News Reports for February 26

Pakistan reports fourth February bird flu outbreak

26 Feb 2008 04:55:40 GMT
Source: Reuters
ISLAMABAD, Feb 26 (Reuters) - Pakistani authorities have found a fresh outbreak of the H5N1 bird flu in chickens, the fourth case in a month in the South Asian country, a government official said on Tuesday.

The new outbreak was confirmed on Monday at a poultry farm in Karachi, the country's biggest city and where authorities reported two cases early this month, the official said.

The last bird flu case was reported in a northwestern town on Feb. 16.

"Laboratory tests have confirmed the H5N1 virus on a farm that is located away from populated areas," said health ministry spokesman Orya Maqbool Jan Abbasi.

Before sending samples to Islamabad, the farm owner had culled chickens and dumped them in a well which, Abbasi said, was in violation of the rules.

"This was wrong," Abbasi said. "Now, we have sprayed the well and closed it."

There were about 10,000 birds on the farm, he added.

more at link
http://www.alertnet.org/thenew...

Life is not so short but that there is always time enough for courtesy. Ralph Waldo Emerson

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by: mojo @ Tue Feb 26, 2008 at 05:48:06 AM UTC

Vietnamese woman dies of bird flu

Hanoi, Feb 26 (Xinhua) The Vietnamese health ministry has confirmed that the country's latest human victim of bird flu was a 23-year-old woman from northern Phu Tho province who died here Monday, a local newspaper reported Tuesday.

The woman started to exhibit bird flu symptoms Feb 14 and was admitted to a provincial hospital Feb 19. She was then transferred to the Tropical Diseases Hospital Feb 21 and tested positive for the bird flu virus strain H5N1, (Snip)

The woman did not have direct contact with sick fowls before showing bird flu symptoms.

Continued... http://www.nerve.in/news:25350...

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away. --Unknown

     

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by: Carol@SC @ Tue Feb 26, 2008 at 06:18:49 AM UTC

New human bird flu case confirmed in South China - 44 year old woman

Follow on facts after her death

Story
The 44-year-old woman surnamed Zhang in Haifeng County of Shanwei City developed symptoms of fever and a cough since Feb. 16and was hospitalized on Feb. 22. Her symptoms worsened despite treatment.

   Zhang died on Feb. 25 after all rescue measures failed, the ministry said.

   Her specimens tested positive for the bird flu virus strain H5N1, said the country's Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

   Zhang, a migrant worker from Sichuan Province, was found to have had contact with poultry that had died of the illness, according to the Health Ministry.

   The local government undertook prevention and control measures once the case was reported. Altogether 83 people who had close contacts with Zhang were put under strict medical observation. So far, none has shown signs of the disease, the ministry said.

Source
http://news.xinhuanet.com/engl...

Note:"Altogether 83 people who had close contacts with Zhang were put under strict medical observation."

 Hmm if she travled more the list would be longer. I wonder if she was one standing in the crowded - not just long lines/queues but croweds trying to get home.

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by: Kobie @ Tue Feb 26, 2008 at 13:57:56 PM UTC

Bird flu spreading in South and East Asia

More deaths are reported in China and Vietnam; many cases of infection in poultry are recorded in Pakistan and Bangladesh. The virus is spreading in poor areas where poultry is essential to the domestic economy.

Beijing (AsiaNews/Agencies) - The bird flu has killed more people in China and Vietnam as the virus rapidly spreads across South and East Asia.

In China tests show that Zhang Zhongqin, a migrant worker who died in Haifeng County (Guangdong), was infected with the deadly virus. She raised chicken and fell ill on 16 February after eating meat from a chicken that had died. She is the third official death recorded this year in the mainland.

Despite the death it is still business as usual in local poultry markets and the authorities have not taken any special measures.

They did however confirm another outbreak in poultry in Guizhou, which comes in the wake of a deadly outbreak ten days ago in Zhengan County, where more than 238,000 fowl were culled. (Snip)

In Vietnam a young teacher died yesterday in Phu Tho province.

(Snip)"The risk of bird flu infection among people remains very high and we expect more human cases," he added. Continued... http://www.asianews.it/index.p...

