News Reports For January 8

Jakarta Cluster

(Posted this morning by Dutchy on FluTrackers)

Bird flu again haunted the Jakarta resident.

Six patients are currently treated in the Friendship Hospital, Jakarta East, till Monday (8/1).

They experienced the sign of the deadly illness.

The six patients generally still have relatives's relations.

Ramli was treated three days set after being stated positive contracted bird flu.

Followed by the mother, the brother, as well as his three neighbours, this morning.They lived in the Rawabebek region, Angke, Jakarta North.

But the hospital side was not yet prepared to give the explanation.

The team of the justified doctor was discussing this condition in a special meeting.

Estimated the rain season triggered again the bird flu virus that more could remain in the cold temperature.

Now, Indonesia was still becoming the country with the most bird flu patient and the highest death rate.
At least 57 people died from 75 cases

(DNP/Satya Pandia)`

http://bawel.web.id/...

Source: http://www.liputan6....

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by: InKy @ Mon Jan 08, 2007 at 11:09:26 AM UTC

RS the Friendship Receive Six Again Suspect Bird Flu

Jakarta -- MIOL: the Patient suspect bird flu that was treated in the Pesahabatan Hospital, improved.
n Monday (8/1), six people who it was suspected were attacked by this deadly illness entered the hospital in Jakarta East this.
The six patients who entered RS this Friendship consisted of three adults namely one man and two women as well as three children namely one man and two women.
Six patients were reconciliation from the Jakarta Health Service West.
The chairman of Doctor's Team the Handling of Bird Flu RS the Friendship, Dr Mukhtar Ikhsan stated the six patients beforehand had the story of contact with the poultry.
Children's patient it was known carried out contact with the duck that died in livestock breeding that was located was faced with their house in Kalideres, Jakarta West.

The handling of early to these patients according to Mukhtar was with Tamiflu giving that until this his supplies were enough.
Whereas for the patient of the child's child until this did still not use respiratory aids and was in the maintenance from the specialist doctor.

About the condition for the positive patient bird flu had the initials the RN that has been treated in this hospital since three days ago according to Mukhtar, has begun to improve although still really depended on respiratory aids.
In the meantime a member of the patient's family suspect bird flu regretted slow him the handling of the government that just reacted today by doing the inspection and the extermination of the poultry that was sick in their area after the resident suffered the sign of bird flu.

http://www.media-ind...
Senin, 08 Januari 2007 15:05 WIB

I am not like other birds of prey....

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by: Commonground @ Mon Jan 08, 2007 at 11:41:30 AM UTC

does this mean they were close neighbors?

This sounds like the 14 year old boy who first got sick lived in a house facing the house of this new cluster.

"Children's patient it was known carried out contact with the duck that died in livestock breeding that was located was faced with their house in Kalideres, Jakarta West."

Always have a plan B.

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by: maryinhawaii @ Mon Jan 08, 2007 at 18:06:22 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Indonesian woman with bird flu in critical condition, health official says

JAKARTA, Indonesia: An Indonesian woman was in critical condition Monday after being hospitalized with bird flu, a health official said. It was unclear how she contracted the virus.

The 37-year-old is the second person to be sickened by the disease in less than a week, said I Nyoman Kandun, the Ministry of Health's director general of communicable disease control.

The other was a 14-year-old boy, Kandun said, adding that both are from the industrial city of Tangerang on the western outskirts of the capital, Jakarta, and are being treated at the Persahabatan hospital.

The woman hospitalized Monday, identified only as Ria, "is now in critical condition," said Kandun.

"We are still trying to track down the source of infection," he said.
http://www.iht.com/a...

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by: Nimbus @ Mon Jan 08, 2007 at 13:44:09 PM UTC

is this woman a confirmed case, then? it sounds like she is n/t

Always have a plan B.

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by: maryinhawaii @ Mon Jan 08, 2007 at 18:08:02 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Future flu pandemic toll could be "very scary" - U.S.

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - The number of people that could die in a flu pandemic that matches the 1918-19 outbreak will be "very scary" and far higher than the 62 million deaths forecast by a recent study, an adviser to the White House said on Monday.

"I think that number is a very optimistic number if we are talking about a 1918-wide pandemic today," said Rajeev Venkayya, Special Assistant for Biodefense to U.S. President George W. Bush.

[snip]

Venkayya did not give a forecast of possible deaths in a pandemic -- which the World Health Organisation and other experts say is inevitable and overdue -- but said the number of fatalities could be frightening.

