The H5N1 is still spreading like wildfire all over the world. This time it’s found in the south and north provinces of Vietnam.
Over 1,600 ducks have died from H5N1 in the southern Thap Muoi district and another site in a northern Quang Ninh Province. So far this month, bird flu was confirmed in 15 communies in 6 provinces across the asian nation. The VietnamNet reports that no pattern can be found in this latest string of outbreaks.

Normally this disease appears in the cold and wet weather but this year it occurs in the hot weather, which stirs worries of the …read more

About 12,000 birds mysteriously died this week in Islamabad, Pakistan and bird flu is to blame.
The rest of the 6,000 birds on the affected farms have been culled but there are no reports of human infection.
This year alone, there have been 23 H5N1 outbreaks in Pakistan but authorities are quick to say these have been rapidly controlled. In a rare case, an Islamabad zoo was affected last February when the virus was found in peacocks and geese.
[source: MedIndia]

One by one, West African nations are seeing cases of bird flu outbreaks. And Ghana is no longer spared.
A poultry outbreak is reported in the eastern port city of Tema, Ghana. All the 1,600 birds on the farm have been incinerated when 145 birds were confirmed to be H5N1-infected.
Neighboring countries have already reported oubreaks since last year, including Africa’s most populous nation -Nigeria.
[source: iht.com]
Tags: bird flu, flu, Ghana, outbreak, H5N1, virus

Since the first domestic birds died two weeks ago in the capital’s Sadovod market, eight more districts in suburban Moscow were found to harbor H5N1-infected birds.
The highly pathogenic Asian-type bird flu virus has killed at least 333 domestic birds since February 9. More birds are being slaughtered and villages have been quarantined in a desperate effort to stop the outbreaks.
Fortunately for veterinary officials, all the first five outbreaks could be traced to one location – the Sadovod market, commonly known as “”Ptichka” (”Birdie”), Moscow’s best known pet market. This makes it so much easier for health officials to trace the …read more

According to the RawStory, laboratory results confirmed new cases of bird flu in poultry that died in a farm in Dolucu, southeast Turkey. But according to the Jerusalem Post, bird flu was detected near the town of Silvan in neighboring Diyarbakir province. I’m not sure if these are different places, but these are a cause for concern and quick action. Late last week, 170 dead chickens at farm in Batman province were positive for the H5N1 virus.
Four more villages, the village of Akcay and three nearby hamlets in Silvan town, were placed under quarantine after chickens died in these areas.
Three …read more

EGYPT: Teenage girl dies of bird flu. Egypt’s 12 fatal bird flu victim was a 17-year old girl from the rural Fayyoum region who died on February 2. Egypt has been the country worst affected by H5N1 outside of Asia, and a new strain of the virus recently found to be moderately resistant to Tamiflu. [via Reuters]
Bird Flu Expert Warns of More Outbreaks in Nigeria. Nineteen states and Abuja, the Nigerian capital, have reporte bird flu outbreaks in poultry in the past days, amidst news of the first human case of H5N1. Concerns abound that Nigeria risks becoming a permanent …read more

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 …read more

The threat of H5N1 is sweeping even wider across Asia.
In the past month, bird flu has found its way into Indonesia, Vietnam and Japan . On Thursday, it reached Thailand with news of 4 family members in Thailand’s northern province of Phitsanulok were suspected of being infected with bird flu.
The family had eaten a dead duck recently and fell sick soon after. About 30 pigs from the same farm are also suspected of contracting bird flu, reported People’s Daily Online.
The Money Times reported as well that H5N1 bird flu was found in 100 dead ducks from the same 1 …read more

In what is becoming a “complicated and alarming” situation, seven southern Vietnamese provinces were struck by bird flu at an alarming rate in just over a month.
About 800 ducks in the Tra Vinh province died from the H5N1 virulent strain of bird flu, just as 130 ducks were being culled in Soc Trang for the same reasons. Other affected areas include the southern provinces of Ca Mau, Bac Lieu, Hau Giang, Kien Giang, Vinh Long, where thousands of ducks and chickens were slaughtered and 5.8 million poultry were vaccinated in the last two months. Surveillance in roadways and waterway checkpoints …read more

The big news on Tuesday: Japan has the H5N1.
The bird flu outbreak that killed 4000 chickens in a poultry farm last weekend was caused by the virulent strain H5N1, confirmed a farm ministry official. Where this outbreak originated is still a mystery.
Authorities killed and began incinerating all the remaining chickens in that farm. Quarantine and restrictions were further placed for farms within a 10 km radius to prevent spread of the dreaded virus. The farm ministry also plans to check the other poultry farms in the prefecture, as well as across the nation.

“The rule is to visit each farm …read more