Pakistan-BF Suspected Human Cases Feb 02, 2008 +

[Treyfish]

More Karachi Farm Workers Under Observation

Recombinomics Commentary 00:21
February 3, 2008

Around 800 more chickens died on Saturday in a poultry farm reportedly owned by the Rangers. The farm is located adjacent to the one in which Friday’s laboratory test confirmed the outbreak of the H5N1 strain of bird flu. The discovery compelled officials to put nine people, including four Rangers’ personnel under observation, Health officials said.

Nine poultry workers associated with the adjacent farm are being monitored by doctors twice a day - morning and evening. Three workers of “Uni Poultry Farm” have been kept at the isolation ward of the Civil Hospital, Karachi.

The three workers of the affected poultry farm who were taken Friday to the isolation ward of Civil Hospital Karachi (CHK) have shown no symptoms yet, Daily Times learnt Saturday.

Hospital sources confirmed that Allah Dino, S/O Muhammad Hussain, his brother Ghulam Hussain, 25, and Muhammad Aslam, 25, S/O Muhammad Bangul, were all workers at the Dr Hamid Poultry Farm.

“There have been no symptoms that suggest they have been infected by the virus yet,” sources said. Their samples have been sent to the National Reference Lab in Islamabad and the reports will come in a few days, they added.

The above comments provide more detail on the threefarm workers in isolation, but a discription of their symptoms is still vague. It is likely that the dead birds on the adjacent farm were also infected with H5N1 and all 18-21 workers on the two farms had some exposure, but only three are in isolation.

It seems likely that these three have symptoms that caused their isolation, but those symptoms remain unclear.

Pakistan has now put hospitals throughout the country on high alert, in large part because of these outbreaks near Karachi. However, there are rumored outbreaks elsewhere in the south, and it seems likely that there are ongoing issues with H5N1 in the north (see satellite map here and here).

http://www.recombinomics.com/News/02...servation.html

[Treyfish]

No human case of avian influenza reported

ISLAMABAD, Feb 2 (APP): The Ministry of Health on Saturday said no human case of avian influenza has been reported from any part of the country after recent outbreak of bird flu virus in the poultry farm in Gadap, Karachi. Addressing a press conference, a Spokesman of Minister of Health Oriya Maqbool Jan said the provincial and district governments have been directed to adopt recommended measures for preventing and averting any outbreak of avian influenza. He said the government, being fully aware of the myriad dimensions and sequel of influenza pandemic, is closing monitoring the situation in collaboration with World Health Organization and has taken appropriate steps to ensure timely containment of any human cases of avian influenza across the country. He said the concerned staff of the poultry farm where bird flu virus was found, are now under observation in the hospital. He added according to laboratory reports all are safe from having any H5N1 virus. He said keeping in view the situation the federal government has allocated separate places in PIMS and Karachi hospital for any suspected patients to protect the other people from getting this virus. He said the ministry of Health has started National Plan for Prevention and Control of Avian Influenza and Pandemic Influenza, costing Rs. 330.680 million prepared by the multisectoral national expert committee on avian influenza. He said district governments are responsible for having proper check on poultry farms besides refusal, garbage and spraying. Spokesman of Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock (MINFAL) Dr. Arif Usmani said 18 rapid response teams have been formed throughout the country to provide any assistance during any outbreak of bird flu virus in the paultry farms. He said since 2003 the MINFAL is carrying out countrywide surveillance through a network of 12 laboratories linked with the central reference lab Islamabad and monitoring the situation amongst the poultry flocks. He said during year 2006 total 68 poultry outbreaks reported due to which 250,000 chickens were culled while in year 2007 total 180,,000 chickens were culled due to 47 poultry outbreaks in the country. Executive Director National Institute of Health (NIH) said that the Institute has a standard laboratory for checking of blood samples to examine H5N1 virus.

http://www.app.com.pk/en/index.php?o...27725&Itemid=2

[HenryN]

Reports about admission of bird flu patient at KTH hospital clarified

PESHAWAR, Feb 3 (APP): Reports about admission of a patient, infected with bird flu virus, at Khyber Teaching Hospital (KTH) has been clarified. Spokesman of KTH while talking with APP informed that a lady, wife of Manat Khan from Bara (Khyber Agency), has been brought to the hospital with severe viral infection. He said the lady is presently kept in Isolation Ward of the hospital, but it is not confirmed that she is infected with the bird flu virus. The spokesman also informed that the condition of the lady is similar to that of a bird flu patient, but still she can not be declared as patient of the deadly virus unless her blood test reports arrived from National Institute of Health (NIH). Surprisingly, he continued, the condition of the said lady is improving and her fever is reducing which is a good sign. In case of bird flu viral attack, he continued, fever keeps on ascending up to dangerous level. He said reason behind keeping the patient in Isolation or Seclusion Ward is that patient with sever viral infections are kept here. The ward is not reserved only for bird flu patients, he added. He said the blood samples of the lady are sent to NIH and report will come within 72 hours after which her disease would be diagnosed. He requested the media persons not to report the lady as bird flu patient unless result of her blood samples arrive.

http://www.app.com.pk/en/index.php?o...27798&Itemid=2

[HenryN]

Commentary

http://www.recombinomics.com/News/02..._Peshawar.html

[Treyfish]

Commentary

Suspect H5N1 Patient in Peshawar Pakistan

Recombinomics Commentary 14:43
February 3, 2008

The APP quoted a spokesman of Khyber Teaching Hospital (KTH) in Khyber Agency of the tribal areas as saying that a lady had been brought to the hospital with severe viral infections.

