What's New ? - 2004

Ten percent of all bird species are likely to disappear by the year 2100, and another 15 percent could be on the brink of extinction, according to a new study by Stanford University biologists. This dramatic loss is expected to have a negative impact on forest ecosystems and agriculture worldwide and may even encourage the spread of human diseases, according to the study published in the Online Early Edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) in December.

An international conference on animal disease control held in Brussels concluded (16/12/04) that there is growing international support for vaccinating animals during outbreaks of infectious animal disease. The conference conclusions were presented to Director-General Bergkamp of the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality and Deputy Director-General Husu-Kallio of the European Commission's Health and Consumer Protection Directorate.

signs avian influenza vaccine co-development agreement with China centre of disease control and prevention. Sinovac Biotech Ltd. announces that it has signed an Avian influenza Vaccine Co-development Agreement with China Centre of Disease Control and Prevention (China CDC). The two parties intend to apply for government funding for this avian influenza vaccine co-development project. The World Health Organization influenza network began providing the prototype bird flu virus early in 2004 to vaccine makers around the world. Sinovac received the virus in April 2004.

Rick Thiessen of the B.C. Chicken Growers' Association was cited as saying that Ottawa showed it has no idea how to contain a virulent virus, acting so slowly it was too late to stop avian influenza from snaking through B.C. chicken coops and forcing the destruction of 17 million birds. Thiessen was further cited as saying the Canadian Food Inspection Agency needs to own up to mistakes if it wants farmers to co-operate in future because now, many fear the agency will only make an outbreak worse and would rather deal with it themselves, adding, "They left birds alive, fans running, pumping the virus out into the air for days. It was spreading, they were taking days to make a decision because everything had to go through Ottawa. They couldn't handle the volume. … We'll likely go in there and do our own pre-emptive cull before CFIA is even aware of a suspected case. We can't afford to play around with this ever again.

In the Netherlands mass culling of animals during an outbreak of an infectious disease will no longer be practiced, according to Dutch agriculture minister, Cees Veerman. Mass culling has been carried out in recent years following outbreaks of avian flu on chicken farms and foot-and-mouth disease in cattle. However, Veerman said that culling in future would be restricted to the animals directly affected or in the vicinity of the outbreak. He also said healthy animals would be vaccinated to protect them from the infection.

Eggs Residues of lasalocid were found in 34 of 275 (12.4%) egg samples at concentrations above the MRL or action level. 25 of 31 samples of what should have been unmedicated feed contained residues of lasalocid. This suggests that cross-contamination at the mill manufacturing the feed was the likely cause of most residues. Nicarbazin residues were found in 1 of 246 (0.41%) egg samples tested.

A low-pathogenic avian influenza (LPAI) program was among the initiatives funded by the omnibus appropriations bill for fiscal 2005 that Congress approved last week. The bill provides $23 million for activities relating to the prevention, control and eradication of LPAI, including: $12 million for indemnities $3 million for surveillance activities up to $2 million for reagents and costs of administering tests up to $2 million for live bird market closure for disinfection

A group of scientists who are developing computer models to combat infectious diseases have focused their attention on the H5N1 strain of the avian influenza virus. By simulating the outbreak of this potentially deadly avian influenza in a hypothetical human community, the researchers hope to answer key questions about how best to contain the virus. The work is funded by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS), a component of the National Institutes of Health.

In 1998, a novel H3N2 reassortant virus emerged in the United States swine population. The researchers report the interspecies transmission of this virus to turkeys in two geographically distant farms in the United States in 2003. This event is of concern, considering the reassortment capacity of this virus and the susceptibility of turkey to infection by avian influenza viruses. Two H3N2 isolates, A/turkey/NC/16108/03 and A/turkey/MN/764/03, had 98.0% to 99.9% nucleotide sequence identity to each other in all eight gene segments. All protein components of the turkey isolates had 97% to 98% sequence identity to swine H3N2 viruses, thus demonstrating interspecies transmission from pigs to turkeys.

The World Health Organization is warning Asian nations that its current struggle with avian influenza could lead to the next deadly human flu pandemic across the globe. Millions could die. The WHO is holding a major regional conference in Bangkok this week to develop strategies to contain the flu and other infectious diseases. The World Health Organization made an ominous prediction on Thursday that the current bout of avian influenza in Asia could spark a deadly pandemic in humans. During a conference on infectious disease in Bangkok, Dr. Klaus Stohr - who heads the WHO's Global Influenza Program - painted a grim picture of how a new and deadly human flu would affect the world.

In 2003, 16,343 laboratory confirmed cases of salmonellosis were reported in the UK, a slight increase on the 16,319 confirmed cases in 2002.In 2003, the increase was all in Scotland, with a slight reduction in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The total number of reports in 2003 are approximately half that recorded during the mid-1990s. In 2003, there was anincrease in non-PT4 S. Enteritidis in all parts of the UK, accounting for a slight increase in total S. Enteritidis reports overall. The incidence of Salmonella Typhimurium increased slightly in England an Wales in 2003, resulting inan overall increase in reports of S. Typhimurium in the UK.

The head owner of a Japanese poultry business accused of covering up the spread of deadly avian influenza among its chickens apparently hanged himself with his wife on one of their farms. Hajimu Asada, 67, and his wife, Chisako, 64, were found early Monday morning outside a chicken pen in Himeji, about 480 kilometers (300 miles) west of Tokyo, a local police official said on condition of anonymity.