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away. --Unknown

     

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by: Carol@SC @ Tue Feb 26, 2008 at 14:01:36 PM UTC

Cold weather hasn't yet run its course - Viet Nam

Story
A cold spell on Monday saw a reduction in temperature in the north. It is now expected that the daily average temperature will go below 15 degrees Celsius from today until the end of the month.

The cold spell is the result of high temperatures from the north which caused showers, strong winds and rough seas the last four days.

The northern Ninh Binh Province has become the seventh province to be hit by bird flu, reported the Health Animal Department on Monday.

Two fresh outbreaks were discovered last week in Yen Khanh and Nho Quan Districts, killing unvaccinated chickens, ducks and muscovy ducks.

Tests confirmed the birds died of the deadly H5N1 virus.

Other bird flu-stricken provinces are Thai Nguyen, Quang Ninh, Hai Duong Nam Dinh, Tuyen Quang in the north and Long An in the south.

A US company, Schonstedt Instrument, has donated 24 magnetic detectors worth over $75,000 to help humanitarian deminers locate and clear landmines and explosive left-over from the war in Viet Nam.

The donated detectors have been sent to Viet Nam where they will be used by Mines Advisory Group and Norwegian Peoples Aid.

Source
http://vietnamnews.vnagency.co...

Note: We have cold weather, rain and rough winds in a coutry with spreading H5N1 poc marked by live unmarked land mines. Just wanted to check the facts.  

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by: Kobie @ Tue Feb 26, 2008 at 14:03:19 PM UTC

Land mines in Vietnam - dug up for metal

Kobie: The land mine situation in Vietnam is not so much that you might step on one and cause an explosion but they (or more often unexploded shells and bombs) are gone after by poor people who want to sell the scrap metal. They dig them up and sometimes they explode. If expert teams find them first, nobody gets hurt. In Cambodia, there are still regions where exploding land mines caused by foot traffic are still a problem.  

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by: INFOMASS @ Tue Feb 26, 2008 at 16:00:10 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Land mine for scrap metal

INFOMASS,

 That is soo sad. People risking their lives for scrap metal.

 On TV I saw bombing ranges where people go out at night to get stuff but they do it by choice.

 Cambodia and even parts of Israel have land mines that kids run across. Finding and removing them is just part of Pricess Diannas unfinished work - IMHO.

  Now we have plastic, non metal versions that are even harder to find.

 Thanks for the update.

Kobie  

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by: Kobie @ Tue Feb 26, 2008 at 16:48:35 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Egyptian girl tests positive for bird flu-MENA

Story
CAIRO (Reuters) - A 4-year-old Egyptian girl tested positive for bird flu on Monday, the 44th confirmed human case in the Arab world's most populous country, state news agency MENA said.

Ministry of Health spokesman Abdel Rahman Shaheen said the girl had been treated with the antiviral drug tamiflu and had been transferred from Minya province to a hospital in Cairo, the agency said.

The girl is suffering from a high fever and is having trouble breathing because she has inflammation of one of her lungs.

Four Egyptian women died from bird flu in December. Their deaths broke a 5-month pause in human cases in Egypt and brought to 19 the number of Egyptians who have died of the H5N1 bird flu virus since it emerged in Egypt in early 2006.

source
http://today.reuters.co.uk/new...

Note: Follow on to learn how H5N1 progresses

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by: Kobie @ Tue Feb 26, 2008 at 14:43:10 PM UTC

WHO confirmations of cases in Viet Nam and China

http://www.who.int/csr/don/200...

Avian influenza - situation in Viet Nam - update 4

26 February 2008

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 February was hospitalized on 19 February and died on 25 February. 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.
-----------------------------
http://www.who.int/csr/don/200...

Avian influenza - situation in China - update 2

26 February 2008

The Ministry of Health in China has reported a new case of human infection with the H5N1 avian influenza virus. The case is a 44-year old female from Haifeng county, Shanwei city, Guangdong province.

She developed symptoms on 16 February was hospitalized on 22 February and died on 25 February. The case was confirmed by the national laboratory on 25 February. The case had contact with sick and dead poultry prior to her illness. All contacts have been placed under medical observation. All remain healthy to date.

Of the 30 cases confirmed to date in China, 20 have been fatal.

