january 08 Health Alerts

 

New cases in Saudi Arabia

29/01/08

Following the detection of a new outbreak of the H5N1 strain of bird flu on a poultry farm in the Al-Karj region in Riyadh Province the Saudi agriculture ministry ordered a cull of 158 000 chickens on Tuesday [29 Jan 2008]. Since the latest outbreak of bird flu was discovered on 15 Nov 2007, some 4 million birds have been culled on at least 15 separate infected farms. Saudi Arabia also reported an outbreak of avian influenza last March [2007]. There have been no reports of the disease spreading to humans

China confirms new bird flu case in Tibet

28/01/08

The Chinese Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) announced on 28 January that it had confirmed a new bird flu case among poultry in southwestern Tibet Autonomous Region. The National Bird Flu Reference Laboratory confirmed that the case that had affected Jiedexiu Town , Gongga County , on Jan. 25 was caused by the highly pathogenic H5N1 subtype avian influenza virus. The outbreak killed 1,000 birds and led to the culling of another13,080. No human infections were reported.

Bird flu control and prevention efforts were going smoothly, the MOA stated. It said that it had sent experts to coordinate these efforts as the local government blocked off the infected region and stepped up quarantine and oversight to contain the outbreak. The outbreak came less than a month after another case in Turpan, in northwestern Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, killed 4,850 birds and resulted in the culling of another 29,383.

Bangladesh spread described as alarming

27/01/08

Avian influenza is spreading across Bangladesh and the situation has been described as "alarming" by local experts. In the last four days, over 1,000 crows have dropped dead in Barisal , Patuakhali and Dinajpur districts, with laboratory tests confirming they were infected with the H5N1 virus. Initial reports suggest the crows had eaten bird flu-affected dead chickens thrown away by farmers. Despite government efforts to burn or buy the dead birds, in many places the carcasses of dead chickens and crows can be seen rotting in the open. On 27 January, bird flu was reported at a poultry farm in Peelkhana in Dhaka , nearly a quarter of whose 12 million people live in overcrowded shanties with minimum health and hygiene facilities.
Not only crows, about 1,000 ducks died of bird flu in Naogaon District yesterday.

Every vehicle at 11 border crossings with neighbouring India , which is now battling its own outbreak of the virus, is to be sprayed with anti-viral disinfectant. Spraying is also taking place at other key points. Security forces were closely checking for any illegal poultry and egg imports from India . A 16-member government health team was also working at district level to detect and observe the disease.

Additionally, 150 volunteers had been appointed under the Directorate of Livestock to prevent the spread of the disease, while's the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) was supporting the government in its effort to bring the disease under control.

United Nations report edited.

Situation in Indonesia WHO update 35

29/01/08

The Ministry of Health in Indonesia has confirmed an additional four cases of human infection with the H5N1 avian influenza virus. Two of these cases were fatal. There is no evidence of an epidemiological link between the cases.

The first case, a 31-year-old female from East Jakarta, Jakarta Province , developed symptoms on 18 January, was hospitalized on 22 January and is currently in hospital. The investigation indicated that she visited a wet market where live poultry are sold three days prior to symptom onset. The second case, a 9-year-old male from Depok Municipality , West Java , developed symptoms on 16 January, was hospitalized on 23 January and died on 27 January. Investigations into the source of his infection indicate that the case lived next door to a wet market where live poultry are sold. The third case, a 32-year-old male from Tangerang Municipality , Banten Province , developed symptoms on 17 January, was hospitalized on 24 January and is currently in hospital. Investigations into the source of his infection are ongoing. The fourth case, a 23-year-old female from East Jakarta, Jakarta Province , developed symptoms on 19 January, was hospitalized on 24 January and died on 27 January. Investigations into the source of her infection are ongoing.

Of the 124 cases confirmed to date in Indonesia , 100 have been fatal.

Fatal case in Vietnam

24/01/08

HANOI, Vietnam - Bird flu has killed a man in northern Vietnam, marking the country's first human case this year, health officials said Wednesday 23 January The 32-year-old man from Tuyen Quang province, about 80 kilometres northwest of Hanoi, died last week, two days after being admitted to the national tropical disease hospital in Hanoi, said To Doan Hong of the provincial Preventive Medicine Centre. Test results later came back positive for the H5N1 strain of the virus, he said. It was the country's 48th death reported since the virus began raging across Asia in late 2003.

Source: AP

New report from Ukraine

22/01/08

A poultry farm with 25,000 birds reported deaths of 153 birds, confirmed by the Ukrainian State Committee for Veterinary Medicine as bird flu. The H5N1 strain was discovered at the Lobzenko poultry farm located at the Rivne village about 300 Km west of the capital Kiev . All the remaining birds have been culled and burned. Romania , Ukraine and Poland are stopover points for migratory birds. Ukraine had its first incident in 2005 in the Poltava region on eastern Ukraine

West Bengal outbreak

16/01/08

The Government of India has confirmed on 15 January the outbreak of bird flu in West Bengal after sample of dead birds from two districts --Birbhum and South Dinajpur -- tested positive for the highly pathogenic virus. About 35,000 poultry in 102 villages of Birbhum District and 288 poultry in a poultry farm in South Dinajpur District have died during the last one-week.

There is no report of unusual mortality or sickness in the neighbouring areas, in the State. West Bengal has also been advised to seal the border with neighboring countries and also the affected areas so that there is no movement of animals across the borders.

Wild swans affected in England

11/01/08

Three wild swans found dead in Dorset have tested positive for the H5N1 strain of bird flu, the Government confirmed. The birds were found in the Chesil Beach area of the county during routine surveillance. A control area has been set up in the area, within which bird owners must isolate their flocks from wild birds. No disease has been found in domestic birds, and a programme of surveillance of wild birds is to be carried out.