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FLU 'ODDITIES' BREAKING NEWS

Strict precautionary measures against bird flu at check-points 24 Aug 2008 Strict precautionary measures have been taken by the National Committee for Emergency Response to the Bird Flu to prevent any outbreak of the avian influenza in the country. The watchdog panel has intensified surveillance at the border check-points, airports and sea beaches to ensure that birds entering the country are not infected with the deadly H5N1 virus.

Bird flu detected in Rhode Island 21 Aug 2008 A strain of bird flu has been detected in four swans found in the Seekonk River. The cases were discovered as part of routine surveillance by the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management. DEM says the strain of avian flu detected in Rhode Island is not the same strain that has infected people in Asia and Europe since 2003.

1918 flu survivors' antibodies helpful for anti-bird flu fight 18 Aug 2008 Antibodies from survivors of the most devastating 1918 influenza pandemic still protect against the virus, providing a new approach to ~~battle~~ foment future epidemics that could be triggered by bird flu. American scientists studied [!] 32 people who lived through the 1918 flu, and found all had antibodies in their blood to kill the virus with surprising efficiency, reported the journal Nature Sunday. The antibodies from the survivors, now aged 91 to 101, also protected mice from the killer virus, showing that 90 years on, the survivors of the epidemic are still protected.

New bird flu threat could be H9N2, researchers say --U.S. scientists 'tinker' with H9N2 virus, a more virulent and pathogenic strain --Team also mixed H9N2 with an H3N2 virus 13 Aug 2008 Countries around the world may be preparing for a possible H5N1 bird flu pandemic, but another strain called H9N2 also poses a threat to humanity, researchers reported on Tuesday. Tests on the H9N2 strain of the virus show it is capable of infecting and spreading with very few changes, a team from the University of Maryland, St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, and elsewhere reported. Most influenza experts agree that a pandemic of some kind of flu is inevitable. [That's because the US is creating it.] Maryland's Daniel Perez and colleagues tinkered with the H9N2 virus and tested it in ferrets, animals whose biology is very close to humans when it comes to flu. A single mutation made H9N2 more virulent and pathogenic, and also helped it transmit more easily from one ferret to another, they reported in their study.

Flu pandemic beats terrorism and flood in official table of reasons to be fearful 08 Aug 2008 A pandemic flu bug would pose a greater threat to Britain than terrorism, according to a register of risks that has been kept secret until today. Deaths from global flu will be on a scale far beyond anything related to such an attack, the Government will say. Until now, the official list of threats and risks facing Britain has been kept confidential, although MI5 has for some time published on its website the terrorist threat level, currently defined as severe. Plans to publish a risk register were announced by the Prime Minister in March during a statement to the Commons on national security strategy. Top of the list is pandemic flu because of the conviction in Whitehall that it is "not a question of if but when" and that it could kill 750,000 people.

Three dead in feared bird flu outbreak in Indonesia: officials 06 Aug 2008 Three people have died and 13 have been admitted to hospital with symptoms of bird flu in Indonesia, a nurse treating the patients said Wednesday.

GPs refuse to treat bird flu patients 05 Aug 2008 Bird flu will hit Australia but some GPs will refuse to treat patients - preferring to keep themselves and their families safe, research shows. Others say they are unprepared to deal with the "horror" situation and hope it never happens, although experts say it is a matter of "when", not "if" disaster strikes.

CDC Says Bird Flu Becoming More Contagious 01 Aug 2008 In America the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) say that the bird flu virus is ~~changing~~ being changed and that it is developing strains and properties which could possibly increase the potential of it to infect humans from birds. They also said that it was also developing into a virus which could become more contagious between humans. The research was done on the Influenza A H7 virus types which are very contagious to birds but must not be mixed up with with the extremely deadly H5N1 bird flu virus. Nevertheless, if an H7 bird flu virus mutates it is likely that the H5N1 variant of the virus will also be able to follow suit.

Cat Becomes First Mammal to Die of Bird Flu in Korea 29 Jul 2008 The first bird flu infection of a mammal in Korea was confirmed on Monday. The Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries announced that the National Veterinary Research and Quarantine Service confirmed that the cause of death of a cat found dead in marshland along the Mangyeong River in Gimje, North Jeolla Province, in late April was a highly pathogenic strain of bird flu virus, H5N1.

Authorities testing for bird flu after two dead birds found at Olympic equestrian site 28 Jul 2008 Two dead birds were discovered at the Olympic [betting] equestrian venue in Hong Kong, and authorities were testing whether the animals were infected with the dangerous H5N1 bird flu virus. The birds were found last week, Mark Pinkstone, head of equestrian preparation operations and media services, said Monday.

Cat Infected With Bird Flu Virus 28 Jul 2008 A cat found dead in April had been infected with the virulent strain of the bird flu influenza, the government confirmed Monday. The National Veterinary Research and Quarantine Service (NVRQS) said tests conducted by Chungnam National University showed the cat, found in Gimje located 262 kilometers south of Seoul, died of the H5N1 virus that swept through the country from early April to mid-May.

Dead Cat to Be Examined for Bird Flu 24 Jul 2008 Quarantine authorities are examining a cat to discover whether it was infected with the highly pathogenic strain of avian influenza that swept South Korea in April. The National Veterinary Research and Quarantine Service said Thursday that a cat was found dead in April in Gimje, North Jeolla Province, right next to a farm where bird flu killed tens of thousands of chickens.

