December

Viet Nam – Summary of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) situation in Viet Nam
31 Dec 2008
UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), Viet Nam [edited] [Promed]
In 2008, sporadic outbreaks of H5N1 highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) were reported in 27 provinces in Viet Nam. The latest outbreak was detected in Thai Nguyen province on [25 Dec 2008] and reported by the Department of Animal Health on [29 Dec 2008].
The sporadic outbreaks have continued from October 2007. The 5th wave of HPAI was reported from [May 2007] - September 2007, mainly affecting 22 provinces in the North. The 4th wave of HPAI was reported in Viet Nam from December 2006 - January 2007, mainly affecting 12 provinces in the South. In 2008, 5 human cases were reported, all fatal. In 2007, 8 human cases were reported, 5 fatal and 3 recovered.

China – Avian Influenza in human H9N2 (Guangdong)
30 Dec 2008
International Herald Tribune online, Associated Press report [edited] [Promed]
According to this story, a 2-month-old Hong Kong-born infant who lives in China has contracted a mild strain of bird flu, a health official said Tuesday [30 Dec 2008]. It is reported that the baby girl, who contracted the H9 strain of avian influenza, is currently isolated at a local [Hong Kong] hospital and is in stable condition. The baby lives with her family in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen.
Related stories
30 Dec 2008 –2 month-old baby girl was infected with the H9N2 bird flu strain
Gulf News online [edited] [Promed]
Hong Kong on Tuesday [30 Dec 2008] confirmed that a 2-month-old baby girl was infected with the H9N2 bird flu strain, the 5th human case in the city since 1999, a government health official told reporters.

Vietnam - Bird flu (Northern Province)
28 Dec 2008
Reuters [edited] [Promed]
According to this story, bird flu has resurfaced in poultry in northern Viet Nam after many months without any cases, killing ducks and chickens at 2 farms. The story goes on by explaining that animal health officials confirmed on Saturday [27 Dec 2008] the H5N1 virus had killed several birds among a flock of more than 100 ducks in Thai Nguyen city, 80 km (50 miles) north of Hanoi. It is reported also that officials had also detected the virus in dead chickens at a farm in the same city, and nearly 4200 chickens had been slaughtered to prevent the virus from spreading.

China – According to officials, anti-bird flu steps more effective
25 Dec 2008
China Daily [edited] [Promed]
According to this story, the number of birds and animals that fell prey to major epidemics this year [2008] dropped to a 3-year low because of government measures to check disease outbreaks, a senior Agriculture Ministry official said Wednesday [24 Dec 2008]. The number of birds infected with avian flu dropped by 60 percent, with 9000 birds falling prey to the virus, said the director of the ministry's veterinary bureau.
Related stories
24 Dec 2008 – Ministry of Agriculture official: total of 6 outbreaks of avian influenza this year [2008]
China News.com [in Chinese, trans. & summ. Rappt.DS, edited] [Promed]
The director of the Ministry of Agriculture's Veterinary Medicine Bureau, announced on 24 Dec 2008 that there were a total of 6 outbreaks of avian influenza in China in 2008, a significant decline from previous years. He also predicted that there would not be a large-scale outbreak of avian influenza this wintr or spring [2008-09].

Hong Kong – Dead chickens get H5N1 mutation all-clear
19 Dec 2008
The Standard, Hong Kong [edited] [Promed]
According to this story, the H5N1 virus found in dead chickens in a Yuen Long farm had not mutated, as the genetic sequencing of the bird flu virus detected in the farm on 9 Dec 2008 did not contain obvious differences from previous viruses. Meanwhile, an Agriculture Fisheries and Conservation Department spokeswoman yesterday [18 Dec 2008] explained why the government has been using an H5N2 vaccine manufactured in the Netherlands to protect local chickens from the flu since 2003, even though recent outbreaks showed the virus strain to be subtype H5N1. She said when vaccines were 1st introduced to local chicken farms, tests had shown the H5N2 vaccine to be effective against the viruses found in South China.

Taiwan, H5N2 suspected – Japan suspends imports of Taiwan poultry for suspected bird flu
18 Dec 2008
Taiwan News [edited] [Promed]
According to this story, Japan announced Wednesday [17 Dec 2008] to suspend imports of Taiwan poultry on the ground of "suspected H5N2 bird flu virus in Taiwan being confirmed."
According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan, Taiwan's Council of Agriculture (COA) confirmed the outbreak of H5N2 virus in Taiwan. Related stories
18 Dec 2008 – Poultry farmers complain of impact of unconfirmed bird flu reports
Taiwan News [edited] [Promed]
21 Dec 2008 – Taiwan culls 18,000 chickens
AFP via Straits Times [edited] [Promed]
It is reported that Taiwanese agricultural authorities on Sunday [21 Dec 2008] confirmed that they had slaughtered 18,000 chickens after an outbreak of bird flu. The authorities said when a farm in Luchu, southern Kaohsiung county, reported some of their chickens had died of an unknown disease on 21 Oct 2008, they immediately banned movement of the birds from the farm.
An inspection report released Saturday [20 Dec 2008] showed that the chickens had contracted the H5N2 strain of the disease, a less virulent strain than H5N1, which can be transmitted to humans.

China - China reports new H5N1 outbreaks - Jiangsu
16 Dec 2008
CIDRAP News [edited] [Promed]
China's agriculture ministry today [16 Dec 2008] said it has detected H5N1 avian influenza outbreaks at 2 poultry farms in Jiangsu province in the eastern part of the country. In a statement posted on its Web site, the ministry said both sites where the H5N1 virus was found are in Haian county, in the eastern part of the province, according to a report today from Agence France-Presse (AFP). The ministry's statement on the Jiangsu outbreak said the source of the virus might be migratory birds, according to the AFP report. Authorities are culling and vaccinating poultry in the area, have quarantined the outbreak farms, and have banned the movement of poultry and poultry products in and out of the area. News of a fresh outbreak in China comes about a week after officials in Hong Kong announced an outbreak at a poultry farm in the special administrative region city of Yuen Long, the special administrative region's first farm-based outbreak since 2003. In other developments in that region, public health officials in China, Hong Kong, and Macao today conducted a drill to test their cross-border avian flu response plan, Xinhua, China's state news agency, reported. Named "Exercise Great Wall 2008," the test involved more than 60 public health officials. The scenario involved a man and his teenage daughter who lived in Hong Kong but became infected with the H5N1 virus after visiting the man's wife in mainland China, according to Xinhua. The drill was the 3rd such exercise under a 2005 cooperative public health emergency agreement between China, Hong Kong, and Macao.
Related stories
17 Dec 2008 – China – Avian influenza
AFP [edited] [Promed]
It is reported that the United Nations on Wednesday [17 Dec 2008] played down fears over an outbreak of bird flu in China, saying a few cases in winter wasn't a worry. Authorities in China announced on Tuesday [16 Dec 2008] that they had begun destroying and vaccinating poultry after the virus was detected in the eastern province of Jiangsu. The H5N1 strain of bird flu was found on a chicken farm in Dongtai city and in another farm in Haian county, China's Agriculture Ministry said. According to this story, the discovery had prompted local agricultural authorities to step up vaccinations, while culling 377,000 chickens in the area around the farms. The virus had not been detected in any other locations.
19 Dec 2008 –Tests results
Xinhua [trans from Chinese Rapp.DS, edited] [Promed]
According to this story, as confirmed by test results from the National Avian Influenza Reference Laboratory, the avian influenza virus found on some layer farms in Jiangsu's Dongtai and Haian is the avian influenza H5N1 Re-4 variant strain, highly homologous to the variant strain that appeared 2 years ago in Shanxi Province and different than the strain[s] which 1st circulated in the south [of China]. Research by the national reference lab shows that this virus [strain] has an extremely low rate of transmission to mammals, and there has never been a human case involving this virus [strain].

Cambodia - Eighth human case of avian influenza
12 Dec 2008
Ministry of Health, Cambodia and World Health Organization, Cambodia
[via ProMED-mail MBDS; edited]
The Ministry of Health in Cambodia confirmed that a 19 year old man is the eighth person who has been detected with confirmed avian influenza in Cambodia since early 2005. This is the first case of avian influenza detected in Cambodia in 2008. The patient is from Kandal Steung District in Kandal Province. The patient became ill with fever, cough, muscleache and sore throat on [28 Nov 2008] and sought medical attention at local health centres originally on [30 Nov 2008] and again on [2 Dec 2008]. The patient was identified during surveillance for acute fever illness, a research study conducted in the province and confirmatory testing was done by the National Influenza Centre in Phnom Penh on [11 Dec 2008]. The patient is currently being treated in Calmette hospital, Phnom Penh. Field investigation teams, headed by MoH are in the field to identify human contacts and start prophylaxis treatment. The Ministry of Health will continue to go house to house in the affected area looking for people who have a fever, cough and contact with sick or dead chickens. Public education materials will also be distributed. The Ministry of Agriculture is conducting a detailed investigation into poultry deaths in the area around the village. This is the 8th confirmed case of human H5N1 influenza in Cambodia. All previous 7 cases died. The last case occurred in April 2007. Globally there have been 389 confirmed cases of human H5N1 infections of which 246 have died.
Related stories
12 Dec 2008 – Avian influenza­ situation in Cambodia
World Health Organization (WHO), EPR, Disease Outbreak News [edited] [Promed]
The Ministry of Health of Cambodia has announced a new confirmed case of human infection with the H5N1 avian influenza virus. A 19 year old male, from Kandal Province, developed symptoms on 28 Nov 2008 and initially sought medical attention at a local health centre on 30 Nov 2008. The presence of the H5N1 virus was confirmed by the National Influenza Centre, the Institut Pasteur in Cambodia, on Thu 11 Dec 2008. The patient is currently hospitalised and a team led by the Ministry of Health is conducting field investigations into the source of his infection. Contacts of the case are also being identified and provided with prophylaxis. Of the 8 cases confirmed to date in Cambodia, 7 have been fatal.
17 Dec 2008 - Cambodia kills 320 fowl after bird flu outbreak
AP via Taiwan News [edited] [Promed]
According to this story, Cambodian authorities killed some 320 ducks and chickens Wednesday [17 Dec 2008] southeast of the capital where a man last week became the country's 8th human case of the disease. It is reported that the Agriculture Ministry sent 30 veterinarians to kill the fowl after laboratory tests Tuesday [16 Dec 2008] showed that 3 ducks and one chicken had contracted the deadly H5N1 virus in the village where a man fell sick, said the ministry's director of animal health and food production. The story goes on by explaining that a 19-year-old man in Kandal province, 18 miles (30 kilometers) southeast of Phnom Penh, tested positive for bird flu last Thursday [11 Dec 2008]. The man fell ill after touching a dead chicken, said the health ministry expert on bird flu. The man remained hospitalized in the capital. The 7 previous Cambodian victims of the disease died.
21 Dec 2008 – Cambodian survives H5N1 bird flu virus - official
Reuters AlertNet [edited] [Promed]
It is reported that a 19-year old Cambodian man has survived the H5N1 bird flu virus which has killed 7 other people [between 2005 and 2007]. The youth, who became infected after eating dead poultry, was discharged from a Phnom Penh hospital on Saturday [20 Dec 2008] after being treated for 10 days, the deputy director of communicable disease control department, said.
26 Dec 2008 – Highly pathogenic avian influenza
OIE, WAHID (World Animal Health Information Database), weekly disease information 2008; 21(52) [edited] [Promed]
Summary
Report type: immediate notification
Start date: 16 Dec 2008
Date of first confirmation of the event: 16 Dec 2008
Reason for notification: reoccurrence of a listed disease
Date of previous occurrence: 20 May 2007
Causal agent: highly pathogenic avian influenza virus
Serotype: H5N1
Nature of diagnosis: suspicion, laboratory (basic)
This event pertains to a defined zone within the country
Total outbreaks: 1
Outbreak location and affected population: Kandal (Kraing Chek village, Deumrus commune, Kandal Steung): The outbreak affected backyard poultry. Among these there are 40 ducks and 80 chickens that died. Total number of culling is 344 heads (75 ducks, 265 chickens, 2 geese, and 2 turkeys).
Epidemiology
Source of the outbreak(s) or origin of infection: unknown or inconclusive
Future reporting
The event is continuing. Weekly follow-up reports will be submitted.


