Indiadeclares itself free from bird flu
26 Oct 2009
Press Trust of India [edited][FSNet]
India has declared itself free from Bird Flu, or the Avian Influenza (H5N1), and has notified the same to the World Organisation for Animal Health.
Cases of Bird Flu, which affected poultry, were detected in Assam (18 epicentres), West Bengal (11 epicentres) and Sikkim (1 epicentre) between November 2008 and May 2009.
However, there has been no outbreak since May 27 in West Bengal, the statement said.
As per the international norm, the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) has to be informed whenever there is an outbreak of Bird Flu and also after it is tackled.

Bangladesh-SMS Gateway data collection in Bangladesh
09 Sep 2009-FAOAIDEnews Avian Influenza Disease Emergency Situation Update 60, 30 Jun 2009 [accessed 8 Sep 2009, edited][ProMed]
Bangladesh is conducting active Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza
(HPAI) surveillance in 150 out of 487 sub-districts as part of an
USAID funded FAO project. A total of 450 Community Animal Health
Workers (CAHW), 50 Additional Veterinary Surgeons (AVS) and 150
Upazilla Livestock Officers (ULOs) are using Short Message Service
(SMS) gateway (i.e., method of sending and receiving SMS messages
between computers and mobile phones) to collect data and report on
disease and death in poultry. Since October 2008, 21 HPAI outbreaks
out of a total of 35 have been detected through this active
surveillance programme.

July

India-3000 chicks destroyed in West Nepal fearing bird flu
22 Jul 2009
Xinhua News Agency [edited][FSNet]
A team of Nepali police destroyed around 3,000 chicks smuggled into Nepal from India fearing bird flu (avian influenza), Nepali national news agency RSS reported on Wednesday .
A team of patrolling police seized the chicks from a feed factory in Kapilvastu district, some 200 km southwest of capital Kathmandu brought from Gorakhpur of India through secret routes and buried them.

June

India-Bird flu hits Bengal again
1 Jun 2009
Business Standard [edited][ProMed]
A fresh outbreak of the highly pathogenic avian influenza (bird flu) has been reported from West Bengal. About 20 backyard poultry birds were reported to have died on [20 May 2009] in the rural areas of Uttar Dinajpur in West Bengal, not far from the Assam and Bangladesh border.
These birds were confirmed on 25 May [2009] to have died of the most virulent H5N1 strain of bird flu. All the samples tested had tested positive for this virus.
The animal husbandry department formally notified the outbreak of bird flu in the area to the World Organization of Animal Health (OIE) on 28 May 2009. It also told OIE that measures -- curbs on the movement of poultry products, screening and culling of domestic poultry in a 3 km [2 mi] radius around the outbreak spots – have already been taken.
No vaccination or treatment of the affected birds has been resorted to, as part of the government's strategy to tackle bird flu. The places of infection would be suitably disinfected.

April

Indonesia –Avian Influenza- Riau
13 Apr 2009
The Jakarta Post [edited]
According to this story, the bird flu virus has spread within Sungai Apit district in Siak regency, Riau, following the death of a child infected with the virus at the end of March 2009, says a local official, adding prevention measures were being hampered by residents' reluctance to cull their poultry.
The District chief said the spread of the virus was only discovered following reports of poultry dying abruptly on 4 Apr 2009. He added the virus had spread to Teluk Masjid and Teluk Batil villages and Sungai Apit subdistrict.
"Seven chickens died suddenly the previous day in Sungai Apit subdistrict, while in Teluk Masjid and Teluk Batil, the number has reached 29," he said. "Based on field tests conducted by the Siak Animal Husbandry Agency, the chickens tested positive for bird flu.".
The team from the Siak Animal Husbandry Agency has sprayed residents' poultry cages with disinfectant to prevent the virus from spreading further.
The District Chief also urged residents to cull their poultry. However, he said only few residents were willing, while most would only do so if paid to.
Related stories
3 Apr 2009 –Deceasedtoddler confirmed to have died of bird flu
The Jakarta Post [edited] [Promed]
It is reported that the blood samples taken from the 2-and-a-half-year-old child who died last week [23-27 Mar 2009] in Pekanbaru, Riau, have tested positive for the bird flu virus, an official said on Wednesday [1 Apr 2009].
The coordinator of the bird flu prevention team at the Arifin Ahmad hospital in Pekanbaru, that confirmation that the child died from bird flu had been received by the Riau Health Office several days ago.
It is also explained that following the confirmation, the coordinator urged the child's family members and neighbors in Tanjung Rhu village, Pekanbaru to go to the nearest community health center to have a check-up. He explained that the child was intensively treated for high fever and coughing and breathing difficulties in an isolated room at Arifin Achmad hospital
The Pekanbaru Livestock Husbandry Office made the decision to cull chickens in the victim's surrounding areas to help curb the spread of the virus. Meanwhile, a member of the Pekanbaru Legislative Council, criticized the administration for its failure to anticipate the bird flu infection. The death of the victim showed the administration was not aggressive enough in campaign about the danger of bird flu, she said.
2 Apr 2009 –Family of deceased child in Pekanbaru (Riau) develop fever
Bird Flu Information Corner, Riaupos (Indonesia) report [edited] [Promed]
According to this story, the death of a 2-year-old child in Pekanbaru (Riau), subsequently confirmed as due to bird flu has alarmed his family and neighbors. They are afraid that virus is still circulating and taking lives. In particular the child's 42-year-old father has developed a high fever. This occurrence is mentioned by the Head of Monitoring and Disaster Section of the Health Service Pekanbaru, (Wed 1 Apr 2009) while her team was inspecting the victim's house. She also mentioned that the victim's 59- and 67-year-old grandparents were also developing high fever. They latter have been treated intensively at Arifin Ahmad regional hospital. Meanwhile, the victim's father remains under intensive care. The hospital has collected their blood samples for further tests. She said the health service is now engaged in data recording and surveillance around the outbreak location. The Agriculture service officers of Pekanbaru have carried out chicken depopulation measures and disinfection within an area of 100 square meters [approx. 1000 sq ft] around the victim's house.