Rockeby gets orders for bird flu tests 24 Jul 2008 Rockeby Biomed Ltd has received orders for its H5N1 bird flu tests on humans from several South East Asian, European, and North African countries, worth $242,000, the company says.

Training drill targets bio-terrorism --Marines to serve as mock victims; military helicopters will land at hospital and dispatch two dozen law enforcement officers dressed in full decontamination gear 22 Jul 2008 (CA) Local, state and federal agencies are participating in a four-day training drill that focuses on how the groups respond to a mock bio-terrorism attack. The goal drill – dubbed Operation Golden Phoenix - began Monday. Today, Marine Corps will be at Brown Field Airport simulating a humanitarian relief response. On Wednesday, San Diego police will practice traffic and crowd control around UCSD Medical Center and Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla as hospital personnel do emergency medical response drills.

Teams use airport to stage bird flu drill 23 Jul 2008 Local, state and federal workers and military and civilian health care personnel worked as a team in a bird flu drill yesterday at Honolulu Airport. The drill, Lightning Rescue '08, simulated what would happen if an airliner from Asia arrived at Honolulu Airport bearing more than 300 passengers with some experiencing symptoms of avian influenza or "bird flu." The coordinated response plan included personnel from the Hawaii Disaster Medical Assistance Team, federal Centers for Disease Control, airport paramedics, airport firefighters, medical personnel from neighbor island and Oahu hospitals, U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agents, Joint Task Force-Homeland Defense and others. On Friday, Lightning Rescue '08 will continue with a second simulation staged at the Naval Pacific Missile Range facility on Kauai.

HHS and DHS Announce Guidance on Pandemic Vaccination Allocation 23 Jul 2008 The U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Homeland Security (DHS) released guidance on allocating and targeting pandemic influenza vaccine. The guidance's vaccination structure defines four broad target groups: people who 1) maintain homeland and national security, 2) provide health care and community support services, 3) maintain critical infrastructure and 4) are in the general population.

'Bird Flu Strain Can Be Transmitted to Mammals' 22 Jul 2008 Quarantine authorities said Tuesday that the virus strain of avian influenza that swept South Korea in April could be transmitted to mammals, but not necessarily to humans. The Ministry of Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries sent samples from infected birds to the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention for detailed analysis. The U.S. agency concluded the virus from the sample could be transmitted to mammals but that there was no proof it could infect humans, an official from the ministry said.

Britain faces 75,000 deaths in bird flu pandemic, Lords report predicts 21 Jul 2008 Up to 75,000 Britons will in die in an "inevitable" flu pandemic that could kill as many as 50 million people worldwide, a parliamentary committee warns today. The committee report warns that surveillance of emerging disease threats around the world needs to be overhauled to provide early warning of potential pandemics.

World warned over killer flu pandemic 21 Jul 2008 The world is failing to guard against the inevitable spread of a [US generated] devastating flu pandemic which could kill 50 million people and wreak massive disruption around the globe, the Government has warned. Ministers said that more was needed to be done to improve detection and surveillance for potential pandemics and called for urgent improvement in rapid-response strategies. Norman Lamb, the Liberal Democrats' health spokesman, likened the threat from a pandemic to the threat of international terrorism.

CDC: Offline generators caused germ lab outage 19 Jul 2008 A critical germ lab at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lost power last week because the agency had taken two backup generators out of service for upgrades, CDC officials said Friday... The backup power failure -- the second in 13 months -- is the type predicted years ago by some CDC engineers. And it has heightened concerns in Congress about lab safety at the Atlanta agency, which experiments on smallpox, Ebola, anthrax and other deadly germs. Last week's incident began when a bird shorted out a Georgia Power transformer about 5:40 p.m., cutting off power to... Building 17. Building 17 houses infectious disease labs, where scientists work with the H5N1 avian flu virus and other dangerous germs. Without power, the labs can't run negative airflow systems that help contain germs in Biosafety Level 3 labs, such as those in Building 17.

Experts identify genes for bird flu replication 09 Jul 2008 Scientists have identified around 100 genes that the H5N1 bird flu virus needs in a host in order to replicate, and this finding may help in the hunt for ways to ~~block~~ foment its proliferation. In their study, the experts from Japan, Indonesia and the United States infected fruit fly cells with genetically altered H5N1 virus. The H5N1 virus needed slight modifications because fruit flies are normally not susceptible to influenza.

Bird flu outbreak could kill 3,000 people a week 12 Jul 2008 A [US engineered] bird flu pandemic in Wales could result in an extra 3,000 people dying a week, it was claimed yesterday. The resilience co-ordinator for the Welsh Assembly Government told a conference in Cardiff that if avian flu becomes transferable between people, the number of weekly deaths in the country could jump from 600 to 3,600.

Pandemic Mutations In Bird Flu Revealed 09 Jul 2008 Scientists have discovered how bird flu adapts in patients, offering a new way to monitor the disease and ~~prevent~~ trigger a pandemic, according to research published in the August issue of the Journal of General Virology. Highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza virus has spread through at least 45 countries in 3 continents. Despite its ability to spread, it cannot be transmitted efficiently from human to human. This indicates it is not fully adapted to its new host species, the human. However, this new research reveals mutations in the virus that may result in a pandemic.

Hong Kong expert warns flu vaccine for chickens losing efficacy 08 Jul 2008 A vaccine used to stop outbreaks of the deadly bird flu virus in chickens in Hong Kong for the last seven years is losing its effectiveness, a leading microbiologist warned Tuesday. Professor Yuen Kwok-yung said the vaccine, which protects chicken from the H5 strain of the virus, is becoming less effective and the city risks further outbreaks because total failure is inevitable. The head of microbiology at the University of Hong Kong told the South China Morning Post the virus was mutating and shifting away from the Fujian strain of H5N2 for which it was developed.

