News Reports for October 28, 2012

India: Response teams to arrest avian flu (Karnataka)

(Snip)

Aravind Jannu, Principal Secretary to Animal Husbandry Department, said the virus has been contained within the farm belonging to the Central Poultry Development Organisation and Training Institute off Hesaraghatta where the flu broke out. He said the entire area has been quarantined while the turkeys have been culled before the flu could spread to other areas.

Jannu said, "We have constituted 25 rapid teams consisting of five members each who would cover at least 68 villages in and around the farm. We have also set up surveillance teams which will go to all places to sensitise people about the avian flu outbreak." Continued: http://www.deccanherald.com/co...


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 @ Sun Oct 28, 2012 at 07:53:30 AM UTC

Canada: Clinics to weather flu shot shortage

British Columbia's supply of flu vaccine has been reduced by 30 per cent just as the seasonal campaign to get a shot kicks off, but the province's top health officer doesn't expect flu clinics to be affected.

Dr. Perry Kendall is concerned, however, that the public may shy from getting vaccinated now that the province is heeding a Health Canada recommendation to suspend the use of one particular vaccine made by Novartis.

"I would really hope that it wouldn't (impact uptake), but I am a bit anxious about that, yes," Kendall told reporters during a conference call on Saturday. "Because although the vaccine - as you would have heard - is less effective potentially than we would have hoped ... It still provides substantial, on average, 60-per-cent reduction in the risk of getting influenza."

Kendall was referring to a report from Minnesota-based health researchers released earlier this month suggesting current vaccines offer moderate protection some years and less in others.

On Friday, Health Canada contacted health-care facilities across the country, advising them to stop using the flu vaccine made by the Italian pharmaceutical firm. Following that move, the B.C. Centre for Disease Control issued notice to all provincial health authorities, advising them to halt using the Novartis products, sold as Agriflu and Fluad in Canada.

The "precautionary" measure was taken based on the discovery of tiny clumps of virus in some batches of the vaccines at the European plant where it is produced.

A vaccine is made of dead, harmless virus bits associated with the disease it is working to immunize against. Continued: http://www.theprovince.com/Cli...  

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 @ Sun Oct 28, 2012 at 08:03:06 AM UTC

India: Bird flu outbreak creates shiver among Namakkal exporters (Tamil Nadu)

The bird flu outbreak in a turkey unit of the government-run Central Poultry Development Organisation in Bangalore has triggered fear among farmers and exporters in Tamil Nadu that poultry products from across the country will be prevented from entering overseas and domestic markets.

Though poultry farms in the State have not been affected, the fear is that overseas buyers will not be location-specific while banning the products. The experience so far is that instead of banning products only from the affected zone, buyers react by clamping a ban on poultry products from across the country.

Secretary of the Animal Husbandry Department (AHD), Government of India, Gokul Chandra Pati confirmed the outbreak of bird flu in a report he submitted to the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) on Friday. He stated that 3,481 turkeys had succumbed to the flu at the farm in the second week of October.

Based on test results from the High Security Animal Disease Laboratory in Bhopal, the department has identified a highly-pathogenic avian influenza virus as the cause of death. The report, however, made it clear that the occurrence was only in a zone or compartment and not the entire country. Continued: http://www.thehindu.com/news/s...

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 @ Sun Oct 28, 2012 at 08:11:39 AM UTC

India: More swine flu deaths from rural parts this month (Maharashtra)

PUNE: The city has reported 11 swine flu deaths so far this month. Among them, six people who succumbed to the contagion were from rural parts of Pune.

(Snip) Among them, two were residents of Pune city, six were from rural parts of Pune district, one each from neighbouring districts like Nashik and Ahmednagar. One person with swine flu was from Karnataka who was moved to Pune for higher management. The patient later succumbed to the contagion, said S T Pardeshi, medical officer of health, Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC).

Last month, there were four swine flu casualties and 130 positive cases and the numbers rose to 10 deaths and 97 positive cases till October 25. Continued: http://timesofindia.indiatimes...

(Note: India only counts laboratory confirmed cases so the numbers are bound to be much higher than we are seeing in the news.)

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 @ Sun Oct 28, 2012 at 19:39:44 PM UTC

India: Birds at Ranganathittu under watch for flu (Karnataka)

Following the outbreak of bird flu at Central Poultry Breeding Farm at Hesaraghatta in Bangalore, veterinarians are on high alert at the popular Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary in the taluk.

A team of experts on Saturday visited the sanctuary and collected information pertaining to the movement of birds from the Forest officers. Veterinary officer at Palahalli Hospital (Snip) has sought the Forest department to inform the department in case of deaths among birds in the sanctuary. (Snip) the officers are keeping a tab on the winged attractions.

The sanctuary now has birds belonging to the breeds of white ibis, cormorant, night heron and river tern. Though most of them are migratory, there is no sign of disease. (Snip) white ibis are set to fly to another location, as it's common among them during this period. The sanctuary will be receiving more birds in the end of December and January next like painted stork, spoonbill, open bill stork, among others.

As a precautionary measure, samples of blood of locally bred chicken in the neighbouring villages of the sanctuary have been collected and sent to regional veterinary health laboratory in Mysore and Institute of Animal Health and Veterinary Biologicals (IAH and VB), Hebbal, Bangalore. http://www.deccanherald.com/co...

Map link for Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary: http://mapcarta.com/Ranganathi...

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 @ Sun Oct 28, 2012 at 19:47:53 PM UTC

Please post new news stories to...

News Reports for October 29, 2012

Thank you!

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by: AlohaOR @ Mon Oct 29, 2012 at 04:21:48 AM UTC