Tag Archives: hong kong

Business/Economics, International

H7N9 update: Hong Kong says new flu can’t be detected in early stages!

03 April 2013/22 Jumada l-Ula 1434/14 Farvardin 1391/23 Yi-Mao (2nd month) 4711

“This reflects that either the virus is very serious, or the minor cases cannot be recognized by the frontline healthcare staff.”-Ko Wing-man, Hong Kong’s Secretary for Food & Health

Health officials in Hong Kong are scrambling to come up with a new test that can detect H7N9 in its early infection stage.   Officials point out that by the time the sick people in China were diagnosed with H7N9 they were already in critical condition, suggesting that H7N9 is not identifiable at the beginning of infection.

This also suggests that infected poultry do not show signs of H7N9 until close to death, which means potentially hundreds of thousands of imported poultry could be given a clean bill of health by inspectors.

Influenza

H5N1: Deaths in Egypt, more dead birds in Hong Kong, Vietnam tests new vaccine, USDA approves new vaccine

On 07 April 2012, a 36 year old woman went to an Egyptian hospital and died the same day.  She tested positive for H5N1.

She is the 5th Egyptian to die from H5N1 this year.  So far there have been nine confirmed human cases of H5N1 in Egypt this year.

In Hong Kong, at the beginning of April, a dead oriental magpie robin tested positive for H5N1.

Vietnam began testing the second dose of a new vaccine on 08 April.   1,000 volunteers from the provinces of Thanh Hoa and Ha Nam are taking the vaccines, they got the first dose in March.

The Vietnamese Army Medical Institute will make final analysis of the vaccine, according to European standards.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has approved a new vaccine for poultry.

The vaccine maker, Ceva, says Vectormune HVT AIV vaccine has been tested against several types of bird flu viruses in different parts of the world: “Our research revealed such outstanding potency features and flexibility that we believe this vaccine can dramatically help in improving the control of Avian Influenza.”-Yannick Gardin, Ceva Santé Animale

 

Influenza

H3N2: Kills family in U.S., Hong Kong reports sudden jump in cases, big hit on old folks homes in U.K., Australia gets hit early

On March 1 and March 2, 2012, in the U.S. state of Maryland, three people died from H3N2 influenza.  They were members of the same family. Two other family members are recovering.

Calvert County Health officials say those who died did not get vaccinated.  Two of those who died also had complications due to MRSA. U.S. health officials say the flu season is off to a late start.

Health officials in Hong Kong are reporting a sudden jump in H3N2 cases.

At the end of January, 2012, they reported 196 total flu cases. At the end of February they reported 465 cases.  Now, for the end of March they have 579 new cases!  At least 50 people have died.

H3N2 is the dominate influenza in Hong Kong, accounting for 48% of all flu cases!  Health officials say it is similar to influenza A/Perth/16/2009, which is a sign that current vaccines should help prevent it.

Here are some tips from Hong Kong health officials: “Build up good body immunity by having a proper diet, regular exercise and adequate rest, reducing stress and avoiding smoking. Maintain good personal and environmental hygiene. Wash hands after sneezing, coughing or cleaning the nose. Maintain good indoor ventilation.  Avoid visiting crowded places with poor ventilation.”
Also: “Members of the public, particularly young children, elderly people and those with chronic diseases, should wear face masks [hopefully you won’t violate any Homeland Security rules] and consult their doctors promptly if they develop influenza-like symptoms.”

In the United Kingdom, old folks homes are getting hit hard.  In just one care center six people died within days of each other.  Officials are seeing a jump in H3N2 cases: “We have been getting outbreaks involving 20 to 30 people at a time. When this happens local health protection unit staff go into the homes and take swabs.”-Nick Phin, U.K.’s Health Protection Agency

The same official said flu deaths that occur in nursing homes are not required to be reported to the public: “…a mandatory scheme whereby anyone admitted to a hospital intensive care unit who dies from flu is reported to the Department of Health. But we don’t formally record flu deaths of people dying in care homes.”

In other words it could be worse than what has been reported!  The Health Protection Agency (HPA) is admitting that nursing homes have the highest cases of influenza A (which includes H3N2). Schools are the next hardest hit, with hospitals coming in third.

British health officials confirm what U.S. health officials are saying: “Flu has circulated late this season….The most common flu strain we are currently seeing circulate this season is H3N2, which can cause more severe illness particularly in older people….”

