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Location given in news broadcast from German Television:
Tulcea, Romania, Danube Delta Bird Refuge Area
Financial Times by Christopher Condon in Budapest
Published: October 8 2005 03:00 |
Romania yesterday reported the first cases of bird flu in Europe, confirming fears that the deadly virus is spreading rapidly along bird migratory routes from Asia.
Gheorghe Flutur, Romanian agriculture minister, said three ducks tested positive for the disease in the village of Ceamurlia de Jos in Tulcea county, just south of the Danube delta. The birds that tested positive were domestic ducks, meaning they probably contracted the disease from other birds that had migrated to the area.
«« click on pic to enlarge
In the forest of reeds along the river and in the Danube delta, the great white heron and many other species of bird make their nests, while the rugged mountains are home to bears and wolves.
No human cases have been reported in Romania.
The World Health Organisation has confirmed 116 human cases of bird flu, all in Asia, and 63 deaths since the latest outbreak began in December 2003. So far, those cases have been blamed on H5N1, a strain of the virus that is difficult for humans to contract.
LATEST NEWS :: Romania reports new bird flu cases in Danube delta 1 hour, 28 minutes ago
ANKARA, Turkey – The birds belonged to a turkey farmer in a village near Balikesir in western Turkey, and the announcement was made by a provincial deputy governor who said that the transportation of animals into and out of the village was now forbidden, CNN-Turk reported.
:: Romania article continued – turn the fold ::
This week, scientists writing in the journals Nature and Science reported that the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic, which killed an estimated 40m people, was caused by a strain of avian flu similar to the one spreading across Asia now.
In Romania, officials had been on alert all year because the Danube delta, one of Europe’s largest wetlands, is a traditional wintering ground for millions of Siberian birds and thus represents a potential entry-point for the virus into Europe. More than 6,000 dead birds have been tested since January.
Two hours after discovering the virus, Romania suspended all hunting in the area, shutting down a lucrative business for many locals who serve as guides to foreign hunters.
Romania has done little to prepare for human cases of the disease. According to the Ministry of Health, the country does not produce, nor has it yet ordered, the H5N1 vaccine that many countries are now scrambling to manufacture.
Neighbouring Hungary is in the testing phase with its first batch of H5N1 vaccine and plans to begin producing 500,000 doses a week within the next two months.
H5N1 – Reference Diaries
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by DemFromCT
Mon Jun 27th, 2005 at 01:13:57 PM PST
[promoted by BooMan]
Just a Bump in the Beltway, The Next Hurrah and Effect Measure blogs announce the launch of a new experiment in collaborative problem solving in public health, The Flu Wiki at http://www.fluwikie.com/.
«« click on pic for Iran article
An Indonesian worker vaccinates a chick on a farm to protect thousands of healthy chickens from bird flu virus in Banten town of West Java province. Iran is bracing for a probable bird flu outbreak, although no birds have so far been found contaminated with the H5N1 strain that is dangerous to humans. Firman Saputra/Reuters
by Oui ● Sat Aug 13th, 2005 at 07:14:30 AM PDT
Bird Flu In The News
by DemFromCT ● Thu Jul 21st, 2005 at 09:41:28 AM PST
Bird Flu: the Interim Strategy
by Dvx ● Thu Jun 2nd, 2005 at 06:24:27 AM PST
WHO: World one step closer to pandemic flu
by by foot ● Sun May 22nd, 2005 at 08:02:52 AM PST
Chinese farmers, acting with the approval and encouragement of government officials, have tried to suppress major bird flu outbreaks among chickens with an antiviral drug meant for humans, animal health experts said.
International researchers now conclude that this is why the drug will no longer protect people in case of a worldwide bird flu epidemic.
China’s use of the drug amantadine, which violated international livestock guidelines, was widespread years before China acknowledged any infection of its poultry, according to pharmaceutical company executives and veterinarians.
… Now, the only alternative is oseltamivir and closely related zanamivir, which stop the flu virus from leaving infected cells and attacking new ones. Oseltamivir is easier to use and has far greater sales.
“Amantadine is the cheapest drug against flu,” said Malik Peiris, an influenza expert at the University of Hong Kong. “It is much more affordable for many countries of the region. Now, it is clearly no longer an option.”
UN News Agency – Avian Flu Pandemic
27 September 2005 – There will be another influenza pandemic and failure to prepare for it appropriately will have “catastrophic consequences,” the head of the United Nations health agency warned today, calling for national control plans worldwide and massive international collaboration to prevent the potential deaths of millions of people.
“There is a storm brewing that will test us all. We must anticipate it and prepare to the very best of our combined ability,” World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Lee Jong-wook told ministers of health from throughout the Americas, noting that the next pandemic will likely spring from the current Asian bird flu outbreak.
