MALACCA: Theresa Pauline Sarimuthu died of multiple causes. As well as pneumonia, the 17-year-old National Service trainee had a viral infection of the brain, which eventually spread to other parts of her body.

ReadyMom had been keeping track

I'm still keeping that excel sheet on people who are mentioned as ill or have died. For Romania I have:

Date in News       Where                         Name/age/sex        Hospital                                         (1) 5/16/2006       Sita Buzaului, Romania    unknown/F/25    Bucharest
              
                                                        Notes: showing flu like symptoms
(2) 5/22/2006       Codlea, Romania               Unknown child     Matei Bals
(3) 5/22/2006       Codlea, Romania               Unknown child     Matei Bals
(4) 5/22/2006       Codlea, Romania               UK/M/31               Matei Bals
                                                       Notes: Father
(5) 5/22/2006       Codlea, Romania               UK/M/3             Matei Bals    
                                                        Notes: Son
(6) 5/22/2006       Codlea, Romania               UK/M/17               Matei Bals
                                                       Notes: teen who worked at the farm
(7) unknown        Codlea, Romania     'electrician'/M                     UK
                                                         Notes: worked at the farm                 

Country: Romania

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Turkey Accuses Nations of Hiding Bird Flu

By SUZAN FRASER
The Associated Press

ANKARA, Turkey - Turkey's agriculture minister accused several neighboring countries Friday of concealing bird flu outbreaks and hampering efforts to prevent the spread of the disease.

Preliminary tests indicate that 21 people in Turkey have been infected with the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu, including four children who died.

The country has reported confirmed or suspected H5N1 outbreaks in poultry in 26 provinces, including areas a few miles away from the borders with Armenia, Iran, Iraq, Syria and Georgia. Turkey also borders Bulgaria and Greece.

"We know through unofficial channels that the disease exists ... in neighboring countries, which are ruled by closed regimes," Agriculture Minister Mehdi Eker said during a meeting with governors of Turkey's 81 provinces. "These countries do not officially declare the existence of the disease." He did not name the countries.

January 20, 2006 7:29 AM

http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/94-01202006-600468.html

Ponygirl--wow, I have to congratulate you on your great cataloging of events.  Thanx so much.  You are very organized and really help us out alot.  Sorry for the duplicated posting on the new cluster in Indo--it is Dr. Niman's latest take on the matter.  keep up the good work!

Hi back to you PG.  Readymom used to do alot of cataloging too, but you have a much more global approach and one gets the big picture more readily.  Very much appreciated by all of us here.

Commentary
 
Neurological Complications in H5N1 Patient in Medan Sumatra

Recombinomics Commentary
June 15, 2006

After being stated recovered from bird flu, JG must reside in the hospital and might not come home. He the diagnosis suffered the infection in and around the brain. If being forced to come home, JG could be suddenly unconscious.

"There were the infection and the clump of pus in and around his brain," said the Co-ordinator Tim the Handling of Adam's Hospital Bird Flu the Medan Owner, Adlin Adnan in Medan, on Thursday morning (15/6). This infection was known after being done pemindaian against JG. "The temperature of his body also was not yet stable," said Adlin.

This hospital, said Adlin, will coordinate with the Hospital of Sulianti Saroso Jakarta to memperlajari the patient's relations recovered bird flu and the brain infection. According to Adlin, the case that was suffered by JG was classified as rare and first happened in Sumatra.

The above translation indicates that the sole survivor of the H5N1 bird flu cluster near Medan, north Sumatra, has neurological involvement.  Neurological involvement of H5N1 has been associated with PB2 E627K.  This polymorphism is found in all human isolates that are H1, H2, or H3.  PB2 in H5N1 has been associated with neurological problems in mammals.  Mice infected with H5N1 have neurological involvement and E627K has been found in brain isolates.  Similarly, tigers in Thailand infected with H5N1 have neurological symptoms and E627K.  E627K has also been found in H5N1 from cats and dogs.  Experimental ferrets infected with H5N1 with E627K have hind leg paralysis.

PB2 E627K is also associated with increased activity at lower temperatures (33 C), which would increase levels in the nose and throat of humans.  Declan Butler reported that cases in northern Sumatra had increased levels of H5N1 in their nose and throat, suggesting the H5N1 from these patients had E627K.  This change was found in H5N1 (A/Indonesia/6/2005) from the second confirmed case in Indonesia (see phylogenetic tree), suggesting E627K is also in the north Sumatra cases.  Isolates from these cases also have an H5N1 wild type cleavage site, RERRRKKR, which was also present in the above examples of neurological involvement.

