Indonesia Reports Sixth Bird Flu Death 27 March 2012

INDONESIA - A 17 year-old Indonesian had died on avian influenza in West Nusa Tenggara, putting the total fatality in the country to six this year,   Health Ministry said here on Tuesday.

The boy died on 9 March after being treated in a hospital and a health clinic for one week.

Two laboratory test confirmed that he had H5N1 viruses, the ministry said in a statement.

The boy first got the symptoms on February 28 as he suffered from fever, then on 1 March he went to a doctor and then was treated in a health clinic and a hospital.

Investigation indicated that he likely had contacted with chickens, as officials found some chickens had died around his house.

The latest death put the total fatality on bird flu since the virus attacks the country in 2005 to 156.

Bird flu had attacked Indonesia, the hardest, since 2005, and then the attacks were eased significantly. But, it has reemerged again since last year, by killing nine people in 2011. 

Teknologi Pengenalan Frekuensi Radio (RFID) untuk mengesan lokasi rumah burung walet

Teknologi kenal pasti sarang burung walet bermasalah


2012/03/26

SEBANYAK 60 pengusaha sarang burung walet tempatan dan kilang pemprosesannya sudah menggunakan Sistem Kesan dan Jejak Dalam Talian Sarang Burung Walet yang menggunakan teknologi Pengenalan Frekuensi Radio (RFID). 

Jumlah itu adalah enam peratus daripada keseluruhan 980 pengusaha tempatan yang sedang memajukan produk berdaya maju tinggi yang mempunyai potensi pasaran besar khususnya dari China itu.

Sistem Kesan dan Jejak Dalam Talian Sarang Burung Walet itu dibangunkan Suruhanjaya Komunikasi dan Multimedia Malaysia (SKMM) dengan kerjasama Jabatan Veterinar, di bawah Kementerian Pertanian dan Industri Asas Tani.

Projek di bawah Bidang Ekonomi Utama Negara (NKEA) isi kandungan dan infrastruktur komunikasi (CCI) itu dilancarkan pada 12 Ogos tahun lalu. 


Buat masa ini, Malaysia adalah satu-satunya negara di Asia Tenggara yang memperoleh hak untuk mengeksport secara terus ke China, yang juga pasaran sarang burung walet terbesar di dunia. 


Sijil RFID dari SKMM diperlukan untuk membolehkan sarang burung walet yang bermasalah dikesan menggunakan gelombang frekuensi radio untuk menentukan lokasi rumah sarang burung berkenaan. 


Ia adalah satu daripada tiga syarat yang dikenakan kepada syarikat tempatan yang mengeksport sarang burung walet ke China. 
Dua syarat lain ialah sijil penanda kesihatan veterinar daripada Jabatan Veterinar dan dan sijil kesihatan daripada Kementerian Kesihatan. 


Usaha juga sedang dilaksanakan untuk membolehkan 300 rumah sarang burung walet dan kilang pemprosesan berdaftar menggunakan sistem itu tahun ini. 


Selain itu, pihak berkuasa berkaitan juga sedang berunding dengan China mengenai paras nitrit dalam sarang burung walet yang boleh diterima. "Dah berkurun dok berunding je!!!! kena selesai sebelum pilihanraya umum ke 13"


Buat masa ini, China mengenakan sekatan ke atas sarang burung walet memandangkan paras tinggi nitrit yang disebabkan oleh stok berlebihan sarang terbabit dalam pasaran. 


Sebaik sekatan itu dihapuskan, eksport sarang burung walet Malaysia yang dilakukan menerusi Sistem Jejak dan Kesan Sarang Burung Walet akan mempunyai tahap keselamatan tambahan yang memastikan keasliannya datang dari negara ini. 


Menteri Pertanian dan Industri Asas Tani, Datuk Seri Noh Omar, berkata syarikat tempatan yang menggunakan jenama 1Malaysia Best akan mengenal pasti sebuah syarikat di China sebagai rakan perniagaan bagi memudahkan eksport sarang burung walet dari Malaysia dipantau. 


“Syarikat di China itu pula mesti melakukan promosi bahawa hanya produk sarang burung walet jenama 1Malaysia Best saja yang dijamin kualitinya dan selamat untuk dimakan,” katanya baru-baru ini. 


Beliau menambah, antara lain, tindakan berkenaan akan memulihkan kembali industri itu yang mengalami masalah pemasaran ke luar negara akibat dakwaan produk itu mempunyai kandungan nitrit yang boleh membahayakan kesihatan. 


