levels of antibody responses in up to 67% of evaluable subjects in the trial's higher dose cohorts. Vical researchers presented the expanded data, as well as new nonclinical data from the company's RapidResponse(TM) DNA vaccine manufacturing program, this week at the DNA Vaccines 2008 Conference.

H5N1 Pandemic Influenza Vaccine Phase 1 Trial Update

New data presented at the conference indicates that the company's monovalent Vaxfectin(R)-formulated H5N1 pandemic influenza DNA vaccine induced T-cell responses against the H5 antigen in 75% to 100% of evaluable subjects in the various cohorts. T-cell responses could be important in protecting against serious disease and in limiting the spread of disease during an outbreak.

The monovalent vaccine, which was based on the H5N1 influenza virus strain, A/Vietnam/1203/04, also induced antibody responses against the H5N1 influenza virus strain, A/Hong Kong/156/97 from a different clade, in 50% of responders. Cross-clade responses could be important in providing protection against emerging strains of influenza before a matching vaccine could be deployed.

Antibody and/or T-cell responses against the matching H5 antigen
'/>"/>

Pandemic Preparedness

USA: Hawaii Screening of passengers for flu called a success

12/24/08 Honolulu Star Bulletin--A voluntary screening process for flulike illnesses among international arrivals at Honolulu Airport worked so well it may be done more often next year, a state Health Department official said.

The process was tested recently on 435 arriving Japan Airlines passengers, said Dr. Sarah Park, chief of the Disease Outbreak Control Division.

The program is aimed at intercepting passengers with possibly infectious diseases such as bird flu or severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) before they can expose a broader population.

The passengers "did their part to help us out," Park said. "We were pleasantly surprised how fast they went through. Each time we do this, we're learning and tweaking the process and improving upon it."

Fearing the introduction of infectious diseases into Hawaii, the state in November 2005 became the first in the nation to set up a passive airport surveillance program for Hawaii-bound international travelers.

Pilots must notify the airport tower if they have a potentially ill passenger on board, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Quarantine Station is called to evaluate the passenger at the gate. Those who have fever and respiratory symptoms are asked to be tested for flu.

In June, the Health Department worked with the CDC, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Department of Transportation and Hawaiian Airlines to start a pilot project. Federal officials hope that efficient standard procedures can be developed to be used across the country.

The second screening, involving a Japan Airlines flight that arrived about 6:20 a.m. Dec. 3, took longer to arrange because of efforts to address non-English-speaking passengers, Park said. "It's one thing to screen people quickly and efficiently who speak your language. It's another thing to those who don't speak the language or share your culture."

Health officials worked with the state tourism liaison to discuss the situation with the Japanese Consulate and one of the consuls asked to observe the screening, she said.

A short informational video was produced, asking the passengers to participate in a voluntary health screening and explaining a questionnaire given to them. The form, in Japanese and English, asked for basic demographic, recent travel and illness information, including presence of a fever, she said.

The airline was asked to distribute the questionnaires and show the video to passengers so there would be no surprises, she said. "We told our airline partners we don't want passengers disgruntled and upset because upset people don't comply," Park said.

All partners "were pleasantly surprised how many people did opt in and without question went through health screening with no concerns," she said.

Sixteen makeshift kiosks were set up at screening points with trained medical staff to take the questionnaires from passengers leaving the airplane and ask if they had a fever.

Two passengers didn't feel well and were referred to a medical evaluation area with registered nurses, physicians and CDC quarantine observers, she said. Neither had fever or met the criteria for an influenzalike illness, but they were given a fact sheet and advice about flu and allowed to proceed, she said.

Avian influenza hasn't mutated into human influenza, "but when it does accidentally move to the human side, it causes severe disease with high mortality," Park said.

"It has taken this long to screen a second flight," she said, "but I'm extremely confident, and our partners are confident, that should we suddenly be hit with a pandemic alert level or SARS, we're prepared in Hawaii."

A voluntary screening process for flulike illnesses among international arrivals at Hono- lulu Airport worked so well it may be done more often next year, a state Health Department official said.

The process was tested recently on 435 arriving Japan Airlines passengers, said Dr. Sarah Park, chief of the Disease Outbreak Control Division.

The program is aimed at intercepting passengers with possibly infectious diseases such as bird flu or severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) before they can expose a broader population.

Health officials worked with the state tourism liaison to discuss the situation with the Japanese Consulate and one of the consuls asked to observe the screening, she said.

All partners "were pleasantly surprised how many people did opt in and without question went through health screening with no concerns," she said.

Sixteen makeshift kiosks were set up at screening points with trained medical staff to take the questionnaires from passengers leaving the airplane and ask if they had a fever.

Avian influenza hasn't mutated into human influenza, "but when it does accidentally move to the human side, it causes severe disease with high mortality," Park said.

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www.starbulletin.com > News > Hawaii News >
Screening of passengers for flu called a success

POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Dec 24, 2008
(Page 2 of 2) | Single Page View

A voluntary screening process for flulike illnesses among international arrivals at Hono- lulu Airport worked so well it may be done more often next year, a state Health Department official said.

The process was tested recently on 435 arriving Japan Airlines passengers, said Dr. Sarah Park, chief of the Disease Outbreak Control Division.

The program is aimed at intercepting passengers with possibly infectious diseases such as bird flu or severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) before they can expose a broader population.

Health officials worked with the state tourism liaison to discuss the situation with the Japanese Consulate and one of the consuls asked to observe the screening, she said.

All partners "were pleasantly surprised how many people did opt in and without question went through health screening with no concerns," she said.

Sixteen makeshift kiosks were set up at screening points with trained medical staff to take the questionnaires from passengers leaving the airplane and ask if they had a fever.

Avian influenza hasn't mutated into human influenza, "but when it does accidentally move to the human side, it causes severe disease with high mortality," Park said.

Regional Reporting and Surveillance

OIE: LPAI Chinese Taipei, Immediate Notification

Low pathogenic avian influenza (poultry),
Chinese Taipei

Information received on 20/12/2008 from Dr Watson H T Sung, Director General, Director General Office, Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine, Taipei , Chinese Taipei

Summary
Report type Immediate notification (Final report)
Start date 12/11/2008
Date of first confirmation of the event 24/11/2008
Report date 20/12/2008
Date submitted to OIE 20/12/2008
Date event resolved 14/11/2008
Reason for notification Reoccurrence of a listed disease
Date of previous occurrence 03/2004
Causal agent Low pathogenic avian influenza virus
Serotype H5N2
Nature of diagnosis Laboratory (advanced)
This event pertains to the whole country

New outbreaks
Outbreak 1 Yua-Chih farm, KAO-HSIUNG
Date of start of the outbreak 12/11/2008
Outbreak status Resolved (14/11/2008)
Epidemiological unit Farm
Affected animals
Species Susceptible Cases Deaths Destroyed Slaughtered
Birds 18591 520 230 18361 0
Summary of outbreaks Total outbreaks: 1
Outbreak statistics
Species Apparent morbidity rate Apparent mortality rate Apparent case fatality rate Proportion susceptible animals lost*
Birds 2.80% 1.24% 44.23% 100.00%

* Removed from the susceptible population through death, destruction and/or slaughter

Epidemiology
Source of the outbreak(s) or origin of infection

* Unknown or inconclusive

Epidemiological comments The primary surveillance in the 3-km-radius is completed. All the 76 flocks in this area have been disinfected and screened. The surveillance programme will be conducted for three months.

Control measures
Measures applied

* Stamping out
* Quarantine
* Movement control inside the country
* Screening
* Zoning
* Disinfection of infected premises/establishment(s)
* Vaccination prohibited
* No treatment of affected animals

Measures to be applied

* No other measures

Diagnostic test results
Laboratory name and type Animal Health Research Institute (National laboratory)
Tests and results
Species Test Test date Result
Birds haemagglutination inhibition test (HIT) 24/11/2008 Positive
Birds intravenous pathogenicity index (IVPI) test 19/12/2008 Positive
Birds reverse transcription - polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) 24/11/2008 Positive
Birds virus isolation 24/11/2008 Positive

Future Reporting
The event is resolved. No more reports will be submitted.

Regional Reporting and Surveillance

India: 30,000 birds culled in flu-hit W Bengal district

12/24/08 Gulf Times--Over 30,000 poultry have been culled in the bird flu-hit Malda district of West Bengal while in Assam culling operations have been affected in some areas due to resistance from people, officials said yesterday.

In Assam, more than 400,000 poultry have been killed so far in three weeks since the disease broke out.
West Bengal Animal Resources Development (ARD) Minister Anisur Rehman said in Kolkata yesterday: ?Veterinary workers have culled over 30,000 chicken and ducks till Monday night at Narhatta and Satgheria villages in Malda and finished the mopping up operations there on Monday night. Our officials inspected the affected areas today and reported the operations as successful.?

West Bengal has set a target of culling about 25,000 poultry birds in the affected areas of Malda, about 350km from here.

Veterinary workers, wearing white protective suits, gloves and masks, started the culling on December 16 after blood samples of dead poultry sent to the High Security Disease Diagnostic Laboratory in Bhopal tested positive for avian flu.

Assam Veterinary Commissioner S Mewra said in Guwahati: ?Culling operations are near complete in four of the seven bird flu-hit districts, although in the three districts of Chirang, Barpeta and Bongaigaon, we have not been able to finish the operations due to lack of co-operation from the locals.? Seven Assam districts were hit by bird flu, killing hundreds of chicken and ducks about three weeks ago.
?We have culled more than 420,000 birds. There have been no reports of fresh deaths or bird flu virus in new areas since last week,? Mewra said.

But lack of co-operation from locals in the three districts was posing a serious health risk, he said.
?Bird flu virus could spread to the adjoining areas if locals in the three districts do not co-operate with the culling operations. There are risks of the virus spreading to humans if people resist culling.?
Meanwhile, expert central health teams are continuing door-to-door checks to ensure that the virus does not spread to humans.

?So far there are no reports of the virus spreading to humans,? central health ministry official Parthajyoti Gogoi said.

The state government has so far disbursed Rs10mn as compensation to villagers for the poultry culled. ? IANS

Regional Reporting and Surveillance

Bangladesh confirms bird flu outbreak

12/24/08 Reuters--Authorities in Bangladesh have stepped up surveillance after a fresh outbreak of the deadly H5N1 strain of avian influenza was discovered, officials said on Wednesday.

"So far 10,000 birds were culled at several infected firms and surrounding areas in five districts," said Salehuddin Khan, director of the government's livestock department.

The H5N1 virus was first reported near the capital in March 2007 and spread to 47 of Bangladesh's 64 districts, forcing authorities to kill more than 1.65 million birds.

Industry officials said about 40 percent of the country's more than 150,000 poultry farms have been closed, making half a million people jobless.