He said that the lady was presently kept in Isolation Ward of the hospital, but it was not confirmed that she was infected with the bird flu virus.

The above comments describe a suspect H5N1 patient in northwestern Pakistan. She has been admitted to the same hospital that treated the lab confirmed H5N1 cluster late last year. That cluster represented one of the most sustained H5N1 transmission chain reported to date.

Although the above patient is improving, not all H5N1 develop pneumonia and die. In the earlier cluster four developed pneumonia, but two of the four recovered. Additional H5N1 patients did not develop pneumonia.

Pakistan has issued a high alert across the entire country. Regions of most concerned are in the Punjab region, where the above patient is hospitalized, and Sindh region in the Karachi area, where three farm workers are in isolation (see satellite map here and here).

More detail on the symptoms in the above patient, and exposure to poultry would be useful.

http://www.recombinomics.com/News/02..._Peshawar.html

[Treyfish]

Karachi affected poultry farm employees quarantined
KARACHI: Sindh Health Department has advised the employees working at the law enforcing agency (LEA)’s affected poultry farm not to come out of the vicinity of the farm, while the affected chickens’ blood samples report was expected tomorrow. Sindh Health Department sources told that the department has advised the LEA officers that the workers of this farm numbering about 9 should not be allowed to go out of the farm so that the possible virus spreading could be prevented. Sources told that all the employees of the LEA farm were healthy and their temperature is being checked every morning and the evening, none of them were found affected, however, they have advised not to go out of the farm as precautionary measure. This poultry farm is located adjacent to the bird flu hit farm, where nearly 2500 chickens died during the last few days. Sources told that the report on the blood samples of the affected chickens was expected tomorrow from Islamabad, while the poultry farm employees admitted into the Karachi Civil Hospital were also healthy.
Courtesy GEO http://www.pakistanlink.com/Headlines/Feb08/03/05.htm

[Treyfish]

Workers from bird flu-hit farm doing well

February 03, 2008

Sunday

By Our Staff Reporter
KARACHI, Feb 2: Workers of a farm in Karachi where the outbreak of bird flu was confirmed were said to be doing well, while the results of tests taken from another suspected farm were due by Monday, according to official sources.

Dr Shakeel M. Mullick, Deputy Secretary of the Sindh Health Department, said that three personnel of the Uni farm, where the disease had most recently been confirmed and who were admitted to the Civil Hospital Karachi, were doing well and had not shown any symptoms of human/bird flu diseases. “Nine workers at the Rangers’ farm were also checked on Saturday and they were all in good condition so far,” he added.

Results of samples taken from birds of the Rangers’ farm, also located in Gadap Town are likely to reach Karachi on Monday, it was further learnt. Experts linked the outbreak of bird flu to the arrival of migratory birds.

http://www.pakistanlink.com/Headlines/Feb08/03/05.htm

[Treyfish]

Editorial Bird flu in Karachi


THIS is not the first time that Karachi’s Gadap Town has been hit by bird flu. Last April, the area witnessed a similar outbreak of the H5N1 virus among poultry, leading to the culling of thousands of chickens. However, what needs to be investigated is how prepared the government is to deal with the spread of an easily communicable infection among birds, and one which could also affect poultry workers. So far, its response has not been adequate. Lack of effective monitoring resulted in many of the dead chickens being thrown into an open pit (just prior to the confirmation of the virus) increasing the risk of infection to other birds. Also, the fact that bird samples were sent to Islamabad for testing shows how poorly equipped local labs are to detect the virus. What is also of concern is the opposition of traders to public information about the death of so many birds and their warnings to poultry farmers not to explain the situation to the media. True, the loss to the poultry industry would be colossal if people refrained from buying its ware — and one hopes that there will be compensation for those who are forced to cull their birds. But surely the priority should be public health.