“Pada 2011, kerajaan China telah melaksanakan penguatkuasaan kandungan nitrit sifar yang mengakibatkan kejatuhan mendadak harga sarang burung walet sehingga ke paras 50 peratus,” katanya. 


Mengulas lanjut mengenai polisi kerajaan China tersebut, beliau berkata, ketika ini Kementerian Kesihatan kedua-dua negara sedang berbincang bagi mencapai kata sepakat mengenai kandungan nitrit yang dibenarkan. 


Industri sarang burung walet Malaysia yang pesat berkembang kini dianggarkan sudah menguasai 20 peratus pasaran global. 


Begitupun, peserta sektor itu kini terpaksa bersaing dengan sejumlah besar sumber sarang burung yang palsu dari negara jiran, manakala sesetengahnya diseludup ke negara ini untuk dieksport semula ke China.

Hormone, Antibiotic Residues in Animals Stabilised

21 March 2012

EU - Based on 736,806 analytical results collected by Member States, the European Commission has published a report which concludes that for the reporting period 2010, only 0.33 per cent of the total number of targeted samples on residues was detected in animals as being non-compliant with EU standards.

Livestock Prices Up While Feed Prices Rising

ivestock Prices Up While Feed Prices Rising

21 March 2012

 

ANALYSIS - EU feed wheat and corn prices are showing a slight upward trend, although they are still below last year's figures, according to the Agriview EU Market Prices for Representative Products report, writes Chris Harris.

From January to February this year, feed wheat prices rose from €180.26 per tonne to €190.69. However for the same months last year the prices were €218.38 rising to a peak of €232.06.

Teknik lama yang diperbaharui

Berbagai cara di gunakan untuk terus bersaing dalam perladangan burung walet. Gambar ini adalah beberapa teknik lama yang diperbaharui oleh wan zul swiftlet.

Indonesian Bird Flu Suspect Dies

06 March 2012

INDONESIA - A 42-year-old Indonesian man has died after he was suspected of having avian influenza in west Java province, a media reported on Monday.

The man died on 3 March after being treated at the Hasan Sadikin Hospital in Bandung, the capital of the province, since 29 February.

The man was suspected of suffering bird flu as he had been treated for bird flu symptoms. So far there have been no confirmation from two laboratory tests as a requirement for bird flu attacks. Spokesman for avian flu control with the hospital, Primal Sudjana, said that the patient suffered multiple organ failure as his kidneys, respiratory system and liver malfunctioned.

The patient had been treated previously at two other hospitals in the capital province before he was shifted to Hasan Sadikin hospital, the spokesman was quoted by the Jakarta Post as saying.

Should the laboratory test confirm the man was positive on H5N1, his death would be the fifth bird flu death in the country this year, putting the total fatality to 155 out of 187 cases since 2005.

It was not clear yet whether the man had contact with animal. But, contact with poultry, particularly chicken, is the common cause of fatality in Indonesia.

Indonesia had been hit, the hardest, by H5N1, several years after the virus attacked the country seven years ago, but then the attacks had been slowed and have started to reoccur since last year by killing 9 people, including two children.

Poultry as a Host for the Zoonotic Pathogen, Campylobacter jejuni

6 march 2012

According to researchers in Belgium, the number of human campylobacteriosis cases associated with chickens remains high because, although it is known that chickens are the number one risk factor for disease in humans, there are no effective strategies to reduce Campylobacter prevalence in flocks.

Campylobacteriosis is the most reported foodborne gastroenteritic disease and poses a serious health burden in industrialised countries, according to David Hermans of Ghent University and co-authors there and at the Institute for Agricultural and Fisheries Research in Melle, both in Belgium.

In their paper in Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases, they continue that disease in humans is mainly caused by the zoonotic pathogen, Campylobacter jejuni. Due to its wide-spread occurrence in the environment, the epidemiology of Campylobacter remains poorly understood. It is generally accepted, however, that chickens are a natural host forC. jejuni, and for Campylobacter spp. in general, and that colonised broiler chicks are the primary vector for transmitting this pathogen to humans. 
Several potential sources and vectors for transmitting C. jejuni to broiler flocks have been identified. Initially, one or a few broilers can become colonised at any time between two weeks of age and the end of rearing, after which the infection will rapidly spread throughout the entire flock. Such a flock is generally colonised until slaughter and infected birds carry a very high C. jejuni load in their gastrointestinal tract, especially the caeca. 