"The bottom line is that they (U.S. government guesses about a toll) are all very high and all very scary," Venkayya told a meeting attended by government health and defence officials organised by a business chamber in New Delhi.
http://in.today.reut...

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by: Nimbus @ Mon Jan 08, 2007 at 13:46:41 PM UTC

Bird flu vaccine for poultry still banned in Thailand

BANGKOK, Jan 8 (TNA) - Bird flu vaccine for poultry is still under banned in the kingdom as Thai experts need to jointly decide whether to give the greenlight to its use, according to Public Health Minister Dr. Mongkol Na Songkhla.

The Thai government decided to prohibit use of avian influenza vaccine for feared that a widespread vaccination programme could cause the deadly H5N1 strain of the virus to mutate and reduce the effectiveness of practices to control its spread.

[snip]

The minister's comment came after police seized 1,800 bottles of contraband H5N1 bird flu vaccine worth over Bt20 million on Koh Samui in the southern province of Surat Thani, in what is believed to be the biggest such bust in Thailand.
http://etna.mcot.net...

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by: Nimbus @ Mon Jan 08, 2007 at 13:55:19 PM UTC

UK poultry workers to get flu jabs

http://news.bbc.co.u...

Yeah, right, as if we didn't have enough shortages of vaccine for the elderly and the ill the flu season already.

[snip]

Poultry workers in England are to be offered seasonal flu jabs as a way to minimise any threat from bird flu.

Experts say offering them protection against human flu will cut the already small risk that they might catch human and bird flu at the same time.

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by: UK - Bird @ Mon Jan 08, 2007 at 14:06:40 PM UTC

Mass death of poultries observed in Fuzuli - Azerbaijan

http://en.apa.az/new...

Mass death of poultries is observed in the village Boyuk Bahmanli of Fuzuli region, the villagers told the APA.

They said that mass death of poultries was observed in several yards and they appealed to the veterinary service. The death reasons are unknown. Besides, a lot of dead fowls were found in the water basins of the village, as well as in the ponds on the neutral strip on border with Iran.
State Veterinary Service press secretary Yolchu Khanveli told the APA they are unaware of the case and noted that they will investigate the fact. He said that bird flu virus was not found in this territory during initial monitoring. He also said the reasons of the poultries' death may be some other diseases.
H5N1 virus was found in the birds in one of the farms in the village Boyuk Bahmanli last year. /APA/

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by: UK - Bird @ Mon Jan 08, 2007 at 14:08:53 PM UTC

Promoting Indonesia Thread

Hi Mods, It seems as if the Indonesia situation may be heating up. If you think it is worthwhile, please promote the thread so it is in a more prominent spot when the front page loads.

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by: Edna Mode @ Mon Jan 08, 2007 at 14:14:34 PM UTC

done with new pic.... thanks, Edna Mode! n/t

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by: DemFromCT @ Mon Jan 08, 2007 at 22:08:40 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Thanks, Dem. n/t

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by: Edna Mode @ Tue Jan 09, 2007 at 00:39:31 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Dozens Of Dead Birds in Austin Texas

http://www.590klbj.c...

.....Several blocks of Congress Avenue have been closed off to traffic because several dozen dead birds have been found in the area. And if you work in the area, you're being asked to stay home from work until at least noon......


Click here for a curious observation.

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by: JWB @ Mon Jan 08, 2007 at 14:33:51 PM UTC

dead birds in austin close 10 square blocks

http://tinyurl.com/y...

Carry the torch, not to light the way, but to set your peers on fire!

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by: Annoyed Max--Not mad yet @ Mon Jan 08, 2007 at 15:46:26 PM UTC

Dead birds in Austin TX -- press conference

I just watched the press conference, and they said there were 40-60 dead birds of three species: grackles, pigeons, and sparrows.  They first suspected a gas or chemical leak, but testing hasn't found anything.  The other possibilities they mentioned were West Nile and poison.  They emphasized that they don't think it's avian flu, but they're sending samples to Ames, Iowa to test specifically for that, as well as sending samples to A&M for more generalized testing.  I'll try to catch the noon news and pass on any new info.

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by: dbg @ Mon Jan 08, 2007 at 16:09:36 PM UTC

Thanks, DBG. Keep up posted! n/t

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by: Edna Mode @ Mon Jan 08, 2007 at 16:16:50 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Texas to Iowa?

have they no facilities to do H5N1 testing in Texas??

