H5 Bird Flu Back: 1st Hong Kong; Now North America Too

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has quarantined a turkey breeding operation in the Rural Municipality of Rockwood after birds on the farm tested positive for an H5 strain of avian influenza.

Dr. Sandra Stephens, Foreign Animal Disease Specialist with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, ...says it appears this particular type of H5 is not related to the Asian H5N1 influenza. They hope to have the N type results back by early Thursday.

Reports emphasize that this outbreak likely is not the Asian H5N1 strain deadly to humans - which of course it won't be, given that flu viruses mutate on a dime.

A confirmed case of the avian flu, also known as bird flu, has been discovered on a Manitoba turkey farm.

Provincial health officials said Wednesday the Canadian Food Inspection Agency has not yet determined if the strain is the deadly H5N1.

Officials said Wednesday it is unlikely that it is.

"It's highly unlikely it will be considered the Asian strain," H5N1, said Dr. Wayne Lees, chief veterinary officer for the western province. That strain of the virus has never been detected in North America.

"The situation is well in hand," he said.

There is no evidence of human illness related to the virus, said Dr. Joel Kettner, Manitoba's chief public health officer.

Hong Kong: Update on H5N1 case

A spokesman for DH said a special edition of Communicable Disease Watch featuring the H5N1 case, among others, has been published at the Centre of Health Protection website. The link is: www.chp.gov.hk... .

H5N1 Bird Flu is deadly - but doesn't spread easily in humans.

H1N1 Swine Flu - the 2009 pandemic strain - spreads like wildfire in humans, but doesn't do much immediate damage.

The real danger looms virtually inevitable: H5N1 and H1N1 will get together, probably in pigs, producing an easily transmissible deadly strain.

In summary, we found that influenza A (H5N1) viruses have been transmitted multiple times to pig populations in Indonesia and that 1 virus has acquired the ability to recognize human-type receptors. Of particular concern is that pigs infected with influenza A (H5N1) viruses showed no significant influenza-like signs and were likely transported to and from different provinces in Indonesia. On the basis of our findings, we encourage the Indonesian government to control the transport of pigs within Indonesia. Otherwise, opportunities for this avian virus to adapt to mammals will increase, as will the risk for emergence of a new pandemic influenza virus.

CDC

A bit of background:

Pigs have long been considered potential intermediate hosts in which avian influenza viruses can adapt to humans. …the viruses had been introduced into the pig population in Indonesia on at least 3 occasions. One isolate had acquired the ability to recognize a human-type receptor. No infected pig had influenza-like symptoms, indicating that influenza A (H5N1) viruses can replicate undetected for prolonged periods, facilitating avian virus adaptation to mammalian hosts. Our data suggest that pigs are at risk for infection during outbreaks of influenza virus A (H5N1) and can serve as intermediate hosts in which this avian virus can adapt to mammals.

CDC

* H5N1 Bird Flu has been found in pigs in Indonesia - infection in pigs was previously reported in Vietnam and China.
* One of these "had acquired the ability to recognize a human-type receptor" - meaning it could be easily transmissible to humans.
* H5N1 can be infectious for a long time without being detected, in pigs as in birds - meaning there's a huge window of opportunity for mutation, adaptation and jumping to other animals or humans.

….NOTE: We'll never know if H5N1 infected North American or European pigs.

Corporations are MUCH better censors than Communists:

they just call it "Confidentiality Agreements."

The REAL problem faced by authorities is economic: Bird and Swine Flu's hurt trade - and even when pandemic strains don't kill, they tend to cause long term disabilities in victims, aka another "economic burden."

Bird flu causes Alzheimer's-like brain damage, study says:

Survivors of bird flu, and perhaps other influenza viruses, may not be out of the woods once the fever and cough are gone: Animal studies suggest the virus may damage the brain and cause Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease.

...“Our results suggest that a pandemic H5N1 pathogen, or other neurotropic influenza virus, could initiate central nervous system disorders of protein aggregation including Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases,” Richard Smeyne of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn., and colleagues wrote.