This eventually results in contaminated carcasses during processing, which can transmit this pathogen to humans, say the researchers. Recent genetic typing studies showed that chicken isolates can frequently be linked to human clinical cases of Campylobacter enteritis. However, despite the increasing evidence that the chicken reservoir is the number one risk factor for disease in humans, no effective strategy exists to reduce Campylobacter prevalence in poultry flocks, which can in part be explained by the incomplete understanding of the epidemiology of C. jejuni in broiler flocks. 

Hermans and co-authors conclude that the number of human campylobacteriosis cases associated with the chicken vector remains strikingly high

Hong Kong Reports More HPAI in Wild Birds

HONG KONG - The country's veterinary authorities have reported three new outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza in Cheung Chau and Mongkok.

Two dead oriental magpie robins were collected on 25 and 27 February and a crested goshawk was collected on 24 February.

An intensive surveillance system is in place for all poultry farms, poultry markets and pet bird shops in Hong Kong. The H5N1 infected wild birds and goose carcass from unknown source were detected in ongoing surveillance programme on wild birds. The dates of the outbreaks are the same as the dates the birds were collected (i.e. 17 December 2011, 30 December 2011, 1 January 2012, 12 January 2012, 20 January 2012 , 30 January 2012 , 6 February 2012, 7 February 2012, 8 February 2012, 24 February 2012, 25 February 2012 and 27 February 2012 respectively).

A total of 19,451 poultry, including 15,569 chickens, 810 pigeons, 1,950 pheasants and 1,122 silky fowls were culled in the Cheung Sha Wan Temporary Wholesale Poultry Market on 21 December 2011. The Wholesale Poultry Market was closed. Importation of live poultry and movement of poultry in local farms is banned for 21 days.

Surveillance and monitoring of local chicken farms has been stepped up. No H5 virus was detected in samples taken from the 30 chicken farms in Hong Kong. The Wholesale Poultry Market was reopened on 12 January 2012. 

Antimicrobial Resistance part 3

The 

 main antimicrobial families, their mode of action and common resistance mechanisms are summarised in Table 1.

Deadly disease almost everywhere

mar Reports HPAI

01 March 2012

MYANMAR - The Burmese veterinary authorities have reported an outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza in Sagaing.

 yesterday, 29 February. 5-month and 18-month old layers have been affected.

A total of 1060 layers were found susceptible, out of which 61 cases were identified. The 61 affected birds were found dead. The remaining 999 birds were destroyed.

A few chickens were found dead on 20 February 2012. A total of 61 chickens died within 4 days. There are 40,000 chickens reared in 139 farms in Chaung U towship. All are layers and broilers of different ages.

The source of the outbreak is yet to be determined.

A dead oriental magpie robin, which was found in Cheung Chau

Thursday, March 01, 2012 A dead oriental magpie robin, which was found in Cheung Chau, has tested positive for the H5 bird flu virus in preliminary checks, the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department said yesterday.This is the second bird of the species found with the H5 virus on the island within two days this month. In the latest incident, the robin, which is common to Hong Kong, was found and collected at Hok Loo Lane. The department is now conducting further confirmatory tests to check if the virus is the deadly H5N1. A dead oriental magpie robin was found on the rooftop of a building on Hing Lung Back Street in Cheung Chau on Saturday. ADV Testing also revealed H5 and confirmatory test results are pending. "It is not a huge surprise that the two birds of the same species were found dead in Cheung Chau within two days, especially in winter," said Billy Hau Chi-hang, University of Hong Kong assistant professor in biodiversity and conservation. "One bird may come in contact with another which has already contracted the H5 avian influenza virus." The department also announced on Tuesday that a crested goshawk, which is not common to Hong Kong, also tested positive for H5. It was found at Diocesan Boys' School in Argyle Street, Mong Kok, on Friday. Seven dead birds were confirmed with bird flu H5N1 in January and February this year. The department has stepped up disinfection and cleansing work. ALICE SO

Scientific Proof of Resistance Pathogens Pathway

29 February 2012

GLOBAL - A strain of the potentially deadly antibiotic-resistant bacterium known as MRSA has jumped from food animals to humans, according to a new study involving two Northern Arizona University researchers.

