Penumbra Pandemia

Bird flu, pig disease cooling down: Animal Health Department
Reported by Thanh Nien staff – Translated by Tuong Nhi
Monday, July 30, 2007 12:53:35
Vietnam (GMT+07)
Vietnam’s Animal Health Department reported Sunday that recent outbreaks of both bird flu and the porcine blue ear disease were fading.
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Three provinces are still plagued by bird flu – Dien Bien in the north, Quang Binh in the center and Dong Thap in the Mekong Delta region.
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Last week, the blue-ear disease, known in medical parlance as Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome (PRRS), was reported in Danang city, Quang Ngai, Quang Nam, and Thua Thien-Hue provinces.
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Local animal health centers are strengthening quarantines, sterilizing infected areas and culling all infected pigs.
However, some 32 pigs in the Mekong Delta’s Long An province showed signs of the disease yesterday.
Ongoing diagnostic work on the pigs has yet to yield conclusive results.
PRRS in pigs is caused by the Lelstad virus, which causes ears to turn blue, appetite loss, high fever, miscarriage, premature delivery, coughing, respiratory problems, and death in extreme cases."

"H5N1 Human and Duck Sequence Identities in Indonesia
Recombinomics Commentary
July 28, 2007
H5N1 partial HA bird sequences from Indonesia have been released at GenBank. One of the sequences, A/muscovy duck/Jakarta/Sum201/2006 is an exact match with the human sequences A/Indonesia/CDC823/2006 between positions 99-1077, signaling human H5N1 infections via waterfowl.
The human sequence is from a 9M from south Jakarta who died September 22. 2006, Another recently released duck sequence from Jakarta, A/duck/Jakarta/Smlt306/2006 only has 2 differences with the above sequences, providing additional linkages between the human case and waterfowl.
The two duck isolates also have a rare polymorphism, A586G, which is largely limited to clade 2.2 Egyptian cases. They also have A958C, which is almost exclusively found in Qinghai clade 2.2 isolates. ---"

India kills fowl, checks people in bird flu fight
Biswajyoti Das
GUWAHATI, India
Additional reporting by Gopal Sharma in Kathmandu
Reuters
27 Jul 2007 13:41:04 GMT
Veterinary workers in protective clothing broke the necks of thousands of chickens on Friday, while medical staff checked people for flu symptoms to contain an outbreak of bird flu in poultry in India's northeast.
The outbreak of avian influenza in chickens this month on a small farm in the remote state of Manipur was the first in India this year, making it the 25th country to report the occurrence of the H5N1 strain in 2007.
Nearly 10,000 chickens have been killed in and around Chingmeirong village on the outskirts of Imphal, the state capital, before being thrown -- along with eggs -- into huge pits that were then covered with lime and salt and finally with soil.
Authorities plan to kill 150,000 birds by next week within a 5 km (3 mile) radius of the village.
India's Animal Husbandry Commissioner S.K. Bandyopadhyay said officials had stepped up the collection of blood and tissue samples from poultry from the country's northeast to see if there were more cases of farm fowl being infected with the virus.
Three other states in the region asked veterinary workers to visit farms to monitor the health of the birds, with two of them -- Assam and Nagaland -- putting up checkpoints on roads next to their borders with Manipur to prevent the entry of fowl from the affected area.
'All district officers have been asked to visit poultry farms and strictly implement bio-security measures,' said A.K. Kotoky, director of Assam's veterinary and animal husbandry department.
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Nepal ordered quarantine posts and custom points along its border with India to be on alert, and asked importers to not bring poultry into the country, officials in Kathmandu said.

