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.

Simple measures such as hand washing better than drugs in dealing with flu viruses

Scientists say using physical barriers, such as regular hand washing and wearing masks, gloves and gowns, may be far more effective than drugs to prevent the spread of respiratory viruses such as influenza and SARS.

27 Nov 2007

Physical barriers may be more effective than drugs to prevent pandemics

Physical barriers, such as regular handwashing and wearing masks, gloves and gowns may be more effective than drugs to prevent the spread of respiratory viruses like influenza and SARS, concludes a study published on bmj.com.

27 Nov 2007

Bird flu in South Korea prompts culling of 17,000 ducks

A bird flu scare in South Korea has prompted Japan to ban all imports of poultry from there.

27 Nov 2007

UK framework for responding to an influenza pandemic

The Health Protection Agency welcomes publication of the Government's National Framework for Responding to an Influenza Pandemic.

22 Nov 2007

British bird flu outbreak now under control

The cull involved four premises identified as having had dangerous contact with Redgrave Park Farm, near Diss, where the potentially lethal H5N1 strain of avian influenza was confirmed last week.

19 Nov 2007

Lessons learned from Turkey's 2006 bird flu outbreak

Rapid responses by Turkey's health authorities and key health personnel were critical in bringing the 2006 bird flu outbreak under control, according to research published in the online open access journal, BMC Public Health.

16 Nov 2007

Deadly bird flu hits Britain

Officials in Britain have confirmed that the bird flu strain detected in turkeys on a farm in Norfolk is the deadly H5N1 strain of the virus

13 Nov 2007

H5 avian influenza found on Suffolk poultry farm

The Department for the Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has confirmed avian influenza in turkeys on premises near Diss on the Norfolk/Suffolk border. Preliminary tests were positive for the H5 strain.

13 Nov 2007

Children may be particularly susceptible to avian influenza

New findings, reported in in the online open access journal Respiratory Research, about how the virus binds to the respiratory tract and lung suggest children may be particularly susceptible to avian influenza.

24 Oct 2007

Influenza vaccine production capacity on the rise

Recent scientific advances and increased vaccine manufacturing capacity have prompted experts to increase their projections of how many pandemic influenza vaccine courses can be made available in the coming years.

24 Oct 2007

In the event of a bird flu pandemic more vaccine will be ready

The World Health Organization (WHO) has revised it's estimate of how much bird flu vaccine could be available were a pandemic scenario to unfold.

24 Oct 2007

Portable detection system for foot-and-mouth and avian flu

Smiths Detection, part of the global technology business Smiths Group, today announces it is to launch a portable detection system that will enable veterinarians to carry out on-site diagnosis of animal diseases such as foot-and-mouth and avian flu.

15 Oct 2007

Report looks at border control in a flu pandemic

A report to be published in an upcoming issue of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Bulletin will call for urgent attention to the politically sensitive issue of border control, and the need for coherent and robust national plans in the face of a catastrophic flu pandemic.

10 Oct 2007

Human and avian influenza viruses target different cells in the lower respiratory tract of humans and other mammals

Researchers have identified which sites and cell types within the respiratory tract are targeted by human versus avian influenza viruses, providing valuable insights into the pathogenesis of these divergent diseases.

10 Oct 2007

Call for new efforts to bolster disease surveillance in the Americas

Top international health authorities are urging new efforts to bolster disease surveillance in the Americas, saying that small and poorer countries in the region have limited ability to detect, assess and report on disease outbreaks that could spread beyond their borders.

8 Oct 2007

Bird flu on Saskatchewan farm results in culling of 50,000 chickens

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) says chickens infected with a highly pathogenic H7N3 strain of avian influenza on a farm in Saskatchewan have all been destroyed.

4 Oct 2007

How H5N1 virus works

H5N1 influenza, also known as avian influenza, is considered a major global threat to human health, with high fatality rates.

27 Sep 2007

New biosensor detects avian influenza in just minutes

Quick identification of avian influenza infection in poultry is critical to controlling outbreaks, but current detection methods can require several days to produce results.

27 Sep 2007

Key differences discovered between avian and human flu

St. Jude scientists have found key features that distinguish influenza viruses found in birds from those that infect humans.

5 Sep 2007

Limited human-to-human spread of Avian-flu virus in Indonesia in 2006 confirmed

In the first systematic, statistical analysis of its kind, infectious-disease-modeling experts at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center confirm that the avian influenza A (H5N1) virus in 2006 spread between a small number of people within a family in Indonesia.

28 Aug 2007