Neurological involvement of H5N1 is cause for concern.  The effectiveness of neuraminidase inhibitors such as Tamiflu is unclear.  In addition, the isolates from Sumatra are amantadine resistant, further limiting treatment options.  This complication creates additional concerns linked to an H5N1 pandemic, which could significantly impact treatment centers and anti-viral stockpiles.

 

http://www.avianflutalk.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=9755

 

Country: Indonesia

Suspect Number of Cases: 1 (from the N Sumatra lcuster)

Updated regularly with news on avian-flu precautions, research and outbreaks. All times EST.

Friday, June 16

11:05 a.m.: The Indonesian government admitted that its bird-flu campaign has failed to increase public awareness of the disease, the Jakarta Post reported.

10:45 a.m.: Two journalists are suspected of having H5N1. A reporter for the Indonesian newspaper Tempo was thought to be infected with H5N1 after covering a mass cull of flu-infected poultry, Indonesian officials told the Jakarta Post. A second journalist, working for Indonesian daily publication RES, was thought to have H5N1 after attending a bird-flu victim's funeral, the state Antara news agency reported.

10 a.m.: Neurological tests including an MRI are being performed on the sole survivor of the Indonesian family cluster, Bloomberg reported, to determine if he's suffering from a brain infection as a result of contracting H5N1. Diseases involving the central nervous system have been associated with influenza in humans, the report said, but, if tests show Jones Ginting has such an infection, it would be one of the first from avian flu.

3 a.m.: A recent bird-flu case involving a man in southern China may indicate that the H5N1 virus has mutated so that the infection risk is as high in summer as in winter, Hong Kong Health Chief York Chow said. He also cautioned that the human case may indicate a "silent infection" among poultry, Chinese business newspaper "The Standard" reported.

5:15 a.m.: A 14-year-old Indonesian boy died of bird flu, the country's health ministry said, marking the latest in a flurry of cases in the sprawling nation. The boy, who died on Wednesday in a Jakarta hospital, had come into contact with dead chickens, said Health Ministry official Nyoman Kandun. If the case is confirmed by an international laboratory, Indonesia's human death toll from bird flu would rise to at least 39.

Thursday, June 15

3:30 p.m.: Scientists in Hong Kong have found that avian-flu viruses are more likely to trigger a destructive immune-system overreaction than ordinary flu viruses, the University of Minnesota's Center for Infection Disease Research and Policy reported. Such a response is known as a "cytokine storm," which means an overabundance of cytokines, or messenger proteins. Further, the scientists found that the H5N1 strain produced higher levels of certain cytokines in adults than in newborn babies. It has been suggested that cytokine storms played a role in the high death rate in the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic. The scientists' finding are slated to be reported in the July 1 issue of the Journal of Infectious Diseases.

12:05 p.m.: Hong Kong has issued a three-week ban on live poultry and birds from the Chinese mainland following Beijing's confirmation of an H5N1-infected man in Shenzen, Kyodo News reported. A Hong Kong health official cited a lack of detailed information on the case.

11:40 a.m.: Wildlife biologists this week began testing migratory birds in Maine for bird flu. Until now, most of Maine's bird-flu monitoring was focused on the state's commercial poultry flocks. When testing wild birds, the birds will be captured, swabbed and released unharmed, a biologist from Maine's Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife said; the samples will be tested for several dozen strains of bird flu. Maine's Center for Disease Control also opened its seasonal hotline for residents to report dead birds. Last month, scientists began testing wild birds in Alaska, considered the "Grand Central Station" of migration. See a map of major migratory routes.

9:05 a.m.: China confirmed that a 31-year-old man from the southern city of Shenzen has H5N1. That brings the country's total human infections to 19, of which 12 have been fatal.

2 a.m.: A seven-year-old girl who died in Indonesia earlier this month was suffering from bird flu, international tests have confirmed, bringing the country's death toll from the virus to at least 38. The girl's brother also died showing symptoms of the virus, but was buried before tests were taken, the health ministry said earlier this month. More.

Wednesday, June 14

3:15 p.m.: Half a million times a year -- about once every minute -- ambulances carrying sick patients are turned away from full emergency rooms and sent to others farther away, the Institute of Medicine reported. The U.S. emergency-care system is "at its breaking point," the IOM reported. The report found that most hospitals don't even have the capability to handle a school-bus crash, nevermind a bird-flu epidemic or terrorist strike. "If you can barely get through the night's 911 calls, how on earth can you handle a disaster?" asked report co-author Arthur Kellerman, Emory University's emergency medicine chief. More.