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by: AlohaOR @ Tue Feb 26, 2008 at 15:05:20 PM UTC

our page needs updating

http://www.fluwikie.com/pmwiki...

with data from http://www.who.int/csr/disease... and specifically from http://www.who.int/csr/disease...

i'll try and get it done later :-/

our table looks cool (i like it better than WHO's (they must sort countries alphabetically), but who am i to say) but it's not easy to update

maybe keeping a spreadsheet in local computer would help

You arm yourself to the teeth just in case.  You don't leave the gun near the baby's hand.

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by: lugon @ Tue Feb 26, 2008 at 15:14:11 PM UTC

done!

You arm yourself to the teeth just in case.  You don't leave the gun near the baby's hand.

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by: lugon @ Tue Feb 26, 2008 at 15:41:46 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

SARS preparedness said low 5 years later - Toranto

Story
Medical experts in Toronto say Ontario hasn't done enough to prevent another major disease outbreak in the five years since SARS killed 44 people.

Noting last weekend was the fifth anniversary of severe acute respiratory syndrome first appearing in the city, Dr. Allison McGeer, director of infection control at Mount Sinai Hospital, told the Toronto Sun there have been improvements in the medical infrastructure but not all lessons learned have been addressed.

"I don't think it's any use pretending we're ready for a flu pandemic," McGeer told the newspaper.

For example, she said the provincial government was dragging its feet on establishing a province-wide surveillance system that could help with ongoing outbreaks such as the C-difficile bacterial infection among hospital patients.

"We don't even know how many people are infected with C-difficile," she said. "There are 178 hospitals in Ontario and no one knows."

From Feb. 23, 2003, to June 7, 2003, 387 people were infected with SARS and 44 of them died. The outbreak was traced to a woman who brought back the virus from Hong Kong, officials said.

Source
http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/H...

Note: Another wake up call when the facts come knocking.

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by: Kobie @ Tue Feb 26, 2008 at 15:20:06 PM UTC

No Luck Yet on Health Director

No Luck Yet on Health Director: Search to Start Again for Head of Tacoma-Pierce County Department
Posted on: Tuesday, 26 February 2008, 06:00 CST

By M. Alexander Otto, The News Tribune, Tacoma, Wash.

Feb. 26--The search is back on for a new leader for the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department.

Members of the county Board of Health couldn't settle on any of the five finalists for the director's job, so they decided to keep looking instead of recommending a candidate to county Executive John Ladenburg and Tacoma Mayor Bill Baarsma, who make the final decision.

The finalists -- two current managers in the department and three out-of-state candidates -- had strong qualities, but board members couldn't find the right fit, chairman Rick Talbert said recently.

The new director "will shape public health in Pierce County for a very long time," Talbert said. "We are going to get it right."

The director oversees 297 employees and an annual budget of $37.3 million. The job pays up to $149,178 a year.

The new director will succeed Dr. Federico Cruz-Uribe, who resigned last year in the wake of a controversial and ultimately abandoned plan to import the drug Tamiflu into the United States from India. The drug would have been used to help treat bird flu had it become a disease people easily get and had it made its way to the Northwest.
more at link
http://www.redorbit.com/news/h...

Life is not so short but that there is always time enough for courtesy. Ralph Waldo Emerson

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by: mojo @ Tue Feb 26, 2008 at 15:26:40 PM UTC

Flu shot failure shows need for a new formula

COMMENTARY
By Robert Bazell
Chief science and health correspondent
NBC News
updated 1 hour, 59 minutes ago

Another year, another flu vaccine failure.

In hospitals across the country, people are in intensive care units - some on respirators close to death - because of complications of influenza. Many, if not most, had their flu shot this year
snip

Dr. Michael Osterholm, head of the University of Minnesota's Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy in Minneapolis has called for a "Manhattan Project" to find a flu vaccine that does not need to be reformulated every year.

There seems to be little chance it will happen anytime soon. Some researchers are working on the problem, but President Bush's recent budget veto cut $750 million from vaccine research.
snip

Even worse, there is the threat of a pandemic, an outbreak of avian flu or some other strain of virus so different from what circulated before, from which no one has any immunity. We would be well served by having something better than the horse and buggy vaccine technology now in use.

long complete article at link
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23...

