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(This is part one, it is important, in that it shows what the other countries are doing and how worried they are....granny) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ AVIAN INFLUENZA - EURASIA (06): H5N1 ************************************ A ProMED-mail post ProMED-mail is a program of the International Society for Infectious Diseases _____________________________________________________________ Sponsored by Elsevier, publisher of The Journal of Hospital Infection ______________________________________________________________ [1] Date: Fri, 14 Oct 2005 From: ProMED-mail Source: Nineoclock, Bucharest, issue 3536 page 2, 14 Oct 2005 [edited] _____________________________________________________ -------------------------------------------------- Romanian and European authorities are on alert after the avian flu virus was confirmed in Romania. The samples indicative of the virus' presence in the 3 dead birds at Ceamurlia de Jos, Tulcea County, will however be sent for confirmation by expert laboratories in the UK [see further comment below]. ------------------------------------------ The European Commission met in an emergency meeting Thu, 13 Oct 2005, whose 1st measure was to ban imports of live birds and poultry from Romania. ------------------------------------- Meanwhile, the slaughtering of the birds from certain areas in Tulcea County carried on, and quarantine measures taken by authorities have been stepped up. Expert doctors did not rule out that the residents of Ceamurlia might have come into contact with the virus, yet no such case has been reported. It is however reassuring to know that the avian flu virus is not transmitted from human to human but only from the sick birds to humans. ---------------------------------------- Authorities urged population to stay calm, but also asked people to comply with the minimum of hygienic measures, to avoid purchasing poultry from unauthorised sources and to take antiviral medicines. ----------------------------------- The National Audiovisual Council (CAN) also called on radio and television stations to broadcast information from authorised sources to avoid creating panic among the population. -------------------------------------------- The European Commission banned Thursday the imports of live birds and poultry from Romania. Brussels made the announcement Wednesday night, which then was reported by press agencies. The 3 European experts that the EC sent to Bucharest confirmed that the H5 virus of the avian influenza was found in the Romanian samples. The embargo comes a day after European experts said the test results in Romania were negative. [again, see further comment below]. -------------------------------------- The risks of the bird flu spreading in Romania are small, say experts of the European Commission who came to Romania. "Given that the virus emerged in a small locality, where locals do not buy birds from outside their community, chances of the disease spreading are smaller compared with what would be in a similar case in western Europe," says Danish expert Jorgen Westergaard. ---------------------------------------- The European Commission has announced it will provide assistance to Romania in eliminating the bird flu focus at Lower Ceamurlia. ------------------------------------ Fowl farmers are claiming that the contradictory information regarding the existence of the bird flu in Romania has triggered a fall of 40 per cent in the sales of fowl and products, although the risks of an epidemic are minimal as long as the population eats only tested meat. _______________________________________________________________ The same farmers are warning that the confirmation of the bird flu virus does not mean there is a pandemic. "There is talk of a pandemic only when this virus has undergone some mutations, when the mutated DNA of it further replicates. If there are deficiencies in the replication process, there will be equally odds of the virus being pathogenic or non-pathogenic for humans," Chairman of the Union of Romanian Fowl Farmers Ilie Van told a conference on Thursday about the measures against and the consequences of the bird flu. _____________________________________________________________ Romanian authorities confirmed late Wednesday night into the early hours of Thursday the existence of the avian influenza virus in Romania. Veterinary experts succeeded to isolate the virus 6 days after identifying the viral antibodies in the samples taken from the dead birds at Ceamurlia de Jos, Tulcea County. [This piece of information, repeatedly published by the Romanians, will need explanation. Were the antibodies against H5? Could the birds/geese have died from other cause/s? - Mod.AS] _____________________________________________________________ The BBC reports it is the 1st time that the avian flu has been discovered in Europe, since the virus had originated and spread through South East Asia. The samples taken from the geese in Ceamurlia de Jos proved positive for the H5 virus. Still, whether this is the subtype N1 that had been transmitted to humans and killed 50 people in Asia is yet to be proved. ________________________________________________________________ The samples will be sent for analysis to expert laboratories in the UK, whose confirmation is expected in a few days. The lab tests sent to UK will clearly indicate whether the virus suspected in Romania is the same as the one detected in Asia, and also if it is highly or slightly pathogenic. [The continued confusion about the