March

Indonesia -H5N1 virus may be adapting to pigs
31 Mar 2009
CIDRAP (Center for Infectious Disease Research & Policy) News [edited] [Promed]
Scientists report that H5N1 avian influenza viruses may be adapting to pigs, as evidenced by the finding that H5N1 viruses isolated from pigs in Indonesia were less harmful to mice than were H5N1 viruses from chickens.
The finding suggests that in growing in pigs, the virus may have become less harmful to mammals in general, the authors report. That sounds reassuring, but the authors say it may mean the virus is one step closer to turning into a human pandemic strain.
In the study, scientists from Japan and Indonesia collected viruses from chickens and pigs in Indonesia, grew them in laboratory cell cultures, and used them to infect mice. They found that the viruses from pigs were less lethal to mice than the viruses from chickens, according to their recent report in the Archives of Virology.
"We found that swine isolates were less virulent to mice than avian isolates, suggesting that the viruses became attenuated during their replication in pigs," the report states.
Pigs are seen as a possible intermediate host that can help avian flu viruses adapt to humans, because the epithelial cells in pigs' trachea can be infected by both avian and human flu viruses, the article notes. If avian and human viruses infected a pig at the same time, they could mix or reassort, giving rise to a novel strain that might be able to spread in humans. The flu pandemics of 1957-58 and 1968-69 were caused by avian-human hybrid viruses, though it is not known if they arose in pigs.
But even if they don't mix with human strains, avian flu viruses that infect pigs are believed capable of adapting to them -- gaining the capability to grow efficiently in swine cells -- and thereby adapting to other mammals, the authors write. Humans occasionally are infected with swine flu viruses, something that has been reported at least twice this flu season in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
So far, H5N1 infections in pigs have been reported rarely or gone unnoticed because infected pigs show no signs of illness, the scientists write. But the authors, who include Chairul Nidom of Airlangga University in Surabaya, Indonesia, report that they found H5N1 infections in pigs in Indonesia in 2005, 2006, and 2007. They determined that the swine viruses were closely related to viruses in chickens found nearby, indicating H5N1 spread from chickens to pigs at least 3 different times.
They gathered 3 viruses from pigs and 2 from chickens on East Java in 2006 and 2007. They first determined that all the viruses grew well in embryonated eggs and in cultures of canine kidney cells, demonstrating that both avian and swine strains could grow in mammalian cell cultures. They then infected groups of mice with a range of doses of the 5 isolates.
The results showed that all 3 pig viruses were less virulent in mice than the chicken viruses were, as measured by how large a dose it took to kill half of the mice. Two of the pig isolates were "strongly attenuated" in mice.
In a genetic analysis, the scientists found several amino acid differences that might explain the lower virulence of the swine isolates, but they "were unable to determine which mutations were strongly correlated to low virulence in mice because these mutations are frequently found among avian and human H5N1 viruses," the report says.
The authors offer this interpretation of their findings: "Since our swine strains were isolated from pigs with no apparent influenza-like symptoms, the decrease of pathogenicity in mice suggests that the H5N1 viruses may have lost their pathogenicity in mammals during replication in pigs. Given that for the H5N1 viruses to cause a pandemic, they would likely become attenuated in humans, becoming attenuated in mammals may be a prelude to the generation of a pandemic strain."
They add that because H5N1 infections in swine increase the risk that a pandemic strain could emerge, the findings point up the need for "continuous surveillance and management of H5N1 viruses in pigs."
The findings may mean that H5N1 viruses from swine will be less virulent in mammals generally, but it's not clear that the viruses have truly adapted to swine, said Richard Webby, PhD, a virologist, flu researcher, and associate member of the Department of Infectious Diseases at St Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis.
Noting that the study authors used only 5 isolates, Webby said, "Trying to make too much of a conclusion from that number would be premature. The 2 least lethal viruses were both from swine, but one [swine isolate] was lethal. So perhaps if these become adapted to mammals, they're potentially going to be less pathogenic."
Whether H5N1 viruses become more or less virulent when they adapt to mammals is a very important question, he said, adding that the findings "might be to some extent reassuring."
Regarding the authors' statement that attenuation of the virus in mammals might be a prelude to the development of a pandemic strain, Webby commented, "I guess the thought behind that is that for a pathogen to be successful, it's got to transmit readily, so if it makes the host too sick, so they go to a hospital or die, the chances of its transmitting to someone else are reduced."
But Webby told CIDRAP News that it's not clear that H5N1 viruses have really become established in swine anywhere. "If these viruses have gone into swine, I think the key is whether they become established in swine. If that happened, we'd be concerned. I think the consensus now is that pigs are like humans; they can be infected, but it's unlikely there'd be a lot of transmission."
He said US Department of Agriculture researchers have infected pigs with H5N1 viruses and found that the viruses didn't grow at all. But those researchers used viruses that didn't come from pigs in the 1st place. He noted that pigs often are fed broken eggs or even chicken carcasses, and such pigs might carry the virus in their snouts without becoming truly infected.
Webby suggested that researchers now should "put these swine viruses back into swine and see if they actually are more adapted to swine than the avian viruses."