Hong Kong to cull chickens after detecting bird flu
9 Dec 2008
The Wall Street Journal [edited] [Promed]
According to this story, Hong Kong health authorities said on Tuesday [9 Dec 2008] that they would slaughter 80,000 chickens after 3 dead birds tested positive for the H5 avian flu virus. It is reported that the outbreak, Hong Kong's first in 6 years, raises fresh questions about the city's efforts to prevent bird flu.Officials said they hadn't yet determined if the virus they found was the H5N1 strain of bird flu that has proven deadly for humans. The story goes on by explaining that the outbreak raises questions about how birds at the farm were infected and a microbiologist and avian flu expert at Hong Kong University, said Hong Kong has some of the highest safety standards in the region but warned of "leaking holes" in the system.
Related stories
11 Dec 2008 – H5N1 confirmed
CIDRAP News [edited] [Promed]
Agriculture officials in Hong Kong today [11 Dec 2008] confirmed that the avian influenza virus that recently hit a large commercial chicken farm was the lethal H5N1 strain, as authorities vowed to explore potential protection gaps in the poultry vaccine and the possibility that smuggled eggs might be a source of the virus. Jolly Choi, spokeswoman for Hong Kong's agriculture, fisheries, and conservation department said earlier tests on 9 Dec 2008 were positive for an H5 virus, but further testing showed that 3 chickens found dead on the farm had the H5N1 subtype, according to a report today from the Associated Press. Meanwhile, York Chow, Hong Kong's secretary for food and health, told reporters at a press conference that experts are focusing on 2 lines of investigation: a possible biosecurity lapse at the farm and if a change in the circulating virus has hobbled Hong Kong's poultry vaccine. So far there is no evidence that the virus has spread to other farms, Chow said in the statement. Investigators have collected samples from farms to conduct polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing, and the results should be available in a day or 2. In other developments, poultry trade representatives in Hong Kong said today that smuggled fertilized eggs from China could be the source of the recent H5N1 outbreak, according to a report today from Agence France-Presse (AFP).
14 Dec 2008 - OIE immediate notification report
OIE WAHID (World Animal Health Information Database) weekly disease information 2008; 21(51) [edited] [Promed]
Summary
Report type: immediate notification
Start date: 8 Dec 2008
Date of first confirmation of the event: 8 Dec 2008
Report date: 12 Dec 2008
Reason for notification: reoccurrence of a listed disease
Date of previous occurrence: October 2008
Causal agent: highly pathogenic avian influenza virus [HPAI]
Serotype: H5N1
Nature of diagnosis: suspicion, clinical, laboratory (basic), laboratory (advanced), necropsy
This event pertains to the whole country
New outbreaks
Outbreak 1 Yuen Long, Hong Kong
Date of start of the outbreak: 8 Dec 2008
Outbreak status: continuing (or date resolved not provided)
Epidemiological unit: farm
Species: birds
Susceptible: 67 968
Cases: 285
Deaths: 285
Destroyed: 67 683
Slaughtered: 0
Affected population: there were 67,968 chickens and 25,680 fertilized eggs on this index farm with compulsory avian influenza vaccination program and strict biosecurity measures in place. Unusual mortality was first noted in the sentinel chickens on 8 Dec [2008]. Clinical signs observed included rales, dyspnoea, cyanosis, and oedema of the comb and wattle with yellow creamy nasal discharge. Cloacae swabs and chicken carcasses were collected on the same day for laboratory testing. Culling of the chickens and eggs began on 9 Dec [2008] and finished on 10 Dec [2008].
Epidemiology
Source of the outbreak(s) or origin of infection: under investigation
Epidemiological comments: on 11 Dec 2008, 17,960 chickens were also culled in a chicken farm within the 3-km (2 mi) radius infected zone. Poultry in the wholesale market (10 704 chickens, 2900 pigeons, 1420 pheasants, 3100 silky chickens, and 370 chukars) were also culled on 11 Dec 2008. Initial surveillance using PCR [polymerase chain reaction] did not detect any H5 in all the other poultry farms in Hong Kong (virus isolation pending). Advice was given to these unaffected chicken farms to administer a booster vaccine immediately. Importation of live poultry was banned and movement of poultry, eggs, fodder, and other things in local farms is prohibited for 21 days as from 9 Dec 2008.
Control measures
Measures applied
- stamping out
- quarantine
- movement control inside the country
- screening
- zoning
- vaccination in response to the outbreak
- disinfection of infected premises/establishment(s)
- no treatment of affected animals
Measures to be applied
No other measures
Future reporting
The event is continuing. Weekly follow-up reports will be submitted.

November

China – Avian Influenza suspected (Jiangsu, Hebei, Henan)
25 Nov 2008
efeedlink.com.cn [in Chinese, trans. & summ. Rappt.DS, edited][Promed]
It is reported that over the last few weeks, there has been an outbreak of possible avian influenza near Jiangsu's Haian and Dongtai [counties]. Local chicken deaths are relatively serious. According to this story, egg production has dropped sharply due to the outbreak. But because [the outbreak] has not yet been confirmed by authorities, it is still uncertain whether it is actually avian influenza. Area demand for poultry feed has dropped under the impact of chicken deaths and declining egg production. Based on this correspondent's survey, similar outbreaks have not occurred in Jiangsu's neighboring areas other than the above 2 places. It is hoped that poultry farmers will quickly take precautionary measures.

Thailand - Bird flu detected in Thailand's Uthai Thani province
13 Nov 2008
Xinhua [edited] [Promed]
According to this story, another bird-flu outbreak among fowls was confirmed in Thailand's Northern province of Uthai Thani. The director-general of Livestock Department, said on Thursday [13 Nov 2008] that lab tests confirmed that fowls, which died earlier in the province, caught avian flu virus. He said his department had already taken all necessary actions to control the outbreak before the lab results came out. On Sunday [9 Nov 2008; see item 1 above], the department also confirmed that the bird flu outbreak among fowls was detected in Sukhothai province.Thailand's Public Health Ministry on Thursday declared 9 northern provinces under a special watch for the deadly avian influenza.
Related stories
13 Nov 2008 – Sukhothai, OIE
OIE's WAHID interface , Weekly Disease Information Vol. 21 - No. 46, 13 Nov 2008 [edited]
Report type: Immediate notification
Start date : 27 Oct 2008
Date of 1st confirmation of the event : 09 Nov 2008
Reason for notification : Reoccurrence of a listed disease
Date of previous occurrence : 13 Feb 2008
Causal agent: Highly pathogenic avian influenza virus
Serotype : H5N1
Nature of diagnosis : Laboratory (basic), Laboratory (advanced)
This event pertains to the whole country
New outbreaks
Outbreak 1 : Village No 5, TongSaLeam, TongSaLeam, SUKHOTHAI
Date of start of the outbreak: 27 Oct 2008
Outbreak status : Continuing (or date resolved not provided)
Epidemiological unit: Village
Affected animals
Species/ Susceptible/ Cases/ Deaths/ Destroyed/ Slaughtered
Birds/ 17/ 5/ 5/ 12/ 0
Affected population: native chickens
Epidemiology
Source of the outbreak(s) or origin of infection : Pending investigation
Epidemiological comments : The native chickens at the affected house were firstly found dead on 27 Oct 2008 from Escherichia coli infection and intestinal parasitic infestation.
- There was only one household affected with 5 dead chickens in several days in this village.
- The samples were later submitted to the National Institute of Animal Health (the National Veterinary Laboratory) in Bangkok for confirmation.
Control measures
Measures applied
-Stamping out
-Quarantine
-Movement control inside the country
-Screening
-Zoning
-Disinfection of infected premises/establishment(s)
-Dipping / Spraying
-Vaccination prohibited
-No treatment of affected animals
Measures to be applied: No other measures.

Laos - Bird flu outbreak occurs
4 Nov 2008
Xinhua News Agency , Vientiane Times report [edited] [Promed]
A bird flu outbreak has been confirmed in Donngeun village, Xayaboury district of Xayaboury province of Laos, Lao newspaper Vientiane Times reported on Tuesday [4 Nov 2008], citing Xayaboury district governor Phompan Souththivohaneas saying. The Xayaboury Provincial Avian Influenza Control Committee has declared a red zone, which covers areas within one kilometre (0.62 mi) radius of the outbreak. This area includes the 7 villages, said Phompan on Monday [3 Nov 2008]. All birds in these villages will be slaughtered to prevent the virus from spreading and the movement, consumption and sale of birds throughout the district has been

October

Thailand - Bird Flu Scare Emerges in Sukhothai
30 Oct 2008
TOC - Thailand's English News Channel [edited] [Promed]
According to this story, livestock officials in Sukhothai Province reported the discovery of the H5N1 virus in domestic chickens raised by, a resident of Nong Wong Kwian Village in Swankalok District. The Assistant Village Chief said that 29 families in the village raised a total of nearly 1000 chickens before a number of them began to die of suspicious causes. She said there were no reports of the deaths of these fowls as some villagers were worried that their fighting birds might be slaughtered due to bird-flu fears. After officials declared the discovery, all chickens in Sawankalok District were destroyed and their owners are to receive 32 baht [approx 0.90 USD] per kg for the killed birds.

Thailand – Inclusion body Hepatitis in Poultry
18 Oct 2008
Bangkok Post [edited] [Promed]
It is reported that an avian virus that is new to Thailand has been found in chicken farms in the central, western, and eastern regions, raising serious concerns about its impact on the country's poultry industry. The discovery of the virus, Avian Adenovirus Group 1, was revealed yesterday by a team of veterinarians from Kasetsart University's veterinary medicine's diagnostic unit in Nakhon Pathom province. The unit maintained that the virus, which causes inclusion body hepatitis in poultry, could not be transmitted to humans. It is reported that the virus was detected in breeder chicks, aged 3-7 days, which looked drowsy and exhausted. Many of them suffered convulsions and died in 12 hours. The deaths wiped out 10 to 15 percent of the flocks. In these cases, the disease lasted for a week and the surviving chicks' growth was stunted.The disease broke out at 6 chicken farms in the 3 regions earlier this year [2008]. The spread of the virus had been contained at all of them, said Taweesak Songserm, the team leader. Besides young chickens, the disease can be found in pigeons, geese, turkeys and partridges. Possible disease carriers include rats, flies and cockroaches. Bird flu prevention and surveillance operations can be applied to combat the spread of the virus on chicken farms, the veterinarians said.