It is this factor — and not commercial interests — that should prompt the authorities to take stringent steps to prevent the current bout of influenza from spreading and to take long-term precautions as well. By now there have been several outbreaks of avian influenza of this variety in the country, and with similar occurrences in other parts of the world it is clear that bird flu is here to stay. Not only will health and livestock officials have to coordinate amongst themselves to ward off or at least contain further outbreaks at home, they will also have to help with international efforts to keep the infection at bay. Also, there should be regular drives to inform the public about precautions they should take vis-à-vis their own health in the matter. Any carelessness now could lead to the mutation of the virus to the point where human-to-human transmission becomes a reality.
http://www.dawn.com/2008/02/03/ed.htm#3

[HenryN]

NIH receives human samples for verification

ISLAMABAD: National Institute of Health (NIH) has received twenty samples of various persons who were working in Karachi poultry farms for bird flu test.
According to details, hundred of thousands chickens were culled following verification of (H5N1) virus in different poultry farms in the area of Gdab Karachi. The result of human samples will be announced on Tuesday.

http://www.onlinenews.com.pk/details.php?id=124056

[Dutchy]

Bird flu threat: hospitals put on alert



Staff Reporter

LAHORE: Following the directions of federal government, most of the hospitals of the province have been put on high alert to cope with any emergency arising out of H5N1 strain of avian (birds) influenza.

The disease, which had been reported from eastern and southern part of the South East Asia, seems to have been reached most cities of Pakistan during the last 8 hours.

Karachi was the first to mark the disease when hundreds of thousands birds were killed and many had to be culled within days. The disease had been reported from various other parts of the country as panic gripped the bird farming sector. In the City, the chicken price has come down substantially during the last two days from 70 to 60 rupee.

The Punjab health department has issued special directions to principals, medical superintendents of teaching hospitals and executive health officers for keeping surveillance and to adopt recommended measures for preventing any outbreak of avian influenza.

Isolation units that were meant during the last year in various public hospitals including DHQ hospital to house the suspected bird flu victims have been reactivated while medicines and diagnostic kits have been provided to the hospitals in this regard.

Punjab health department has already made special arrangements for rapid response if any case of bird flu is detected in the province and has arranged medicine for the treatment of bird flue.

Specials teams have been constituted for the conducting blood test of the suspected persons. It is also learnt that joint districts teams headed by District Coordination Officers concerned have already functional throughout the province comprising Executive District Officer (Health), Executive District Officer (Agriculture), District Officers Forests and District Officers Livestock.

Principals, Medical Superintendents of teaching and district headquarters hospitals & EDOs (Health) had already been directed by the health department on behalf of federal government that arrangements items Zip Gowns (Disposable), Latex Gloves (Disposable), Goggles and Viral Transport Medium (VTM) for the safety of health care workers should be ready in order to meet any emergency in case of occurring of Avian Influenza.

The Focal Persons as well as the fields' officers have been directed for immediate reporting to the Directorate General Health Services in case of suspected case so that laboratory diagnosis for N1H5 may be arranged. Dr Afzal Director Health Services (CDC) had already been nominated (functional) as Focal Person for Prevention and Control of Avian Influenza (Bird Flue) in the province. The people can be contacted on 042-9200970 and Email address cdc_pb@yahoo.com, for information. Talking to The Post, WHO representative to Punjab, Dr Asmatullah Chaudhry said in the wake of threat posed by H5N1, special instructions had been issued to the EDOs to keep constant vigil on the situation.

"The viral transport medium required for the transport of suspected human samples along with related guidelines has been dispatched to the district health departments", he added.

Moreover, special arrangements for rapid response if any case is detected in the province have been ensured while special teams constituted to collect blood samples for laboratory tests of the affected persons and to send these through TCS courier service to National Institute of Health Laboratory, he said , adding that besides EDO (Health), Executive District Officers (Agriculture), District Officers Forests and District Officers Livestock had been asked to reactivate surveillance to identify and isolate the viruses causing bird flu.

They have been directed to monitor the situation in their respective districts and to report swiftly any suspected case of bird flu in Punjab.

More diagnostic tests would be conducted at the Veterinary Research Institute (VRI) Lahore and Poultry Research Institute (PRI) Rawalpindi in this regard, he notified.

The government is planning to regulate the country's poultry sector comprising about 26,000 farms to make its faltering avian influenza control initiative effective, he maintained.

He said that there was a need to adopt precautionary measures by vulnerable people like poultry handlers, transporters, butchers and buyers to avoid transmission of H5N1 virus. However, he said that the cooked chicken was absolutely safe for consumption because anything cooked at 70 degree Celsius, which usually was a practice in households, destroyed H5N1 virus in the meat.

Regarding the preventive measures adopted by City District Government, Executive District Officer Health (EDO-Health) Dr Inam said that the government was emphasizing on health education to aware the people how to avoid bird flu strain. "No report we received yet from any part of the district regarding the prevalence of avian influenza and people are advised to be alarm," he added. He said that city district hospitals' staff had been directed to remain alert to deal with any emergency in this regard.

Precautionary measures stressed to avoid bird flu: Traditional Pakistani foods are cooked at around 120 degree Celsius and this temperature kills H5N1 virus as the Avian influenza virus H5N1 is a heat labile virus and cannot survive in more than 70 degree Celsius.

Thus properly cooked chicken can dispel all possibility of virus transmission. Similarly the virus cannot survive extreme cold, thus people should prefer frozen chicken to avoid the threat of the deadly H5N1 virus.