CITIZENS TAKE INITIATIVE
Officials said they would question thousands of people around the affected area on whether they were suffering from flu symptoms and had contact with poultry.
Volunteers distributed surgical masks on the streets of Imphal, while some kept watch on trucks and three-wheeler vans to stop smuggling of poultry from the affected area.
In some neighbourhoods near the affected farm where medical teams had not yet visited, anxious residents opened camps and asked those suffering from fever to report for checks.
Officials say the outbreak in Manipur seemed isolated.
Imphal is about 1,700 km (1,000 miles) from New Delhi, and closer to Bangkok than to the Indian capital.
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In Manipur, some poultry farmers had stopped feeding fowl.
'We are scared to go near them,' said Rajiv Singh, a poultry farmer near Imphal.
India's northeast, connected to the rest of the country by a tiny strip of land, neighbours Bangladesh, Myanmar and China, all of which have been hit by bird flu of the H5N1 strain.
Indian troops on the state's border with Myanmar have stepped up patrols to prevent poultry smuggling.
Last year, India faced two major outbreaks of the H5N1 strain in chickens in the west of the country."

"Two die in Vietnam from pig disease, bird flu returns
By Ho Binh Minh
Reuters
23 Jul 2007 13:05:55 GMT
HANOI
(Corrects the cause of human deaths and infections to Streptococcus suis bacteria)
Two people have died in northern Vietnam from a pig disease while another virus has been killing thousands of pigs in recent weeks in the central region, government and media reports said on Monday.
Bird flu has also returned to the central region, killing hundreds of ducks at a farm at the weekend, they said.
Twenty two people, most from northern areas, have been taken to a Hanoi hospital so far this year after they fell sick from the Streptococcus suis bacteria, the Vietnam News Agency said on Monday.
Two of the infected had died, it said without giving more details.
People infected by the bacteria suffer from rapid internal haemorrhage and high fever after they eat pork from a sick pig or inhale the air near the sick swine, doctors said.
Another pig disease, the Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome (PRRS) virus, also known as Lelystad virus, had struck more than 16,000 pigs in the central province of Quang Nam since June 25, the Agriculture Minister Cao Duc Phat said on July 14.
'The disease in Quang Nam now is very serious, it is spreading wide and risks to infect other provinces and cities,' Phat said in a letter circulated to provincial authorities nationwide, a copy of which was seen by Reuters.
He said the transport of pigs and pork from infected areas must be banned to help halt the virus spread.
The syndrome was first recognised in the United States in the mid 1980s and was called 'mystery swine disease'. In some other countries including Vietnam it is referred to as 'blue ear disease'.
Since late June the virus has spread to neighbouring Quang Ngai province and Danang city, infecting more than 27,000 pigs, nearly 1,500 of them had died, the Animal Health Department said.
On Sunday state-run Vietnam Television said pig raisers in Quang Nam province had thrown hundreds of dead pigs into a local river, causing serious water pollution near the UNESCO-recognised tourist town of Hoi An.

BIRD FLU KILLS DUCKS
The Animal Health Department said bird flu returned to the central region killing 220 ducks at a farm province of Quang Binh last Saturday. Tests of the dead ducks showed they had the H5N1 virus, it said.
In all, bird flu infections have been detected in ducks and chickens in two northern provinces, Quang Binh province in the centre and the southern Mekong delta province of Dong Thap.
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State media said on Monday that the Medical Military Academy would start testing the domestically produced anti-bird flu vaccines on humans from August, with the first group involving 20 volunteers. ---"

"DISEASE KILLS BRITON
British resident dies in Benalmádena Legionaire’s outbreak
by Oliver McIntyre
www.costadelsolnews.e
A 68-year-old British man died Monday morning [7/16, 2007], becoming the first fatal victim of a Legionaire’s disease outbreak in Benalmádena that over the last two weeks has seen the hospitalisation of 15 people.
The victim, James Peter O., had been in the ICU at Málaga’s Hospital Clínico since Monday of last week. He first began exhibiting symptoms on June 25, four days before the outbreak was officially detected and the Club de Hielo municipal skating rink and pool in Arroyo de la Miel was identified as a possible source of the bacteria. The Briton lived near the Club de Hielo and frequently walked in the zone, but was not a user of the facility.
It has now been confirmed that the Club de Hielo was the source and, with the death of one of the victims, it is understood that a criminal investigation is being opened to determine any potential criminal responsibility for the outbreak. The company that holds the concession to operate the centre was aware of the detection of dangerous levels Legionella bacteria in the cooling tower in May and June but neither the cooling tower nor the facility itself was closed while treatment was undertaken.
The association El Defensor del Paciente has said it may join as a private prosecution in the criminal case, which could affect the Grupo Vera subsidiary that operates the Club de Hielo, the subcontractor who carried out maintenance on the cooling tower, and the town hall as the entity ultimately responsible for the municipal facility. The town hall has indicated it considers the centre operator and the maintenance company responsible for the outbreak.

