Bird Flu - Avian Influenza - news - information

Saturday, November 24, 2007

South Korea Confirms Bird Flu Outbreak

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s first bird flu outbreak in eight months forced the slaughter of thousands of ducks in the country’s south Saturday, although the deadly H5N1 virus was not involved, the government said.

The virus that caused the latest outbreak was a “low pathogenic” H7 strain that has not been known to spread to humans, said an official at the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry.

Quarantine workers slaughtered about 17,000 ducks at the farm in Gwangju, about 205 miles southwest of the capital, Seoul, the official said on condition of anonymity, citing office policy.

The outbreak, South Korea’s first since March, was confirmed on Friday, the ministry official said.

Seven outbreaks of the lethal H5N1 virus hit poultry farms across South Korea between November 2006 and March this year, resulting in the slaughter of about 2.8 million birds.

The country declared itself free of bird flu in June after reporting no new outbreaks for three months. The latest outbreak does not affect South Korea’s bird flu-free status because it involves a “low pathogenic” virus, the ministry official said.

Bird flu story source: AP

Hong Kong finds egret with bird flu in city park

HONG KONG, Nov 24 (Reuters) - A little egret found in a Hong Kong park has tested positive for the H5N1 bird flu virus, the government said on Saturday.

The bird was collected at the Tuen Mun Park in the New Territories on Nov. 18, the city’s agriculture, fisheries and conservation department said in a brief statement.

It urged Hong Kong residents to avoid personal contact with wild birds and live poultry, and to clean hands after any contact.

It is not the first appearance of the disease in the territory: at least 17 infected birds were discovered in the first half of this year.

The virus has caused more than 200 deaths globally since 2003, according to World Health Organisation data.

Although most people who have caught bird flu have had direct or indirect contact with infected fowl, experts fear the constantly mutating virus could change into a form easily transmitted from person to person. This could sweep the world, killing millions.

Earlier this month, an Indonesian man from Riau province on Sumatra island died of bird flu, taking that country’s death toll from the disease to more than 90, the highest in the world. (Reporting by Jeffrey Hodgson; Editing by John Chalmers)

Source of avian influenza story: Reuters

Myanmar reports bird flu outbreak at chicken farm in northeast

YANGON, Myanmar: Myanmar has reported an outbreak of the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus at a chicken farm in the northeast, state media and an international livestock health agency said Saturday.

Unusual deaths of chickens at a farm in a village in Shan State’s Keng Tung township were reported on Nov. 18, and laboratory tests confirmed that H5N1 was detected in some of them, the state-run New Light of Myanmar newspaper reported.

According to the Myanmar government’s report to the Paris-based World Organization for Animal Health, 2,058 of the farm’s 2,591 susceptible birds had died in the outbreak, and the other 533 were slaughtered to prevent the virus from spreading.

Authorities imposed other control measures including a quarantine on the farm, limits on movement of poultry in the area, and disinfection of affected premises, it said.

Myanmar last reported an H5N1 outbreak in October in poultry farms in eastern Bago, about 80 kilometers (50 miles) north of the nation’s largest city, Yangon. H5N1 was also found in some farms in Yangon in February and March, and in Mon State and western Bago in July, the New Light Of Myanmar reported.

Bird flu story source: International Herald Tribune

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Birds flu found in market near Saudi capital-report

RIYADH, Nov 20 (Reuters) - Bird flu has been found in birds at a poultry market on the outskirts of the Saudi capital Riyadh, newspapers reported on Tuesday.

Al-Watan newspaper carried photographs of an agriculture ministry team in masks and white coats in the Aziziya market south of Riyadh, saying bird flu cases had been found there. It was not clear what strain of bird flu had been detected.

The discovery comes just a few weeks before nearly 2 million faithful arrive for the annual haj pilgrimage season in Mecca.

Arab News said birds had been culled in the area after four cases of bird flu were found during a random inspection.

Agriculture and health ministry officials were not available for comment.

Saudi authorities last week culled 50,000 birds at a poultry farm in al-Kharj, 150 km (94 miles) south of Riyadh, after 1,500 birds died of unspecified causes.

Officials said this week 220,000 birds have been culled so far, as teams combed other areas near the capital which has a population of around 4 million.

The government says it has large stocks of Tamiflu anti-flu tablets in case the virus spreads to humans.

In March, Saudi Arabia said the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu had been discovered in peacocks, turkeys, ostriches and parrots at a house in the east of the kingdom and that an unspecified number of birds in the area had been culled.

Bird flu story source: Reuters

Monday, November 19, 2007

Deadly H5N1 bird flu hits second turkey farm (Britain)

A second case of the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu has been found in turkeys at a farm near last week’s initial outbreak, the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs confirmed today.

All 9,000 turkeys have already been slaughtered at the new infected premises, Hill Meadow Farm in Knettishall, on the Norfolk-Suffolk border.

The new farm is operated by the same company that runs Redgrave Park Farm, where the first bird flu case was discovered last week.

Defra had already ordered four precautionary culls - including at the new infected site - because Redgrave Poultry staff moved between the sites and authorities feared “dangerous contact” with the initial case.