The World Health Organisation in May confirmed the first human case of bird flu in Bangladesh, a 16-month-old baby infected in January. The infant recovered.

Since the virus resurfaced in Asia in late 2003, at least 247 people have died from bird flu in a dozen countries, the WHO says.

Pandemic Preparedness

Glaxo Prepares Work Force For Worst-Case Flu Scenario

12/23/08 Dow Jones Newswire--GlaxoSmithKline PLC (GSK) wants to be one of the safest places to work in the event of a flu pandemic. The U.K. drug maker has spent nearly two years making contingency plans to protect its global work force so the company can continue manufacturing the drugs and vaccines it thinks will be critical if a major flu outbreak hits. Whether the preparations are enough is an open question, as experts note that factors outside Glaxo's control could render the best-laid plans moot.

Glaxo's plan includes providing antiviral drugs and pandemic-related vaccines to up to 435,000 people in 137 countries. That represents Glaxo's more than 100,000 workers, plus their families and key suppliers such as the farmers who provide eggs used to make vaccines. Thousands of employees would be told to work from home, and those who do come to work would be spread out to minimize human contact.

Glaxo says it wants to minimize any disruption to production not only of its antiviral drug Relenza and pandemic vaccines, but also its other drugs and vaccines. "If we can't make those, we'd be failing patients with HIV, asthma and cancer," Ronald Joines, director of employee health and business continuity, said in a recent interview near Glaxo's Philadelphia office.

Health authorities worldwide have warned in recent years of a possible flu pandemic, driven by reports in numerous countries of a type of avian influenza known as H5N1, a virus that experts fear could mutate into one that spreads easily among humans and potentially kill millions.

Since 2002, the World Health Organization has tallied about 391 human infections with bird flu, 247 of which resulted in death. The ongoing risk was underscored last week when Chinese authorities ordered a slaughter of thousands of chickens after discovering some birds infected with H5N1.

Glaxo has supplied drugs and vaccines to governments and health organizations in preparation for a pandemic, either through sales contracts or outright donations. More recently, however, sales of Relenza have fallen off, and Glaxo has tried to bolster sales by promoting corporate stockpiling. Relenza sales for the first nine months of 2008 fell about 77% to $86 million. Roche Holding AG (RHHBY), which makes competing antiviral drug Tamiflu, has seen similar trends.

Relenza is used to prevent flu or reduce its severity. In addition, Glaxo makes Pandemrix, a pandemic flu vaccine, and Prepandrix, which is designed to be given before the onset of an expected H5N1 pandemic. Glaxo is studying a similar pre-pandemic vaccine in North America. A Sanofi-Aventis (SNY) H5N1 vaccine is approved for use in the U.S.

One of the first steps Glaxo took was to improve employee participation in its seasonal flu-shot program. The seasonal flu vaccine is meant to prevent non-pandemic flu that circulates annually. Previously, only about 40% of Glaxo's global work force had easy access to seasonal flu shots, partly because the shots weren't available in some countries. Now, about 90% of Glaxo's global work force have access to some sort of seasonal flu shot program, Joines said.

Aside from its immediate benefits, the increased participation is meant to get employees used to the idea of getting a flu shot. Glaxo also has expanded flu-vaccine manufacturing capacity, which can be used in the event of a pandemic.

If health authorities conclude that a flu outbreak is approaching a pandemic, Glaxo's office workers will be reminded to wash their hands frequently and use sanitizing wipes to clean their work spaces. They'll be spread out into empty conference rooms and cafeterias will be closed to minimize human contact - a concept called "social distancing."

The roughly one-third of Glaxo workers who are considered "critical" - including manufacturing employees - would be given daily preventive antiviral medications beginning before an official pandemic is declared, and some would be given respiratory masks while at work. The antiviral options would probably include not only Relenza but also Roche's Tamiflu and generic drugs.

Non-critical workers, including those working from home, wouldn't have to take daily preventive antiviral therapy. Employee participation in the drug and vaccine program would be voluntary, Joines said, because it would be unethical to make it mandatory.

The preparations have led Glaxo to do things it might not have done for business reasons. Previously, Relenza wasn't approved for use in more than 30 countries in which Glaxo operates, either because they weren't considered commercially viable or governments hadn't requested the drug, Joines said. Glaxo has taken steps to register the drug in those countries so its employees have access to the drug in the event of a pandemic.

Glaxo has spent about $6 million to $10 million making the contingency plans, Joines estimated.

It remains to be seen whether these efforts will be sufficient. The company probably won't be able to protect every single employee, and Joines said in a worst-case scenario 1% to 2% of Glaxo workers could die. However, he believes Glaxo's infection and death rates would be lower than the broader population's due to the company's preparations.

There may also be factors outside Glaxo's control that render its preparations moot. Michael Osterholm, director of the Center of Infectious Disease Research & Policy at the University of Minnesota, sees a pandemic disrupting the supply chain for coal, which would in turn disrupt the electricity supply. That would pose problems for any company's preparedness plans.

"I don't want to dismiss or say these aren't important things," Osterholm said of Glaxo's efforts. "But we need the corporations of the world to stand up and demand protection for basic infrastructure."

UNCLASSIFIED

Dec 23, 2008

DNI Avian Influenza Daily Digest

UNCLASSIFIED

Avian Influenza Daily Digest

December 23, 2008 15:15 GMT

This digest is produced by the United States Government, Office of the Director of National Intelligence, Washington DC, USA. Articles and resource documents in this digest are from open sources and unclassified.

This digest contains raw open source content and is not an evaluated intelligence product. Readers are encouraged to contribute updates and/or clarifications that will be posted in subsequent issues of the digest. Articles may contain copyrighted material, further dissemination outside government channels may be prohibited without permission from the copyright owners.

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12/23/08 The Statesman--A large number of backyard chickens have died at Natunpar and Mandalpara villages under Noorpur gram panchayat in Manikchak block, Malda district since Saturday generating fear of fresh Bird Flu outbreak.
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India: ARD does too little, too late
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Regional Reporting and Surveillance

Nigeria: Oyo to establish modern central abattoir
12/23/08 Nigeria Tribune--DETERMINED to find a lasting solution to the problems of unwholesome practices and, insufficient abattoir in Oyo state and having come to the realisation of the fact that there is the urgent need to eradicate all illegal, unauthorised places that has been converted into animal slaughtering and meat processing centres in the pacesetters state, as well as its health and environmental attendant effects, the present civilian administration in Oyo state under the leadership of Otunba Adebayo Alao-Akala has made a solid arrangement to establish a modern central abattoir, which will put an end to problem associated with animal slaughtering, raw meat processing and transportation.
Regional Reporting and Surveillance

USA: Poultry Industry Urge Registration of Farms
12/23/08 Infozine--FarmersThe National Turkey Federation (NTF), National Chicken Council (NCC) and United Egg Producers (UEP) are urging farmers to register their premises with the National Animal Identification System (NAIS) to help protect their flocks in the event of an outbreak of disease. Working with the U.S. Department of Agriculture?s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), the trade associations for poultry and egg have developed and are distributing a brochure, ?First Steps: Register Your Premises,? which encourages growers to register their farms . The brochure is being distributed to the membership of all three associations.
Regional Reporting and Surveillance

India: Get ready to tackle avian flu
12/23/08 The Hindu--Union Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss will write to the Chief Ministers and the State Health Ministers urging them upgrade their preparedness to tackle avian influenza.
Regional Reporting and Surveillance

India: poultry culling in Assam, local resistance hampers drive
12/23/08 New Kerala--More than 400,000 poultry have been culled so far in Assam after an outbreak of bird flu three weeks ago. But authorities were unable to complete the killing in some areas due to resistance from locals, officials said Tuesday.
Regional Reporting and Surveillance

India: Bird flu effect: Over five million birds culled in one year
12/22/08 Zee News--Over five million birds have been culled in five states over the last one year to contain the spread of avian flu, with West Bengal accounting for 83 percent of the birds killed, Parliament was informed on Monday.
Regional Reporting and Surveillance

India: Dr. Ramadoss urges states to be on alert after bird flu outbreak
12/22/08 Newstrack--Minister Anbumani Ramadoss on Monday asked all the states to keep close vigil on fresh bird flu outbreak and asked to broaden their preparations and efforts to deal with any crisis.
Regional Reporting and Surveillance

Indonesia: Resident forum to watch over the city
12/22/08 Jakarta Post--In a bid to involve the public in creating a safe and comfortable Jakarta, the city administration Friday formed a communication forum at both municipality and provincial levels to foster community alertness.
Regional Reporting and Surveillance

Transmitters fixed on birds
12/22/08 The Hindu--As part of the global fight against Avian flu, transmitters were fitted on migratory birds, particularly geese and duck species, at Koonthankulam bird sanctuary near here. The exercise was carried out to ascertain whether wild birds play an active role in spreading the disease, caused by H5N1 virus.
Regional Reporting and Surveillance

Indonesia: Struggle over bird flu samples drags on
12/22/08 New Scientist--THE world is still ignorant about how the most feared strain of bird flu is evolving. That's because a meeting to persuade Indonesia - which has had the most cases of human H5N1 flu since 2005 - to share its virus samples ended in disagreement.
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Indonesia sees progress on bird flu information sharing
12/21/08 The Penninsula--Indonesia believes progress has been made towards agreeing a new global mechanism to share bird flu samples, although details need to be thrashed out before it will end its boycott, the country?s health minister said.
Regional Reporting and Surveillance

Taiwan culls 18,000 chickens due to bird flu
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Regional Reporting and Surveillance

Cambodian survives bird flu infection
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Regional Reporting and Surveillance

India: Culling Continues in Avian?Flu-hit West Bengal District
12/22/08 Khaleej Times--Over 22,000 poultry birds have been culled since Tuesday in West Bengal?s bird flu-hit Malda district, a state minister said Sunday.
Regional Reporting and Surveillance

India: Four culling staff fall ill in India
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Regional Reporting and Surveillance

Thailand: Bird flu teams inspect high-risk villages in Uttaradit
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Regional Reporting and Surveillance

India: Centre reviews bird flu situation, asks states to be prepared
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Science and Technology

