http://news.ft.com/cms/s/d2ed39b8-0...uid=d4f2ab60-c98e-11d7-81c6-0820abe49a01.html
A bird flu outbreak in Russian Siberia worsened on Wednesday as neighbouring Kazakhstan confirmed cases of the deadly H5N1 strain of the virus and Mongolia reported its first cases.
The outbreaks, in both domestic and migratory bird populations, have already prompted the European Union to declare a Europe-wide ban on imported birds from both Russia and Kazakhstan to contain the spread of the disease, although neither country exports poultry to the EU.
The number of birds killed by the virus in Russia jumped 5,580 on Tuesday to 8,347 on Wednesday, according to Russian government officials.
In Mongolia, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation said almost 80 migratory birds had died. The dead swans, geese and other birds were discovered last week by a lake in Khuvsgul province, near the border with Siberia, about 700km (420 miles) north-west of the capital, Ulan Bator. The strain of the virus remains unknown, and no human infections have been reported.
A World Health Organisation official said on Tuesday that the Russian outbreak was subsiding and expected to disappear altogether within 10 to 15 days. But some Russian health officials raised the possibility that migrating birds could spread the virus further.
More than 50 people in Asia have been confirmed dead from the virus as a result of outbreaks in the region since 2003. Almost all these deaths have involved patients infected directly by poultry, but experts believe there is a risk that the virus could mutate into a form allowing transmission between humans, which could trigger a dangerous flu pandemic.
Meanwhile, Indonesia’s government and the World Health Organisation confirmed on Wednesday that they had contained an outbreak of bird flu that last month killed three people.
The declaration came after the passing of two 10-day incubation periods for the H5N1 strain without the reporting of further human cases. It also eased fears that the country might be on the cusp of a more widespread human outbreak.
But both Indonesia and the WHO said the source of the infection in the suburban Jakarta family remained a mystery. Authorities have struggled to find an obvious source, raising concerns that it might have been transmitted between humans and could be a sign of a more virulent outbreak to come. The family lived in a middle-class neighbourhood on the outskirts of Jakarta and had no obvious contact with poultry.
Georg Petersen, head of the WHO’s Jakarta office, said the closest authorities had come to pinpointing a cause were infected droppings found in the cage of a pet finch kept by neighbours. “But that bird itself was never infected,” he said.
As a result investigators believe the virus may have passed between family members. But there have been no further cases either within the family or in some 300 people who had contact with them.
Recent developments
*The total number of bird deaths since an epidemic hit Siberia, Russia in mid-July rose to 8,347 on Wednesday from 5,580 on Tuesday.
*The outbreak in Kazakhstan, which shares a long border with Siberia, was confirmed as a case of the deadly H5N1 strain of the virus.
*Nearly 80 migratory birds were reported dead in Mongolia on Wednesday, the first known incidence of the disease in the central Asian nation.
*Indonesia confirmed it had contained an outbreak of the virus which killed three people last month, but said it had failed to trace the source of the outbreak.
*The latest human death from avian flu was reported in Vietnam on August 9.
A bird flu outbreak in Russian Siberia worsened on Wednesday as neighbouring Kazakhstan confirmed cases of the deadly H5N1 strain of the virus and Mongolia reported its first cases.
The outbreaks, in both domestic and migratory bird populations, have already prompted the European Union to declare a Europe-wide ban on imported birds from both Russia and Kazakhstan to contain the spread of the disease, although neither country exports poultry to the EU.
The number of birds killed by the virus in Russia jumped 5,580 on Tuesday to 8,347 on Wednesday, according to Russian government officials.
In Mongolia, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation said almost 80 migratory birds had died. The dead swans, geese and other birds were discovered last week by a lake in Khuvsgul province, near the border with Siberia, about 700km (420 miles) north-west of the capital, Ulan Bator. The strain of the virus remains unknown, and no human infections have been reported.
A World Health Organisation official said on Tuesday that the Russian outbreak was subsiding and expected to disappear altogether within 10 to 15 days. But some Russian health officials raised the possibility that migrating birds could spread the virus further.
More than 50 people in Asia have been confirmed dead from the virus as a result of outbreaks in the region since 2003. Almost all these deaths have involved patients infected directly by poultry, but experts believe there is a risk that the virus could mutate into a form allowing transmission between humans, which could trigger a dangerous flu pandemic.
Meanwhile, Indonesia’s government and the World Health Organisation confirmed on Wednesday that they had contained an outbreak of bird flu that last month killed three people.
The declaration came after the passing of two 10-day incubation periods for the H5N1 strain without the reporting of further human cases. It also eased fears that the country might be on the cusp of a more widespread human outbreak.
But both Indonesia and the WHO said the source of the infection in the suburban Jakarta family remained a mystery. Authorities have struggled to find an obvious source, raising concerns that it might have been transmitted between humans and could be a sign of a more virulent outbreak to come. The family lived in a middle-class neighbourhood on the outskirts of Jakarta and had no obvious contact with poultry.
Georg Petersen, head of the WHO’s Jakarta office, said the closest authorities had come to pinpointing a cause were infected droppings found in the cage of a pet finch kept by neighbours. “But that bird itself was never infected,” he said.
As a result investigators believe the virus may have passed between family members. But there have been no further cases either within the family or in some 300 people who had contact with them.
Recent developments
*The total number of bird deaths since an epidemic hit Siberia, Russia in mid-July rose to 8,347 on Wednesday from 5,580 on Tuesday.
*The outbreak in Kazakhstan, which shares a long border with Siberia, was confirmed as a case of the deadly H5N1 strain of the virus.
*Nearly 80 migratory birds were reported dead in Mongolia on Wednesday, the first known incidence of the disease in the central Asian nation.
*Indonesia confirmed it had contained an outbreak of the virus which killed three people last month, but said it had failed to trace the source of the outbreak.
*The latest human death from avian flu was reported in Vietnam on August 9.