These views were expressed by Pakistan Medical Society (PMS) chairman Dr Masood Akhtar Sheikh while addressing the emergent meeting of the society. Dr Ali, Dr Fauzia, and Dr Israr Hussain Asif also addressed the meeting.

http://thepost.com.pk/CityNews.aspx?...142713&catid=3

[HenryN]

16 Punjab distts under threat

ASIF CHAUDHRY
LAHORE - The Directorate General Health Services Punjab has declared 16 districts of the province including Lahore, Rawalpindi and Multan highly sensitive for bird flu where chicken and human cases are expected.
A source in health department told TheNation that the Directorate General Health Services Punjab had declared these districts sensitive due to poultry business activities which were on the rise in these districts in comparison to the others.
It is also learnt that the World Health Organisation (WHO) has confirmed that a dangerous kind of bird flu virus, H5N1, has hit Pakistan after the reports of two human cases detected in Abbot Abad. Giving details in this regard, a WHO member said two persons members of a family, had fell victim to this disease. One of these persons later died. He disclosed that the Balochistan government had closed its borders with the province of Sindh for transportation of poultry.
The other districts which have been put high alert and declared sensitive included Gujranwala, Gujrat, Narowal, Sialkot, Muzaffar Garh and Attock, the source said.
Director General Health Punjab Dr. Aslam Chaudhry confirmed the report of declaring 16 districts sensitive, saying that the decision was taken keeping in view the present situation about bird flu virus which had jolted the country’s poultry business and raised serious concern. However, situation is quite under control especially in Punjab so far, he said and advised the people to adopt precautionary measures in this regard.
Another senior health officer in the said department revealed that keeping in view the sensitivity of the issue, the department had taken all necessary steps to avoid any untoward incident. Giving more details in this regard, he disclosed that as many as 350 doctors, nurses and paramedical staff had been imparted training in these sensitive districts to counter the situation. Besides this, he said, all necessary medicines in the form of tablets and syrup had been provided to the hospitals of these districts.
The people associated with the poultry business had been provided necessary equipments to be used while running their business and transportation of the chicken and other birds from one place to the other.
Talking to The Nation the former principal Fatima Jinnah Medical College/Sir Ganga Ram Hospital and member World Health Organization (WHO) Penal of Experts, Prof. Dr. Akbar Chaudhry told that Southern Punjab was under threat of bird flu virus due to its borders attached to Sindh where bird flu had hit recently.
He further disclosed that Balochistan government had closed down its borders with Sindh for transportation of any kind of poultry to its territory.
Chairman Pakistan Medical Society Dr. Masood Sheikh said that all efforts should be focused on Punjab as according to the Pakistan economic survey 2006-2007, meat production in Pakistan is 514 million tons while only Punjab produces 331.6 millions of tons, making its share 64.5 per cent.

http://www.nation.com.pk/daily/feb-2008/4/index3.php

[HenryN]

Suspected bird flu patient in NWFP

Poultry workers quarantined

Staff Reporter/Agencies

PESHAWAR/ISLAMABAD: A bird flu case has been detected in Khyber Teaching Hospital. Reportedly, a woman, wife of Meenat Khan from Bara Khyber Agency, suffered from influenza six days back. She was referred to Khyber Teaching Hospital by a local doctor two days back. The KTH doctors were of the view that the symptoms of her disease were the same as those found in the patients of bird flu. They said her blood sample had been sent to National Institute of Health, Islamabad, adding the report would be received from there after three days. They disclosed that the symptoms of the woman's disease and those of the two boys who died of bird flu last year were identical. Monitoring Desk adds: Sindh Health Department has advised the employees working at the law enforcing agency (LEA)'s affected poultry farm not to come out of the vicinity of the farm, while the affected chickens' blood samples report was expected tomorrow. Sindh Health Department sources told that the department has advised the LEA officers that the workers of this farm numbering about 9 should not be allowed to go out of the farm so that the possible virus spreading could be prevented. Sources told that all the employees of the LEA farm were healthy and their temperature is being checked every morning and the evening, none of them were found affected, however, they have advised not to go out of the farm as precautionary measure. This poultry farm is located adjacent to the bird flu hit farm, where nearly 2500 chickens died during the last few days. Sources told that the report on the blood samples of the affected chickens was expected tomorrow from Islamabad, while the poultry farm employees admitted into the Karachi Civil Hospital were also healthy. APP adds: The government has formulated a plan to register all poultry farms for ensuring proper monitoring system in order to check any outbreak of bird flu in the country. According to official sources here on Sunday, the decision was taken in the wake of high transmission season and the global threat posed by H5N1 Influenza virus. They said the provincial and district governments have been asked to adopt recommended measures for preventing and averting any outbreak of avian influenza. The provincial and regional health departments have also been asked to strengthen surveillance system and designate district surveillance officers. They said besides other steps personnel protective equipment has been dispatched to the provincial health departments, Islamabad Capital territory, FANA and FATA from National Influenza Project. Similarly tool kits for early detection and control of human cases of avian influenza have been developed and distributed to the provinces. They said the Health Ministry has already adopted special preventive measures on the poultry outbreak of influenza in the country. According to health experts the virus may expand from one farm to another and to population by mechanical means like contaminated equipment, vehicles, feed, bird-cages etc. They said Avian Influenza which is a contagious poultry disease caused by type A strains of the influenza virus, may result in rapid systemic illness and death to susceptible birds. The infection may lead to development of disease in human beings with symptoms ranging from typical influenza like fever, cough, sore throat and muscle aches to eye infections, pneumonia, acute respiratory distress, viral pneumonia, and other severe complications. Meanwhile, Live Stock and Dairy Development Board Chief Executive Dr Muhammad Afzal said Sunday said in a PTV programme 'Bird Flu' that the government is fully alive and taking a number of steps to avoid the outbreak of avian influenza in the country. "We are closely monitoring the situation in collaboration with World Health Organisation," he said. H5N1 first appeared in 1997 and in the last 11 years the number of total patients is only 300 out of which 200 died. World Health Organisation (WHO) says people can eat chicken as it has no disease threat because in Pakistan chicken is cooked at 100 degrees while avian influenza virus is killed at 70 degrees, he said. Poultry workers should adopt preventive measures and wear masks, gloves, proper shoes. It should be ensured no wild bird, including sparrows and crows enter in the poultry farms.