Penn. Lab Gets $1.6M to Develop Bird Flu Vaccine 07 Jul 2008 Workers at a small lab in Lackawanna County will soon start work on a vaccine to help in case of a [US Army-engineered] bird flu pandemic, with a $1.6 million grant. The federal funding was presented to Vital Probes of Mayfield Monday to develop a protective vaccine in case of an avian flu pandemic, one that officials said could threaten the homeland security of the United States.

Indonesia seeks to shut Navy lab researching avian flu --Health Minister: Viruses Shared With U.S. Could Be Turned Into Biological Weapons. Politicians say the U.S. facility doesn't benefit Indonesia and could be a cover for spying. 05 Jul 2008 Indonesia suspended negotiations with the United States over the fate of a U.S. Navy medical research lab here [Naval Medical Research Unit No. 2] last month after senior politicians said it didn't benefit Indonesia and could be a cover for spying. The biomedical research lab opened in Jakarta in 1970 and is used to 'study' tropical diseases, including malaria, dengue fever and avian flu, according to an embassy fact sheet... After announcing a ban on virus-sharing in January 2007, Health Minister Siti Fadilah Supari published a book in which she warned that any viruses shared with other countries could be turned into biological weapons. She also recounted a meeting in Geneva with John E. Lange, the U.S. special representative for pandemic flu, in which she told him, "It is not impossible that there will be a group of people in developed countries insane enough to reengineer the viruses to create an outbreak in the Third World."

Homeless people die after bid flu vaccine trial in Poland 02 Jul 2008 Three Polish doctors and six nurses are facing criminal prosecution after a number of homeless people died following medical trials for a vaccine to the H5N1 bird-flu virus. The medical staff, from the northern town of Grudziadz, are being investigated over medical trials on as many as 350 homeless and poor people last year, which prosecutors say involved an untried vaccine to the highly-contagious virus. Authorities claim that the alleged victims received £1-2 to be tested with what they thought was a conventional flu vaccine but, according to investigators, was actually an anti bird-flu drug.

Penn Study Pinpoints New DNA Weapon Against Bird Flu 02 Jul 2008 A new way to vaccinate against avian influenza that tricks the immune system into mounting a broad response against multiple strains of the disease, including strains to which the immune system was never exposed, has been devised by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. If proven in humans, the Penn research could lead the way to prepare ~~against~~ an outbreak of pandemic avian flu. Dr. Weiner sits on the scientific advisory board of VGX, and collaborates with Wyeth, Merck, BMS, Althea, and Virxsys, as well as other companies on DNA vaccine technologies.

Mexico bans Arkansas poultry on bird flu exposure 25 Jun 2008 Mexico will ban all imports of poultry and poultry products from Arkansas after a small flock in that U.S. state had been exposed to a mild form of bird flu, the agriculture ministry said on Wednesday.

Bird flu strain 'highly pathogenic' 04 Jun 2008 The strain of H7 bird flu found in chickens at a farm in Oxfordshire is the highly pathogenic type, officials said. The avian flu virus was found on Tuesday in laying hens at the farm in Banbury, and all birds on the site were slaughtered. Further tests are in progress to identify the exact type of the virus, while an investigation is under way to find where the disease came from. H7 strain has been found in Britain on several occasions before now, this is the first time it has been identified in the highly pathogenic, or deadly, form.

Defra confirms H7 bird flu case in Oxfordshire 04 Jun 2008 Chickens in Oxfordshire have tested positive for the highly pathogenic H7 strain of bird flu, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs confirmed today. It is the first time a deadly form of the H7 virus has been identified in the UK, but Defra said the risk to humans was low. An investigation into the origin of the outbreak is under way. A temporary control zone was established around the premises when suspected bird flu was first identified yesterday.

Tyson finds chickens with mild bird flu strain 03 Jun 2008 Tyson Foods Inc, the second largest U.S. chicken producer, said on Tuesday it will destroy about 15,000 chickens in Arkansas exposed to a mild strain of bird flu, and while there was no risk to human health the news sent its shares lower. The affected chickens... had antibodies of a mild or low pathogenic strain of bird flu called H7N3. It is the deadly high pathogenic H5N1 strain, which has never been found in the United States, that worries scientists because it has spread to and killed people around the world.

15,000 Ark. hens test positive for bird-flu exposure 03 Jun 2008 Tyson Foods Inc. has begun killing and burying the carcasses of 15,000 hens from a flock that tested positive for exposure to a strain of the bird flu in northwest Arkansas, state officials said Tuesday. Tyson said preliminary tests on the flock indicated the presence of antibodies for H7N3, a less virulent strain of the virus.

Scientists make bird flu breakthrough 04 Jun 2008 A Hong Kong research team has successfully tested a new drug combination that could help tackle the deadly bird flu virus in humans, scientists said in a soon-to-be-published paper. The use of three drugs together dramatically increased the survival rate of mice who had been infected with the deadly H5N1 virus, the University of Hong Kong team said.

