Search

The article focuses on a population-based study on the outbreaks of the highly pathogenic avian influenza in rural Vietnam. Furthermore, the study aims to analyze the flulike illness and exposure to sick or dead poultry. Selected inhabitants of a rural site were screened on their exposure to poultry and flulike symptoms. Significantly, the flulike illness is attributed to direct contact with sick or dead poultry. The findings have indicated that the transmission could be more common than anticipated through close contact seems required.

Discusses the pandemic threat posed by avian influenza in Hong Kong, China. How the virus jumped species; Destruction of four million chickens due to a detection of the influenza virus in Hong Kong poultry; Conditions for nonoccupational exposure; Consideration of the outbreak in 1997; Characteristics of surveillance measures on the borders; Views about the pandemic from Nancy Cox, the chief of the influenza branch of the National Center for Infectious Diseases at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Reports on the outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza A among poultry in Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, South Korea, Thailand, and Vietnam from December 2003 through February 2004. Summary of information about the human infections and avian outbreaks in Asia; Provision of recommendations to guide influenza A surveillance, diagnosis, and testing in the United States.

The article discusses research into drugs and vaccines that would target avian influenza. Medical and influenza experts state that the development of an effective vaccine that could be mass-produced should be the top priority in influenza pandemic preparedness. Experts are monitoring the evolution of avian viruses that could be transmitted from human to human. Licensed drugs to treat influenza include amantadine, rimantadine, zanamivir, and oseltamivir. Comments are provided by Anthony Fauci, the director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

The article looks at H5N1 avian influenza virus research including new routes of entry, vaccine research, and the studying of viral genes. The article presents a study in which eight cats were exposed to the H5N1 virus by feeding on infected chickens, intrathecally, or close contact with respiratory-infected cats. All the cats developed the virus in the respiratory tract and in other bodily tissues. Research teams are also working to develop a protective vaccine. Genetically engineered adenoviruses designed to produce the influenza hemagglutinin gene have potential. The article also describes the sequencing effort to collect genomic data on avian influenza A viruses.

Focuses on the outbreaks of salmonellosis associated with chicks and ducklings that occurred in Michigan and Missouri in the spring of 1999. Details on the outbreak in Michigan; Information regarding the outbreak in Missouri; Overview of legislative efforts to control the distribution of chicks and ducklings; Proof that handling chicks and ducklings is a health risk; Need for thorough handwashing after contact with chicks, ducklings, and other young fowl.

This article discusses the use of various types of antiviral medication for the treatment of patients with avian flu. Guidelines concerning the treatment of avian flu, developed by the World Health Organization, focus on the use of early forms of viral treatment, such as M2 inhibitors. Clinicians are urged to use these drugs in replacement of, or combined with, neuraminidase inhibitors. Also suggested is the use of postex-posure prophylaxis in individuals within a target high-risk exposure group, as well as family members and close friends of these individuals.

This article details efforts to eliminate the avian flu. Donor nations met in China and pledged nearly $2 billion in order to combat H5N1 avian influenza and reduce the likelihood of a human pandemic. The World Bank estimated developing countries would need between $1.2 billion and $1.4 billion to take necessary measures against avian influenza. Turkey showed the first case of H5N1 influenza outside of Asia in January 2006. The article includes a chart that shows the cases and deaths from avian influenza around the world.

The article reports that health officials identified components of a global action plan to control the spread of H5N1 avian influenza and to limit the spread of avian influenza to humans. The plan suggests that culling and vaccinating birds is the first line of defense. Nations should develop and test pandemic preparedness plans.

Reports that the avian flu virus has spread, according to reports of outbreaks in various countries. Description of outbreaks in Mongolia, Tibet, Russia and Kazakhstan; Belief that migratory birds are responsible for the spread of the H5N1 avian influenza from southest Asian countries; Human cases of the disease; Recommendations from the World Health Organization for heightened surveillance for outbreaks in other countries.

Reports efforts to prevent an influenza pandemic. A plan drafted by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, the World Organization for Animal Health, and the World Health Organization to stop the spread of H5N1 avian influenza virus from poultry to humans; The amount needed to finance the plan.

Discusses how the avian (H5N1) influenza virus may be mutating in ways that render it more infectious to humans and more likely to spread from person to person. Details of a report by the World Health Organization on the avian flu; Evidence that the virus is continuing to evolve and pose a potentially growing pandemic threat; Assertion that immediate steps should be taken to improve monitoring and assessing the risk for pandemic influenza in all countries where avian H5N1 viruses are present; Measures that should be taken in order to reduce the threat of a pandemic influenza.

Reports that strains of avian flu have become increasingly pathogenic to mammals. Concerns that the virus will evolve to spread more easily from person to person, setting the stage for a human pandemic; Research that suggests that progressive mutations may have contributed to an increase in the strains' pathogenic potential.