Highly pathogenic H7N3 avian influenza (AI) has been found in chickens on a commercial operation in Saskatchewan one hour north of Regina. Pathogenicity refers to the severity of illness a virus causes in poultry.
Avian influenza H5N1 virus affects much more than respiratory system: disseminates to gastrointestinal tract, immune and central nervous systems, and can be transmitted mother to fetus through placenta.
H5N1 influenza, also known as avian influenza, is considered a major global threat to human health, with high fatality rates. While little had been known about the specific effects of H5N1 on organs and cells targeted by the virus, researchers at Beijing University, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, and SUNY Downstate report in the September 29, 2007 issue of the Lancet detailed studies of human H5N1 victims that shed light on the anatomic distribution of the virus and its pathogenesis.
Quick identification of avian influenza infection in poultry is critical to controlling outbreaks, but current detection methods can require several days to produce results. A new biosensor developed at the Georgia Tech Research Institute can detect avian influenza in just minutes. In addition to being a rapid test, the biosensor is economical, field-deployable, sensitive to different viral strains and requires no labels or reagents.
Researchers at Texas A&M University are participating in developing a medicine that is worth sneezing about: a treatment for influenza that forms a jelly when sprayed into the nose.
Researchers at the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (IBN), Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology (IMCB) and Genome Institute of Singapore (GIS) have successfully developed a miniaturized device that can be used to detect the highly pathogenic avian flu (H5N1) virus.
Sanofi Pasteur, the vaccines division of Sanofi-Aventis Group, announced data showing that its new investigational H5N1 pandemic influenza vaccine containing a proprietary adjuvant achieved a high immune response at the lowest dose of H5N1 antigen reported to date.
The southern Chinese city of Guangzhou will cull another 10,000 domestic fowls, following the outbreak of the deadly H5N1-type bird flu among ducks, local officials said today.
Dutch biotechnology company Crucell N.V. (Euronext, NASDAQ: CRXL, Swiss Exchange: CRX) announced that its researchers have discovered a monoclonal antibody that is active against H5N1 avian influenza. The studies will be presented at the 5th International Bird Flu Summit scheduled for September 27 and 28 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
In the first systematic, statistical analysis of its kind, infectious-disease-modeling experts at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center confirm that the avian influenza A (H5N1) virus in 2006 spread between a small number of people within a family in Indonesia.