Growth of H5N1 Influenza A Viruses in the Upper Respiratory Tracts of Mice
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Influenza Technologies Available for Product Development
12/23/08 PandemicFlu.gov--To improve public health worldwide, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) grants licenses to organizations around the world to commercialize intellectual property invented by research scientists at HHS. This portfolio of patent applications, issued patents and unique biological materials includes technologies for influenza vaccines and diagnostics, all of which are available to qualified organizations, both commercial and non-profit.
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Avian flu vaccine immunogenic in children
12/23/08 Reuters--A "prepandemic" avian influenza A (H5N1) vaccine proved safe and immunogenic in a preliminary clinical trial with children, mirroring the results of a recent trial conducted in adults, Hungarian researchers report in the Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal for December.
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New flu is likely to spread differently
12/23/08 Sun--Unlike the 1918 flu that circled the globe with unremitting ferocity, a pandemic strain today probably would emerge as a series of hot zones, possibly straining medical efforts to contain the deadly outbreaks, scientists report today.
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Potential infections of H5N1 and H9N2 avian influenza do exist in Guangdong populations of China
12/22/08 Chinese Journal of Medicine--[send email to request for full text pdf]--Southeast China is one of the sites of influenza origin. During 2003--2004, nine avian influenza outbreaks took place in Guangdong Province. But no human case was reported. To examine the status of potential human infection by human influenza (H1N1, H3N2) and avian influenza (H5N1, H7N7, H9N2) in the avian influenza epidemic area of Guangdong Province, China, we conducted a seroepidemiologic survey in the people of this area from April to June of 2004. METHODS: Three out of 9 H5N1 avian influenza affected poultry areas in Guangdong were randomly selected, and the population living within 3 kilometers of the affected poultries were chosen as the survey subjects. One thousand two hundred and fourteen people were selected from 3 villages at random. Human and avian influenza antibody titers were determined by hemagglutination-inhibition (HI) test and microneutralization test (MNT). RESULTS: The positive rate of antibody to H5N1 was 3.03% in the occupational exposure group and 2.34% in general citizens group; that of H9N2 was 9.52% in the occupational exposure group and 3.76% in the general citizens group. Moreover one case in the occupational exposure group was positive for H7N7. One year later, all previously positive cases had become negative except for one H5N1-positive case. CONCLUSION: The observations imply that H5N1 and H9N2 avian influenza silent infections exist in Guangdong populations.
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Clinical characteristics of 26 human cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza A (H5N1) virus infection in China
12/22/08 PubMed--[Full Text Link]--While human cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza A (H5N1) virus infection continue to increase globally, available clinical data on H5N1 cases are limited. We conducted a retrospective study of 26 confirmed human H5N1 cases identified through surveillance in China from October 2005 through April 2008. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Data were collected from hospital medical records of H5N1 cases and analyzed. The median age was 29 years (range 6-62) and 58% were female. Many H5N1 cases reported fever (92%) and cough (58%) at illness onset, and had lower respiratory findings of tachypnea and dyspnea at admission.
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Protection of chickens against H5N1 highly pathogenic avian influenza virus infection by live vaccination with infectious laryngotracheitis virus recombinants expressing H5 hemagglutinin and N1 neuraminidase.
12/22/08 Vaccine--Attenuated vaccine strains of the alphaherpesvirus causing infectious laryngotracheitis of chickens (ILTV, gallid herpesvirus 1) can be used for mass application. Previously, we showed that live virus vaccination with recombinant ILTV expressing hemagglutinin of highly pathogenic avian influenza viruses (HPAIV) protected chickens against ILT and fowl plague caused by HPAIV carrying the corresponding hemagglutinin subtypes [Lüschow D, Werner O, Mettenleiter TC, Fuchs W. Protection of chickens from lethal avian influenza A virus infection by live-virus vaccination with infectious laryngotracheitis virus recombinants expressing the hemagglutinin (H5) gene. Vaccine 2001;19(30):4249-59; Veits J, Lüschow D, Kindermann K, Werner O, Teifke JP, Mettenleiter TC, et al. Deletion of the non-essential UL0 gene of infectious laryngotracheitis (ILT) virus leads to attenuation in chickens, and UL0 mutants expressing influenza virus haemagglutinin (H7) protect against ILT and fowl plague. J Gen Virol 2003;84(12):3343-52]. However, protection against H5N1 HPAIV was not satisfactory. Therefore, a newly designed dUTPase-negative ILTV vector was used for rapid insertion of the H5-hemagglutinin, or N1-neuraminidase genes of a recent H5N1 HPAIV isolate. Compared to our previous constructs, protein expression was considerably enhanced by insertion of synthetic introns downstream of the human cytomegalovirus immediate-early promoter within the 5'-nontranslated region of the transgenes. Deletion of the viral dUTPase gene did not affect in vitro replication of the ILTV recombinants, but led to sufficient attenuation in vivo. After a single ocular immunization, all chickens developed H5- or N1-specific serum antibodies. Nevertheless, animals immunized with N1-ILTV died after subsequent H5N1 HPAIV challenge, although survival times were prolonged compared to non-vaccinated controls. In contrast, all chickens vaccinated with either H5-ILTV alone, or H5- and N1-ILTV simultaneously, survived without showing any clinical signs. Real-time RT-PCR indicated limited challenge virus replication after vaccination with H5-ILTV only, which was completely blocked after coimmunization with N1-ILTV. Thus, chickens can be protected from H5N1 HPAIV-induced disease by live vaccination with an attenuated hemagglutinin-expressing ILTV recombinant, and efficacy can be further increased by coadministration of an ILTV mutant expressing neuraminidase. Furthermore, chickens vaccinated with ILTV vectors can be easily differentiated from influenza virus-infected animals by the absence of serum antibodies against the AIV nucleoprotein.
Vaccines

First Case of Highly Pathogenic H5N1 Avian Influenza Virus in Spain
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Risk factors and characteristics of H5N1 Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) post-vaccination outbreaks
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EU panel supports innovative pandemic, seasonal flu vaccines
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Full Text of Articles follow ...

AI Research

Growth of H5N1 Influenza A Viruses in the Upper Respiratory Tracts of Mice

12/23/08 PLoS Pathology--Full Text--Masato Hatta, Yasuko Hatta, Jin H Kim, Shinji Watanabe, Kyoko Shinya, Tung Nguyen, Phuong S Lien, Quynh M Le, Yoshihiro Kawaoka

Highly pathogenic avian H5N1 influenza A viruses have spread throughout Asia, Europe, and Africa, raising serious worldwide concern about their pandemic potential. Although more than 250 people have been infected with these viruses, with a consequent high rate of mortality, the molecular mechanisms responsible for the efficient transmission of H5N1 viruses among humans remain elusive. We used a mouse model to examine the role of the amino acid at position 627 of the PB2 viral protein in efficient replication of H5N1 viruses in the mammalian respiratory tract. Viruses possessing Lys at position 627 of PB2 replicated efficiently in lungs and nasal turbinates, as well as in cells, even at the lower temperature of 33 °C. Those viruses possessing Glu at this position replicated less well in nasal turbinates than in lungs, and less well in cells at the lower temperature. These results suggest that Lys at PB2?627 confers to avian H5N1 viruses the advantage of efficient growth in the upper and lower respiratory tracts of mammals. Therefore, efficient viral growth in the upper respiratory tract may provide a platform for the adaptation of avian H5N1 influenza viruses to humans and for efficient person-to-person virus transmission, in the context of changes in other viral properties including specificity for human (sialic acid ?-2,6-galactose containing) receptors.

AI Research

Influenza Technologies Available for Product Development

12/23/08 PandemicFlu.gov--To improve public health worldwide, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) grants licenses to organizations around the world to commercialize intellectual property invented by research scientists at HHS. This portfolio of patent applications, issued patents and unique biological materials includes technologies for influenza vaccines and diagnostics, all of which are available to qualified organizations, both commercial and non-profit.

To facilitate the development of new technologies world-wide, including in developing countries where there is no patent protection; HHS will license unique biological materials relevant to these technologies to organizations in such countries for the development of influenza vaccines and diagnostics. HHS can grant any qualified organization a research use license on a non-exclusive basis. HHS will not require royalties on products donated or sold at cost to public institutions for use in developing countries. License terms will be commensurate with the commitment of organizations to bring technologies to market through development on a country-by-country or regional basis.

The filing of these patent applications is consistent with the HHS policy to develop tools and technologies that facilitate the translation of research advances into medical products for the benefit of public health. This strategy has been utilized successfully by HHS to transfer technologies for vaccine development to countries such as Brazil, China, and Egypt. The patents are incentives for organizations to incur the cost and risk of investing in research advances to develop products and to bring them to market. At this early stage of development, no one knows which, if any, of these or other multiple technologies will bring the world closer to new safe and effective vaccines or diagnostics for seasonal or pandemic influenza.

HHS research has yielded technologies that hold great promise in combating influenza

Over the last several years, the efforts of HHS researchers have resulted in a number of inventions, represented within 14 U.S. patent applications and associated foreign applications (?Patent Families?), and one set of issued patents for technologies related to influenza vaccines and diagnostics. For example, four HHS/National Institutes of Health (NIH) patent families describe recombinant constructs with influenza gene inserts modified in a specific way. Developers could use these influenza-vaccine candidates alone, as a combination product, as part of a vaccine regimen, or in diagnostic applications for multiple influenza strains, including seasonal influenza strains (H1N1 and H3N2) and strains with pandemic potential (H5N1).

Five HHS/NIH patent families and one HHS Food and Drug Administration (FDA) patent family relate to other approaches to the development of influenza vaccines and diagnostics, including peptides and conjugate vaccines. One of these technologies uses tiled microarrays that contain large numbers of influenza-virus nucleic acid probes to detect and identify known and unknown subtypes of influenza viruses for types A, B, and C.

In addition, researchers for the HHS the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are inventors on five patent families, two of which HHS solely owns, and three of which HHS co-owns with universities. Three of these patent families are for diagnostics. The other two include a recombinant-vaccine construct with inserts of influenza genes, and a new form of recombinant influenza M2 protein.

All of these pending HHS/NIH and HHS/FDA patent applications, as well as the HHS/CDC solely owned patent families, are available for licensing by enterprises around the world.

None of the patent families would restrict the use of or claim wild-type influenza viruses.

HHS actively seeks partners to develop and commercialize technologies

All of the HHS/NIH and HHS/FDA patent families noted above are pending judgment by patent authorities, as early-stage filings in the United States, as international applications with the ability to file at a later time in specific countries, or as applications filed in individual countries or regions including the United States, Canada, the People?s Republic of China, India, South Korea, Singapore and Europe. These countries reflect the location of most organizations that have previously licensed or have expressed an interest in licensing vaccine technologies for product development from the HHS. The HHS/NIH and HHS/FDA would consider filing in other countries, if an organization in that country desires patent protection and a license as an incentive to bring a product to market there.

The HHS/CDC patent families, solely owned by HHS, are also available for licensing. The recombinant M2 technology is patented in the United States, New Zealand, Australia and some European countries, and is pending in Canada. The second technology is a diagnostic, and is pending patent approval in the United States, Europe, Canada, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Indonesia.

HHS advertises technologies available for licensing on web sites, public notices, or through direct contact with potential licensees. Through HHS technology-transfer efforts related to various discoveries of interest to developing countries, licensing professionals maintain contact with potential partners around the world.

