Posted on 12/02/2005 9:00:06 PM PST by USA Girl
I'm trying to find other substantiation for article below and so far, have found the following as an add-on. Please everyone follow up if you have additional information. http://avianflu.futurehs.com/?p=1793
Has feared mutation of avian flu arrived? Doctors in Thailand, Indonesia see 1st signs of human-to-human spread Posted: December 2, 2005 10:10 p.m. Eastern
© 2005 WorldNetDaily.com
Officials in at least two nations now suspect the avian flu bug has mutated into a virus that is being transmitted from human to human – a development world health authorities have estimated could result in the deaths of tens of millions.
Thai health officials have expressed concern that the country's two latest confirmed victims may be the beginning of the much feared human-to-human transmission.
Dr. Charoen Chuchottaworn, an avian-flu expert at the Public Health Ministry, said doctors reviewing the cases were alerted by the very mild symptoms present in both patients, neither of whom had had any recent contact with birds or poultry.
The doctors are unsure as to how either of the infected contracted the disease and have raised the possibility that the virus has traded its pathogenicity for ease of transmission.
Meanwhile, in Indonesia, the disease is spreading so rapidly, particularly in the capital of Jakarta, some health officials strongly suspect the long-dreaded mutation has already occurred.
"There are just too many people who have it," said one doctor. "In many cases, it is difficult to establish any contact with birds."
Another official said the flu has "spread all over the city."
The latest victim confirmed officially by the Ministry of Health is a 25-year-old woman. She was treated at Tangerang Hospital before being transferred to Sulianti Saroso. The woman had difficulty breathing and a breathing tube had to be inserted
The World Health Organization-sanctioned laboratory in Hong Kong has so far confirmed 13 bird flu cases in humans in Indonesia, with eight people dying from the virus.
Separately, Minister of Health Siti Fadila Supari said Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche had given Indonesia approval to produce its antiviral drug Tamiflu to fight bird flu in humans.
So far the government has relied on donors such as Singapore, Japan and Australia for its supply of Tamiflu
The government also said it would launch a yearlong operation against bird flu, involving the military, house-to-house checks and mass culls of birds across the country
"The president has said that until 2006, for one year, we will intensively eradicate bird flu virus," said Minister of Agriculture Anton Apriyantono.
He said the yearlong program would include weekly checks of backyard farms and larger farms in Greater Jakarta for infected birds
The Jakarta Animal Husbandry, Fisheries and Maritime Affairs Agency today destroyed some 500 chickens and pet birds in Utan Kayu, where a number of infected birds have been found.
From about 2,000 tests conducted by the agency in 30 of the capital's 267 subdistricts, dozens of infected birds were found in the subdistricts of Ceger, Utan Kayu, Pondok Kelapa, Duren Sawit and Cipinang Melayu, all in East Jakarta, as well as in Sunter Jaya and Cilincing in North Jakarta, Kapuk in West Jakarta, and Petojo in Central Jakarta.
With one small genetic adjustment in Influenza A, or H5N1, millions of people could die, warns World Health Organization Regional Director for the Western Pacific Shigeru Omi. Omi has called for health ministers and representatives to launch an all-out war on the deadly strain.
If the virus acquires sufficient human genes, allowing transmission from one person to another, an estimated 2 million to 7.4 million people around the world could die, the WHO estimates.
Some health officials make even more dire predictions. They point to the great flu pandemic of 1918-1919, which killed far more people worldwide than died in World War I – an estimated 40 to 50 million people.
There are more signs the virus is spreading – outward from Asia and through Europe. Romania appears to be the hardest hit.
Three more villages in eastern Romania have been quarantined following the discovery of an H5 strain of avian influenza in poultry in one of the villages. The Romanian Ministry of Agriculture suspects the presence of bird flu in the other villages but is awaiting confirmation of test results from the United Kingdom.
Culling has begun in the area, and authorities estimate that 9,500 birds will be killed.
Romanian Agriculture Minister Gheorghe Flutur said today that 10,000 birds have been slaughtered following the discovery this week of three cases of avian flu in the Danube Delta.
"The villages of Periprava as well as Dudescu and Bumbacari have been placed under quarantine and the soil has been disinfected," he told journalists. "We have also alerted the Ukrainian authorities, since the village of Periprava is only three kilometers (two miles) from the frontier."
Although the latest cases have been identified as the H5 variety, more tests are being carried out to find out if the virus belongs to the deadly H5NI strain that has killed more than 60 people in Asia and is feared as a possible source of a human flu pandemic.
A member of the national animal health authority, Florica Durlea, warned that the risk of avian flu remained, because new waves of migratory birds are expected as a result of mild temperatures.
The Danube Delta is a stopping off point for birds flying from central Asia and Russia.
So far, 12 outbreaks of bird flu have been detected in Romania.
In China, a team from the World Health Organization investigating the deaths from avian influenza said the extent of the problem in the country -- and elsewhere -- may be worse than initially thought.
Dick Thompson, a WHO spokesman in Geneva, told the New York Times, "In some cases the surveillance system may not be there. We're not nosing around, but we may be able to provide (China with) some technical expertise."
The H5N1 bird flu virus has killed at least 68 people in Asia since 2003.
Click to learn more...
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt announced the purchase of additional vaccine that could be used in the event of a potential influenza pandemic.
