Arbor Vita Rapid H5N1 Flu Diagnostic Presented At ICEID Meeting
Preliminary research from the Department of Respiratory Disease Research at the Naval Health Research Center (NHRC) suggests that a rapid antigen assay test developed by Arbor Vita Corporation (AVC) shows promise as a useful diagnostic for the detection of the avian influenza virus in humans.
Ducks And Rice Play Key Role In Avian Influenza Outbreaks
Ducks, people and rice paddies - rather than chickens - are the major factors behind outbreaks of H5N1 highly pathogenic avian influenza in Thailand and Viet Nam, and are probably behind outbreak persistence in other countries of the region such as Cambodia and Lao PDR.
Bird Flu Human Deaths Confirmed, Pakistan
H5N1 Bird flu (avian flu) did kill some family members in Peshawar, north-west Pakistan last year, the World Health Organization (WHO) has confirmed after carrying out tests at its WHO H5 Reference Laboratory in Cairo, Egypt, and the WHO Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on Influenza in Atlanta, USA.
The Aethlon Hemopurifier R To Test Against The Partially Reconstructed 1918 Influenza Virus
Aethlon Medical, Inc. (OTCBB:AEMD) disclosed that it has initiated studies to test the in vitro effectiveness of the Aethlon Hemopurifier to capture a partially reconstructed version of the Spanish Flu of 1918, a viral pandemic outbreak that killed approximately 40-50 million people during a 25-month time span.
South Korea Investigates More Cases Of Bird Flu
The government of South Korea is investigating fresh outbreaks of bird flu, including one only 70 kilometers from the capital, Seoul.According to Yonhap News Agency, South Korea's Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said on Monday that the latest outbreak was reported after sudden deaths in birds on a chicken farm in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, less than 70 km from Seoul.
Iomai Receives HHS Approval To Begin Phase 2 Trial Of H5N1 Influenza Adjuvant Patch
Iomai Corporation (Nasdaq: IOMI) announced that it has received approval from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to expand its program to develop an immunostimulant adjuvant patch for use with an injected H5N1 influenza vaccine. This decision was based upon positive clinical data generated in a 500-subject, Phase 1/2 study recently completed by Iomai.
Bird Flu Pandemic Would Require Multi-Drug Approach, UK
Scientists have uncovered a change in the H5N1 bird flu virus which makes it resistant to the anti-viral drug Tamiflu. The mutation in the N1 component was found in human cases of the disease and suggests that a single drug approach is likely to be ineffective in case of a bird flu pandemic in humans.
EU Approves GSK's Pre-Pandemic Bird Flu Vaccine
Global pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) is the first to get the go ahead for a wide spectrum vaccine to protect humans ahead of a possible future bird flu pandemic now that the European Commission (EC) is giving the drug giant approval today, Monday, to market its pre-pandemic vaccine Prepandrix in all 27 member states of the European Union (EU), according to various media reports.
Heading Off A Bird-Flu Pandemic: We Need Broadly Protective Vaccines That Can Be Rapidly Produced And Administered
Widespread vaccination likely will be the cornerstone of public-health measures for controlling an H5N1 bird-flu pandemic, say Andrea Gambotto, M.D., assistant professor of surgery at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, and his colleagues, in this week's edition of The Lancet.
Indonesia Runs Large Scale Bird Flu Drill
Indonesia is running a large scale drill simulating an outbreak of human to human bird flu that involves thousands of villagers, health workers and government officials, rehearsing for a potential pandemic. The drill started today, Friday 25th April, and is scheduled to run for three days.