15 months after the WHO's "Ten things you need to know about pandemic influenza" was posted?

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by: crfullmoon @ Mon Jan 08, 2007 at 16:18:12 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

press conf

should be a press conference update from austin around 12:15 (Tex time) ,  Fox should cover it.


Be Prepared

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by: DennisC @ Mon Jan 08, 2007 at 17:41:01 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

RE: testing in Iowa

I believe Iowa has the state of the art H5N1 testing facility. This was put together specifically to test for bird flu. 

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by: Ruth @ Mon Jan 08, 2007 at 16:59:59 PM UTC

Isn't there a National Lab in Ames Iowa? n/t

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by: Greenmom @ Mon Jan 08, 2007 at 17:48:54 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Probably not BF

If it were high path BF, then most often we see it hit one species at a time.  The fact that multiple species are affected probably points to a poison.


Just rolling along, making waves and causing trouble...

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by: pablo escobar @ Mon Jan 08, 2007 at 18:24:33 PM UTC

Dr. Nimans commentary clarifies indonesia cluster

Commentary

Suspect H5N1 Cluster in Jakarta
Recombinomics Commentary
January 8, 2007

Six patients are currently treated in the Friendship Hospital, Jakarta East, till Monday (8/1).

They experienced the sign of the deadly illness.

The six patients generally still have relatives's relations.

Ramli was treated three days set after being stated positive contracted bird flu.

Followed by the mother, the brother, as well as his three neighbours, this morning.They lived in the Rawabebek region, Angke, Jakarta North.

But the hospital side was not yet prepared to give the explanation.

The team of the justified doctor was discussing this condition in a special meeting.

The above translation describes a suspected H5N1 bird flu cluster in Jakarta.  The index case (14M) has already been confirmed, and now three family members and three neighbors in northern Jakarta have been admitted with symptoms.

If confirmed, this would be the largest cluster to date on Java.  Last year, a large cluster in Karo in North Sumatra was reported, but the H5N1 in the Karo cluster was distinct from the H5N1 in human cases on Java, including cases in and around Jakarta. 

All but one H5N1 from humans on Java have had the novel cleavage site, RESRRKKR, which has been found in one duck from Indramayu in January, 2006.  That sequence match a small subset of human isolates, but an isolate from a cat in Indramayu matched the majority of the human H5N1 sequences from Java.

Always have a plan B.

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by: maryinhawaii @ Mon Jan 08, 2007 at 18:27:33 PM UTC

Austin noon news conference

I just caught the end of it, but they said the gas chromatography and gross necropsy didn't show anything.  It sounded like the only thing they're ruling out is environmental contaminants, and they're doing further testing for everything else.  The legislative session doesn't start until tomorrow, so that's out as a source of pollution. ;-)

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by: dbg @ Mon Jan 08, 2007 at 19:03:37 PM UTC

LOL!

The legislative session doesn't start until tomorrow, so that's out as a source of pollution.

Very funny! :)

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by: Edna Mode @ Mon Jan 08, 2007 at 23:26:17 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

I"t probably isn't brd flu because there isn't any bird flu in the U.S."

Whew!  That sentence just came out of an interview with the man in charge there.

I feel better now.

Click here for a curious observation.

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by: JWB @ Mon Jan 08, 2007 at 19:21:12 PM UTC

How to avoid a pandemic 101

Cool!  We just keep saying it isn't bird flu because there isn't any in the US, and it won't ever be bird flu!  Gotta love that magical thinking...

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by: dbg @ Mon Jan 08, 2007 at 19:46:35 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Legislative Session

dgb - LOLOLOLOL!

My husband sent me an article from the Houston Chronicle about the dead birds before I saw it on the Flu Wiki (damn he's getting good at this), and I'm keeping an eye on TXCN for further news.  If I hear anything new, I'll post.

"I am opposed to any form of tyranny over the mind of man."  Thomas Jefferson

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by: History Lover @ Mon Jan 08, 2007 at 19:23:22 PM UTC

Husbands

That's funny, History Lover. My husband sent me the story as well. I had seen it on the wiki, but only moments before. Seems that they're mounting the ol' learning curve, eh?

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by: Edna Mode @ Mon Jan 08, 2007 at 23:27:38 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Mistake

Sorry, that should be dbg.