India –Avian Influenza
The Statesman [edited] [Promed]
According to this story, North Dinajpur district administration has decided to kill around 14,000 birds in several villages under Daspara and Ghinnigaon gram panchayats [villages] near the Chopra police station of the district in the next 4 days. The decision followed the official announcement declaring the block as bird flu affected. It was reported that hundreds of birds died in the region over the past week, alarming the district administration. The North Dinajpur animal husbandry department officials promptly visited the affected villages and collected samples from the dead birds, which were later sent to a Pune-based national laboratory. The laboratory report confirmed bird flu in the area. The culling exercise is scheduled to commence tomorrow [30 Mar 2009].

Indonesia-Bandung, West Java-- bird flu suspect
31 May 2009
Bird Flu Information Corner, detikBandung (Indonesia) report [edited] [Promed]
A 50-year-old female resident of Karawang District is suspected to have contracted bird flu virus. The victim was admitted to Hasan Sadikin hospital at 8 pm Sun 29 Mar 2009 by recommendation of Dewi Sri clinic, Karawang.
According to the patient's 40-year-old wife, her husband developed fever and breathing difficulty signs. He was then brought to Ramerta clinic and then directed to the Dewi Sri clinic. The patient's wife said that the doctor at Dewi Sri clinic told her that her husband has developed bird flu symptoms, but [the diagnosis] had still to be confirmed.
The woman also mentioned that her husband had fever and breathing problems before Sat 21 Mar 2009. But then the symptoms had recovered [diminished?] by Mon 23 Mar 2009. During the past 2 weeks a number of chickens were found suddenly dead in the victim's area. "My husband is the only one who developed symptoms," she added.
Related stories
27 Mar 2009 –Garut has 46 bird flu cases
Antaranews [edited] [Promed]
The Garut Health Service has recorded 46 cases of bird flu in Garut District up to 23 Mar 2009 [presumably since the beginning of the outbreak in Indonesia in 2005]. The 46 cases included one surviving bird flu patient, 4 dead bird flu victims, 36 surviving bird flu suspects and 5 dead bird flu suspects.
The district health authorities even found 2 new bird flu suspects in Cintanagara village, Cigedug sub district, recently, he said. The 2 bird flu suspects were currently being treated at a local hospital and their condition was improving, he said. The new patients were a 30-year-old woman and her 35-year-old sister from Tabrik Lebak Cintamaya kampong [village]. Around 50 chickens died suddenly in the village of the patients, he said, adding that his office was currently investigating the sudden death of the chickens.
It is reported that a 2-year-old boy died at Arifin Achmad Public Hospital in Pekanbaru, Riau Islands Province, on Thursday. The child died after suffering from a respiratory problem and fell unconscious, the coordinator of bird flu control said.
26 Mar 2009 -Death of suspected case(Riau)
China View, Xinhua News Agency [edited] [Promed]
According to this story, a 2-year-old boy suspected of contracting bird flu died at Arifin Achmad Public Hospital in Pekanbaru, capital of Indonesia's Riau Province on Thursday [26 Mar 2009]. The boy died after suffering a respiratory problem and falling unconscious.
26 Mar 2009 –Red Zones" for bird flu virus.
Birdflucorner [edited] [Promed]
Two districts (Kecamatan) in South Jakarta have been declared "Red Zones" for bird flu virus. This statement was made regarding 2 fatal victims who died from bird flu virus illness in February The 2 districts declared susceptible to bird flu are Kecamatan Pesanggrahan and Kebayoran Lama. The Livestock and Fishery Service of South Jakarta culled about 1322 fowl from 10 districts in South Jakarta. This measure was taken according to regional regulation Perda No 4, 2007 for pandemic preparedness, which states that all bird species without certification from the government should be culled before April 2010. Culling was done at Wartas Pinang.
26 Mar 2009 –Avian Influenza
FAOAIDEnews - Avian Influenza Disease Emergency Situation Update 58, 15 Mar 2009 [edited] [Promed]
Indonesia continues to report a high number of H5N1 HPAI outbreaks in poultry in the last 3 years [2006-2008]. HPAI remains endemic on Java, Sumatra, and Sulawesi islands with sporadic outbreaks reported from other areas. HPAI infection is considered to be established throughout most of Indonesia, although incidence varies widely. Only 2 of its 33 provinces have not experienced the occurrence of H5N1 HPAI.
The high number of reported outbreaks monthly for Indonesia can be explained by the implementation of the "participatory disease surveillance and response" (PDSR) 1 program that targets village-type poultry production systems (both backyard and small-scale intensive) and has been very effective at detecting evidence of virus circulation in the village environment. The program is supported by FAO, thanks to USAID financial support.
Larger, less densely-populated provinces report HPAI outbreaks more infrequently than more densely populated provinces. It appears that H5N1 HPAI is more sporadic in the smaller, more dispersed poultry populations.
During February 2009, PDSR officers visited 1483 villages, of which 204 (13.8 percent) were infected. This was noticeably higher than the January 2009 infection rate of 8.5 percent. On the day of 28 Feb 2009, and in comparison with the situation on the day of 31 Jan 2009, an increased percentage of villages were classified as "infected" (HPAI compatible event supported by a positive antigen test result).
