Avian Influenza Situation Updates: Archive

Last updated November 25, 2005

• Human Cases: Numbers at a Glance
• New News
• New USAID Actions
• Upcoming Actions

Human Cases: Numbers at a Glance

New News

• 	Indonesia vaccinated 114 million poultry against avian flu in 2004. Source: FAO

  Officials Outline U.S. Efforts To Prepare for Potential Pandemic
  Bush administration officials on November 9 recapped U.S. Government efforts to prepare for a potential human pandemic of avian influenza, or bird flu. More
  
  
• China confirms first cases of avian influenza in humans, two fatal: China reported its first human death linked to the H5N1 avian influenza (AI) virus on November 16, becoming the fifth Asian country with confirmed fatalities from the disease. The Chinese government confirmed the country's first three cases of bird flu in people last week, and Chinese authorities quarantined 116 people after the latest outbreaks of the deadly H5N1 strain killed 1,100 chickens in northeastern Liaoning province. A case there two weeks ago prompted officials to destroy more than 6 million birds.
  
  
• Vietnam confirms 42nd human death from bird flu: Vietnam has confirmed its 42nd human death from the H5N1 strain of avian influenza, its first in more than three months. The 35-year-old man, who died on October 29, was admitted to a Hanoi hospital four days after his family bought a prepared chicken from a market near his house.
  
  
• Indonesian deaths mount: Two more people in Indonesia have died after contracting the H5N1 virus, health officials said last Thursday. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the country's AI death toll is now seven.
  
  
• New human case from bird flu in Thailand: A 50-year-old woman tested positive for the H5N1 strain of avian influenza in Thailand on October 31. The woman had recently cleaned an area where infected chickens had been culled. Disease control experts believe the disease was transmitted when she was sweeping the chicken droppings. She is currently receiving medical treatment and recovering in Bangkok.
  
  
• New outbreaks among bird populations in China and Vietnam: Despite increased efforts to fight the disease, China and Vietnam each confirmed new bird flu outbreaks that have killed thousands of birds. An outbreak in China during late October – the fourth in three weeks in the world's most populous country – killed 8,940 chickens on October 26 in Badaohao village in Liaoning province east of Beijing and prompted authorities to destroy 369,900 other birds in the region.
  
  
• Japan kills 180,000 chickens: Japanese authorities said 180,000 chickens were killed after signs of the virus were found at a farm. Antibody testing had found that 80 chickens at a farm in Ibaraki state had been exposed to a virus of the H5 strain. Although the birds survived the exposure, they were killed as a precaution.
  
  
• Vietnam to produce treatment for humans infected with H5N1: Vietnam says it will become the first country to produce under license the drug believed to be an effective treatment for bird flu infections in humans. It said it had agreed with Swiss firm Roche to start making generic supplies of Tamiflu early next year.

New USAID Actions

• USAID bird flu officials meet with Pentagon’s chief medical officer: Representatives from USAID’s Avian and Pandemic Influenza Preparedness and Response Unit (AI Unit) met with the U.S. military’s top health officer at the Pentagon last week to discuss coordination between USAID and the Defense Department on disaster response planning for a possible AI pandemic.
  
  
• 107 rapid assessments completed: USAID has completed rapid assessments of the state of preparedness to respond to avian and pandemic influenza in 107 countries eligible for USAID assistance. The assessments covered a full range of essential capabilities including pandemic planning, surveillance and diagnosis, communications, rapid response, and emergency stockpiles of supplies. The information is now being compiled into a global analysis that will help the Agency’s health experts identify gaps and priorities for coordination and expanded response across all countries while serving as a baseline for measuring USAID programs.
  
  
• USAID plans AI response in Turkey, Romania: The deputy director of USAID’s AI Unit, Murray Trostle, traveled in Turkey and Romania, where H5N1 outbreaks among birds have occurred within the last four months, from November 14-23. Mr. Trostle met with U.S., Turkish, and Romanian officials as well as representatives from the World Bank, nongovernmental organizations, and other partners to assess national response efforts and make recommendations for U.S. Government assistance.
  
