Posted on 10/19/2005 5:52:45 PM PDT by I'll be your Huckleberry
BRUSSELS : Russia and China confirmed new outbreaks of potentially lethal avian influenza Wednesday, fuelling concerns of a global flu pandemic as Europe scrambled to contain the virus on its southeastern flank.
Russia's agriculture ministry said the virulent H5N1 virus - already detected in Siberia in the summer - had been detected in the province of Tula, west of the Ural mountains, apparently borne by wild ducks. In an immediate response, the European Union - which suffered a new blow as a fresh case of the lethal version of the virus was found in Romania - announced plans to extend a ban on Russian bird imports.
Europe's jitters about bird flu were triggered by the confirmation last week that Turkey and Romania have cases of the H5N1 strain of the virus, which has killed more than 60 people in Asia.
The big fear among experts is that H5N1 may mutate, acquiring genes from the human influenza virus that would make it highly infectious as well as lethal - possibly killing millions worldwide as the influenza pandemic of 1918 did.
"Experts tell us that a human influenza pandemic is a real possibility, which could happen at any time in the coming years," said EU health commissioner Markos Kyprianou. "We need to plan for this."
In Moscow, authorities confirmed that the virus in Tula was the H5N1 type, which was found in Siberia.
"We have confirmation from the laboratory that it is the H5N1 form" of bird flu, Nikolai Vlasov, deputy head of the ministry's veterinary control department, told AFP.
The announcement marks the the first time the virus has arrived west of the Urals in Russia. Russia has culled hundreds of thousands of fowl and imposed numerous quarantines in a bid to wipe out the virus.
In Beijing meanwhile authorities announced China's first reported outbreak of bird flu in more than two months, saying the disease had killed 2,600 birds, mostly chickens, on a farm in its northern Inner Mongolia region.
The national bird flu laboratory confirmed that an epidemic on a farm near the Inner Mongolian capital of Hohhot was the H5N1 strain, the Xinhua news agency reported.
The brief Xinhua report said the ministry of agriculture had immediately dispatched teams to ensure necessary quarantine and disinfection measures were undertaken.
"Currently, the outbreak has been brought efficiently under control," the agency said. "No new outbreaks have been discovered."
Back on Europe's borders, Romanian and Turkish authorities continued to battle to contain the outbreaks.
In Romania, authorities confirmed that tests have confirmed the presence of new cases of the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus, after it was initially detected at the weekend.
But the focus of more immediate concern turned to Greece, where authorities were awaiting the results of tests on a suspected case found on the tiny Aegean island of Oinousses on Monday.
Health Minister Nikitas Kaklamanis arrived on the islet bearing a consignment of 20 vaccines for the local health centre, and words of reassurance about the prospects of an avian flu pandemic.
"I am confident that the samples will be proven negative," said Kaklamanis.
Pingarooski
I too, would appreciate a ping on this topic!
Thanks to whomever has the "ping" list!
Acapesket
That would be Dog Gone or bitt.
Most of Europe is very worried about this.
please add acapesket
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1399613/posts?q=1&&page=1851
the surveillance flu thread could be a good place to link these articles to. please also add 'avianflu' to the keywords of any articles you see on FR....
thanks much!
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