Bird flu fears sweep Middle East SAUDI ARABIA - Fear of bird flu is sweeping the Middle East as the first suspected case was registered in Saudi Arabia despite measures to curb an outbreak. Saudi daily al-Riyadh reported Monday a farmer alerted authorities about an epidemic, which has been destroying his flock of chicken for the past three days in the region of Surat Abida in southern Saudi Arabia. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sydney Morning Herald - 8th November 2005 Birds culled in millions after China owns up CHINA - China has slaughtered more than 6 million chickens and ducks to contain its latest bird flu outbreak, located in the country's north-east on the route travelled by wild birds migrating to Australia for the northern hemisphere winter. The drastic move comes amid fresh international scrutiny of China's epidemic reporting system. Concerns grew after Chinese health authorities reversed an earlier stance denying any human deaths from avian flu and asking the World Health Organisation to re-test samples from a girl who died last month in the middle of the last outbreak. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- UPI - 8th November 2005 Russia: bird flu in 12 to 21 areas MOSCOW - Russian Agriculture officials say bird flu has been confirmed in 12 communities and unconfirmed cases have been reported in nine others. The ministry reported culls have been conducted at the site of the latest outbreak of the H5N1 strain in the Omsk, Siberia. A quarantine was to be lifted shortly, Novosti reported -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ENS - 8th November 2005 Beijing Halts Poultry Trade to Guard Against Bird Flu CHINA - Trade in live poultry and poultry feeding was suspended at all Beijing's 168 markets today, in an attempt by the city government to prevent an outbreak of a deadly strain of bird flu. The Beijing government ordered the closing of bird markets, a halt to domesticated pigeon flying and the quarantine of imported poultry products through land, railroad and air. Officials with the Beijing Industrial and Commercial Bureau said anyone who disobeys the orders will be penalized. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bangkok Post - 8th November 2005 Farmer fined for blocking cull of his chickens THAILAND - The Livestock Development Department has warned poultry farmers not to defy an order to destroy birds in an avian flu-affected area, or they will get the same two-month jail term and 5,000-baht fine given a farmer in Ayutthaya. Veterinarian Nirundorn Aungtragoolsuk, chief of the disease control bureau, issued the warning after the Ayutthaya provincial court found Veera Sripramong guilty of impeding livestock officers trying to cull his bird flu-infected chickens in July last year. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bloomberg - 8th November 2005 Avian Flu Pandemic May Cost $800 Billion Worldwide CANADA - A global flu pandemic, sparked by the avian influenza virus ravaging Asia, may cost $800 billion and governments are failing to deal with the source of the threat, international organizations said. Declining demand and a loss of workers resulting from a human version of the illness will cost industrialized nations alone $550 billion, the World Bank said. Those same nations are failing to target their measures against the disease correctly, the United Nation's Food & Agriculture Organization said. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- News 24 - 8th November 2005 'Council of war' on bird flu SWITZERLAND - Four hundred experts and decision-makers were gathering in Geneva on Monday for a three-day council of war on bird flu called by the world's paramount agencies for human and animal health. It is the senior-most global meeting of doctors, veterinarians and public-health officials since the avian influenza scare erupted in 2003, and the first to gather the World Bank alongside the World Health Organisation (WHO), Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) and the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), hosting the talks. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Reuters - 7th November 2005 Japan to Cull 180,000 Chickens Exposed to Avian Flu TOKYO - Authorities in eastern Japan ordered the culling of 180,000 chickens at a poultry farm after avian flu antibodies were found in the birds on Friday, a local official said. Tests showed that chickens at a farm in the town of Ibaraki, north of Tokyo, had been exposed to the H5 strain of avian flu, although the virus itself was not detected, an official at Ibaraki prefecture said. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TodayOnline - 7th November 2005 Avian flu suspected as cause of deaths in Turkey TURKEY - At least four fowl have died in Turkey due to what doctors suspect may be the H5N1 strain of bird flu after Turkish authorities said an earlier outbreak had been contained. The news agency Anatolia report quoted local officials as saying the agriculture department had despatched a team to the village of Furunlu in Izmir province on the Aegean coast after hearing reports of large numbers of poultry dying there. