Tuesday, February 21, 2006
Avian influenza spreading at an accelerated rate
The spread of the highly pathogenic avian influenza virus has affected more countries in the month of February than in any similar period in the more than two-year-old epidemic.
The lethal H5N1 strain of the avian influenza virus was detected in February in 13 new countries on three continents.
The World Health Organization (WHO) lists the nations in the order of their reports of bird flu: Iraq, Nigeria, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Greece, Italy, Slovenia, Iran, Austria, Germany, Egypt, India and France.
Wild dead birds also have been found in Hungary, Croatia, Slovakia and Bosnia in recent days. Tests are under way to determine if H5N1 caused the deaths of animals in those nations.
A February 21 WHO assessment of the recent spread notes significant differences in the way the disease is appearing in the various countries.
In some places, the virus has shown itself in the corpses of wild dead birds found in rural waters. In other places, it has appeared in domestic or backyard flocks.
“In Egypt, outbreaks in domestic poultry have now been confirmed in 10 governorates [administrative divisions]; deaths have also been reported in exotic zoo birds,� said the WHO statement. “In Iraq, presence of the virus in birds was found only after the country confirmed its first human case.�
A list compiled by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) notes 27 nations where the disease has been detected since its emergence in late 2003. This account does not include nations in which H5N1 has not been definitively confirmed, meaning the total number of nations with confirmed cases of bird flu could rise again within days.
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