Hong Kong - House crow , Avian Influenza
17 Oct 2008
Hong Kong's Information Services Department, Press release [edited] [Promed]
Preliminary testing of a dead house crow found in Sham Shui Po has indicated a suspected case of H5 avian influenza, a spokesman for the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) said today [17 Oct 2008], adding that further confirmatory tests were being conducted. The carcass was found and collected on 15 Oct 2008 at the refuse collection chamber in Sham Shui Po Park. "In view of this case, the AFCD has phoned poultry farmers reminding them to strengthen precautionary and biosecurity measures against avian influenza. Letters have been issued to farmers, pet bird shop owners, license holders of pet poultry and racing pigeons reminding them that proper precautions must be taken," the spokesman said. The spokesman said that the department would conduct frequent inspections of poultry farms, the wholesale market and the Yuen Po Street Bird Garden to ensure that proper precautions against avian influenza had been implemented. The department would continue its wild bird monitoring and surveillance. The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) will continue to be vigilant over imported live poultry as well as live poultry stalls. It will also remind stall operators to maintain good hygiene. The Department of Health will enhance health education and distribute health advice leaflets. The Leisure and Cultural Services Department has reminded all of its park staff to remain vigilant and step up precautionary measures including regular cleaning and disinfection. AFCD, FEHD, the Customs and Excise Department and the Police will strive to deter the illegal import of poultry and birds into Hong Kong to minimise the risk of avian influenza outbreaks brought by imported poultry and birds that had not gone through inspection and quarantine. The spokesman said the threat of avian influenza remained. The relevant departments will remain vigilant and continue to take preventive and control measures against avian influenza.

Vietnam - Bird flu hits one more Vietnamese province
7 Oct 2008
Xinhua [edited] [Promed]
Bird flu has stricken Viet Nam's central Nghe An province, killing bout 300 ducks, said an official with the Department of Animal Health under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development on Tuesday [7 Oct 2008]. According to this story, the ducks raised by a household in the province started to die recently. The specimens collected from the dead ducks have tested positive to bird flu virus strain H5N1, said the unnamed official. It is reported that local health department have slaughtered all the fowls in the affected spot and disinfected this area to guard against any further outbreaks of bird flu. Now, bird flu is hitting 2 Vietnamese provinces, including Ca Mau and Nghe An.

South Korea- Low Pathogenic Avian Influenza
6 Oct 2008
OIE WAHID (World Animal Health Information Database) weekly disease information 2008; 21(41) [edited] [Promed]
Report type : immediate notification (final report)
Start date: 3 Oct 2008
Date of first confirmation of the event: 4 Oct 2008
Report date : 6 Oct 2008
Date submitted to OIE: 6 Oct 2008
Date event resolved : 4 Oct 2008
Reason for notification: reoccurrence of a listed disease
Date of previous occurrence : 23 Nov 2007
Causal agent : low pathogenic avian influenza virus
Serotype : H5N2
Nature of diagnosis : laboratory (basic), laboratory (advanced)
This event pertains to a defined zone within the country
Summary of outbreaks
Outbreak 1 YeSan-gun, Oga-myun, Ch'ungch'Ong-Namdo [Southern Chungcheong]
Date of start of the outbreak: 3 Oct 2008
Outbreak status : resolved (4 Oct 2008)
Epidemiological unit : farm
Species: birds
Susceptible : 5000
Destroyed : 5000
Affected population : a parent stock duck farm
Source of the outbreak(s) or origin of infection : unknown or inconclusive
Epidemiological comments: as part of the on-going control measures for avian influenza in the Republic of Korea, surveillance has been conducted since September [2008] in all parent stock duck farms. On 3 [Oct 2008], faecal samples from a parent stock duck farm proved positive to avian influenza antigen. But antibody test results of samples from blood and eggs were negative. The virus was identified as low pathogenic avian influenza [LPAI] virus subtype H5N2 by haemagglutination test (HA), neuraminidase gene typing, and gene sequencing of cleavage site of the HA gene on 4 Oct 2008. As a preventive measure, ducks in the farm were stamped out and the farm was disinfected.
The event is resolved. No more reports will be submitted.

September

Viet Nam - Bird flu recurs
26 Sep 2008
VisitBulgaria.info [edited] [Promed]
According to this story, Vietnamese authorities have detected the H5N1 avian flu virus in a flock of ducks on a farm in the southern province of Ca Mau, a government official said Friday [26 Sep 2008]. The deputy director of Viet Nam's Animal Health Department, said inspectors had found on 22 Sep 2008 that bird flu had killed more than 50 of 500 ducks on a Ca Mau farm. All the ducks at the farm were ducklings under 45 days old, and had thus not been vaccinated yet, Nam said. Authorities have culled all the ducks at the farm. " On 7 Sep 2008, the Animal Health Department announced it had detected bird flu in a flock of 600 ducks on a farm in the southern province of Ben Tre, adjacent to Ho Chi Minh City.

New Zealand – H5N1 virus found in NZ ducks
17 Sep 2008
News Talk ZB (Auckland) [edited] [Promed]
According to this story, low levels of the H5N1 virus have been found in 2 samples taken from Mallard ducks in New Zealand. It came from a surveillance programme researching the presence of avian influenza. Known as LPAI [low pathogenic avian influenza] H5N1, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry says it is different to "bird flu," which is the highly pathogenic form of the virus.

Laos – Avian Influenza (Luang Prabang)
9 Sep 2008
China View, Xinhua News Agency report [edited] [Promed]
Samples from dead ducks in Laos' northern Luang Prabang province have tested positive for bird flu virus, prompting local authorities to cull thousands of poultry to curb the disease's spread, Lao newspaper Vientiane Times reported Tuesday [9 Sep 2008]. It is reported that the authorities, already culling 3000 fowls, plan to cull over 7000 others in the province's Nambak district. According to this story, ducks started to die on 27 Aug 2008. They have been banned from transport, trade, and consumption in the district. No human cases have been recorded, and Lao authorities are advising locals to take preventative measures.

August

Viet Nam – Avian Influenza Disease Emergency Situation Update (FAO)
8 Aug 2008
FAO AIDEnews (Avian Influenza Disease Emergency Situation Update), Issue 55 (revised) [edited] [Promed]
HPAI H5N1 pathogenicity (including clades 2.3.2 and 2.3.4 circulating in the Red River basin and presumably imported from China, as well as the clade 1 virus that has prevailed in the Mekong delta since early 2004) seems to be rising gradually. According to a researcher of the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) in Athens, Georgia, and associated colleagues from the Viet Nam National Centre for Veterinary Diagnosis, this increase in pathogenicity translates into a more severe respiratory tract infection in ducks and an increase in cloacal virus titres. However, despite higher virus pathogenicity, the avian influenza disease situation appears, generally speaking, fairly well in check, says a Senior Officer in FAO's Animal Production and Health Service, reporting on his participation in an international workshop on Avian Influenza Research to Policy from 16-18 Jun 2008 in Hanoi.He said that longitudinal studies carried out by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) in 4 different provinces of the Mekong Delta from May to November 2007 suggest that seroprevalence rates in unvaccinated chickens and ducks were between 5-20 percent but that there were low levels of virus shedding (few PCR-positives) and no HPAI outbreaks. Evidently, he added, vaccination offers clinical protection in addition to containing virus spread. Importantly, protective antibody titres developed rather late, particularly in chickens, with titres taking up to 6 weeks to develop from the time of vaccination.
Repeated vaccination in layer ducks appears very effective in protecting them from HPAI: out of 152 outbreaks recorded during the peak season (mid-November 2006 to mid-February 2007) in 66 communes scattered across the Mekong Delta, only one single outbreak involved layer ducks that had been vaccinated twice. Therefore, he commented, continued vaccination in layer ducks appears to be critical. With ducks the predominant poultry species in the Mekong Delta and with 80 percent of these [being] layer ducks, the FAO expert believes that HPAI in the southern part of Viet Nam is well in check. However, he added, northern Viet Nam requires strengthening with measures other than vaccination, and the cost of vaccination campaigns cannot continue to be entirely supported by public funds only.

July

South Korea - Cat Becomes first Mammal to Die of Bird Flu in Korea
29 Jul 2008
Chosun [edited] [Promed]
It is reported in this story that the Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries announced that the National Veterinary Research and Quarantine Service confirmed that the cause of death of a cat found dead in marshland along the Mangyeong River in Gimje, North Jeolla Province, in late April [2008] was a highly pathogenic strain of bird flu virus, H5N1. The College of Veterinary Medicine at Chungnam National University asked the national quarantine service to verify the exact cause of death. The Ministry said unlike poultry, cats do not transfer the highly pathogenic strain to humans. The virus found in the cat was the same strain that killed thousands of poultry in April.

Vietnam - Mystery of "vaccinated" chickens dying of bird flu
18 Jul 2008
THE NATION/ANN via Asia.One.Com [edited] [Promed]
Chickens that are vaccinated against bird flu are supposed to be immune to the disease. But, according to this story, hundreds of chickens at a poultry farm in southern Viet Nam have died of avian influenza -- even though the farm owner had earlier reported that the birds were vaccinated against the disease. It is reported here that late last month [June 2008], several hundreds of the 3000 chickens in the flock have died at the farm in Tan Lan commune in Long An province, 50 km [31 miles] west of Ho Chi Minh City, and that last week, they were tested positive for the H5N1 avian-influenza virus. The farm owner reported to the department that all birds in the farm had been vaccinated against bird flu but it is suspected that he was not honest in his report, or that the vaccine used at the farm was of bad quality.

Hong Kong - Expert warns Hong Kong's avian flu vaccine is waning
10 Jul 2008
Cidrap News [edited] [Promed]
A poultry vaccine designed to protect chickens in Hong Kong from H5 avian influenza has lost effectiveness over the past 7 years of use, an expert told the Chinese media recently. The expert, who heads the microbiology department at the University of Hong Kong, told the South China Morning Post newspaper that the virus is shifting away from the Fujian strain that it was developed for, according to a 8 Jul 2008 Deutsche Presse-Argentur (DPA) report. He told city officials that they must ban all live chickens from markets before the vaccine becomes completely ineffective, the DPA report said. Tests on birds in 2005 suggested that the vaccine generated only a quarter of the antibody response it did in 2001.

Hong Kong scales down avian flu response level to "alert"
9 Jul 2008
Xinhuanet [edited] [Promed]
The Secretary for Food and Health of Hong Kong Wednesday [9 Jul 2008] announced the scale down of the response level for avian influenza from "serious" to "alert." After the detection of H5N1 avian influenza in environmental samples collected from poultry stalls in Po on Road Market, Sham Shui Po, on 7 Jun 2008, the government had raised the response level to "serious." With more environmental samples from 3 other retail markets found to have the virus on 11 Jun 2008, live chicken trading in Hong Kong was suspended for 21 days.

Viet Nam – Avian Influenza (Tra Vinh)
7 Jul 2008
Nhan Dan [edited] [Promed]
Bird flu has occurred in Tra Vinh province, announced the Veterinary Department. The department said that ducks died in Phuong Thach commune, Cang Long district, Tra Vinh province, from 24 Jun 2008. By 4 Jul 2008, around 1000 unvaccinated ducks had died. Their samples were tested positive to H5N1 virus. The local veterinary service culled the ducks. So far, Quang Ngai and Tra Vinh provinces are yet to be free from bird flu for 21 days.