Dr. Lee Jong-wook
Addressing the Pan American Health Organization’s (PAHO) 46th Directing Council meeting in Washington, he called on the ministers to support the International Partnership on Avian and Pandemic Influenza launched recently by United States President George W. Bush at the United Nations General Assembly.
Ethics of Stockpiling Anti-viral Flu Drugs for Doctors’ Relatives Questioned
Posse C in da House?
◊ by Cedwyn Fri Oct 7th, 2005 at 12:32:56 AM PST
Pandemic Flu Awareness Week
◊ by DemFromCT Tue Oct 4th, 2005 at 02:54:26 PM PST
Forget Chicken Little, this is H5N1
◊ by Cedwyn Thu Sep 29th, 2005 at 05:27:32 PM PST
Bird Flu Already in Europe?
◊ by dvx @EuroTrib Wed Aug 17th, 2005 at 10:48:09 AM PDT
Bird Flu replication map
◊ by whataboutbob @EuroTrib Sat Aug 13th, 2005 at 07:53:11 AM PDT
Unprepared for a Flu Pandemic
◊ by DemFromCT @EuroTrib Sun Jul 17th, 2005 at 08:20:26 AM PDT
ROMANIA MAP —
«« click on pic to enlarge
Time to stock away some Tami-flu
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Being watched closely for years by CDC, European experts and World Organizations. The human to human form can launch a world epidemic similar to the Spanish flu of 1918 … or worse.
Three people have died of suspected avian influenza in Indonesia, according to health authorities.
They would be the first human fatalities in the country from the H5N1 bird flu virus, which experts fear could cause millions of deaths worldwide if it mutates into a form that can be easily transmitted between people.
The victims, a 38-year-old man from a suburb of Jakarta and his two daughters aged nine and one, died within 10 days of each other.
Final Analysis of Netherlands Avian Influenza Outbreaks, Reveals Much Higher
Levels of Transmission to Humans, Than Previously Thought
—————————————————
Recent alerts demonstrate that the transmission of avian influenza to humans, which re-emerged at the beginning of 2004, is far from over in South East Asia (1). As efforts to control the epidemic and prevent further human cases continue, the need to assess the effectiveness of current control measures grows. An executive summary of the final report of the outbreak of avian influenza A/H7N7 in the Netherlands has recently been published in English (2).
Between March and May 2003, an unprecedented outbreak of avian influenza occurred in humans in the Netherlands. During an extensive epizootic of influenza A virus H7N7 on commercial poultry farms, 86 cases in poultry workers and 3 cases in people with no poultry contact were initially confirmed by PCR. The predominant symptom was conjunctivitis (3). One veterinarian developed fatal respiratory distress syndrome after close contact with infected poultry (4).
<click pic for story>
BTW The outbreak led to much greater spreading and higher costs, due to unbelievable negligence by Dutch authorities. The jobs for assistance in culling of poultry, were given to asylum seekers, whereby the Dutch IRS gave a single John Doe social security number.
The employers used the same people traveling from one province to the next, thereby spreading the virus across the Netherlands. Most sorrow was expressed by the Dutch citizens, as their home pets: beautiful and rare breed of poultry, turkeys and rare birds to the last pet, were picked up for culling!
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am i losing it or is the reply function broken? everytime i try to reply, it ends up as a comment. right now, i’m replying to oui’s comment.
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Here over in the Netherlands, this looks very suspiciously as a … reply!
Seems to work ok.
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The heck with stocking up on Tamiflu. I keep a few chickens here at home for eggs…what does this mean in terms of avian flu risk for us at home? It just occurred to me to wonder this right now, with my lovely new silver-laced wyandotte chicks under a brooding light…
Does anyone know the answer to this?
just make sure it’s at least rated to 95 or higher – use it whenever you do anything with/around the chickens
keep their food and water area covered – bird poop = bad
my reply to you. it’s down a wee further.
this was supposed to be a reply to cabin girl. urf
but now that i’m in here again…whoa! cases in indonesia is bad news – birds are everywhere. i am officially creeped the fuck out now.
i foresee a very hibernatory winter.
Chickens, somewhat less so.
Sad to say, I think you have a problem.
H5N1 seems to have a vast pool in the wild, which seems destined soon to cover the earth. Today, right now, it ranges from the edge of Europe through almost all of Asia, and is still spreading. Wild ducks seem to be the main vector, although it sounds like several other wild water-birds are vectors as well. Bird to bird infection seems to be very, very easy.
Local domestic outbreaks seem to come from contamination from wild birds. Domestic ducks may be most vulnerable, although chickens seem vulnerable also: Most of the human fatalities came from close association with chickens thought to be infected from the wild.
