Avian Influenza News and Research

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Avian influenza is an infection caused by avian (bird) influenza (flu) viruses. These influenza viruses occur naturally among birds. Wild birds worldwide carry the viruses in their intestines, but usually do not get sick from them. However, avian influenza is very contagious among birds and can make some domesticated birds, including chickens, ducks, and turkeys, very sick and kill them.

Medicago gets Health Canada clearance to initiate Phase II clinical trial for H5N1 vaccine

Medicago Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing highly effective and competitive vaccines based on proprietary manufacturing technologies and Virus-Like Particles, today announced it has received clearance by Health Canada to initiate its Phase II dose-sparing clinical trial for an H5N1 Avian Influenza VLP vaccine candidate ("H5N1 vaccine").

11 Jun 2013

New comprehensive effort to model how humans respond to viral pathogens

In an effort to sort out why some viruses such as influenza, Ebola and West Nile are so lethal, a team of U.S. researchers plans a comprehensive effort to model how humans respond to these viral pathogens.

7 Jun 2013

Medicago reports positive interim results from preclinical trial for H7 VLP vaccine candidate

Medicago Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing highly effective and competitive vaccines based on proprietary manufacturing technologies and Virus-Like Particles, today reported positive interim results from a preclinical trial for an H7N9 Avian Influenza VLP vaccine candidate ("H7 vaccine").

6 Jun 2013

New, improved drugs can boost body's natural flu killer system

A known difficulty in fighting influenza (flu) is the ability of the flu viruses to mutate and thus evade various medications that were previously found to be effective. Researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have shown recently that another, more promising, approach is to focus on improving drugs that boost the body's natural flu killer system.

24 May 2013

New computer model predicts when avian influenza strain becomes infectious

A new computer model could help scientists predict when a particular strain of avian influenza might become infectious from bird to human, according to a report to be published in the International Journal Data Mining and Bioinformatics.

21 May 2013

Avian-origin influenza A virus associated with severe lower respiratory tract diseases

A novel avian-origin reassortant influenza A (H7N9) virus emerged in China in February 2013, and is associated with severe lower respiratory tract diseases. To date, more than 100 human cases of infection, including at least 20 deaths, have been reported in China.

15 May 2013

Viewpoints: The threat from 'contagion exhaustion;' An economist sees humor in hospital pricing

There has been a flurry of recent attention over two novel infectious agents: the first, a strain of avian influenza virus (H7N9) in China that is causing severe respiratory disease and other serious health complications in people; the second, a coronavirus, first reported last year in the Middle East, that has brought a crop of new infections.

13 May 2013

New VLP vaccine candidate produced for H7N9 virus

Medicago Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing highly effective and competitive vaccines based on proprietary manufacturing technologies and Virus-Like Particles, today announced that it has successfully produced a new VLP vaccine candidate for the H7N9 virus that is responsible for the current influenza outbreak in China.

8 May 2013

Scientists generate map of H7N9 risk

A map of avian influenza (H7N9) risk is presented in Biomed Central's open access journal Infectious Diseases of Poverty today. The map is comprised of bird migration patterns, and adding in estimations of poultry production and consumption, which are used to infer future risk and to advise on ways to prevent infection.

3 May 2013

New approach could democratize viral surveillance, says UCSF scientist

The tick-borne Lone Star virus has been conclusively identified as part of a family of other tick-borne viruses called bunyaviruses, which often cause fever, respiratory problems and bleeding, according to new research led by scientists at UC San Francisco.

3 May 2013

H7N9 bird flu virus continues to spread throughout China

"China on Saturday reported its first case of H7N9 bird flu in the southern province of Hunan, the latest sign the virus that has killed 23 people in the country is continuing to spread," Reuters reports (Ruwitch, 4/29).

30 Apr 2013

Nature editorial, opinion piece address H7N9 virus

The journal Nature published an editorial and opinion piece on the emergence of the H7N9 avian influenza strain.

26 Apr 2013

New information on mitigating spread of infection from flu viruses

Pandemic flu continues to threaten public health, especially in the wake of the recent emergence of an H7N9 low pathogenic avian influenza strain in humans.

25 Apr 2013

H7N9 flu virus found to transmit from birds to humans but not person-to-person

Scientists in China have confirmed for the first time that the influenza A H7N9 virus has transmitted from birds—specifically, chicken at a wet poultry market—to humans, according to an Article published Online First in The Lancet.

25 Apr 2013

Chinese bird flu continues to spread

The H7N9 avian influenza outbreak in China is continuing to spread, although authorities believe that the large majority of those affected did not become infected via human-to-human contact.

25 Apr 2013

To avoid difficulties experienced during SARS epidemic, China must remain transparent in H7N9 efforts

"On this 10th anniversary of China's April 2003 admission that the SARS virus had spread across that country ... Beijing finds itself once again in a terrible position via-a-vis the microbial and geopolitical worlds," Laurie Garrett, a senior fellow for global health at the Council on Foreign Relations, writes in a Foreign Policy opinion piece, noting the emergence of a new strain of bird flu, H7N9, in the country.

25 Apr 2013

H7N9 virus continues to spread; International research team traveling to China to assist

"Two more people in China have died from a new strain of avian influenza, bringing to 16 the number of deaths from the H7N9 virus, and the government has warned that the number of infections could rise," Reuters reports.

18 Apr 2013

IDRI, Medicago announce positive Phase I clinical trial results for avian flu pandemic vaccine

IDRI, a Seattle-based non-profit research organization that is a leading developer of adjuvants used in vaccines combating infectious disease, and Medicago Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing highly effective and competitive vaccines based on proprietary manufacturing technologies and Virus-Like Particles, today reported positive interim results from a Phase I clinical trial for an H5N1 Avian Influenza VLP vaccine candidate.

18 Apr 2013

Reports of H7N9 cases, deaths continue from across China

"Two more people have died in China from a new strain of bird flu, raising the death toll from the virus to 13, state media reported Sunday," the Associated Press reports.

16 Apr 2013

Genetic analysis of H7N9 portrays that virus evolves to adapt to human cells

A genetic analysis of the avian flu virus responsible for at least nine human deaths in China portrays a virus evolving to adapt to human cells, raising concern about its potential to spark a new global flu pandemic.

15 Apr 2013