Other victims recovering
The other 14 people sick with Legionaire’s have reportedly been making a gradual recovery and at press time at least seven had been released from the hospital.In initial comments to the press, ---"

"Air Finlandin matkustajia jumissa Malagan kentällä
Julkaistu 17.07.2007, klo 02.29 (päivitetty 17.07.2007, klo 03.14)
YLE Uutiset
Yksityisen suomalaisen lentoyhtiön Air Finlandin Malagasta Helsinkiin tuleva lento on jo yli vuorokauden myöhässä.
Lennon piti lähteä Malagasta sunnuntai-iltana, mutta edelleenkin matkustajat odottavat koneen lähtöä Malagan kentällä. Uudesta lähtöajasta ei ole tietoa.
Kentällä on paikallaolijoiden arvioiden mukaan runsaat 200 matkustajaa. Joukossa on vanhuksia ja lapsiperheitä. Tunnelmaa kentällä kuvaillaan kaoottiseksi.
Koneen kapteeni on kertonut matkustajille, että lennon viivästyminen johtuisi rikkoutuneesta tuulilasista. --."
*****
Briefly in English
A Finnish airline Air Finland flight from Malaga to Helsinki is already over 24 hours late.
The plane was due to leave for Helsinki in Sunday night, but the passengers are still waiting for the plane to leave in the Malaga airport. The estimated taking off time is not known. There are about 200 passengers in the airport including children and old people. The situation is described chaotic.
The captain of the flight has told passengers that the flight is late due to a broken windshield of the plane.

"Ex-journalist hit by deadly bug
Chris Osuh
16/ 7/2007
A FORMER Manchester journalist is seriously ill after contracting Legionnaires disease in Spain.
Dennis Wills is one of 15 people to be struck down by the deadly virus in the Costa del Sol town of Benalmadena.
The town in Malaga province, about eight miles from Torremolinos, is a popular expat enclave, and it is thought at least half the victims are British.
A 68-year-old British man, who has not been named, has been killed by the outbreak.
Mr Wills, 63, began suffering from the Legionnaires symptoms of back pain and a bad cough two weeks ago.
He had planned to fly back to his home town of Bury at the beginning of the month, but the pain was so severe that he had to be admitted to Malaga University Hospital, where he is being treated in intensive care.
Mr Wills worked for the Daily Mirror and ran the Journalist Services agency before emigrating to Spain three years ago.
He had edited the expat newspaper the Euro Weekly News until his retirement this year.
His son Peter, who spent a week by his bedside in Spain, said: 'Earlier this month I got a phone call saying he had a really bad back and could I help him to come home.
'When I got there he was in intensive care. I was absolutely terrified.
'He's hooked up to a respirator and can only communicate with his eyes.
'I'm really worried there could be lasting physical or brain damage but at the moment they just don't know.'
Legionnaires disease is caused by the Legionella bacterium, which is closely related to pneumonia and tends to flourish in hot weather.
Infection occurs after inhaling contaminated water and typical sources include cooling towers, air conditioning systems, showers and humidifiers.
The disease attacks the liver and kidneys and can lead to pneumonia. Victims typically suffer flu-like symptoms such as fever, coughing, chills and headaches.
Spanish authorities believe the Benalmadena outbreak has now been controlled."
*****
And how was this Benalmadena outbreak tested? The symptoms are the same as in human H5N1.