Aethlon Medical Submits Biodefense Contract Proposal to U.S. Government 04 Jun 2008 Aethlon Medical, Inc. announced today that it has submitted a contract proposal to a Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) solicitation entitled; "Application of Platform Technologies for the Development of Therapeutic Agents for Biodefense." The solicitation represents a partnership between the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and the recently established Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) to award contracts that fund the development of innovative approaches to treat bioterror and ~~emerging~~ creating pandemic threats... Aethlon's contract response includes supporting subcontractor commitments from... the United States Army Medical Research Institute for Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID), Battelle Biomedical Research Center (BMRC), The Renal Research Institute (RRI), Cato Research Institute, and The University of California Davis, School of veterinary medicine.

'It's like Lego.' CDC mates H5N1 avian flu and H3N2 human flu viruses to see how pandemic is triggered --Study shows hybrids of bird flu and human flu viruses fit well, could occur 01 Jun 2008 An experiment mating H5N1 avian flu viruses and a strain of human flu in a laboratory produced a surprising number of hybrid viruses that were biologically fit, a new study reveals. And while none of the offspring viruses was as virulent as the original H5N1, about one in five were lethal to mice at low doses, showing they retained at least a portion of the power of their dangerous parent. The work suggests that under the right circumstances - and no one is clear what all of those are - the two types of flu viruses could swap genes in a way that might allow the H5N1 virus to acquire the capacity to trigger a pandemic. This work, done at the CDC, was conducted to study the reassortment potential of H5N1 and H3N2 viruses. H3N2 is one of two human influenza A viruses that cause disease during flu season.

Bird Flu: More lethal than 10 hydrogen bombs: Thusoo --68 Vets and Para vets trained in control, containment ops 31 May 2008 Experts fear the nature of the disease [avian influenza] could be more lethal than ten hydrogen bombs after causing a pandemic. Earlier on Tuesday, Dr Bhupinder Singh Director, Animal Husbandry, Kashmir formally launched the training programme in which 68 vets and Para vets participated... They were also trained in mass vaccination operations in surveillance zones in the eventualities like outbreak of the disease.

Scientists warn of bird flu epidemic 27 May 2008 A strain of bird flu has moved a step closer to developing the traits required to create an epidemic of the disease in humans, scientists warned on Monday. Researchers who analysed samples of recent avian flu viruses found that a strain of the virus called H7N2 had adapted slightly better to living in mammals.

Scientists identify second H7 strain of bird flu that could cause pandemic 27 May 2008 The H5N1 strain of bird flu that has killed 241 people is not the only one that could trigger a pandemic, according to research in America. A few H7 strains of the flu virus have started to evolve some of the traits they would need to infect people easily, scientists have discovered.

North American bird flu viruses becoming more adapted to humans: study 26 May 2008 North American avian flu viruses of the H7 subtype - like the H7N3 viruses responsible for British Columbia's massive poultry outbreak in 2004 - seem to have adapted to more easily invade the human respiratory tract, a new American study suggests.

Bangladesh toddler 'has bird flu' 22 May 2008 The Bangladeshi health ministry says that a 16-month-old boy has been confirmed as the country's first human case of the H5N1 strain of bird flu. It said that the boy, who lives in the capital Dhaka, had recovered after treatment.

Glaxo Wins Approval to Sell Pre-Pandemic Flu Vaccine 19 May 2008 GlaxoSmithKline Plc, Europe's largest drugmaker, won European Union permission to sell its pre-pandemic [!?!] flu vaccine, the first approval in the region of a shot to ~~prevent~~ foment an outbreak sparked by the deadly bird flu virus. The vaccine, called Prepandrix, was cleared for sale in 29 countries to protect people against the virus before or at the beginning of a pandemic, London-based Glaxo said today in an e- mailed statement. The European regulator's advisory panel recommended adopting the product in February.

Bird Flu Not Forgotten By GlaxoSmithKline [Oh, I am sure it's not.] 19 May 2008 The media pandemic may have died down, but GlaxoSmithKline is betting that the threat of an actual bird flu pandemic is still real enough for governments across Europe. The pharmaceutical company said on Monday it had secured European approval for the first pre-pandemic vaccine against the dreaded H5N1 virus, more commonly known as bird flu, which began to gain notoriety five years ago. A spokesperson for GlaxoSmithKline said that the company believed an eventual pandemic would involve a strain in the H5N1 family, and that a pre-pandemic treatment would save the four-to-six-month delay of having to react to an official pandemic announcement. "The U.K. government could buy it tomorrow and vaccinate us tomorrow," she said. [Hopefully, 'insurgents' will find the production sites before Bush's pharma-terrorists kill us all for fun and profit.]

Government's bird flu drugs strategy is 'flawed' 15 May 2008 The Government's strategy to defend the nation against a bird flu pandemic has been called into question. The Department of Health has built up millions of doses of Tamiflu, an antiviral drug, in preparation for a [US Army-engendered] pandemic of the kind that killed 50 million people in 1918. However, a team at the Medical Research Council's National Institute for Medical Research in London warned that a mutation in the H5N1 strain of the virus could make it resistant to the vaccine. The researchers found that when mutation occurred in the H5N1 virus it became resistant to Tamiflu.

Arizona State University Decision Theater Tests Pandemic Flu Plans 14 May 2008 This year, the pandemic flu committee created what is known to be the only tabletop exercise of its kind in the nation, says Allan Markus, ASU’s director of campus health services and co-chair of the pandemic flu committee. The exercise, which took place April 10 in ASU’s Decision Theater, involved the university’s pandemic flu planning committee and several senior administrators. Mary Tyszkiewicz, a senior analyst at the Homeland Security Institute, a think tank that supports the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, seconded Markus’ observation.