Infected villages are throughout Java, but with more in East Java than last month [February 2009]. Bali had HPAI positive villages for the 1st time due to a single incident during March 2009. South Sulawesi has more infected villages than last month [January 2009]. Kalimantan [Indonesian Borneo] continues to have no reported infection.
PDSR teams operate in 331/448 (74 percent) districts across 31/33 provinces including all known endemically infected areas. During the previous 6 months, PDSR officers visited 11 345 villages (20 percent) in the 331 districts under PDSR surveillance. An average of 6.4 percent of the villages visited during the previous 6 months were classified as infected at the time of visit. Cases over the last 6 months were concentrated in Yogyakarta, Banten and Lampung.
25 Mar 2009 –Suspected(West Java)
Bird Flu Information Corner, MetroTV report [edited] [Promed]
A resident of Desa Mangun Jaya, Kecamatan Anjatan, Indramayu, West Java, is suspected to have contracted bird flu. The victim was brought to Indramayu regional hospital due to high fever and prolonged breathing difficulty. The 33-year-old victim was admitted to hospital Wednesday night [25 Mar 2009] after being treated previously at Anjatan public health center. He is now housed in a special observation room with intensive treatment. The patient had contact history with dead chickens before admission. A blood sample has been sent to the Indramayu Health Service laboratory. A team at Indramayu regional hospital is still observing the patient, and no confirmation has been issued yet. The patient is the 3rd bird flu suspect treated in Indramayu regional hospital during 2009.
25 Mar 2009–Avian Influenza
The Jakarta Post - The Archipelago [edited] [Promed]
According to this story, a 2 years & 6 months old bird-flu suspect has been referred to Arifin Achmad General Hospital in Pekanbaru after receiving several days of treatment at Ibnu Sina Hospital.
17 Mar 2009 –Avian Influenza
Kompas.com[edited] [Promed]
According to this story, a 2-year-old child allegedly suffering from bird flu is treated at the hospita. The father of the child said that doctors at Karangjati public health center had transferred his child on Tuesday morning after knowing the patient had contacts with chickens that died of avian influenza virus a week earlier." Officials from Ngawi Husbandry Agency declared the virus was the cause of the deaths of 30 chickens nearby our home. Three days later, my child suffered from fever and cough," the father said. A Doctor said that he was waiting for the blood examination result from a health laboratory to find out whether or not the patient had indeed suffered from bird flu.
4 Mar 2009-Avian Influenza new cases suspected
Gulf News online, Associated Press report [edited] [Promed]
A government official says 4 Indonesians have died of bird flu, bringing the death toll in the country hardest hit by the disease to 119. Bayu Krisnamurthi, chief of the National Bird Flu Commission, said on Tuesday [3 Mar 2009] the victims died in January and February [2009] and were all believed to have been infected by sick chickens.
Krisnamurthi would only say of the latest deaths that 2 were brothers from Bogor and that the others died in Surabaya and Bekasi, all cities on Java Island.

Bangladesh–Avian Influenza
7 Mar 2009
The Daily Star [edited] [Promed]
Avian influenza has started spreading in different poultry farms across the country again, as department of fisheries and livestock detected the bird flu virus and culled birds at different places. Up to 3 Mar 2009, a total of 1,663,702 chickens were culled since 2007 when bird flu was detected first in the country.
Authorities yesterday [6 Mar 2009] culled 2095 chickens and destroyed 205 eggs following detection of bird flu in Netrakona and Gaibandha. Earlier, on 28 Feb 2009, 188 chickens were culled and 60 eggs destroyed, according to the website of the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock.
Our correspondent from Netrakona reported that a total of 1595 chickens and 205 eggs were destroyed at a poultry farm at Kendua upazila in Netrakona. Officials at Netrakona District Livestock office said they detected bird flu virus at a poultry farm at Rampur village under Kendua upazila Thursday night [5 Mar 2009].
"The virus was found when dead chickens of the farm were examined at the district livestock laboratory by rapid antigen detection test (RADT)," said an official. The laboratory test was conducted on information that over a dozen chickens died in the farm during the last 3 days, officials said.
Our Gaibandha correspondent reports: The livestock department of the district yesterday culled around 500 chickens at Uttar Kazibari village under Sadullahpur upazila immediately after detection of bird flu virus in the areas. Sources said some 18 poultry birds died at the Rampur village farm. Following the death of birds, Upazila Livestock Officer Dr. Uttam Kumar Das took samples of the dead chickens and found the existence of avian influenza in the body of a bird. A team later collected 500 poultry birds, including chickens, and destroyed the birds on Upazila Parishad Complex.
"The government has been alert enough this season to monitor bird flu cases. Wherever any bird flu virus is detected, authorities are taking measures to check its outbreak," said Dr. Giasuddin, chief scientific officer at Bangladesh Livestock Research Institute. The government with assistance from the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has employed field volunteers since October 2008 to strengthen surveillance of bird flu in rural areas, he said.
According to the official website, the government found the presence of the H5N1 virus at 308 farms in 47 districts and culled chickens of 568 farms up to 3 Mar 2009.
Outbreaks of the virus generally occur after the end of the rains in October and continue until early June when the rains return.

