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African bird flu set to spread, warns WHO

    London: The detection of the first case of H5N1 bird flu in Africa is likely to be followed quickly by others, creating a "very severe situation," Dr. David Nabarro of the World Health Organizaton (WHO) has warned. The strain deadly to humans was detected on a farm in Kaduna in northern Nigeria, and now, officials are investigating whether poultry in other states have also died from the virus. Dr Nabarro told the BBC that the WHO is anticipating further outbreaks in other parts of Africa. "If it's in Nigeria it might also be in other countries that are less well-equipped," he said, adding that governments and ordinary people in Africa would have to take "very, very strong precautions" to protect themselves and stop the disease spreading.

Evidence points towards bird flu origination in China

    London: Scientists have recently found evidence to back their claim that bird flu both originated, and has been circulating in south-eastern China for the past decade. The virus was mainly spread by poultry but wild birds were responsible for carrying it to Turkey. Yi Guan and colleagues at Shantou University and scientists in Xiamen and Hong Kong said that controlling the virus at the source i.e South-east China was the only way to restrict the virus. The researchers analysed samples taken from 13,000 migratory birds and 50,000 market poultry in southeast China between January 2004 and June 2005 and found H5N1 in about 2% of apparently healthy ducks and geese, and some chickens, in all but two of the months in the sampling period. According to the researchers, though the genetic make-up of the virus differed slightly between Guangdong, Hunan and Yunnan provinces, they all descend from a 1996 Guangdong virus.

   This proves that the virus originated and has been circulating in the region long enough to mutate into divergent strains New Scientist quoted Robert Webster of St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, US also a co-author of the paper. Viruses from Vietnam and Thailand match Guangdong viruses, while Indonesia has its own related cluster. Genes from Vietnamese viruses reveal repeated introductions from Guangxi, most recently in 2005. "The evidence is now overwhelming that migrating birds can move H5N1 over long distances," said Peiris. "But they are not the scapegoats for maintaining H5N1 within poultry. There the cause and solution lies within the poultry industry." According to the researchers antibodies to each sub-lineage of H5N1 did not bind readily to other sub-lineages. This indicates that vaccinating people or birds against one strain may not protect against others. The team suggests that H5N1 pandemic vaccines should be developed using varying strains, and must be constantly updated. The Chinese government has been vehemently denying reports of the bird flu existing in China. But, it has confirmed fresh outbreak of the virus after 15,000 fowls died in China's Shanxi province last week, wherein preliminary tests on a dead chicken turned up positive. The government however claims that the epidemic has been successfully brought under control.
-Feb 9, 2006

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