This season, the poultry trade is seen as main route by which the disease spreads, and the greatest threat the virus poses is that every instance a person contracts H5N1 from poultry offers a new possibility for mutation into a form which could spread rapidly between people. This season, the poultry trade is seen as main route by which the disease spreads, and the greatest threat the virus poses is that every instance a person contracts H5N1 from poultry offers a new possibility for...

vaccine for H5N1 avian influenza, the virus that has the potential to kill tens of millions across the globe, as a flu virus did in 1918. Six months would feel like an eternity, but if the vaccine worked, Americans would be far better off than in previous pandemics. Though the virus has accomplished only limited human-to-human transmission so far most victims get it from poultry the normal course of viral mutation could make H5N1 spread as rapidly as regular seasonal flu. Unfortunately,...

EDITORIAL Positive step in bird-flu battle The government plans to devote billions to a vital strategy to stave off and deal with a potential pandemic A few eyebrows were raised when the Social Development and Human Security Ministry said last week it was seeking a budget of Bt9 billion to put a comprehensive strategy in place to ensure Thailand is better prepared for a bird-flu outbreak. EDITORIAL Positive step in bird-flu battle The government plans to devote billions to a vital strategy...

Vietnam bird flu officials say they consider poultry to have been infected with the deadly H5N1 strain of the virus if test positive for H5 and also show bird flu symptoms. Officials in Vietnam on Sunday reported a bird flu outbreak on a farm in central Nghe An province, and said its entire flock had been culled as a precaution. Avian flu hit Vietnam from late 2003, resulting in the deaths of 42 people over the next two years and causing great losses to the poultry industry. Test results...

Reacting to last Wednesday's Press Conference held by the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA) in Accra which announced the outbreak of the disease, he said if the Ministry intended going for confirmation it should not have come out with the announcement. Reacting to last Wednesday's Press Conference held by the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA) in Accra which announced the outbreak of the disease, he said if the Ministry intended going for confirmation it should not have come out...

At least 1,678 chickens were destroyed after a reportedly infected chicken was discovered on a small poultry farm in the port city of Tema, 20km east of the capital, Accra, officials said on Thursday. International health officials fear avian influenza could mutate into a strain that is transmissible between humans, causing a worldwide pandemic that could claim millions of lives. To stem the possible spread of avian flu among its poultry, Ghana has banned the export of its birds pending...