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| Bird Flu | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: 17 Nov 2014, 11:51 PM (517 Views) | |
| skibboy | 17 Nov 2014, 11:51 PM Post #1 |
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17 November 2014 Bird flu: New EU measures after Dutch and UK cases The European Commission has adopted protective measures to try to contain a bird flu outbreak after new cases were reported in the UK and the Netherlands. The measures include killing animals in infected areas and banning sales of poultry products from those areas. The Dutch government has reported the "highly contagious" H5N8 strain at a poultry farm there. The UK reported a case at a duck farm in East Yorkshire, and the Commission said it was "probably identical". H5N8 can potentially affect humans. EU officials say the outbreaks may be linked to bird flu recently found in Germany. They say it could have been spread by migratory wild birds heading south for winter, but that tests are continuing to confirm any links between the three cases. Three-day ban The European Commission said in a statement that the UK and the Netherlands were already applying directives on culling affected poultry, prohibiting sales of affected poultry products and live birds, and establishing protection zones. It said: "The measures aim at quickly bringing the disease under control and at preventing the spread of the highly pathogenic avian influenza within the affected member states, to other member states and to third countries." ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ At the scene: BBC's Anna Holligan in Hekendorp It was a tense and traumatic day at the farm. The idyllic Dutch image was destroyed by the hum of a truck carrying an industrial size gas canister and the appearance of men in orange boiler suits. The health and safety teams came to Hekendorp to gas 150,000 hens. Their primary concern is to contain the outbreak. Poultry farmers, even those operating outside the 10km exclusion zone, have an additional concern. Many are worried about the potential damage to the reputation of Dutch poultry products. The industry has been brought to a standstill. A nationwide transportation ban will remain in place until at least Tuesday. The Netherlands is the second largest exporter of agricultural products in the world. It exports more than six billion eggs annually. We watched from behind the fire retardant barrier as diggers poured hundreds of dead chickens into trucks. Neighbours living around the contaminated farm see the cull as an unpleasant but essential sacrifice. ![]() Eggs and chickens are dumped into a container at Hekendorp ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ The Dutch authorities have already begun destroying 150,000 hens at the infected farm, in the village of Hekendorp. "This highly pathogenic variant of avian influenza is very dangerous for bird life," the Dutch government said in a statement (in Dutch). "The disease can be transmitted from animals to humans." The Dutch economics ministry says humans can only be infected through very close contact with infected birds. ![]() Experts wore protective suits before examining the Hekendorp farm The authorities have imposed a three-day nationwide ban on the transportation of poultry and eggs. Earlier this month, a farm in north-eastern Germany detected cases of H5N8, which had previously not been reported in Europe. The strain has never been detected in humans, but an outbreak in South Korea meant millions of farm birds had to be slaughtered to contain it. Also on Monday, Egyptian health officials said a woman had died from the deadliest strain of the virus, H5N1, after coming into contact with infected birds in the south of the country. Dangerous strains Meanwhile, officials in the UK confirmed at least one case of bird flu in Yorkshire, but insisted the risk to public health was "very low". A cull of poultry is being carried out at the site and an exclusion zone is in place. The Commission said: "The information available indicates that the H5 virus in the UK is probably identical to the H5N8 virus found in the Netherlands and in Germany." ![]() The head of the World Animal Health Organisation, Bernard Vallat, suggested that bird feed at the farms might have become contaminated by wild migratory birds. "If feed is not protected and a wild bird comes to eat it, it's enough to contaminate the feed and then those that eat that feed," Mr Vallat said. Most forms of bird flu do not infect humans, but H5N1 and H7N9 have caused serious infections in people, the World Health Organization (WHO) says. The majority of those infected had come into close contact with live or dead poultry. There is no evidence to suggest H5N1 and H7N9 can be passed to humans through properly prepared poultry or eggs, the WHO says. H5N1 has a mortality rate of about 60% in humans, and led to 384 deaths between 2003 and December 2013, according to WHO figures. Common symptoms include a high fever and coughing. Source:
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| skibboy | 13 Oct 2016, 11:30 PM Post #26 |
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Bird tracking could provide flu early warning system By Helen Briggs BBC News 4 hours ago ![]() Deaths from bird flu at a turkey farm in Germany Monitoring birds on their long distance migrations may provide early warning of bird flu outbreaks, say scientists. There is growing evidence that wild birds move the disease around the world as they fly thousands of miles to their winter homes. Researchers studied the genetic code of flu viruses in birds from 16 countries infected during the 2014 outbreak. They say bird flu was carried by migrating birds from Asia to Europe and North America via the Arctic. Bird flu is an infectious disease of poultry and wild birds. The strain studied was H5N8, which first appeared in South Korea in early 2014. The virus later spread to Japan, North America and Europe, causing outbreaks at poultry farms between autumn 2014 and spring 2015. Data sharing "Bird flu is a major threat to the health and well-being of farmed chickens worldwide," said lead researcher Dr Samantha Lycett of the University of Edinburgh. "Our findings show that with good surveillance, rapid data sharing and collaboration, we can track how infections spread across continents." ![]() Farmed geese at Poyang Lake, China The study suggests that the virus spread along two main migration routes - or flyways - for wild birds: - From the east Asia coast/Korean peninsula, north to the Arctic coast of the Eurasian continent, then west to Europe - From the Korean peninsula, then east across the Bering Strait and south along the north-west coast of North America. According to international scientists, contact with infected wild birds or materials contaminated with their droppings was the most likely route of transmission. Commenting on the research, Dr Derek Gatherer of the University of Lancaster said H5N8 is the latest in a long line of bird flu outbreaks to cause concern. "Flyways are the routes that migrating ducks, geese and other wildfowl follow every year from their breeding grounds to their winter retreats," he said, "Just as a human airline passenger can spread human flu from continent to continent, each migratory bird that carries bird flu is a potential spread risk to other points along its flyway." The study, published in the journal Science, was conducted by the Global Consortium for H5N8 and Related Influenza Viruses. Source:
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| skibboy | 20 Oct 2016, 12:10 AM Post #27 |
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India Delhi zoo shut over bird flu scare 19 October 2016 ![]() Delhi's zoo is one of the biggest in India The zoo in the Indian capital Delhi has been temporarily closed after at least nine birds died of suspected bird flu. Zoo officials have said tests on two of the carcasses had confirmed H5N1 avian influenza. The other bodies have also been sent for testing. The zoo curator said that the zoo was only shut as a precautionary measure and would reopen in a few days. Delhi's zoo is one of the biggest in India, and has an estimated 2.2 million visitors every year. Curator, Riaz Khan, told reporters that the casualties included ducks, pelicans and painted storks. This incident marks the second time the Delhi zoo has been shut over a health scare this year. In May, it was closed for a few days after 46 of its spotted deer died of rabies. Source:
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| skibboy | 16 Nov 2016, 02:14 AM Post #28 |
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15 November 2016 Netherlands steps up measures to fight bird flu © ANP/AFP/File | Chicken are locked in a poultry farm in Bergentheim, Netherlands on November 10, 2016, following the discovery of bird flu among wild birds in Europe THE HAGUE (AFP) - The Netherlands shuttered petting zoos and banned duck hunting as it stepped up measures Monday to stem a bird flu outbreak blamed for killing scores of poultry and more than a thousand wild birds. After imposing strict restrictions last week when the first dead birds were found and ordering all poultry farms to keep their flocks inside, the Dutch government on Monday banned visitors to such places. It has also barred people from petting zoos and told bird-lovers with caged pets at home not to have visitors. Poultry competitions have been banned as well as bird-hunting, the