Life is not so short but that there is always time enough for courtesy. Ralph Waldo Emerson

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by: mojo @ Tue Feb 26, 2008 at 16:31:35 PM UTC

Study Focuses On Whitley County And School Absenteeism - KY - USA

Story
FRANKFORT, Ky. (Feb. 25, 2008) - The Kentucky Department for Public Health (DPH), the Whitley County Health Department and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are interested in learning more about the impact of recent illness-related school closings on the families and communities involved.

Representatives of DPH, the Whitley County Health Department and the CDC will begin contacting some families in the Whitley County area by telephone on Wednesday as part of an investigation into potential changes in community dynamics that may occur when schools are closed due to high illness-related absenteeism rates. The study comes on the heels of numerous school closures in southeastern Kentucky this month.

"Participation in this survey is very important in helping us learn more about how short-term school closures impact Kentucky communities, so that we can understand better how to prepare for potential scenarios that might involve schools being closed for much longer periods." said William Hacker, M.D., the Cabinet for Health and Family Services' acting undersecretary for health and DPH commissioner. Such scenarios might include infectious disease outbreaks like a severe influenza pandemic.

The study is being conducted to better understand the impact of school closures related to illness, such as last-minute child-care arrangements for those children who would normally be in school, and possible loss of work and pay by parents who may need to stay home to look after their children.

DPH, CDC and Whitley County staff are interested in learning more about parents' views on the spread of communicable diseases and how to decrease the spread of illness. Researchers also will be trying to determine whether children were exposed to gatherings of people despite school closures, in hopes of improving public health's response to longer-term outbreaks and to help inform pandemic flu preparedness efforts.

Source
http://www.wkyt.com/news/headl...

Note: Testing to see if school closures might worsen the spread of disease.
 Why is there "last min child care arrangements" ? Because the population has not been told about H5N1.  

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by: Kobie @ Tue Feb 26, 2008 at 16:51:51 PM UTC

Panel wants health committee numbers - MN - USA

Story
Councilors want to see a budget for a proposed Twin Cities health committee before they'll sign off.

"When you form something like this, there will be a budget," said Ward 4 Councilor Bruce Bickford.

Committee members said any spending would be for administrative services only, at this time.

"We're talking about my time, and e-mail," said Phil Nadeau, Lewiston's deputy city administrator and coordinator for the group. "We're not proposing to create any new programs, but to create a better way for those programs to work together. We're not looking to expand government at all."

The Twin Cities have no single way to distribute information about public health issues, such as planning for pandemic outbreaks or health education. The two hospitals handle some functions, such as setting up flu shot clinics, and area nonprofits handle others.

They tend to duplicate some efforts and miss others, however.

Organizers are recommending that Nadeau act as liaison between the committee and both cities. The committee would coordinate planning and programs and the cities would become the main distribution point for getting information out to the public.

Source
http://www.sunjournal.com/stor...

Note: Cities looking at how to get the word out without missing anyone on a budget while co-ordinating their message to avoid confusion.
 Salute!

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by: Kobie @ Tue Feb 26, 2008 at 16:55:39 PM UTC

Senior Center, school may be used in emergencies - Milford - MA - USA

Story
In the case of a disease outbreak or bioterrorism attack, the town already has Milford High School as a place where residents can go for emergency help, but there should be at least two more sites, health officials said yesterday.

Kenneth Gikas, a program consultant for the Worcester-area Emergency Preparedness Coalition, will meet next week with Fire Chief John Touhey about the possibility of using the Senior Center and Stacy Middle School as additional emergency dispensing sites.

The state Department of Public Health mandated that each community have a plan in the event that a mass inoculation is needed, Gikas told the Board of Health last night.

The town should be able to handle 24,000 inoculations, most of the population, in two days, Gikas said.

However, since that number is based on the last census, the amount of needed inoculations could be thousands higher, said Board of Health member Kenneth Evans.

Authorities will look at several factors in determining whether the proposed locations can be used for emergency dispensing sites, such as parking accessibility, refrigerator space and generator availability, Mazzuchelli said.

The Worcester Regional Medical Reserve Corps is still looking for medical and nonmedical volunteers to help out at dispensing sites in the case of a pandemic or bioterrorism emergency.

The next information session is March 6 at the Birch Street fire station.

Although there is a major hospital in town, in the case of emergency employees they would likely be busy with their own work, Mazzuchelli said.

