Ambassador John E. Lange, the Special Representative on Avian and Pandemic Influenza at the U.S. Department of State, says avian influenza and the threat of a pandemic are “serious risks” to public health around the world.

The ambassador said that if the avian virus — also known as H5N1 — mutates, it may kill tens of millions of people throughout the world.

The remarks came in advance of the 6th International Ministerial Conference on Avian and Pandemic Influenza in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt on October 24-26, 2008.

Ambassador Lange said that avian influenza is most prevalent in Egypt, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Indonesia, and other countries in Southeast Asia.

“Several recent outbreaks have occurred in these countries, reminding leaders of the gravity of the problem. Avian influenza has not yet reached the Western Hemisphere, but if the virus mutated, that part of the world could quickly become affected,” said Lange.

Ambassador Lange said the upcoming ministerial conference will review best practices and challenges related to prevention and control of avian flu, pandemic preparedness and response, and the recently discovered link between animal and human health in emerging infectious diseases.

Representatives from over 100 countries, including the U.S., will attend the conclave in Sharm el Sheikh.

Ambassador Lange said that when compared to diseases like HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis, avian influenza today remains a more distant threat. But, he warned that if the avian virus mutates, the ensuing pandemic could be global and devastating, spreading rapidly and affecting millions. “It would be the event of our lifetime,” he said.

– by Gene J. Koprowski, Editorial Director, and Nancy Bruening, Executive Editor

Avian flu worries continue.

Posted: October 24th, 2008 under Avian Flu, Developing Diseases.
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The altruistic arm of Internet search engine pioneer Google, Inc. this week said it had given grants of more than $14 million to support physicians working in Southeast Asia and Africa to prevent the next pandemic.

Mountain View, Calif.-based Google.org’s Predict and Prevent initiative is supporting efforts to identify “hot spots” where infectious diseases may emerge, discover new pathogens in animal and human populations, and react to outbreaks before they become global crises.

New lethal infectious diseases crop up every year, Google said, including variants of HIV/AIDS, bird flu and SARS, as well as drug-resistant strains of ancient scourges malaria and tuberculosis.

Google said three-quarters of new diseases are “zoonoses, meaning they’ve jumped from animals to humans.”

– by Gene J. Koprowski, Editorial Director, and Nancy Bruening, Executive Editor

Posted: October 21st, 2008 under Avian Flu, Clostridium difficile, Developing Diseases, EV71, Ebola Virus, Flesh-Eating Bacteria, HPV, Hendra Virus, Impaired Immunity, Legionnaires' Disease, MRSA, SARS, West Nile Virus.
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The flu season is upon us once again, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is warning that mutant strains of the virus are likely to emerge once again.

The flu virus has an innate ability to adapt, so new strains emerge all the time.

The new vaccine, created for this year, covers the A/Brisbane strain that wasn’t covered by last year’s vaccine, said Michael Shaw, associate director for laboratory science in the CDC’s influenza division.

CDC officials knew the A/Brisbane strain was mutating quickly last year. However, at the time the vaccine was made, fertile hen eggs used to develop vaccines wouldn’t accept the first isolates of the strain, so last year’s vaccine didn’t cover A/Brisbane, Shaw added.

A new solution: cell-based vaccines, which might include late-developing strains of influenza because they accept isolates of viruses faster than eggs. Cell-based vaccines might be available in two or three flu seasons.

Several pharmaceutical companies are close to applying for licenses with the Food and Drug Administration to develop cell-based vaccines, Shaw said. Then the virus could be inserted into a mammalian cell for cultures to grow so vaccines could be developed, he added.

– by Gene J. Koprowski, Editorial Director

CDC warns that flu season is now upon us again.

Posted: September 29th, 2008 under Avian Flu, Developing Diseases, Diseases, Influenza.
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A new vaccine for the avian influenza H5N1 virus — for bird flu — is proving capable of providing protection for various H5N1 strains. The technology is being development by scientists at the Academia Sinica.

The team of researchers at Taiwan’s leading academic body have also discovered that once new virus strains are found — the strains’ genetic information can be transferred into the vaccine database to produce new vaccines that can induce immunity against new strains of H5N1.