Bird Flu Medicine Toxic for Teens 13 May 2008 Concerns are rising over side effect of bird flu drug Tamiflu on teenagers. Tamiflu is Swiss-based Hoffman-La Roche's antiviral for general influenza A and B but is also used to combat bird flu. However, worries have surfaced about the possibility of the medicine causing mental disorders among teenagers.

Swan tests positive for bird flu 10 May 2008 Japanese officials are worried that the H5N1 bird flu virus may be spreading among wild birds in the north after the body of a swan tested positive for the disease, the third case in recent weeks. No poultry have been affected so far, said Shigeki Oda, a farm official in the northern island of Hokkaido.

U.S. Naval medical lab 'not transparent' in its operations: Indonesia health minister --'We don't know what happened to the [bird flu] viruses that we sent.' 07 May 2008 Indonesia is trying to defend the interests of poorer nations by refusing to share bird flu samples with the West and is locked in a cultural misunderstanding over the issue, Jakarta's health minister said on Wednesday. Siti Fadillah Supari also said in an interview that a U.S. naval medical lab based in Indonesia for research into tropical diseases was barely benefiting its host country and was not being transparent in its operations... The minister said the U.S. U.S. naval lab in Jakarta had been receiving virus samples from across Indonesia, but that had been stopped. "We don't know what happened to the viruses that we sent," she said, adding the U.S. lab had also received samples from Indonesian soldiers deployed in Papua.

Military, DHS document details who should live and die in pandemic --Nazi-style hospital blueprint lists those who will be left to die - elderly, sick, weakest 05 May 2008 An influential group of physicians has drafted a grimly specific list of recommendations for which patients who would be allowed to die during a [US-engendered] flu pandemic or other disaster. The suggested list was compiled by the military, Department of Homeland Security, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Department of Health and Human Services, government agencies, prestigious universities, and medical groups. To prepare, hospitals should designate a triage team with the Godlike task of deciding who will and who won't get lifesaving care, the task force wrote.

Jakarta, US at odds over 'spy' lab 03 May 2008 Negotiations over whether a controversial US military laboratory should remain in Indonesia have reached a knife-edge, as officials argue about biological [bird flu] sample-sharing and the diplomatic status of staff in the facility. Health Minister Siti Fadilah Supari may in fact be close to sacrificing her job, after a senior government source told The Weekend Australian that her bellicose [?!?] rhetoric, including comments on the bird flu epidemic in a rambling treatise entitled "Time for the world to change: the hand of God in bird flu" - had made life "awkward" for fellow ministers.

US Navy infectious disease lab under microscope in Indonesia --US insists all American staff at disease lab be given diplomatic immunity 02 May 2008 The future of a major US Navy research laboratory in Indonesia is in doubt amid allegations, dismissed as "crazy" by US diplomats, of espionage and secret experiments. Negotiations between Washington and Jakarta over the renewal of the operating contract of US Naval Medical Research Unit-2, or Namru-2, have stalled over a range of issues including diplomatic immunity for its US staff. Established in Indonesia in 1970 and charged with researching infectious diseases of military importance [aka *bioterrorism*], the facility employs 19 Americans... and is based in Indonesian health ministry grounds. Parliamentary foreign affairs commissioner Mutamimul Ula called Thursday for an "investigation into allegations that Namru-2 staffers were involved in intelligence operations." The controversy and the delays in the renewal of the contract appear to be causing a degree of angst among US officials in the departments of health and state, reflecting the importance Washington attaches to the facility.

S. Korea confirms 25th outbreak of H5N1 strain of bird flu 19 Apr 2008 The South Korean government confirmed Saturday a new outbreak of H5N1 strain of bird flu, which becomes the 25th confirmed cases of the deadly epidemic in the country since late March.

SKorea upgrades bird flu alert, troops on standby 16 Apr 2008 South Korea on Wednesday issued a nationwide bird flu alert, deployed troops and put firefighters on standby to try to contain the spread of the disease, officials said. The agriculture ministry said in a statement the "orange" vigilance level was extended to the whole country after previously covering only the badly hit southwest.

S. Korea extends bird flu risk level to second highest nationwide 16 Apr 2008 South Korea has extended its avian influenza risk level to the second highest nationwide amid rising concerns bird flu could spread across the country following a series of outbreaks this month, quarantine officials said Wednesday. The Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries held a livestock quarantine meeting earlier in the day and decided to extend the risk level to "orange" nationwide.

Japan may test bird flu vaccine on govt staff 16 Apr 2008 Japan may vaccinate thousands of government workers against bird flu in a large-scale test of the effectiveness of the vaccine. Under a plan being promoted by Japan's Health Ministry, 6,000 medical workers and quarantine officers would be given the vaccine before March next year.

Small company gets US go-ahead on bird flu patch 15 Apr 2008 A small biotechnology company trying to develop needle-free vaccines won a boost to its efforts on Tuesday with U.S. government approval to test a bird flu skin patch on more people.

Bird Flu Crosses Species Barrier to Spread Among Dogs 02 Apr 2008 A bird flu virus that killed dogs in South Korea can spread from one dog to another, showing that the disease is capable of crossing species and causing widespread sickness in mammals, a study found. A cocker spaniel and a miniature schnauzer were among dozens of dogs in South Korea sickened by an H3N2 strain from birds, researchers said in a study published in the May issue of Emerging Infectious Diseases journal. Viruses taken from the sick canines were used in an experiment later to see if pathogens were capable of spreading from dog to dog.

South Korea says probing suspected bird flu case 02 Apr 2008 South Korea is investigating a suspected bird flu outbreak at a poultry farm in the southwest of the country, the food and agriculture ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.

