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AFP via Yahoo! News - 13th October 2005
EU confirms bird flu found in Romania
BRUSSELS (AFP) - The European Commission said that tests for bird flu in Romania had proved positive and that it planned to ban imports of live birds and poultry products from the country.
"The three EU laboratory experts sent to Romania by the Commission last Monday have confirmed that Avian Influenza virus H5 has been detected in tests on two samples from a chicken and a duck taken in a suspected backyard farm in the Danube delta," the EU commission said in a statement.
NFU - 13th October 2005
Farmers to redouble biosecurity measures to protect against avian influenza
UK - The recent Avian Influenza scares in Romania and Turkey are a reminder to all poultry farmers in the UK they must remain vigilant against any sign of notifiable diseases, the NFU said today.
AFX News Limited via Forbes - 13th October 2005
Indonesian teenager cleared of bird flu dies
JAKARTA - An Indonesian teenager released from hospital earlier this month after being told she had not contracted the deadly bird flu virus has died, a medical official said.
'The woman had tested negative and was declared not infected with avian flu and was accordingly released from hospital on Oct 4,' said Sardikin Giriputro, the deputy director of Jakarta's Sulianti Saroso hospital.
New Straits times - 13th October 2005
All poultry may be culled
KUALA LUMPUR - The worst-case scenario on bird flu would compel the authorities to cull all poultry nationwide or embark on a mammoth vaccination campaign. Veterinary Services Department director-general Datuk Dr Hawari Hussein said either of these would be done if the bird flu spread too rapidly or could not be contained.
He said culling was still the most effective way of containing its spread. Vaccination was an alternative but its success depended on the availability of vaccine.
Thais News - 13th October 2005
Thai PM offers EU in containing bird flu in SEA region
THAILAND - Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has indicated that José Manuel Barroso, the president of the European Commission has expressed approval in Thailand's offer to control bird flu in the South East Asian region. `Thailand has great expertise in this area,' European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso told a joint news briefing, thanking him for his country's offer of help.
Thanh Nien Daily - 13th October 2005
Vietnam reports 35 million fowls vaccinated against bird flu
Vietnam has vaccinated some 35 million of the targeted 260 million poultry against bird flu by the end of September, animal health authorities reported Wednesday.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development’s Animal Health Department said it had registered to import 260 million doses of vaccine for further vaccinations in October and November.
AFP via Yahoo! News - 13th October 2005
Australia gives Indonesia an extra 7.5 million dollars to combat bird flu
Australia gave Indonesia an additional 10 million dollars (7.5 million US) to combat bird flu, as medical authorities in Jakarta announced another suspected death from the virus.
The office of Foreign Minister Alexander Downer, who is on a three-day trip to Indonesia, said the additional funds would bring Australia's avian influenza aid package to the country to 15.5 million dollars.
Reuters - 13th October 2005
Experts call for creating US bird flu czar
WASHINGTON - The United States needs a top official, backed by authority and cash, to prepare for a possible bird flu pandemic, experts said on Wednesday.
But the United States, and most other countries, are so badly behind in preparing for disease outbreaks in general that it will take years to catch up, they told a briefing of Congressional staffers.
AFX via Forbes - 13th October 2005
Turkey completes mass poultry cull to combat bird flu
Turkish officials said they had completed the mass slaughter of poultry to combat a bird flu outbreak in this northwestern village, although the area remains quarantined.
'The mass slaughter of animals is complete,' agriculture ministry spokesman Faruk Demirel said, adding that small-scale slaughter was continuing on some farms.
Unison - 13th October 2005
Experts unveil secret bird flu weapon . . . alcohol
IRELAND - At the Swiss headquarters of the World Health Organisation, Britain's chief medical officer, Sir Liam Donaldson, said that the threat of bird flu was one of ...