Bird flu strain found in Turkey
Thursday, October 13, 2005; Posted: 12:55 p.m. EDT (16:55 GMT)
(CNN) -- The European Commission said Thursday that the lethal H5N1 strain of bird flu has been confirmed in Turkish poultry and probably is present in Romania.
If confirmed in Romania, it would be the first instance of the deadly strain known to have reached Europe, and would bolster the theory that it may be spread by migrating birds.
H5N1 in its current form does not easily infect humans, but officials fear it may mutate into a more easily transmissible strain, resulting in a global pandemic.
In a written statement, the EU said the presence of the H5 virus in Romania was confirmed Wednesday night, but it was not clear whether it was the deadly N1 strain, which has infected 117 people in Asia, proving fatal in 60.
An EU laboratory determined Thursday morning that the avian influenza virus found in Turkey "is H5N1 closely related to a virus detected in a wild bird in central Asia a few months ago."
An EU health official in Brussels said laboratory work on the Romanian case would be completed Friday.
"If it's the Asian strain, that would seem to confirm that it's being spread along the migration paths by migratory birds from Siberia into southeastern Europe," said the official, who said he could not be identified because he is not authorized to speak to the news media.
Also Thursday, the commission announced it would ban imports of live birds, poultry meat and other poultry products from Romania. Imports of live birds and feathers from Turkey have been banned since Monday.
The commission's Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health was to hold an emergency meeting in Brussels on Thursday to discuss preventive and bio-security measures at poultry farms across the EU.
A separate emergency meeting -- on avian influenza and migratory birds -- was to be held Friday.
Health officials worry that, if the avian influenza virus were to combine with a normal human strain of influenza virus inside a person infected with both, a hybrid could emerge that would have lethality of more than 50 percent and the ability to spread easily from person to person.
To limit the possibility of "reassortment," public health officials have recommended that people in regions known to harbor avian influenza get vaccinated against human forms of influenza.
"What this virus can't do now is move easily from person to person," said Dick Thompson, a spokesman for the World Health Organization, in Geneva. "We worry that it could develop this characteristic of human-to-human transmission."
Humans appear to become infected with the virus not by eating infected poultry, but by contacting sick or diseased birds or preparing them for consumption.
"Rapid defeathering causes dust and viral particles to fly up," Thompson said. "We believe those particles are inhaled and that's how people become infected."
He added, "It's very difficult to stop the movement of this virus now, but it's possible to eliminate it from close proximity to humans, and that's what the animal-control measures will be directed at."
Sales of antiviral drugs, which might also confer protection, have outpaced manufacturers' ability to make them.
http://www.cnn.com/2005/HEALTH/conditions/10/13/eu.birdflu/index.html
________________
Avian flu has been a hot topic in the news lately, especially in the US, and many scientists believe a major outbreak is bound to happen. The virus is already starting to rear it's ugly head in Europe.
After the deadly Tsumani, terrible hurricanes, and devastating Earthquake in the middle east, avian flu could be mother nature's next weapon of choice.
Thursday, October 13, 2005; Posted: 12:55 p.m. EDT (16:55 GMT)
(CNN) -- The European Commission said Thursday that the lethal H5N1 strain of bird flu has been confirmed in Turkish poultry and probably is present in Romania.
If confirmed in Romania, it would be the first instance of the deadly strain known to have reached Europe, and would bolster the theory that it may be spread by migrating birds.
H5N1 in its current form does not easily infect humans, but officials fear it may mutate into a more easily transmissible strain, resulting in a global pandemic.
In a written statement, the EU said the presence of the H5 virus in Romania was confirmed Wednesday night, but it was not clear whether it was the deadly N1 strain, which has infected 117 people in Asia, proving fatal in 60.
An EU laboratory determined Thursday morning that the avian influenza virus found in Turkey "is H5N1 closely related to a virus detected in a wild bird in central Asia a few months ago."
An EU health official in Brussels said laboratory work on the Romanian case would be completed Friday.
"If it's the Asian strain, that would seem to confirm that it's being spread along the migration paths by migratory birds from Siberia into southeastern Europe," said the official, who said he could not be identified because he is not authorized to speak to the news media.
Also Thursday, the commission announced it would ban imports of live birds, poultry meat and other poultry products from Romania. Imports of live birds and feathers from Turkey have been banned since Monday.
The commission's Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health was to hold an emergency meeting in Brussels on Thursday to discuss preventive and bio-security measures at poultry farms across the EU.
A separate emergency meeting -- on avian influenza and migratory birds -- was to be held Friday.
Health officials worry that, if the avian influenza virus were to combine with a normal human strain of influenza virus inside a person infected with both, a hybrid could emerge that would have lethality of more than 50 percent and the ability to spread easily from person to person.
To limit the possibility of "reassortment," public health officials have recommended that people in regions known to harbor avian influenza get vaccinated against human forms of influenza.
"What this virus can't do now is move easily from person to person," said Dick Thompson, a spokesman for the World Health Organization, in Geneva. "We worry that it could develop this characteristic of human-to-human transmission."
Humans appear to become infected with the virus not by eating infected poultry, but by contacting sick or diseased birds or preparing them for consumption.
"Rapid defeathering causes dust and viral particles to fly up," Thompson said. "We believe those particles are inhaled and that's how people become infected."
He added, "It's very difficult to stop the movement of this virus now, but it's possible to eliminate it from close proximity to humans, and that's what the animal-control measures will be directed at."
Sales of antiviral drugs, which might also confer protection, have outpaced manufacturers' ability to make them.
http://www.cnn.com/2005/HEALTH/conditions/10/13/eu.birdflu/index.html
________________
Avian flu has been a hot topic in the news lately, especially in the US, and many scientists believe a major outbreak is bound to happen. The virus is already starting to rear it's ugly head in Europe.
After the deadly Tsumani, terrible hurricanes, and devastating Earthquake in the middle east, avian flu could be mother nature's next weapon of choice.
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