Leading Experts Say World Not Yet Prepared for Flu Pandemic

A Leading United States expert on infectious diseases spoke out today saying that the world is not fully prepared for a flu pandemic.

Julie Gerberding, director of the U.S. CDC said, "We are a long way from being fully prepared. We do not have a vaccine that will provide universal protection. We don't have surveillance in every country. We don't have control of the virus in animal reservoirs."

She also added that, "We have huge gaps in our basic understanding of influenza and what will be the trigger that allows it to move onto its next host and potentially become more transmissible to humans," she told a news conference in Kuala Lumpur on the sidelines of an infectious diseases conference.

According to in WHO current figures H5N1 has infected a total of 385 people since late 2003 and has killed 243 of them.

In some troubling news Indonesia which has had the highest human casualty rate from the disease also recently announced that the country would not be as forth coming with the sharing of H5N1 data with the rest of the world. other

In other news experts are also saying that the H5N1 virus may worsen the global food shortage crisis as well.

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Human Bird Flu Case Confirmed In Bangladesh

WHO confirms first human case of Avian Influenza reported in Bangladesh today.

The case was a 16 month old boy, who was infected in January and has made a full recovery. It was determined the boy became infected when he was exposed to live and slaughtered chickens in his home.

A further update on the H5N1 outbreak will be posted later this week, check back for periodic updates.

Another Strain of Bird Flu H7 May Increase Risk of Pandemic

Another strain of Bird Flu, sub-type H7 seems to have adapted to more easily spread among humans and other animals.

Scientists said that a few strains of the H7 type virus have caused minor, untransmissible infections in people in North America between 2002 and 2004 have increased their affinity for the sugars found on human tracheal cells.

Subsequent tests in ferrets suggested that these viral strains were not readily transmissible.

But one strain of the H7N2 virus, a low pathogenic avian flu strain isolated from a man in New York in 2003, replicated in the ferret's respiratory tract and was passed between infected and uninfected ferrets suggesting it could be transmissible in humans.

The investigators said the evidence suggests that the virus could be evolving toward the same strong sugar-binding properties of the three worldwide viral pandemics in 1918, 1957 and 1968.

"These findings suggest that the H7 class of viruses are partially adapted to recognize the receptors that are preferred by the human influenza virus," said Terrence Tumpey, a senior microbiologist with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.

The authors said that if the viruses continue to evolve in this direction, the avian flu viruses could travel more easily between other animals and humans. They called for strict surveillance of avian flu viruses and continuing federal preparations for a possible future pandemic.

The study appears in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Among the H7 viruses the CDC scientists studied were H7N3 viruses recovered from the two British Columbians infected during an outbreak in the poultry farm-dense Fraser Valley in 2004. More than 17 million chickens were destroyed in the efforts to stop that outbreak.

Of all the H7 viruses studied for this work, the New York man's seemed most adapted to humans. It bound more easily to the receptors found in the lining of the human upper respiratory tract and had decreased binding to bird receptor cells. And when ferrets were inoculated with the virus, it spread from the infected animals to healthy animals placed in the same cages.

But in general H7 viruses from North America that have been isolated from about 2002 onwards seem to have developed an increasing affinity for the human-type receptors, said Dr. Terrence Tumpey, the CDC scientist who led the work.

Tumpey also said in his statement that the study shows that while there is no direct indication that the H7 virus is about to aquire potentially damaging mutations, it is vital that global inspection and research covers this virus class as well as the more obvious H5N1.

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WHO Meets To Revise Pandemic Influenza Preparedness Guidance

Starting today, 150 experts from WHO, Governments, and other organizations are meeting until May 9th to discuss and make revisions on pandemic preparedness for influenza.

They have chosen to make these revisions after several important developments occurred since the first guidance was published in 2005.

Since 2005, there have been scientific advances, such as the development of H5N1 vaccines and greater experience with clinical treatment of H5N1 cases. Moreover, legal developments such as the entry into force of the new International Health Regulations will influence how Member States and WHO respond to potential and actual pandemic influenza threats.

Working groups will focus on areas such as disease control, surveillance, medical interventions, non-medical interventions (such as continuation of emergency services, organization of mass gatherings and school closures) and the role of communications during an influenza pandemic. Once the content is agreed upon, new draft guidelines will be circulated for comment. The guidelines are expected to be published by the end of 2008.

The WHO announced 2 hours ago that the threat of a bird flu (H5N1) pandemic is growing.

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