The expectation of public-health benefit drives HHS licensing policy

HHS licenses its technologies to improve public health around the world. Furthermore, HHS is committed to an international strategic licensing strategy similar to what it has successfully utilized to transfer technologies for use in the development of vaccines against dengue, typhoid, bacterial meningitis, rotavirus and varicella-zoster to institutions in Brazil, China, Egypt, India, México, Nigeria, South Africa, and South Korea. HHS utilizes this same strategy for influenza technologies.

The technology described in these patent families could prove useful in lessening the global burden of seasonal influenza, as well as in improving the preparedness of nations against influenza strains with pandemic potential, such as H5N1 and others. Unlike traditional, seasonal vaccines against influenza, these recombinant technologies require extensive testing to show they are effective before obtaining regulatory approval and making them available to the public. Private-sector investment and expertise are critical to achieve this result. New technologies such as these could improve protection from influenza or reduce the amount of time required to produce large quantities of vaccine. The immediate challenge is to facilitate their development into products that improve public health throughout the world.

For further information about licensing these technologies, please contact the HHS/NIH Office of Technology Transfer www.ott.nih.gov (HHS/NIH and HHS/FDA inventions), or the HHS/CDC Technology-Transfer Office www.cdc.gov/od/science/techTran.

Pandemic Preparedness

EU panel supports innovative pandemic, seasonal flu vaccines

12/23/08 CIDRAP--An H5N1 influenza vaccine made by Baxter International could become the first cell culture?based H5N1 influenza vaccine to be approved for marketing, following its endorsement by a committee of the European Medicines Agency (EMEA) last week.

Recommendations of the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) are usually followed by the EMEA within a few months.

Most flu vaccines, including the two H5N1 prepandemic vaccines now licensed, are grown in chicken eggs, a process that takes about 4 to 6 months. Baxter's H5N1 vaccine, called Celvapan, is grown in Vero (monkey kidney) cells. Cell culture production is regarded as somewhat faster and much more flexible than the egg-based method.

Also last week, the CHMP recommended EMEA approval of a Sanofi Pasteur seasonal flu vaccine that is injected intradermally (ID)?just beneath the skin surface?instead of into muscle. "This represents the first key step toward recognition of the ID route as a promising option for vaccine administration," the company said in a news release.

Baxter vaccine called mock-up
Baxter said its cell-based production technology is faster than the egg-based method because the virus used in the vaccine does not need to be modified to grow in chicken eggs.

The company said EMEA approval of Celvapan would permit the vaccine to be used if the World Health Organization declared a pandemic. The vaccine is derived from an H5N1 strain isolated in Vietnam in 2004.

The company described Celvapan as a mock-up vaccine?one that is identical to the future pandemic vaccine in composition and manufacturing but contains an existing flu strain, since the actual pandemic strain has not emerged.

"Once a pandemic strain is declared, this licensure allows for a fast track approval of the vaccine containing the actual pandemic strain," the company said in a news release. Health officials hope that vaccines based on existing H5N1 viruses will provide some protection if H5N1 evolves into a pandemic strain.

In May 2007 the EMEA approved a mock-up flu vaccine made by Novartis, called Focetria, to permit a faster start on production in case of a pandemic. The company said that vaccine would not be manufactured until a pandemic is declared.

Baxter said the antigen composition and structure of Celvapan "are identical to the actual virus circulating in nature," which eliminates the need to use adjuvants (immune-boosting chemicals) and the resulting potential for side effects.

Clinical trial results
In a phase 3 trial, Celvapan was tested in two groups of adults, aged 18 to 59 and aged 60 and older. Two doses produced an immune response in 73% of the younger group and 74% of the older group, the company reported. Six months after the second dose, a booster vaccination with either the vaccine strain or a 2005 H5N1 strain from Indonesia induced a "substantial booster response," the company said.

The vaccine had a side-effect profile similar to that of licensed seasonal flu vaccines, Baxter reported. Celvapan is produced in Bohumil, Czech Republic, the company said.

Human H5N1 vaccines licensed to date include one in the United States and one in Europe. In April 2007 the US Food and Drug Administration approved a vaccine made by Sanofi Pasteur, and the government has been stockpiling it. In May of this year, the EMEA approved GlaxoSmithKline's H5N1 vaccine, called Prepandrix. Both are egg-based vaccines.

Though no cell-based prepandemic vaccines have been licensed yet, at least one cell-based seasonal flu vaccine has been approved. Novartis announced the European approval of Optaflu in June 2007.

Intradermal vaccine supported
The CHMP approval of Sanofi Pasteur's ID seasonal flu vaccine, called Intanza/IDflu, was announced Dec 18.

"Vaccination via the ID route involves the administration of the antigen into the dermal layer of the skin," Sanofi said in a news release. "Due to the high concentration of specialized immune cells in the skin layer and their ability to effectively stimulate an immune response, ID vaccination provides direct and efficient access to the immune system."

The vaccine is administered with the Micro Injection System made by Becton Dickinson (BD), which permits consistent and reliable ID vaccination, according to Sanofi.

The BD product consists of a prefilled syringe with a needle and a shield that allows the needle to penetrate only 1.5 millimeters into the skin, according to a 2007 report in Vaccine. Previously, ID injections were done with the Mantoux technique, developed for tuberculosis skin tests, the report said. It said the Mantoux technique is not commonly used for vaccination, because it is hard to apply reliably and efficiently.

The US flu vaccine shortage in the 2004-05 flu season stimulated interest in using ID vaccination as a way to stretch the vaccine supply, the report said.

In preparation for seeking European approval, Sanofi said it conducted clinical trials of Intanza/IDflu involving more than 7,000 adult and elderly volunteers. In a phase 3 trial involving more than 3,000 volunteers over age 60, Intanza was well tolerated and induced a stronger immune response when given intradermally than intramuscularly, according to Susan Watkins, a Sanofi spokeswoman in Swiftwater, Pa. The trial used the same dose as in licensed seasonal flu vaccines: 15 micrograms for each of three strains.

Sanofi is also developing an ID version of its US-licensed seasonal flu vaccine, Fluzone, Watkins told CIDRAP News. She said the vaccine is in "end-term" clinical development, but she was not sure when the company would apply for FDA approval.

Regional Reporting and Surveillance

India: More birds die in Malda

12/23/08 The Statesman--A large number of backyard chickens have died at Natunpar and Mandalpara villages under Noorpur gram panchayat in Manikchak block, Malda district since Saturday generating fear of fresh Bird Flu outbreak.

The district administration has instructed the animal resources development (ARD) officials to examine the dead birds and collect blood samples for tests. The block livestock development officer, Mr Chinmay Biswas, who was supervising mopping exercise in Old Malda block today, said vets have reached the spot to examine the birds.

?It is difficult to presume the reason of death till lab tests are conducted. However, according to the vets who have checked the area, the chickens may have died of the disease known as Ranikhet, common among chickens in winter,? he added.

Villagers and panchayat members reported to the Manikchak BDO that at least 150 birds have died in Natunpara, Sheikhpara and Mandalpara villages since Saturday. Fresh bird deaths were reported from several villages in Ratua I, Gazole block a few days ago.

The deputy director of ARD, Malda Mr NK Shit said: ?A lot of birds die in winter. A routine surveillance is going on in all 15 blocks of Malda district and we are collecting at least 10 blood samples from each block for laboratory tests in Kolkata.? According to him, 50 samples of such death cases in Malda have tested Bird Flu negative so far.

Meanwhile, mopping exercise continues in the district amidst resistance from villagers. Disinfection work is on in 13 mouzas in English Bazaar and six mouzas in Old Malda block. At Barkol village in Old Malda, the Malda SDO Mr P Pal faced resistance from villagers during supervision of mopping and disinfection exercise today.

Ramadoss
Union health minister Mr Anbumani Ramadoss today reviewed the avian influenza situation in the country following the outbreak of the disease in West Bengal and Assam and asked all state governments to upgrade preparedness to deal with the Bird Flu.

Regional Reporting and Surveillance

India: ARD does too little, too late

12/23/08 The Statesman--At a time when Bird Flu outbreaks are being reported in the state, the state government failed to send blood samples to the High Security Animal Disease Laboratory (HSADL) in Bhopal for confirmation of the disease. It may be mentioned here an above average mortality of poultry birds was reported from Bankura a couple of days back.

Senior officials of state animal resources development department (ARD) told The Statesman that they could not collect blood samples of dead birds because they learnt about the mortality of poultry in Bankura six days after the birds died.

The dead birds were buried by the poultry owners, before the ARD officials could reach the affected villages.

Experts felt that this has exposed the callousness of the state government, as this was not the first time that the H5N1 virus has hit the state.

The state came to know about the mortality of birds in Malda too, much later, whereas presence of H5N1 virus in Malda had been confirmed.

According to the officials, a total of 600 poultry birds have reportedly died in Bankura. It was also learnt that majority of these birds died in an organised poultry farm. Some poultry birds died in backyard poultry too. As all the dead birds were either buried by the poultry owners, officially the death of only 150 was reported from Bankura's Onda block.

When contacted, Mr K Saha, director of ARD, said: ?Samples from Bankura could not be sent to Bhopal as our officials did not find any dead birds in the area. The dead birds were buried by the owners and later these were dug up by dogs. Meanwhile, officials were told that the birds died of cold.? A senior ARD official told The Statesman: ?Actually the field level ARD staff came to know about above average mortality of poultry birds after almost seven days. As a result, when they reached the area to collect samples, the dead birds had already been buried. However, Bird Flu confirmation test was required here as the deadly virus has returned to the state.?

The district magistrate of Bankura, Mr Sundar Majumdar, said: ?Samples of dead birds were not sent for Bird Flu confirmation test after ARD officials identified the disease as Ranikhet, a common disease which affects the birds.?

Pandemic Preparedness

EU panel supports innovative pandemic, seasonal flu vaccines

Recommendations of the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) are usually followed by the EMEA within a few months.

The vaccine had a side-effect profile similar to that of licensed seasonal flu vaccines, Baxter reported. Celvapan is produced in Bohumil, Czech Republic, the company said.

Though no cell-based prepandemic vaccines have been licensed yet, at least one cell-based seasonal flu vaccine has been approved. Novartis announced the European approval of Optaflu in June 2007.

Intradermal vaccine supported
The CHMP approval of Sanofi Pasteur's ID seasonal flu vaccine, called Intanza/IDflu, was announced Dec 18.

The vaccine is administered with the Micro Injection System made by Becton Dickinson (BD), which permits consistent and reliable ID vaccination, according to Sanofi.

The US flu vaccine shortage in the 2004-05 flu season stimulated interest in using ID vaccination as a way to stretch the vaccine supply, the report said.