Paul Keim, Regents’ professor and director of NAU’s Center for Microbial Genetics and Genomics, and Lance Price, NAU faculty member and director of the Center for Food Microbiology and Environmental Health at the Translational Genomics Research Institute, collaborated with scientists at 20 institutions around the world on the study published last week in the online journal mBio.

The TGen-led research utilised whole genome sequencing to study 89 genomes from humans and animals—including turkeys, chickens and pigs—with samples from 19 countries on four continents.

The research focused on methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus CC398, also known as pig MRSA or livestock-associated MRSA because it most often infects people with direct exposure to swine or other food animals. It is likely that MRSA CC398 started as an antibiotic-susceptible strain in humans before it jumped to food animals.

After transferring to food animals, MRSA CC398 became resistant to two important antibiotics, tetracycline and methicillin, which are used for treating staph infections. The resistance likely is a result of the routine antibiotic use that characterises modern food animal production. The animals commonly are given antibiotics to prevent infection and promote growth.

More Newcastle Disease Outbreaks in Israel

28 February 2012

ISRAEL - The Israeli veterinary authorities have reported further outbreaks of Newcastle disease in Hazafon, Hamerkaz, Hadarom and in Jerusalem.

 The affected population consists of broilers and egg layers.

Out of a total of 228600 susceptible birds, approximately 17020 cases were identified. 5608 deaths were recorded and 131400 birds were destroyed. 

The source of the outbreak has still not been identified and the epidemiological investigation is ongoing.

Indonesia reports 4th bird flu death of the year

 Published on tuesday 28 feb 2012in

photos

A government veterinarian worker sprays anti-bird flu disinfectant over birds and fowls at Medan city market in North Sumatra. A 12-year-old boy on the Indonesian resort island of Bali has died from bird flu, the fourth human death from the virus this year, an official said on Saturday. -- PHOTO: AFP

JAKARTA (AFP) - A 12-year-old boy on the Indonesian resort island of Bali has died from bird flu, the fourth human death from the virus this year, an official said on Saturday.

The boy developed fever on Feb 11 and was admitted to hospital five days later, the Indonesian health ministry's head of animal-borne infectious disease control, Ms Rita Kusriastuti, told AFP.

'He suffered shortness of breath and eventually died on Feb 21. Laboratory tests confirmed he died from the H5N1 virus,' she added.

Concerns about avian influenza have risen in Asia since China in late December reported its first fatality from the H5N1 virus in 18 months.

Antimicrobial Resistance 2

 Development

Antimicrobial resistance and its development is a complex subject. Originally, it was a natural defence mechanism of bacteria to fight against naturally occurring antibiotics, which are produced by a number of fungi and bacteria in the wild, to aid their survival. Now, we are artificially exposing them to antibiotics as we treat animals, to fight disease.


Antibiotics are produced commercially by fermenting these fungi and bacteria and extracting the antibiotic (e.g. penicillins, tetracyclines, aminoglycosides) or frequently adding side chains and producing semi-synthetic antibiotics (e.g. amoxycillin, methicillin, cephalosporins) with different or improved spectra of activity, pharmacokinetics or efficacy. There are also fully synthesised antimicrobial compounds, like the sulphonamides, trimethoprim and the fluoroquinolones. Each antimicrobial family and its subgroups has its own mode of action and thereby each bacterial or mycoplasmal species develops its own way of countering the antimicrobial, as a defence or resistance mechanism, so that it can survive and continue to live in the environment it inhabits, e.g. the gut, the respiratory tract etc

Antimicrobial resistance in animals Part 1

Antimicrobial resistance in animals and its potential to spread to man has become one of the hot issues involving scientists, regulators and politicians in Europe. What to do about it seems to be the main subject; should we ban certain drugs (Danish approach), ban in-feed antimicrobial use (Dutch approach), should we limit their availability and distribution or ban them completely in animals? Currently, this is under consideration by the European Commission (DG Sanco). In the meantime, each country is adopting or has adopted its own approach to managing the problem.

Nitrate or Nitrite and Ammonia gas in your BH ( NO3 , NO2 and NH4 ) )

What Are They? Nitrate and nitrite are compounds that contain a nitrogen atom joined to oxygen atoms, with nitrate containing three oxygen atoms and nitrite containing two. In nature, nitrates are readily converted to nitrites and vice versa. Both are anions, or ions with a negative charge. They tend to associate with cations, or ions with a positive charge, to achieve a neutral charge balance.

