Daily Avian Influenza Update

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Avian Flu Update 04-Jan-06

UPDATE 04-JAN-06

• Johannesburg

(Reuters) - Tests on swallows which died

mysteriously in Malawi have come up negative for

bird flu. " We have

tested samples that were sent to us from Malawi and they all tested

negative. They were from migratory swallows which

were dying in

large numbers, " said Celia Abolnik, a senior

researcher at South

Africa's Onderstepoort Veterinary

Institute. " We don't know what

killed them but the important thing is that it was

not bird flu, "

she told Reuters. She said that South Africa was wrapping up tests

on droppings taken from birds which spend the

northern hemisphere's

winter in the country and would soon turn its

attention to testing

samples from domestic wild ducks in March or

April.

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L03536682.htm

• Sydney (ABC

News) - An airline passenger from Taipei is

being monitored at a Sydney hospital after

becoming seriously ill

with flu symptoms on a flight to Australia. Health authorities do

not believe the man is showing any of signs of

bird flu, but are

carrying out tests as a precaution. The man

collapsed while on

board an Eva Air Flight from Taipei. He was carried

off the plane

after arriving at Sydney airport and taken to

the Prince of Wales

Hospital. New South Wales Health says the

man is under routine

observation for flu-like symptoms and is not

showing any of the risk

factors for avian influenza. The Department

says health experts

believe it is unlikely to be the diagnosis. Dr

McAnulty from

New South Wales Health says the man has not had

any contact with

chickens or symptoms consistent with avian

influenza.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200601/s1541806.htm

• Vietnam (Vietnam Net) - The

Veterinary Department, under the

Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development

(MARD), has reported

that bird flu remains in only six communes in six

districts of four

provinces. The four provinces in which bird flu is

known to be

present are the northern provinces Ha Giang and Cao

Bang, each of

which contain two affected communes in two

districts, and Nghe An

and Quang Tri in the central region. These two

provinces have only

one commune each where bird flu persists. So far,

17 provinces have

enjoyed 21 consecutive days without a new case of

avian influenza,

meaning these jurisdictions may be declared bird

flu free. In the

north, they are Bac Giang, Hoa Binh, Thai Binh,

Hung Yen, Long An,

Hai Duong, Phu Tho, Bac Ninh, Bac Kan, Vinh Phuc, Hai

Phong, Son La,

Quang Ninh, Yen Bai, Thai Nguyen and Ninh Binh.

The central province

of Thanh Hoa is also now free of

H5N1.

http://english.vietnamnet.vn/social/2006/01/528974/

TAMIFLU/ Anti virals

• China (News Medical Net) -

According to state media, China

is about to begin mass-production of a new bird

flu vaccine for

poultry by the end of the month. Apparently

the country's

scientists have been working on the new vaccine

for four years and

Beijing says it is aiming to

inoculate all the country's estimated

14bn poultry and produce one billion doses of a

new bird flu vaccine

for animals. It seems the vaccine will cost a

fifth of current

treatments, and there are hopes it could also help

provide the basis

for human protection against the deadly H5N1

strain of flu. The new

vaccine will be used alongside existing vaccines

from next year,

says China's chief veterinarian Jia

Youling, and he hopes that

research and production techniques will provide reference

for

developing new vaccines for human infections of

bird flu.

http://www.news-medical.net/?id=15118

• US (MSN ) -

Swiss drug maker Roche Holding Ltd. said it has

increased distribution of its influenza flu

treatment Tamiflu to

areas hit hardest during the flu season.The

company has increased

Tamiflu shipments to wholesalers in California,

Arizona, New Mexico,

Utah, Texas, Oregon, Nevada and Kansas, where

incidents of flu have

been particularly high this season.

http://news.moneycentral.msn.com/provider/providerarticle.asp?

feed=AP & Date=20060104 & ID=5345628

Shapiro, B.S., NREMT-P, MICP

Disaster Researcher, Pandemic Planner

Center for Health Care Preparedness

Saint Barnabas Health Care System

95 Old Short Hills Road

West Orange, NJ 07052

973-322-4614 Office

973-322-4126 Fax

201-954-1872 Mobile

973-322-4478 Emergency Hotline

jshapiro@...

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