Regional Reporting and Surveillance

Nigeria: Oyo to establish modern central abattoir

12/23/08 Nigeria Tribune--DETERMINED to find a lasting solution to the problems of unwholesome practices and, insufficient abattoir in Oyo state and having come to the realisation of the fact that there is the urgent need to eradicate all illegal, unauthorised places that has been converted into animal slaughtering and meat processing centres in the pacesetters state, as well as its health and environmental attendant effects, the present civilian administration in Oyo state under the leadership of Otunba Adebayo Alao-Akala has made a solid arrangement to establish a modern central abattoir, which will put an end to problem associated with animal slaughtering, raw meat processing and transportation.

Barrister Kunle Ishola, the state agriculture commissioner made this known last Tuesday, in Ibadan. Speaking through Dr. Ademola Alabi, a deputy director, Livestock Services in the Ministry, during the annual dinner and award giving nite organised by the Association of Private Veterinary Medical Practitioners, Oyo and Osun state branch, the commissioner hinted the gathering that the problem of presenting and selling of unwholesome meat to the general public will soon be a thing of the past in the state because the state governor is now determined to stop or curb the spread of zoonotic diseases, slaughtering of sick, unhealthy or about-to-die animals for people to consume, as well as ensuring proper inspection of animals before being slaughtering.

The commissioner said ?Oyo State government has taken some bold steps at ensuring that only good, healthy meat are being sold in many of our markets and to achieve this aim, the sum of N11 million has been committed for the purchase of meat inspection equipment and chemicals which shall be used by meat inspectors towards ensuring the production of wholesome meat.

Not only that, the state has perfected arrangement to establish a modern cattle market and krall at the Akinyele local government in order to facilitate animal stock market and control of cattle diseases and this project arrangement which has reached an advance stage has gulped huge amount of money for maintainance.

Dr. Alabi further highlighted other good and prospective agricultural developmental projects and programmes which the state have for farmers on behalf of the agriculture commissioner, adding that the governor is a farmer?s friend and to show his commitment to the agricultural sector as a viable and a better alternative to the down stream sector and as a fast revenue generating sector, the administration in the state wants a better clinical services to be rendered to domestic/livestock animals and pets.

?Therefore, the government has also approved the sum of N16 million for the purchase of clinical drugs, laboratory equipments for all the veterinary hospitals and clinics in all the local government area councils in Oyo State. ?To better facilitate the discharge of clinical services for extension services, motor vehicles and cycles have also been provided for veterinary clinicians,? he emphasised.

Commending the veterinary doctors in the private sectors for their supportive roles and their unflinching efforts at making the state an animal or zoonotic-disease frees state, Barrister Kunle Ishola said the state government appreciate them very well because the role of private veterinary medical practitioners is so important and they are vital machinery for the delivery of veterinary services to the public and that was why the government engaged their services in the consultancy services programmes like Avian Influenza and Fadama activities.

?It is also a way of proving to the people that the state government believe so much in promoting public-private partnership services,? he concluded.

Regional Reporting and Surveillance

USA: Poultry Industry Urge Registration of Farms

12/23/08 Infozine--FarmersThe National Turkey Federation (NTF), National Chicken Council (NCC) and United Egg Producers (UEP) are urging farmers to register their premises with the National Animal Identification System (NAIS) to help protect their flocks in the event of an outbreak of disease. Working with the U.S. Department of Agriculture?s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), the trade associations for poultry and egg have developed and are distributing a brochure, ?First Steps: Register Your Premises,? which encourages growers to register their farms . The brochure is being distributed to the membership of all three associations.

While registration is voluntary in most states, NTF, NCC and UEP encourage poultry growers and egg producers to register their premises to assist state governments and first responders in reacting to a disease problem.

?NTF members recognize the importance of registering turkey production premises and encourage all growers to register their production sites with their respective state premises registration systems,? said NTF President Joel Brandenberger. ?The turkey industry's structure allows for advanced disease control and eradication and registering farms through the premises identification systems will only complement the systems that the industry already relies upon.?

?We urge all broiler growers to register their premises with the National Animal Identification System (NAIS),? said NCC President George Watts. ?Getting registered means chicken producers will be informed promptly if there is a serious animal disease outbreak in the vicinity. This will help protect the flock and the grower?s livelihood.?

The UEP Board of Directors supports premises registration for egg production facilities. UEP encourages producers to register their premises under NAIS through state agencies and poultry associations working with USDA. UEP President and CEO Gene Gregory said, ?Egg producers have worked hard to prevent an outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza in the nation?s layer flock. At the same time, they have spent vast resources in preparing for such an outbreak anywhere in the United States. The ability to assess vulnerability to egg layer sites or other poultry farms and contain quickly any outbreak depends on readily available and accurate premises information.?

Poultry growers and egg layers can obtain a copy of the brochure by contacting NTF, NCC, or UEP.

Regional Reporting and Surveillance

India: Get ready to tackle avian flu

12/23/08 The Hindu--Union Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss will write to the Chief Ministers and the State Health Ministers urging them upgrade their preparedness to tackle avian influenza.

On Monday, he reviewed the situation in the wake of the recent outbreak of bird flu in some eastern States.

He assured the States of full support and asked them to utilise this situation to create infrastructure to deal with the disease in the future.

Expressing concern over the recurrence of avian influenza in West Bengal, Dr. Ramadoss advised the State to carry out a regular drill, irrespective of outbreak conditions.

Senior officials from the Union Ministries of Health and Family Welfare, Animal Husbandry, Forests and Environment, Home, and Information and Broadcasting; and the Assam, West Bengal, Meghalaya, Bihar, and Jharkhand governments attended.

The Lok Sabha was informed that over five million birds had been culled in five States over the last one year.

The number of birds culled since December 18, 2007 touched 5.14 million, while compensation provided to the bird owners stood at Rs. 14.85 crore, Minister of State for Agriculture Taslimuddin said

Vaccines

Avian flu vaccine immunogenic in children

12/23/08 Reuters--A "prepandemic" avian influenza A (H5N1) vaccine proved safe and immunogenic in a preliminary clinical trial with children, mirroring the results of a recent trial conducted in adults, Hungarian researchers report in the Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal for December.

Fluval, a "monovalent, hens'-egg-grown, formaldehyde-inactivated, whole virus, aluminum phosphate adjuvanted vaccine, developed and produced by Omninvest LTD (Hungary) was used," write Dr. Zoltan Vajo, at the National Center for Immunology and Allergy in Budapest, and co-authors.

Twelve healthy children, 9 to 17 years of age, received a single dose of 6 µg Fluval by intramuscular injection. No side effects were detected.

On day 21, the rate of seroprotection was 75%, with a 75% rate of seroconversion in the hemagglutination titer. Similar results using the same vaccine were reported last year following a clinical trial involving 146 adults.

"The vaccine fulfilled all applicable U.S. and European immunogenicity criteria for licensure," the authors maintain.

Dr. Vajo's team points out that other H5N1 vaccines approved by regulatory agencies require higher total doses, with at least two injections administered 21-28 days apart.

Pediatr Infect Dis J 2008;27:1052-1056.

AI Research

New flu is likely to spread differently

12/23/08 Sun--Unlike the 1918 flu that circled the globe with unremitting ferocity, a pandemic strain today probably would emerge as a series of hot zones, possibly straining medical efforts to contain the deadly outbreaks, scientists report today.

With bird flu sweeping through more and more flocks in global regions far from the infection's Asian origins, researchers say the potential of the H5N1 virus mutating, which would allow it to spread easily among humans, is increasingly likely.

Most recently, the virus has been reported in 11 European countries and in Africa, Iran and India. Since bird flu's reemergence in 2003, there have been more than 160 human cases worldwide, about half of them fatal, from Indonesia to Turkey.

Now, in one of the first government-funded computer models of a human pandemic spawned by H5N1, a team of researchers theorizes that infections would initially emerge in influenza hot zones.

Regional Reporting and Surveillance

India: poultry culling in Assam, local resistance hampers drive

12/23/08 New Kerala--More than 400,000 poultry have been culled so far in Assam after an outbreak of bird flu three weeks ago. But authorities were unable to complete the killing in some areas due to resistance from locals, officials said Tuesday.

"Culling operations are near complete in four of the seven bird flu hit districts, although in the three districts of Chirang, Barpeta, and Bongaigaon, we have not been able to finish the operations due to lack of cooperation from the locals," Assam Veterinary Commissioner S. Mewra said.

Seven Assam districts were hit by bird flu, killing hundreds of chicken and ducks about three weeks ago.

"We have culled more than 420,000 birds. There have been no reports of fresh deaths or bird flu virus in new areas since last week," Mewra said.

But lack of cooperation from locals in the three districts was posing a serious health risk, he pointed out. "Bird flu virus could spread to the adjoining areas if locals in the three districts do not cooperate with the culling operations. There are risks of the virus spreading to humans if people resist culling."

Meanwhile, expert central health teams are continuing door-to-door checks to ensure that the virus does not spread to humans. "So far there are no reports of the virus spreading to humans," central health ministry official Parthajyoti Gogoi said.

The state government has so far disbursed Rs.10 million as compensation to villagers for the poultry culled as per stipulated norms.

Quid Novi

Bangladesh reports bird flu

12/23/08 Straits Times--BANGLADESHI authorities said on Tuesday a new outbreak of bird flu had been detected at a village in the north of the country as they struggled to contain the disease.

Livestock department spokesman Salahuddin Khan said at least 100 birds were slaughtered on a farm in the northern Kurigram district late on Monday after the deadly H5N1 strain of avian influenza was discovered.

'This is the fifth district to have been hit by bird flu since it re-emerged in October after a break of four months,' Mr Khan said, adding the government had stepped up surveillance.

Bangladesh was hit by bird flu in February 2007, and the virus made another comeback in January. Earlier this year, 50 of the country's 64 districts were affected, and more than a million birds were slaughtered.

Industry officials said that that outbreak led to closure of 40 percent of the nation's poultry farms and left half a million workers jobless.

Bangladesh's poultry industry is one of the world's largest, producing 220 million chickens and 37 million ducks annually.

The country reported its first confirmed human case of bird flu in May, but the government said the 16-month-old baby who contracted the virus had recovered. -- AFP

AI Research

Potential infections of H5N1 and H9N2 avian influenza do exist in Guangdong populations of China

12/22/08 Chinese Journal of Medicine--[send email to request for full text pdf]

Lu CY, Lu JH, Chen WQ, Jiang LF, Tan BY, Ling WH, Zheng BJ, Sui HY.

School of Public Health, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510080, China.

