**AVIAN FLU Headlines (August 30, 2006 - September 19, 2006)\
Rep. Michael C. Burgess, M.D. (TX-26)**

With Congress back in session, there is a lot of activity on Capitol
Hill. We continue to monitor the avian flu outbreaks and the integrated
government efforts in preparing for a potential pandemic.

On September 5th, I hosted an Avian Flu Roundtable with leaders from the
Denton County health department, medical society, emergency management
office, as well as with local hospital CEOs and their staff, and
infectious disease control personnel. The roundtable was an excellent
opportunity for local entities to explain their current emergency plans
and to coordinate their responses to a potential avian flu pandemic. I
encourage you to conduct a similar roundtable back home.

I would also like to thank Chairman Vernon Ehlers, of the Committee on
House Administration, for conducting a series of avian flu information
workshops for legislative staff here in Washington, DC.

Please feel free to forward this email to interested parties or have
them reply to this sender to be added to the distribution list. Should
you have questions concerning avian flu, please do not hesitate to
contact my office at (202) 225-7772.Please feel free to forward this
email to interested parties or have them reply to this sender to be
added to the distribution list. Should you have questions concerning
avian flu, please do not hesitate to contact my office at (202)
225-7772.

Sincerely,\
![](media/image1.png){width="1.8090277777777777in"
height="0.7173611111111111in"}\
Michael C. Burgess, M.D.\
Member of Congress

[Avian Flu Pandemic Could Cost World 2 Trillion
Dollars](http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/healthnews.php?newsid=52126),
Medical News Today**\
**The economic devastation caused by a bird flu pandemic could cost the
world up 2 trillion dollars and at least 1 trillion dollars, according
to The World Bank. Jim Adams, Vice President, East Asia & Pacific\'s
Avian Influenza Task Force, World Health Organization also said "But
more recent financial modelling had revealed a sharper threat should the
virus mutate and pass easily among people." If this were really to
happen, we would be talking about 3% of one year\'s global GNP (Gross
National Product).

[Bird Flu Fight Will Cost More Than \$1.9 Billion, UN Envoy
Says](http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=axPDaRO9tMCs&refer=home),
Bloomberg

The global effort to fight bird flu and prepare for a threatened
pandemic will cost more than the \$1.9 billion already pledged, and more
support is needed in Indonesia, which is "seriously affected" by the
virus, a United Nations envoy said. David Nabarro, the UN\'s senior
coordinator for avian and pandemic flu, said the money promised by donor
countries and organizations at a conference in Beijing in January won\'t
be enough to sustain programs aimed at identifying and controlling the
virus in poultry, and upgrading laboratories and hospitals.

[Carrollton patient spurs avian flu scare, WFFA News 8,
Dallas](http://www.wfaa.com/sharedcontent/dws/wfaa/jstjames/stories/wfaa060725_mo_birdflu.3183e43.html)

The Flu Chip allowed users to obtain correct information about both type
and subtype --- which is considered a full characterization of a strain
--- from 72% of the samples, according to an evaluation of the test. The
test can help identify emerging viruses, and can be designed to
distinguish between the genetic groups --- or \"clades\" --- of bird
flu, said Dr. Nancy Cox, director of the CDC\'s Influenza Division.

[CDC announces test distinguishing bird
flu](http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/discoveries/2006-08-28-bird-flu-microchip_x.htm),
USA Today

U.S. health officials have placed the genetic blueprints of more than
650 flu viruses into a public database, in an attempt to increase flu
research and set an example for other nations. The Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention deposited the information last week, CDC
officials said Tuesday. The genetic information is only for naturally
circulating viruses isolated in the United States. It includes data from
the annual U.S. flu season, animal flu viruses that infect humans, and
new strains that may emerge in this country, such as the H5N1 bird flu.

[First avian flu vaccines get EU-wide
authorization](http://www.euractiv.com/en/health/avian-flu-vaccines-get-eu-wide-authorisation/article-157725?_print),
EU News

The risk of outbreaks of avian influenza will increase in the coming
weeks as the autumn migration of wild birds begins. Due to the current
risk, the Commission has decided to give an EU-wide authorization for
two veterinary vaccines, adopted by the European Medicines Agency\'s
(EMEA) in July 2006. The authorization is being granted "under
exceptional circumstances."

[Speed of the Spread of Flu Is Linked to Airline
Travel](http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/12/health/12flu.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print),
New York Times

Airline travel has a significant effect on the spread of influenza, a
new study reports, raising the question of whether flight restrictions
may be helpful in controlling a pandemic. The researchers compared the
timing and number of influenza deaths in 122 American cities with the
volume of airline travel during the same period for each of nine flu
seasons, 1996 to 2005. They found that changes in the rate of spread and
the timing of peak mortality each year correlated with yearly
fluctuations in monthly airline passenger volume. They suggest that
travel during the Thanksgiving holiday may be the central event in
determining the rapidity of transmission. The fewer domestic airline
passengers there are, researchers found, the slower the flu moves across
the country.

[Immediate Treatment Needed for Bird Flu Cases, Study
Says](http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/11/world/11flu.html?_r=1&oref=slogin),
New York Times

Avian flu kills in much the same way the global flu pandemic of 1918
did, by drowning victims in fluid produced in their own lungs, a new
study has found. The study also suggests that immediate treatment with
antiviral drugs is crucial, because the virus reproduces so quickly
that, if not suppressed within the first 48 hours, it tends to push
victims into a rapid decline to death. Henry L. Niman, a Pittsburgh
biochemist who has been tracking viral changes and raised earlier alarms
about E627K, agreed, "Lethality in the virus may rely on several
changes," he said. "But it's got several different paths to the same
end. That's what makes it so efficient."

