Though the transmission of the avian bird flu to humans is still considered rare, the threat of a global pandemic is enough for travelers to stay abreast of the latest news. Helping to provide this information is a new article that reviews the avian flu as well as the recommendations for travelers.
A team of researchers from Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) and the University of Queensland in Australia have re-analyzed data from 27 countries around the world to estimate both the global mortality patterns of the 1918 pandemic and, based on 2004 population data, how a similar pandemic would affect the world today.
Auburn University, in collaboration with Vaxin Inc. of Birmingham, Ala., has developed the first "in ovo," or egg-injected, vaccine to protect chickens against the avian influenza virus.
Vaccinating care home staff against influenza can prevent illness, deaths and health service use during periods of moderate influenza activity, concludes a study published online by the BMJ today.
By comparing influenza viruses found in birds with those of the avian virus that have also infected human hosts, researchers have identified key genetic changes required for pandemic strains of bird flu.
As public health officials around the world keep a nervous eye on the spread of avian influenza, the University of Saskatchewan's Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization (VIDO) has uncovered a key step in how the influenza virus causes infection.
An international team of researchers is using computers to prepare for a possible pandemic influenza, a type of flu that could infect millions of people worldwide.
Infectious diseases expert differentiates between avian and seasonal flu: the signs, symptoms, causes, prevention and treatment.
A new variant of the bird flu virus H5N1 emerged in late 2005 and replaced most of the previous variants across a large part of southern China, despite an ongoing program to vaccinate poultry, according to researchers at the University of Hong Kong in collaboration with scientists at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.
Opening a new front in the war against flu, researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have reported the discovery of a novel compound that confers broad protection against influenza viruses, including deadly avian influenza.
The H1N1 influenza strain that caused the 1918 flu pandemic causes a severe immune-system response that likely is what makes the virus so deadly to a host animal or person, according to a new study appearing in the Oct. 5 issue of the journal Nature.
One of the most potentially dangerous breeding grounds of disease is woefully ill-prepared for a bird flu crisis, according to a new study being presented today by researchers at Saint Louis University.
The most cost effective and quickest way to respond to a flu pandemic within the next five years is to use existing facilities to make vaccines from cell cultures, new research suggests.
Wearing light solar-powered GPS satellite transmitters, wild swans from Mongolia are winging their way across Eurasia, while land-bound scientists tracking the birds' journeys on computers say that these unique studies will shed light on how wild birds may be involved in the spread of avian influenza.
During the 1918-1920 influenza epidemic, some U.S. communities experienced low morbidity and mortality rates. The Center for the History of Medicine has compiled thousands of pages of primary and secondary source materials on how seven of these communities met the challenge. The materials are now on-line and freely available.
USU faculty have discovered that a treatment for the Spanish Influenza pandemic may also be effective for current Avian Influenza patients. Navy Capt. Edward Kilbane, Army Col. Jeffrey Jackson and Navy Lt. Cmdr. Thomas Luke, are all alumni and faculty of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences. They, along with retired Navy physician, Capt. Stephen Hoffman, published their research Tuesday, Aug. 29.
States require additional direction and guidance from federal health officials as well as answers to epidemiological questions to adequately develop their pandemic flu plans, according to a report conducted by researchers at RTI International.
The Global Initiative on Sharing Avian Influenza Data (GISAID) was announced today in a Correspondence letter that appeared online in the journal Nature (http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/442981a.html). The 70 signatories to the Nature letter represent more than 40 countries and include six Nobel laureates. GISAID's policies for rapid and complete data releases are modeled upon those established for other initiatives, such as data on DNA sequence variations in the human genome.
Lessons learnt from SARS epidemics in China may help us prepare for new epidemics, such as human avian flu, say experts in this week's BMJ.
Using the virus of a common poultry disease, Newcastle Disease, University of Maryland, College Park researchers have developed a vaccine that, in early NIH trials, successfully immunized monkeys against SARS and human parainfluenza viruses. They are now working on a vaccine for H5N1 avian influenza.
A class of drugs commonly used to treat typical influenza symptoms do not prevent people from becoming infected with the flu virus, a new review shows, although the use of these neuraminidase inhibitors (NIs) to check the spread of flu has been of interest to researchers.
A significant majority of global corporations currently have either a detailed avian flu pandemic readiness plan in place or are in the process of developing a plan, according to a report released today by The Conference Board, the global research and business membership organization which is celebrating its 90th anniversary this year.
Amid a climate of worldwide attentiveness to avian influenza, a disease that's resulted in the slaughter of millions of birds and the deaths of more than 100 people, the Institute of Food Technologists will offer later this month expert insight on the issues surrounding this overly anticipated scourge.
In an effort to improve the tracking of avian influenza, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has awarded $5 million in support for a new initiative that will monitor wild bird populations for the disease around the globe, according to the New York-based Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), which will spearhead the project involving more than a dozen private and public partners.
The University of Massachusetts Medical School has partnered with British immunotherapeutics company PowderMed to advance the development of a potential vaccine for avian flu. Under the agreement, PowderMed's leading DNA vaccine candidate for avian flu (H5) will be tested and analyzed in the lab of Shan Lu, MD, PhD, professor of medicine and leader of the UMMS DNA vaccine efforts.