11:45 a.m.: A Chinese man in the southern city of Shenzen locally tested positive for H5N1, the government said, but the diagnosis must be confirmed by China's Ministry of Health and WHO. The 31-year-old truck driver, identified only by his surname Jiang, is in critical condition. The man had no contact with live birds before the disease, but two weeks ago, he and four family members had eaten a freshly slaughtered chicken that his wife had bought at a local market and cooked at home, the official Xinhua news agency reported. He developed symptoms of fever, coughing and a back pain soon thereafter. No other family members showed bird-flu symptoms, but were put under observation.

Tuesday, June 13

3 p.m.: The Indonesian government has a tall task ahead of it in convincing Indonesians that bird flu is a viable threat. In the north Sumatra district of Karo, a group calling themselves the "Anti Bird Flu Rumours Coalition" protested the government's plan to randomly cull poultry after seven people died in the first family cluster of bird flu, the Ankara news service reported. The group slaughtered and ate five chickens and one man even ate a raw chicken's gall to prove that the poultry was healthy. Two weeks earlier, the AP reported that the one survivor of that family cluster -- also infected with H5N1 -- had refused treatment and his relatives snubbed protective masks and gloves when visiting him. The man has since made a full recovery and no other family members have fallen ill.

11:25 a.m.: A Chinese man suspected of having bird flu is in critical condition in the southern city of Shenzen, the Hong Kong government reported. Shenzen is a Chinese boomtown just across the mainland border from Hong Kong; it is a popular shopping and business destination for Hong Kongers. The 31-year-old man reportedly visited a market where live chickens were on sale, the Center for Health Protection said in a statement, and then on June 3 developed a fever and pneumonia. China has reported 12 bird-flu deaths; it has been a month since the last fatality, the official Xinhua News Agency on Monday quoted Chinese Health Ministry spokesman Mao Qun'an as saying.

10:45 a.m.: Ukraine reported its first outbreak of H5N1 in domestic poultry. The outbreak occurred in the village of Peski in the Sumy region near capital Kiev. The former Soviet state said it would take up to two days to cull the thousands of domestic poultry that must be destroyed.

1 a.m.: Dutch pharmaceutical giant Akzo Nobel NV said its animal-health unit Intervet has developed a prototype vaccine that can be applied to large avian populations to protect them against bird flu and Newcastle Disease. The new vaccine is delivered by spray instead of injection, though it hasn't yet been tested. Field trials are scheduled for next year. "The prototype combines the efficacy of the present vaccines with a mass application tool and could prove invaluable in helping to quickly protect large numbers of birds, which currently have to be injected individually," Akzo Nobel said.

1 a.m.: Indonesia's fight against bird flu is underfunded and poorly coordinated, the World Bank said, urging the Indonesian government to be more aggressive in culling fowl in infected areas. Indonesia has said it will need $900 million over the next three years to fight H5N1. More.

Monday, June 12

4 a.m.: The WHO and the Chinese government said they were setting up a center to boost cooperation in fighting emerging infectious diseases such as SARS and influenza. The center will be opened Tuesday at the Center for Disease Control and Prevention in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, and will serve as a liaison between the WHO and the Guangdong disease control facility, with the aim of increasing information-sharing between China and the rest of the world.

Previous Bird Flu News Trackers

oops

A few days ago I saw an article that said the last girl to pass from BF, her brother passed, was tested and the results were negative. But after her death they tested her lung tissue and it tested positive. That could also lead to cases not being reported. If they get false negatives, they might just think the people died from pnemonia. I have no medical background, is it too difficult to get a culture of lung tissue from a living person to test?
    

 Influenza-like illness (ILI) in the general population (FluWatch national case definition): Acute onset of respiratory illness with fever and cough and with one or more of the following - sore throat, arthralgia, myalgia, or prostration which could be due to influenza virus. In children under 5, gastrointestinal symptoms may also be present. In patients under 5 or 65 and older, fever may not be prominent.

One link is posted above.

