Abbotsford farm facing avian flu outbreak to cull 60,000 birds

Nearly 60,000 turkeys from an Abbotsford farm are expected to be killed Monday after the Canadian Food Inspection Agency confirmed a positive test result for avian flu on the weekend.

Security guards were stationed Sunday at the entrance to the family-run E & H farms while agricultural experts prepared for the intricate and time-sensitive process of killing the birds with CO2 gas.

http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Abbotsford+farm+facing+avian+outbreak+cull+birds/1217222/story.html

Ready for pandemic?

COMPANIES here must prepare themselves for a global influenza pandemic, to minimise the damage caused by widespread disruptions such as a drastic loss of workers, travel restrictions and a supply crunch.

Though the Government has been been planning for such a crisis for years and will try to cushion its impact, private firms had to put in the time and money for pandemic planning, said Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng on Monday.

http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_325480.html

Vietnam finds H5N1 in smuggled Chinese birds

HANOI, Jan 13 (Reuters) - Vietnamese authorities have found the H5N1 bird flu virus in a batch of chickens smuggled over the border from China, officials said on Tuesday, warning that two northern provinces remained affected.

An official in the border province where the chickens were found did not say how many had been brought in illegally, but state media said eight out of 16 samples taken from the birds carried the virus.

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/HAN380368.htm

Annual bronchiolitis epidemic has begun

The bronchiolitis season has begun. Like influenza epidemics this is an annual event (scourge is a better word) mainly occurring in winter and early spring.

Bronchiolitis is an acute lower respiratory tract viral illness that causes obstruction of the air passages as they enter the lungs. Many different viruses cause bronchiolitis, but respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is the most common cause. (In fact, bronchiolitis is often referred to as RSV infection.) It is a disease of only young children, with 80 percent of infections occurring in children younger than 1 year of age.

http://www.nwi.com/articles/2009/01/11/get_healthy/get_healthy/doc54022af82a95e4d78625753700685475.txt

Salmonella Outbreak Conclusively Linked to Peanut Butter

MINNEAPOLIS — The salmonella bacteria that has sickened nearly 400 people in 42 states has been conclusively linked to peanut butter, Minnesota health officials announced Monday.

State health and agriculture officials said last week they had found salmonella bacteria in a 5-pound package of King Nut peanut butter at a nursing facility in Minnesota. Officials tested the bacteria over the weekend and found a genetic match with the bacterial strain that has led to 30 illnesses in Minnesota and others across the country.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,479624,00.html

Whooping cough of epidemic proportions strikes western Sydney

The whooping cough epidemic sweeping New South Wales has hit western Sydney hard - with a quarter of all cases presented from the area.

According to the Western Sydney Area Health Service 2,100 whooping cough cases have been diagnosed, compared to 8,300 state-wide. The Blacktown local government area has been the worst affected but cases have been presented all across the region including Penrith and Westmead.

http://www.streetcorner.com.au/news/showPost.cfm?bid=9194

Report: Powerful Solar Storm Could Shut Down U.S. for Months

A new study from the National Academy of Sciences outlines grim possibilities on Earth for a worst-case scenario solar storm.

Damage to power grids and other communications systems could be catastrophic, the scientists conclude, with effects leading to a potential loss of governmental control of the situation.

The prediction is based in part on major solar storm in 1859 caused telegraph wires to short out in the United States and Europe, igniting widespread fires.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,478024,00.html

Flu in U.S. found resistant to main antiviral drug

Virtually all the flu in the United States this season is resistant to the leading antiviral drug Tamiflu, and scientists and health officials are trying to figure out why.

The problem is not yet a public health crisis because this has been a below-average flu season so far and the chief strain circulating is still susceptible to other drugs — but infectious disease specialists are worried nonetheless.

http://www.iht.com/articles/2009/01/08/america/09flu.php

CDC: Salmonella Outbreak Sickens 388 in 42 States

WASHINGTON — An outbreak of salmonella food poisoning has made 388 people sick across 42 states, sending 18 percent of them to the hospital, U.S. health officials said on Wednesday.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is trying to trace the source of the outbreak, which began in September. The Department of Agriculture, state health officials and the Food and Drug Administration are also involved.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,477755,00.html