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[ScienceBlogs : News] Swine flu: a virus by any other name . . . : Effect Measure: No matter how much we insist that the "Mexican" flu isn't the fault of the average Mexican citizen, hearing "Mexican flu" over and over is just going to reinforce the idea that Mexicans are dirty. (And adding "Tex" or "North American" to the name would just spread the blame to another equally blameless group.) Can some biologists or doctors here provide reasons why we shouldn't just make up neutral names for illnesses?

[grain.org RSS (English)] GRAIN | Seedling | 2009 | Indonesia fights to change WHO: While it has been claimed that extending the WHO agreement into animal viruses conflicts with the domain of other intergovernmental organisations (FAO and OIE), in fact, this does not appear to be a major concern. That is because a distinction can be drawn between use of samples for human vaccine development and pandemic risk assessment, versus similar uses directed toward animal health.

[FAO Media Partnership's Weblog] From our Radioman : Ki Pitutur Jati, Learning From Turtledove (Ki ...: In Javanese culture, to achieve a perfect stage of a life, a Javanese man should have Wismo or a house, Garwo or a wife, Kukilo or turtledove, Curiga or Kris (traditional Javanese knife) and Turonggo or horse. This understanding is part of his parents’ heritage, not only in the form of teaching but also the heritage of turtledove.

[Medical News and Health News Blog] Bird Flu Continues To Threaten Humans, FAO Director-General Warns: Avian influenza could still cause a global pandemic and requires continued vigilance and control efforts particularly in animals, the Director-General of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Dr. Jacques Diouf, told the New Delhi International Ministerial Conference on Avian and Pandemic Influenza.

[AgriFeeds - Aggregated news and events on agriculture] Vigilance needed to protect public against avian influenza | AgriFeeds: WHO and FAO continue to offer assistance to the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. They are working with officials on responding to the avian influenza threat and on strengthening national capacity and influenza pandemic preparedness plans.

[Answers.com: Word of the Day] Bird Flu: Information from Answers.com: Health experts are concerned that the co-existence of human flu viruses and avian flu viruses (especially H5N1) will provide an opportunity for genetic material to be exchanged between species-specific viruses, possibly creating a new virulent influenza strain that is easily transmissible and lethal to humans.

[Phamthai.info] FAO recommends cost-sharing to deliver bird flu vaccinations: Le Thanh Binh, a farmer in Vinh Phuc Province, said if she had to pay for vaccinations, she would only vaccinate her family’s small chicken flock in case there was an outbreak in her area. Some believe the new mechanism might discourage .

[Scientist Live RSS Feed] Swine Flu Outbreak Threatens Pandemic - Medical - an eLab Article ...: Prior to the outbreak, the Northern Hemisphere winter of 2008-2009 had been a comparatively mild season for flu infections, which typically cause 250,000-500,000 deaths yearly, mostly in the elderly, the very young, and persons with chronic illness.[26] Up to April 8, 2009, the CDC had reported the deaths of 43 children from seasonal flu, compared to 68 in the previous flu season.[27] The improvement was attributed in part to an improved Northern Hemisphere winter of 2008-2009 seasonal flu vaccine, for which a rare decision had been made to update all three strains (H1, H3, and B) simultaneously, which ultimately yielded a very good match to the strains of H1N1 and H3N2 which eventually circulated. (This followed the poor performance of the 2007-2008 vaccine, which offered only 2-20% protection rather than the 70-90% achieved in some years.) The improvement was also attributed to new recommendations including the vaccination of 5-18 year olds, who potentially act as "super-spreaders"

[The Primate Diaries] Priming the Pump of a Swine Flu Pandemic - The Primate Diaries ...: In studies of CAFOs, CDC has shown that chemical and infectious compounds from swine and poultry waste are able to migrate into soil and water near CAFOs. Pollutants possibly associated with manure-related discharges at CAFOs include: Antibiotics, which may contribute to the development of antibiotic-resistant pathogens [and] Pathogens, such as parasites, bacteria, and viruses, which can cause disease in animals and humans.

[Hawaii's Wild Rooster Blog] Bird Flu: This January a WHO report entitled “Avian influenza: assessing the pandemic threat” concluded that “all prerequisites for the start of a pandemic had been met save one, namely the onset of efficient human-to-human transmission. Should the virus improve its transmissibility, everyone in the world would be vulnerable to infection by pathogen””passed along by a cough or a sneeze””entirely foreign to the human immune system.” According to WHO estimates, the virus is now endemic in bird populations in parts of Asia and is becoming more pathogenic in mammals.

[Pandemic Influenza Information] Pandemic Influenza Information Feb 25, 2009: The attention of veterinarians, doctors and rescue workers to the problem of bird flu is not by accident - Nikolaevschina is one of the areas at risk of outbreaks of this dangerous not only for birds but for the human disease. And although we have no bird flu cases were registered, experts advise not to relax.

Reflected tags on Technorati: Blog, Birdflu, Bird Flu Monitor