February

Indonesia -Yogyakarta has 2 bird flu suspects early 2009
25 Feb 2009
Antara News [edited] [Promed]
The Yogyakarta authorities have warned the people to be on alert, as 2 bird flu suspects were found in Yogyakarta in early 2009. Bird flu cases were first detected in Yogyakarta in 2005, the secretary of the Yogyakarta special autonomous province, said [in Yogyakarta] on Tuesday [24 Feb 2009].
In 2005, Yogyakarta had 6 bird flu suspects, 4 suspects in 2006, 24 in 2007, and 3 suspects last year [2008], he said. Bird flu or avian influenza (AI) was very dangerous as there were 129 cases of AI infections including 113 fatalities, or 81.3 percent, he said.

Indonesia -Two children suspected bird flu infection in Klaten, Central Java
25 Feb 2009
Bird flu Information Corner, Suara Merdeka newspaper report [edited] [Promed]
Two children, a 5-year-old boy and his one-year-old cousin, residents of Dusun Kemalang, Desa Dompol, Kecamatan Kemalang, were admitted to an hospital on Wednesday [25 Feb 2009] as suspect [bird flu] patients. These 2 children are developing fever, flu, and breathing difficulty after a dozen chickens belonging to the family suddenly died.
Patients are relatives and their houses are close to each other. The 5-year-old was admitted to hospital on Tuesday evening [24 Feb 2009] after [a] few days developing fever. He was admitted to a public health [center] prior to this, but his fever and breathing problem did not improve. Investigation showed a history of dead fowls in the neighborhood, therefore the patient was redirected to the hospital for bird flu observation where he was placed in the isolation unit.
His baby cousin exhibited the same symptoms after that and was admitted to RSUP on Wednesday [25 Feb 2009]. His mother said that her child had fever and breathing problem after the sudden death of 15 chickens in their village. The dead chickens are being tested for bird flu infection by the Agricultural Service and Livestock Subdivision.
The 2 suspects are still under observation. Blood and swab sample also have been taken for further examination. Patients are also examined every 8 hours at the isolation unit. Current results showed no specific [signs of] bird flu infection such as pneumonia, acute lung inflammation, or leukocyte depression.

India -Manipur 2007, a unique H5N1 strain
24 Feb 2009
The Poultry Site [edited] [Promed]
A study of the H5N1 virus causing the outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in Manipur in 2007 suggests that the virus originated in Russia, China, or Mongolia, and may have been brought by migrating wild birds.
A focal H5N1 outbreak in poultry was reported from Manipur, a north eastern state of India, in 2007. "7th space" reports that the aim of the study was to genetically characterize the Manipur virus isolate to understand the relationship with other H5N1 isolates and to trace the possible source of introduction of the virus into the country.
The authors concluded that considering that all 8 genes of the earlier Indian isolates belonged to the EMA3 sub-lineage and similar strains have not been reported from neighboring countries of the sub- continent, it appears that the virus may have been introduced independently.
Reference
AC Mishra, SS Cherian, AK Chakrabarti, SD Pawar, SM Jadhav, B Pal, S Raut, S Koratkar, and SS Kode. 2009: A unique influenza A (H5N1) virus causing a focal poultry outbreak in 2007 in Manipur, India. Virology Journal, 6(1): 26.