The spread of the disease is a bitter blow to the £3.4 billion poultry industry, and there are warnings that supply shortages could mean consumers have to pay more than £100 for an organic Christmas turkey.

Hill Meadow is a seasonal farm rearing turkeys for Christmas, and Redgrave Poultry said no birds had been slaughtered for food or sent to customers.

Defra said the Hill Meadow Farm birds appeared healthy when they were first inspected, but a precautionary cull was completed on Saturday.

The farm is outside the original 3km protection zone set up, but inside the wider restricted area which covers Suffolk and much of Norfolk.

A new 3km protection zone has been set up around the farm, and an extended surveillance zone which surrounds both sites has also been established.

Acting chief veterinary officer Fred Landeg said: “The laboratory test results today highlight the importance of poultry keepers in the area being extremely vigilant.

“It is essential they practice the highest levels of biosecurity and report any suspicions of disease to their local animal health office.”

Geoffrey Buchanan, operations director of Redgrave Poultry, said: “Defra has today advised us that a small number of turkeys culled at Hill Meadow Farm have tested positive for the H5N1 strain of avian influenza.

“It stated that on clinical inspection the flock appeared healthy, which indicates the infection was in its early stages.”

Around 6,000 birds were initially slaughtered at the poultry holding in Redgrave last week after bird flu was detected on the premises.

Vets have yet to establish how the virus arrived in the UK. However is the same strain that caused outbreaks in Germany and Bohemia this summer and one theory is that it was brought by migrating birds which settled on an ornamental lake near Redgrave Park Farm.

A total of 1,200 poultry producers, with 25 million birds - including two million turkeys - lie inside the restricted zone imposed on the whole of Suffolk and most of Norfolk and are barred from moving their flocks outside it.

The other three farms where precautionary culls have taken place are Stone House Farm in West Harling, Norfolk, Bridge Farm in Pulham, Norfolk, and Grove Farm near Botesdale in Suffolk.

Initial tests on 5,500 turkeys slaughtered at Grove Farm found the site was free of the disease, and officials are awaiting results of the remaining two culls.

Bird flu story source: Telegraph

Monday, November 12, 2007

Fresh outbreak of bird flu virus hits Britain

British Government Officials have confirmed another bird flu outbreak on a Turkey farm located in Norfolk.

Officials also stated that about 5,000 birds are being slaughtered to prevent the spread to other farms in the area.The Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said the H5 strain was found in turkeys near Diss on the Norfolk and Suffolk border.

The site also houses ducks and geese and all the birds will be slaughtered.

Procedures to stop the spread to other farms are being put in-place. A two mile protection zone and a 6 mile surveillance zone are being set up.

Preliminary tests showed the turkeys had the H5 strain of bird flu, but it is not yet known whether it is a highly pathogenic form of the disease.

All birds are being slaughtered at the premises, and Defra said it was consulting on what further measures may be needed.

Inside the zones, bird movements will be restricted and all birds must be housed or isolated from contact with wild birds.

All poultry keepers on the British poultry register will be notified and EU officials have been informed.

Bird flu story source: BBC

Sunday, November 11, 2007

Indonesian man dies of bird flu - health official

JAKARTA (Reuters) - An Indonesian man from Riau province on Sumatra island has died of bird flu, taking the country’s death toll from the disease to 91, a health ministry official said on Saturday.

It was not clear if the 31-year-old man who died on Tuesday had been in contact with sick fowl, the most common way of contracting the disease, health ministry spokeswoman Lili Sulistyowati said by telephone text message.

Another official at the ministry’s bird flu center said the man, who had been suffering from a cough, fever and breathing difficulties, died while being transferred from a local hospital in Duri district to a hospital in Pekanbaru, the provincial capital.

“It is not clear about his contact with sick fowl, but our investigation team has been there,” said Joko Suyono at the bird flu center.

Bird flu story source: Reuters‘

Tuesday, November 06, 2007

Indonesian woman dies of bird flu - health official

JAKARTA, Nov 5 (Reuters) - An Indonesian woman has died of bird flu, taking the country’s death toll from the disease to 90, an official at the health ministry’s bird flu center said on Monday.

Suharda Ningrum said it was not yet clear whether the 30-year-old victim had been in contact with sick fowl, but chickens belonging to a neighbor had died suddenly. The woman lived in Tangerang, west of the capital Jakarta.

Contact with sick fowl is the most common way for humans to contract the H5N1 strain of the virus.

“Two tests were confirmed positive for bird flu. Her neighbor’s chickens died suddenly but it is unclear whether she had direct contact with the dead fowl,” said Ningrum, adding that the woman had died in Jakarta’s Persahabatan hospital.

Source for bird flu article: Reuters‘

Thursday, November 01, 2007

Bird flu hits two more Vietnamese provinces

Bird flu outbreaks have recently reoccurred in Nam Dinh and Tra Vinh provinces, killing 210 out of a flock of 400 fowls raised by a household in Nam Dinh’s My Loc District.

Another household in Tra Vinh’s Chau Thanh District also lost 400 fowls.

According to officials, bird flu is currently active in at least four Vietnamese provinces: Quang Tri, Cao Bang, Nam Dinh and Tra Vinh.

Bird flu story source: Thanhnien News