avian flu

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China Scrambles to Track Mystery Bird Flu

New outbreaks as officials fear H7N9 may have mutated

(Newser) - Four more people in coastal China are hospitalized with the new H7N9 strain of bird flu, China announced yesterday. H7N9 has already killed two people and left a third in critical condition; the four new patients, aged 32 to 83, are also critically ill, the New York Times reports. Chinese...

Scientists Revive Bird Flu Research Amid Contagion Fear

But US funding not quite ready

(Newser) - Bird flu experts decided to shut down their research last year over government concerns that samples could cause contagion outside the lab. Now, some 40 scientists—in countries which have set up research guidelines—are set to dive back into their investigations, they say. The US hasn't established its...

Mexico Running Low on Eggs
 Mexico Running 
 Low on Eggs 
Sep 7, 2012 5:55 PM CDT

Mexico Running Low on Eggs

Avian flu outbreak dents a national staple

(Newser) - Mexico is running seriously short of eggs. After an avian flu outbreak in June killed millions chickens and the price of feed soared, the nation's residents are now facing what the Washington Post calls the "Great Mexican Egg Crisis." Consider that Mexicans consume an average of 350...

Bird Flu Jumps to Seals, Could Threaten Humans

Scientists studying new strain that moves from seal to seal

(Newser) - A new strain of bird flu you should be worried about? Maybe: In New England last fall, 162 harbor seal pups were killed by H3N8, a flu subtype that has crossed over from birds to dogs and horses in the past. Other strains of flu have previously crossed over from...

2 More Birds Found With Flu in Hong Kong

Concerns grow over H5N1 spread

(Newser) - Last month, two dead birds tested positive for the H5N1 virus, prompting Hong Kong authorities to kill some 20,000 more birds; now two more cases have been discovered. Two dead black-headed gulls—frequent winter visitors to the area and discovered separately—were found to have had the disease, fueling...

UN: Bird Flu Is Back
 UN: Bird Flu Is Back 
Aug 29, 2011 7:39 AM CDT

UN: Bird Flu Is Back

Virus is on the rise after declining for years

(Newser) - Get ready for a possible resurgence of bird flu: The UN is warning that wild bird migrations have brought the deadly virus to formerly virus-free countries, and adds that a mutant strain of H5N1 is spreading in Asia. The mutant strain can get around the defenses of current vaccines, the...

What if Swine Flu Meets Bird Flu?

A hybrid could stymie vaccines, increase disease's killing power

(Newser) - Among the scarier prospects for the future of swine flu, which has reached pandemic status but killed relatively few people, is that it mixes with bird flu to form a lethal hybrid. Jokes about flying pigs aside, a mix of the easily spreadable H1N1 and the especially virulent bird flu...

All Flu Is Bird Flu: Scientists
 All Flu Is Bird Flu: Scientists 
ANALYSIS
Apr 28, 2009 3:44 PM CDT

All Flu Is Bird Flu: Scientists

... even swine flu

(Newser) - People, pigs, and birds aren’t alone in their influenza woes. Horses, whales, and seals catch the virus, but scientists think all flu is actually avian flu, explains Brian Palmer in Slate. Birds carry each of the 144 types of influenza, which is able to jump species by mutating to...

New Drug Promises to Cure All Flu, From Bird to Seasonal

Antibodies target virus' shared vulnerability

(Newser) - Researchers have developed a drug cocktail that could provide a cure-all to the flu in all of its forms, WebMD reports. The new antibodies target a part of the virus that has only two known variations, a vulnerability that past vaccines have missed. Drugs mobilizing the new technology could debut...

Hong Kong Reports Bird Flu Outbreak

(Newser) - Three dead chickens tested positive for bird flu in Hong Kong, prompting the city to suspend poultry imports for 21 days and begin slaughtering tens of thousands of birds, an official said today. "We feel that Hong Kong is facing a new alert for bird flu," said the...

FDA OKs High-Speed Flu Test
 FDA OKs High-Speed Flu Test 
Oct 1, 2008 1:50 AM CDT

FDA OKs High-Speed Flu Test

Technique will ID new strains in crucial early warning system

(Newser) - A new genetic test for the flu virus, which slashes the time it takes to identify new strains from 4 days to 4 hours, has been approved by the FDA. The test will play a key role in an early warning system if the US is ever struck by a...

1918 Flu Survivors Still Have Killer Antibodies

Findings help fight against avian flu

(Newser) - The flu pandemic that killed up to 100 million people in 1918 left survivors with a strong set of antibodies—strong enough to still be viable today, Reuters reports. Mice given survivor antibodies managed to fight off the deadly flu when they were infected with the virus extracted from exhumed...

Brits Warn of Devastating Pandemic

World ill-prepared for massive outbreak

(Newser) - The world is in danger of losing up to 50 million people to an "inevitable" flu pandemic, and global response agencies aren't ready for such a test, the British government warns. A report rates early-warning systems as "poorly coordinated" and calls for an overhaul of the World Health...

Phone Data Used to Map Human Activity

Study, outside US, finds ingrained habits, raises privacy issues

(Newser) - Researchers using mobile-phone data to study patterns of human movement find that we're quite creatures of habit, the BBC reports. The 100,000 randomly selected subjects—outside the US, where such tracking would be illegal, the AP notes—remained mostly in the same small area, traveling less than 6½ miles...

Pandemic Risk Real, Mounting
 Pandemic Risk Real, Mounting 
May 6, 2008 3:55 PM CDT

Pandemic Risk Real, Mounting

Experts fear spread of disease, entrenched in avian population, to humans

(Newser) - The danger of a worldwide bird flu epidemic is growing as the virus becomes established in the avian population, Reuters reports. World Health Organization experts today urged all nations to prepare in case the H5N1 virus mutates into a form easily transferable between humans. In birds, the strain has spread...

S. Korea Culls 3M Birds in Flu Fight

Nation on alert as troops sent in to slaughter poultry

(Newser) - South Korea has sent in soldiers to kill and bury birds as bird flu spreads rapidly throughout the country, Reuters reports. More than 3 million farm birds have been culled so far, but fresh cases continue to be reported and the disease is heading for the capital. The entire country...

Common Flu Exhibits Drug Resistance

Up to 10% of cases in West don't respond to Tamiflu treatment

(Newser) - A widespread strain of the influenza virus is proving to be resistant to a common treatment, Time reports. The H1N1 virus, a subtype of influenza A (not to be confused with H5N1, the avian or bird flu) has shown rates of resistance of up to 10% in Europe, Canada, and...

Flu Shot May Help Fight Off Bird Flu: Study

Vaccinated patients more likely to have immune response to deadly H5N1 virus

(Newser) - A regular flu shot may offer at least some protection against the bird flu, a new study finds. Researchers tested the blood of 42 volunteers who'd recently gotten flu vaccines, exposing it to the deadly H5N1 avian flu, and found that in some of them, the immune system recognized the...

Son May Have Passed Bird Flu to Father

Chinese case prompts fears of strain spreading between humans

(Newser) - A man in China was diagnosed with the deadly bird flu virus a day after his 24-year-old son died from the disease, raising fears of a strain that can pass from person to person, the Telegraph reports. Health officials don't know for sure if the father caught the virus from...

Indonesia Still Won't Send WHO Bird Flu Samples

Country demands guarantee any future vaccination will be affordable

(Newser) - Indonesia won't send avian flu specimens to the World Heath Organization, it said today, continuing a months-long stalemate over assurances that resulting vaccines will be cheap enough for the developing world. The country’s health minister had been in Geneva to rebuild WHO’s virus-sharing system, the AP reports.

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