BACKGROUND: Southeast China is one of the sites of influenza origin. During 2003--2004, nine avian influenza outbreaks took place in Guangdong Province. But no human case was reported. To examine the status of potential human infection by human influenza (H1N1, H3N2) and avian influenza (H5N1, H7N7, H9N2) in the avian influenza epidemic area of Guangdong Province, China, we conducted a seroepidemiologic survey in the people of this area from April to June of 2004. METHODS: Three out of 9 H5N1 avian influenza affected poultry areas in Guangdong were randomly selected, and the population living within 3 kilometers of the affected poultries were chosen as the survey subjects. One thousand two hundred and fourteen people were selected from 3 villages at random. Human and avian influenza antibody titers were determined by hemagglutination-inhibition (HI) test and microneutralization test (MNT). RESULTS: The positive rate of antibody to H5N1 was 3.03% in the occupational exposure group and 2.34% in general citizens group; that of H9N2 was 9.52% in the occupational exposure group and 3.76% in the general citizens group. Moreover one case in the occupational exposure group was positive for H7N7. One year later, all previously positive cases had become negative except for one H5N1-positive case. CONCLUSION: The observations imply that H5N1 and H9N2 avian influenza silent infections exist in Guangdong populations.

Regional Reporting and Surveillance

India: Bird flu effect: Over five million birds culled in one year

12/22/08 Zee News--Over five million birds have been culled in five states over the last one year to contain the spread of avian flu, with West Bengal accounting for 83 percent of the birds killed, Parliament was informed on Monday.

The number of birds killed since December 18, 2007 touched 5.14 million while compensation provided to the people affected by the killing of these birds stood at Rs 14.85 crore, Minister of State for Agriculture Taslimuddin said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha.

Out of the five states that witnessed the spread of the avian flu, West Bengal accounted for the maximum number of bird culling (4.27 million) followed by Assam (0.46 million), Bihar (0.21 million), Tripura (0.19 million) and Jharkhand (0.01 million), the minister said.

Similarly, people in West Bengal, who were affected by the birds culled, were provided the highest compensation of Rs 12.32 crore. Those in Assam received a package of Rs 1.39 crore, Tripura Rs 0.71 crore and Jharkhand Rs 56,000, Taslimuddin said.

Incidentally, Bihar received less amount of assistance at Rs 43 lakh for more number of birds killed (0.21 million) than Tripura, which was sanctioned Rs 71 lakh for 0.19 million birds culled, the House was informed.

The minister pointed out that Bhopal-based High Security Animal Disease laboratory, National Institute of Virology in Pune and Eastern Regional Disease Diagnostic Laboratory in Kolkata are engaged in research into the aspects of bird flu.

"The World Bank-funded project on Preparedness, Control and Containment of Avian Influenza provided for an amount of Rs 22 lakh for epidemiological survey," he said.

Culling ends in Malda district

The West Bengal government on Monday said that culling was completed in birdflu-affected Malda district, where it reappeared for the second time, with over 20,000 birds eliminated.

Altogether 27,633 chicken were culled and a compensation of Rs 9.26 lakh was paid to affected poultry farmers, Animal Resources Development Secretary Dilip Chakraborty said here.

This year, no other place than Englishbazar area in Malda district was affected by the H5N1 virus, he said.

He said the Centre and state government should compensate the department Rs 5 crore each for the loss.

Regional Reporting and Surveillance

India: Dr. Ramadoss urges states to be on alert after bird flu outbreak

12/22/08 Newstrack--Minister Anbumani Ramadoss on Monday asked all the states to keep close vigil on fresh bird flu outbreak and asked to broaden their preparations and efforts to deal with any crisis.

Speaking at a special review meeting, the Minister expressed concern over the recurrence of bird flu
in Assam and West Bengal, and emphasized a greater need to expand awareness campaign. On the received reports of non-cooperation from locals in the culling operations, Ramadoss appealed the state administration to spread awareness to educate the people to adopt safe practices and cooperate in the culling process.

He assured all the states of full support from Centre to cope with avian influenza and also asked them to utilise this situation in developing a standing infrastructure to tackle its occurrence in future.

During the meeting which was attended by representatives of Assam, West Bengal, Meghalaya, Bihar, and Jharkhand, the Minister was also informed the reason behind the delay in culling operation as farmers were protesting for not getting adequate compensation.

Dr. Ramadoss is also likely to ask Chief Ministers and Health Ministers of different states in written to review the preparation of the various agencies pertaining to animal husbandry and rapid response team.

However, since December 16 there was no case of fresh outbreak were reported so far. The latest report from High Security Animal Disease Laboratory, Bhopal ? where the blood samples of chickens and other birds across the country including West Bengal and Assam had been sent to test ? were found ?negative?.

Despite no fresh cases of avian flu, Tripura and Mizoram- the nearby states of Assam and West Bengal have imposed blanket ban on importing the chickens and other birds from Assam, West Bengal and adjoining Bangladesh. Meanwhile, officials from Orissa have reported to have completed the vaccination
program under which nearby one lakh poultry birds have been vaccinated in eight spotted districts.

AI Research

Clinical characteristics of 26 human cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza A (H5N1) virus infection in China

12/22/08 PubMed--[Full Text Link]--
Yu H, Gao Z, Feng Z, Shu Y, Xiang N, Zhou L, Huai Y, Feng L, Peng Z, Li Z, Xu C, Li J, Hu C, Li Q, Xu X, Liu X, Liu Z, Xu L, Chen Y, Luo H, Wei L, Zhang X, Xin J, Guo J, Wang Q, Yuan Z, Zhou L, Zhang K, Zhang W, Yang J, Zhong X, Xia S, Li L, Cheng J, Ma E, He P, Lee SS, Wang Y, Uyeki TM, Yang W.

Office for Disease Control and Emergency Response, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (China CDC), Beijing, China.

BACKGROUND: While human cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza A (H5N1) virus infection continue to increase globally, available clinical data on H5N1 cases are limited. We conducted a retrospective study of 26 confirmed human H5N1 cases identified through surveillance in China from October 2005 through April 2008. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Data were collected from hospital medical records of H5N1 cases and analyzed. The median age was 29 years (range 6-62) and 58% were female. Many H5N1 cases reported fever (92%) and cough (58%) at illness onset, and had lower respiratory findings of tachypnea and dyspnea at admission. All cases progressed rapidly to bilateral pneumonia. Clinical complications included acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS, 81%), cardiac failure (50%), elevated aminotransaminases (43%), and renal dysfunction (17%). Fatal cases had a lower median nadir platelet count (64.5 x 10(9) cells/L vs 93.0 x 10(9) cells/L, p = 0.02), higher median peak lactic dehydrogenase (LDH) level (1982.5 U/L vs 1230.0 U/L, p = 0.001), higher percentage of ARDS (94% [n = 16] vs 56% [n = 5], p = 0.034) and more frequent cardiac failure (71% [n = 12] vs 11% [n = 1], p = 0.011) than nonfatal cases. A higher proportion of patients who received antiviral drugs survived compared to untreated (67% [8/12] vs 7% [1/14], p = 0.003). CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: The clinical course of Chinese H5N1 cases is characterized by fever and cough initially, with rapid progression to lower respiratory disease. Decreased platelet count, elevated LDH level, ARDS and cardiac failure were associated with fatal outcomes. Clinical management of H5N1 cases should be standardized in China to include early antiviral treatment for suspected H5N1 cases.

Vaccines

Protection of chickens against H5N1 highly pathogenic avian influenza virus infection by live vaccination with infectious laryngotracheitis virus recombinants expressing H5 hemagglutinin and N1 neuraminidase.

12/22/08 Vaccine--ova SP, Veits J, Keil GM, Mettenleiter TC, Fuchs W.

Institute of Molecular Biology, Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Federal Research Institute for Animal Health, Greifswald-Insel Riems, Germany.

Attenuated vaccine strains of the alphaherpesvirus causing infectious laryngotracheitis of chickens (ILTV, gallid herpesvirus 1) can be used for mass application. Previously, we showed that live virus vaccination with recombinant ILTV expressing hemagglutinin of highly pathogenic avian influenza viruses (HPAIV) protected chickens against ILT and fowl plague caused by HPAIV carrying the corresponding hemagglutinin subtypes [Lüschow D, Werner O, Mettenleiter TC, Fuchs W. Protection of chickens from lethal avian influenza A virus infection by live-virus vaccination with infectious laryngotracheitis virus recombinants expressing the hemagglutinin (H5) gene. Vaccine 2001;19(30):4249-59; Veits J, Lüschow D, Kindermann K, Werner O, Teifke JP, Mettenleiter TC, et al. Deletion of the non-essential UL0 gene of infectious laryngotracheitis (ILT) virus leads to attenuation in chickens, and UL0 mutants expressing influenza virus haemagglutinin (H7) protect against ILT and fowl plague. J Gen Virol 2003;84(12):3343-52]. However, protection against H5N1 HPAIV was not satisfactory. Therefore, a newly designed dUTPase-negative ILTV vector was used for rapid insertion of the H5-hemagglutinin, or N1-neuraminidase genes of a recent H5N1 HPAIV isolate. Compared to our previous constructs, protein expression was considerably enhanced by insertion of synthetic introns downstream of the human cytomegalovirus immediate-early promoter within the 5'-nontranslated region of the transgenes. Deletion of the viral dUTPase gene did not affect in vitro replication of the ILTV recombinants, but led to sufficient attenuation in vivo. After a single ocular immunization, all chickens developed H5- or N1-specific serum antibodies. Nevertheless, animals immunized with N1-ILTV died after subsequent H5N1 HPAIV challenge, although survival times were prolonged compared to non-vaccinated controls. In contrast, all chickens vaccinated with either H5-ILTV alone, or H5- and N1-ILTV simultaneously, survived without showing any clinical signs. Real-time RT-PCR indicated limited challenge virus replication after vaccination with H5-ILTV only, which was completely blocked after coimmunization with N1-ILTV. Thus, chickens can be protected from H5N1 HPAIV-induced disease by live vaccination with an attenuated hemagglutinin-expressing ILTV recombinant, and efficacy can be further increased by coadministration of an ILTV mutant expressing neuraminidase. Furthermore, chickens vaccinated with ILTV vectors can be easily differentiated from influenza virus-infected animals by the absence of serum antibodies against the AIV nucleoprotein.

PMID: 19041677 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

* Deletion of the non-essential UL0 gene of infectious laryngotracheitis (ILT) virus leads to attenuation in chickens, and UL0 mutants expressing influenza virus haemagglutinin (H7) protect against ILT and fowl plague. [J Gen Virol. 2003]

Quid Novi

Egypt: One New Suspected Case of Avian Influenza

12/22/08 ARGUS--A national source reported a 4-year-old male suspect avian influenza (AI) case. The boy was hospitalized at the fevers? hospital in Al Minufiyah, where samples were taken and sent to the Cairo central laboratories for testing. All poultry in the child?s household were culled. A health official stated that an emergency room was prepared to respond to any suspected cases of AI in the district.

