Bird flu and Chicken Littles
The science may not support public health officials' dire predictions.

BY Marc Siegel
Los Angeles Times

IS BIRD FLU going to transform itself into a massive killer of humans? Or is it simply going to fade away? . . . more>>

World Health Organization

Marilu Lingad, email to IDFL August 2005

"Based on the conditions mentioned, (30 minutes at 130 degrees Celsius), the virus would be killed. Thus, feather pillows and cushions subjected to these conditions would be safe." more>>

Penn State University

Eva Pendleton PhD, email to IDFL August 2005

"Influenza viruses are readily inactivated by heat, pH extremes and chemical disinfectants. One reference I have shows that avian influenza virus is destroyed in minutes after heating to 56 degrees Celsius. I have no doubt that your treatment is hightly effective." (Reference: Avian Viruses: Function and Control, Branson W. Ritchie, DVM, PhD. 1995. Pg. 361.) more>>

Johns Hopkins University

Donald Burke-MD, email to IDFL August 2005

"You are correct, steam heating at 190 degrees C for 30 minutes would completely inactivate influenza virus." more>>

Down And Feathers Are Safe From Avian Flu!

IDFL

Although the news of avian flu has been sesationalized by the world's media, only a tiny fraction of the world's poultry is or has ever been infected by the virus... Furthermore, the avian flu virus CANNOT sruvive in down and feathers that have been properly washed and processed. There is NO RISK for down and feather pillows and comforters. more>>

Group questions whether wild birds carry much flu

BY Maggie Fox
Reuters

An outbreak of avian flu in Mongolia seems to have died out quickly on its own, wildlife experts said on Thursday, raising questions about how easily migrating birds will spread the virus. . . . more>>

Q&A: Avian flu

BBC News UK Edition

Q: How do humans catch avian flu?

Avian flu was thought only to infect birds until the first human cases were seen in Hong Kong in 1997.
Humans catch the disease through close contact with live infected birds. . . . more>>

Bird flu outbreak in North Korea contained

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)

The recent outbreak of avian influenza in North Korea (DPRK) has been successfully contained, FAO said today, urging the country to continue surveillance on the affected farms and elsewhere to ensure that no residual infection remains. . . . more>>

Avian Flu Vaccine Trials Begin in U.S. Medical Centers

BY ROSANNE SKIRBLE
Washington, D.C.

Robin Perry, 33, is on the front line in the fight against avian influenza. When the research associate rolled up her sleeve for a dose of the experimental H-5-N-1 vaccine at the University of Maryland Medical Center this week, she was reminded of another public health threat. "I thought about the SARS outbreak," she says, "and I thought that we were lucky that we didn't have anything over here in the United States." But Ms. Perry realizes there is nothing to prevent the avian flu from coming to the U.S. "I want to be protected," she says, "and I want what I do to help others be protected." . . . more>>

Bird Flu Vaccine Tests Set To Begin in U.S. Cities

U.S. News

U.S. research teams are recruiting 450 healthy adults who will participate in trials of a vaccine designed to protect people from infection by the H5N1 bird flu virus, according to a March 23 announcement from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). . . . more>>

U.S. to create a bird flu virus mutation

U.S. News

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has begun a series of experiments to see how likely the bird flu virus could result in a human pandemic. The six-month series of experiments seeks to simulate the mixing and matching of genes from the H5N1 avian flu virus that has plagued Asia and a common human flu virus that public-health experts fear could turn avian flu into a pandemic, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday. . . . more>>

Vietnam reports two avian flu cases, one fatal

CIDRAP

Mar 25, 2005 (CIDRAP News) – A teen-age girl with no known exposure to infected poultry has died of H5N1 avian influenza, and a 40-year-old woman has tested positive for the virus, Vietnamese authorities said today. . . . more>>

Bird flu epidemic a matter of time, CDC says

BY WANG HSIAO-WEN
Taipei Times

After making predictions using computer models, the Center for Disease Control warned that an outbreak of bird flu is not a matter of if but when. . . . more>>

N.H. keeping close eye on bird flu virus

BY BRUNO MATARAZZO JR.
Foster's Daily Democrat

Whether the bird flu virus will ever result in millions of deaths like the Spanish flu pandemic in 1918 or barely be a blip on the medical radar screen, state officials are not taking any chances. . . . more>>

Bird flu could cause worldwide epidemic

BY PAUL RECER
Associated Press

WASHINGTON — The Earth may be on the brink of a worldwide epidemic from a bird flu virus that may mutate to become as deadly and infectious as viruses that killed millions during three influenza pandemics of the 20th century, a federal health official said Monday. . . . more>>