Indonesia-Bali officials detect 2nd bird flu flare-up in 10 days
20 Feb 2009
The Jakarta Globe [edited] [Promed]
According to this story, avian influenza has struck a 2nd district in Bali despite efforts tocontain the spread of the disease on the island, the district'sanimal husbandry, marine, and fisheries agency said on Friday [20 Feb 2009].
The head of the agency in Jembrana districtin western Bali, said the outbreak was discovered after 52 chickensin the village of Banyubiru died over the course of 4 days.
Following the discovery, the agency banned thetransportation of poultry in and out of the village and had beenculling the bird population and disinfecting cages since Thursday [19 Feb 2009].
but it is reported that the agency was still concerned because a number of birds fromBanyubiru had been sold to neighboring villages.
To head off further spread of the virus, the agency also conducteddisinfecting drives in the nearby Gilimanuk market and chickenslaughterhouses. Dozens of chickens had died recently in the ArumGilimanuk area.
Bird flu first emerged on the island in Jembrana district in 2007-08,causing the deaths of hundreds of chickens and infecting some localresidents. One person died from the virus.
Sandjaja said the local government was concerned because the latestoutbreak was the 2nd to strike in less than 10 days. Earlier thismonth [February 2009], a bird flu outbreak emerged in Badungdistrict, causing 133 chickens to be destroyed. One person sufferedbird-flu-like symptoms after contact with sick poultry but laterrecovered. The Ministry of Health only releases information aboutsuspected cases a few times a year, and test results from thatparticular case have not yet been released.
Meanwhile, state-run Antara news agency reported on Friday [20 Feb2009] that bird flu cases had been reported in 11 subdistricts inBanyuwangi, at the easternmost tip of Java Island. Since January, 932chickens were killed by the virus, the highest number of chickendeaths due to bird flu ever recorded in East Java Province.
the head of the animal husbandry, marine and fisheries agency in Bali's provincial capital of Denpasar, said thatmany birds were smuggled from Banyuwangi to Bali despite a 2005 bylawprohibiting the unregulated flow of poultry in and out of theprovince.

Indonesia -Avian Flu detected in cockfighting village
11 Feb 2009
The Jakarta Post [edited] [Promed]
According to this story, a 20 year old man suspected of having bird flu rested in his home in Jagapati village, Badung, [island of Bali] a place well known for cockfighting, while officials continued to cull fowls in the area. A field doctor who has been treating and observing the man, said he began showing symptoms of influenza Monday [9 Feb 2009], just a few days after the report of a possible bird flu outbreak in the area. "We've given him Tamiflu the medicine required to treat bird flu suspects and we'll continue to observe him every 5 hours," the doctor said [10 Feb 2009]. She said her patient seemed to be getting better but declined to rule out the possibility of bird flu, saying that she was still waiting for results of blood tests, which were sent to Jakarta on Monday [9 Feb 2009]. "We can't know for sure until we've received the results of his blood tests, which we will get in 2 weeks," she said.
It is reported that the virus was first detected on Wednesday last week [4 Feb 2009], when a villager reported the sudden and nearly simultaneous death of 15 fowls in the area to the Badung Animal Husbandry and Fisheries Agency. The dead fowl tested positive of bird flu. The agency has since culled as many as 133 fowls in the district, with further culling to continue in the days to come until all the villages' estimated 180-fowl population has been eliminated. The Bali government has banned unlicensed live animal transportation into Bali and cockfighting, but the latter remains a staple in the island due to the religious and traditional nature of the so-called sport. On the other hand, the ban on animal transportation seems to have been fully implemented since the detection of rabies virus late last year [2008].

January

Indonesia -Woman dies of suspected bird flu
28 Jan 2009
Agence France-Presse (AFP) [edited] [Promed]
It is reported that a 21-year-old Indonesian woman has died of suspected bird flu, a doctor said on Wednesday [28 Jan 2009]. The woman died on Saturday [24 Jan 2009] in Surabaya, East Java, after showing bird flu symptoms, said a doctor in the hospital's avian flu team who, like many Indonesians, goes by only one name.A health ministry spokeswoman said the ministry had sent experts to check on the condition of poultry in the woman's village in Tulungagung district, East Java.

Nepal –Patient from Damak, eastern Nepal, to be a suspected case of human bird flu infection
25 Jan 2009
China View, Xinhua News Agency [edited] [Promed]
According to this story, Nepal has found a patient from Damak, eastern Nepal, to be a suspected case of human bird flu infection, the Nepali national news agency RSS reported on Sunday [25 Jan 2009]. Damak of Jhapa district is some 320 km east of the Nepali capital Kathmandu. In mid-January 2009, the 1st case of bird flu in poultry was detected in Kakarbhitta of the same district. According to the report, bird flu has been suspected to have infected a patient from Damak, who was taken to nearby BP Koirala Institute for Health Sciences (BPKIHS) in Dharan. Communication spokesperson for BPKIHS said bird flu virus has been suspected to have been found in the patient's blood sample during tests in the institute's laboratory. He said the patient's blood sample has been sent for further tests in a sophisticated laboratory. He said the patient was showing symptoms of bird flu infection. The BPKIHS, however, did not reveal where the patient's blood sample had been sent.
Related stories
25 Jan 2009
China View, Xinhua News Agency[edited] [Promed]
With panic spreading among the public about bird flu, Nepali authorities confirmed Sunday [25 Jan 2009] no person has been infected with the virus, and the virus has not spread in the capital Kathmandu, local media reported. Director of the BP Koirala Institute of Health Science rebuffed the rumors that 2 persons being treated at the hospital were infected with the avian virus (H5N1). He clarified that the 2 were admitted into the hospital 3 days ago after being infected with pneumonia, not bird flu, eKantipur.com reported. Likewise, the government has confirmed that the avian virus has not been detected in the capital so far. The government on 16 Jan 2009 confirmed the outbreak of bird flu virus in the eastern district of Jhapa.
24 Jan 2009–Second phase of anti-bird flu drive starts in eastern Nepal
Nepalnews.com [edited] [iFSN]
Authorities have launched a 2nd-phase program to prevent the possible spread of bird flu in Jhapa district in eastern Nepal, where the disease was traced in chickens. Officials at the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives said thousands of chickens and other birds were culled and poultry products destroyed in Mechinagar Municipality, Jhapa, some 320 km [approx. 200 mi] east of Kathmandu, during the 1st phase of the anti-bird flu drive. The 2nd-phase, which will continue for 3 months, will include cleaning programs in sensitive places like poultry firms and sales stores. The government had issued a bird flu alert in Mechinagar on 16 Jan 2009. Meanwhile, as part of the anti-bird flu surveillance, the Home Ministry has banned transportation of live birds and poultry products in buses and other public vehicles. The ministry said in a statement Saturday [24 Jan 2009] that police officials can take action against anybody found carrying chickens and other live birds while using public transport.

