- "A new virus strain known as H5N1 - 2.3.2.1 has
invaded the northern and central parts of Viet Nam, placing veterinary
services in the country on high alert as they consider a targeted vaccination
campaign for the fall season."
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- Hello Jeff - This is, indeed, very, very bad. We all
remember how SARS spread from China, to Hong kong, to Canada and the world.
Bird Flu, this new mutant killer strain, has one factor that makes it
very very hard to contain and prevent from spreading across oceans, migratory
birds.
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- Patty
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- Bird Flu Showing 'Major Resurgence' Along With New Mutant
Strain
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- DigitalJournal.com
- 8-29-11
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- The H5N1 bird flu virus is showing signs of a "major
resurgence" and a mutant strain of the virus has appeared in China
and Viet Nam, able to avoid protection offered by current vaccines, with
health risks linked to the variant virus being unpredictable.
-
- The UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) issued
a statement on Monday urging "heightened readiness and surveillance
against a possible major resurgence" of the bird flu, and is recommending
countries prepare for a flare up of the virus this fall and winter.
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- Migratory birds may carry the virus over long distances,
expanding its geographical range to affect other wild birds or poultry
in countries which have been virus-free for several years, the UN notes.
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- "Wild birds may introduce the virus, but peoples'
actions in poultry production and marketing spread it," said FAO Chief
Veterinary Officer Luan Lubroth in a UN news release.
- Since 2003, the bird flu virus has killed or forced a
culling of over 400 million domestic poultry, causing a global economic
damage estimated at $20 billion. Although domestic poultry outbreaks shrank
from an annual peak of 4000 to just 302 in mid-2008, outbreaks have been
steadily on the rise, with almost 800 cases reported in 2010-2011.
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- Although the H5N1 Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza was
eliminated from the majority of countries it infected during its peak in
2006, it has remained endemic in six countries, including Bangladesh, China,
Egypt, India, Indonesia and Viet Nam.
- These six countries will likely face the biggest problems
with the bird flu, but because of the virus's airborne ability, other countries
may face challenges as well.
- Other countries recently affected by the virus are Israel
and the Palestinian territories, Bulgaria, Mongolia, Nepal and Romania,
the UN reports.
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- A new virus strain known as H5N1 - 2.3.2.1 has invaded
the northern and central parts of Viet Nam, placing veterinary services
in the country on high alert as they consider a targeted vaccination campaign
for the fall season.
-
- FAO said virus circulation in Viet Nam also poses a direct
threat to Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, the Korean Peninsula and Japan.
The virus can also be spread to other continents by wild bird migratory
patterns.
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- "Preparedness and surveillance remain essential,"
Lubroth added. "This is no time for complacency. No one can let their
guard down with H5N1."
- According to the UN World Health Organization, bird flue
has infected 565 people since first appearing, killing 331. Earlier this
month, Cambodia recorded the latest casualty. So far this year, Cambodia
has registered eight cases of bird flu in humans. All were fatal.
-
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- <http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/310908>http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/310908
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- Patricia A. Doyle DVM, PhD Bus Admin, Tropical Agricultural
Economics Univ of West Indies Please visit my "Emerging Diseases"
message board at:<http://www.emergingdisease.org/phpbb/index.php>http://www.emergingdisease.org/phpbb/index.php Also
my new website: <http://drpdoyle.tripod.com/>http://drpdoyle.tripod.com/ Zhan
le Devlesa tai sastimasa Go with God and in Good Health
-
- Benjamin Franklin said, "They that can give
up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither
liberty nor safety."
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