fate of the said samples and the test results is puzzling. A Romanian statement of 8 Oct 2005 said that samples were sent by them to the EU/OIE Reference laboratory in Weybridge; this was refuted by the laboratory, who stated that their experts were due to arrive in Romania on Tue, 12 Oct 2005, to take samples. On 13 Oct 2005, several hours after a Romanian newswire saying that the samples were found negative by EU experts, the EU Commission officially announced that "its experts had detected the H5 virus strain in 2 samples taken in a suspected backyard farm in the Danube delta, while further tests were necessary to ascertain if the virus in question is the H5N1 strain". In addition, a statement of Defra, dated 13 Oct 2005, said that "results from further tests to find out the exact strain of (the Romanian H5) virus will be available in a few days"; see . Clarification will help. - Mod.AS] ______________________________________________________________ Agriculture Minister Gheorghe Flutur said that measures had been taken to completely isolate the village in Tulcea County, and that European officials have also been informed that the virus had been confirmed. ------------------------------------------- The bird flu does not spread by human contact, and it is caught only through direct contact with infected birds. Doctors assure that the virus only passes from contaminated animals to humans and not from human to human, but they are warning about the danger of the emergence of a crossbred virus between bird flu and a human influenza virus. --------------------------------------------- Meanwhile, birds continue being slaughtered in the area of Ceamurlia de Jos, with local authorities asking for more staff to take care of the action. "All the birds at Ceamurlia de Jos and within a radius of 3 kilometres around the village are being slaughtered," said the Agriculture minister. Authorities in Tulcea requested the sending in the area of expert chemical weapons troops, to avoid veterinarians from becoming overworked, and to allow bird slaughtering to continue at a fast pace. ---------------------------------------------- Meanwhile, neighbouring counties stepped up the safety measures. Teams made up of border police and representatives of the Braila Veterinary Department (DSV) beefed up the road blocks at the Bac Smardan crossing point that connects the county to the neighbouring county of Tulcea. All the vehicles crossing the Danube and entering the municipality through that point are inspected and disinfected with a special pump installed at the Bac crossing point. --------------------------------------------- Also, all ship captains received written advisories against transporting birds and animals from Tulcea. Similar safety measures have also been taken at the Small Island of Braila County, which is on the list of places with a high risk of avian flu, given its opening to the Danube and the large number of migratory birds that take shelter here each year. ---------------------------------------------- Authorities in Constanta have also been on alert in the northern part of the Constanta County, at the border with the Tulcea County, where they are conducting preventive, disinfection, and control measures. The dead body of a pelican was found on Wednesday night on a field between Mangalia and Albesti. Given the bird's advanced state of decomposition, no samples have been taken. There are also signals that hundreds of birds had died in the village of Silistea over the past few weeks, yet the deaths went unreported. _____________________________________________________________ Answering a request for medicines by Romania's Health Minister, Eugen Nicolaescu, the representatives of the World Health Organisation (WHO) agreed to supply, at no charge, 1000 of the 5000 doses of antiviral medicines the government needs for the preventive treatment of the population that came into contact with the identified focus of avian flu. ---------------------------------------- A special commission was set up at the Health Ministry on Thursday. The chairmen of the Ministry's expert commissions for infectious diseases and epidemiology respectively, have also been convened. During the next few days, the Health Ministry will be made available 25 000 doses of antiviral medicine. In about 10 days, the ministry emergency stock will be supplemented by another 20 000 doses. _____________________________________________________________ Health minister Eugen Nicolaescu said that aside from the protection offered by the ministry, "citizens need to know 3 basic things: firstly, to wash their hands with water and soap, secondly, to only purchase poultry and egg from authorised sources, namely veterinary-certified stores, and thirdly, to keep away from dead birds or birds that had come in contact with dead birds". ---------------------------------------------- The National Audiovisual Council (CNA) requested the radio and TV channels to avoid speculations over the bird flu, and give priority to the official information, in order to avoid alarming the population. CNA requests the radio companies to not enhance the concern of the people and the speculations, to show responsibility and to use insomuch as possible the opinion of the specialists in their programmes. CNA recalls that mass media have the obligation to check the information from their own sources and from occasional collaborators, comparing it with the data furnished by the competent authorities, before transmitting news or points of view which can generate panic. [byline: Alina Grigore] ******