Indonesia –Avian Influenza
21 Jan 2009
USA Today online [edited] [Promed]
It is reported that two Indonesians have died of bird flu, apparently after contact with sick chickens, raising the country's death toll to 115, the Health ministry said Wednesday [21 Jan 2009].A Ministry statement said a 6-year-old girl in Bekasi, West Java died in 2 Jan 2009. She got sick after buying a chicken with her parents at a market and was hospitalized for a week. A 29-year-old woman died on 16 Dec 2008 in Tangerang just outside the capital, Jakarta. .
Related stories
22 Jan 2008-2 new confirmed cases
World Health Organization (WHO), EPR, Disease Outbreak News [edited] [Promed]
The Ministry of Health of Indonesia has announced 2 new confirmed cases of human infection with the H5N1 avian influenza virus. A 29-year-old female from Tangerang District, Banten Province developed symptoms on 11 Dec 2008, was hospitalized on 13 Dec 2008 and died on 16 Dec 2008. The investigation indicated that she visited a wet market to buy fresh produce, including chicken meat, on a daily basis. Household contacts were placed under medical observation, and none developed illness.The 2nd case, a 5-year-old female from Bekasi City, West Java Province developed symptoms on 23 Dec 2008, was hospitalized on 27 Dec 2008 and died on 2 Jan 2009. The investigation indicated that she visited a wet market to buy chicken meat and eggs 2 days prior to symptom onset. Contacts were placed under medical observation, and none developed illness.Laboratory tests confirmed the presence of the H5N1 avian influenza virus in both cases. Of the 141 cases confirmed to date in Indonesia, 115 have been fatal.

Indonesia -Bird Flu suspected
18 Jan 2009
The Jakarta Post [edited] [Promed]
It is reported that a 43 year old woman suspected of contracting bird flu died on Saturday morning [17 Jan 2009], only hours after being admitted to Tangerang General Hospital in Banten. But the family of the deceased was uncertain about the cause of death. The hospital's director could not be reached. According to the mother, her daughter came down with a high fever, breathing difficulties, and a severe cough on Tuesday [12 Jan 2009]. She was taken to a health center in Cengkareng, but she did not get better, the mother said. Early Saturday [17 Jan 2009] morning, the family decided to take her to the hospital. She was immediately taken to a bird flu isolation unit. She was pronounced dead at around 9:00 a.m.

India –Avian Influenza– Ravanga
17 Jan 2009
Zeenews [edited] [Promed]
It is reported that about 30 birds have died in Ravanga locality in South District in the past 2 days due to unnatural causes, triggering fear about a possible outbreak of bird flu in the Himalayan state.The Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Services Department Director confirmed the deaths of over 2 dozen birds, including chickens, due to unnatural causes in Ravangla area in the past 2 days but refused to confirm the outbreak of bird flu in Sikkim. The state police had been conducting searches in vehicles at Rangpo and other check posts bordering Sikkim to prevent importation of poultry products from outside.
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19 Jan 2009 –Outbreak of bird flu in the Ravangla area
The Hindu [edited] [Promed]
According to this story, there has been an outbreak of bird flu in the Ravangla area of Sikkim's south district. Steps are being taken for the culling of birds in the affected region. "There is a proposal for destroying about 20,000 birds, but since there is no report of the disease spreading, we will determine the final numbers to be culled after 2 or 3 days," she added. Steps are also being taken to prevent the supply of poultry products from the Ravangla area to other parts of the state.