Topic: WHO pleads for calm in Zambia     Posted: Today at 7:06am

Lusaka - The World Health Organization (WHO) on Thursday appealed for calm in Zambia as laboratory tests on possible presence of the avian influenza were carried out on scores of wild birds that died in unknown circumstances in the Southern province. Provincial health authorities, meanwhile issued an appeal to people who ate the dead birds to immediately report to health centers for medical examinations. Southern Province chief health officer Gardener Siakantu said there was urgent need for such people to be examined and monitored even before the laboratory tests were concluded. WHO country representative Stella Anyangwe said it would be premature to speculate that the birds died of the feared H5N1 flu virus.   The rest of the article can be read at the following link   http://news.monstersandcritics.com/health/article_1174834.php/WHO_calls_for_calm_amid_bird_flu_probe_in_Zambia

Ponygirl - great research. It has been difficult to keep up and maintain life outside this forum. Already I find myself spending 3-4 hours a day doing research in addition to my profession. Your topic thread reminds me of a constant nagging question for me. What happened to the Alaskan test results? Theoretically we are in full swing with samples being sent down to a lab nearby, and thousands of tests being run. Often in the follow up, after the follow up, it turns out the H5N1 is positive. By this time it has passed into secondary websites and is not mainstream news.

How many birds in the Alaskan test were positive for the lesser virulent form of Avian?

JoeNeubarth wrote: bellabecky wrote: A few days ago I saw an article that said the last girl to pass from BF, her brother passed, was tested and the results were negative. But after her death they tested her lung tissue and it tested positive. That could also lead to cases not being reported. If they get false negatives, they might just think the people died from pnemonia. I have no medical background, is it too difficult to get a culture of lung tissue from a living person to test?      I am quite convinced that the number of fatalities due to H5N1 is in the tens of thousands.  Most countries have not reported their deaths. Georgia is a perfect example. They have had an ongoing outbreak there that has claimed dozens of people (mostly school students), yet, no fatalities have ever been reported to the WHO.  The kids die just the same. India probably has 20,000 fatalities or more, but they have all "died from other reported illnesss, including "Mystery Illness."

Glad that I just read this now during the daytime and not right before trying to go to sleep.  Yikes!

PonyGirl wrote: 60 Students and Teachers Develop Febrile Illness in Mizhi County (Shaanxi) ----------------------------------------------- , and the contagious nature of the illness makes H5N1 avian influenza virus an unlikely candidate.

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Am not going to bother to explain my thought processes here.

That South African Lab is the one where all samples are sent from third world countries.  You almost NEVER hear the results of the tests.

I am still waiting to hear the results on the samples taken from the doctors and nurses who came down with "Crimean Congo Hemorrhagic Fever" (CCHF) in Pakistan.  The hospital staff that died were treating a host of patients who had pneumonia like illness in their hospital.

On Saturday, July 22 2006 two pre-schoolers was suspected Be Hit By AISampel Blood in Send to the Lab Hongkong

TULUNGAGUNG-Community must continue to be on the alert against the plague of the virus avian influenza (AI) or bird flu.
That followed two pre-schoolers terbaring was sick that it was suspected was affected by this deadly virus.
Two unlucky children had the initials DA, was 5 years old, and NA, was 5 months old.
Both of them came from the Bandung Subdistrict.
Both of them were taken his blood to ascertain this assumption.
The sample of blood was brought to the Hall of the Health Laboratory (BLK) Surabaya and the Laboratory in Hong Kong.
That was revealed Kasubdin the Prevention and the Eradication of infectious diseases (P2PM) Dinkes Tulungagung, Bahrudin Budi Santoso yesterday.
According to him, the sample of blood of the two casualties was sent to Surabaya to last July 16.
And up until now his side does not yet get results of the test of the laboratory.
"We did not yet know whether positive or negative was affected by AI?"
Because results of the laboratory up until now do not yet come.
Usually results of the lab come four to one weeks.
That if his characteristics did not urge and have the testing hindrance and the sending, explained Bahrudin in his office yesterday.
The man that cheerful that said, originally the two children were treated in the community health centre because of contracting the high fever.
After being checked, they also were sick to his lungs.
Because of feeling suspicious, finally by the doctor was reconciled to RSUD Dr Iskak Tulungagung.
"Because of being suspected of having the affected indication of bird flu, finally was taken the sample of his blood and was sent to BLK Surabaya."
But up until now did not yet have results, added Bahrudin.
Apart from being waiting for the assurance of two children, his side also was waiting for results of the lab test of two other people who were sent beforehand.
That is that had the initials HOMEWORK, was 32 years old, and DAP aged 1.6 years.
They casualties's neighbour was killed that was stated positive bird flu, Tio Setiyaning Praise, 5, villagers Sukoharjo, the Bandung Subdistrict.
The "sample of blood of two people up until immediately was not yet known by results," he explained.
Till now, said Bahrudin, his side sent nine people of the sample of blood to Hong Kong.
But that was stated positive only one person, Tio Setyaning Praise.
"Because of that up until now we continue to stimulate prevention efforts and the spreading towards bird flu," he stated.