Sikatauti johtaa joukkoteurastuksiin Ruotsissa
Perjantai 13.07.2007 klo 11:07 (päivitetty pe 12:02)
STT via Kauppalehti
Ruotsissa on päätetty hävittää ainakin kymmenentuhatta sikaa vaarallisen eläintaudin leviämisen estämiseksi, kertoi Ruotsin radio perjantaina.
PRRS-tautia on tähän mennessä tavattu kahdesta sikalasta Etelä-Ruotsissa. Lisäksi kolmella tilalla on vahva tautiepäily, ja niiltä otettuja näytteitä tutkitaan parhaillaan Tanskassa.
Viranomaiset uskovat, että taudin leviäminen on mahdollista estää. Hävitettävien eläinten lopullinen määrä varmistuu sitten kun saadaan selville, kuinka laajalle tauti on levinnyt.
Viime viikkoon saakka Ruotsi, Suomi ja Norja olivat ainoat maat Euroopassa, missä PRRS:ää eli sikojen lisääntymis- ja hengitystieoireyhtymää ei oltu havaittu.
PRRS leviää ostoeläinten välityksellä, ja se voi levitä myös tuulen mukana useita kilometrejä.Tauti ei ole vaarallinen ihmisille ja siksi on mahdollista, että osa tapettavista eläimistä voidaan käyttää teuraaksi, arvioi Lena Hultin Ruotsin maatalousvirastosta radiouutisille."
*****
Briefly in English
PRRS found in Sweden. Ten thousand pigs are feared to loose their lives.

"Czech authorities kill 70,000 birds at H5N1 farms
AFP News brief
13/07/07 18h29 GMT+1
Around 70,000 birds have been killed at two Czech poultry farms where the H5N1 strain of bird flu, which is potentially fatal to humans, was confirmed this week, veterinary authorities said Friday.
Czech authorities have also decided to kill a further 70,000 birds, mostly chickens and turkeys, on three nearby farms even though bird flu has not been detected there, veterinary service spokesman Josef Duben.
'Around 70,000 have been killed,' at two farms near the village of Norin in the centre of the country where the virus was confirmed on Wednesday, he told AFP.
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'We are doing this preventively. It is a decision we have taken ourselves in discussion with European authorities,' Duben said, adding that compensation for the latest cull is likely to be around 30 million koruna (1.05 million euros, 1.46 million dollars).
He said decontamination of the poultry farms will continue over the weekend.
Since the initial Czech outbreak in June, other cases of the H5N1 strain of bird flu have been declared in France and Germany."

"Bird flu dogs at airport
Published: Sunday, 8 July, 2007, 01:45 AM Doha Time
THE HAGUE
AFP
Dutch customs have deployed two special bird flu dogs at Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport to check flights from high-risk countries for poultry, the authorities said yesterday.
The dogs, German shepherd Bo and Belgian shepherd Judy, are checking flights from countries where the bird flu virus has been found such as China, Thailand, Egypt, Russia and Turkey, the Dutch ministry of finance, which controls the customs service, said in a statement.
They are trained to sniff out all kinds of poultry, feathers and eggs. The dogs have been working on Schiphol airport since May this year. In Europe only the Czech customs are also working with specialised bird flu dogs, the authorities here said.
According to the customs service this year they have already confiscated 1,626 kilos of prepared poultry meat, 203 kilos of raw poultry meat and 245 eggs."

"Australia's hospitals not prepared for flood over flu panic
Hospitals flooded over flu panic
Simon Mossman and Nikki Todd | July 8, 2007
Hundreds of concerned parents have packed hospital emergency departments across Perth following an influenza warning from health authorities after the deaths of three young children.
Their action was prompted by a call from Western Australia's Department of Health urging parents to seek early medical attention for young children showing signs of respiratory illness.
Local GPs were also swamped and complained they had not been given enough warning to prepare for the higher demand on their services.
The health department's warning followed the death of three children, all aged under five, in the Perth metropolitan area in recent days.
It has been confirmed the three children died from the type A strain of the influenza virus, which can be controlled by vaccination.
Director of Communicable Disease Control Dr [Paul] Van Buynder said it was still wise for parents to closely monitor their children and to have them vaccinated against flu if possible.
'We are saying to parents that if your child is unwell or feverish, have a lower threshold for seeking care,' Dr Van Buynder said.
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Family doctors in Perth lamented not being given sufficient notice to bring in extra staff to cope with higher demand over the weekend.
'We've been contacted by general practitioners who have said they would have preferred to have been contacted before the health department issued its message through the media,' Professor Geoff Dobb, WA president of the Australian Medical Association (AWA), said.
Princess Margaret Hospital (PMH) spokeswoman Robyn Lawrence said the hospital had been inundated since the warning was issued.
'We have been very busy yesterday after the public announcement,' Dr Lawrence told Ten News.
'We saw 237 patients yesterday, which was an increase of 60 per cent compared to the previous Friday.'
Those seeking more information or advice on where to find their nearest after hours medical clinic can call 1800 020 080 or 1800 022 222.
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Director of Communicable Diseases at NSW Health, Dr Jeremy McAnulty said the annual flu season had arrived in NSW ---"