Two teenagers die of bird flu in Indonesia, toll hits 107 31 Mar 2008 A 15-year-old boy and a 12-year-old girl have died of bird flu in recent days in Indonesia, bringing the total death toll from the H5N1 strain to 107, the Health Ministry said in a statement here Monday.

Russian expert warns of bird flu pandemic 28 Mar 2008 A Russian scientist has said during an international bird flu conference that the virus would cause a global pandemic resulting in thousands of deaths, but did not say when it would happen. [Ask Bush's bioterror team at Fort Detrick - I'm sure they'll know.]

Switzerland detects first bird flu case 27 Mar 2008 Switzerland on Thursday reported its first case of bird flu in two years, after diagnosing a wild duck with the H5N1 virus, said the Swiss federal veterinary department.

Arizona man charged with TB exposure 25 Mar 2008 An Arizona man said his indictment for having tuberculosis is retaliation for a lawsuit he filed over his involuntary quarantine. Robert Daniels told the Arizona Republic that Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio charged him with unlawfully exposing the public to a disease because Daniels had sued the county over his year-long quarantine in a Phoenix hospital.

To facilitate Bush's quarantines and to fill KBR's detention centers: STMicroelectronics introduces flu detection laboratory on a chip 25 Mar 2008 The top European maker of semiconductors, STMicroelectronics, on Monday introduced a portable chip to detect influenza viruses, including avian flu, in humans. The device, which functions as a mini-laboratory on a chip, can screen and identify - in a single diagnostic and in two hours - multiple classes of pathogens and genes.

Market's First Lab-on-Chip for Rapid Molecular Flu Detection at Point of Need 24 Mar 2008 Following the success of the evaluation trials conducted at the prestigious National University Hospital of Singapore, Veredus Laboratories and STMicroelectronics today announced the commercial availability of VereFlu(TM), a portable lab-on-chip application for rapid detection of all major influenza types at the point of need. Unlike existing diagnostic methods, VereFlu is a breakthrough molecular diagnostic test that can detect infection with high accuracy and sensitivity, within two hours providing genetic information of the infection that traditionally would take days to weeks to learn. With its high level of automation, users outside the traditional lab environment can easily perform the tests at the point of need.

TB Patient Faces Felony Charges in Ariz. 25 Mar 2008 A man with a virulent form of tuberculosis who once was confined to a hospital jail ward for failing to wear a mask in public has been indicted on felony charges. Prosecutors said Monday there was no evidence that Robert Daniels had exposed anyone to his multiple drug-resistant TB before he was quarantined in 2006, but they still charged him with two counts of unlawful introduction of disease or parasite. County officials have been putting together a case to prove Daniels knowingly introduced a disease into the state, endangering others. "We took our time looking at the evidence to make sure the evidence fit the crime," said Sally Wells of the Maricopa County attorney's office. [LOL, just wait until Bush, Cheney, KBR and Blackwater host the bird flu pandemic party.]

TB patient indicted on charges of exposing public to disease 24 Mar 2008 A tuberculosis patient who was involuntarily quarantined for a year in a Phoenix hospital jail ward has been indicted on charges that he unlawfully exposed the public to a disease. Robert Daniels, a Russian-born man with dual U.S. citizenship, fled to Moscow last year to escape possible prosecution and incarceration by Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio.

Indonesia limits sharing of bird flu samples 24 Mar 2008 Indonesia will not fully share bird flu virus samples with the World Health Organization until a new global mechanism is in place, a senior official said on Monday.

Turkey quarantines village after bird flu confirmed 22 Mar 2008 Turkish authorities quarantined a village in northwestern Turkey and began culling poultry after test results showed that chicken deaths there had been caused by bird flu, state run Anatolian said on Saturday. The report did not specify the strain of the bird flu virus.

Greek farms near Turkey on bird flu alert - report 21 Mar 2008 Authorities in northeastern Greece have been placed on alert after bird flu was detected among chickens in a Turkish border village, the Athens News Agency reported.

Indonesia accuses U.S. of abusing bird flu virus 20 Mar 2008 Indonesian Health Minister Siti Fadhilah Supari has accused the United States of abusing Indonesian bird flu virus for commercial purposes, Antara news agency reported on Thursday. "We sent the virus (to them) for the sake of humanity but they have turned it into vaccines sold everywhere on the pretext of keeping watch for pandemic," Antara news agency Thursday quoted the minister as saying in Surabaya. On the pretext of keeping watch for pandemic, she said the U.S. and WHO had produced vaccines and sold them to third world countries for millions of dollars. "They made third world nations laboratories. They want us to be ill while at the same time selling the vaccines. Don't let this continue," she said.

Brown unveils civil defence plan 19 Mar 2008 Members of the public will be able to join a new form of civil defence network to protect Britain 'against' natural disasters and terrorism. The organisations - likened to a new breed of "air raid precautions" or "ARP" wardens from the Second World War - will team up to build the country's resilience in a catastrophe. As part of a new National Security Strategy, Prime Minister Gordon Brown also revealed that the Government will publish for the first time a list of the risks faced by Britain... For example, it said the highest threat currently faced is an influenza-type pandemic which the Government believes could kill up to 750,000 people in the UK.

Flu pandemic is biggest threat to security, strategy says 19 Mar 2008 The biggest threat to Britain at the present time is a flu pandemic. An outbreak could cause the deaths of up to 750,000 people, according to the strategy. Officials had carried a modelling exercise last Autumn, called Operation Winter Willow, to gauge the effects of such a pandemic. Officials were applying the lessons from the Government's approach to terrorism, the strategy says.