  
• USAID’s Global Development Alliance working to enlist private companies in bird flu response: USAID’s Global Development Alliance (GDA) Secretariat has met with approximately 25 companies to date, including Cargill, Unilever, Microsoft, IBM/Motorola, and Nike. In addition to meetings in the United States, GDA recently hosted a series of discussions in Indonesia, Vietnam, and Thailand with potential private sector partners as well as American Chamber of Commerce and Embassy representatives.
  
  
• Europe and Eurasia: Representatives from USAID’s Europe/Eurasia Bureau, Bureau for Economic Growth and Trade, and AI Unit met with agriculture, environment, and social development sector representatives for the World Bank’s Europe and Central Asia region to discuss potential AI collaboration, specifically discussing opportunities in Turkey and Romania.
  
  
• Latin America and Caribbean: Representatives from USAID’s Global Health Bureau and the Latin America/Caribbean (LAC) Bureau in Washington held a conference call last week with representatives from USAID’s LAC Missions to discuss operational personnel matters related to pandemic flu preparedness. State Department representatives from U.S. Embassies in Latin America also joined the call to discuss U.S. Government preparedness.
  
  
• Africa: The USAID Mission in Senegal is working closely with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to provide feedback on Senegal’s draft national AI response plan. A coordination committee set up by the Ministry of Livestock drafted the plan, which covers AI surveillance and diagnosis, emergency eradication measures, and communications strategies. In Nigeria, the Minister of Health and the Minister of State for Health inaugurated the Health Sector Technical and Expert Committee on Avian Influenza on November 14. The Committee will lead the development of a national preparedness plan. USAID will sit as an adviser on the Committee with Nigerian human and animal health authorities, veterinary and medical associations, WHO, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), and Médecins Sans Frontières.
  
  
• AI briefing for donors: A member of the AI Unit presented a briefing at the Donor Partnership Forum of USAID’s Bureau for Program and Policy Coordination on November 10. Attendees included staff from the European Union, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the World Bank, and embassies of Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, and Spain.
  
  
• USAID developing programming guidance for Missions: The AI Unit is developing guidance for field missions on how to appropriately program AI funds, based on the level of risk they face, to H5N1 outbreaks in animal populations. Funds will be programmed in key areas such as preparedness planning, surveillance, response, communications, and stockpiling of supplies. The guidance will also include information on monitoring and evaluating programs.
  
  
• AI update for State Department Under Secretary: On November 18, USAID officials briefed Under Secretary Paula Dobriansky on the current AI situation and the U.S. Government’s response to date, including the recent assessment visits to Indonesia and China.
  
  
• USAID participates in AI symposium: Dennis Carroll, director of USAID’s AI Unit, spoke on the importance of addressing the root causes of new diseases in developing nations at George Washington University on November 16 in a talk entitled “Avian Influenza: Political, Social, and Economic Dimensions of the Continuing Threat from Emerging Infectious Diseases.” The International Resources Group and the University’s Department of Environmental and Occupational Health sponsored the symposium.

Upcoming Actions

• USAID to host interagency coordination meeting: USAID will host a coordination meeting with representatives from the Departments of State, Defense, Agriculture, and Health and Human Services, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), next week. All USAID regional bureaus are also organizing meetings with regional counterparts at the State Department to discuss AI-related activities and coordinate ongoing planning.
  
  
• U.S. officials planning stockpile meeting: Representatives of USAID’s AI Unit and the Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance will meet with CDC officials next week to continue discussions about U.S. support for stockpiling key health commodities for containment of human and animal AI outbreaks. The Bush administration has proposed more than $56 million in fiscal year 2006 funding to support an international stockpile of commodities – excluding antiviral drugs – that would be managed by USAID.