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    UN warns of bird flu resurgence, new Asian strain

    ROME (AP) — The United Nations warned Monday of a possible resurgence of the deadly bird flu virus, saying wild bird migrations had brought it back to previously virus-free countries and that a mutant strain was spreading in Asia.

    A mutant strain of H5N1, which can apparently sidestep defenses of existing vaccines, is spreading in China and Vietnam, Tthe U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization said in a statement Monday. It urged greater surveillance to ensure that any outbreaks are contained.

    Last week, the World Health Organization reported that a 6-year-old Cambodian girl had died Aug. 14 from bird flu, the eighth person to die from H5N1 avian influenza this year in Cambodia.

    Vietnam suspended its springtime poultry vaccination this year, FAO said. Most of the northern and central parts of the country where the virus is endemic have been invaded by the new strain.

    Elsewhere, FAO says bird migrations over the past two years have brought H5N1 to countries that had been virus-free for several years, including Israel, the Palestinian territories, Bulgaria, Romania, Nepal and Mongolia.

    "Wild birds may introduce the virus, but people's actions in poultry production and marketing spread it," said FAO's chief veterinary office Juan Lubroth in urging greater preparedness and surveillance.

    WHO says globally there have been 331 human deaths from 565 confirmed bird flu cases since 2003 when it was first detected.

    The virus was eliminated from most of the 63 countries infected at its peak in 2006, but it remained endemic in six countries: Bangladesh, China, Egypt, India, Indonesia and Vietnam.

    The number of outbreaks in poultry and wild bird populations shrank from a high of 4000 to 302 in mid-2008, but outbreaks have risen progressively since, with almost 800 cases reported in 2010-2011, FAO said.

    "The general departure from the progressive decline in 2004-2008 could mean that there will be a flare-up of H5N1 this fall and winter, with people unexpectedly finding the virus in their backyard," Lubroth said in a statement.

     

    67 comments

    • Harry  •  8 mths ago
      Happy. It looks that way on paper but nature has some limiting factors. The number one limiting factor is that there is not enough food produced to feed the 14 billion. Food production, like oil, is at its peak at the moment. Very few countries now export much of their grain. The largest two being the U.S. and Argentina. As population grows, the amount of grain will not be enough to feed the world. Also, modern civilization is built upon oil and iron ore. 80% of the iron ore comes from Austrailia and Brazil. Each has 24 billion tons of reserves. In 20 years or very close to it, both countries will have finished their exportable iron ore reserves. Most oil exporting countries will have ceased their exports. In 2030, you can bend over and kiss your butt good bye. After all of this is done, over population will not be a problem. It will be pure survival for the human race that will be the problem.
      • Dirk Bold 8 mths ago
        Pure speculation, guess work, fear mongering etc. The human race will do just fine.
    • zibz  •  8 mths ago
      Anyone see the BBC show Survivors? It's about a mutated bird flu from China killing 99% of population. It also talks about H1N1 stuff. Watch it on Netflix on demand is you wanna see it.
    • Lamb  •  8 mths ago
      I think the real issue is some companies spent a lot of money so they could sell vaccines and their profit margins are down. So why not create another hype to sell more injections?
    • Lib-Be-Rator  •  9 mths ago
      I need an vaccine against Oblahma-nation disease !
    • Lib-Be-Rator  •  9 mths ago
      Nazi Big Pharma @ it again !
    • A Yahoo! user  •  9 mths ago
      my bologna has a first name....again (meaning there goes the chicken for dinner)
    • Avid Reader  •  9 mths ago
      In 2005, Bush signed into law legislation, PREPA, that gave pharmaceutical companies immunity to legal liability for any adverse reactions, permanent disability, or death due to their vaccines in the case of a public health emergency. So now, Big Pharma and the UN, WHO, CDC, etc., can make their false claims with impunity about another disease sweeping the planet. As long as this law, PREPA, is on the books, expect more fear-mongering vaccine marketing every year.
    • katfish  •  9 mths ago
      My goodness, seems there is a media-spurred panic every day. People need to take charge of their immune systems and health-quit worrying about every illness out there.
    • K  •  9 mths ago
      Here we go again...
    • Art  •  9 mths ago
      There must be a need in Washington to focus our attention on something. A new bird flu panic is just the thing. People are being so used and they don't even have a clue. We're a herd of sheep.
    • Buddy Lush  •  9 mths ago
      the bird is the word...
    • BEANS  •  9 mths ago
      Who let those freaken Asian birds in here anyway, did you do that Obammiiee???
    • AL  •  9 mths ago
      Anyone wonder WHY MOST of the influenza comes out of China?
      • Eric 9 mths ago
        Nope. They have the most incubators, er, people.
      • AL 9 mths ago
        Very correct...100% correct...
      • Terri 8 mths ago
        its because they eat anything that moves.
    • YYY  •  9 mths ago
      the UN wants more money ....... must create a case to justify its existence ...... :-)
    • we're screwed  •  9 mths ago
      Yep. Here we go again. More crap from the U.N. Remember that last plague virus that never was? Well, it serves to line the pockets of some drug manufacturing companies in China.
      • Methusaleh Bible 9 mths ago
        Just finished World War Z; there's a reason the author has the "zombies" beginning in China. Funny how few realize that without Christianity, there is no humanity. A very simple equation really. Consider this, feudalism made life cheap. Before the United States, all people lived in the class system of feudalism, in one way or another. And in feudalism, it is all about getting what You need, right now. This is a dangerous way to live as it disregards safeguards of health, personal ability, privacy, you name it; all falls to the wayside when only "right now" and "me and mine" count. China is dangerous for many reasons. Bird flu is only one of them.
    • THERE IS A LARGE GOAT STA ...  •  9 mths ago
      yeah... whatever.
    • Joe  •  9 mths ago
      Pharma must need another cash infusion.....

