Bird Flu Clusters in Egypt, Indonesia - Google Headlines 5/1/07

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The Egypt story broke during December holidays - the Indonesia story dates back to August.

Both stories highlight family clusters.

My question: Why are the "Voice of America" and the "Environmental News Network" headlining these stories now? ...Looks like someone is trying to manipulate our attention. Why?

Avian Flu In Egypt

04 January 2007

Three members of an extended family have died in Egypt after being infected with the H-5-N-1 strain of avian influenza. Since February 2006 there have been a reported eighteen cases and ten deaths reported in Egypt. Worldwide, the total number of cases since 2003 is two-hundred-sixty-one with one-hundred-fifty-seven fatalities.

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Bird Flu Leaves Three People Dead in Egypt

CAIRO, Egypt, January 3, 2007 (ENS) - Three members of an extended family have died after being infected with H5N1 avian influenza, bringing the human toll in that nation to 18 cases and 10 deaths since February, when the disease was first reported in Egypt. The worldwide total since the latest outbreak began in December 2003 now stands at 261 human cases and 157 deaths.

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Indonesian Health Ministry: Two new human clusters of Bird Flu suspected in Suma

So what's going on here?

Are these guys just that slow in reporting the news? Or are they alerting people to news they may have missed on the holidays?

Is someone messin' with our heads - trying to whip up a new round of panic, or trying to trip up errant bird flu reporters? Or maybe, trying to hint that human bird flu cases are not being reported?

Although... Both stories are about "clusters" - the first sign of more efficient human-to-human transmission.

Another Egyptian woman tests positive:

Egyptian woman tests positive for bird flu-WHO

A 27-year-old Egyptian woman has tested positive for the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus, the 19th human case in the most populous Arab country, a World Health Organisation official said on Wednesday.

Most people infected in Egypt had been in contact with poultry kept at home. The outbreak initially caused panic across the country and did extensive damage to the poultry industry.

Three people from one family, including a 15-year-old girl, died of the virus in December, raising fears about the possibility of human-to-human transmission.

Update--scary stuff

4 suspected cases (all female) from one family in Al Fayyum ... 3 suspected cases in Banha, Al Qalyubiyah ....

Google-translated from Arabic:

Test WHO reveal turn [change] avian influenza ... And warnings of [possible future] transmission between humans
Jan 20, 2007

Tests proved by the regional office of the World Health Organization in Egypt, a turn of the first H5N1 causes avian influenza, where tests revealed the presence of five developments in the composition of the virus leading to drug resistance , which is the property only universally recognized to resist the virus.

Medical sources revealed that the worst case scenario and expected, lies in the fact that the modified virus to advanced stages, ending the transmission of person to person, not from bird to man, to become closer to the epidemic, noting that some estimates, expects to kill off the hardy Advanced avian influenza virus, the lives of tens of millions of inhabitants of the Middle East.

For its part, the Ministry of Health has taken all precautions and measures to counter the spread of the virus, following the announcement of the results of these tests yesterday evening, especially after the discovery of cases of positive birds infected with influenza among humans, the latest citizenship Warda Ahmed Eid occupying the village "Hlih Original Status", Beni Suef Governorate.

The director of the Department of Preventive Medicine Beni Suef, has been formed three committees to fortify the village of "Hlih" and the surrounding villages. He received hospital yesterday pathogenesis of Fayyoum four women from one family, living with symptoms similar to avian influenza virus, also received hospital pathogenesis Banha, three cases.

www.07770500.com...

Another quite frightening update

Source: www.abs-cbnnews.com...

Margaret Chan, the new head of the World Health Organization (WHO), is calling for renewed vigilance against avian flu.

She’s right. Recent outbreaks in South Korea, Hong Kong, Indonesia and Vietnam have been reported. There’s no confirmation yet, but the death of an Indonesian recently was probably due to a mutated H5N1 virus that could be transmitted from person to person. In any case, a flu pandemic is overdue and could happen during the winter months.

The Departments of Health and Agriculture, it seems, have not gone beyond surveillance. There’s, as far as I know, no detailed and enforceable plan of action in case of a bird-flu outbreak.

I have no idea how the Avian Flu Preparedness Committee works, but from the scanty reports months ago in the press, the committee’s main concern was the budget to prepare a national plan. And again, as far as I know, no such plan had been formulated.

The DOH and the DA will probably contest my statements. So let me be very clear about what I mean by a preparedness plan.

Such a plan should assume that an outbreak has happened. How do we contain it? What are the steps that should be taken to characterize the virus? Who should do it and how long will the laboratory tests take?

In the meantime, what should they be doing? Obviously, they have to procure the correct vaccine. Since we do not have the capability to produce the vaccine, we have to go through the WHO to acquire the necessary stocks.

More worrying information coming out of China..Exposed by Boxun, the underground news agency that blew the lid on SARS.

Bird flu comes back? Many are quarantined in Guangzhou
By Boxun
Jan 20, 2007 - 10:41:25 AM

Source said dozens of people quarantined in the 8th Hospital in Guangzhou - capital city of Guangdong Province. Many people are also quarantined too in one army hospital in this city. It is believed to be bird flu.

www.boxun.us... .shtml

Another news agency is saying that it is nothing to worry about..It is SARS wtf

, SARS still has pandemic potential..Remember Canada? Also SARS and H5N1 have the same clinical presentation. Whether H2H H5N1 or SARS where this is happening is worrying. It has a huge potential to spread from here.

Among the largest cities in the country, Guangzhou is the transportation, industrial, financial, and trade center of China. It is a special economic development zone and an important trading point with Hong Kong. It has an integrated steel complex, paper mills, a long-established textile industry (silk, cotton, jute, and more recently synthetic fibers), and factories producing tractors, machinery, machine tools, newsprint, refined sugar, small appliances, tires, bicycles, sports equipment, porcelain, cement, and chemicals.

Traditional arts and crafts, principally ivory and jade carvings, are still produced. The hub of water transportation along the Pearl River, it is the southern terminus of the Guangzhou-Wuhan RR. It has a large international airport and is linked with Hong Kong by the Guangzhou-Jiulong RR. Highways completed in the 1990s connect it with cities on the coast. Guangzhou is one of the marketplaces for China's world trade; great national trade expositions, held there every spring and fall (since 1957), attract thousands of business people from all over the world.

Guangzhou is the economic centre of the Pearl River Delta, placing it in the heart of one of mainland China's leading commercial and manufacturing regions.

www.guangzhou.chn.info...
I hope this isn't ground zero..We will never know! China will never tell us..Pat on the back for those who risk life and limb to get us this info out..