June

China - China reports bird flu outbreak near Hong Kong border – Guandong
17 Jun 2008
Reuters [edited] [Promed]
According to this story, China on Tuesday [17 Jun 2008] reported a bird flu outbreak in ducks in the southern province of Guangdong, close to Hong Kong where poultry at all commercial markets was culled last week. The Guangdong outbreak, in a village administered by Jiangmen city, was first detected on 13 Jun 2008, the official Xinhua news agency said. The National Avian Influenza Reference Laboratory confirmed on Tuesday that the virus the birds contracted was a subtype of the H5N1 strain, Xinhua quoted the Ministry of Agriculture as saying. A total of 3873 ducks died of the disease and a further 17,127 were culled as part of a contingency plan that the report said had effectively contained the outbreak. It is reported that Hong Kong banned poultry imports from the Chinese mainland for 21 days since the 1st instance of the virus was discovered there in early June 2008.

North Korea - Bird flu outbreak reported in North Korea, South Korean aid group says
11 Jun 2008
The Associated Press via IHT [edited] [Promed]
Bird flu has broken out near a North Korean military base in the first reported case of the disease in the country since 2005, a South Korean aid group said on Wednesday [11 Jun 2008].

China - Bird flu virus found in market stalls
7 Jun 2008
Hong Kong's Information Services Department, health alert 7 Jun 2008 [edited] [Promed]
The Secretary for Food and Health says Po On Road Market has been declared an infected area after the H5N1 bird flu virus was found in 5 chicken dropping samples collected from three stalls. He told reporters the affected stalls got the chickens from the Cheung Sha Wan Temporary Wholesale Poultry Market. The birds may have come from local or Mainland farms. Imports of live Mainland chicken will be suspended while local farms will stop selling chickens for three weeks to facilitate the Government's work in tracing the source of the infected chickens. The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department has cordoned off all the chicken stalls in the market and started culling the 2700 chickens in it. Disinfection work will also be conducted.The department has stepped up inspection of 64 markets with chicken stalls and no abnormality has been detected. More chicken dropping samples will be collected for tests. The department will send staff to the Mainland to inspect registered farms supplying chicken to Hong Kong while more samples will be collected from local wholesale markets for tests.The Cheung Sha Wan Temporary Wholesale Poultry Market will be thoroughly cleaned while the next poultry outlet rest day will be advanced from next Wednesday [11 Jun 2008] to Monday [9 Jun 2008].The Government will also step up checks on chilled poultry products and will enhance its inspection of retail markets and local poultry farms. The Customs and Excise Department will bolster its enforcement work against poultry smuggling.
Related stories
10 Jun 2008 - H5N1 fears on smuggled chickens
The Standard [edited] [Promed]
According to this story, smuggled chickens may have been the cause of the latest outbreak of the bird flu virus. The suspicions arose after the farms that supplied the 3 stalls at the center of the H5N1 outbreak cleared preliminary checks. Customs officials said yesterday [9 Jun 2008] they are treating reports of smuggling seriously. Officers also said they would be stepping up intelligence-gathering operations to prevent underground poultry shipments.
Sales of around 4000 chickens left in the Cheung Sha Wan Temporary Wholesale Poultry Market resume today [10 Jun 2008] after samples tested negative.
11 Jun 2008 - Hong Kong to slaughter all market poultry in the territory after detecting bird flu
The Associated Press via IHT [edited] [Promed]
Health workers plan to slaughter all live poultry in Hong Kong's street markets after detecting the dangerous H5N1 bird flu virus, officials said on Wednesday [11 Jun 2008]. The action comes after tests showed birds infected in 4 markets, said the Director for agriculture, fisheries and conservation. It was unclear how many birds would be killed, but markets were selling around 3500 birds as of Tuesday night, he said. According to this story, the move affects all retail poultry vendors in the territory. The virus has not been detected in samples from local chicken farms and distribution centers, officials said. Nor have any people been sickened in the latest outbreak.
16 Jun 2008 -Hong Kong battling with bird flu outbreak
News-Medical.net [edited] [Promed]
An outbreak of the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus in poultry in Hong Kong food markets has led to the culling of live poultry across the city. According to government officials, the bird flu virus was detected at a poultry stall in one of Hong Kong's numerous wet markets and as a result 2700 birds were culled. But the virus has now spread among the island's poultry population and mass cullings have been conducted as a precaution to try to control the spread of the virus. Officials say that all wet market stores and fresh food stores selling live poultry are now infected areas and all poultry will be culled, but poultry on local farms is not said to be affected. Officials say mass cullings are a necessary precaution but no people have been infected and they are trying to trace the source of the outbreak. The outbreak of the virus, the first in Hong Kong wet markets in five years, has prompted Hong Kong authorities to suspend live poultry imports from mainland China.
25 Jun 2008 - Hong Kong – Avian Influenza
The Standard [edited] [Promed]
According to this story, the poultry industry has been given an official ultimatum to accept a HKD 1 billion [USD 128.1 million] government compensation package to shut down their businesses or face an uncertain future. The city's 469 chicken retailers have been told they must decide what to do by 24 Jul 2008 while farmers, wholesalers, and transport workers have been given until 24 Sep 2008. The Secretary for Food and Health said this was the government's final offer after a meeting of the Executive Council yesterday [24 Jun 2008]. It is reported that as well as retailers, Hong Kong has 71 wholesalers, 50 chicken farms, and 266 transport workers who depend on the trade for their livelihood. However, if the retailers accept the buyout deal it will effectively end the businesses of the rest of the sector as well as Hong Kong's culture of cooking live chickens. The need for central slaughtering by 2011 may also be made redundant.According to this story, the Secretary expressed confidence that most of the retailers will accept the deal, which is more than 3 times the 2005 Voluntary Surrender Scheme. Many of the traders said they can't operate under the overnight ban and they are also considering the risk of facing another bird flu outbreak within the next few years, he said. But the government will only approve the offer when 90 percent of the trade accepts it.

May

South Korea, Japan – Avian Influenza
22 May 2008
The Chosun Ilbo [edited] [Promed]
It is reported that researchers have found that strains of bird flu found in Korea and Japan this year [2008] are almost genetically the same. According to this story, the National Veterinary Research and Quarantine Service said Wednesday [21 May 2008] that the genetic makeup of a strain of bird flu sampled from chickens in Gimje, South Jeolla Province was 99.7 percent identical to a sample from swans found in Japan's Akita prefecture. The finding gives grounds to analysis that the latest outbreak of avian influenza may have originated from migratory birds

South Korea – Nationwide campaign to understand bird flu
14 May 2008
The Korea Herald [edited]
According to this story, poultry-related industries embarked on a nationwide campaign yesterday [13 May 2008] with a seminar in Seoul to rectify public misunderstanding of bird flu. The umbrella group will hold seminars in 9 other major cities across the nation until late July 2008. Other activities will include raising awareness through various media promotions, such as TV commercials and newspaper ads. Members will also hold poultry-sampling events to show that chickens and ducks are safe to consume.

Japan finds another case of bird flu in dead swan in Hokkaido
10 May 2008
Reuters [edited]
Japan has found the H5N1 strain of bird flu in another swan in the northern-most main island of Hokkaido, the prefectural government of Hokkaido said on its website on Saturday [10 May 2008]. It is reported that the case was confirmed from a dead swan found 5 days ago near Lake Saroma in eastern Hokkaido. According to this story, on the same day, local authorities had said the same strain of bird flu was found in another swan found dead on 24 Apr 2008 in another area of the island..

Viet Nam spots new bird flu outbreak in Can Tho city
8 May 2008
Xinhua net [edited]
Bird flu has stricken fowl flocks in Viet Nam's southern Can Tho city over the past few days, raising the total number of affected localities in the country to 3, according to Viet Nam's Department of Animal Health on Thursday [8 May 2008]. It is reported that the bird flu outbreak killed 1131 poultry, including 1070 chickens raised by a household in the city's Phong Dien rural district. Local veterinary forces on Wednesday [7 May 2008] culled the remainders of 829 healthy fowls in the affected flocks to prevent the disease's spread.

South Korea - Bird Flu Outbreak Reaches Seoul
6 May 2008
The Korea Times [edited]
According to this story, the bird flu outbreak that has swept South Korea reached the capital Seoul on Tuesday [6 May 2008], prompting quarantine officials to decontaminate and limit access to a nearby children's park and open air market.
The Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries is reported as saying that tests conducted on 4 birds that started dying off from late April 2008 showed they were contaminated with the H5 avian influenza virus. The ministry said all birds in the vivarium located at the Gwangjin ward office in eastern Seoul have been culled and buried as a precautionary measure, while detailed tests to determine if the deaths were caused by a virulent strain of the bird flu will be made known later in the day.
Related stories
13 May 2008 – Avian Influenza – Seoul
AP via Post Bulletin [edited]
It is reported in this story that South Korean officials said on Monday [12 May 2008] that they have killed all poultry in Seoul to curb the spread of bird flu following a new outbreak of the disease in the city. Quarantine officials destroyed 15 000 chickens, ducks, pheasants, and turkeys raised in farms, restaurants, schools, and homes in the capital, said a Seoul Metropolitan Government official.
According to this story, the slaughter began Sunday [11 May 2008] night, hours after authorities confirmed Seoul's 2nd outbreak of bird flu in less than a week. The slaughter did not affect parrots, parakeets, and canaries because they have little chance of spreading the disease, the Seoul Government official said. On Monday [12 May 2008] night, government tests confirmed the latest outbreak in Seoul was caused by the deadly H5N1 virus, said a spokesman at the Agriculture Ministry. The tests also confirmed 2 additional outbreaks of the virus in Busan, bringing to 31 the total number of outbreaks in South Korea, he said.
14 May 2008 - South Korea
Stars and Stripes, Pacific edition

South Korea – Highly pathogenic bird flu strain killed chickens in Daegu
3 May 2008
YonhapNews [edited]
It is reported here that South Korea's quarantine service said Saturday [3 May 2008] that a highly pathogenic strain of the bird flu virus was responsible for the sudden death of chickens at a private home in Daegu. The National Veterinary Research and Quarantine Service (NVRQS) said the H5N1 strain of the bird flu killed the 5 birds at the private home in the industrial city 302 kilometers [187 miles] southeast of Seoul. It said to prevent further spreading of the avian influenza, 260 chickens raised in 3 small-scale farms within a 3-km [1.8-mile] radius of the home have been culled and buried. Quarantine officials said the 5 chickens were purchased at a local open air market and are tracking where the birds came from. According to this story, earlier in the week, the government said it would ban the sale of all poultry sold at traditional markets that are open at regular intervals. Authorities meanwhile said that decontamination efforts were underway within 10 km [6.2 miles] of the Daegu home with close observation being carried out on homes and small-time poultry farms within this zone.
Related stories
3 May 2008 - Bird flu deaths advance southeast
JoongagDaily [edited]

