The H5N1 strain of influenza - often referred to as bird flu - is first known to have jumped from chickens to humans in 1997. Since 2004 it has ripped through poultry and wild bird populations across Eurasia, and had a 53% mortality rate in the first 147 people it is known to have infected. Health authorities fear this strain, or its descendent, could cause a lethal new flu pandemic in people with the potential to kill billions.
Flu has been a regular scourge of humanity for thousands of years. Flu viruses each possess a mere 10 genes encoded in RNA. All of the 16 known genetic subgroups originate in water birds, and especially in ducks.The virus is well adapted to their immune systems, and does not usually make them sick. This leaves the animals free to move around and spread the virus - just what it needs to persist.
But sometimes a bird flu virus jumps to an animal whose immune system it is not adapted to.
Mr Zakir Hossain, Birbhum’s Rampurhat-II panchayat samiti sabhapati, said the villagers had consumed 80 per cent of the dead chickens and the rest were dumped in paddyfields, ponds and by the roadside.
A Union health ministry official said the samples have tested positive at both the High Security Animal Disease Laboratory in Bhopal and the National Institute of Virology, Pune. The Central government has restricted trade and movement of poultry birds in the two districts. It has asked the state to seal its borders with Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal.
At Muraroi village in Rampurhat-II block, nearly 10,000 chickens died. Rampurhat-I and Nalhati-II blocks are affected as also two blocks in Mayureshwar, besides the Nalhati municipality.
Teams from the animal resources department today only spread bleaching powder in the affected areas.
The teams noticed that the villagers are ignorant about the deadly virus. They were handling and feeding their chickens without taking precautions. It was found that the villagers consumed the dead chickens till last night.
Experts said earlier, bird flu was reported twice in India, in Maharastra and Manipur. But in both places, the disease was restricted to a particular place. But this time in West Bengal, the disease, it is feared, has spread to at least 150 villages in Rampurhat subdivision of Birbhum.
While the West Bengal government struggled to cull nearly 400,000 birds in avian flu-affected pockets of Birbhum and South Dinajpur districts, the disease spread to fresh areas.
Reports of chickens and ducks dying also poured in from Burdwan, Nadia and South 24 Parganas although the state government has not confirmed bird flu in these districts.
The "rapid response teams" of veterinary workers that fanned out to the affected villages faced resistance in several places in Birbhum district. Many poultry owners were reluctant to hand over their chickens for culling, maintaining that they were not infected. Besides, going from door to door collecting the birds also took time. The government has decided to cull nearly 400,000 birds in Birbhum and South Dinajpur districts.
Although the administration claimed that over 25,000 birds had been culled, sources said that less than half of the number had in reality been culled. The government has announced compensation for each bird culled, but the villagers demanded cash instead of receipts that the government officials were handing them. The officials found it hard to convince many villagers that they would receive compensation on the basis of these receipts.
The UK - More Swans Positive for Bird Flu
It does not seem like many but having such a contagious disease (at
least to swans and other birds) present in the area is a matter of some
concern. Could be the tip of the iceberg so to speak:
A FIFTH dead swan has tested positive for the H5N1 strain of bird flu at a reserve, it was confirmed today.
Three other wild swans tested positive for the virus last week after they were found dead at the Abbotsbury Swannery in Dorset, an open reserve in the Chesil Beach area, during routine surveillance.
A fourth dead swan was confirmed to have tested positive yesterday.
A fresh outbreak of bird flu this week in Bangladesh has renewed fears of a possible spread: Seventy-two farms in 23 of Bangladesh's 64 districts have reportedly been infected with the deadly virus so far.