http://thepost.com.pk/Fb_ShortNews.a...status=Current

[HenryN]

Commentary

http://www.recombinomics.com/News/02...ar_Likely.html

[Treyfish]

Quarantine at Peshawar hospitals for H5N1 patients
PESHAWAR: After confirmation of bird flu virus in some areas of the country, isolation wards have been set up to treat any patient infected with the deadly disease and emergency has been declared in major hospitals of NWFP.

“We have set up an isolation ward with a capacity of treating 100 patients affected by the disease,” said Lady Reading Hospital Emergency Director Dr Saib Gul on Sunday. He said all precautionary measures had been taken by the hospital administration for treatment of bird flu patients and officials had been directed to be very vigilant and efficient.

All the staff members had been informed about the protective measures in case of admission of any patient infected with the virus in the hospital, he added. However, Dr Gul said presently no such patient had arrived in the hospital from any part of the province.

He said the hospital administration had already made arrangements for the protective equipments for the medical staff. Meanwhile, a Khyber Teaching Hospital (KTH) spokesman said the isolation ward had been set up at the hospital. He said the isolation ward already existed in the hospital, where patients with severe viral infections were treated. Around 16 separate rooms were available in the war, which had the capacity of providing treatment to 32 patients. However, in case of increase in number of patients, the capacity of the ward could be extended in accordance with the need, he said, adding that all the equipment in the ward was according to the standards of the WHO and the hospital administration was fully alert for treatment of bird flu patients. app http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default...-2-2008_pg7_25

[Treyfish]

Suspected bird flu case in Peshawar
LAHORE: A suspected bird flu case has been reported at a hospital in Peshawar, Dawn News reported on Sunday.

Blood samples of the suspected bird flu patient, a woman, have been sent to the National Institute of Health for tests, the TV channel said. Her husband said she caught flu but had not recovered after taking medicines prescribed by doctors in Tara Bara (Khyber Agency). Nine bird flu cases had been reported in the NWFP in the last month, the channel said. According to a BBC Urdu report, the government had started surveying and testing poultry farms countrywide after a confirmed bird flu case in Karachi. daily times monitor
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default...-2-2008_pg7_13

[Treyfish]

Commentary

Likely H5N1 Patient in Peshawar Pakistan

Recombinomics Commentary 22:03
February 3, 2008

Reportedly, a woman, wife of Meenat Khan from Bara Khyber Agency, suffered from influenza six days back. She was referred to Khyber Teaching Hospital by a local doctor two days back. The KTH doctors were of the view that the symptoms of her disease were the same as those found in the patients of bird flu.

They disclosed that the symptoms of the woman's disease and those of the two boys who died of bird flu last year were identical.

The above comments provide more detail on the suspect case at the Kyber Teaching Hospital. This hospital also treated the earlier cluster from Pakistan late last year, and the two boys cited above are the two brothers who died from H5N1. This additional detail increases the likelihood that the suspect case has been infected with H5N1.

Media reports also describe a cluster of two from Abbottabad. Two were H5N1 confirmed and one died. This cluster does not match earlier clusters in Pakistan (one was larger and had two fatalities, which another had two members but no fatalities). If this media report is accurate then there are multiple cases in northwestern Pakistan. The report also cited 16 districts at risk for future outbreaks (see satellite maps here and here).

This report has not been confirmed, but Pakistan has issued a high alert for the entire country, and these additional reports provide evidence to justify the alerts.

More information on the above case(s) would be useful.
http://www.recombinomics.com/News/02...ar_Likely.html

[Treyfish]

No flu symptoms in poultry workers yet
By Shahzad Shah Jillani

KARACHI: The three workers of the affected poultry farm who were taken Friday to the isolation ward of Civil Hospital Karachi (CHK) have shown no symptoms yet, Daily Times learnt Saturday.

