| Buddies will replace doctors in avian flu plan
Doctors and nurses will be replaced with buddies and a helpline in the event of an H5N1 avian flu pandemic, according to a plan to be proposed by the government this week. The government hopes the national emergency care plan will reduce pressure on the NHS in the event of an avian flu outbreak. If H5N1 mutates into a human strain and becomes pandemic in Britain, the government proposes that each person will register a relative or friend with the local primary care trust as a buddy. A helpline will then be set up for patients to call and check their symptoms match avian flu, before the buddy is contacted to pick up the medication on their behalf. This will aid the speedy delivery of the antiviral medication, Tamiflu, which must be administered to a patient within 12 hours of symptoms occurring.
Indonesia reports 2 avian flu cases
Jan 8, 2007 (CIDRAP News) Two Indonesians have been hospitalized in less than a week with H5N1 avian influenza infections, the countrys first in more than a month, according to news services. Indonesias health ministry told Bloomberg News yesterday that a 14-year-old boy who tested positive for the H5N1 virus was being treated at Persahabatan Hospital in Jakarta after showing flulike symptoms on Jan 1. Muhammad Nadirin, an official at the health ministrys avian flu information center, told Bloomberg the ministry received a report that the boy had had contact with a dead duck. The ministry launched in investigation in the boys west Jakarta neighborhood, Nadirin said. A 37-year-old woman is also being treated at Persahabatan Hospital and is from the same areaTangerang on Jakarta's western outskirtsas the 14-year-old boy, the Associated Press (AP) reported today.
PPI bares media training program on avian flu
PANGASINAN (9 January) -- THE Philippine Press Institute (PPI) has announced a training program for media practitioners on Avian Influenza, also commonly known as bird flu. The new program, PPI said, follows the previous success of the Institute and the United Nations Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) partnership in "bringing children rights and welfare to the fore." The workshop, which is part of the Stay Bird Flu Philippines Communication Campaign, will include lecture-discussions on Avian Influenza and Pandemic Influenza, skills enhancement on writing about AI and bird watching activity (Olanggo Island for the Visayas and Candaba Swamps for Luzon). Each PPI member-newspaper is entitled to one slot-representative who is currently a member of the paper's editorial staff.
Task force accelerates mitigating measures to keep Region 8 avian ...
Tacloban City (January 8) -- The Regional Avian Influenza Task Force continues to accelerate mitigating measures in line with the national thrust of keeping the Philippines avian flu free. This is the assurance given by Department of Agriculture Regional Executive Director Leo Caeda in the face of the news that another Avian Flu victim died in Indonesia recently. There is no letting up in the vigilance of the all the concerned agencies, he said, during an interview with the Philippine Information Agency. The taskforce continues to meet regularly and each of the agencies involved in the Taskforce knows its respective assignments and responsibilities, he added. The taskforce wants to be proactive and to be always ready in the event of any possible outbreak, Director Caeda said.
City bird flu alert was false alarm
A woman of Asian origin suspected of being infected with the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu was on Thursday admitted to an isolation ward at a Pretoria hospital. But an initial evaluation conducted by doctors at the Mediforum Medi-Clinic who liaised with specialists at the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) found the case to be negative. Hospital manager Joey le Roux said the patient was admitted to the hospital on Thursday morning. "The hospital responded according to the Medi-Clinic avian flu policy. "The patient was admitted to an isolation ward and all the processes in terms of the policy were followed. Specific gloves, clothing and masks are worn when dealing with cases of avian flu," she said. .
Stay alert to prevent spread of bird flu
Thousands of chickens have died in the past few days at a chicken farm in Miyazaki Prefecture. Suspecting that virulent avian influenza might be responsible for the deaths, the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry has taken emergency steps to contain the outbreak. In 2004, bird flu was confirmed among birds in this country for the first time in 79 years in outbreaks in Yamaguchi, Oita and Kyoto prefectures. In 2005, a massive infection ravaged birds in Ibaraki Prefecture. In these cases, the infection was neither properly nor swiftly suppressed. In Ibaraki Prefecture, it took nearly one year to completely quell the disease. This woeful response resulted from the inability of the central and local governments to swiftly devise appropriate measures, a problem compounded by chicken farm operators that concealed information on the matter.
Bird flu spreading in northern Nigeria
Adiya Farm, Nigeria - The detection of the deadly H5N1 strain of avian influenza in Sokoto means the disease is or has been present in 17 of Nigeria's 36 states and in the Federal Capital Territory. The officials sprayed chemicals to kill more than 21,000 chickens at Adiya farm, about 10 miles from the state capital, while labourers wearing no protective equipment dug a pit to bury the birds. The first African country to be hit by bird flu, Nigeria has not reported any human cases of the disease although experts warn surveillance may not be completely effective and cases may have gone undetected. "There was a lot of movement of people and poultry over the Christmas, New Year and Eid celebrations and that is what has caused this new outbreak," said Junaidu Maina, head of Nigeria's livestock department.
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