"I am opposed to any form of tyranny over the mind of man."  Thomas Jefferson

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by: History Lover @ Mon Jan 08, 2007 at 19:53:31 PM UTC

IT: Heads in the Sand

This is an good, very long, article worth passing on:

Heads in the Sand: Procrastinating about bird flu

If there's a bird flu pandemic, IT will be critical to business continuity. So why haven't more organizations started planning?

Robert L. Mitchell / Computerworld / http://www.computerw...

January 08, 2007 (Computerworld) Monday morning, 9 a.m. The CEO calls you into an executive meeting as word comes that a full-blown H5N1 avian influenza pandemic is spreading rapidly from central Asia. Your job: Keep mission-critical IT systems working despite staff absenteeism rates that could reach 40% at the height of the pandemic, which is expected to run its course over a period of six to eight weeks.

Supply chain disruptions are expected as countries close their borders, so you can't count on spare parts. With emergency travel restrictions in effect, you can forget about moving staffers between global locations to cope with labor shortages. You also need to enable remote access for an unprecedented number of employees who will either be out sick, caring for ill family members or afraid to come to the office. You have weeks, possibly just days, before the outbreak overtakes one of your major data centers.

Are You Ready?

For many businesses, the answer is probably no.

[snip]

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by: Pixie @ Mon Jan 08, 2007 at 20:24:13 PM UTC

chemical spill in texas

The police department just recommended that people in the area Shelter In Place until the cloud of gas is dissapated.  They instructed the public to visit a page on the internet for instructions or call the police department.  This was on CNN.

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by: CashB @ Mon Jan 08, 2007 at 20:52:54 PM UTC

Was this spill close to Austin? Whats going on today? n/t

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by: Greenmom @ Mon Jan 08, 2007 at 22:05:32 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Well...

Any links for instructions?

Life is a narrow bridge. Most important is to have no fear. Have no fear at all.

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by: Thinlina @ Mon Jan 08, 2007 at 23:05:36 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Austin

The news progam was ABC 11 here in NC. I checked their website . There was no public video linked to it, the story itself was linked into the National ABC news, no video link there either.

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by: GrayArea @ Mon Jan 08, 2007 at 23:22:01 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Video of Austin

Watching the evening news here in NC. They did a quick story about the Austin Birds. While the story was read they were showing video of one of the streets with about six dead birds of various sizes. From the side of the screen you could see a large Rat stroll into the shot, he grabbed up one of the smallest birds and started to drag it away as the clip ended.  Seeing that rat gave me chills. Sure makes you wonder...how many reports are never made because nature cleans up after itself?

Also wondering...did anyone check the roofs of the buildings? Or was the search for birds confined to the streets? Might be a good idea to extend the search to include any dead rodents too.

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by: GrayArea @ Mon Jan 08, 2007 at 23:04:44 PM UTC

Ewwww!

I didn't see the part with the rat in it, and I'm using all my self-control to keep from making another politician joke.  Could you tell if any of the official types noticed?  They did do a flyover to check out the roofs, and they told people to call 311 to report other sick or dead animals.  Other than that, it's "Wait and see."

dbg/dgb -- I answer to many things.  ;-)

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by: dbg @ Tue Jan 09, 2007 at 00:56:19 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Off topic - Texas chemical spill??

CashB - any chance that you're confusing this with another story?  I don't see or hear anything anywhere about a chemical spill in Texas.

If anyone else has any info, would you post it to the Texas page? 

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by: Ree @ Mon Jan 08, 2007 at 23:53:35 PM UTC

here's a link

Courtesy of our friends at CurEvents...

http://www.curevents...

nothing left to do but :) :) :)

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by: SarahS @ Tue Jan 09, 2007 at 00:01:06 AM UTC

Thanks Sarah! And a bird theory...

A thought about the birds (because with all of the stuff in Indonesia at the moment, I'd rather not be worrying about them - too close for comfort)

The last time an "event" like this happened in Texas, several months ago as I recall, it was in West - a small town north of Waco.  A couple of stories about dead birds in the streets, no follow up, and no explanation...except from the old Czech guys down at the coffee shop, who mentioned that there had been a very large tornado the day before in one of the neigboring states.

And yesterday, there were several tornadoes across the southeast.

Could it be possible?

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by: Ree @ Tue Jan 09, 2007 at 03:44:59 AM UTC

Bloomberg on Indonesian "cluster"

http://www.bloomberg...

Clarifies a lot of the confusion.

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by: Edna Mode @ Tue Jan 09, 2007 at 04:48:37 AM UTC