H5N1 News and Research

Latest H5N1 News and Research

Baxter supports better access to pandemic flu treatment in developing world

Baxter International Inc. has expressed its continued support of the World Health Organization's (WHO) pandemic planning programs through participation in a planned international stockpile program.

From Baxter International Inc. 17 Jun 2007

Drug giant donates bird flu vaccine to WHO stockpile

Europe's largest drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has promised to donate 50 million doses of its "pre-pandemic" bird flu vaccine for humans to a global stockpile for distribution in the world's poorest countries.

14 Jun 2007

Survey of public knowledge of avian influenza

Researchers at the Food Policy Institute at the Rutgers New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station have conducted a nationwide survey of public knowledge, attitudes, intentions and behaviors related to the threat of highly pathogenic avian influenza.

14 Jun 2007

More deaths from bird flu in Egypt

A spokesperson for Egypt's health ministry has confirmed that a 10 year-old girl has become the youngest victim in Egypt of bird flu since the first human case was recorded in the country in March 2006 and is the country's 15th fatality from the deadly virus.

11 Jun 2007

Human bird flu suspects in Malaysia quarantined

Health officials in Malaysia say two people have been quarantined in Malaysian hospitals with suspected bird flu and health officials are also looking into the suspected case in an elderly patient in the state of Selangor.

11 Jun 2007

Bird flu back in China

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has reported another death from bird flu in China.

5 Jun 2007

Bird flu winging it around Vietnam again...more humans affected

As Vietnam copes with its first confirmed human cases of bird flu since November 2005, more outbreaks of the deadly virus have been appearing in ducklings in Vietnam's northern region.

4 Jun 2007

Veterinarians who work with birds at increased risk for infection with avian influenza virus

The study showed that, compared with the control group, the veterinarians who worked with birds had significantly higher levels of antibodies in their blood against the H5, H6 and H7 avian virus strains, indicating previous infections with these viruses.

1 Jun 2007

Man with rare TB zig-zagged his way around Europe on planes

Officials in the United States have revealed that the airline passenger infected with a dangerous strain of tuberculosis fled across Europe to avoid detection.

31 May 2007

Human antibodies protect mice from H5N1 avian influenza

An international team of scientists, including researchers from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), report using antibodies derived from immune cells from recent human survivors of H5N1 avian influenza to successfully treat H5N1-infected mice as well as protect them from an otherwise lethal dose of the virus.

30 May 2007

H5N1 influenza virus survivors' antibodies effective at neutralising H5N1 strain

Adults who have recovered from the potentially deadly H5N1 strain of avian influenza may hold the key to future treatments for the virus, according to an international team of researchers.

30 May 2007

Blood of bird flu survivors promises new treatment for the deadly virus

Scientists are optimistic that blood donated by four survivors of bird flu will offer some clues as to why some people appear to have protection against the deadly H5N1 virus.

29 May 2007

Form of bird flu spreads in Wales

An outbreak of a mild form of bird flu in Wales continues to spread and authorities have admitted that they cannot rule out the possibility that the disease has spread from person-to-person.

28 May 2007

Bird flu arrives in Britain

Health officials in the UK are investigating two possible cases of bird flu in north Wales and say 36 people could have been in contact with the disease.

28 May 2007

Avian influenza H7N2 infection confirmed in north Wales

The Health Protection Agency is providing expert support and advice to the National Public Health Service for Wales after an H7N2 avian influenza infection was found in birds on a small farm in north Wales.

27 May 2007

Another death in Indonesia from bird flu and thousands more birds culled

Another death has been reported in Indonesia from bird flu along with another reported case in Vietnam.

25 May 2007

Bird flu, WHO and Indonesia

The World Health Organization (WHO) has announced that Indonesia will no longer require an outside laboratory to confirm test results for bird flu.

16 May 2007

New host species for avian influenza A virus (H5N1)

In a new study published online in the open-access journal PLoS Pathogens, Dr. Vincent J. Munster, of Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, and colleagues identify new host species for avian influenza A virus (H5N1) and provide important information on the distinctions between the ecology and epidemiology of various global strains of the virus.

11 May 2007

Low frequency of resistance to Tamiflu confirmed

New data published by the World Health Organisation (WHO) has confirmed a low frequency of resistance to Tamiflu (oseltamivir) over 3 influenza seasons (2003:2006).

10 May 2007

FluForecast trial predicted high human H5N1 mortality in Indonesia

When H5N1 was thought to be quiescent in 2006, in a prospective open trial, FluForecast, a software program which measures virus gene proteins, predicted high human mortality H5N1 outbreaks to come.

10 May 2007