bureau for economic affairs said in a statement late Monday. "These extra measures have been taken as a precaution after poultry farms in Hungary, Austria have been widely affected by the avian flu H5N8," a viral strain that unlike H5N1 is not transferable to humans, it said. Those countries have also ordered the cleaning of bird farms and banned the transportation of the livestock, the Dutch authorities said. In the western port of Rotterdam, a park closed its animal section after several aquatic birds were found to have died from the virus. Others still not affected have been penned in. And on the banks of Lake Markermeer, close to Amsterdam, about 1,250 wild birds were found dead last week, according to the RTL news channel. The numbers have been rising in past days, and staff were busy collecting the carcasses on Tuesday. Switzerland on Tuesday also ordered a ban on free range farming after some dead birds were found around Lake Constance, Lake Geneva and Lake Neuchatel. Source:
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| skibboy | 26 Nov 2016, 01:49 AM Post #29 |
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25 November 2016 Sweden slaughters 200,000 hens on bird flu fears STOCKHOLM (AFP) - Sweden on Friday said 200,000 chickens were being slaughtered at a farm where bird flu has been detected, following a resurgence in the virus across Europe. Traces of the H5N8 virus were found at the Aniagra farm in Morarp, southwest Sweden, on Thursday. The discovery came after bird flu was detected among ducks at a tiny farm in neighbouring Denmark, in the Copenhagen region. "All of the farm's 200,000 hens will be put down to prevent the expansion of the virus," Sweden's agriculture department said in a statement, adding that 37,000 of the birds had already been slaughtered on Thursday. Government scientist Karin Ahl said the operation would "take time as this is a large farm, above all if one thinks of the crucial disinfection that needs to be done at all of the sites". Aniagra chief Anders Lindberg told the local newspaper Helsingborgs Dagblad on Thursday: "It's a heavy blow of course, but for the moment what's important is that we do not allow the virus to spread further." The agriculture department stressed that there is no danger of eating eggs from the farm -- or Swedish poultry products in general -- as the H5N8 virus has never been transmitted from birds to humans. The H5N8 virus has been detected in poultry and wild birds in 10 European countries, according to the World Health Organization: Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Austria, Croatia, Hungary, the Netherlands, Poland, Switzerland and Russia. Last week the Netherlands shuttered petting zoos and banned duck hunting as it stepped up measures to stem its bird flu outbreak, blamed for killing scores of poultry and more than a thousand wild birds. Source:
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| skibboy | 28 Nov 2016, 01:34 AM Post #30 |
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27 November 2016 Dutch kill 190,000 ducks to contain bird flu outbreak ![]() © ANP/AFP | Workers in protective gear get ready to cull ducks as part of prevention measures against bird flu at a duck farm in Hierden, central Netherlands on November 27, 2016 THE HAGUE (AFP) - Dutch officials have culled 190,000 ducks on a central Netherlands farm where inspectors have confirmed the presence of a highly infectuous strain of bird flu, officials and local media said Sunday. The outbreak was detected at a farm in Biddinghuizen, about 70 kilometres (43 miles) west of Amsterdam, where about 180,000 ducks were put down together with another 10,000 within a one kilometre radius, the Dutch food and safety watchdog NVWA said. "There are three other poultry farms within a three kilometre radius and they are being monitored," the NVWA added in a statement. Authorities have also imposed a ban on poultry and poultry product transport within a 10 kilometre radius, the statement said. Tests indicated that the birds were killed by an H5N8 variant of the disease "which is highly infectuous" for poultry -- killing about 30 percent of infected birds -- but not "very dangerous to humans", public newscaster NOS said. Earlier this month the Netherlands shuttered petting zoos and banned duck hunting as it stepped up measures to stem a bird flu outbreak blamed for killing scores of poultry and more than a thousand wild birds in the country. In the western port of Rotterdam, a park closed its animal section after several aquatic birds were found to have died from the H5N8 virus. Others still not affected have been penned in. And on the banks of Lake Markermeer, close to Amsterdam, about 1,250 wild birds were found dead earlier this month, local news reports said. The H5N1 strain of bird flu has killed more than 420 people, mainly in southeast Asia, since first appearing in 2003. Another strain of bird flu, H7N9, has claimed more than 200 lives since emerging in 2013, according to World Health Organisation figures. Avian flu severely hit the Netherlands in 2003 with health authorities destroying some 30 million birds in an effort to quash an outbreak. Around 106 million chickens are raised on Dutch poultry farms, according to the latest Dutch statistics. Source:
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| skibboy | 7 Dec 2016, 01:47 AM Post #31 |
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All of France put on ‘high risk’ restrictions over bird flu![]() © Philippe Huguen, AFP | Wild ducks in northern France Text by FRANCE 24 2016-12-06 France widened “high risk” restrictions to the entire country after the detection of several cases of the highly pathogenic H5N8 avian flu strain in farms in southwest France and in wild ducks in northern France, the farm ministry said Tuesday. The decision was also motivated by the “rapid change in the ... situation in France and in several European countries”, the statement said. The outbreak was detected Thursday on a duck farm in the southwestern Tarn region, the heart of the lucrative, though controversial, foie gras industry. It came just as a ban on exports outside Europe was about to be lifted in time for the crucial holiday period. Exports outside the European Union had been suspended after an outbreak a year ago, and producers were waiting for the green light – which had been set for Saturday – to resume shipments just in time for the Christmas holidays, when the delicacy is especially popular. Producers must now wait another three months for exports to resume, as long as no further cases are discovered. Protection zone The ministry, which said migratory birds were the likely source of the outbreak, announced later on Tuesday a number of confirmed or suspected cases of bird flu in the southwestern regions of Gers, Hautes-Pyrenees and Lot-et-Garonne – where ducks from the supplier of the Tarn farm had been transported – leading to around 7,000 further birds being culled. A further 4,500 had died from illness. A protection zone has been declared within a three-kilometre radius of the Tarn farm, as well as a 10-kilometre surveillance zone. French poultry farmers have been told to keep their flocks indoors or apply safety nets preventing contact with wild birds. Those who may not use confinement or safety nets because of animal welfare or quality requirements can ask to be exempted if they can prove sufficient biosecurity measures. The H5N8 variant of bird flu, which also hit duck farmers in the Netherlands last month, is highly infectious for poultry but poses little danger to humans. The H5N1 strain, however, has killed more than 420 people, mainly in south-east Asia, since first appearing in 2003. Source: (FRANCE 24 with AFP, REUTERS)
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| skibboy | 17 Dec 2016, 01:58 AM Post #32 |
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16 December 2016 Bird flu hits British turkey farm © AFP/File | The UK's chief veterinary officer said any Christmas dinner food safety risk related to an outbreak of a highly contagious strain of bird flu at a turkey farm in northewast England is "very low" LONDON (AFP) - Britain on Friday announced the discovery of a highly contagious strain of bird flu at a turkey farm, and sought to allay fears the outbreak could affect the traditional Christmas meal. The H5N8 strain of avian flu was detected at a farm near Louth, a town in northeast England, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said. All of the more than 5,000 birds at the farm that have not died from the disease will be culled, Defra said. The government also announced it was restricting the movement of animals and animal products around the affected site. The H5N8 strain of the virus is highly infectious to poultry, but poses little danger to humans. Cases of H5N8 have been reported in France, the Netherlands and Sweden in recent weeks, in both migratory birds and at farms. A different strain, H5N1, has killed more than 420 people, mainly in southeast Asia, since first appearing in 2003. Nigel Gibbens, the UK's chief veterinary officer, said any risk to public health was "very low" and "does not pose a food safety risk for UK consumers", chiefly among Britons preparing for Christmas festivities which often include the traditional meal of roast turkey. "There is not anticipated to be any impact on the supplies of turkeys or other birds over Christmas," Defra said. Source:
