Avian Flu H7 Outbreak in Australia

AUSTRALIA - An outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) of the H7 subtype has been confirmed in a free-range egg flock in New South Wales.

The outbreak was reported to the OIE by Dr Mark Schipp, Chief Veterinary Officer, Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Canberra, Australia.

The outbreak occurred in Maitland, New South Wales.

Five thousand hens of the 50,000-bird flock have died.

The affected birds are free range layer hens. The property has several dams that attract wild ducks.

A restricted area of 3km diameter, surrounded by 7km diameter control area has been established around the property, which is under quarantine restriction.

Tracing is underway. Depopulation has commenced. The N type has not yet been determined.

The last outbreak of HPAI in Australia was in November 1997.

Researchers Uncover Data to Help Fight Avian Flu

SPAIN - A team of researchers from the National Research Council (CSIC) has determined the structure of the complex molecular machine that the influenza virus uses to replicate and express their genetic material.

The results, which are published in Science Express, the online edition of the journalScience, opens the way to unravel some of the crucial steps in the life cycle of these viruses that infect birds endemic also to humans and other mammals.

Researchers have revealed ribonucleoproteins organisation, protein complexes formed by each RNA (ribonucleic acid) associated with the viral polymerase and nucleoprotein, multiple copies of which bind to RNA like beads on a necklace.

"This complex structure actually functions as a molecular machine capable of transcribing the genetic message of self-replication of the virus and the infected cell in order to generate new progeny virus to infect other cells," explains Juan Ortin, CSIC researcher at the National Center for Biotechnology.