When H5N1 comes to the wild birds in your area, your chickens will be very much at risk. So far I have seen nothing about how to protect chickens from infection. Of course the attention H5N1 had been getting is from the view of public health, and the chickens are considered expendable.
But both Vietnam and China have already taken huge agricultural losses as large flocks of chickens have had to be destroyed. So they have every reason to be looking for a method to protect their flocks, if there is one. If I had a way to look into this, that is where I would start.
The only good news is that the virus likes water. Keep your chickens dry . . .
Get those N-95 masks. We all may need them soon, but you need them right now. The spread through Europe will come this fall, and I expect the bird flu to be infecting birds in the Americas before winter is out.
luh-luh-luh-luh…linkmastah!
wicki wicki wick
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Officials ordered all winged animals and street dogs in the village where it was detected destroyed as a precaution against the disease spreading, the Anatolia news agency said.
Bird flu has been discovered in a farm near Bird Sanctuary National Park in Manyas town of northern Aegean city of Balikesir located in western Turkey,” Agriculture and Rural Affairs Minister Mehmet Mehdi Eker was quoted as saying. Military police have also set up roadblocks at the entrance to the village near Balikesir in western Turkey and are checking all vehicles entering and exiting.
The birds belonged to a turkey farmer, CNN-Turk reported, saying that 2,000 birds died. Anatolia did not cite a number but said that any animals that did not die of the disease were destroyed.
The flu was likely carried by birds migrating from the Ural Mountains, which divide Europe and Asia, across Turkey and into Africa.
Cases of bird flu were also confirmed Saturday in Romania, which borders Turkey.
There are several strains of bird flu but only a few are deadly. Experts are tracking the H5N1 strain, for fear it could mutate and spawn a human flu pandemic.
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Does anyone else find that picture of that helpless chick being utterly dominated and stuck with some huge needle, with thousands more milling around in cramped pens, to be rather disturbing? And there are of course many more horrifying things done to food animals than this. Boy, we really do some nasty shit to animals, and they can’t fight back.
All of these outbreaks: mad cow, avian flu, swine flu. How much of the viral threat our species now faces is due to our own disregard for other species?
I don’t object to eating meat per se, it is the way of life. Some animals eat other animals. But we pervert it with factory farming and unbelievable cruelty — all in order to “maximize profits.”
Animals should not be turned into cannibals, vegetarian animals should not be forced to eat meat and then be fed drugs to control the intestinal distress they get from being fed the wrong foods. They should be kept in clean conditions, not overcrowded, not force fed, not terrorized and brutalized. Nature has a way of talking back, and it seems like all these diseases are some sort of cry for help from the animal kingdom, an extreme measure since all prior appeals to compassion or just plain common sense seem to fall on deaf ears.
I suspect we are just going to see more and more of these things until we learn to operate in balance and respect our place and the place of other species in the natural world.
I think the media is playing up this stuff. It’
s a bunch of BS.
This is Bush’s way to scare people. Pandemic Shamdemic.
It’s bad for the birds, but there’s nothing but speculation that it could mutate. All viruses mutate.
I meant to say mutate to humans.
But it is true that birds are evil and they hate freedom, so who knows. They are always acting like they are better than us just cause they can fly. And they keep banging on my windows at this time of the year with their tiny little bird heads.
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~ Cross-posted from earlier diary by Cedwyn Posse C in da House? ~
Bush very likely enjoys scaring people, new WMD is the bio attack from Yellow Asians – H5N1 Avian flu.
Beware, DoD Donald Rumsfeld will get the authority and lead in fighting terra within our own borders. The multi-billion space shield will be restyled by Media Center to combat incoming wild ducks, geese and all environmentally threatening winged cousins spreading disease and targeting U.S. cities.
Lack of Armed Forces to operate within our borders will force Gen. Casey – oh irony – to pull back our forces from Afghanistan and eventually Iraq. Logistics operating Just In Time before Election 2006.
Elevated threat levels at Homeland Security will be adapted to cover migration trends, no not illegal border crossings, we have our minutemen doing that job, but migration of birds flying across the Aleutians, Alaska and heading South toward our great nation.
Our freedom needs to be defended at home, thank you great leader of the Xtian Right.
Perhaps this administration has a foundation being YELLOW!
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Alfred Hitchcock must have known something when he made “The Birds”…..if only we had listened….I fear it’s too late…..
I am afraid to go outside for fear these loathsome winged rodents will drop their poison on me from on high.
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BBC News – H5N1 Avian Flu In Depth
Previous diary with many links to references ::
H5N1 :: Avian Flu Hits Romanian Danube Delta :: Bird Refuge
Sat Oct 8th, 2005 at 01:13:50 PM PST“Treason doth never prosper: what’s the reason?
For if it prosper, none dare call it treason.”
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