Inoculating an egg with H5N1 virus: a potential vaccine appears to protect against multiple virus strains

Greg Knobloch, CDC

Below is a round-up of the key developments on the spread of the bird flu virus (H5N1) and the threat it poses to human health. Each title is a link to the full article.

Click here to see the latest World Health Organization (WHO) figures of confirmed human cases.

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Monday 12 March 2007
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New human bird flu case in Indonesia
A 20-year-old Indonesian woman from East Java is in a critical condition after contracting bird flu, the Health Ministry have announced (Source: Reuters).

Japanese drug maker begins trials of new bird flu drug
A Japanese pharmaceutical company has begun phase I trials of T-705, a bird flu drug that has a different mechanism compared to other approved drugs such as Tamiflu (Source: Reuters).

Indonesian bird flu sample stance 'rests on solid ethical grounds'
Indonesia's refusal to share bird flu samples is based on "solid ethical grounds", says a public health worker in Jakarta (Source: Jakarta Post).

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Sunday 11 March 2007
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Egypt records 24th human bird flu case
The Egyptian health ministry and the World Health Organization have confirmed that a four-year-old boy from the Nile Delta province of Dakahlia, Egypt, has tested positive for bird flu (Source: Reuters).

Bird flu confirmed in Myanmar chickens
H5N1 virus has been detected in dead chickens from farms in two townships in the southern Yangon region of Myanmar, confirmed the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (Source: Xinhua).

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Thursday 8 March 2007
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Laos teenager dies from bird flu
A 15-year-old girl from Vientiane has died from the H5N1 strain of bird flu, marking Laos' first official fatality from the disease (Source: BBC Online).

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Wednesday 7 March 2007
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China denies claims that bird flu originated in Guangdong
China has denied claims that the southern Guangdong province is the source of the H5N1 bird flu virus currently circulating (Source: Reuters).

China reports bird flu deaths in Tibetan poultry
China has reported an outbreak of H5N1 among poultry in Tibet, with 680 deaths reported in an outbreak in Chengguan Village near Lhasa, according to the World Organization for Animal Health (Source: Reuters).

Bird Flu strikes Vietnam capital
Bird flu has struck two chicken farms in Vietnam's capital Hanoi, say animal health officials (Source: Associated Press).

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Tuesday 6 March 2007
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Brazilian institute to produce bird flu vaccine
The Butantan Institute, an organisation connected to the Secretariat of Health of the State of São Paulo, is to manufacture a cheap bird flu vaccine for large-scale human use (Source: Brazil-Arab News Agency).

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Monday 5 March 2007
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Bird flu originated in China's Guangdong province, say scientists
A study that tracked the migration of the H5N1 virus over the past decade found that multiple strains originated in the Chinese province of Guangdong (Source: Bloomberg).

China launches mass bird flu vaccination campaign
China will vaccinate billions of domestic poultry over the next few months to guard against an outbreak of bird flu this spring, when the virus is at its most contagious (Source: Reuters).

Potential pandemic vaccine protects against different H5N1 strains
A potential flu pandemic vaccine based on one strain of the H5N1 bird flu also works against other versions of the virus (Source: Associated Press).

Eritrea hosts regional bird flu coordination workshop
Eritrea hosted a workshop to coordinate African countries' efforts to combat bird flu this month, attended by representatives from 40 African countries (Source: Shabait.com).