Influenza Virus Mashup

(Fri, 03 Sep 2010 14:55:00 +0000)       # 4866     GSK (Glaxo Smith-Kline), manufacturers of the adjuvanted Pandemrix vaccine that has been linked by media reports to a small number of cases of narcolepsy in children – has released a statement today for journalists and investors.     Reports of narcolepsy in Europe following vaccination with Pandemrix™ WEBWIRE – Friday, September 03, 2010 London UK - GSK initially became aware of possible cases of narcolepsy... more

(Fri, 03 Sep 2010 14:07:00 +0000)     # 4865     In the wake of yesterday’s report that credited the Brown Headed Gull with spreading the H5N1 virus from China and Tibet down to Thailand, we get another study that minimizes the impact that migratory waterfowl may have in spreading the virus across long distances.   The study appears in the British Ecological Society’s Journal of Applied Ecology, and claims that the global spread of the H5N1 virus through migratory... more

(Fri, 03 Sep 2010 12:56:00 +0000)     Note: This is day 3 of National Preparedness Month.  Follow this campaign on Twitter by searching for the #NPM10 hash tag.   # 4863       There are some who believe that it is unfair, or somehow unethical, to ask those with greater financial means to prepare for disasters while some with fewer resources may be unable to do so.   A noble idea, I suppose.   But the reality is that the more people who are prepared before... more

Via Ida’s Bird Flu Information Corner, a report translated from Tribun Jambi: Sungai Penuh, Jambi ::: Bird flu in chickens. Excerpt: Sungai Penuh – Livestock Service of Kabupaten (municipal) Kerinci, Jambi Province, found bird flu H5N1 had infected chickens in Dusun Sungai, Akar Desa Pelayang Raya, Kota Sungai Penuh. Confirmation was done by Participatory Disease Surveillance and Response (PDSR) of Kabupaten Kerinci. Meanwhile, samples have been sent to Bukit Tinggi laboratory for further... more

Via the New Zealand Herald News: Sixteenth person dies from swine flu. Excerpt: Swine flu has claimed 16 lives this winter, and a further 14 people are fighting it in intensive care units.  The sixteenth person to die was a 50-year-old man who suffered from underlying health conditions and died at Auckland Hospital on August 21.  This brings to five the total number of H1N1-related patient deaths at Auckland City Hospital this year, said the Auckland District Health Board.  Deputy... more

(Thu, 02 Sep 2010 15:40:00 +0000)     # 4862     A story today out of Thailand that blames gulls, not storks, for introducing bird flu to that nation and possibly spreading it across south east Asia.     Using satellite telemetry, researchers have detailed the the complete migratory routes of the brown headed gull (Larus brunnicephalus), which summers in central Asia and winters on the tropical coast and inland lakes of southern Asia.   They’ve also detected... more

(Thu, 02 Sep 2010 14:45:00 +0000)       Since this is day two of National Preparedness Month and with Hurricane Earl expected to force thousands of coastal residents from their homes in the next 24 hours, this seems an appropriate day to re-run a preparedness blog on bug out bags from last January.   # 4861     Inside My Bug Out Bag   If you had to abandon your home right now, with say . . . two minutes to get out (think fire, earthquake, chemical spill, gas leak, ... more

A very interesting article in The Jakarta Post: Is bird flu dead and gone? Excerpt: “Bird flu? What bird flu? That was last year, right?”  So spoke my rental car driver, commenting on the purpose of my June visit to Riau’s capital, Pekanbaru.  He did not know that a four-year-old girl had died of the deadly disease a few weeks before my arrival.  One of the managing editors of the Riau Post, the province’s leading newspaper, was not aware of the child’s death either.  “I’m... more

(Thu, 02 Sep 2010 12:36:00 +0000)     # 4860     Arkanoid Legent has a story this morning from the Asahi Shimbun in Japan with this attention getting headline:   Mutated avian flu can infect humans BY YURI OIWA THE ASAHI SHIMBUN A strain of highly pathogenic avian influenza (H5N1) that mutated in pigs in Indonesia has acquired the ability to infect humans, researchers have found. (Continue . . .)     If all of this sounds a bit familiar, it may be because I... more

Via The Phnom Penh Post: NGO attempts to curb bird flu. Excerpt: In a small village in Koh Kong province, poultry farmer Keo Sok is learning that healthy practices can be good for business.  The Sre Ambel district man is one of 71 farmers in Koh Kong participating in an NGO-led programme aimed at reducing the risks from so-called bird flu, the A(H5N1) influenza virus.  The training has taught him to keep his chickens in pens rather than letting them run free, to feed them properly... more