NOV 06 Health Alerts

Avian Influenza situation South Korea - Update

30/11/06

The outbreak in a farm in Iksan 250 km south of Seoul as posted here on 28/11/06 has now been notified by the World Animal Health Organisation.

In addition to this the South Korean Ministry of Agriculture has reported another outbreak in a farm 3 km from the first one. Iksan lies in the North Cholla (also written as Jeolla) province in Korea ’s south west and lies on the migratory path for birds heading south from Russia , Mongolia and Kazakhstan . Yet another outbreak is suspected in Seosan 140 km north of Iksan. Provincial officials said the sick chickens were hatched from eggs distributed in mid-November from a breeding farm in Iksan but the authorities have not yet confirmed whether the Seosan chickens were infected with the highly virulent strain. In the meantime extensive culling is taking place

Avian influenza – New outbreak reported in South Korea

28/11/06

According to news reports the South Korean Ministry of Agriculture has confirmed that the deaths of some 6000 poultry on a farm in the south-western town of Iksan were due to infection with highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza. All poultry within a 500 metre radius of the farm were to be culled. This outbreak was reported by the World Organisation for Animal Health on 23 November but the H5N1 cause was not then confirmed. In the meantime Japan has temporarily suspended all poultry imports from South Korea.

This is the first time that bird flu has been reported in South Korea since early 2004

Scientist identify key mutations in bird flu virus

16/11/06

Scientists have discovered two spots on the H5N1 bird flu virus which would need to mutate for the virus to infect people more easily.

H5N1 is largely a disease in animals because it has surface proteins which bind more easily to "receptors" lining respiratory tracts of birds, rather than receptors in humans.

Experts fear H5N1 will infect more humans and trigger a pandemic killing millions of people if the virus mutates to attach easily to human receptors.

In the latest issue of Nature, scientists in Japan, Britain and the United States said they had discovered two specific spots on the genes of H5N1 which appeared to determine if the virus attached more easily to bird or human receptors.

This discovery will help scientists decide if any strain of the H5N1 has the potential to cause a human pandemic.

"The bottom line is that the changes (on the two spots) can be used as molecular markers to identify the potential of the viruses that may grow well in humans," said Yoshihiro Kawaoka of the Institute of Medical Science at the University of Tokyo.

Using 21 samples of the H5N1 virus taken from human victims in Indonesia and Vietnam, the team of scientists found that three of them bound especially easily to human receptors.

"We found many mutations and we tried to identify which mutations were important ... two appeared to be very important," Kawaoka told Reuters by telephone from the United States.

Kawaoka warned against any over-emphasis on these two spots.

"It is very important that we shouldn't only focus on these two. The virus can become human-like by many mutations, these two are important but they are not the only ones," he said.

"But these two will give indication when a virus has changed receptor specificity."

Avian influenza – situation in Indonesia – update 37

13/11/06

The Ministry of Health in Indonesia has confirmed an additional two cases of human infection with the H5N1 avian influenza virus.

The first newly-confirmed case is a 35-year-old female from Tangerang in Banten Province. She developed symptoms on 7 November and was hospitalized on 10 November. She remains hospitalized. Her source of exposure is currently under investigation.The second case occurred in a 30-month-old male from Karawang in West Java Province. He developed symptoms on 5 November, was hospitalized on 10 November, and died on 13 November. An initial investigation of his exposure source found reports of chicken deaths near his home in the days prior to symptom onset.

Of the 74 cases confirmed to date in Indonesia, 56 have been fatal.

Avian Influenza situation in Egypt - update 10

01/11/06

The Ministry of Health in Egypt has confirmed the country's seventh death from H5N1 avian influenza. The 39-year-old woman, whose infection was confirmed on 11 October, died on 30 October. Of the 15 cases confirmed to date in Egypt, seven have been fatal.