Hospital sources confirmed that Allah Dino, S/O Muhammad Hussain, his brother Ghulam Hussain, 25, and Muhammad Aslam, 25, S/O Muhammad Bangul, were all workers at the Dr Hamid Poultry Farm.

“There have been no symptoms that suggest they have been infected by the virus yet,” sources said. Their samples have been sent to the National Reference Lab in Islamabad and the reports will come in a few days, they added.

According to Health Additional Secretary Dr Shakeel Malik, the workers of the affected poultry farm have only been kept under observation. “It was just a precautionary measure to ensure that the workers with close contact to the site would be available for any query,” Dr Malik added.

Furthermore, Dr Malik said that a survey was conducted at the farms suspected of being affected with bird flu. “There has been no case so far and things are pretty much under control. We are closely monitoring the situation,” said Dr Malik.

Governor directs to monitor bird flu: Sindh Governor Dr Ishrat Ebad Khan directed all provincial departments concerned to closely monitor the outbreak of bird flu in the outskirts of Karachi, said a press release issued Saturday by the press secretary to the governor.

The governor had issued strict monitoring directives to all the departments, including health, livestock, surveillance and public health, to control the spread of the virus and identify the areas that are likely to be exposed to the bird flu. He also insisted on keeping hospital isolation units and wards on alert.

The governor also directed the monitoring committee to ensure any bird flu cases are reported so that they can be dealt with before it’s too late. http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default...-2-2008_pg12_1

[HenryN]

http://visz.rsoe.hu/alertmap/woalert...15252&lang=eng

RSOE Emergency and Disaster Information Service Budapest, Hungary Back to WWA

Summary Event Description Situation Update Google Map Additional Information About Country Population Risk Analysis Photos Satellite Image Epidemic Hazard - Asia Event summary GLIDE Number EH-20080204-15252-PAK Event type Epidemic Hazard Date / time [UTC] 04/02/2008 - 05:01:29 Country Pakistan Area Reading Hospital, hyber Teaching Hospital County / State State of North-West Frontier City Peshawar Cause of event Unknown Log date [UTC] 04/02/2008 - 05:01:29 Damage level Large Time left - Latitude: N 34° 0.467 Longitude: E 71° 34.400 Number of deads: Not or Not data Number of injured persons: Not or Not data Number of missing persons: Not or Not data Number of infected persons 132 Number of evacuated persons: Not or Not data Population No data!

[HenryN]

Commentary at

http://www.recombinomics.com/News/02...n_Poultry.html

[HenryN]

By By our correspondent 2/5/2008

Karachi Laboratory tests on Monday confirmed the existence of the H5N1 strain of bird flu in the poultry farm owned by the Rangers. Hundreds of fowl had been culled in anticipation prior to the official report confirming the presence of bird flu on the farm. The farm is adjacent to an infected private farm in Gadap Town where the first bird flu case was found a few days ago, Provincial Coordinator on Bird Flu, Dr Ali Akbar Soomro, said. Soomro, who visited the affected area on Monday, said that seven of their teams were working there and had given a “satisfactory” report about the bio-security steps taken so far to prevent the spread of the virus. Meanwhile, a team comprising representatives of the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the National Institute of Health (NIH) arrived in the city to assess the measures taken by hospitals for treatment of infectious diseases, in particular bird flu. “The team brought some protective equipment and medicines against bird flu,” said Special Secretary Health, Dr Capt. Abdul Majid. He added that they also shared some information about the virus with local officials. They visited Civil Hospital Karachi (CHK), where three workers of the infected poultry farm had been kept under observation, as well as the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) where an isolation ward was being set up, the official said. Later, they visited different areas and assessed the situation prevailing therein. Deputy Secretary Health, Dr Shakil Mullick, who accompanied the team, said that they expressed their “satisfaction” over the provincial government’s efforts to control the virus. The Pakistan Poultry Association (PPA) and poultry research officials held a meeting here to chalk out a plan to spread awareness against bird flu, said Dr Aslam Jalali, a poultry expert. He said that a series of seminars/workshops would be held to inform the poultry farm owners about precautionary measures and bio-security steps needed to contain and eliminate the latest threat of avian influenza (bird flu). A city government official said that CDGK officials had visited the affected Rangers’ farm after receiving a report about the existence of bird flu there. “Honestly speaking, we did nothing except take a glance of the farm as the Rangers themselves culled 4,000 chickens on Sunday,” the official said. He said that they also saw a ditch where birds were buried after being culled. Doctors belonging to the Poultry Research Institute (PRI) visited around 12 poultry farms and did not find any new case of possible bird flu, said Dr Rasheed Ahmed Bhutto. He said as the virus could spread up to three kilometres, they continued to spray the affected area to ensure that it is contained and does not affect any of the surrounding poulty farms.

http://www.thenews.com.pk/print1.asp?id=94706

[vinny]

Dr niman if BF cant make the final transition into a pandemic virus in either pakistan or india with the amount of people that live there and the poor education,will it never be able to make that final change it needs........?