April

Japan - Japan confirms H5N1 bird flu strain in swans
29 Apr 2008
Reuters [edited]
Japan on Tuesday [29 Apr 2008] confirmed 4 swans found last week were infected with the H5N1 strain of bird flu. It was the 1st case of bird flu in Japan since March 2007 when the highly virulent H5N1 strain was found in a wild bird in Kumamoto prefecture on Japan's southern Kyushu Island. The swans, 3 of which had died, were found on the shores of Lake Towada in northern Akita prefecture on 21 Apr 2008, the prefectural government said. Inspectors had initially detected the H5 subtype of bird flu in the dead swans and conducted further tests, the local government said on Monday [28 Apr 2008]. There are no chicken farms within a 10 km (6 mile) radius of the area where the swans were found, and no unusual incidents were noted at other farms.
Related stories
29 Apr 2008 - Japan: swan
OIE WAHID (World Animal Health Information Database) weekly disease information 2008; 21(18) [edited]
Summary
Report type : immediate notification
Start date: 21 Apr 2008
Date of 1st confirmation of event : 25 Apr 2008
Report date : 29 Apr 2008
Reason for notification : reoccurrence of a listed disease
Date of previous occurrence : 2007
Causal agent: highly pathogenic avian influenza virus, serotype H5N1
Nature of diagnosis : laboratory (basic), laboratory (advanced)
This event pertains to the whole country
Outbreak 1 : Kosaka Town, Akita
Date of start of the outbreak: 21 Apr 2008
Outbreak status: continuing (or date resolved not provided)
Species : wild species
Cases : 4
Deaths : 4
Affected population : swans
Epidemiology
Source of the outbreak(s) or origin of infection: unknown or inconclusive
Epidemiological comments: the swans, of which 3 had died and one was emaciated, were found on the shores of Lake Towada in Akita Prefecture in the north of the country on 21 Apr 2008. Until 28 Apr 2008, the authorities have been monitoring the area but they have not found any incident with a large number of deaths in wild birds. There are no chicken farms within the 10-km (6.2 mi)-radius area where the swans were found and no unusual incidents were observed in other farms. Following the occurrence of this event, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan has asked the prefecture authorities of Akita, Aomori, and Iwate, which share the boundary of the shores of Lake Towada, to strengthen the monitoring of the farms in order to prevent the spread of the disease through early detection and to report the measures applied regarding abnormal chickens, and the prevention of the entry of wild birds into poultry houses. The prefecture authorities will visit immediately the 15 chicken farms for emergency on-site inspections within a 30-km (18.6 mi)-radius area where the swans were found. They will also monitor the wild birds around the area and cooperate with the Ministry of Environment on the surveillance measures of wild birds.
Control measures - Measures applied:
vaccination prohibited
no treatment of affected animals
Measures to be applied: no other measures

Japan - Proposed vaccine trial
15 Apr 2008
CIDRAP News [edited]
Japan's health ministry today [15 Apr 2008] said it was on the verge of approving a plan to administer pre-pandemic vaccine to healthcare workers, which would make it the world's 1st country to tap its national stockpile for this purpose.
An official from Japan's health and welfare ministry, said the plan, which awaits approval tomorrow [Wed 16 Apr 2008], would allow the vaccination of about 6000 quarantine officials and healthcare workers by the end of the year, the Associated Press (AP) reported today. Japan has already approved and stockpiled pandemic vaccines for 10 million people that are based on H5N1 viruses from China, Indonesia, and Viet Nam, according to a report today [15 Apr 2008] from Reuters. The same official told the AP that if initial tests show that the pre-pandemic vaccine is safe and effective, the ministry would consider vaccinating 10 million more people, including such vital workers as lawmakers, police, and other healthcare workers. Reuters reported that the 2nd vaccination wave would also include those who maintain infrastructure networks such as gas and electricity.
International health officials have been cautious about taking steps toward vaccination in advance of a pandemic, because researchers are uncertain whether vaccines that are currently in national stockpiles will offer cross-protection against a future pandemic strain. Also, it's not clear whether any adverse events would arise from the use of the vaccine, which makes it difficult to weigh the usefulness of the strategy.
In a May 2007 bulletin, the WHO acknowledged that as pre-pandemic vaccines become available, they could be used in poultry workers, healthcare workers, and whole populations. However, the WHO did not recommend that countries undertake the strategy. Gregory Hartl, a spokesman for the WHO, told the AP that pre-pandemic vaccination is "a big roll of the dice" but said the WHO doesn't oppose countries using the vaccines. The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control in 2007 praised the development of pre-pandemic vaccines but said it did not support countries using them until the WHO elevates its pandemic phase to 5 or 6 (from the current phase 3), which would indicate that significant human-to-human transmission is occurring.

China - father/son cluster
8 Apr 2008
Reuters India [edited]
A 24-year-old Chinese man who died of bird flu in December 2007 passed the virus directly to his father in a rare case of human-to-human transmission of the virus, doctors reported on Monday [7 Apr 2008]. Chinese officials had already said they believed the younger man infected his 52-year-old father, who survived; and genetic sequencing and other checks confirmed this was likely, the researchers said.
"In this family cluster of confirmed cases of infection with highly pathogenic avian influenza A (H5N1) virus in mainland China, we believe that the index case transmitted H5N1 virus to his father while his father cared for him in the hospital," they wrote in the Lancet medical journal. Some experts believe there may be a genetic susceptibility to H5N1 infection. The fear is that the virus will acquire changes that allow it to be passed from one person to another more easily.
The younger man died but his father got the flu drugs Tamiflu and rimantadine as well as serum from a woman inoculated with an experimental H5N1 vaccine and recovered.

Viet Nam - Highly pathogenic avian influenza civet, OIE
4 Apr 2008
OIE, World Animal Health Information Database, weekly disease information 2008; 21(15) [edited]
Report type : follow-up report no. 1 (final report)
Start date : 2 Mar 2008
Date of first confirmation of the event : 12 Mar 2008
Date event resolved: 4 Apr 2008
Reason for notification : change in epidemiology
New disease agent : no
New vector : no
New host species : wild species
Increased pathogenicity : no
Zoonotic impact: no
Causal agent : highly pathogenic avian influenza virus [HPAI], serotype H5N1 This event pertains to the whole country
Related reports :
Immediate notification: 12 Mar 2008
Follow-up report no. 1 : 4 Apr 2008
Outbreaks : there are no new outbreaks in this report
Epidemiology
Source of the outbreak(s) or origin of infection : unknown or inconclusive
Epidemiological comments:
Note by the OIE Animal Health Information Department: Viet Nam informed the OIE that in 2005 some cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza were identified in civets and were not notified to the OIE.
Control measures - Measures applied:
- no vaccination
- no treatment of affected animals
Measures to be applied:
- no other measures

South Korea - Avian Influenza – OIE report (North Jeolla):
4 Apr 2008
OIE, World Animal Health Information Database, weekly disease information 2008; 21(15) [edited]
Start date: 1 Apr 2008
Reason for notification : reoccurrence of a listed disease
Date of previous occurrence : June 2007
Causal agent : highly pathogenic avian influenza virus [HPAI], serotype H5N1
Nature of diagnosis : laboratory (basic), laboratory (advanced)
This event pertains to a defined zone within the country
Outbreaks : there are no new outbreaks in this report
Source of the outbreak(s) or origin of infection : unknown or inconclusive
Epidemiological comments:
The avian influenza suspected case reported to the OIE on 2 Apr [2008] was confirmed as highly pathogenic avian influenza subtype H5N1 by the final diagnostic test (RT-PCR).
The chickens reared in the affected farm as well as in the 500 metre (0.3 miles) radius zone around it will be culled, and the potentially contaminated stuff, such as eggs, kept in farms in the zone will be destroyed. In addition, movement restrictions are applied on the chicken/duck raising farms in the 10 km (6.2 miles) radius zone around the affected farm and control measures including disinfection will be intensified in poultry farms across the country.
Control measures Measures applied:
stamping out
quarantine
movement control inside the country screening
zoning
vaccination prohibited
no treatment of affected animals
Measures to be applied:
disinfection of infected premises/establishment(s)
Related sources
4 Apr 2008 - The Chosun IIbo (Seoul) - Lethal bird flu strain makes first April appearance
4 Apr 2008 - The Hankyoreh , Seoul
5 Apr 2008 - Yonhap News Agency [edited]
A case of bird flu has been discovered at a duck farm in south western South Korea, just 3 days after an outbreak was confirmed at a chicken farm in the same region, the government said on Saturday [5 Apr 2008]. The Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said preliminary tests conducted on ducks that died earlier in the week at the farm in Jeongeup, about 250 km [155 miles] south west of Seoul, turned up positive for the H5N1 bird flu virus.
Of the 10 000 ducks on the farm, half have died since Monday [31 Mar 2008]. The farm is located 27 km [16.7 miles] away from a chicken farm that was hit by avian influenza earlier this week.
7 Apr 2008 - Reuters Health - South Korea confirms new bird flu outbreak
10 Apr 2008 - The Chosun IIbo [edited] - 4th H5N1 bird flu outbreak reported
15 Apr 2008 - South Korea probes new suspected bird flu cases
Reuters [edited]
According to this story, South Korea said on Tuesday [15 Apr 2008] it was investigating 4 new suspected cases of bird flu, including one near Seoul.The ministry said later in the day that the farm in Pyongtaek, around 60 km [37 miles] south of Seoul, was tested positive for H5 and more detailed results would be available on Thursday [17 Apr 2008]. It said more than 2000 birds at the farm would be slaughtered on Tuesday and it had stopped the shipment of birds within a 10-km [6.2-mile] radius of the affected site.
15 Apr 2008 - dongA.com - Loophole in Bird Flu Quarantine
19 Apr 2008 – South Korea confirms fresh bird flu case in poultry
Reuters Foundation AlertNet [edited]
According to this story, South Korea's Farm Ministry reported on Saturday [19 Apr 2008] a new outbreak of bird flu at a chicken farm in the southwest, taking the total confirmed cases to 16 in poultry in just over 2 weeks. A ministry official said test results were confirmed positive for the H5N1 strain of the virus at a farm in Jeongeup, North Jeolla province. It was one of 3 new suspected cases authorities said on Friday [18 Apr 2008] [they] were investigating, as the worst outbreak in 4 years spread despite massive culling. Quarantine workers and soldiers are working to complete culling in the hardest-hit North Jeolla province this weekend [19-20 Apr 2008], the Farm Ministry official said. South Korea had 7 bird flu outbreaks between November 2006 and March last year [2007].

March

Vietnam - Illegal chickens in northern area test positive for bird flu - Lang Son
22 Mar 2008
Viet Nam News (VNS) [edited]
Out of 104 samples of illegally imported chickens confiscated since February [2008], 24 have tested positive for the H5N1 virus, Lang Son Animal Health Department reported yesterday [21 Mar 2008]. Most of the chickens were seized mainly in northern Lang Son Province's Trang Dinh and Loc Binh districts and in Lang Son City. Provincial veterinarians took samples of the trafficked chickens for testing before killing them. The province has seized and destroyed over 60 tons of non-quarantined chickens since the beginning of the year [2008]. But authorities said it was too little compared to the illegally imported chickens that had been successfully transported and consumed through the province. Although no bird flu outbreaks have been reported in the province, the local Animal Health Department immediately vaccinated poultry in its bordering communes, Lang Son City and in districts where National Highway 1A passes through. Southern Ca Mau Province yesterday [21 Mar 2008] also declared bird flu outbreaks after the H5N1 virus killed 30 muscovy ducks on a farm in Hiep Tung Commune, Nam Can District, listing it as the 8th province on Viet Nam's current bird flu-hit list. One day earlier [20 Mar 2008], central Quang Nam Province had reported fresh outbreaks on duck farms in Tam Ky and Nui Thanh districts, said the Viet Nam Animal Health Department. Other bird flu-stricken areas include Tuyen Quang, Lao Cai, and Ha Noi in the north, Quang Binh, and Quang Tri in the centre and Soc Trang in the south.

