Bird flu found in meat shipped from China to Japan
This is the first report I have seen that finds the virus in processed meat. How many people have eaten duck from China? This article tell us not to worry, if you cook it properly you should suffer no ill side effects. Just be sure there is no blood anywhere. That should make us all feel much better. Right.
HANOI (AP) — The bird flu virus was found in processed frozen duck meat shipped for human consumption from China to Japan two years ago — another reminder of how easily the disease can cross borders and how hard it is to kill, health officials said Wednesday.
In a recent study published online in the journal Virology, a team of Japanese researchers reported a form of the H5N1 virus was found in duck meat exported from China's Shandong province into Japan in 2003.
The World Health Organization said this was not the first time the virus has been found in processed meat, but it stressed the findings illustrate the virus' strength and presence in Asian poultry stocks.
However, WHO said processed poultry meat poses no risk to consumers as long as precautions are taken during preparation, such as frequently washing hands and countertops and making sure all meat is thoroughly cooked and no blood remains.
"This is an indicator that H5N1 viruses are widespread in Asia in many different kinds of fowl," said Bob Dietz, a spokesman for WHO's Western Pacific Region.
"We know this virus to be a persistent, aggressive survivor. This study is another indicator of that."
The findings come as China is under pressure to provide more information about the virus found in wild birds. The country has not responded to WHO requests for information about 6,000 migratory bird deaths in the western province of Qinghai or to let experts visit the site of a reported bird flu outbreak near the border with Kazakhstan, said Roy Wadia, a spokesman for WHO's Beijing office.
WHO said the Japanese research suggests the H5N1 virus was circulating among poultry stocks in China when the ducks were processed.
"It is another way in which the virus can spread across boundaries," Dietz said. "It's an indicator that by the time the ducks were slaughtered there is very good reason to believe they had been exposed to the H5N1 virus."
A Hong Kong researcher also published a study this month saying 1,000 geese that recently died in Qinghai province likely contracted the virus from poultry. Chinese health officials have not responded to requests for comment.
Since 2003, bird flu has killed at least 57 people in Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia and Indonesia, which reported its first three human deaths Wednesday. A father and his two young daughters from a Jakarta suburb died earlier this month, and tests confirmed they were infected with the H5N1 virus, said Indonesian Health Minister Siti Fadilah Supari.
The disease has also devastated poultry stocks in the region, where millions of sick birds have died or been slaughtered.
The Japanese study also found the virus discovered in the duck meat was also slightly genetically different from other bird flu viruses, raising questions about different types of avian influenza circulating among Asian poultry.
After exposing mice to the virus, they found it was not as pathogenic as the H5N1 virus found in humans, but that it could have the potential to become more virulent.
"This data revealed that multiple H5N1 genotypes have (been) circulating in China," said Masaji Mase, one of the study's authors from the National Institute of Animal Health in Japan, who added more research was needed in China.
International health experts have repeatedly warned the bird flu virus could evolve into a highly contagious form passed easily from person to person, sparking a global pandemic. So far, most cases have been traced to contact with sick birds.
And we also have this report
How to warn the public about bird flu
Experts believe that the bird flu virus circulating in Asia could trigger a human flu pandemic killing up to 100 million people. Public health authorities' reaction to this threat demands a delicate balancing act: they must prepare the public without needlessly frightening them.
LINK
HANOI (AP) — The bird flu virus was found in processed frozen duck meat shipped for human consumption from China to Japan two years ago — another reminder of how easily the disease can cross borders and how hard it is to kill, health officials said Wednesday.
In a recent study published online in the journal Virology, a team of Japanese researchers reported a form of the H5N1 virus was found in duck meat exported from China's Shandong province into Japan in 2003.
The World Health Organization said this was not the first time the virus has been found in processed meat, but it stressed the findings illustrate the virus' strength and presence in Asian poultry stocks.
However, WHO said processed poultry meat poses no risk to consumers as long as precautions are taken during preparation, such as frequently washing hands and countertops and making sure all meat is thoroughly cooked and no blood remains.
"This is an indicator that H5N1 viruses are widespread in Asia in many different kinds of fowl," said Bob Dietz, a spokesman for WHO's Western Pacific Region.
"We know this virus to be a persistent, aggressive survivor. This study is another indicator of that."
The findings come as China is under pressure to provide more information about the virus found in wild birds. The country has not responded to WHO requests for information about 6,000 migratory bird deaths in the western province of Qinghai or to let experts visit the site of a reported bird flu outbreak near the border with Kazakhstan, said Roy Wadia, a spokesman for WHO's Beijing office.
WHO said the Japanese research suggests the H5N1 virus was circulating among poultry stocks in China when the ducks were processed.
"It is another way in which the virus can spread across boundaries," Dietz said. "It's an indicator that by the time the ducks were slaughtered there is very good reason to believe they had been exposed to the H5N1 virus."
A Hong Kong researcher also published a study this month saying 1,000 geese that recently died in Qinghai province likely contracted the virus from poultry. Chinese health officials have not responded to requests for comment.
Since 2003, bird flu has killed at least 57 people in Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia and Indonesia, which reported its first three human deaths Wednesday. A father and his two young daughters from a Jakarta suburb died earlier this month, and tests confirmed they were infected with the H5N1 virus, said Indonesian Health Minister Siti Fadilah Supari.
The disease has also devastated poultry stocks in the region, where millions of sick birds have died or been slaughtered.
The Japanese study also found the virus discovered in the duck meat was also slightly genetically different from other bird flu viruses, raising questions about different types of avian influenza circulating among Asian poultry.
After exposing mice to the virus, they found it was not as pathogenic as the H5N1 virus found in humans, but that it could have the potential to become more virulent.
"This data revealed that multiple H5N1 genotypes have (been) circulating in China," said Masaji Mase, one of the study's authors from the National Institute of Animal Health in Japan, who added more research was needed in China.
International health experts have repeatedly warned the bird flu virus could evolve into a highly contagious form passed easily from person to person, sparking a global pandemic. So far, most cases have been traced to contact with sick birds.
And we also have this report
How to warn the public about bird flu
Experts believe that the bird flu virus circulating in Asia could trigger a human flu pandemic killing up to 100 million people. Public health authorities' reaction to this threat demands a delicate balancing act: they must prepare the public without needlessly frightening them.
LINK
posted by ... at 11:58 AM
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