Free Republic

Response (ASPR) at the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) said officials are moving forward with a plan to produce 4.8 million doses of H5N1 avian flu vaccine for pandemic preparedness. Dawn O'Connell, JD, said health officials have identified a manufacturing line at one of its manufacturing partners for fill-and-finish steps, without disrupting production of seasonal flu vaccine. Currently, the vaccine is in bulk form and will be produced in multidose vials. She said it takes a couple months to fill and finish the vaccine doses, which would save time in case a vaccine is needed. Federal health...

Three red fox kits died from highly pathogenic avian influenza in Michigan, which is the state's first confirmation of the virus in wild mammals. The fox kits, collected between April 1 and April 14, came from three separate dens in Lapeer, Macomb and St. Clair counties.The DNR received a report from a wildlife rehabilitator in southeastern Michigan about the fox kits exhibiting neurologic signs of avian influenza before death, according to the release. The kits were observed circling, tremoring and seizing. Two of the three died within hours of intake, while one appeared to respond to supportive therapy but then...

“We have no reason to know or to believe that a pandemic will occur, but we know it’s possible,” said U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Mike Leavitt during a news conference Monday about avian influenza preparation. Although pandemics have a profound and devastating impact on the world, they are a biological fact of life, and the simple truth is they do happen, says Leavitt. It is vital that the U.S. be prepared, but, according to Leavitt, preparing for a pandemic doesn’t mean there is any certainty that there will be one. People in the scientific community are concerned...

MOSCOW, August 24 (RIA Novosti) - Bird flu has been confirmed in a total of 45 villages, Russia's Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Supervision said in a press release Wednesday. "Bird flu has been confirmed in 45 settlements, while the situation in another 75 remains unclear as of August 24," the service said. Lab tests confirmed the virus had hit poultry flocks in eight villages in the Altai region, in the south of West Siberia on the Kazakh border. The disease could hit another four settlements. The virus, which could have been brought into Russia by migrating birds resting...

<p>Avian flu has been found in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, officials said Thursday.</p> <p>The virus was found at a farm in Mount Joy, Pa., that raises egg-laying chickens and at four live-bird markets in northern New Jersey. New Jersey said it is the same strain that has been found in Delaware. Pennsylvania officials said it could be the same strain.</p>