[Treyfish]

Karachi poultry farm employees quarantined

Staff Reporter

Karachi—Sindh Health Department has advised the employees working at the law enforcing agency (LEA)’s affected poultry farm not to come out of the vicinity of the farm, while the affected chickens’ blood samples report was expected tomorrow.
Sindh Health Department sources told that the department has advised the LEA officers that the workers of this farm numbering about 9 should not be allowed to go out of the farm so that the possible virus spreading could be prevented.
Sources told that all the employees of the LEA farm were healthy and their temperature is being checked every morning and the evening, none of them were found affected, however, they have advised not to go out of the farm as precautionary measure. This poultry farm is located adjacent to the bird flu hit farm, where nearly 2500 chickens died during the last few days.
Sources told that the report on the blood samples of the affected chickens was expected tomorrow from Islamabad, while the poultry farm employees admitted into the Karachi Civil Hospital were also healthy. http://www.pakobserver.net/news/topstories10.asp

[Treyfish]

http://paktribune.com/news/cartoons.php?id=17749

[AlaskaDenise]

Originally Posted by niman

Commentary at

http://www.recombinomics.com/News/02...n_Poultry.html

Commentary

Poultry Deaths in Northern and Southern Pakistan

Recombinomics Commentary 23:45
February 4, 2008

more than two thousand chickens brought from Hyderabad died in Mangora, Swat. The Tehsil Municipal Authority Mangora, on the public complaint, while taking quick action took into custody the owner of chickens Sher Ali and sent specimen of the dead chickens to laboratory to check for bird flu.

In Punjab five thousand chickens perished due to bird flu virus in village Moor Charwan in Hujra Shah Moqeem at the poultry form of Pir Aftab Shah.

The above comments describe more poultry deaths in Pakistan. Some of the deaths are in the south, near confirmed cases in suburban Karachi (see satellite maps here and here), while the other is in the north, in the general area of earlier outbreaks and near the hospital with the suspect patient.

The situation in Pakistan is far from clear. Media reports describe more poultry deaths and one report cites 132 hospitalized patients in Peshawar (although it should indicate there are 132 beds available at the hospitals in Peshawar).

There were significant delays in the reporting of the earlier human cases in the northwest and media reports did not appear until the second patient died. WHO became aware of the situation via internet posts, so the current conflicting reports are not surprising.

The situation in India is also far from clear. H5N1 spread has exploded in Bangladesh, while India maintains the situation in West Bengal is stabilizing. Testing of wild birds and patients is minimal, and the track record for detecting H5N1 in either group remains abysmal, with zero reports of positives.


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[sharon sanders]

Bird flu spreads as Rangers’ farm infected





* Authorities arrest chicken merchant for ‘selling bird flu-infected poultry’

KARACHI/SWAT: Government officials confirmed on Monday an outbreak of the deadly bird flu virus at a second farm in Karachi and said 12 people had been placed in an isolation ward, AFP reported.

The virus was discovered at a poultry farm run by security forces, three days after it was found at another farm in the port city, Agriculture and Livestock Ministry official Rafiq-ul-Hassan Usmani said.

“We have found H5N1 virus in the second farm too this morning,” Usmani told AFP, adding that both farms have been sealed off and officials have culled around 10,000 chickens.

A spokesman for the paramilitary Rangers force, which owns the farm, said they had alerted authorities and destroyed infected poultry and feedbags after hundreds of chickens were found dead.

“We have shifted nine of our workers to a hospital and doctors are monitoring them in an isolation ward,” said the spokesman, Major Asad Ali.

Another three poultry handlers from the other farm where the virus was discovered last week have also been placed in an isolation ward at a local hospital, medical officials said.

“Our doctors are observing all the farm workers and have so far found no signs of transmission of the dangerous virus in any of them,” Sindh Health Secretary Abdul Majid said.

Pakistan recorded its first death from bird flu in December when a man died in the NWFP. The victim’s brother also died before being tested for the virus.

Dead chickens: The Tehsil Municipal Authority (TMA) of Mingora arrested a chicken dealer for selling sick birds and seized around 2,000 bird-flu infected chickens, according to a Daily Times staff report.

According to sources, Sher Ali allegedly bought around 4,000 flu-infected birds from Hyderabad and was selling them in Mingora city. However, around 2,000 fowls died of the deadly disease.

The authorities confirmed the death of 200 birds at the dealer’s shop. However, sources said 2,000 birds died of the disease. The health authorities have sent samples of dead and alive birds to a laboratory in Islamabad for bird-flu test. staff report /afp



http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default...5-2-2008_pg1_3

[HenryN]

Originally Posted by vinny

Dr niman if BF cant make the final transition into a pandemic virus in either pakistan or india with the amount of people that live there and the poor education,will it never be able to make that final change it needs........?

The pandemic strain can take a series of small steps, and to see the steps, proper testing is required (which is not as common as most realize).

