Bird Flu News and Research

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Local health officials don't rate U.S. government bird flu plans

Health officials in the U.S. have predicted, in the event of a bird flu pandemic, businesses and government can expect 40 percent of their employees to be absent during it's peak.

6 Dec 2005

Top vet in Ukraine sacked over bird flu

One of the Ukraine's top veterinarian officers has apparently been dismissed over the delayed reporting of an outbreak of bird flu.

5 Dec 2005

Emergency measures in Ukraine after 2000 birds die

In what appears to be the biggest outbreak yet in Europe of the deadly strain of bird flu, more than 2,000 domestic birds have died in a remote region of the Crimean peninsula in the Ukraine.

5 Dec 2005

Two more cases of bird flu in China makes experts jumpy

The confirmation of two new outbreaks of the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu in poultry in China is causing concern among health experts as the virus continues to take its toll on Asia, and the world searches for ways to contain it.

29 Nov 2005

Vaccinating chickens shown to halt the spread of bird flu

Dutch scientists say that vaccinating chickens against avian flu can prevent a major outbreak of the disease by stopping birds from passing on the virus.

29 Nov 2005

Two more bird flu outbreaks in China - WHO investigating

Chinese authorities have confirmed two new bird flu outbreaks in poultry in the northwestern region of Xinjiang and in central Hunan province.

29 Nov 2005

Completion of the genetic sequencing of the 1918 influenza A virus

An article by Robert Belshe, M.D., of Saint Louis University School of Medicine in the New England Journal of Medicine reviews recent "spectacular achievements of contemporary molecular biology" that hold great importance as the world prepares for a possible flu pandemic.

28 Nov 2005

Contact with pigs increases risk of animal flu viruses

Farmers, veterinarians and meat processors who routinely come into contact with pigs in their jobs have a markedly increased risk of infection with flu viruses that infect pigs, according to a study funded in part by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).

28 Nov 2005

Indonesia to produce bird flu vaccine with help from U.S. company

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono says the authorities there will cooperate with the U.S.-based Baxter International to produce human vaccines for the H5N1 bird flu virus.

28 Nov 2005

Romania culls thousands of fowl to stop the spread of bird flu

A remote village outside the Danube delta has been quarantined after the discovery of an avian flu virus in a turkey.

28 Nov 2005

Taiwan to produce its own version of Tamiflu

A government panel in Taiwan has decided that the anti bird flu drug Tamiflu can be produced there without permission from the Swiss drug maker Roche AG, if supplies of the medicine run out.

28 Nov 2005

Indonesia to make Tamiflu

The Indonesian Health Minister Siti Fadilah Supari has announced that the Ministry of Health has been given special rights from drug company Roche, maker of the bird flu drug Tamiflu, to produce the drug.

28 Nov 2005

Star anise sought after in bird flu fight

The ancient spice star anise is apparently the main source of shikimic acid, a key ingredient in the bird flu drug Tamiflu, and farmers in China's southern region of Guangxi are being encouraged to capitalise on the growing demand for the spice.

28 Nov 2005

Another case of non-lethal bird flu in Canada

A mild form of avian flu has been discovered at a second farm in southwestern British Columbia, but Canadian officials said the public health risk remains minimal.

24 Nov 2005

Passenger and crew lists on demand will protect America from disease say US health officials

U.S. health officials, using the excuse that they need to protect Americans from bird flu and other diseases, are proposing regulations that will require airlines and shipping firms to hand over passenger and crew lists on demand and expand how they report serious illnesses.

24 Nov 2005