Pandemic News/Awareness.

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I had to close the other panflu thread as it was way too long, and becoming unreadable. I am starting this one with info on the agenda of this meeting tomorrow in Congress. I am linking to Flutrackers because all of the info is right there and easily readable from this post: http://www.flutrackers.com/forum/showpost.php?p=61735&postcount=1

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Taiwan and Thailand working on their own vaccines:

http://afludiary.blogspot.com/2007/01/taiwan-and-thailand-working-on-their.html

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White Washing with the Flu - Effect Measure:

http://scienceblogs.com/effectmeasure/2007/01/whitewashing_with_the_flu.php#more

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Scientists hope vigilance stymies avian flu mutations:

http://www.flutrackers.com/forum/showpost.php?p=72819&postcount=1

http://www.nytimes.com/

2007/03/27/health/27flu.html?_r=2&pagewanted=2&ref=science&oref=slogin&oref=slogin[/url]

So even though the human death toll from H5N1 is still below 200, scientists around the world

are racing to study the ways in which it might mutate to spread easily among humans.

The 1918 Spanish flu, they argue, was not even noticed until it had killed thousands. It might have

been gathering virulence for years, hidden in the background of seasonal flu deaths.

Today’s H5N1 flu is probably changing more slowly, because health officials have been vigilant

about attacking clusters of cases, which presumably wipes out the most dangerous strains.

Whenever several human cases appear, even in remote villages in Indonesia or Egypt, local officials

and World Health Organization teams move in to kill all the local poultry and dose all the humans

with antiviral drugs — the so-called Tamiflu blanket strategy.

Each stifled outbreak robs the virus of the chance to carom wildly through dozens of human hosts

as it does in a flock of chickens or ducks. That fends off what virologists most fear: gene-swapping

in people infected with both human and avian flu.

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Two more Egyptian children diagnosed with H5N1:

http://afludiary.blogspot.com/2007/03/egypt-2-more-children-test-positive-for.html

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Indonesia, more deaths, and positive cases. Of particular concern is the 22 year

old woman with no exposure to poultry:

http://afludiary.blogspot.com/2007/03/indonesia-2-more-deaths-another.html

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070327/wl_nm/birdflu_indonesia_cases_dc_

1;_ylt=A0WTUZJUoQhGec0ArCGTvyIi[/url]

The 22-year-old woman from Palembang in southeast Sumatra died on March 24.

The Antara state news agency reported that she had not had contact with fowl, but

that there were at least 10 cats at her house.

The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization has warned that cats should be kept

away from areas affected by bird flu as they can pick up and spread the disease.

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Abstract on another influenza A subtype, H11N9 found in humans heavily exposed to wild ducks:

http://www.flutrackers.com/forum/showpost.php?p=73050&postcount=1

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A 46 year old Egyptian woman has been diagnosed with H5N1 in addition to the the two children already noted ealier today.

There has been some speculation that the reason more kids are being diagnosed now rather than adults is that if this is indeed a milder strain of H5N1, adults cases may not be more noticeable than the children because kids tend to spike temps more readily. The fevers in kids are probably high enough to trigger testing. No high fever, means no testing, and therefore no diagnosis in adults.

http://www.flutrackers.com/forum/showpost.php?p=73050&postcount=1

http://www.recombinomics.com/News/03270702/H5N1_ND_Another.html

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Something to think about, the Hong Kong flight scare:

http://afludiary.blogspot.com/2007/03/hong-kong-flight-scare.html

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Doctors test double Tamiflu dose to cut H5N1 death rate:

http://www.flutrackers.com/forum/showthread.php?t=20181

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Indonesia reports 3 deaths over a 24 hour period:

http://afludiary.blogspot.com/2007/03/indonesia-3rd-death-reported-in-24.html

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Are we seeing a change in the H5N1 virus?

http://afludiary.blogspot.com/2007/03/are-we-seeing-change-in-h5n1-virus.html

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Chinese H5N1 fatality, 16 year old:

http://crofsblogs.typepad.com/h5n1/2007/03/a_new_h5n1_deat.html

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Two more deaths from avian flu have been reported in Indonesia. Since the Indonesians have reached an agreement with the WHO regarding the release of viral isolates in exchange for special consideration for any vaccines that may be developed from that info, there has been an upswing in reported cases.

http://afludiary.blogspot.com/2007/03/indonesia-ministry-reports-2-more.html

The Indonesian media is reporting that HCWs are being tested for H5N1:

http://afludiary.blogspot.com/2007/03/indonesia-media-reports-hcw-being.html

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Kuwait, massive culling to begin:

http://afludiary.blogspot.com/2007/03/kuwait-massive-culling-to-begin.html

Bangladesh, reporting further spread of H5N1, and they are calling out the army to assist as well:

http://crofsblogs.typepad.com/h5n1/2007/03/bangladesh_bird.html

http://www.newkerala.com/news.php?action=fullnews&id=11729

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