      Vaccines to the 'rescue'!
    • Yahoo  •  9 mths ago
      Medical/agricultural studies over the years have revealed the ROOT cause of swine and bird flu to be the overcrowding and abuse of farm animals in factory farm operations where animals are forced to continuously stand in their own waste which produces ammonia and other corrosive gases which burns away their mucus membranes making their respiratory tracts highly susceptible to various viral and bacterial infections. This in turn....of course, requires farmers to dose these animals with high doses of antibiotics and other drugs which breeds antibiotic resistance that can then be transferred to human hosts. Other factors which weakens these animals immune systems include being fed feeds which they were not evolved to eat, being fed multiple growth hormones and being given multiple antibiotics to promote faster growth in conjunction with growth hormones. The close confinement/overcrowding of these animals causes them to attack/bite, bleed, defecate, urinate, vomit, cough, sneeze on one another. In order to control this aggression/open wounds, farmers cut off the birds beaks and cut off the pigs tails etc. instead of giving these animals more space/access to outdooor pasture. These conditions accelerate the speed in which viruses like swine and bird flu mutate and proliferate. More vaccines and antibiotics will only allow these viruses, and the cruel factory farming conditions which allows them to proliferate, to continue unabated, requiring more vaccines to control newly evolved viruses and bacteria which have become immune to present antibiotics and vaccines. The long term solution to these plagues is to allow domestic animals access to open pasture and grazing/being fed foods they were evolved to eat. In these open-air/free ranging and more SANITARY conditions farmers will no longer be required to use expensive drugs to control disease. Growth hormone usage should be discontinued in favor of sustainable/free ranging farming practices which strengthen the immune systems of domestic animals.
      • we're screwed 9 mths ago
        Yeah, right.
      • Bobby 9 mths ago
        More denier propoganda. These diseases were around centuries before factory farm operations. They come about from the close living conditions of people, swine, and ducks in China; something that has been going on since before Japan was settled by it's current population.
    • PhxAries  •  9 mths ago
      I hope it KILLS a BILLION ginese. (chinese is pronounced as in the gina after va).
      • Mica 9 mths ago
        I hope it kills you.
    • Bobby  •  9 mths ago
      Another chance to stop AGW by reducing the human population of the planet. We must urge governments to stop vaccinations and other measures to prolong human life and increase fertility. Make sterilization mandatory to receive government payment or assistance.

      Support Obama. Remember that those that deny the truth of AGW also deny that the earth is flat.
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