Pandemic News and Research

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A pandemic is a global disease outbreak. During a pandemic, transmission can be anticipated in the workplace, not only from patient to workers in health care settings, but also among co-workers in general work settings. A pandemic would cause high levels of illness, death, social disruption, and economic loss. Everyday life would be disrupted because so many people in so many places become seriously ill at the same time. Impacts could range from school and business closings to the interruption of basic services such as public transportation and food delivery.

Indonesia struggling to cope as death toll from bird flu reaches 40

The World Health Organisation has confirmed the death of an Indonesian boy last month was from bird flu.

3 Jul 2006

More birds with H5N1 found in China but details are guesswork!

According to Chinese officials another outbreak of the H5N1 avian flu virus in birds has been found in the northwestern region of the country.

3 Jul 2006

Aussies trial promising bird flu vaccine

An Australian vaccine against the deadly bird flu has shown such good results in preliminary trials that researchers are about to test it on volunteers.

29 Jun 2006

Australian team test new bird flu vaccine

Australian researchers have begun a trial to test the effectiveness of a new vaccine to protect against the potentially deadly bird flu.

28 Jun 2006

FDA gives tentative approval for generic pediatric AIDS drug

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today announced the tentative approval of the generic version of Abacavir Sulfate Oral Solution.

27 Jun 2006

Aussies chip in to help Indonesia fight bird flu

In an effort to help Indonesia fight bird flu the Australian Government has signed an agreement with Indonesia to the tune of $10 million dollars.

26 Jun 2006

Chickens, swans, feathers and bird flu

The World Health Organization has revealed the deadly bird flu virus which appeared as a cluster in an Indonesian family had mutated but the change does not increase the threat of a pandemic.

26 Jun 2006

China and bird flu - the plot thickens

The plot has thickened when it comes to China and bird flu.

26 Jun 2006

Indonesia confirms 51st case of human bird flu infection

The Indonesian Ministry of Health has confirmed the country's 51st case of human infection with the H5N1 avian influenza virus.

20 Jun 2006

Experts descend on Jakarta to sort out bird flu outbreaks

An international team of experts are meeting in Jakarta this week to assess the avian flu situation in Indonesia.

19 Jun 2006

Chickens may be silent carriers of bird flu

Health officials are on alert again in Hong Kong following reports of a suspected case of bird flu just over the border with China in Shenzhen.

14 Jun 2006

USAID announces $5 Million award to track bird flu

USAID announces $5 million award to support the development of a global network to track avian influenza, with the aim of monitoring the role of migratory birds.

13 Jun 2006

Hospitals, dirty hands and the risk of disease

Thousands of patients in hospitals each year are at risk of potentially fatal infections because health care workers do not wash their hands on enough occasions.

13 Jun 2006

Nventa granted European patent covering heat shock protein fusion to treat influenza

Nventa Biopharmaceuticals Corporation announced that the European Patent Office has granted Patent Number EP 941,315 to Nventa.

8 Jun 2006

Have we got it right about bird flu?

Health officials in Indonesia must have breathed a sigh of relief at the the World Health Organisation's (WHO) news that bird flu has been ruled out in the cases of four Indonesian nurses who fell sick after caring for people infected with H5N1 virus.

8 Jun 2006

Indonesia struggling to cope - quake survivors at greater risk of bird flu

Indonesia's devastating earthquake on 27 May, has so far taken the lives of over 6,000 people and injured 30,000 more.

6 Jun 2006

Indonesian bird flu death toll now up to 37

Confirmation by the World Health Organization that a 15-year-old boy who died in West Java, Indonesia last week, was the latest bird flu victim, takes Indonesia's confirmed deaths from the virus to 37.

4 Jun 2006

Siblings deaths may indicate another bird flu cluster in Indonesia

According to an Indonesian health ministry official, a 7-year-old Indonesian girl who died last week has tested positive for bird flu in local tests; the results have yet to be confirmed by a World Health Organisation-accredited laboratory in Hong Kong.

4 Jun 2006

Avian flu facts

Avian influenza (also called "bird flu") refers to the strains of the virus that infect birds. Bird flu can cause widespread illness and death among birds, though there are many different strains, which vary in strength.

1 Jun 2006

WHO bird flu situation update

Indonesian health authorities and WHO have further strengthened their response to the family cluster of cases in Kubu Simbelang village, Karo District, North Sumatra.

31 May 2006