Express news on flu (January 24, ‘07)

Roaming ducks raise flu fears. It’s Vietnam’s age-old practice of ferrying ducks to newly harvested rice fields and letting them feed on leftover grain. Now, that practice is outlawed for helping fan bird flu across eight provinces in one month.[via The Standard ]

Vietnam faces shortage of bird flu vaccine. Because of illegal hatching of free-range ducks, plus the illegal transport of poultry during the Lunar New Year (Tet) festival, Vietnam is now in serious shortage of the bird flu vaccine. Already 20 million doses of the vaccines have been given to local authorities.[via Thanh nien news ]

Deadly bird flu found in Hungary. A suspected H5N1 bird flu outbreak has been detected in a flock of 3,000 geese south of Hungary. This is the first outbreak of bird flu in the European Union this year, but the virus first appeared in Hungary early last year in wild geese, swans and domestic poultry. [via BBC] In a related development, Serbia banned poultry imports from Hungary over bird flu.[ via Reuters]

Indonesian scientist warns of bird flu in flies. A new study reveals that bird flu can survive in the digestive and respiratory tracts of flies, along with the cuticle layers, flesh and ovum. The virus was not only found in flies taken from areas in the middle of bird flu outbreaks but also from places that had been declared bird-flu free.[ via Bernama ]

Tags: flu, bird flu, avian influenza, H5N1