Toronto bird flu lockdown misreported 19 Mar 2008 A Toronto hospital denied media reports Wednesday an elderly couple had been quarantined amid fears they had returned from Asia with avian flu. CITY-TV reported an elderly couple who had just returned from Bangladesh were admitted to Toronto East General Hospital Tuesday night, and workers were taking "extra steps to be safe including wearing masks and gloves." Soon after, the hospital issued a statement saying it "has no reason to speculate that any patients in the hospital have avian flu."

Couple Isolated At Toronto Hospital Over Bird Flu Fears 19 Mar 2008 When an elderly couple who had just returned from Bangladesh showed up at Toronto East General Hospital suffering from bad flu-like symptoms, officials there took no chances. The patients were immediately isolated, staff members wore gowns, gloves and masks and no visitors were allowed in to the secure area. But on Wednesday, the hospital took great pains to assure there was no reason to fear the disease had made its way to Canada.

UN warns bird flu fight failing in Indonesia 19 Mar 2008 Efforts to contain bird flu are failing, increasing the possibility that the virus may mutate into a deadlier form, the leading UN veterinary health body has warned.

U.S. denies producing biological weapons from bird flu samples --Media: U.S. denies Indonesia's allegation on bird flu virus 17 Mar 2008 The United States has flatly denied allegations it was producing biological weapons from bird flu samples sent by Indonesia to the World Health Organization, the English daily The Jakarta Post reported Monday. Michael H. Anderson, counselor for Public Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Indonesia, [has issued the denial]. However, Indonesian senior biodefense researcher Isro Samihardjo said the U.S. could use bird flu virus samples from Indonesia to develop weapons at the Los Alamos Laboratory. Isro was speaking at a meeting about Health Minister Siti Fadilah Supari's newly released book here Saturday. In her book "It's Time for the World to Change, Divine Hands behind Bird Flu," Siti writes of her suspicions about a conspiracy between the U.S. and the WHO.

Bird flu covers 11 provinces 17 Mar 2008 At present, there are 11 provinces and localities with bird flu: Ninh Binh, Vinh Long, Phu Tho, Ha Nam, Tuyen Quang, Hanoi, Quang Tri, Soc Trang, Lao Cai, Quang Binh and Ha Nam.

State media reports outbreak of bird flu in China 16 Mar 2008 Bird flu has broken out in the south of China, killing more than 100 poultry, state media reported on Sunday, citing the agriculture ministry. The outbreak occurred in a market in Guangzhou, in Guangdong province on Thursday, and was a ''highly pathogenic'' subtype of the H5N1 influenza virus, which can be deadly to humans, the report said.

Flu 'Oddities' Breaking News Archives

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FLU 'ODDITIES' HOT ARTICLES

Warning over 'unique' spread of avian flu 22 Oct 2005 The avian flu - recently arrived in the UK - which is causing chaos around the world is "unique" because of the simultaneous way in which it is spreading, a veterinary expert has warned. [LOL, 'unique.' Looks like the Bush bioterror team is a busy little bee, poised to start the mandatory vaccines with no legal liablity for the pharma-terrorists.]

Russian MP Calls Bird Flu "American Provocation" 21 Oct 2005 A deputy of the ultranationalist Liberal Democratic faction of the Russian State Duma, Aleksei Mitrofanov, has said in a parliamentary speech that bird flu was invented by Americans who wanted to dominate the world’s poultry markets.

Congress Set to Pass Law Eliminating Liability For Vaccine Injuries 19 Oct 2005 The National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC) is calling the "Biodefense and Pandemic Vaccine and Drug Development Act of 2005" (S. 1873), which passed out of the U.S. Senate HELP Committee one day after it was introduced "a drug company stockholder's dream and a consumer's worst nightmare." ...The bill establishes the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Agency (BARDA), as the single point of authority within the government for the advanced research and development of drugs and vaccines in response to bioterrorism and natural disease outbreaks such as the flu. BARDA will operate in secret, exempt from the Freedom of Information Act and the Federal Advisory Committee Act, insuring that no evidence of injuries or deaths caused by drugs and vaccines labeled as "countermeasures" will become public.

Rare Germ Found in D.C. on Sept. 24, 25 (DC Protest Days) Tularemia Is Highly Infectious; Can Cause Pneumonia and Systemic Infection 30 Sep 2005 A relatively rare biological agent has been detected in air filters serving Washington D.C. in recent weeks, ABC News has learned -- but current evidence does not show any indication whatsoever of terrorism [?!?]. The federal government found six air filters around the nation's capital checked on Sept. 24 and 25 contained "trace amounts" of tularemia, a type of bacteria. No additional traces have been detected since Sept. 24 and 25. [Gee, how blatant can they get? We need to start fighting back. Tolerating their terrorism is becoming the greater crime. --Lori Price.]

UK flu pandemic contingency plan (pdf) March 2005

Bush Authorizes Use of Quarantine Powers in Cases of Bird Flu 02 Apr 2005 President [sic] Bush signed an executive order on Friday authorizing the government to impose a quarantine to deal with any outbreak of avian influenza now found in Southeast Asia.

Bush Order Allows Isolation of Those with Bird Flu 01 Apr 2005 Dictator Bush issued a directive on Friday allowing authorities to detain or isolate any passenger suspected of having avian flu when arriving in the United States aboard an international flight. The Bush order added pandemic influenza to the list of diseases for which quarantine is authorized. Under the directive, the Health and Human Services Department is given legal authority to detain or isolate any passenger suspected of having the avian flu.

