Update (10-21-05)
Hungary Says Bird-Flu Shot Works, Nations Interested (Update1)
Oct. 21 (Bloomberg) -- Hungarian officials said their vaccine that's shown promise against bird flu has drawn interest from countries including the U.S. and Germany that are seeking ways to avert a possible pandemic.
Hungary's health commissioner Mihaly Kokeny today said in an interview on Hungarian television that a vaccine tested in 100 volunteers, including himself and Health Minister Jeno Racz, may protect against the current H5N1 avian strain that killed at least 60 people in Asia and was found in birds in Romania, Turkey and Russia. The country plans to make doses to inoculate its citizens and sell to other nations, health officials said.
(More in link)
Daily Bird Flu News Updates:
BBC - 21th October 2005
Tests show Thai boy has bird flu
THAILAND - A 7-year-old boy in Thailand has tested positive for bird flu, two days after his father died from the disease, a Bangkok hospital has said. But Siriraj Hospital stressed they did not believe the boy, who is recovering, had caught the virus from his father. The 48-year-old farmer was the 13th person in Thailand to die from the flu. The man is said to have slaughtered and eaten a sick bird in his home province of Kanchanaburi, where avian flu outbreaks were reported this week.
BBC - 21th October 2005
Nepal bans Europe poultry imports
EU - Nepalese authorities say they have banned imports of European poultry following recent incidences of bird flu cases there. Officials in Kathmandu say the decision was taken to prevent transmission of the virus into the country. No incidence of bird flu has been reported in Nepal yet. Thousands of migratory birds fly from across the Himalayas in the north to southern plains of Nepal and India every year to avoid extreme cold.
Canada.com - 21th October 2005
Domestic poultry deaths in southern Russia not tied with bird flu: report
RUSSIA - The deaths of up to 150 domestic birds in a village in the southern Russian region of Rostov are not tied with bird flu, the Emergency Situations Ministry said Friday, citing a preliminary diagnosis. The birds, mostly ducks and geese, that took ill in the village of Kolundayevsky, about 1,000 kilometres south of Moscow, fell victim to pasteurellosis, the ministry said. Blood samples from the dead birds are under examination at a regional laboratory, it said. The Interfax news agency reported a second case of bird deaths in the Rostov region, this time of 120 waterfowl in the village of Shabliyevka.
Reuters - 21th October 2005
Britain to register poultry as bird flu measure
BRITIAN - Britain plans to launch a national register of poultry businesses to protect against any future outbreak of bird flu, the government said. From next month, the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) will start inviting new registrations from businesses raising chickens, ducks and other fowl. Currently, Defra, the National Farmers Union (NFU) and individual poultry organisations, hold information separately, but no central register exists.