Tag: avian flu

The first pre-pandemic vaccine for avian influenza is expected to provide intermediary protection against the deadly H5N1 virus strain until a final vaccine becomes available to health services.

German authorities have slaughtered a duck flock after the highly pathogenic avian influenza virus H5N1 was diagnosed on a duck-fattening farm in Bavaria. 

The highly pathogenic avian flu strain H5N1 has ravaged poultry populations in many parts of Asia and killed over 60 people in Southeast Asia since 2003. Even before it reached in Europe in October 2005 the Commission together with the member states had joined the worldwide race against time to combat the disease that may well trigger the first pandemic of the 21 century.

The European Commission was put on alert after almost 160,000 birds in England were culled in an effort to stop the spread of the deadly avian flu.

The current "nothing's going to happen" attitude vis-à-vis the potential of a bird-flu pandemic is "completely unacceptable", argues the president of the European Health Forum Gastein. 

A recent Eurobarometer survey on EU citizens' knowledge about bird flu points to some misunderstandings about the risks related to the consumption of poultry.

The first ever meeting of the Group of Eight (G8) health ministers agreed that early detection and control of H5N1 at source are the highest priorities for co-operation in the global fight against avian influenza.

After France, Germany is the second EU country to confirm a deadly bird flu outbreak on a poultry farm in Saxony. No wild birds carrying H5N1 have been detected in the region and the infected turkeys were kept indoors.

A possible avian influenza pandemic could cause high absenteeism at workplaces, warns an IMF report. Meanwhile a Hungarian pharmaceuticals company announces finalisation of a human vaccine against the current form of H5N1 virus.

As Swedish authorities confirm the presence of the highly pathogenic H5 avian influenza in the country, German authorities announce that a dead cat found in the isle of Rügen in northern Germany had H5N1 avian influenza.

The EU-25's veterinary experts have approved the French and Dutch national plans for preventative vaccination of poultry. The vaccinations will, however, be subject to rigorous surveillance and control requirements.

Hungary has become the fifth EU country in five days, to confirm the presence of H5N1. The Commission has asked the member states to constantly re-evaluate their national avian influenza risk zones and the timing for precautionary protection measures.

The highly pathogenic avian influenza virus H5N1 has been found in wild swans in Greece, Italy and Bulgaria. Further tests are being carried out on the H5 virus found in a wild swan in Slovenia.

Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh say that they have genetically engineered a vaccine that provides 100% protection against bird flu for poultry and mice.

The enlargement funds (around 4 million euro) foreseen for Turkey for 2007 could be released in 2006 to fight avian influenza in the country.

Simulation exercises on the EU's response to a hypothetical influenza pandemic displayed the need for better co-ordination inside the Commission services.

After a series of reported alarming side effects, the European Medicines Evaluation Agency (EMEA) has requested that Tamiflu's manufacturer carry out a new safety review into the drug.

Health and Consumer Protection Commissioner Markos Kyprianou has flown to South East Asia to discuss the bird flu situation.

US President George W. Bush is asking the Congress for more than 7 billion dollars to prepare the nation for the possibility of an outbreak of a deadly flu pandemic.

Fighting avian influenza is not only about medical preparedness. Health experts now call for the inclusion of civil protection, transport, communications and military response into the national plans on pandemic influenza.

As the import of captive birds is seen as an additional way of spreading the H5N1 virus, EU veterinary experts are set to agree on a general EU ban on the import of wild and pet birds from all around the world.

The Commission has been notified of a suspected case of avian influenza on the Greek island of Inousses. Precautionary measures have been taken.

The Commission recommends member states to stockpile anti-viral drugs and take reinforced preventive measures to prepare themselves thoroughly for a possible outbreak of bird flu in Europe. 

The outbreak of avian flu that began in Southeast Asia has now apparently reached Europe. Reacting to cases of highly contagious avian flu, the Commission has banned all imports of live birds from Turkey.