ALSO SEE:

globeandmail

torontosun

CIDRAP: Satellite tracking suggests wild birds may spread H5N1 in Asia

On ATS:
www.abovetopsecret.com...
www.abovetopsecret.com...
Bird Flu and Beyond: Chronic Disease to Kill 400 Million
H1N1 Flu: A Tale of Evolution, Economics, Power Politics and International Law.
Beyond Bird Flu: The Perfect Microbial Storm
Two New H5N1 Bird Flu Mutations Could Cause Faster Human Spread

Hmmm....I just wonder what's gonna happen when these new "superbugs" start coming in on international flights, and hit the TSA security patdown "theaters"?

A relatively small, contained area, poorly ventilated, with largely stationary but constantly changing groups of people, hacking, coughing, sneezing, bumping into each other...

And our beloved TSA agents touching & fondling their clothes, grabbing their crotches, armpits...and vectoring all those wonderful new bacteria and virii.

reply to post by MMPI2


Good description and review of microbial mix-and-match opps.



Things are going to get very interesting over the next few years. My recommendation: Don't panic; get informed; be prepared.

...My thinking is that all these new diseases are evidence of accelerated evolution - and so-called human 'disease' is part of the evolutionary process. Meaning the microbes' role is to bring us into harmony with our changing environment. So the key is to allow small exposures, and avoid overloading your system with heavy doses. [Not that the hypothesis is not controversial.]

Excellent work, sofi. This deserves a lot more attention than it's receiving. I guess that until the pandemic finally hits in full force and the MSM hysteria machine starts plugging it, not many people, even on ATS, will show this much attention.

Originally posted by soficrow
Things are going to get very interesting over the next few years. My recommendation: Don't panic; get informed; be prepared.

Originally posted by soficrow
...My thinking is that all these new diseases are evidence of accelerated evolution - and so-called human 'disease' is part of the evolutionary process. Meaning the microbes' role is to bring us into harmony with our changing environment. So the key is to allow small exposures, and avoid overloading your system with heavy doses. [Not that the hypothesis is not controversial.]

I concur with this line of reasoning 100%. In my view the "accelerated" evolution will reach such a point this century that the remaining few who make it through will no longer be classified as homo-sapiens. In fact, I suspect that several branchings will occur over the next few generations. Then we'll have someone else to be at war with other than ourselves, once again.

reply to post by unityemissions


I'm not monitoring closely, but noticed there's another new H5N1 human case in HK and new H5N1 outbreaks in domestic poultry in Vietnam and Japan.

...flu season is just starting too.

reply to post by unityemissions


btw- I suspect you're right, or at least pretty close.

...In my view the "accelerated" evolution will reach such a point this century that the remaining few who make it through will no longer be classified as homo-sapiens. In fact, I suspect that several branchings will occur over the next few generations. ...

Quick update on the new flu season, highlighting H5N1 and H1N1. The fear is that the two strains will merge, creating a new flu with the virulence of H1N1 swine flu and the fatality rate of H5N1 bird flu. ...Reports of simultaneous bird and swine flu cases in Egypt and Indonesia give cause for concern...


Swine and bird flu infections claim three lives in Daqahlia

Egyptian officials on Saturday announced the death of three Daqahlia Governorate residents by swine and bird flu infection.

A Ministry of Health statement claimed two of the cases were H1N1, commonly known as “swine flu," with one H5N1, dubbed "bird flu," case.

…hospitals in five different provinces throughout Egypt--Gharbiya, Sharqiya, Daqahlia, Ismailia, and Fayoum--on Saturday reportedly received 43 suspected flu cases. Laboratory results suggested 15 of them as H1N1 positive, with 19 others suspected of carrying the virus.

Three were announced H5N1 positive, with six others diagnosed in rudimentary stages of infection.

Indonesia reports bird flu, influenza A/H1N1 cases

Indonesian Health Ministry has reported one bird flu case and one influenza A/H1N1 case in West Java province...

…The cases has put the total number of bird flu cases in Indonesia to 169 with 138 fatality since recent years. A/H1N1 Influenza virus has killed ten people in the country.