which so far has been spread primarily to
poultry workers by infected birds,

Where there it is!

Confirmation of my prior comments, that you have to be in constant
contact with birds, ie, be a poultry worker, before you have any risk
of catching the bird virus.

which so far has been spread primarily to
poultry workers by infected birds,

Where there it is!

Confirmation of my prior comments, that you have to be in constant
contact with birds, ie, be a poultry worker, before you have any risk
of catching the bird virus.

which so far has been spread primarily to
poultry workers by infected birds,

Where there it is!

Confirmation of my prior comments, that you have to be in constant
contact with birds, ie, be a poultry worker, before you have any risk
of catching the bird virus.

On 20 Oct 2005 11:58:29 -0700,

For further info

http://www.fluwikie.com

*****

http://tinyurl.com/dxzoa

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/10/19/health/main954735.shtml?CMP=ILC-SearchStories

Poll: Many Europeans Fear Bird Flu (Most of USA Either Unaware,
Ignorant Or Unworried)

Um, my money's on ignorant.

Hal

(CBS/AP) Large segments of the populations in the United States and
Spain, Italy, France, Germany and Britain are expressing concerns
about
the spread of bird flu.

An Ipsos poll conducted before the disease had spread to Europe found
those in Spain and Italy were most concerned, with about half the
people in those countries saying they are worried. Only a third in the
United States said they were worried.

Roughly four in 10 in Britain and France and three in 10 in Germany
say
they're worried. Fears about the bird flu tend to increase among older
people in all of the European countries.

A third of people in the U.S. and France said they don't know enough
about bird flu to have an opinion, while a fourth in Britain and Spain
said they didn't know enough about it.

Scientists fear the virus, which so far has been spread primarily to
poultry workers by infected birds, could mutate into a form more
easily
transmitted between people and lead to a pandemic.

Preliminary tests on fowl from a region south of Moscow where hundreds
of birds died suddenly detected the H5N1 strain of bird flu, Russia's
Agriculture Ministry said Wednesday, bolstering the sobering signs
that
the dreaded virus might be spreading across a swath from Siberia to
the
shores of the Mediterranean.

If presence of the virus is confirmed, it would mark the first
appearance of the virus in European Russia, west of the Ural
Mountains.

Officials said 220 of 3,000 domestic birds in the village of Yandovka
had died. Birds on the six affected farms were being destroyed, and
local officials have decided to kill all poultry in the village. In
addition, a quarantine was established around Yandovka. Villagers were
prohibited from leaving except in dire emergencies.

Meanwhile, the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization
warned
of a marked increase in chances that bird flu would move to the Middle
East and vulnerable Africa as well, while the European Union announced
plans for an exercise simulating a human flu pandemic to improve
readiness in case the bird virus mutates to form a strain dangerous to
people.

In related developments:

# Taiwanese authorities on Thursday confirmed the island's first case
of bird flu, the Agricultural Commission said. Birds taken from a
Panama-registered freighter that was stopped by the Taiwanese coast
guard on Oct. 14 tested positive for the H5N1 virus, the commission
said.

# In Thailand, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra announced Thursday
that a 13th person there had died of the disease.

# China on Wednesday reported a fresh outbreak of H5N1. The official
Xinhua news agency said 2,600 birds in the northern grasslands had
died
of the disease. It did not give details on when the dead birds were
found, and it sought to reassure the public that the outbreak was
contained. The Asian H5N1 strain was detected in Siberia in July.
Migratory birds flying over the region from elsewhere in Asia were
blamed for the outbreak. The virus had been registered in six
districts
in Siberia and the Urals region.

# In Hungary, officials announced Wednesday that preliminary
experiments with an H5N1 vaccine indicate it works. Health Minister
Jenoe Racz said he and dozens of others were inoculated three weeks
ago
and that tests showed that antibodies to the virus had appeared in his
blood. "The results are preliminary, but I can say with 99.9 percent
certainty that the vaccine works," he said in Budapest. However, the
World Health Organization said it was unaware of the details of the
Hungarian findings and was unable to comment on their validity or
whether the vaccine even if it works would be viable.

# In Macedonia, birds were being culled in Mogila, a village outside
the southern city of Bitola, following an outbreak of Newcastle
Disease
- a common and contagious poultry ailment - which has already
killed hundreds of chickens. The cull was ordered after one of the
chickens displayed irregular symptoms, and a sample was sent to
Britain
to test for bird flu.

# Tests have confirmed the deadly H5N1 bird flu strain in a second
location in Romania's eastern Danube Delta region, a government
official said Wednesday. The tests were carried out at an
international
expert laboratory in Britain where most of the suspected samples from
around Europe are being sent for verification. Romanian authorities
have killed all farm birds in the area and finished disinfecting the
areas, including people's houses and yards.

# A second German state on Wednesday ordered farmers to keep their
poultry indoors and called on the rest of the country to follow suit.
Saarland, a small region on the border with France, will require that
birds be moved inside starting Saturday, state health minister Josef
Hecken said. Saarland followed the example of Bavaria, where a similar
order came into force Wednesday.

# Authorities disinfected a farm on a remote Aegean Sea island where a
lone turkey suffered bird flu, as neighboring countries stepped up
precautions against the virus. Health Minister Nikitas Kaklamanis
supervised the disinfection Wednesday on the island of Oinouses.

# Croatia's Agriculture Ministry said Wednesday that tests on more
than
50 dead birds across the country have failed to detect bird flu.
Laboratory checks on wild and domestic birds of different species
during the last two weeks showed no indication of the deadly virus,
the
government report said. Croatia has been on high alert for the disease
after cases were confirmed in Romania and Turkey.

# France has taken maximum precautions to defend against a possible
bird flu outbreak, the agriculture minister said Wednesday, insisting
French poultry remains safe to eat. "I love chicken," Dominique
Bussereau told reporters after a weekly Cabinet meeting. "We are at a
maximum of veterinary precaution in France ... Consumers of poultry
have nothing to fear."

# The British government on Wednesday stepped up its preparedness for
a
possible flu pandemic and said it was inviting manufacturers to tender
for a contract to supply a vaccine once the pandemic strain is known.
Publishing its updated contingency plan, the Department of Health said
it would need approximately 120 million doses to be available as soon
as possible