H7N9
Bird Flu Cases Rise To 33, Deaths Reach Nine in China; KFC Sales
Slump
10
April, 2013
Five
new cases of the deadly bird flu H7N9 were found in China yesterday,
increasing the total in the country to 33, the state-run Shanghai
Daily Newspaper reported today. Nine people have died to date.
The
government expressed confidence yesterday that the outbreak was under
control. “Overall, the outbreak is at a stage where it can be
prevented and contained,” Premier Li Keqiang was quoted as telling
state television.
Eastern
Chinese cities that have been hardest hit have been closing live
poultry markets and taking other precautions to limit the spread of
the new virus. China was the epicenter of the SARS epidemic in 2003
which killed several hundred people worldwide.
H7N9
has already been hurting the poultry industry. Shares in Yum!, which
runs the big KFC chain, lost more than 2% in afterhours trading after
the company said same-store KFC sales in China in March fell 16% amid
consumer worries about the flu.
Shanghai
has had 15 H7N9 cases so far, more than any other city.
Thailand
stock up antiviral bird flu drugs
Thailand
has stocked up some four million doses of antiviral drugs, as part of
the Ministry of Public Health's high alert against deadly bird flu of
all strains, Thai News Agency (TNA) reported.
11
April, 2013
Public
Health Minister Dr. Pradit Sinthawanarong told reporters on Wednesday
that his ministry has also closely coordinated with experts of the
Thai Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives' Department of
Livestocks Development, the Geneva-based World Health Organisation
(WHO) and Thailand MOPH-US CDC Collaboration (TUC) to monitor the
updated situation although there have been no bird flu cases reported
in Thailand for over seven years.
Dr.
Pradit acknowledged that his ministry's moves are in response to
latest reports that current outbreaks of the new deadly H7N9 avian
flu in China have killed three more people, while the H5N1 strain has
re-emerged in neighbouring Cambodia and Vietnam, with eight
fatalities in Cambodia alone so far.
Dr.
Pradit said there has been no evidence that both the H7N9 and the
H5N1 avian influenza of the A-strain, spreading in China, Vietnam and
Cambodia, has transmited from human to human, insisting that two
antiviral drugs, including oseltamivir and zanamivir, remain
effective for bird flu patients.
According
to updated reports, there have been three more H7N9 fatalities in
China, bringing the death toll from the H7N9 virus in the country to
nine, from a total of 21 patients so far.
Vietnam,
meanwhile, has recorded one H5N1 patient, a four year-old boy, while
the same viral strain has killed eight people in Cambodia lately.--
BERNAMA
New
bird-flu outbreak on Western Cape ostrich farm
A
TYPE of bird flu has been detected on an ostrich farm near
Oudtshoorn, Western Cape agriculture MEC Gerrit van Rensburg said on
Tuesday.
11
April, 2013
"The
tests indicated that the causative organism is a H7N1 virus," he
said. "The pathogenicity of this virus is still unknown, but
samples have been submitted to determine the type."
About
50,000 ostriches have been culled in South Africa since the H5N2
bird-flu virus was detected in the Klein Karoo in April 2011. The
industry's biggest buyer, the European Union, imposed an export ban
that resulted in losses of more than R1bn. Several farmers culled
their entire flocks and laid off all their workers.
The
source of the latest infection was not yet clear, but the provincial
department had started an "intensive epidemiological
investigation", according to Mr van Rensburg.
As
a precaution, the MEC has prohibited all movement of ostriches and
ostrich products within a 3km radius of the farm where the outbreak
occurred. All ostriches in this zone are being quarantined, sampled
and tested.
The
department’s planned ostrich auction for Wednesday has also been
postponed, and the measures will remain in place until further
notice.
Mr
van Rensburg said the impact of the latest outbreak on the industry’s
export hopes would be clearer once the results of the follow-up tests
were known.
Ostrich
producers have been told to limit the movement of their animals
within the area and to report any sick or dead birds to the state
veterinarian.
The
Cape Argus reported on Tuesday that there was also a new threat from
thieves who plucked feathers from live birds at night, with the
Western Cape government’s research farm in Oudtshoorn reportedly
among the main targets.
Researcher
Stefan Engelbrecht told the newspaper the farm was first hit by
feather thieves about a month ago and again recently. About 70 birds
were plucked and four were bludgeoned to death.



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