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| skibboy | 23 Dec 2016, 01:16 AM Post #33 |
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22 December 2016 Britain reports bird flu in wild duck © AFP/File | The H5N8 strain of bird flu can spread quickly through affected farms, leading to the culling of thousands of birds LONDON (AFP) - Britain on Thursday announced the discovery of a highly contagious strain of bird flu in a wild duck found dead in Wales, warning poultry keepers to remain vigilant as Christmas approaches. The same H5N8 strain was detected last week at a turkey farm in Lincolnshire in eastern England but the government said there was no suggestion the disease had spread from that farm to the duck. "As this is a wild bird, it highlights the importance for poultry keepers to follow our clear advice on biosecurity," the government's chief veterinary officer Nigel Gibbens said in a statement. Gibbens said the risk to public health was "very low". The H5N8 strain can spread quickly in affected farms and can lead to the culling of thousands of birds. The strain has been detected in 13 other European countries including France and Germany since October. Hungary is the country that has had the highest number of outbreaks in that time, with 201 instances reported on farms and four in wild birds. Source:
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| skibboy | 27 Dec 2016, 01:36 AM Post #34 |
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26 December 2016 Iran culls birds after avian flu outbreak © AFP/File | Iranian authorities said 63,000 chickens, along with 800,000 fertilised eggs and day-old chicks, were culled at a farm in Qazvin province TEHRAN (AFP) - Iran has killed hundreds of thousands of birds in recent weeks as avian flu spreads across seven provinces of the country, officials have reported. More than 1,000 wild birds, mostly geese, have been found dead in the Mighan wetland in central Iran, the environmental protection organisation told state news agency IRNA on Monday. IRNA said 63,000 chickens, along with 800,000 fertilised eggs and day-old chicks, were culled at a farm in Qazvin province in recent days after an outbreak of the deadly H1N8 and H1N5 strains of the disease. That adds to the 725,000 birds destroyed since mid-November across the country following nine flu outbreaks, according to a report from the World Organisation for Animal Health released last week. Licenses for bird shooting have been suspended due to fear of infection by migratory birds, and people have been advised not to buy game birds at local markets. Despite a small number of human deaths in different countries over the years, the disease is mostly a risk to other birds, spreading rapidly and killing large numbers. However, scientists have raised concerns that bird flu strains could mutate to be transmitted between humans. Source:
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| skibboy | 5 Jan 2017, 01:29 AM Post #35 |
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France orders massive duck cull after severe bird flu outbreak![]() © Gaizka Iroz, AFP file picture | All free range ducks and geese will be slaughtered in the affected areas between January 5 and January 20, the agriculture ministry said 2017-01-04 France on Wednesday ordered a massive cull of ducks in three regions most affected by a severe episode of bird flu, as it tries to contain the virus which has been spreading quickly over the past month, the agriculture ministry said. All free range ducks, as well as geese, will be slaughtered between Jan. 5 and approximatively Jan. 20 in an area in southwestern France comprising parts of the Gers, Landes and Hautes-Pyrenees administrative departments, it said in a statement. Some farms will be exempted, however, including those which confine birds and those that perform full production cycles, from ducklings to transformation into end-products. Southwestern France, home to most producers of foie gras made of duck and geese liver, had already been the centre of a severe episode of bird flu last year, although outbreaks involved other strains. Several European countries and Israel have found cases of the contagious H5N8 strain over the past two months and some have ordered poultry flocks be kept indoors to prevent the disease spreading. Source: (REUTERS)
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| skibboy | 16 Jan 2017, 12:05 AM Post #36 |