Over the last few years, the town has secured between $35,000 to $40,000 worth of emergency preparedness equipment, from rubber gloves to respirators.

Source
http://www.milforddailynews.co...

Note: Census information, buying gloves and respirators, not using the hospital because they are busy, looking at who has space, fridge and generator. Very good. Very Good.

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by: Kobie @ Tue Feb 26, 2008 at 16:59:40 PM UTC

Pandemic survival roadshow to tour - New Zeland

Story
The Pandemic Survival Roadshow will tour South Canterbury over the next two months -- beginning in Waimate next Monday.

Waimate was chosen as the starting point for the tour because of Dr Margaret Cruickshank's statue.

The statue is one of only two in memoriam for victims of the 1918 pandemic influenza.

It was built for Dr Cruickshank, who died in 1918 while serving her patients in the Waimate district.

When the influenza epidemic of 1918 struck Waimate, Dr Cruickshank worked night and day attending to patients until she herself fell a victim to influenza and then later died of pneumonia on November 28, 1918.

The roadshow is a hands-on community education programme geared towards educating and encouraging residents of the wider Canterbury region for a widespread pandemic influenza outbreak.

It is a cooperative initiative of the South Canterbury District Health Board (SCDHB), Community and Public Health, Canterbury Civil Defence and Emergency Management Group, Environment Canterbury, Red Cross and Science Alive.

"Initially, there was quite a bit of attention paid to `bird flu' in the media, but that interest has since died down. However, we in health and emergency management sector are still very much concerned about a pandemic, whether it be related to bird flu or not, and we need the public to be prepared," said SCDHB Emergency Planner Nathan Taylor.

Source
http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/t...

Note: Wow a road show to the people regardless of how "popular" the news is.
Salute

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by: Kobie @ Tue Feb 26, 2008 at 17:03:19 PM UTC

The 'Delia Effect' strikes again. Book Publishing - UK

Story
Following the launch of celebrity chef Delia Smith's first new book in five years, retailers and suppliers have been bracing themselves over the last two weeks for phenomenal sales uplifts on items as varied as tiger prawns, jalapeño peppers, spinach, gorgonzola or anchovies as Delia recommends dozens of products, including specific brands, for making fast and easy meals.

But how do you plan and prepare for such sudden spikes in demand? Do you stockpile? Order in extra shipments? Or refocus the field force on ensuring smooth and efficient replenishment and merchandising on key lines? IGD's unique Availability & Demand Planning 2008 conference on 11-12 March in London will provide you with new insights and innovative solutions, with particular focus on improving promotions management and responses to sudden peaks in demand.

Source
http://supplychainanalysis.igd...

Note: Bumps in the supply chain are not new, can be seen a head of time and there conferences to deal with the problem. TPTB have no excuse!

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by: Kobie @ Tue Feb 26, 2008 at 17:07:09 PM UTC

County Supervisors To Protest Feds' Plan To Move Medical Supplies Stockpile - CA - USA

Story
SAN DIEGO -- County supervisors are expected to formally protest on Tuesday federal plans to move a 25,000-pound stockpile of emergency medical supplies from San Diego to Los Angeles.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services wants to move the stockpile to Los Angeles as part of a "regionalization process," The North County Times reported.

The move will save the federal government about $40,000 a year it spends on renting a warehouse in San Diego to house the stockpile, the newspaper reported.

The San Diego County Board of Supervisors is expected to approve a letter to the federal agency today that argues that moving the stockpile of cots, tents, defibrillators, ventilators and other medical equipment would hurt San Diego's ability to respond to local disasters.

Dr. Jake Jacoby of UC San Diego Medical Center, who heads the county's Disaster Medical Assistance Team, told the Times that the move could be the first step toward doing away with the team altogether if it doesn't have supplies.

Source
http://www.10news.com/news/154...

Note:  "cots, tents, defibrillators, ventilators" Oh My!
Since alot of this stuff takes training to use - I wonder who will use them? Is it just for Doctors and EMTs?

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by: Kobie @ Tue Feb 26, 2008 at 17:10:00 PM UTC

Enough is enough: it's time to stop buying and start being happy - UK

Story
Visiting a local council tip, I met a busy crew of charity volunteers who monitor people throwing out their household goods, and who retrieve anything decent and re-sell it. The hoard of rescued items they showed me was astonishing. It included immaculate flat-pack furniture that had never been assembled, piles of new kitchen gadgets and sports gear, and even unridden bicycles.