Nitrogen + oxygen     =  Nitrate or nitrite


Nitrogen + hydrogen =   Ammonium gas

How Are They Used? Nitrates are used primarily to make fertilizer (Baja Urea I used it as protein booster in animal feed in my recent researh), but they are also used to make glass and explosives. These compounds also are used in various chemical production and separation processes. Nitrites are manufactured mainly for use as a food preservative, and both nitrates and nitrites are used extensively to enhance the color and extend the shelf life of processed meats.

What’s in the Environment? Nitrates are naturally present in soil, water, and food. In the natural nitrogen cycle, bacteria convert nitrogen to nitrate, which is taken up by plants and incorporated into tissues. Animals that eat plants use the nitrate to produce proteins. Nitrate is returned to the environment or birds nest ( turn to yellow or red colour )through  animal feaces ( dropping ), as well as through microbial degradation ofplants and animals after they die.

Microorganisms can convert nitrate or the ammonium ion (which is a nitrogen atom combined with four hydrogen atoms NH4) to nitrite; this reaction occurs in the environment as well as within the digestive tract of humans and other animals. After bacteria convert (reduce) nitrate to nitrite in the environment, the nitrogen cycle is completed when they then convert the nitrite to nitrogen. Normally, this natural cycling process does not allow excessive amounts of nitrates or nitrites to accumulate in the Environment

Now u know how to reduce nitrate, nitrite and ammonium gas in your bh or RBW

Bill Gates Donates $51 Million to Combat Disease

24 February 2012

GLOBAL - Edinburgh-based charity the Global Alliance for Livestock Veterinary Medicines (GALVmed) is to receive funding of over £31.2million ($51.5million) from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the UK Government's Department for International Development (DFID).

GALVmed's Interim CEO, Professor Peter Wells commented: "We are delighted that this funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and DFID will enable the GALVmed alliance to work with partners to scale-up access to livestock vaccines, medicines and diagnostics for resource-poor people. 

"Across the developing world, livestock are an essential means of funding the most basic needs including food, education and healthcare. We are working to protect livestock and save human lives and livelihoods by making livestock vaccines, diagnostics and medicines accessible and affordable to the millions in developing countries for whom livestock is a lifeline. This announcement will take us much further in achieving our goal."

The funding announcement was made by Mr Bill Gates at the 35th session of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)'s Governing Council in Rome, Italy.

"If you care about the poorest, you care about agriculture," said Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. "Investments in agriculture are the best weapons against hunger and poverty, and they have made life better for billions of people. The international agriculture community needs to be more innovative, coordinated and focused to really be effective in helping poor farmers grow more. If we can do that, we can dramatically reduce suffering, and build self-sufficiency."

Another new outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza in vietnam

VIET NAM - Another new outbreak of

 highly pathogenic avian influenza has

 been reported in Quang Nam.

The World Organisation for Animal

 Health  received follow-up no. 65

 on Saturday, 18 February.

Out of a total of 5050 susceptible birds

, 878 cases were reported. A total of 106

 deaths were recorded, and 4944 birds

 were destroyed. 

Experts Agree H5N1 Research Critical

              YOU SHOULD HAVE 

             TIME   TO READ THIS!!                        

                                                               

                     

21 February 2012  

GLOBAL - A small group of global public health and influenza experts at a WHO-convened meeting reached consensus on two urgent issues related to the newly created H5N1 influenza viruses: extending the temporary moratorium on research with new laboratory-modified H5N1 viruses and recognition that research on naturally-occurring H5N1 influenza virus must continue in order to protect public health.

"Given the high death rate associated with this virus - 60 per cent of all humans who have been infected have died - all participants at the meeting emphasized the high level of concern with this flu virus in the scientific community and the need to understand it better with additional research," says Dr Keiji Fukuda, Assistant Director-General of Health Security and Environment for the World Health Organization. "The results of this new research have made it clear that H5N1 viruses have the potential to transmit more easily between people underscoring the critical importance for continued surveillance and research with this virus." 

WHO convened the meeting as a first step to facilitate the discussion of differing opinions that have arisen in recent months after two research groups, one in the Netherlands and the other based in the United States, have created versions of the H5N1 influenza virus which are more transmissible in mammals than the H5N1 virus that occurs naturally. 

The experts at the meeting included lead researchers of the two studies, scientific journals interested in publishing the research, funders of the research, countries who provided the viruses, bioethicists and directors from several WHO collaborating-center laboratories specializing in influenza.