"Qinghai H5N1 Spread into Thuringen Poultry?
Recombinomics Commentary
July 5, 2007
'The investigation of a house goose in the district Saalfeld/Rudolstadt resulted in positive findings, as the speaker of the Thueringer of Ministry of Health communicated, Thomas Schulz. Whether it concerns the hochpathogene virus of the Subtyp H5N1, in Friedrich Loeffler Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut on the island Riems one clarify now.'
The above translation strongly suggests that the infected goose in Thuringen will also test positive for H5N1. H5N1 has already been confirmed in three locations in Thuringen, as well as three adjacent states (Saxony-Anhalt, Saxony, Bavaria). The number of dead wild birds has now topped 200 and the number of confirmed infections has topped 50.
The laboratory confirmed H5 positives suggest H5N1 will be found on additional farms and in wild birds in neighboring countries."

"France says H5N1 bird flu virus confirmed in swans
Sybille de La Hamaide, Paris, France
Francois Murphy and Sonya Dowsett, Madrid, Spain
Reuters
05 Jul 2007 at 11:44:08 GMT
Tests have confirmed that three swans found dead in eastern France were killed by the H5N1 bird flu virus, the French agriculture ministry said on Thursday, France's first cases of the disease in over a year.
'Michel Barnier, minister of agriculture and fishing, is putting in place the risk-prevention measures corresponding to the shift from the 'moderate' level to the 'high' level,' the ministry said in a statement.
The 'high' level means that birds and poultry in mainland France will either have to be locked up or protected by nets to avoid all contact with wild birds, a ministry official said.
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Germany said it was raising its assessment of the risk of bird flu following the French announcement and after officials on Wednesday discovered more birds that had died of the H5N1 virus, this time in the eastern state of Thuringia.
Spain's Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food on Thursday asked veterinary services to be more vigilant in the outlook for possible bird flu cases.
Spain already bans hunting with decoys, outdoor poultry raising and the isolation of breeding areas for wild aquatic birds in high-risk zones like bird migatory paths and wetlands.
In 98 'humid zones' in France, or around 15 percent of the country, there will be special veterinary checks at poultry farms.

'EXTREMELY VIGILANT'
French Health Minister Roselyne Bachelot said on French television that --- 'We have to be extremely vigilant because the large flu epidemic that appeared after World War I, also known as Spanish flu, was of avian origin,' --
The 1918-1919 flu killed at least 30 million people worldwide.
France, Europe's biggest poultry producer, ---
Last year, 13 European Union member states had confirmed cases of bird flu -- Germany, Austria, Denmark, Italy, Greece, Britain, the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, France and Hungary.
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More than 30 countries have reported outbreaks in the past year, in most cases involving wild birds such as swans.
Globally, the H5N1 virus has killed nearly 200 people out of over 300 known cases, according to the World Health Organisation. None of the victims were from Europe."