U.S. to create a bird flu virus mutation 24 Mar 2005 The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has begun a series of experiments to see how likely the bird flu virus could result in a human pandemic. The six-month series of experiments seeks to simulate the mixing and matching of genes from the H5N1 avian flu virus that has plagued Asia and a common human flu virus that public-health experts fear could turn avian flu into a pandemic, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday. CDC scientists inside an ultra-secure laboratory [?!?] have started swapping the genes of the H5N1 avian virus with the genes of an H3N2 virus, the strain behind most recent human flu outbreaks.

Gene From 1918 Virus Proves Key to Virulent Influenza (University of Wisconsin Press Release) 06 Oct 2004 "Using a gene resurrected from the virus that caused the 1918 Spanish influenza pandemic, recorded history's most lethal outbreak of infectious disease, scientists have found that a single gene may have been responsible for the devastating virulence of the virus. Writing Oct. 7 in the journal Nature, virologist Yoshihiro Kawaoka of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of Tokyo, describes experiments in which engineered viruses were made more potent by the addition of a single gene. The work is evidence that a slight genetic tweak is all that is required to transform mild strains of the flu virus into forms far more pathogenic and, possibly, more transmissible... Using a comparatively mild form of influenza A virus as a template, Kawaoka's team added the two 1918 genes that code for hemagglutinin and neuraminidase and infected mice with the engineered viruses."

Kofi Annan expresses hope of "containing the spread of new infectious diseases, whether natural or man-made" --Transcript of Press Conference by Secretary-General Kofi Annan At United Nations Headquarters, 21 Mar 2005 "...[I]f governments take the decisions that I am suggesting in this report, I believe we will have a much better chance of turning the tide against HIV/AIDS and malaria in the next 10 years; a much better chance of containing the spread of new infectious diseases, whether natural or man-made; ... -- through a strengthened Security Council and a new and authoritative human rights council, both working closely with regional organizations -- to put a stop to major crimes against innocent people, such as those we are witnessing in Darfur."

Birdflu pandemic may mean some stay home to die 11 Mar 2005 New Zealand medical authorities may tell some people likely to die from a birdflu pandemic to stay home and not clog up hospitals. Research published today in the latest New Zealand Medical Journal predicts up to 3700 deaths in New Zealand from a first wave of pandemic influenza and up to a million people infected. "It is likely that some difficult decisions will be required in limiting hospital care to those where it would most likely affect final health outcomes," the researchers said.

Military intelligence warns that avian flu could be used as weapon: report 08 Mar 2005 The military's intelligence arm has warned the federal government that avian influenza could be used as a weapon of bioterrorism, a heavily censored report suggests. It also reveals that military planners believe a naturally occurring flu pandemic may be imminent. The report, entitled Recent Human Outbreaks of Avian Influenza and Potential Biological Warfare Implications, was obtained under the Access to Information Act by The Canadian Press. It was prepared by the J2 Directorate of Strategic Intelligence, a secretive branch of National Defence charged with producing intelligence for the government.

Coroner Wants to Shrink-Wrap Bodies --Coroner Wants to Shrink-Wrap Bodies in the Case of a Natural Disaster or Terrorist Attack 19 Feb 2005 In the case of a natural disaster or terrorist attack, some emergency officials in Western Washington plan to be prepared with a large, shrink wrap machine. The Thurston County Coroner's Office recently won approval to purchase a machine able to shrink-wrap human remains. The process would make it easier to transport a large number of bodies. The coroner's office has already started a bidding process to find a company to build the machine. A Homeland Security grant will pay for the machine, which will cost an estimated $50,000.

Killer flu recreated in the lab 07 Oct 2004 UK Scientists have shown that tiny changes to modern flu viruses could render them as deadly as the 1918 strain which killed millions. A US team added two genes from a sample of the 1918 virus to a modern strain known to have no effect on mice. Animals exposed to this composite were dying within days of symptoms similar to those found in human victims of the 1918 pandemic.

1918 killer flu secrets revealed 05 Feb 2004 Scientists have worked out how the virus which caused the world's worst flu epidemic infected man. They believe the virus, which claimed the lives of up to 50m people around the world, jumped from birds to humans. The breakthrough, published in Science, should help doctors identify which future bird viruses pose a threat to man at an earlier stage.

Flu victim exhumed after 85 years 30 Jan 2004 Scientists are preparing to exhume the body of a woman who died of flu 85 years ago to find out how the virus killed millions across Europe. Phyllis Burn died aged 20 in 1918, a victim of the 20th Century's worst flu epidemic, which killed more than 50 million people. She was buried in a lead coffin, thought to be virtually airtight, in Twickenham, south-west London. Scientists wearing protective clothing will remove lung samples from the body.

Live Dangerously: Be a Scientist By Whitley Strieber 11 May 2005 "Another scientist involved in disease control has been killed. David Banks was the principal scientist with Biosecurity Australia and was involved in containing pest and disease threats. He died along with 15 other people when the commuter plane he was traveling in went down in Queensland, Australia... His primary mission was protecting livestock and plants in the country, and keeping diseases from crossing into Australia... Since January of 2004, more than twenty scientists are known to have died in accidents, under suspiious circumstances, or been murdered."

List of Dead Scientists (stevequayle.com) Updated 08 Jun 2005, scientist #78

FEMA Concentration Camps: Locations and Executive Orders Updated 03 Sep 2004

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