The department has awarded a $62.5 million contract to Chiron Corp. to manufacture an avian influenza vaccine designed to protect against the H5N1 influenza virus strain. The number of individuals who could be protected by the newly contracted vaccine is still to be determined by ongoing clinical studies.
"An influenza vaccine effective against the H5N1 virus is our best hope of protecting the American people from a virus for which they have no immunity," said Leavitt. "This contract will increase our stockpile of the vaccine and is a continuation of our aggressive multi-pronged approach to a potentially critical public health challenge."
This purchase builds on the department's current plans to buy enough H5N1 influenza vaccine for 20 million people and enough influenza antivirals for another 20 million people. These supplies of vaccine and antiviral treatment will be placed in the nation's Strategic National Stockpile where they will be available for use should an influenza pandemic occur. Recently, HHS awarded a $100 million contract to sanofi pasteur, the vaccines business of the sanofi-aventis Group, for avian flu vaccine.
"There are just too many people who have it," said one doctor. "In many cases, it is difficult to establish any contact with birds."
Come on, only 13 people out of 130 million or so indonesians have contracted it. How is that too many?
""In many cases, it is difficult to establish any contact with birds."
they eat them
That's their story and they're sticking to it.
"The World Health Organization-sanctioned laboratory in Hong Kong has so far confirmed 13 bird flu cases in humans in Indonesia, with eight people dying from the virus."
The two above comments are in conflict. I think I'll believe the WHO before WND. However, I have my eyes wide open.
I'm with you, Blam.
I'm not hyperventilating quite yet, but keeping my eyes wide open on the news tomorrow.
WND is simply reporting what is found in the Bloomberg report and perhaps other sources as well.
Ping
Where there are 13 it means there are probably more especially if the individuals who have contracted it are not from clearly isolated communities. I don't think this bird flu is going to be nearly as bad as has been suggested but even if it is it is very unlikely there is anything currently that would stop it if it were to be...
I keep eyeing all the wild geese that are always out in my neighbors very large cow pastures with ponds, hundreds of them. Hmmmm
Ping.
Is this the new pandemic of the week?
You're OK as long as they're still quacking. Oh, that's ducks.
Here is a story in Dec 3 Jakarta Post.....I saw nothing about bird flu
Dengue admittances continue to rise daily
Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta
A five-year old dengue patient died on Thursday evening at the Budi Asih hospital in East Jakarta while four others were in critical condition at Pasar Rebo hospital also in East Jakarta on Friday as the number of dengue cases continues to rise in the capital.
Jidan, who lived with his parents in Kalibata, Pasar Minggu, South Jakarta, died at 11:30 p.m. in Budi Asih's intensive care unit on Thursday after being admitted to the hospital early in the morning.
"He was fine in the beginning, but after several hours his condition deteriorated. We brought him to the ICU but he died before midnight," Ida, an information officer of the city-run Budi Asih hospital, said on Friday.
Meanwhile, four children are still being treated at the ICU of Pasar Rebo hospital and their condition is reported to be critical.
The four are Ibnu Safera, four, from Cijantung in East Jakarta; Gigih Sutawijaya, six, from Ciracas, also in East Jakarta; Inggrid Selfina, nine, from Pejaten Timur, South Jakarta and Andi Sutiyana, 13, from Pancoran Mas, Depok, West Java.
Pasar Rebo hospital spokesman Dedi Suryadi said that the four patients needed intensive treatment as their parents took them to the hospital when they were already seriously ill.
Jakarta Health Agency spokesman Evy Zelfino said over 17,000 people across the capital had been admitted into hospitals since January, of which 76 people, mostly children, have died.
She said that the number of dengue patients admitted to hospital continued to rise in the last several weeks.
As the number of dengue fever cases continues to increase in the capital, several hospitals have been forced to treat patients on additional beds along the corridors.
A total of 62 patients were being treated at Budi Asih hospital as of Friday, with 18 admitted on Friday. Thirty-one of them were being treated along the corridors as rooms allocated for dengue patients were all full.
A similar increase in the number of patients was also experienced by Pasar Rebo, Tarakan hospital in Central Jakarta and Fatmawati hospital in South Jakarta. Dozens of patients were treated along the corridors of those hospitals.
The number of dengue patients in Fatmawati, for instance, reached 51 in November this year compared to 28 people last year.
The hospital said that they received six dengue patients every day.
Despite the continued increase in dengue cases, Evy said that the administration had not declared the situation an emergency.
"We have our own criteria for declaring an emergency situation," she said.
The administration assesses the dengue outbreak as an emergency if 15 to 20 new cases are admitted each day to a hospital.
Upon declaring an emergency, the administration will allocate special funds and launch a massive campaign on dengue eradication and other measures to prevent the outbreak from spreading.
http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailcity.asp?fileid=20051203.G01&irec=0
ping
Huh? So is it the scourge of mankind or little more than the common cold?
Yup, I've arrived. Consider yourself warned!
Do you think "Wild Geese" would work as a defense if I have ducks and chickens and someone in the nieghborhood gets sick, the MD says it is very difficult to distinguish one flu from another, he thinks it would be very cheap insurance to lose the fowl, I am not guided or driven by my fear of lawsuits, He is and he says in this case I should roll over and just grow a new batch next year, he says it's cheaper and less stressful.
I'm stubborn and not at all that attached to the fowl, it's the principle, if I roll this time for this, will it be easier to roll next time for ... whatever?
TT
Uh-hunh.
Hi feared mutation, I am Darksheare.
Welcome to FR.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.