"New bird fhttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.giflu cases confirmed in Germany, suspected in France, Austria
Editor: Yan Liang
www.chinaview.cn (Xinhua)
BRUSSELS, July 4
2007-07-04 at 23:48:06
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Germany has confirmed bird flu cased in wild birds in Thuringia while French and Austrian authorities have reported new suspected cases in wild birds in their territories, said the European Commission on Wednesday.
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A suspicion of highly pathogenic bird flu virus has also been reported in the district of Gmunden, Upper Austria, based on clinical signs of the disease in a number of wild birds. The Austrian national authorities have sent samples from these birds to the national reference laboratory and expect results on the strain of the virus in the coming days.
The commission said all three member states are applying the precautionary measures set out under EU legislation. National laboratories are working intensively to determine whether the outbreaks were caused by the H5N1 virus, and are keeping close contact with the Community Reference Laboratory for Avian Influenza in Weybridge, Britain.
The precautionary measures consist of the establishment of a control area and a surrounding monitoring area around the positive finding.
In the control area, on-farm biosecurity measures must be strengthened, hunting of wild birds is banned, disease awareness of poultry owners must be enhanced, movement of poultry is banned except directly to the slaughterhouse and the dispatch of meat outside the zone is forbidden except where products have undergone the controls provided for in EU food controls legislation.
These latest wild bird cases follow the confirmation of H5N1 avian influenza on two poultry farms and in a wild swan in the Czech Republic, as well as cases of the disease in wild birds in Bavaria and Saxony, Germany, over the last two weeks.
The deadly H5N1 virus was responsible for over 700 reported cases of avian influenza in wild birds in the EU last year."

"Deadly virus stalks city
3 Jul, 2007 l 0520 hrs
ISTlTIMES NEWS NETWORK
KOLKATA
With the rains, viral fever is back in the city. But the strain that is pouncing on people unawares is more virulent than the ones that struck the city in previous monsoons. As a result, the city is reeling under a viral attack with hundreds falling prey.
Though the virus hasn't been identified as yet, it has left a trail of clues. It is airborne, highly infectious and is getting stronger every time it jumps victims. The symptoms are familiar: high fever, joint pain and severe cough accompanied by a stomach bug in some cases. An attack is leaving victims extremely weak. Most often, they are unable to get back to work even after the fever has subsided.
According to experts, this virus belongs to a new sub-type - which means Kolkatans have no resistance to it. It is more virulent than previous ones in terms of the intensity of symptoms. It is thriving at a certain temperature and humidity that now prevails in the city.
'The weather conditions are ideal for the virus to flourish. It is airborne and as it gets transmitted from one person to another, is turning even more virulent. But viral fever is rarely fatal unless it leads to a major secondary infection like meningitis, lung infection or cardiac myopathy. But these can't be ruled out in elderly patients," said enterologist Sanjoy De Bakshi.
This time, the fever is seen to persist for five days and antibiotics are making no difference. So doctors are just prescribing paracetamol to bring the fever down. 'Unless there is a secondary infection, antibiotics are useless. The body's immunity system has to fight the virus and it will take its own time,' explained senior doctor Samiran Panda.
There are around 30 known viruses. Every year the strains take on a new sub-type, which could be common cold, adeno or corona. 'Since the strains keep changing and new variations occur, it is difficult to combat them with drugs. Medicines can only reduce the discomfort while the virus has to die out naturally. But this strain seems to be a particularly virulent one and it is leading to severe joint pains, chest infections and respiratory problems in many cases," said Panda.
Private hospitals across the city have deferred several operations over the last week on patients suffering from viral fever. 'It could be dangerous for pregnant women and I have come across quite a few cases in the last few days. If they catch a secondary infection, other complications might follow,' said fertility expert Ranjit Chakraborti. In older people, a virulent strain like this one might even lead to lung or heart disorders like cardiac myopathy. But if you have sound health, you need not fear. 'The chances of a secondary infection are low unless the person concerned has a weak immunity system,' said P K Nemani, secretary of the Indian Medical Association.
The good news is that children are coping better with the viral fever. 'Since they have not had such infections before, their system is reacting less violently to the virus and hence the symptoms are less intense. Adults, on the other hand, have had such attacks in the past and their systems are producing more antibodies to fight the virus very quickly, which is leaving their system jolted. Also, they are more prone to the virus since they spend more time away from home. Children mostly get infected in school,' said Panda.
Once the weather changes and it becomes cooler, the virus will die out, believe experts."
*****
Sounds like a seasonal influenza, but the virus hasn't been identified and the case fatality rate isn't told.

