Influenza, or flu, and air pollution are significant public health risks that impact nations around the world with large economic consequences. The authors of this paper show that increased levels of air pollution significantly increase the rate of hospitalisation for people with flu. In addition, they find that protection afforded …
The United Nations has praised the "swift and comprehensive' measures taken by India to bring under control the "worst-ever' outbreak of bird flu in West Bengal, while urging the country to maintain vigilance in view of similar incidents reported in its neighbourhood. Culling The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organisation's veterinary …
As concerns wane that the bird flu strain H5N1 will spark a global pandemic, scientists are warning that the virus, perhaps less of a threat, is here to stay.
About 25,369 chickens infected with bird flu were culled and 2,372 eggs were destroyed at eight farms in three districts in the last two days. With the culling, the total number of culled chickens rose to 1084,473 while the number of destroyed eggs stands at 1,458,967 since February 2007. Bird …
It is steadily getting worse and could easily spin out of control if it acquires a virulent form. The latest outbreak of the avian influenza sweeping West Bengal is the most serious India has ever faced
The masked official in white protective gear and bright blue gloves grabbed a squawking hen by its legs, held it upside down and twisted its neck in one swift motion. The bird expelled a mass of possibly contaminated faeces that sprayed the man's mask and faces of unprotected village boys …
Bird deaths have been reported from Ghatshila in East Singhbhum division of Jharkhand. By February 3, 500 birds had perished. Jharkhand does not have enough laboratories to check blood samples of birds. So the cause of the deaths has not been ascertained. The local administration rushed a team led by …
Authorities in Pakistan's port city of Karachi confirmed H5N1 virus on February 1 in poultry farms on the city's outskirts. The poultry director of Sindh province, Ali Akbar Soomro, said that the National Reference Laboratory of Islamabad found the virus in samples taken on January 28. In December 2007, eight …
H5N1, the lethal avian influenza virus strain, was first reported in 1996 in China. The virus was transmitted to humans during an outbreak in 1997 in Hong Kong. Nineteen people were affected. Since then, it has struck with alarming frequency, affecting both humans and birds. It has claimed nearly 250 …
With the bird flu assuming serious proportions, it seems that some regular guests to the country aren't very welcome. The needle of suspicion has pointed at migratory birds that visit India every winter from Siberia and eastern Europe. The birds usually arrive in October at wetlands across the country, including …
Surveillance projects in India include the World Bank-funded Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme. This has been modified recently to track animal diseases, including avian influenza. Costs for this nationally regulated system of surveillance are shared by the centre and the states. Various government agencies have also been on alert. A Joint …
Bird flu has hit hard India's Rs 36,000-crore poultry industry, already smarting under a steep rise in essential feed prices. Although the flu is restricted to West Bengal, crashing wholesale prices and ban on exports, internal and external, are affecting the industry across the country. The losses are still being …
baglihar inspection: Pakistan has said that it will inspect the Baglihar dam before it becomes operational. Spokesperson of Pakistan's foreign office, Mohammad Sadiq, said on January 30 that the Indus Basin Treaty Commissioner for Pakistan has contacted his Indian counterpart for this purpose and will see if India has complied …
ABHIJIT VINAYAK BANERJEE I was trying to think what I would do if I were a chicken-owner and it looked like the flu had arrived in the village. I would worry, of course, about money: how would we make ends meet? If I had an unfriendly neighbour, I would start …
Participants in a seminar in Sylhet on Tuesday stressed the need for growing awareness of bird flu among the countrymen. The World Conservation Union, a voluntary organisation, with the help of UNICEF organised the seminar, styled
Culling of fowls in bird flu affected areas in the country continued with 20,185 chickens slaughtered and 49,507 eggs destroyed yesterday in Dhaka, Satkhira and Kishoreganj. As of yesterday, a total of 9,88,916 chickens have been culled and 12,21,143 eggs destroyed since February 2007 after the disease hit the country. …
The poultry industry, which has suffered losses on account of the recent outbreak of avian flu in West Bengal, is eagerly waiting for the government's subvention on interest rates charged on loans extended to them by banks. The Reserve Bank of India, last week, had issued guidelines to banks suggesting …
Heaving a sigh of relief after the prolonged bird flu scare in the State, the All Assam Poultry Farmers' Association (AAPFA) has divulged that the poultry industry in the State has managed to regain the lost market up to at least 60 per cent ever since the ban on the …
FOWLS and eggs have dropped off the household menu due to heightened incidence of bird flu. Many restaurants, especially the wayside food vending shops are suspected to be selling curry made of cheaply bought off sick chicken to poor consumers. Due to their initial denial mode, the authorities failed to …
Moulvibazar district is in high risk of avian influenza (bird flue) as haors in the area are favourite places of migratory birds that are potential carriers of the virus. Every winter lakhs of birds from the cold region in the north come here and their number has recently increased in …
Since heat destroys the H5N1 virus that causes bird flu, threat to birds and humans is expected to diminish with a rise in mercury level as the summer comes closer. These views were expressed by Dr Faisal Mehmood, Assistant Professor at Infectious Diseases Department of Aga Khan University Hospital, in …