While some of us in the Northern Hemisphere are getting a late start to the flu season, Australia is reporting an early start.

Officials in New South Wales, Australia, are reporting that Australians returning from vacations in Europe and the United States are bringing H3N2 with them: “…people shouldn’t be complacent! We’ve had two confirmed cases in the Hunter from people who have been overseas.”-David Durrheim, Hunter New England Local Health District

Normally the flu season starts in April in the land Down Under.  Officials there are actually telling people with symptoms to stay away from hospitals, as well as nursing homes, schools and other crowded areas, in order to prevent spreading the virus.

 

 

 

Influenza

H5N1: Bird flu kills more than 15,000 in Nepal, Hong Kong finds more victims, yet more human cases in Indonesia

Nepal’s Animal Health Directorate reported that bird flu is spreading like wild fire in their country.  So far 15,160 chickens have died on just one farm.

Test results have finally come in, and confirmed it was bird flu. Now officials will begin killing off the rest of the poultry on farms that have had cases of bird flu.

This is devastating to Nepal’s poultry industry, and could result in a food shortage.

In Hong Kong, another wild bird was found dead.  The crow tested positive for H5 avian influenza.  Hong Kong has seen a number of wild birds dying from the virus, normally it’s domesticated poultry.

The wild birds had not been found near poultry farms.  The crow was found in a planter at a gas station.

Indonesia continues to have more human cases.  According to the UN’s World Health Organization, 18 people have become sick, with ten dying in the 2011-2012 flu season.

The latest death was a 24 year old woman who got sick with fever on February 23.  She died on 01 March 2012.  She worked at a poultry farm where chickens were infected.

 

 

Influenza

Pale Green Horse & Global Food Crisis: Don’t blame wild birds, modern H5N1 human caused! Chicken feed contaminated with crap! Remember Mad Cow?

The earliest form of H5N1 was discovered in Scotland in 1959, where it killed off a couple of flocks of poultry.  That’s the thing, H5N1 bird flu seems to target domesticated birds, poultry, not wild birds.

Since 1959 H5N1 has mutated into more than 700 versions (depending on your source), and the main target is still domesticated poultry.  In some U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention studies, it was noted that many wild birds who died from H5N1 became infected after eating chicken feed!

By 2008 global health officials felt secure, because vaccines against several types of H5N1 had been developed and seem to be working.  But now, just two months into 2012 and several Asian countries are dealing with epidemic sized outbreaks, killing tens of thousands of poultry, and at least two people in Vietnam.

In regards to Vietnam, back in the summer of 2011, Vietnamese health officials stopped their vaccination program.  They discovered it wasn’t working, due to the fact that they were dealing with a completely new version of H5N1!

I noticed that part of the culling of poultry involves the feed itself.

Some bloggers have posted stories and pics of catfish farms in Jakarta and Java, that regularly feed dead chickens, chicken manure and chicken feed to their catfish!  The bloggers’ concern is over the spread of H5N1 from the chickens through the catfish to humans who eat the catfish.  There is apparently no health organization in the world investigating this.  Health officials do say that cooking the food long enough will kill the virus.

Since H5N1 spreads only through domesticated poultry, how in the hell does it get from Scotland, all the way ’round the world to Asia?  Poultry products are normally eaten in the country that produces them.  Apparently wild birds don’t get too far once they get infected (it makes you wounder why health officials seem to be so concerned over migratory birds).

Here’s another problem, H5N1 doesn’t spread well in the air, so it’s hard to get it from someone coughing or sneezing.  The World Health Organization has postulated that humans get it from being in very close contact with poultry.  It might be kicked up in the dust as they walk, or it actually sticks to something that the human brings near their face, or it gets into cuts on the skin.

So how is it spreading so fast and so intensely? Vietnam admits that their latest outbreak is due to a new version of H5N1, and, poultry being brought into their country illegally.  They don’t know where the domesticated birds came from!

Australia does not have a problem with H5N1 cases. But it’s not because Australia shoots down all the migratory wild birds, it’s because they have a strict quarantine policy on importing domesticated birds!  (and another very important reason you’ll read at the end of this article)

Again, it’s domesticated birds, mainly poultry that’re the target of H5N1.

