FAO Crisis Centre Experts in South Korea Studying Risk of Avian Flu Spread
ThePoultrySite
20 Dec 2006
A nine-person team from the joint FAO/OIE Crisis Management Centre (CMC) is in the Republic of (South) Korea on a 10-day mission collecting epidemiological data from rural areas south of the capital, Seoul, where three recent outbreaks of avian influenza in domestic poultry occurred.
At the invitation of the Korean government and in cooperation with the country’s chief veterinary officer, the CMC experts have been asked to help throw light on the risk of further spread of the disease among birds in the country itself and throughout the region. The Korean authorities are taking care of all control and containment activities related to the outbreaks.
Protecting Our Progress in the Great Lakes
American Chronicle
19 Dec 2006
GV Voinovich
Given the hard work that has gone into cleaning up Lake Erie, it should come as no surprise that I don’t look kindly on rolling back the progress we’ve made. Today, the Great Lakes are facing a new enemy — a virus spreading quickly that threatens the robust fish population. Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia (VHS) is a destructive pathogen that produces internal hemorrhaging and death in fish.
The disease does not pose a risk to people, but could have a profound effect on the health of the lakes. It was recently found to affect a number of fish species previously not known to be susceptible, including baitfish species, coho salmon and channel catfish. Dead and diseased wild fish have been reported in Lakes Erie, Ontario and St. Clair as well as the St. Lawrence River.
Bird Flu Recurrence Triggers Red Alert in VietnamThanh Nien–Vietnamnet
19 Dec 2006
T Nhi
Bird flu has reared its head again in two Mekong Delta provinces, Bac Lieu and Ca Mau, after over one year during which Vietnam managed to keep the epidemic out. At a conference held Tuesday by the National Steering Committee on Bird Flu Control, Cao Duc Phat, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development and the committee’s head, slammed the two provincial administrations for negligence and delay in discovering the outbreaks which had occurred at the start of December.
On December 6 the disease broke out in Ca Mau’s Tran Van Thoi district, killing 2,520 chicks and ducklings, all of which later positive for the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu virus. The next day five duck flocks took ill in Hoa Binh district in Bac Lieu. Some 3,500 ducklings died, all of which too tested positive for H5N1.
Rabies Cases Drop, But Pet Vaccination Vigilance Still A Must
Medical News Today
19 Dec 2006
The number of reported rabies cases dropped in 2005, according to a report appearing in the Dec. 15 Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association (JAVMA). Veterinarians and public health officials, however, are once again reminding pet owners that the only way to avoid rabies in domestic animals is to vaccinate against the virus.
Vaccinating dogs and cats is the most effective method of controlling the disease, which attacks the nervous system and is almost always fatal once symptoms occur. There were 6,417 reported cases of animal rabies in the United States and Puerto Rico in 2005, according to the report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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