"FAFfing about
Dr Frank Wells
Chairman, BMA Retired Members Forum, BMA, WC1H 9JP
BMJ 2007; 334: 0
--- there is a need to identify in advance personnel, over and above those already working in health care, who would be willing to assist if and when pandemic influenza occurs.
Such personnel include retired doctors and, in this context, the BMA Retired Members Forum has taken two initiatives: the first is to establish a database of those retired members willing to be contacted as experienced pairs of hands; and the second is to contact those responsible for retired members' organisations within the medical royal colleges to augment that database. The BMA is represented on the relevant planning groups where such matters as GMC registration and indemnity are being discussed.
The database is being co-ordinated by the Retired Members Forum secretariat. Retired doctors willing to be contacted should submit their geographical location and e-mail address to Catharina Ohman at COhman@bma.org.uk"

"Two New Human Cases Of Avian Flu Infection In Viet Nam
Christian Nordqvist
Medical News Today
03 Jul 2007 - 10:00 PDT
"Two people have become infected with the H5N1 bird flu virus strain, according to Viet Nam's Ministry of Health. Viet Nam last had a confirmed human infection in November 2005. The National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology (NIHE), the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the WHO H5 Reference Laboratory have also confirmed these latest cases.
One is a male, 29 years old, from Vinh Phuc Province. He became ill on 10th May, hospitalized on May 15th and discharged on 11th June. Prior to becoming ill he had been slaughtering poultry for a wedding. The other is also male, aged 19, from Thai Nguyen Province. He became ill on 20th May and was admitted to hospital on 25th May. He is still in hospital, in a stable condition. He had been exposed to poultry at a slaughter house.
---
During May and June this year Viet Nam saw new outbreaks of H5N1 infection among poultry."

Bird flu suspected in three dead swans
The Evening Echo News (Ireland)
Tuesday 03/07/2007 - 6:18:42 PM
Three young swans found dead in a pond in eastern France are being tested for bird flu, the Agriculture Ministry announced today, ordering special containment measures in the area.
Results of the tests were expected on Thursday.
Meanwhile, a control zone of about half a mile was set up around the pond in Assenoncourt in the Moselle region where the swans were found to watch for more possible deaths of wild birds, the ministry said.
Captive birds were ordered confined and cats and dogs forbidden to run loose and bird hunting and other activities involving birds were banned, a ministry statement said.
A second 10-mile observation zone also was set up around the pond with similar rules applying, the ministry said.
Fear that the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu may spread in western Europe increased after the announcement earlier Tuesday by German authorities that a wild bird in eastern Germany tested positive for the disease.
Last month, several wild birds in neighbouring Bavaria and Saxony tested positive for the H5N1 strain.
--- H5N1 strain has been found in poultry farms in three other EU countries this year: Hungary, Britain and the Czech Republic, the European Commission has said.
---
France experienced a bird flu scare after an outbreak of the lethal disease in February 2006 in the south-east Ain region.
--- dozens of countries briefly suspended imports of fowl and luxury items like foie gras from France."
*****
Briefly in Finnish
Lyhyesti suomeksi
Ranskassa kuolleista joutsenista testataan H5N1-virusta
Ranskan maatalousministeriön mukaan itäisessä Ranskassa lammikon reunalle kuolleita joutsenia testataan H5N1-viruksen varalta. Testien tuloksia odotetaan ensi torstaiksi. [H5N1-pikatestin tekeminen kestää muutamia tunteja.]
Assenoncourtissa Mosellen alueella sijaitsevan lammikon ympärille asetettiin noin 800 metrin tarkkailualue; viranomaiset ovat kieltäneet kesyjen lintujen, kissojen ja koirien pitämisen vapaana alueella. Alueen ympärille perustettiin vielä noin 1,5 km kokoinen tarkkailualue, jolla pätevät samat säännöt.
H5N1 on leviämässä läntiseen Eurooppaan. Aiemmin tämän vuoden 2007 aikana H5N1-virusta on löydetty linnuista Unkarissa, Britanniassa ja Tsekin tasavallassa.
Ranskan aiemman H5N1-epidemian aikana monet Euroopan maat kielsivät lintuperäisten tuotteiden, kuten hanhenmaksapasteijan tuonnin.