Article URL(s)
http://www.almasry-alyoum.com/article2.aspx?ArticleID=191512

USDA releases report on animal health

12/22/08 AVMA--The Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service recently released the 2007 U.S. Animal Health Report, an overview of the health of domestic animals and the status of relevant USDA programs.

The 2007 report starts with a chapter about focus areas central to the mission of APHIS Veterinary Services?including emergency planning and preparedness, surveillance for avian influenza, the National Aquatic Animal Health Plan, the National Animal Identification System, and the National Animal Health Surveillance System.

The report includes a new chapter on diagnostics and veterinary biologics. The chapter describes the missions, functions, and recent accomplishments of the National Veterinary Services Laboratories, Center for Veterinary Biologics, and National Animal Health Laboratory Network.

The rest of the report covers the topics of foreign and emerging animal diseases, programs to eradicate or control disease, monitoring for disease that affects production, an overview of production, international trade, behind-the-scenes programs and tools at Veterinary Services, and collaborations in animal and public health.

The 2007 U.S. Animal Health Report is available on the APHIS Web site at www.aphis.usda.gov/publications.

AI Research

First Case of Highly Pathogenic H5N1 Avian Influenza Virus in Spain

12/22/08 BMC Vet Research--
Background
The H5N1 strain of avian influenza virus has been involved in severe mortality in domestic poultry, and has also been found in different species of wildlife in Europe. The Basque Country avian influenza surveillance program began sample collection and processing the fall of 2005.

Results
Here we report the first confirmation of the presence of highly pathogenic H5N1 strain in a Great Crested Grebe (Podiceps cristatus) found dead in a pond near Vitoria in the Basque Country on the North of Spain. Regarding the survey for generic influenza type A virus, we have obtained positive results in about 8% of more that 3500 birds examined.
Conclusions

We think that the self-limiting nature of our finding and others proves that certain regions have ecological, geographical and climatological features that make it difficult for the H5N1 virus to spread [1] and cause disease at least in the large scale scenario that has been worrying human and animal health authorities during the last years.

AI Research

Risk factors and characteristics of H5N1 Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) post-vaccination outbreaks

12/22/08 Journal of Animal Infection and Epidemiology--Joerg Henning, Dirk U. Pfeiffer and Le Tri Vu
Received: 06 October 2008; accepted: 10 December 2008; published online 12 December 2008

Abstract - Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) virus H5N1 is now endemic in South-East Asia but HPAI control methods differ between countries. A widespread HPAI vaccination campaign that started at the end of 2005 in Viet Nam resulted in the cessation of poultry and human cases, but in 2006/2007 severe HPAI outbreaks re-emerged. In this study we investigated the pattern of this first pos-vaccination epidemic in southern Viet Nam identifying a spatio-temporal cluster of outbreak occurrence and estimating spatially smoothed incidence rates of HPAI. Spatial risk factors associated with HPAI occurrence were identified. Medium-level poultry density resulted in an increased outbreak risk (Odds ratio = 5.4, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.6-18.9) but also climate-vegetation factors played an important role: medium-level normalised difference vegetation indices during the rainy season from May to October were associated with higher risk of HPAI outbreaks (OR = 3.7, 95% CI: 1.7-8.1), probably because temporal flooding might have provided suitable conditions for the re-emergence of HPAI by expanding the virus distribution in the environment and by enlarging areas of possible contacts between domestic waterfowl and wild birds. On the other hand, several agricultural production factors, such as growing sweet potatoes, increased buffalo density, as well as increased electricity supply were associated with decreased risk of HPAI outbreaks. This illustrates that preventive control measures for HPAI should include a promotion of low-risk agricultural management practices as well as improvement of the infrastructure in village households. Improved HPAI vaccination efforts and coverage should focus on medium poultry density areas and on the pre-monsoon time period.

AI Research

Indigenous sources of 2007?2008 H5N1 avian influenza outbreaks in Thailand

12/20/08 Journal of General Virology--
Kridsada Chaichoune1, Witthawat Wiriyarat1, Arunee Thitithanyanont2, Rassameepen Phonarknguen1, Ladawan Sariya1, Sarin Suwanpakdee1, Thanom Noimor3, Sunisa Chatsurachai4, Prapat Suriyaphol4, Kumnuan Ungchusak3, Parntep Ratanakorn1, Robert G. Webster5, Mekkla Thompson6, Prasert Auewarakul4 and Pilaipan Puthavathana4

1 Faculty of Veterinary Science, Mahidol University, Nakhon Pathom 73170, Thailand
2 Faculty of Science, Mahidol University, Bangkok 10400, Thailand
3 Bureau of Epidemiology, Department of Disease Control, Ministry of Public Health, Nonthaburi 11000, Thailand
4 Faculty of Medicine Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok 10700, Thailand
5 Department of Infectious Diseases, St Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN 38105-2794, USA
6 Westat Inc., Rockville, MD 20850-3195, USA

Correspondence
Prasert Auewarakul
sipaw@mahidol.ac.th
or
Pilaipan Puthavathana
siput@mahidol.ac.th

Outbreaks of H5N1 avian influenza show strong seasonality. It is not clear where the source of virus originates from in each new outbreak season. This study sought to understand the nature of viral resurgence in recent outbreak seasons in Thailand, where the epidemic is relatively well controlled. In such a situation, indigenous viruses surviving the inter-outbreak season would have to pass through a bottleneck. In order to look for evidence of the bottleneck effect, viral genome sequences from recent outbreaks in the country were analysed. H5N1 avian influenza viruses were isolated from six outbreaks in the rainy season and winter of 2007 through to early 2008. Most of the outbreaks were in the Yom?Nan River basin in the southern part of the northern region of the country. Sequences of these viral isolates were identified as clade 1, genotype Z, similar to viruses from previous years in the central region of the country. The sequences clustered into two groups, one of which was closely related to viruses isolated from the same area in July 2006. These analyses indicated that there was a strong bottleneck effect on the virus population and that only a few lineages remained in the area. In addition, evidence of reassortment among these viruses was found. These indicated re-emergence of viruses from a small pool of indigenous sources that had been silently perpetuated over the dry summer months. Therefore, an approach to eradicate H5N1 avian influenza from the area by eliminating these local reservoirs may be feasible and should be seriously considered.

The GenBank/EMBL/DDBJ accession numbers for the avian influenza sequences are EU233413?EU233420, EU497919?EU497921, EU547798?EU547801, EU669187?EU669201, EU676306?EU676321 and EU875388?EU875397; details are available with the online version of this paper.

Quid Novi

OIE: China Immediate Notification

Highly pathogenic avian influenza,
China (People's Rep. of)

Information received on 19/12/2008 from Dr Yu Kangzhen, National Chief Veterinary Officer , Veterinary Bureau , Ministry of Agriculture , Beijing, China (People's Rep. of)

Summary
Report type Immediate notification
Start date 09/12/2008
Date of first confirmation of the event 18/12/2008
Report date 19/12/2008
Date submitted to OIE 19/12/2008
Reason for notification Reoccurrence of a listed disease
Date of previous occurrence 07/2008
Causal agent Highly pathogenic avian influenza virus
Serotype H5N1
Nature of diagnosis Laboratory (advanced)
This event pertains to the whole country

New outbreaks
Outbreak 1 Xubei, Xunan, Dongtai, Yancheng, JIANGSU
Date of start of the outbreak 09/12/2008
Outbreak status Continuing (or date resolved not provided)
Epidemiological unit Farm
Affected animals
Species Susceptible Cases Deaths Destroyed Slaughtered
Birds 160800 0 160800 0
Outbreak 2 Lingdong, Xinghe, Xihu, Hai'an, Nantong, JIANGSU
Date of start of the outbreak 09/12/2008
Outbreak status Continuing (or date resolved not provided)
Epidemiological unit Farm
Affected animals
Species Susceptible Cases Deaths Destroyed Slaughtered
Birds 216198 0 216198 0
Summary of outbreaks Total outbreaks: 2
Total animals affected
Species Susceptible Cases Deaths Destroyed Slaughtered
Birds 376998 ** 0 376998 0
Outbreak statistics
Species Apparent morbidity rate Apparent mortality rate Apparent case fatality rate Proportion susceptible animals lost*
Birds ** 0.00% ** 100.00%

* Removed from the susceptible population through death, destruction and/or slaughter
** Not calculated because of missing information

Epidemiology
Source of the outbreak(s) or origin of infection

* Unknown or inconclusive

Control measures
Measures applied

* Stamping out
* Quarantine
* Movement control inside the country
* Vaccination in response to the outbreak (s)
Administrative division Species Total Vaccinated Details
JIANGSU Birds 43973002 Reassortant avian influenza virus vaccine, inactivated (Re-4+Re-5)
* Disinfection of infected premises/establishment(s)
* No treatment of affected animals

Measures to be applied

* No other measures

Diagnostic test results
Laboratory name and type Harbin Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (national reference laboratory for avian influenza) (OIE?s Reference Laboratory)
Tests and results
Species Test Test date Result
Birds haemagglutination inhibition test (HIT) 18/12/2008 Positive
Birds intravenous pathogenicity index (IVPI) test 18/12/2008 Positive
Birds real-time reverse transcriptase/polymerase chain reaction (RRT-PCR) 18/12/2008 Positive

Future Reporting
The event is continuing. Weekly follow-up reports will be submitted.

Map of outbreak locations

Regional Reporting and Surveillance

Indonesia: Resident forum to watch over the city

12/22/08 Jakarta Post--In a bid to involve the public in creating a safe and comfortable Jakarta, the city administration Friday formed a communication forum at both municipality and provincial levels to foster community alertness.

Governor Fauzi Bowo said the forum would prepare the community for rapid action as the city set an alert status for flood, bird flu, dengue fever and other disasters.

"It was the public that helped the police unveil drug factories," Fauzi said after inaugurating around 50 forum members at City Hall.

"The ones who really know about an area are the locals. So we need to raise their alertness."

The forum was sanctioned by a 2006 Home Ministry law on community action. The regulation states that the local administration should maintain safety and prepare communities facing both natural and man-made disasters.

The city administration will establish forums at subdistrict and district levels next year. -- JP

Regional Reporting and Surveillance

Transmitters fixed on birds

12/22/08 The Hindu--As part of the global fight against Avian flu, transmitters were fitted on migratory birds, particularly geese and duck species, at Koonthankulam bird sanctuary near here. The exercise was carried out to ascertain whether wild birds play an active role in spreading the disease, caused by H5N1 virus.

The exercise was jointly conducted by Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations and Bombay Natural History Society with the assistance of locals who caught the birds with noose.

The transmitters, each weighing 30 gm and costing about Rs. 2 lakh, was fitted on the back (between the wings) after taking the physical measurements of the birds and collecting blood samples to check the presence of virus.