My tip is hardly unusual. A new study shows we throw away more new stuff than ever. A million tonnes of electrical and electronic gadgets alone get dumped every year in Britain, says a report by a Yorkshire-based recycling consultancy. All this stuff takes time and money to earn. Then we just bung it. Why?

Another new study offers an important clue: we're more prone to spend money on stuff when we're anxious or unhappy, claim American researchers in the journal Psychological Science. When we feel sad, we feel more needy, value the things we own less and are more likely to spree, the study reports. This adds to a growing body of research that shows how our buying behaviour is driven largely by primitive motivations in our brains; ancient acquisitive instincts prodded into a frenzy by modern culture.

Our hunter-gatherer brains are almost wired to buy. Scans performed at Emory University, Atlanta, show how the brain's "reward chemical", dopamine, is released as shoppers see a product and ponder buying it. But dopamine is all about the hunt, not the trophy. Anticipation, rather than buying, squirts it around our skulls. And the effect is only fleeting: once you've sealed the deal, the chemical high flattens in minutes, often leaving a sense of regret that some shop-owners call "buyer's remorse".

But when we buy things we don't need, it proves disappointing. And in our throwaway society, we're then encouraged to bung them out, which is depressing. So we head back to the shops for more of that "retail therapy". It's a vicious, glum and planet-polluting cycle

Source
http://www.theherald.co.uk/fea...

Note: What does this have to do with H5N1 - plenty.
 1) We throw away good stuff that still works.
 2) Fear makes people buy things. It does not make them think out their purchase.
 3) Once the buying high falls there may be "buyers remorse" which I fear will created "I should not have bought so much for a pandemic"
 4) We are still "hunter gatheres" so "monkey see, monkey do" may work. Once people see others prepping they will "want to keep up with the jones'"
 5) There will be those fighting prepping in order to "de clutter" their lives.

N=1, W=4, B=0 - Kobie

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by: Kobie @ Tue Feb 26, 2008 at 17:19:04 PM UTC

Just a suggestion

Do we maybe need a "things that are not really flu news as such but are arguably relevant" thread where you could post this kind of thing, Kobie? When I have time, I am interested, but when I get home and find there are 18 new messages in the news thread I feel I have to read them straight away in case it means something very important has happened, and then I find it rather irritating to find that several of them are this kind of thing. They really aren't flu news IMHO.

But if I'm in a minority of 1 on this, then so be it.

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by: Mathematician @ Tue Feb 26, 2008 at 18:38:56 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Feedback is always welcome

Mathematician,

 I see your point.

 The buying article is not news and there are some other bigger developments.  

 Thank you for the feedback.

Kobie

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by: Kobie @ Tue Feb 26, 2008 at 18:45:19 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

International Egg and Poultry Review

Story
India Update
Even though the High Security Animal Disease Laboratory in Bhopal reported negative test results for the last batch of samples tested for high path avian influenza. Virus mortality of 79 birds was reported from three districts of West Bengal on February 6, 2008.

A total of 86 rapid response teams were engaged as on February 6, 2007, which completed culling of 11,820 birds taking the cumulative culling to 3.59 million birds in West Bengal. A total of 1.48 million and 79,945 kg of eggs and feed were destroyed till February 6, 2007. AI control measures have also been initiated in the neighboring states, with 34,423 birds already culled in Assam on February 5, 2007.

The culling has also commenced in Bihar, while the government of Jharkhand is engaged in the process of identifying the priority areas for culling. Orissa's plan of action is not final. The West Bengal state government has banned the sale and movement of poultry throughout the state for an indefinite period. The decision was taken days after the state's announcement 'Avian flu situation among the poultry is now controlled'.

Source
http://www.thepoultrysite.com/...

Note: Its under control but still birds die.  

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by: Kobie @ Tue Feb 26, 2008 at 17:25:36 PM UTC

Troops Fight for Chickens in Baghdad - Baghdad - IRAQ

Story
To some, it might be laughable that the economic welfare of an entire community relies on thousands of birds, but in the farming communities of southern Baghdad, chickens represent a significant way ahead.