Laos - Avian Influenza – Chickens
19 Mar 2008
CIDRAP News [edited]
Government officials in Laos reported a fresh H5N1 outbreak in chickens in Luang Namtha, in the northwestern part of the country near the border with China and Myanmar, Vietnam News Agency (VNA) reported today (19 Mar 2008). Yong Chanthalangsy, the country's foreign ministry spokesman, told VNA that 800 birds were destroyed in a 2-mile [3.2km] radius around the affected village, and that the outbreak is the 6th to strike the area in the past month. In mid-February 2008, Laos reported that the H5N1 virus had reemerged in poultry after about a year's hiatus

Avian Influenza Poultry VS Migratory Birds
18 Mar 2008
Reuters (Reuters Health) [edited]
Southern China may have been the source for much of the spread of the H5N1 avian flu virus, researchers suggested on Tuesday [18 Mar 2008]. A genetic analysis of the virus shows that strains that showed up in Viet Nam, Thailand and Malaysia in 2002 and 2003 closely resemble a strain from poultry markets in China's Yunnan Province, the flu experts found. Two viruses found in poultry in China's Hunan province in 2002 and 2003 were most closely related to viruses from Indonesia, they reported in the Journal of Virology. "These results suggest a direct transmission link for H5N1 viruses between Yunnan and Viet Nam and also between Hunan and Indonesia during 2002 and 2003," wrote the researchers, who included Guan Yi of the University of Hong Kong and Robert Webster of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee. "Poultry trade may be responsible for virus introduction to Viet Nam, while the transmission route from Hunan to Indonesia remains unclear," they wrote. The H5N1 bird flu virus was 1st seen in a goose in southern China's Guangdong province in 1996. A 1997 outbreak in Hong Kong killed 6 people. The virus reemerged in 2003 when 2 members of a Hong Kong family who had recently visited Fujian province became ill, and one died. Since 2003, H5N1 bird flu has been found in more than 60 countries and territories. It has killed 236 people out of 373 infected in 14 countries: Myanmar, Turkey, Djibouti, Azerbaijan, Egypt, Pakistan, Iraq, Indonesia, Thailand, Viet Nam, China, Nigeria, Laos and Cambodia. Yi and Webster's team wanted to find out whether H5N1 viruses all descend from one type. "Due to the lack of influenza surveillance prior to these outbreaks, the genetic diversity and the transmission pathways of H5N1 viruses from this period remain undefined," they wrote. In 2007, a team at the University of California Irvine reported that Guangdong appeared to be the source of renewed waves of the H5N1 strain. Chinese officials denied the report at the time.

Indonesia - dual infection
17 Mar 2008
CIDRAP News [edited]
An Indonesian teenager has been brought forward as a case of simultaneous infection with seasonal and avian strains of influenza -- a possibility that health planners have long warned could give rise to a pandemic flu strain. In a paper presented today [Mon 17 Mar 2008] at the International Conference on Emerging Infectious Diseases, Vivi Setiawaty of Indonesia's Center for Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Research and Development described the case of a 16-year-old girl who was tested for flu in Jakarta in April 2007 under a flu-surveillance system established in 2005 by the Indonesian Ministry of Health. The girl, who had been experiencing flu symptoms for several days, was only mildly ill, with a 100.5 DEGF fever, sore throat, cough, headache, and body aches, but no difficulty breathing and no signs of pneumonia. (Case reports of H5N1 patients in countries such as Thailand have described more dramatic clinical presentations.) Throat and nasal-swab samples that were taken on the 6th day of her symptoms tested positive by reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) for both avian influenza H5N1 and the seasonal flu strain H3N2 at the Indonesian National Institute of Health Research and Development. Serology test results were less clear. Antibody titers from serum samples taken the 6th day provided a weak indication of H5N1 infection (titer of 1:10) but were negative for H3N2; convalescent sera, on the other hand, gave a strong indication of H3N2 infection (titer of 1:640) but were negative for H5N1. The test results were confirmed by the Eijkman Institute for Molecular Biology in Jakarta, an arm of the Indonesian Ministry of Research and Technology, according to the paper. The girl's case fell within the period when the Indonesian government was not sharing flu isolates with the international laboratory system maintained by the World Health Organization, and there was no indication whether her isolates were evaluated outside the country. "This is the 1st case-report of a human with both influenza A/H5N1 and H3N2 co-infection," the paper states. "Such infections are of great concern due to the possibility of genetic reassortment leading to the emergence of a H5N1 strain that is more easily transmitted human to human, and emphasizes the importance of advanced laboratory-based surveillance in geographic regions where both human and avian influenza viruses are co-circulating."

Viet Nam - Bird flu breaks out in Quang Nam
17 Mar 2008
thanhniennews.com [edited]
About 300 ducks have died of bird flu in the central province of Quang Nam, the province's People's Committee announced Sunday. Tests on the dead birds from a Thang Binh District farm were positive for the H5N1 virus. Local authorities incinerated all the infected ducks and destroyed chickens from nearby farms. The Zone Four Agency of Animal Health also confirmed bird flu in Quang Nam. Bird flu cases have previously been reported in the provinces of Quang Ninh, Hai Duong, Nam Dinh, Tuyen Quang, Ninh Binh, Vinh Long, Phu Tho, Ha Nam and Hanoi. Under local government regulations, a province is considered clear of bird flu if no new cases are reported during a 21 day period.
Related stories
2 Apr 2008 - Viet Nam - Bird flu ravages central Viet Nam province (Quang Nam)
Thanh Nien News [edited]
An outbreak of bird flu is sweeping through the central province of Quang Nam, felling fowls and forcing authorities to cull a further 26 660 birds. They destroyed 7000 eggs and 1250 ducks Monday [31 Mar 2008] after finding signs of the H5N1 virus that causes the disease. Seven communes in 4 districts -- Nui Thanh, Thang Binh, Dai Loc, and Tien Phuoc -- have been affected. Nguyen Ngoc Quang, vice chairman of the Quang Nam People's Committee, instructed local authorities to focus on disinfecting affected areas and containing the spread of the disease. Until mid-March [2008] only Nui Thanh had reported outbreaks.

Vietnamese child dies from bird flu [106th case/52nd death]
17 Mar 2008
ChinaView, Xinhua News Agency report [edited]
Viet Nam's National Hygiene and Epidemiology Institute said the country's latest human case of bird flu infection was an 11 year old boy from northern Ha Nam province, who died on 14 Mar 2008 after 4 days of treatment in Hanoi capital, the Viet Nam News Agency reported Monday. The institute's tests showed that the boy from Thanh Liem district was infected with bird flu virus strain H5N1, the news agency quoted Nguyen Lap Quyet, director of the Ha Nam Health Department, as saying. The boy became ill on 5 Mar 2008, and was admitted to the Ha Nam General Hospital in the province on 8 Mar 2008, and the National Hospital of Pediatrics in Hanoi on 11 Mar 2008. In late February [2008], 10 [birds] out of a chicken flock raised by the boy's family fell ill and died gradually. Then, his family slaughtered some healthy chickens of the flock for meals. Relevant provincial agencies have disinfected and detoxified the affected area, and selected samples from fowls in the area for bird flu testing. In June 2007, a 28 year old woman from the [same] district died from bird flu. To date, Viet Nam has reported a total of 106 human cases of bird flu infections, including 52 fatalities, in 35 cities and provinces since bird flu started to hit the country in December 2003. The World Health Organization (WHO) has yet to confirm the latest case. According to the country's Department of Animal Health, Viet Nam currently has 11 localities [with poultry affected by bird flu]: Ninh Binh, Phu Tho, Ha Nam, Tuyen Quang, Hanoi, and Lao Cai in the northern region; Quang Tri, Quang Binh, and Quang Nam in the central region; and Soc Trang and Vinh Long in the southern region. Bird flu outbreaks in Viet Nam, starting in December 2003, have killed and led to the forced culling of dozens of millions of fowls in the country.
Related sources
18 Mar 2008 - World Health Organization (WHO), EPR, Disease Outbreak News

China - China's Guangdong reports poultry bird flu outbreak
16 Mar 2008
ChinaView, Xinhua News Agency report [edited]
An outbreak of bird flu in poultry has been reported in south China's Guangdong Province, the Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) said on Sunday [16 Mar 2008].The National Bird Flu Reference Laboratory confirmed the case, which occurred at a market in Liwan District of Guangzhou City on Thu [13 Mar 2008]. It was caused by the highly pathogenic H5N1 subtype of the avian influenza virus, the MOA said. The disease, which killed 114 domestic fowl and led to the culling of another 518, was brought under effective control after the MOA and provincial government took timely emergency measures. It was China's 5th bird flu outbreak in poultry this year [2008]. Others included one in the northwestern Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, 2 in the south western Tibet Autonomous Region, and one in the south western Guizhou Province.
On 25 Feb 2008, a 44 year old woman surnamed Zhang in Haifeng County, also in Guangdong, was killed by the H5N1 strain of bird flu virus. This raised the human bird flu cases recorded in China to 29, of which 19 were fatal, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Li Jinxiang, director of the MOA's veterinary department, on 10 Mar 2008 blamed the unprecedented snowstorm and cold snap that hit the country earlier this year [2008] for the outbreaks of bird flu. The official added the blizzards also made the virus easier to spread after damaging the living conditions of livestock and affecting their regular [vaccination] work, which is often conducted in February and March.

Viet Nam - Half-done vaccination poses high bird-flu risk
13 Mar 2008
The Saigon Times Daily [edited]
Viet Nam is now facing high risks of bird flu spreading nationwide because of low immunity rate on poultry and the absence of followed-up vaccination on poultry, an officially from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said.
The deputy minister of agriculture and rural development told the Vietnam News Agency yesterday that the rate of immunity on poultry was low as the vaccination program had not been refreshed after a long time, which will make bird flu epidemic spread widely. The head of the Preventive Medicine Department under the Ministry of Health said that bird flu would become complicated due to uncontrolled transportation of poultry across border gates.
Since the beginning of this year [2008], market monitors have reported booming illicit trade in poultry across the border. Market watchdogs under the Ministry of Industry and Trade said they had confiscated and destroyed more than 7000 fowls of unclear origins within the past 2 months.
The deputy head of the National Animal Health Bureau yesterday [12 Mar 2008] said that bird flu is still prevalent in 8 provinces, namely Quang Ninh, Tuyen Quang, Ninh Binh, Vinh Long, Phu Tho, Ha Nam, Hanoi and Quang Binh.
So far this year, bird flu on humans has killed 4 people in the country.
On Tuesday [11 Mar 2008], the National Animal Health Department reported that 4 rare Owston palm civets (chrotogal ownstoni) at Cuc Phuong National Park in Ninh Binh Province died last month [Feb 2008] from bird flu.
Two independent tests conducted by the tropical disease hospitals in Hanoi and HCMC confirmed that the wild cats - listed in Viet Nam's Red Book as endangered species, were infected with the H5N1 virus. Two other Owston palm civets, 5 pee-with hoopoe birds, 2 douc langurs, 2 common palm civets and one loris at the park, which is about 100 kilometers [62 miles] south of Hanoi, were also reported to have died within recent weeks. However, test on blood samples from the creatures proved negative for H5N1, said park director Truong Quoc Bich [see commentary].
To prevent bird flu from further spreading, Nam said that the national vaccination program for poultry will begin in April [2008]. Around 205 million vaccine doses from China will soon arrive in Viet Nam. Currently, the National Animal Health Department is using the vaccine kept in storage since last year.
Related sources
12 Mar 2008 - VietNamNet Bridge Bridge [edited]
11 Mar 2008 - Civet cats ChinaView, Xinhua News Agency report [edited]

China – New Bird Flu cases
10 Mar 2008
ChinaView, Xinhua News Agency report [edited]
The Ministry of Agriculture said Monday [10 Mar 2008] it has received the reports of 12 bird flu cases this year [2008], warning a more "complicated" epidemic control situation.
Of the 12 cases, 3 have been confirmed, with 2 in Tibet Autonomous Region and one in Guizhou Province, both in southwest China, said the director of the ministry's veterinary department, on the sidelines of the annual session of China's top legislature.
He said 3 factors shall be blamed for the outbreak of bird flu cases. First, south China was hit by unprecedented snowstorm and cold snap from the beginning of this year [2008], which made bird flu virus active; secondly, snowstorm and cold snap affected regular immunization work, as it was conducted usually in February and March; thirdly, snow and ice disaster harmed the living conditions of livestock, bringing risks of epidemic spread.
The official said currently relevant government departments across the country are actively launching spring epidemic control and immunization work. The ministry has prepared 5 billion milliliters of vaccine for immunization efforts.
Epidemic surveillance has also been strengthened to rule out hidden dangers in time, he said.