News media are full of scary headlines about the H5N1 bird flu virus and the possibility that it might spread among the human population. Yet researchers note that no human flu pandemic has ever involved a flu virus of the H5 subtype. On the other hand, the H5N1 virus has already jumped from birds to pigs and cats, as well as infecting some people, suggesting it might have the capacity to develop into a flu that passes directly from one human to another. So should we be afraid"”or cynical? Neither, says the June issue of the Harvard Health Letter.
In a bird flu pandemic, prioritizing the elderly, infants and infirm for scarce vaccine supplies may not be smart, argue two bioethicists in a new paper appearing in the journal Science. Accounting for life expectancy and an individual's investment in the future might just move healthy college students toward the front of the line.
The TV movie ""Fatal Contact: Bird Flu in America" raised questions about the U.S. ability to handle a pandemic. C. Ed Hsu, an expert in public health emergency preparedness for disease and bioterrorism at the University of Maryland looks at some of the issues the movie raised.
The emergence of the avian influenza virus H5N1 that is currently devastating chicken flocks in many countries and threatening to unleash a worldwide epidemic among humans has triggered a renewed interest among scientists in studying influenza A viruses, according to investigators at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.
A commercially developed vaccine has successfully protected mice and ferrets against a highly lethal avian influenza virus, according to the investigator who led the study at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. The vaccine was developed by Vical Incorporated in San Diego, California.
Based on a clinical model created by the CDC, Dr. Eva Lee, a professor of Industrial and Systems Engineering at Georgia Tech, has developed a program, called RealOpt, to help U.S. state, city and county health care departments organize and test the most efficient plan for treating infectious illness, whether it's a natural or man-made pandemic. The DeKalb County Department of Health in Georgia is already using the program, and it's being installed at health departments all over the State of Georgia over the next few months. It's slated to be tested in 35 other states, starting with installation for the State of Virginia. The program will soon be available free to all U.S. health departments.
Over 40 percent of public health employees surveyed said they are unlikely to report to work during an influenza pandemic. Local public health workers would play a vital role in responding to a pandemic. The survey was conducted in Maryland by the Center for Public Health Preparedness at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Is a bird flu pandemic "inevitable," as so many health experts believe? Is there a way to protect yourself and your family from this deadly virus? A new report from Harvard Medical School answers these and other urgent questions. This in-depth report goes behind the alarming headlines to provide the most accurate information based on the latest scientific research and practical advice of Harvard doctors.
The Mount Sinai School of Medicine announced today it will collaborate with the prestigious Bionostra Group of Spain to develop an avian flu vaccine. The vaccine will protect against the lethal infection of the H5N1 virus.
Government policies in Burma that restrict public health and humanitarian aid have created an environment where AIDS, drug-resistant tuberculosis, malaria and bird flu (H5N1) are spreading unchecked.
A new study of cells in the human respiratory tract reveals a simple anatomical difference in the cells of the system that makes it difficult for the virus to jump from human to human.
Researchers studying a lethal canine virus and a related human virus have determined why the canine virus was able to spread quickly from cats to dogs. Their findings provide a new understanding of the molecular factors that enable viruses to jump from one species to another.
A five-year, $10.7 million federal grant supports research on how adults and children with impaired immune systems respond to influenza vaccine. In addition to common flu, added concerns over potential threats such as an avian flu pandemic or weaponized flu constitute a biodefense issue.
Pet owners can combat animal illness with cleanliness and educated observation, and wellness veterinarians from Purdue University recommend the same procedure in the case of bird flu.
New research from scientists at the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston and the University of Washington in Seattle suggests that containment can buy time to prepare, but containment alone is not enough to stop a flu pandemic from occurring.
Four new scientific teams joined an international research network developing computer-based simulations of pandemic flu and other infectious disease outbreaks. The results could aid health officials and policymakers in developing preparedness plans for outbreaks that occur naturally or deliberately.
Investigators have completed the first large-scale study of bird flu virus genomes, thereby doubling the amount of genetic information available on the genes and proteins of these viruses. The results of the project could lead to major insights into the bird flu virus known as H5N1, the researchers said.
As avian flu outbreaks occur in Turkey and possibly travel beyond, effective global networks of medical professionals with capabilities to track, monitor and communicate about emerging infections will be essential.
A new study testing an avian flu vaccine in children starts today at Saint Louis University's Center for Vaccine Development.
This symposium brings together 23 national avian flu experts from avian flu research, public health agencies, vaccine and anti-viral manufacturing companies, business preparedness experts, and first-responder experts for an all-day discussion to give the latest information on this threat.
RTI International has experts available to address issues concerning a bird flu outbreak.
An editorial paints a picture of a world population very susceptible to an avian flu pandemic, but also offers suggestions to physicians that could help answer questions presented by patients who may be feeling anxious about the "bird flu."
A new article puts in perspective some "startling" new research regarding Avian flu.
The federal government recently announced a $7.1 billion national strategy to combat pandemic influenza. To help your audience understand the various issues surrounding the Asian Bird Flu, expert sources are available at the University of Missouri-Columbia.
How many lives could be saved if we could peer into a "crystal ball" and see what medical threats loom in the future? Researchers may have achieved the medical equivalent when they developed and patented a technique to reconstruct and characterize the Spanish flu of 1918.
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