As an example of how concerned some governments are getting over domesticated birds catching H5N1, in 2006 Germany went on a domesticated bird hunt, arbitrarily killing not only poultry, but pets like homing pigeons.  Two German free range farmers, who had their entire uninfected flocks culled, killed themselves in protest.  This brings up another issue; Germany used the H5N1 scare to shut down free range poultry farms, favoring the bigger corporate factory poultry farms!

What about the feed?  Health officials say don’t let the feed and water get contaminated.  But which really comes first?  Since it’s been proven that the 1959 H5N1, and it’s subsequent hundreds of mutations specifically target domesticated poultry, then it’s not wild birds that’re contaminating the feed and water (as some governmental health organizations insist).

Health officials claim that the feed and water gets contaminated when an infected bird craps in it.  That works if you don’t know where your getting your poultry from, like in Vietnam.  But what about places that have created more  rules like Hong Kong? Hong Kong is dealing with a new outbreak of H5N1, they know where the chickens came from; southern China.  Yet China seems to be dealing mainly with human cases of H5N1.  Two people died between December 2011, and January 2012, and one of them had no contact with birds of any kind.

I wonder if the guy who died without being around birds, got it from poultry feed?  He was a bus driver, could have been transporting chicken feed.

A December 2011 Journal of Virology report said there was a direct link between human H5N1 cases and poultry markets.  It is the first report to do so: “Among these 69 samples, we isolated a total of 12 highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza viruses from four of the six live bird markets….the genetic sequence of the environmental and corresponding human isolates was similar (with a sequence identity of greater than 99%), demonstrating a solid link between human infection and live poultry markets.”-Yuelong Shu, author of study

They also studied 38 human H5N1 cases and found they “…were consistent with those identified in poultry outbreaks or in live poultry markets.”  In other words humans don’t get H5N1 from wild birds, they get it from poultry raised in close quarters (too bad Germany shut down their free range farmers).

Again, if wild birds are not the true source of the H5N1 virus, then how are the chickens getting it?

Check out this statement: “H5N1 is mainly spread by domestic poultry, both through the movements of infected birds and poultry products and through the use of infected poultry manure as fertilizer or feed.”

The use of manure as feed?   The above quote might have originated with the United Nations’ World Health Organization, but it’s being used by many health organization and on medical information websites.

Yes indeed, crap is used in farm animal feed, like feed for cows: “Recycled animal waste, such as processed chicken manure and litter, has been used as a feed ingredient for almost 40 years [Mmmm, this was posted in 2001, and the first H5N1 case was in 1959, that’s 42 years, mmmm]. This animal waste contains large amounts of protein, fiber, and minerals, and has been deliberately mixed into animal feed for these nutrients. Generally, animal waste is used within the State where it is produced because the bulk and weight of the product makes interstate shipment uneconomical. Normally, this animal waste is used by small farmers and owners of beef and dairy herds as a winter supplement for mother cows and weaned calves.”-U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Center for Veterinary Medicine

In the United States most farm animal feed is augmented with chicken crap.  But the FDA says strict rules are followed.  It might explain why H5N1 isn’t a big deal in the U.S., yet (remember Mad Cow disease?).  It could also explain why Asian countries are having such a bad time with H5N1. What are their regulations regarding the use of chicken crap in their chicken feed?   Have they created a vicious cycle with unregulated chicken feed that’s full of infected chicken crap?

I wonder why Germany shut down their free range poultry farmers in favor of corporate factory farmers who feed their chickens their own crap?   Is the chicken crap industry that powerful?

Oh, and what about Australia?  It turns out that the real reason Australia is not having a problem with H5N1 is that chicken crap is banned from use as animal feed in Australia!!!

The Aussie law is called the Ruminant Feed Ban: “Farmers need to take precautions to ensure that poultry litter and poultry manure are not fed to any livestock species, and that poultry feed is not fed to ruminants [cows, goats, deers, ie plant eaters]. This is important both for guaranteeing the safety of our food and for ensuring that Australia can continue to demonstrate ongoing freedom from BSE  [aka Mad Cow, hello!] for the protection of vital export markets for meat and livestock.”

It looks like the best way to avoid getting some form of H5N1 is to raise your own chickens, or support free range poultry farming, or move to Australia.   Would you eat crap?

I looked and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him.  They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth.

 

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

Pale Green Horse & H5N1: More wild birds found dead in Honk Kong. Bangladesh dealing with full blown epidemic.

I looked and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him.  They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth.