Laos - Avian Influenza outbreaks
10 Mar 2008
Vientiane Times [edited]
The Luang Namtha provincial governor has announced a total ban on the sale of poultry in the province, as well as prohibiting the purchase of poultry from neighboring countries for the next 30-45 days, following 4 separate outbreaks of bird flu.
"If the provincial authorities do not detect the H5N1 virus during this period they will lift the ban," the deputy head of the provincial Livestock and Fisheries Office told Vientiane Times last week [3-9 Mar 2008].
She said that each section of the provincial Committee for Bird Flu Control had allocated staff to monitor the situation and take extra precautions in outbreak areas. They would set up checkpoints between villages to make sure there was no trade or movement of poultry either within the province or with other provinces.
The governor also announced the setting up of checkpoints on international borders, to maintain strict control, said the official.
Following the outbreaks in 3 districts, the neighboring provinces of Oudomxay, Phongsaly, and Bokeo are now vulnerable to infection.
Luang Namtha's highest risk district is considered to be Viengphoukha, as this surrounds the only road leading from the outbreak areas to the provincial capital and other provinces, she said. The committee has organized staff to disinfect all vehicles using this road.
[According to officials] 2 people had reported flu-like symptoms in Namlue village, the site of the 4th outbreak. They were undergoing tests but the results were not yet known. It was possible their illness might be just a common cold, although they had been in contact with poultry.
National and international organizations were helping with the prevention of further outbreaks in the province and recently the Chinese government had provided some equipment and disinfectant, he added.
Other northern provinces are also taking precautions in the wake of the outbreaks, checking illegal sales of poultry in markets and shops, according to a report from local authorities.
Last month 700-800 poultry died in Hatdaen village in Khua district, Phongsaly province. However, tests had proved they were not infected with the H5N1 virus, said the deputy head of the provincial Livestock and Fisheries Office. She believes the chicken died from diseases resulting from the cold weather, as this area has never experienced bird flu in the past.

Vietnam - Hanoi reports Bird Flu outbreak
8 Mar 2008
Thanhniennews.com [edited]
Some 3700 birds were culled at a poultry farm in Soc Son District after a bird flu outbreak infected nearly two-thirds of the farm's livestock, the Hanoi Animal Health Department reported Thursday. The northern province of Tuyen Quang also reported an outbreak in Son Duong District.
Northern Viet Nam is seeing a massive spread of bird flu epidemic as 8 out of the 12 provinces and city hit by the epidemic nationwide are in the north, including Hai Duong, Quang Ninh, Ninh Binh, Phu Tho, Nam Dinh, Ha Nam, Tuyen Quang and Hanoi.
Central provinces include Quang Nam and Quang Binh. The southern provinces of Tra Vinh and Vinh Long are also hit. The southern animal health departments are strengthening control over slaughtering and trading of poultry. They also require farmers to have their poultry vaccinated.
Viet Nam is one of the most bird flu affected countries in the world, with 105 H5N1 human casualties since 2003.

Hong Kong - Dead bird found in HK tests positive for H5N1
8 Mar 2008
Xinhuanet [edited]
An oriental magpie robin found dead earlier in Hong Kong has tested positive for the deadly H5N1 strain of the bird flu virus, the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region said in a press release Friday [7 Mar 2008].
Hong Kong has reported 9 cases of bird infections of the H5N1 virus since November 2007. The H5N1 strain typically gets more active during the cold and dry winters.

February

Vietnam - WHO confirmation of 105th case/51st fatality
26 Feb 2008
World Health Organization (WHO), EPR, Disease Outbreak News [edited]
The Ministry of Health in Viet Nam has confirmed a new case of human infection of H5N1 avian influenza. The case has been confirmed by the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology (NIHE).The case is a 23 year old female from Cam Khe district, Phu Tho province. She developed symptoms on 14 Feb 2008, was hospitalized on 19 February, and died on 25 Feb 2008. The case had contact with sick and dead poultry prior to her illness. Of the 105 cases confirmed to date in Vietnam, 51 have been fatal.
Related Sources
26 Feb 2008 - China View, Xinhua News Agency

China – Avian Influenza – Guizhou
26 Feb 2008
Reuters [edited]
The Chinese outbreak, first noticed on 17 Feb 2008 in Zunyi in the southwestern province of Guizhou, had killed nearly 4000 birds and triggered the culling of more than 238 000, Xinhua news agency said late on Monday [25 Feb 2008], citing the Ministry of Agriculture. China has reported 4 outbreaks of the disease in poultry since December [2007], when average temperatures across the country hit their lowest in decades. With the world's largest poultry population and hundreds of millions of farmers raising birds in their backyards, China is seen as crucial in the global fight against the disease. China has struggled to combat the virus with mass inoculations for birds [poultry] and an education campaign for those who handle them.

China - Woman in China's Guangdong has suspected bird flu - 30th case suspected
25 Feb 2008
Reuters Foundation AlertNet [edited]
A woman in southern China is suspected to have been infected with the H5N1 bird flu virus, the Hong Kong government said on Monday [25 Feb 2008], a week after the country reported its 3rd death from the disease since last year [2007]. The Centre for Health Protection said it had been notified by the Department of Health of the southern Guangdong province and Ministry of Health that the 44 year old woman had developed symptoms on 16 Feb 2008 and the case had yet to be confirmed. Last week [20 Feb 2008], a man from China's southern Guangxi autonomous region died of the H5N1 bird flu virus [see above], the 3rd death from the disease since late last year [2007], the Health Ministry said. Of the 29 cases confirmed to date in China, 19 have been fatal. There have been 232 human deaths globally from the H5N1 strain and 366 confirmed cases of infection since 2003, according to WHO data.
Related Sources
25 Feb 2008 China - 30th case/20th fatality - Reuters News
26 Feb 2008 - New Express Daily
26 Feb 2008 - World Health Organization (WHO), EPR, Disease Outbreak News

China - 29th case, 19th fatality
21 Feb 2008
China View, Xinhua News Agency [edited]
H5N1 bird flu claimed its 2nd human fatality in China this month [February 2008], when the Ministry of Health confirmed the death of a Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region man on Thursday [21 Feb 2008]. The 41-year-old man in Nanning City developed fever and headache symptoms on 12 Feb 2008 and died at 5 AM on 20 Feb 2008, after all rescue measures proved ineffectual. Tests of the man were H5N1-positive, said China's Center for Disease Control and Prevention. On 18 Feb 2008, the health ministry confirmed a 22-year-old man in central Hunan Province had tested positive for H5N1. He died on 24 Jan 2008
Other sources
22 Feb 2008 - WHO Epidemic and Pandemic Alert and Response (EPR) disease outbreak news [edited]

China – Avian Influenza in poultry (Tibet)
19 Feb 2008
Reuters [edited]
China has reported a bird flu outbreak in poultry in Tibet, the 2nd in the Himalayan region in 2 weeks. The outbreak, which started on 6 Feb 2008 in a village outside the regional capital Lhasa, has killed 132 poultry and led to the culling of 7698 birds, the Agriculture Ministry said. The National Avian Influenza Reference Laboratory confirmed on Sunday [17 Feb 2008] that the virus the birds contracted was a subtype of the H5N1 strain, the ministry said in a statement posted on its website < http://www.agri.gov.cn > late on Monday [18 Feb 2008]. Authorities have taken emergency measures to bring the epidemic under "effective control," it said. An outbreak of the H5N1 strain in Tibet's Gongga County on 25 Jan 2008 killed 1000 chickens and ducks. More than 13 000 birds were culled at the time. Separately, the Health Ministry said on Monday [18 Feb 2008] that a 22-year-old man in the central province of Hunan had died of the H5N1 strain of bird flu on 24 Jan 2008, bringing the number of human cases in the country to 28, including 18 deaths. China has reported 3 outbreaks of the disease in poultry since December [2007], when average temperatures across the country hit their lowest in 21 years.

China - Case of human infection with highly pathogenic avian influenza confirmed in Hunan Province
18 Feb 2008
Ministry of Health, China, Press release [edited]
The Ministry of Health announced on Mon 18 Feb 2008 that a case of human infection with highly pathogenic avian influenza has been confirmed in Hunan Province. The patient was male, 22 years of age, of Jianghua County, Yongzhou City, Hunan Province. On [16 Jan 2008] he developed fever, headache and other symptoms. On [22 Jan 2008] he sought treatment at a township health center, but did not show improvement after symptomatic treatment. On [23 Jan 2008], he was transferred to a county hospital where his condition continued to deteriorate, with increased breathing difficulties. After all treatments failed, he died on [24 Jan 2008] at 5:00 PM. On 15 Feb 2008, the Hunan Province Center for Disease Control and Prevention conducted a retrospective test on respiratory tract sample[s] taken from the patient, which appeared positive for H5 avian influenza virus. On the evening of [17 Feb 2008], the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention reexamined [the] respiratory tract sample[s] taken from the patient, with the result that it was positive for H5N1 avian influenza virus.
Related Sources
18 Feb 2008 - Reuters News
20 Feb 2008 - China - WHO confirmation of 28th case, 18th fatality
World Health Organisation (WHO), EPR, Disease Outbreak News [edited]
The Ministry of Health in China has reported a new case of human infection with the H5N1 avian influenza virus. The case is a 22-year-old male from Jianghua County, Yongzhou Prefecture, Hunan Province. He developed symptoms on 16 Jan 2008, was hospitalized on 23 Jan 2008 and died on 24 Jan 2008. The case was confirmed by the national laboratory on 17 Feb 2008. Investigations into the source of his infection are ongoing. Of the 28 cases confirmed to date in China, 18 have been fatal.