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15 January 2017 Uganda detects bird flu ![]() © AFP/File | Ducks are unloaded at a farm in southwest France on January 6 ahead of their slaughter, part of a mass bird cull to stem the spread of bird flu KAMPALA (AFP) - Uganda announced Sunday it had detected bird flu among migratory birds, without specifying whether it was the particularly virulent H5 strain detected this season in countries worldwide. The agriculture ministry said bird flu had been detected in two spots, one near Entebbe, on the banks of Lake Victoria, and another in the Masaka distict about 120 kilometres (75 miles) west of Kampala. Five domestic ducks and a hen in Masaka were also infected, leading authorities to call for all poultry to be kept inside to avoid further contagion from migratory birds, it said. In a statement, Christopher Kibazanga, minister for agriculture, animals and fisheries, said local wildlife authorities on January 2 had reported the "mass death of wild birds, seen by fishermen at Lutembe beach at the shores of Lake Victoria near Entebbe". Another report arrived on January 13 from the Masaka district, and in both cases the specimen tested positive for "the highly pathogenic avian influenza that affects both humans and animals and which causes a high number of deaths in both species", the statement added. The ministry said the outbreak was a first for Uganda but did not specify which flu strain it was. In 2016 51 countries declared the outbreak of one of the virulent H5 and H7 strains of bird flu, according to the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE). These include H5N1, H5N2, H5N5, H5N6, H5N9, H7N1, H7N3, H7N7 et H7N8. Europe is battling the spread of H5N1, culling millions of birds on farms and moving them indoors to avoid contagion from infected wildlife. The strain can be transmitted to humans, and is held responsible for the deaths of several hundred people since 2003. Source:
Edited by skibboy, 16 Jan 2017, 12:06 AM.
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| skibboy | 19 Jan 2017, 01:35 AM Post #37 |
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18 January 2017 Kenya, Rwanda ban poultry from Uganda over bird flu © AFP/File | The Kenyan and Rwanda governments have banned importation of poultry and poultry products from Uganda after the avian bird flu eas detected NAIROBI (AFP) - Kenyan and Rwandan authorities said Wednesday they had banned poultry products from neighbouring Uganda, where a virulent H5 strain of avian flu has broken out. "The government banned importation of poultry and poultry products from Uganda with immediate effect," said Kenya's agriculture cabinet secretary Willy Bett at a press conference. The move from Nairobi comes two days after Rwanda also blocked poultry imports. "Rwanda has put in place measures to prevent the disease. We have temporarily halted the import of poultry and poultry products," Christine Kanyandekwe from the country's agricultural department said Wednesday. She said Rwanda imports 50,000 day-old chicks and 100 tonnes of eggs from Uganda per month. Figures for Kenya were not immediately available. Uganda's agriculture ministry announced Sunday that it had detected avian flu among migratory birds, saying that it had since spread to a few domestic birds. In both areas where it was detected the birds tested positive for "the highly pathogenic avian influenza that affects both humans and animals and which causes a high number of deaths in both species", the ministry said. Uganda's acting commissioner in charge of animal health Dr Anna Ademun told AFP the strain was "confirmed to the level of H5." Uganda has some 40 million chickens, according to agricultural statistics. In 2016, 51 countries declared the outbreak of one of the virulent H5 and H7 strains of bird flu, according to the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE). These include H5N1, H5N2, H5N5, H5N6, H5N9, H7N1, H7N3, H7N7 and H7N8. Europe is battling the spread of H5N1, culling millions of birds on farms and moving them indoors to avoid contagion from infected wildlife. The strain can be transmitted to humans, and is held responsible for the deaths of several hundred people since 2003. Japan and Iran have also had to cull hundreds of thousands of birds due to outbreaks of the virus. Source:
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| skibboy | 22 Feb 2017, 02:27 AM Post #38 |