?We?ll get signals from the transmitters via satellite and hence its flyways can easily be tracked till it reaches its destination where the bird will be checked for the presence of Avian Influenza,? said By this exercise, we can know whether the winged visitors play a major role in spreading Avian Influenza,? said Scott Newman, Animal Health Officer - Infectious Disease Group, Food and Agriculture Organisation of United Nations. He said cross-border legal and illegal movement of animal and poultry products were also potential channels for the spread of H5N1 virus.

During his brief stay here, Dr. Scott and Assistant Director of BNHS S. Balachandran, gave an account of the flyways being used by the migratory birds to Department of Animal Husbandry officials.

Regional Reporting and Surveillance

Indonesia: Struggle over bird flu samples drags on

12/22/08 New Scientist--THE world is still ignorant about how the most feared strain of bird flu is evolving. That's because a meeting to persuade Indonesia - which has had the most cases of human H5N1 flu since 2005 - to share its virus samples ended in disagreement.

These samples are needed to develop vaccines and monitor genetic changes that indicate whether the virus is adapting to spread among people. Indonesia claims that sending samples helps foreigners but not the Indonesians themselves.

At the latest World Health Organization meeting aimed at breaking the impasse, in Geneva last week, countries agreed in principle that virus samples, and the benefits that come with having them, should be shared.The main stumbling block is that pharmaceutical companies, mainly in rich countries, patent and sell vaccines and there is no legal framework for a contract that would share these profits with the countries that provided the samples, nor to guarantee these countries access to a vaccine in a pandemic.
There's no framework to share vaccine profits with countries that supply virus samples

India, Brazil, Nigeria and Iran also charged that rich countries are more interested in sharing viruses than benefits.

Regional Reporting and Surveillance

Indonesia sees progress on bird flu information sharing

12/21/08 The Penninsula--Indonesia believes progress has been made towards agreeing a new global mechanism to share bird flu samples, although details need to be thrashed out before it will end its boycott, the country?s health minister said.

Indonesia drew international concern when it stopped virus-sharing last year, saying it wanted guarantees from rich nations and drugmakers that poor nations would get access to affordable vaccines derived from their samples. Health Minister Siti Fadillah Supari told Reuters late on Friday that the action had helped drive home an understanding of the issues.

?Stopping the virus is to say that I have a strong will to make a new world health mechanism,? said the minister, who is known to be outspoken on the bird flu issue.

?This system is not fair. If the injustice is in the economic system, the impact is poverty, but if the injustice is found in the world health management, then the victim is human lives,? she added in an interview at her central Jakarta offices.

The minister?s comments came amid a seasonal flare up in cases of bird flu globally, including in populous India.

International health experts say it is vital to have access to samples of the constantly mutating H5N1 virus, which they fear could change into a form easily transmissible among humans and sweep the world in months, killing millions of people.

Talks on virus sharing hosted by the WHO last year failed to reach an agreement after Indonesia had insisted on a ?material transfer agreement? for each virus sample sent to foreign labs.

But Supari said a meeting of more than 100 countries last week in Geneva had made some breakthroughs including that benefit sharing would be integrated into material transfer agreements.

The minister said she hoped Indonesia could return to virus sharing ?as soon as possible? but details still had to be pinned down, including on what benefits richer countries might provide.

Indonesia?s negotiator in Geneva Widjaja Lukito said in a statement that benefits could include access to vaccines, vaccine stockpiles, transfer of technology and tiered pricing.

Supari also said that an agreement had been reached on a tracking system to monitor use of the virus samples.

?We have the rights to follow, track where our virus goes. In the old system, if you send your virus you don?t know where the virus goes,? she said.

Indonesia has suffered 113 known deaths from bird flu infections since 2003, the highest of any country, according to World Health Organisation data.

Regional Reporting and Surveillance

Taiwan culls 18,000 chickens due to bird flu

12/22/08 VNA--China?s Taiwanese agricultural authorities have slaughtered 18,000 chickens after an outbreak of bird flu, news reports said.

The authorities said on December 21 that when a farm in Luchu, southern Kaohsiung district reported some of their chickens had died of an unknown disease on October 21, they immediately banned movement of the birds from the farm.

An inspection report released on December 20 showed that the chickens had contracted the H5N2 strain of the disease, a less virulent strain than H5N1, which can be transmitted to humans, according to news reports.

Taiwan has suspended its poultry exports, but will be allowed to resume them if no fresh outbreak of H5N2 is reported within the next three months, Huang Kwo-ching, deputy director of the Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine said.

There have been no recorded cases of the deadly H5N1 strain in Taiwan, although in 2005 the authorities said eight pet birds smuggled from China had tested positive for the strain and had been destroyed.

Regional Reporting and Surveillance

Cambodian survives bird flu infection

12/22/08 Shanghai Daily--A 19-YEAR-OLD Cambodian man has survived the H5N1 bird flu virus which has killed seven other people in the poor Southeast Asian nation since 2005, a health ministry official said yesterday.

The youth, who became infected after eating dead poultry, was discharged from a Phnom Penh hospital on Saturday after being treated for 10 days, Ly Sovann, deputy director of communicable disease control department, said. "He left safe and sound," Ly Sovann said.

Cambodia began culling poultry near its capital last week, and ordered a three-month ban on poultry being moved from the province of Kandal, 50 kilometer south of Phnom Penh, after tests confirmed it was hit by the deadly virus.

The young man, the eighth person in Cambodia to have contracted bird flu since its first case in 2005, fell ill on November 28 but was only confirmed as having bird flu on December 11.

All seven of Cambodia's previous human cases have died. Since H5N1 resurfaced in Asia in 2003, it has killed more than 200 people.

Regional Reporting and Surveillance

India: Culling Continues in Avian?Flu-hit West Bengal District

12/22/08 Khaleej Times--Over 22,000 poultry birds have been culled since Tuesday in West Bengal?s bird flu-hit Malda district, a state minister said Sunday.

?About 22,500 chickens and ducks have been culled till Saturday night at Narhatta and Satgheria villages under English Bazar police station in Malda district,? Animal Resources Development (ARD) Minister Anisur Rehman said on Sunday. ?Major part of the culling operations were over Saturday night. Whatever little is left, veterinary workers will complete by Sunday night.?? ?Simultaneously we have started the mopping up operations on Sunday that will continue till Monday,? Rehman said.?

The ARD had set a target of culling about 25,000 poultry birds in the affected areas of Malda, about 350km from here. ??Veterinary workers, wearing white protective suits, gloves and masks, started the culling operations on Tuesday after blood samples of dead poultry tested positive for avian flu.?

Regional Reporting and Surveillance

India: Four culling staff fall ill in India

12/22/08 Asia News.Net--At least four culling personnel were taken ill during culling and mopping operations of bird-flu infected chicken in Malda Saturday evening.

One of them Mohd Ellius was admitted to the isolation ward for observation.
According to the Malda CMOH, Dr Srikanta Roy, Mohd Ellius is suffering from abdominal pain.

?He does not have respiratory problem or influenza symptom so far. But we have kept him in the isolation ward for observation?, said Dr Roy. Besides Mohd Ellius, three others who were engaged in the culling and mopping operation were reported to have fallen ill.

According to Dr Roy, one Khagen Sarkar, who had fallen sick in course of the anti-Avian Flu operation, was recovering fast.

?He worked today in the field of his own accord as he feels all right,? said the official.

Two others, one Mohd Sazzad from Satgharia and another person with the same name, from Sujapur, who were working as labourers, fell ill too.

However, according to health officials, their illness has nothing to do with the culling operation. ?Both were asthma patients and fell ill owing to the cold. They joined duty at the control room today (December 21),? said a health official.

The Malda CMOH said that with the culling operation over in 13 moujas of Narhatta gram panchayat in English Bazaar, the block health workers have started surveillance work within 0 to 3 km radius from the epicentre of the bird flu outbreak and found 112 people down with cold and fever.

?This report has been sent to the state health department headquarters. No one has so far been identified as suffering from fever in the affected area,? Dr Srikanta Roy said.

Regional Reporting and Surveillance

Thailand: Bird flu teams inspect high-risk villages in Uttaradit

12/22/08 Thai News--Officials and volunteers on Sunday inspected Pichai district in the lower northern province of Uttaradit, where poultry farming is important for villager income, to scan for the possible reappearance of the bird flu virus.

Bird flu inspection teams led by the head of the provincial livestock office, Panom Meesiripan, started their operation in Pichai district as poultry farming in more intensive here than in other districts.

Pichai district is also considered a high risk area as it adjoins Sukhothai province where health officers detected the H5N1 strain of bird flu virus in dead fowl in late October.

Mr. Panom said that the bird flu inspection team found that villagers still adopted an inappropriate way of poultry farming, leaving chickens or ducks to move about freely. In the cold season, poultry are able to be infected bird flu virus easily.

The liverstock service chief said that three bird flu operations teams would inspect every village for information on epidemic diseases in poultry and keep inspecting and disinfecting farms in every village continuously for six months, until May next year.

He emphasised that villagers were told to inform officials immediately when poultry deaths occur from unknown causes.

Meanwhile, nearby Phichit province also keeps close watch in its 12 districts although bird flu has not been found in the province since 2006.

Phichit public health official Dr. Prajak Wattanakul admitted that the cool weather is a factor which could trigger the potentially deadly virus in the area.

Dr. Prajak however reassured the public that if bird flu virus reappears, the province will be able to quickly control the disease as the preventative measures against the avian influenza have been continuously implemented.

Regional Reporting and Surveillance

India: Centre reviews bird flu situation, asks states to be prepared

12/22/08 New Kerala--Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss today reviewed the Avian Influenza situation in the country following the outbreak of the disease in West Bengal and Assam and asked all the state governments to upgrade preparedness to deal with the bird flu.

At a high-level meeting of various ministries and state governments, the Health Minister looked into the current level of preparedness of various agencies in dealing with the bird flu and decided to write to all the Chief Ministers and Health Ministers to upgrade the preparedness to deal with the disease.

The Health Minister expressed concern on recurrence of Avian Influenza in West Bengal and requested the health set-up of the State to scale up their preparations and efforts to deal with the situation. He advised the state to carry out a regular drill to deal with the disease, irrespective of the outbreak conditions.

Dr Ramadoss emphasised the need to increase the awareness campaign in order to educate the people to adopt safe practices and cooperate in the culling operations. He assured all the states of full support from the Centre for their efforts and asked them to utilise this situation to create a standing infrastructure to deal with Avian Influenza in future also.

The Health Minister was informed that after December 16, no fresh outbreak had been reported. He was also informed about the containment efforts and culling activities along with the details of human surveillance.

The meeting was attended by senior officials from Ministry of Health, Ministry of Animal Husbandry, Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Home, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Governments of Assam, West Bengal, Meghalaya, Bihar, and Jharkhand.