"The situation is really bad. It is getting out of control. People are handling, selling and eating avian influenza infected chicken," said Habibibur Rahman of the Bangladesh Agricultural University.
an eight-year-old indonesian boy died of bird flu on friday, the health ministry said, bringing the country's death toll from the virus to 97.
the boy from tangerang, west of the capital jakarta, died after being treated for one day at the country's main bird flu treatment centre, the ministry said in an e-mailed statement.
the ministry said the fact the boy's neighbour ran a chicken slaughterhouse was a risk factor and it was investigating.
iran's veterinary organization has announced migratory and indigenous birds have tested positive for the virulent h5n1 bird flu virus.
"avian flu, earlier reported among migratory swans in the international anzali wetland in northern iran, has been detected among geese, ducks and domestic hens in barzanghib village near the wetland," the organization's chief, mojtaba norouzi told isna.
the organization culled domestic birds of the village to ward off an outbreak of the deadly virus in the vicinity of the wetland, he said, urging locals to avoid hunting.
Jan. 17 (Bloomberg) -- Bird flu has been mistaken by doctors for pneumonia, typhoid and at least four other diseases in Southeast Asia, causing treatment delays that might have worsened their patients' chances of survival, a study found.
Early signs of H5N1 avian-flu infection range from fever and cough to diarrhea and vomiting, researchers said in a report today in the New England Journal of Medicine. The disparate symptoms make it difficult to detect the disease clinically, with doctors in Indonesia and Thailand making a correct initial diagnosis in less than 12 percent of cases.
Treatment delays reduce survival rates in H5N1, which has killed three of every five of the 350 people known to have been infected. The median time for a patient to be seen by a doctor after symptoms began is four days, the authors said.
``There are substantial challenges to a rapid diagnosis,'' said Frederick Hayden, a doctor with World Health Organization's Global Influenza Program in Geneva and one of the study's 11 authors. ``We don't have right now an efficient, highly predictive and sensitive point-of-care diagnostic test for H5.''
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Does make one wonder how many actual cases have been missed, and thus how extensive the problem really is.
although large numbers of poultry deaths have not been reported in calcutta, the dead crows and hawks raise concerns that h5n1 has flown into the city. these arrivals do not have to result in dead poultry initially. many countries in europe have reported h5n1 in wild birds prior to detection in domestic poultry.
in calcutta, although officials are downplaying the deaths of the wild bird, there has been an alert issued. h5n1 has been confirmed in southern bangladesh, including jessore, which is adjacent to the west bengal border, about 75 miles from calcutta.
with permission from recombinomics:
suspect h5n1 in suburban calcutta
bird flu might be now at kolkata's doorstep. after the outbreak in birbhum, murshidabad and south dinajpur districts, deaths of more than about 400 poultry birds were reported at mankundu in sarisa in the outskirts of the city.
it is learnt that the dying chickens were showing symptoms of the deadly bird flu in a private poultry farm and several other houses at sarisa under the diamond harbour ii block since wednesday.
the above comments describe suspect h5n1 in suburban calcutta (see satellite map). media reports indicate birds have been dying daily since december 21. similar reports have been received for birbhum, where h5n1 has been confirmed and extensive culling started this week.
like birbhum, wild birds have also been dying in southern calcutta and the dead poultry is southwest of the center of calcutta. also like burbham, villagers have been eating the dead poultry, raising concerns of h5n1 transmission to humans.
samples have been sent to high security animal disease laboratory in bhopal and comments on rapid test results were conspicuously absent. culling may begin shortly.
these results may have contributed to the calcutta alert, and the distribution of poultry deaths suggests h5n1 is widespread in west bengal.
indigo girl
5,173 Posts
H5N1 Confirmed in West Bengal India
http://www.recombinomics.com/News/01140802/H5N1_West_Bengal_Confirmed.html
Scarce PPE for HCW in West Bengal
http://www.flutrackers.com/forum/showpost.php?p=124288&postcount=26
Over 18,000 poultry dead:
http://www.flutrackers.com/forum/showpost.php?p=124428&postcount=30
Isolation Wards Being Built
http://crofsblogs.typepad.com/h5n1/2008/01/karachi-isolati.html