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CNN.com - 7th November 2005 China asks WHO help on flu cases BEIJING - The Chinese government has invited the World Health Organization to assist in its investigation into three possible cases of avian influenza in Hunan province, state-run Xinhua news agency has reported. China's Ministry of Health is currently diagnosing in the cases as "pneumonia of an unknown cause," but said they cannot be excluded as human cases of H5N1 avian influenza -- an often deadly form of the bird flu virus -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Herald Sun - 7th November 2005 Feeding birds banned in Hong Kong HONG KONG -People feeding pigeons or ducks face a hefty fine in Hong Kong where authorities, fearing an outbreak of avian flu, are trying to reduce human contact with wild birds. A $HK1500 ($260) fine will be slapped on anyone caught throwing bread crusts or other food scraps to the city's flocks of birds. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Israel21c.org - 7th November 2005 Hologram labels make their marks to insure food purity ISRAEL - Sar-El doesn't have the antidote to the avian flu, but he claims to have a foolproof system to prevent contaminated chicken and beef from reaching your plate. His HoloPointT system - installed on the processing line just before final packing - ensures the authenticity of poultry, beef and fish, and just about any other food product. As pieces of meat or chicken pass through the line, the HoloPoinT system attaches a hologram label, which Sar-El says cannot be altered, counterfeited or tampered with. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- UPI - 4th November 2005 China reports new bird flu outbreak BEIJING - Nearly 9,000 chickens have died in China's fourth bird flu outbreak within a month, the Ministry of Agriculture said Friday. The outbreak occurred in Badaohao, a village in the northeastern province of Liaoning, where chickens were found dead on local farms last week, Xinhua news agency reported. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Reuters - 4th November 2005 Flu pandemic risks sparking global recession JAKARTA - A bird flu pandemic risks triggering a global recession, the Asian Development Bank said on Thursday, as Indonesia treated three young children suspected of being the latest victims of the virus. Five Southeast Asian nations said they would boost cooperation to fight the virus, which has killed 62 people in Asia and infected 122 since late 2003. The disease has since spread to Europe and it is feared migratory birds could carry it to Africa. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- KARE 11 News - 4th November 2005 State turkey farmers already watching for bird flu US - Bird flu has been getting a lot of attention this week. But scientists at the University of Minnesota and the state's poultry industry have been monitoring avian flu for years. Poultry production is a huge industry in this state, with Minnesota ranking first in turkey production. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - 4th November 2005 French bird flu drill sparks poultry sales fears FRANCE - French officials sealed off a farm on Thursday to test their ability to handle a bird flu outbreak but local farmers feared the drill would deter consumers from buying poultry ahead of the key holiday period. The Ministry of Agriculture sought to reassure shoppers that meat bought in their local butchers and markets was safe. Concerns over the virus have caused French poultry consumption to fall 20 percent even though there is no evidence it can be passed on through food. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- AFP via Citizen.co.za - 4th November 2005 SA ostrich farmers fear bird flu outbreak SOUTH AFRICA – South Africa, the world’s largest exporter of ostrich meat, is taking extensive measures to prevent a bird flu outbreak that could cripple an industry still reeling from a year-long ban on exports. As migratory birds from Europe and Asia head for Africa, South African ostrich farmers, who are mainly based at Oudtshoorn, a small town in the southern Cape, are taking all possible steps to prevent a crisis. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Australian - 4th November 2005 Migratory birds 'a farm risk' AUSTRALIA - Chicken farms in Queensland that are near wetlands inhabited by migratory birds are a "perfect" environment for the spread of avian influenza, an international veterinary expert has warned. "You should prepare for avian flu," said Nigel Horrox, a London-based authority on poultry and disease, when told of practices uncovered by The Australian that breach federal guidelines.
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