Vietnam - Another bird flu patient dies [50 th fatality]
15 Feb 2008
Vietnam News Agency [edited]
A man from northern Ninh Binh province died of bird flu on 14 Feb 2008 in a Ha Noi hospital. The death of the 27-year-old brings to 4 the number of fatalities from the H5N1 virus in Viet Nam out of the 5 cases tested positive for the virus since early 2008.The 5th patient, a 7-year-old from northern Hai Duong province is under treatment at the Central Paediatric Hospital.The National Institute of Infectious and Tropical Diseases is now treating several other patients having bird flu symptoms while waiting for the H5N1 virus test results from the Central Institute of Epidemiology. The Ministry of Public Health has co-organised with relevant agencies to conduct detoxification measures and give Tamiflu to people in high-risk provinces including Hai Duong and Ninh Binh.
Related Sources
16 Feb 2008 - Reuters News
21 Feb 2008 - World Health Organization (WHO), EPR, Disease Outbreak News

Vietnam - Man dies from bird flu [49th fatality]
14 Feb 2008
China View, Xinhua News Agency report [edited]
Viet Nam's Health Ministry confirmed that a 40-year-old man from northern Hai Duong province died on Tue 13 Feb 2006 after 4 days of treatment in Hanoi, local newspaper Young People reported Thursday [14 Feb 2008]. The man slaughtered 2 dead chickens for a meal before exhibiting bird flu symptoms early this month [February 2008]. He was admitted to the city-based Tropical Diseases Hospital on 8 Feb 2008 when his lung and kidneys were damaged. Some chickens have died around his house over the past few weeks, the newspaper said. Late last month [January 2008] the Ministry confirmed that a 32-year-old ethnic man from northern Tuyen Quang died from bird flu on 18 Jan 2008. His specimens tested positive to bird flu virus strain H5N1. He slaughtered [sic: see above] and ate dead fowls. After detecting no human cases of bird flu infections for nearly 4 months, the Ministry confirmed that a 4-year-old boy from northern Son La province died from bird flu on 16 Dec 2007. Viet Nam has confirmed a total of 103 human cases of bird flu infections, including 49 fatalities, since the disease started to hit the country in December 2003. Viet Nam currently has 2 localities with poultry [affected by] bird flu: northern Thai Nguyen and central Quang Binh province, according to the Department of Animal Health under the country's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. Bird flu outbreaks in Viet Nam, starting in December 2003, have killed and led to the forced culling of dozens of millions of fowls in the country, the department said.
Related Sources
14 Feb 2008 - Reuters
15 Feb 2008 - World Health Organization (WHO), EPR, Disease Outbreak News

Hong Kong - H5N1 found in market & amusement park
13 Feb 2008
The Standard.com, Hong Kong [edited]
Authorities are stepping up health measures at Cheung Sha Wan Wholesale Food Market after an oriental magpie robin found there tested positive for the H5 avian flu virus. A spokesman for the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) said last night [12 Feb 2008] the bird, a common species in Hong Kong, was found on Friday [8 Feb 2008]. "In view of the tentative finding, we will conduct a thorough cleansing and disinfection operation in both the Wholesale Food Market and the Temporary Wholesale Poultry Market in Cheung Sha Wan tomorrow," the spokesman said. "We will also step up inspections and surveillance of the wholesale poultry market."

Laos - Bird flu resurfaces
12 Feb 2008
Xinhuanet
A fresh outbreak of bird flu among fowls has struck Laos' southern Luang Namtha province, Lao newspaper on Tuesday [12 Feb 2008] quoted a local agriculture official as saying. Some 600 poultry in Nam Ma village, Long district died last week [4-8 Feb 2008], the head of the Department of Livestock and Fisheries under the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry said, noting that their specimens have been tested positive to bird flu virus strain H5N1. The department has banned the movement and sale of poultry or eggs in the village, and has sprayed fowls with disinfectants. All poultry within one-kilometer radius of the village will be culled. "We will compensate people for their losses if we have to cull their birds, according to the rules of the department," he said. Previous bird flu outbreaks were successfully contained in Vientiane, and in the 3 provinces of Savannakhet, Champassak and Vientiane last year. However, the 4 northern provinces of Oudomxay, Bokeo, Luang Prabang and Phongsaly are at a very high risk of seeing new outbreaks of the disease, he said.

Hong Kong - Black-crowned night heron
03 Feb 2008
Macau Daily Times News [edited]
A dead black-crowned night heron found earlier in southern Hong Kong has tested positive for the H5N1 bird flu virus, authorities in the neighboring region said Friday [1 Feb 2008]. The dead heron, collected Monday at the Ocean Park, one of the major tourist attractions in Hong Kong, was "confirmed to be H5N1 positive after a series of laboratory tests," the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department said. The Ocean Park announced Thursday [31 Jan 2008] it was to shut down the walk-through aviaries for 21 days after the heron found in the park was suspected of being H5 positive. The black-crowned night heron is a common resident and winter visitor, a spokesman for the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department was quoted as saying.
Updates 7 Feb 2008 - OIE, WAHID (World Animal Health Information Database), weekly disease information 2008; 21(6)

January

China confirms new bird flu case in Tibet
29 Jan 2008
ChinaView, Xinhua News Agency report [edited]
The Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) announced on Tuesday [29 Jan 2008] that it had confirmed a new bird flu case among poultry in south western Tibet Autonomous Region. The National Bird Flu Reference Laboratory confirmed on Tuesday [29 Jan 2008] that the case that had affected Jiedexiu Town, Gongga County, on 25 Jan 2008 was caused by the highly pathogenic H5N1 subtype avian influenza virus, the MOA said. The outbreak killed 1000 birds and led to the culling of another 13 080. No human infections were reported. The MOA said that it had sent experts to coordinate these efforts as the local government blocked off the infected region and stepped up quarantine and oversight to contain the outbreak. The outbreak came less than a month after another case in Turpan, in north western Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, killed 4850 birds and resulted in the culling of another 29 383.

Cambodia - Inapparent infection suspected
25 Jan 2008
The China Post, Bloomberg report [edited]
Bird flu infections in some children may be going undetected because the virus causes mild or no symptoms, researchers in Cambodia found, indicating more human cases have probably occurred than have been officially recorded. A study of 674 people exposed to the deadly H5N1 avian influenza in 2 villages in Cambodia found 7 had developed antibodies against the virus, indicating prior infection. All of the cases occurred in people aged 4 to 18, the researchers said in a study being presented at a conference in Bangkok Thursday [24 Jan 2008]. The finding indicates more people, particularly children and adolescents, may be contracting the virus without developing the high fever and severe pneumonia that's the hallmark of H5N1 in people. A total of 3 of every 5 reported human cases worldwide have been fatal. Higher rates of milder disease might indicate the virus has found a way to spread more efficiently in human.

Viet Nam reports H5N1 fatality
23 Jan 2008
CIDRAP News, Associated Press (AP) report [edited]
Health officials in Viet Nam said today [Wed 23 Jan 2008] that a 32-year-old man has died of H5N1 avian influenza, signaling the country's 1st reported case and death of the new year [2008]. The man was from northern Viet Nam's Tuyen Quang province, about 50 miles northwest of Hanoi, the Associated Press (AP) reported today. If his case is confirmed by the World Health Organization (WHO), he will be listed as Viet Nam's 102nd case-patient and its 48th fatality from the disease. The spokesperson for the provincial Preventive Medicine Center told the AP that the man died last week [14-18 Jan 2008], 2 days after he was admitted to the nation's tropical disease hospital in Hanoi. Hong said the man got sick after slaughtering and cooking geese and chickens that had died in his backyard farm on 9 Jan 2008, according to the AP report. Samples from poultry were also positive for the virus, he said. Tuyen Quang is one of 4 provinces that are currently on the Vietnamese government's avian flu watch list, the AP report said. Viet Nam's last human H5N1 case was confirmed by the WHO on 28 Dec 2007. The patient was a 4-year-old boy from Son La province who died on 16 Dec 2007 after 5 days in the hospital. The WHO had said the source of the boy's infection was still under investigation. The country has the 2nd-highest avian flu case count, after Indonesia.
Other sources 24 Jan 2008 - World Health Organization, CSR, Disease Outbreak News

China: (Xinjiang) – Avian Influenza
4 Jan 2008
Reuters Foundation AlertNet [edited]
China has reported an outbreak in poultry of the H5N1 strain of bird flu in its far west Xinjiang region, Xinhua news agency said on Friday [4 Jan 2008]. The 1st bird flu outbreak in the country since September [2007] came about a month after the virus killed a 24-year-old man in the eastern province of Jiangsu. A total of 4850 poultry have died of the disease in Turpan city in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region since 29 Dec 2007, prompting authorities there to cull another 29 383 birds, Xinhua said. The National Avian Influenza Reference Laboratory confirmed the virus as a subtype of the H5N1 strain on Thursday [3 Jan 2008], it said, without specifying which kinds of poultry were infected. "At present, the epidemic has been brought under effective control," Xinhua said.
A man died of the H5N1 strain in Jiangsu -- where no poultry outbreak had been reported at the time -- on 2 Dec 2007, raising Chinese human fatalities from the virus to 17 and infections to 27. [The victim's] 52-year-old father was also infected and only recovered after 3 weeks of treatment. The rare case of 2 family members struck by the disease has drawn urgent concern from health authorities, as humans almost always contract H5N1 from infected birds. Chinese officials said they had found no evidence that the virus in the Jiangsu case has mutated into a new strain that jumps easily from person to person.
Updates 10 Jan 2008 Xinhua News Agency, China View

Viet Nam – Avian Influenza
3 Jan 2008
ChinaView, Xinhua News Agency report [edited]
The 4-year-old child from Viet Nam's northern Son La province, who died in mid-December 2007 from bird flu, might have been infected with bird flu virus strain H5N1 from wild birds, according to local newspaper Youth on Thursday [3 Jan 2008]. All specimens from poultry in the province have tested negative for H5N1, so the child might have contracted the virus from infected wild birds hunted and brought home by his family members, the newspaper quoted an official from Viet Nam's Department of Animal Health as saying. After detecting no human cases of bird flu infections for nearly 4 months, Viet Nam's Health Ministry in late December 2007 confirmed that the boy from Moc Chau district died from bird flu. The boy died on 16 Dec 2007 after being admitted to the National Hospital of Pediatrics in Hanoi, [the] capital, on 14 Dec 2007. He was treated at a hospital in the district on 12 Dec 2007 after showing signs of fever and pneumonia. Viet Nam has reported a total of 101 human cases of bird flu infections, including 47 fatalities, since the disease started to hit the country in December 2003.

Viet Nam- Avian Influenza
1 Jan 2008
AFX News Limited via Forbes [edited]
Bird flu has hit 2 more poultry farms in southern Viet Nam, forcing the slaughter of hundreds of geese last week, animal health officials in the communist country said Wednesday [2 Jan 2008]. More than 600 of the birds were culled after the virus killed several geese in 2 flocks in Da Loc commune of Tra Vinh province, where an outbreak was also reported earlier in December 2007, the Animal Health Department said. Viet Nam's government has warned of a higher risk of avian influenza, as the northern winter months favor the spread of flu viruses and ahead of February's [2008] Tet lunar New Year, when travel and poultry consumption go up. A 4-year-old Vietnamese boy died of bird flu on 16 Dec 2007, becoming the country's 5th victim of the H5N1 strain in 2007 and the 47th since late 2003, when bird flu 1st hit the Southeast Asian country.
Updates
8 Jan 2008 OIE's WAHID Interface
9 Jan 2008 - Summary "Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) Situation in Viet Nam," available on the website of FAO's Representation in Hanoi, Viet Nam, at <http://fao.org.vn/new1.pdf >specimens have been tested positive to bird flu virus strain H5N1. The department has banned the movement and sale of poultry or eggs in the village, and has sprayed fowls with disinfectants. All poultry within one-kilometer radius of the village will be culled. "We will compensate people for their losses if we have to cull their birds, according to the rules of the department," he said. Previous bird flu outbreaks were successfully contained in Vientiane, and in the 3 provinces of Savannakhet, Champassak and Vientiane last year. However, the 4 northern provinces of Oudomxay, Bokeo, Luang Prabang and Phongsaly are at a very high risk of seeing new outbreaks of the disease, he said.