In the past few weeks several wild birds have turned up dead, in Hong Kong, of H5N1.  On January 26, a dead goose tested positive for H5N1.  Of interest is that it was not from a poultry farm, and was no where near poultry when it was found.  Then on January 30, a dead peregrine falcon was found.  It died of H5N1, and was no where near any poultry farms.  Also on January 30, a black headed gull was found dead of H5N1, however it was found within three km (1.8 miles) of chicken farms.

In Bangladesh, officials have revealed they’ve been dealing with a full blown epidemic involving a dozen poultry farms.

From November to January 31, 67,327 birds and 69,390 eggs were destroyed, in an effort to stop the spread of H5N1.  Officials pointed out that normally the height of the H5N1 season is usually January/February, but they’ve been dealing with this latest outbreak since November!

Farmers in Bangladesh suffered such drastic poultry culling through the winter of 2009/10 as well.

Bangladesh was first hit with H5N1 in March 2007.  Many Asian countries have killed hundreds of thousands of farm birds, in an effort to stop H5N1.  Such action has to adversely affect food supply, and prices.

 

International, Technology

Pale Green Horse: H5N1 first 2012 deaths in Vietnam, Indonesia and Cambodia

I looked and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him.  They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth.

Cambodia, Indonesia and Vietnam are reporting the first human deaths due to H5N1, for 2012.  Unlike the Chinese cases, in these cases the people were in contact with sick birds.

As I wrote before, a two year old in Cambodia got sick with H5N1, he died last week.

Vietnam reported the death of an 18 year old man, who worked on a duck farm.  But the government of Vietnam is now trying to downplay it by issuing official reports saying their anti-Avian Flu program is a success.  Vietnam recently killed off thousands of poultry after finding some infected with H5N1.  Vietnamese officials say the family of the man who died is now under health watch.

Indonesia reports two deaths, and they might be human to human infections.  A 23 year old man, and his five year old relative, died from H5N1.  They lived with an extended family on a poultry farm.

Including the deaths in China, between December 31, 2011, and January 23, 2012, six people have died from H5N1.

 

 

International, Technology

Pale Green Horse: H5N1 takes life of Second Chinese man who had no contact with birds

I looked and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him.  They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth.

For the second time in less than four weeks, a man in southern China died after getting sick with H5N1.

On December 31, 2011, a bus driver died after getting H5N1, a little more than one week after getting sick.

That also followed an outbreak of H5N1 in poultry in Hong Kong.  Both deaths in China happened in southern provenances.  Many of the poultry sold in Hong Kong comes from southern Chinese provenances.  However, the bus driver never came into contact with birds, and it looks like the same might be true for the man who just died.

The man who just died got sick on January 6, was admitted into hospital, then died on January 22/23.  Like the bus driver, relatives say he had no contact with birds.

 

 

 

International, Technology, U.S.

H5N1 kills Chinese bus driver, officials trying to find out how he got infected

Just a week after Hong Kong officials culled more than 17,000 poultry, a bus driver in China has died from H5N1 (bird flu).

The killing of tens of thousands of birds in Hong Kong was prompted after just one chicken died from H5N1. Now Hong Kong officials say a second bird has died from H5N1.

During that same week, a bus driver in China became ill and was put in the hospital for possible pneumonia.  Tests showed he had H5N1.  The 39 year old man died, December 31, 2011.

Officials in China are concerned because the man had no contact with birds.  No one else, who’s been in contact with the man, has developed symptoms.  The World Health Organization says H5N1 has a 60% mortality rate among humans (and they’re not talking about the genetically modified H5N1 that your taxpayer dollars were spent on developing).

Business/Economics, International, Technology, U.S.

H5N1 spread its wings, again. Hong Kong reporting the killing of thousands suspected of being infected

Hong Kong officials reporting that in just the past few days they’ve had to kill 17,000 chickens from China, because one tested positive for H5N1.

Hong Kong seems to be the jumping off point for global spread of H5N1, because of their large poultry markets located in an area overcrowded with humans.

In 2008 Hong Kong killed tens of thousands of chickens after finding some infected with H5N1. Most of Hong Kong’s chickens come from China.

But before anyone gets too upset, there are vaccines for H5N1, and since 2003 H5N1 killed about 331 people around the world.  It’s the new bio-terror weaponized version of H5N1, created by scientists paid with U.S. taxpayer dollars, that should have you worried.