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.

Vaccines approved by the FDA are at least a million times safer than the viruses that they prevent

For more than 200 years, vaccines have played an important role in the prevention of infectious diseases.

2 Aug 2007

Detecting transmissibility of avian influenza virus in human households

Recent outbreaks of emerging diseases such as SARS and H5N1 avian influenza have underlined the fact that animal pathogens may acquire the ability to spread efficiently in humans but as yet have not.

26 Jul 2007

Bird flu suspected in turkey flock in the U.S.

The discovery of what is suspected to be avian flu antibodies in a flock of turkeys on a farm in the United States has experts alarmed.

11 Jul 2007

Prevention and control of zoonoses

Over 180 international scientific experts will meet for the next three days near Lucca, Italy, to discuss state-of-the-art advances in infectious diseases transmitted from animals to man, known as zoonoses.

29 Jun 2007

Canada enhances capacity to fight infectious disease

Today representatives of all three levels of government and the Canada Foundation for Innovation turned the sod to launch construction of the International Vaccine Centre (InterVac) at the University of Saskatchewan, a $110.4-million project that will significantly enhance Canada's capacity to fight infectious disease in both animals and humans.

26 Jun 2007

Tamiflu could halve the pandemic influenza death toll versus no intervention

Treatment with the oral antiviral Tamiflu (oseltamivir) and prophylaxis for people exposed to infected patients could be one of the most cost-effective strategies for reducing illness and death during an influenza pandemic.

23 Jun 2007

Global stockpile of H5N1 vaccines

The World Health Organization (WHO) today announced that it is working with vaccine manufacturers to move ahead on plans to create a global stockpile of vaccine for the H5N1 avian influenza virus.

19 Jun 2007

Baxter supports better access to pandemic flu treatment in developing world

Baxter International Inc. has expressed its continued support of the World Health Organization's (WHO) pandemic planning programs through participation in a planned international stockpile program.

From Baxter International Inc. 17 Jun 2007

Survey of public knowledge of avian influenza

Researchers at the Food Policy Institute at the Rutgers New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station have conducted a nationwide survey of public knowledge, attitudes, intentions and behaviors related to the threat of highly pathogenic avian influenza.

14 Jun 2007

Human bird flu suspects in Malaysia quarantined

Health officials in Malaysia say two people have been quarantined in Malaysian hospitals with suspected bird flu and health officials are also looking into the suspected case in an elderly patient in the state of Selangor.

11 Jun 2007

Veterinarians who work with birds at increased risk for infection with avian influenza virus

The study showed that, compared with the control group, the veterinarians who worked with birds had significantly higher levels of antibodies in their blood against the H5, H6 and H7 avian virus strains, indicating previous infections with these viruses.

1 Jun 2007

Man with rare TB zig-zagged his way around Europe on planes

Officials in the United States have revealed that the airline passenger infected with a dangerous strain of tuberculosis fled across Europe to avoid detection.

31 May 2007

Human antibodies protect mice from H5N1 avian influenza

An international team of scientists, including researchers from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), report using antibodies derived from immune cells from recent human survivors of H5N1 avian influenza to successfully treat H5N1-infected mice as well as protect them from an otherwise lethal dose of the virus.

30 May 2007

H5N1 influenza virus survivors' antibodies effective at neutralising H5N1 strain

Adults who have recovered from the potentially deadly H5N1 strain of avian influenza may hold the key to future treatments for the virus, according to an international team of researchers.

30 May 2007

Avian influenza H7N2 infection confirmed in north Wales

The Health Protection Agency is providing expert support and advice to the National Public Health Service for Wales after an H7N2 avian influenza infection was found in birds on a small farm in north Wales.

27 May 2007

Healthcare worker response to disaster conditions

When disaster strikes, getting care to the victims is at the top of everyone's attention. But who will provide that care" In two studies to be presented at the 2007 Society for Academic Emergency Medicine (SAEM) Annual Meeting, researchers examined the factors that might affect whether healthcare workers and support staff would report to work during a disaster.

17 May 2007

New host species for avian influenza A virus (H5N1)

In a new study published online in the open-access journal PLoS Pathogens, Dr. Vincent J. Munster, of Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, and colleagues identify new host species for avian influenza A virus (H5N1) and provide important information on the distinctions between the ecology and epidemiology of various global strains of the virus.

11 May 2007

Low frequency of resistance to Tamiflu confirmed

New data published by the World Health Organisation (WHO) has confirmed a low frequency of resistance to Tamiflu (oseltamivir) over 3 influenza seasons (2003:2006).

10 May 2007

Predicting the next pandemic

In planning for a future influenza pandemic, most experts agree that two things are known for certain, there will be another pandemic someday, and nobody can predict when.

9 May 2007

Study shows effectiveness of Peramivir in mouse model of H5N1 virus infection

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals has announced that investigators at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, reported favorable results evaluating peramivir treatment in an animal model of influenza using a highly virulent strain of H5N1 virus (an avian influenza strain that had caused fatal human infection in Viet Nam).

4 May 2007