[HenryN]

KARACHI: Fresh samples taken for bird flu tests



By Our Staff Reporter
KARACHI, Feb 4: A joint team of national and international health agencies has taken some more samples from three suspected patients, who were shifted from the bird flu-infected poultry farm in Gadap to the Civil Hospital Karachi on Friday.

Sindh Deputy Secretary Health Dr Shakeel Mullick, who is also the focal person on bird flu in humans, on Monday night said that throat, nasal and blood samples were taken in the presence of a committee comprising representatives of the World Health Organisation, the National Institute of Health, Islamabad, and the federal and provincial health ministries. They had been sent to the NIH laboratory in Islamabad and the result was expected after 72 hours, he added.

CHK Medical Superintendent Dr Kaleem Butt said that the team took fresh samples as those taken earlier were not helpful for the NIH laboratory tests.

Dr Mullick, Dr Abdul Wahid Bhurt, Dr Najeeb Khan Durrani and Dr Zulfiqar, members of the committee on monitoring of avian influenza in humans, later discussed arrangements related to the disease with the hospital’s medical superintendent and expressed their satisfaction over the measures taken so far.

The team also discussed technical aspects about hospital infection control guidelines and standard operating procedure regarding epidemiological response to avian influenza and proper clinical management of suspected patients. The experts suggested that pneumonia surveillance and fever clinics be set up at the hospital to detect the people contracted with bird flu virus at the earliest possible stage so that treatment could start after diagnosis, the release added.

http://www.dawn.com/2008/02/05/local6.htm

[HenryN]

WHO team arrives to assess safety, treatment measures

By By our correspondent 2/5/2008

Karachi Laboratory tests on Monday confirmed the existence of the H5N1 strain of bird flu in the poultry farm owned by the Rangers. Hundreds of fowl had been culled in anticipation prior to the official report confirming the presence of bird flu on the farm. The farm is adjacent to an infected private farm in Gadap Town where the first bird flu case was found a few days ago, Provincial Coordinator on Bird Flu, Dr Ali Akbar Soomro, said. Soomro, who visited the affected area on Monday, said that seven of their teams were working there and had given a “satisfactory” report about the bio-security steps taken so far to prevent the spread of the virus. Meanwhile, a team comprising representatives of the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the National Institute of Health (NIH) arrived in the city to assess the measures taken by hospitals for treatment of infectious diseases, in particular bird flu. “The team brought some protective equipment and medicines against bird flu,” said Special Secretary Health, Dr Capt. Abdul Majid. He added that they also shared some information about the virus with local officials. They visited Civil Hospital Karachi (CHK), where three workers of the infected poultry farm had been kept under observation, as well as the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) where an isolation ward was being set up, the official said. Later, they visited different areas and assessed the situation prevailing therein. Deputy Secretary Health, Dr Shakil Mullick, who accompanied the team, said that they expressed their “satisfaction” over the provincial government’s efforts to control the virus. The Pakistan Poultry Association (PPA) and poultry research officials held a meeting here to chalk out a plan to spread awareness against bird flu, said Dr Aslam Jalali, a poultry expert. He said that a series of seminars/workshops would be held to inform the poultry farm owners about precautionary measures and bio-security steps needed to contain and eliminate the latest threat of avian influenza (bird flu). A city government official said that CDGK officials had visited the affected Rangers’ farm after receiving a report about the existence of bird flu there. “Honestly speaking, we did nothing except take a glance of the farm as the Rangers themselves culled 4,000 chickens on Sunday,” the official said. He said that they also saw a ditch where birds were buried after being culled. Doctors belonging to the Poultry Research Institute (PRI) visited around 12 poultry farms and did not find any new case of possible bird flu, said Dr Rasheed Ahmed Bhutto. He said as the virus could spread up to three kilometres, they continued to spray the affected area to ensure that it is contained and does not affect any of the surrounding poulty farms.

http://www.thenews.com.pk/print1.asp?id=94706

[HenryN]

Commentary at

http://www.recombinomics.com/News/02...rachi_WHO.html

[HenryN]

New bird flu outbreak confirmed




PESHAWAR: A woman reportedly affected by the deadly bird flu has been admitted to the Khyber Teaching Hospital (KTH) here on Monday.
Also, around 3,000 of 4,000 birds, which were taken to Swat from Hyderabad, were found mysteriously dead. The woman hailing from Bara in Khyber Agency was taken to KTH on January 31.
She was first taken to a local health facility in the tribal agency when she developed pneumonia and low oxygen on January 28. The doctor there referred her to the KTH for further treatment and on February 1, she was referred to Pulmonology Department of the hospital where senior chest physician and head of the department, Associate Prof Dr Mukhtiar Zaman Afridi shifted her to the ‘isolation ward’, established for bird flu victims. Talking to The News, Dr Mukhtiar Zaman said that blood specimens of the woman had been sent to NIH and the result of the same was still awaited He, however, felt the woman did not seem to be suffering from avian influenza virus (H5N1). “Symptoms of her disease indicated that she was suffering from flu and simple pneumonia infection and she would soon recover,” he said.

http://paktribune.com/news/print.php?id=197001