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French foie gras region faces another duck cull due to bird flu![]() © Iroz Gaizka, AFP | File photo taken on Aug. 31, 2016 of a duck farm in Caupenne, southwestern France 2017-02-21 France's agriculture ministry on Tuesday ordered all remaining 600,000 ducks in a key foie gras-producing region be slaughtered to try to stem a growing outbreak of bird flu. A previous cull in southwestern France failed to stop the spread of the H5N8 virus -- also known as bird flu -- which has hit ducks and other birds in more than 300 French farms in the past few months. The slaughter wll be largely focused on the region of Landes, where approximately 25 percent of France's foie gras is produced. France is the world's biggest producer of foie gras Agriculture Minister Stephane Le Foll said on France Bleu radio Tuesday that the flu spread faster than expected. He said all 600,000 farmed ducks in the Landes would be killed and measures would be taken to better secure transport of poultry and limit their mobility. The virus does not transmit via food and is harmless to humans. France and Hungary have been the countries hardest hit by the highly contagious H5N8 avian flu virus that has been spreading across Europe as well as Middle Eastern countries in the past three months. The government launched a massive cull in early January to contain the virus and said a month ago it would scale back preventive slaughtering after its spread slowed. However, the number of farms infected has continued to rise with 249 outbreaks detected by February 15. Source: (FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and REUTERS)
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| skibboy | 24 Feb 2017, 01:33 AM Post #39 |
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23 February 2017 Spain to cull 17,000 ducks as bird flu hits © AFP/File | Catalonia public health official Joan Guix sought to ease public fears of a bird flu that led to a decision to cull 17,000 Spanish ducks, saying the virus "does not spread to humans" BARCELONA (AFP) - More than 17,000 ducks will be culled in Spain after a highly contagious bird flu strain that has affected poultry throughout Europe was detected at a farm, authorities said Thursday. The virus found in Catalonia is H5N8, said Meritxell Serret, in charge of agriculture in the northeastern region -- the same one that has seen hundreds of thousands of ducks and geese slaughtered in France's southwest. Up until now, the virus had only been detected in Spain in three wild animals. The H5N8 strain can spread quickly in affected farms, often leading to the culling of thousands of birds. Joan Guix, in charge of public health in Catalonia, sought to ease fears, saying it was a virus "that does not spread to humans." Health authorities in Catalonia are now inspecting farms within a three-kilometre (1.9-mile) radius of the affected location to see if the virus had spread. According to the World Organisation for Animal Health, 24 countries in Europe have detected the H5N8 virus this year, as have China, Egypt, Cameroon and India. Source:
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| skibboy | 22 Mar 2017, 02:14 AM Post #40 |
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Tiny genetic change lets bird flu leap to humans 8 hours ago ![]() At least six provinces have reported human cases of H7N9 influenza this year, according to Chinese state media A change in just a single genetic "letter" of the flu virus allows bird flu to pass to humans, according to scientists. Monitoring birds for viruses that carry the change could provide early warning of risk to people, they say. Researchers at the University of Hong Kong studied a strain of bird flu that has caused human cases in China for several years. Birds carry many flu viruses, but only a few strains can cause human disease. H7N9 is a strain of bird flu that has caused more than 1,000 infections in people in China, according to the World Health Organization. Most cases are linked to contact with infected poultry or live poultry markets. The change in a single nucleotide (a building block of RNA) allows the H7N9 virus to infect human cells as well as birds, say Prof Honglin Chen and colleagues. They say there is "strong interest in understanding the mechanism underpinning the ability of this virus to cause human infections and identification of residues that support replication in mammalians cells is important for surveillance of circulating strains." Flare-up Dr Derek Gatherer, an expert on viruses at Lancaster University, UK, says more surveillance of bird flu viruses is needed. "The recent flare-up of H7N9 bird flu in China has been the cause of some concern this winter, and the demonstration that the new replicative efficiency mutation is present in this strain is not good news," he told BBC News. "Also, the observation that this mutation has been present in other bird flu subtypes like H9N2 and spreading slowly for over 15 years shows that H7N9 isn't the only kind of bird flu that is potentially a pandemic risk for humans. "We need to maintain a broader surveillance of bird flu to identify which strains have this mutation." The research, published in the journal, Nature Communications, will help scientists understand more about how bird flu viruses adapt to infect humans. Source:
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