Nepal- Bird flu detected in Jhapa
16 Jan 2009
KantipurOnline[edited] [Promed]
According to this story, for the first time in Nepal, bird flu virus has been detected in Kakarbhitta in the eastern district of Jhapa. After the detection of bird flu virus, the government on Thursday [15 Jan 2008] decided to cull birds within the range of 3 km [1.8 miles] from the site. Declaring the 10 km [6.2 mile] region of Kakarbhitta 'an emergency area,' the cabinet meeting took the decision to kill the birds today as 6 out of every 7 chickens brought from Mechi Municipality-10, Kakarbhitta, were found to have been infected with the avian flu. The meeting has decided to be on a high alert at the areas ranging 10 km from Kakarbhitta to prevent the bird flu from spreading, the minister for information and communications Krishna Bahadur Mahara said. He added that the government has also decided to direct the local administration to reuse he equipment used in slitting the birds only after the sterilization process.
Related stories
16 Jan 2009-Nepal reports 1st H5N1 bird flu outbreak
Reuters [edited] [Promed]
It is reported that Nepal said on Friday [16 Jan 2009] it had found the H5N1 bird flu in poultry, the 1st time the deadly virus has surfaced in the Himalayan nation, prompting culling operations in the country's south east. According to this story, bird flu was reported in poultry from the crowded south east Nepal town of Kakarvitta, bordering India, officials said. The story goes on by explaining that the epicentre of the outbreak is close to India's West Bengal state which has been fighting to contain intermittent outbreaks of the virus in poultry since last year [2008]. Veterinary workers were sent to the region on Friday to cull 13,000 poultry to try to control the virus within a 3 km (1.8 miles) radius of Kakarvitta town.

India - Status report on avian influenza in Assam and West Bengal
2 Jan 2009
Government of India Press release DS/GK/Flu/429 [edited] [Promed]
The Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying, GOI (Government of India) has notified of an avian influenza outbreak in Englishbazar block, Malda District of West Bengal on 15 Dec 2008. Ten days post-culling, active house-to-house surveillance has been completed and passive surveillance is on.
Assam
The first notification of avian influenza in Assam was in Hajo block of Kamrup district on 27 Nov 2008. Since then, 17 other epicenters have been notified. The last notification was on 24 Dec 2008. For the past week no new centres have been notified.
Brief of containment operations
Culling activities have been completed in all earlier notified blocks. Mopping up and sanitization are underway. So far a total of 432,948 birds have been culled.
A total of 326 animal health workers, who were deployed for the culling activity are on chemoprophylaxis.
Surveillance
Central government RRT [rapid response training] is covering the epicenters notified on 24 Dec 2008. They are working with the state RRT teams.
Active house-to-house surveillance for 10 days post culling/mopping up is over in Rajabazar [Hajo block], Sarpara [Rampur], Central Chick farm [Khanapara] in Kamrup district, Katajhar [Gobardhana block] of Barpeta District, Khelwari Para pt II [Boitamari Block] of Bongaigaon district, and Kathla [Paschim Nalbari] of Nalbari District. In these areas passive surveillance is continuing.
In the remaining affected areas active house to house surveillance is being followed in the 0-3 km [0-2 mi] zone. In the 3-10 km [2-6 mi] area surveillance is conducted in phases. As per the reports received, a population of 258,685 was covered in the 0-3 Km area and 135,018 in the 3-10 km area.
53 cases of upper respiratory infection [URI] with fever were detected [25 in the 0-3 km and 28 in the 3-10 km zones]. None of them had history of handling dead or sick birds.
38 cases of URI with fever in the outpatient department were detected in the identified health facilities.
808 health workers are deployed for surveillance.
Logistics
40,000 capsules of Tamiflu, 12 000 surgical masks, 1200 personal protective equipments [PPE], 400 N-95 masks, 50 bottles of Tamiflu syrup, and 8 ventilators have been supplied by MoHFW [Ministry of Health and Family Welfare]. Sufficient anti-viral drugs and PPE are in stock with the State Government.
Communication
Messages to create public awareness are being telecast/broadcast in local channels and AIR.
Local campaign such as miking [sic] and interpersonal communication is followed in all epicenters.
Monitoring
The situation is being monitored on a daily basis.
Related stories
3 Jan 2009–Bird flu in 2 Bengal districts
Indopia, Press Trust of India (PTI) report [edited] [Promed]
According to this story, bird flu has been detected afresh in West Bengal's Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri districts and culling of 65,000 birds will begin tomorrow [4 Jan 2008], official sources said today [3 Jan 2008]. It is reported that the epicentres of the avian influenza in Darjeeling district were Benoy Krishna Palli village under Matigara village of Siliguri sub-division and Pubang village under Sadar sub-division in the hills, the district magistrate told a press conference.
He said also that there was no notification to stop sale and consumption of birds and poultry products outside the 5 km (3 mi) radius of the 2 epicentres. [INR] 50 lakh [USD 104,000) has been allotted for culling operations, which included 34 wards under Siliguri Municipal Corporation.
Bird flu has also been confirmed in adjacent gram panchayats [local government at village level] 1 and 2 in Fulbari in Jalpaiguri district. It is reported that 10 culling teams had been formed and 4000 birds would be culled from tomorrow.
7 Jan 2009 –Fresh outbreak of bird flu
IANS via Sindh Today [edited] [Promed]
According to this story, a fresh outbreak of bird flu was reported in Darjeeling Wednesday [7 Jan 2009], prompting the authorities to restart culling operations, an official said. About 31,000 poultry have already been culled at Matigara in Siliguri subdivision and Pubang in Takdah of Darjeeing sub-division of the same district after avian flu was confirmed in the areas Saturday [3 Jan 2009].
The development came 18 days after bird flu struck Malda district in the state.




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