A member of the State Department's Baghdad 7 embedded provincial reconstruction team is helping these communities establish themselves as centers of poultry production.

'Some of these farmers had over 100,000 chickens at one time,' said Mike Stevens, the team's agricultural advisor. Stevens, a native of Park Rapids, Minn., said farmers from Adwaniyah, Arab Jabour and Hawr Rajab lost their chickens to al Qaeda operatives who took them when they moved into the area.

In many cases, chicken coops were used to hide weapons caches, and insurgents often used the large spaces inside the coops to make homemade explosives, Stevens said. Local farmers also reported that insurgents would seize farmers' equipment and strip generators for parts.

Source
http://www.thepoultrysite.com/...

Note: People raiding chicken coops? Chickn Theifs?
 Hiding wepons and making explosives in chicken coops? Dangerouse if you ask me.  

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by: Kobie @ Tue Feb 26, 2008 at 17:28:10 PM UTC

Millions without power in South FL

With failures at 7 Florida Power & Light power plants that have left more than 4 million people without power, it will be interesting to see how Miami and much of South Florida handle things if the conditions are not improved by nightfall. Can hospitals function effectively and for how long with their emergency generators, and will law enforcement be able to maintain some semblance of order during such a time? These are just two of the questions I hope we learn the answers to. For those who've been prepping, it's a good trial run for them. And for those oblivious to what we've been doing, what a great time for them to wake up to the reality that besides a pandemic, they'd better be prepared for any eventuality.

http://www.miamiherald.com/854...

The beatings will continue until morale improves.

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by: iwrote1 @ Tue Feb 26, 2008 at 20:08:46 PM UTC

Freezer good for 2 hours

Another paragraph in the story says

"Store manager Wilbur Barbosa said he's already starting to throw away the macaroni and chicken on the heating pads out front. Within two hours, the food in his freezer will start to go bad."

 Wow - just a two hour window?

Kobie

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by: Kobie @ Tue Feb 26, 2008 at 20:48:19 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Looks like they found a hole in the nuclear reactor.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04...

Life is not so short but that there is always time enough for courtesy. Ralph Waldo Emerson

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by: mojo @ Tue Feb 26, 2008 at 20:56:57 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Old article

Mojo,

  The date on your article says "Published: April 2, 2006"

  It happens to me too.
Kobie

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by: Kobie @ Tue Feb 26, 2008 at 21:10:18 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Whoops

thanks!  

Life is not so short but that there is always time enough for courtesy. Ralph Waldo Emerson

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by: mojo @ Tue Feb 26, 2008 at 21:50:44 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

WHO - Case table Feb 26. 368 cases / 234 Deaths

Updated Case table: 368 cases / 234 Deaths, 19/17 so far for 2008. 1 China and 1 Viet Nam case added
Source:
http://www.who.int/csr/disease...

 Feb 22nd:   366 / 232
http://www.who.int/csr/disease...

 Feb 20th:   362 / 228
http://www.who.int/csr/disease...

 Based on todays chart: Indonesia (129) first with Viet Nam (105) second, distant Egypt (43) and China (30) then Thailand (25)
 Cambodia, China and Indonesia have lowest success rates at 7/7 (100%), 30/20 (66%) and 129/105 (81%) respecfuly for any country with more than four cases. Turkey is best with 12/4 (33%).  

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by: Kobie @ Tue Feb 26, 2008 at 21:07:54 PM UTC

Correction - Thiland - 25/17 (68%) should be included. Avg 368/264 (63.59%) n/t

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by: Kobie @ Tue Feb 26, 2008 at 21:18:07 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Drug-resistant TB seen at record levels globally

WASHINGTON, Feb 26 (Reuters) - Cases of tuberculosis that defy existing drugs are being recorded globally at the highest rates ever seen, with parts of the former Soviet Union especially vulnerable, the World Health Organization said on Tuesday...

http://africa.reuters.com/wire...

The beatings will continue until morale improves.

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by: iwrote1 @ Tue Feb 26, 2008 at 23:12:02 PM UTC

Please post new news stories to...

News Reports for February 27

Thank you!

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by: AlohaOR @ Wed Feb 27, 2008 at 05:19:50 AM UTC