[Improved test can detect avian or seasonal
flu](http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/articlenews.aspx?type=healthNews&storyID=2006-09-11T232659Z_01_L11615083_RTRIDST_0_HEALTH-BIRDFLU-TEST-DC.XML&archived=False),
Reuters UK

An updated diagnostic test can simultaneously detect whether someone is
suffering from an H5 strain of bird flu or seasonal influenza, its
developer said on Tuesday. The improved version eliminates the need for
two tests, requires only one sample and can provide a diagnosis quickly.
"It is more efficient in that you can screen for H5 and also identify
seasonal flu A and B," Dr Martin Curran, of Britain\'s Health Protection
Agency (HPA) who devised the test, said in an interview.

[Indonesia Struggles to Contain Bird
Flu](http://www.voanews.com/english/2006-08-31-voa9.cfm), Voice of
America News

In August Indonesia recorded its 60th case of bird flu in humans, 46 of
which have been fatal, the highest human death toll from the disease.
And some scientists are concerned this high death rate is partly due to
Indonesia\'s reluctance so far to cull birds. Compensating villagers for
their poultry is expensive, and the government currently pays only half
the market price for birds that are culled. Some villagers fail to
report outbreaks of disease in poultry or they hide their birds during a
cull.

[No sign of avian flu spread through migratory
birds](http://lfpress.ca/newsstand/News/National/2006/09/08/1813769-sun.html),
London Free Press

A national wild bird surveillance program aimed at detecting whether
H5N1 avian flu has made its way to Canada via migratory birds has found
no evidence of the worrisome virus. With testing completed on about
one-quarter of the target 12,000 birds, no H5 avian flu viruses of any
sort have been isolated, said Dr. Ted Leighton, executive director of
the Canadian Co-operative Wildlife Health Centre. A similar,
larger-scale program in the United States has also failed to turn up any
sign of the highly pathogenic Asian form of the H5N1 virus.

[Pennsylvania Ducks Found with Low-Path Avian
Flu](http://www.farmfutures.com/ME2/dirmod.asp?sid=CD26BEDECA4A4946A1283CC7786AEB5A&nm=News&type=news&mod=News&mid=9A02E3B96F2A415ABC72CB5F516B4C10&tier=3&nid=72462F6EA2AE4AB780B41DD8BE918B47),
Farm Futures

USDA and the Department of the Interior announced over the weekend that
the presence of H5 and N1 avian influenza subtypes have been found in
samples from wild mallard ducks in Pennsylvania. Testing has ruled out
this being the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain spreading throughout Asia,
Europe and Africa. Tests so far indicate this is the low pathogenic
avian influenza, and poses no threat to human health.

[Cumulative Number of Confirmed Human Cases of Avian Influenza A/(H5N1)
Reported to
WHO](http://www.who.int/csr/disease/avian_influenza/country/cases_table_2006_09_14/en/index.html)

**14 September 2006**

<table>
<colgroup>
<col style="width: 20%" />
<col style="width: 9%" />
<col style="width: 8%" />
<col style="width: 9%" />
<col style="width: 8%" />
<col style="width: 9%" />
<col style="width: 8%" />
<col style="width: 6%" />
<col style="width: 7%" />
<col style="width: 6%" />
<col style="width: 7%" />
</colgroup>
<tbody>
<tr class="odd">
<td rowspan="2"><p>Country</p>
<p> </p></td>
<td colspan="2">2003</td>
<td colspan="2">2004</td>
<td colspan="2">2005</td>
<td colspan="2">2006</td>
<td colspan="2">Total</td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>cases</td>
<td>deaths</td>
<td>cases</td>
<td>deaths</td>
<td>cases</td>
<td>deaths</td>
<td>cases</td>
<td>deaths</td>
<td>cases</td>
<td>deaths</td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td>Azerbaijan</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>8</td>
<td>5</td>
<td>8</td>
<td>5</td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>Cambodia</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>4</td>
<td>4</td>
<td>2</td>
<td>2</td>
<td>6</td>
<td>6</td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td>China</td>
<td>1</td>
<td>1</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>8</td>
<td>5</td>
<td>12</td>
<td>8</td>
<td>21</td>
<td>14</td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>Djibouti</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>1</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>1</td>
<td>0</td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td>Egypt</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>14</td>
<td>6</td>
<td>14</td>
<td>6</td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>Indonesia</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>19</td>
<td>12</td>
<td>46</td>
<td>37</td>
<td>65</td>
<td>49</td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td>Iraq</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>2</td>
<td>2</td>
<td>2</td>
<td>2</td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>Thailand</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>17</td>
<td>12</td>
<td>5</td>
<td>2</td>
<td>2</td>
<td>2</td>
<td>24</td>
<td>16</td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td>Turkey</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>12</td>
<td>4</td>
<td>12</td>
<td>4</td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>Viet Nam</td>
<td>3</td>
<td>3</td>
<td>29</td>
<td>20</td>
<td>61</td>
<td>19</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>93</td>
<td>42</td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td>Total</td>
<td>4</td>
<td>4</td>
<td>46</td>
<td>32</td>
<td>97</td>
<td>42</td>
<td>99</td>
<td>66</td>
<td>246</td>
<td>144</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>

Total number of cases includes number of deaths.\
WHO reports only laboratory-confirmed cases.