The research team, led by David Ho of the Rockefeller University and Chi-huey Wong of Academia Sinica’s Genomics Research Center, began its research two years ago with the focus on hemagglutinin, or HA — a type of glycoprotein molecule that can be found on the surface of all H5N1 viruses and plays a vital role in the viral infection process.

Doctors have analyzed hundreds of hemagglutinin samples that were collected from various H5N1 strains, an identical gene sequence — dubbed “Consensus HA” — were found on all specimens.

– by Gene J. Koprowski, Editorial Director and Nancy Bruening, Managing Editor

Bird flu vaccine emerging in the lab.

Posted: September 5th, 2008 under Avian Flu, Developing Diseases.
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Wild chickens pecked an animal control inspector in Weirton, Ohio, and the officer subsequently  contracted an infection, according to news reports.

Mayor Mark Miller told reporters the crazy chickens in the Kings Creek section of the city are a “safety hazard” and indicated animal control authorities are struggling to contain the flock.

The mayor claimed there were only about 10 to 15 wild chickens a few decades ago. Today, he said there are about 100 predatory chickens roaming there.

“They wake up my babies, wake me up, they’re dirty, disgusting, they’re everywhere,” said Christina Foley, a local resident.

The mayor called the flock “dirty and infected,” and said city leaders have been trying for nine months to corral the chickens.

Police Chief Bruce Marshall said crews will catch the chickens and “humanely deal with them.” Further, he said a family who lives nearby is blamed for feeding the flock and making the public health situation worse.

“We are looking at different options (and) continuing doing what we are doing until they are caught,” Marshall said.

– by Gene J. Koprowski, Editorial Director

Wild chickens a threat in Ohio.

Posted: August 15th, 2008 under Avian Flu, Developing Diseases, Impaired Immunity.
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A new mutation of the dreaded avian flu virus, unreported in Africa, but similar to the ones identified a year ago in Italy, Afghanistan, and Iran, has been found on the dark continent for the first time. The location — Nigeria.

Tests conducted by public health authorities in Nigeria and by the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) show the new bird flu virus strain is genetically distinct from other forms detected in Nigerian outbreaks in 2006 and 2007.

“It seems unlikely that wild birds have carried the strain to Africa, since the last migration of wild birds from Europe and Central Asia to Africa occurred in September 2007 and this year’s southerly migration into Africa has not really started yet,” said Scott Newman, international wildlife coordinator of FAO’s Animal Health Service.

Newman pointed to other avenues the virus could have taken to Nigeria, such as international trade or the black market in poultry.

– by Gene J. Koprowski, Editorial Director, and Nancy Bruening, Managing Editor

Bird flu menacing Africa.

Posted: August 12th, 2008 under Avian Flu, Developing Diseases.
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A new study by researchers at Yale School of Medicine explains why the cold and flu virus symptoms that are often transient in non-smokers, but seriously sicken smokers. The research also pinpointed the mechanism through which viruses and cigarette smoke interact to “increase lung inflammation and damage.”Scientists historically haven’t been able to explain why smokers have more exaggerated responses to viral infections. Those who smoke cigarettes have been more likely than non-smokers to die during previous influenza epidemics and are more susceptible to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). What’s more, kids who are exposed to second-hand smoke get sicker, faster, when infected with respiratory synctial virus.

The conventional wisdom has been that cigarette smoke decreases anti-viral responses. But the Yale researchers— Dr. Jack A. Elias, MD, the Waldermar Von Zedtwitz Professor of Medicine and chair of internal medicine at Yale School of Medicine, and Dr. Min-Jong Kang, MD, associate research scientist—found the exact opposite to be true.

Their studies showed that the immune systems of mice exposed to cigarette smoke from as little as two cigarettes a day for two weeks overreacted when they were also exposed to a mimic of the flu virus. The rodent’s immune systems cleared the virus normally but the exaggerated inflammation caused dramatically increased levels of tissue damage.

“The anti-viral responses in the cigarette smoke exposed mice were not only not defective, but were hyperactive,” said Elias. “These findings suggest that smokers do not get in trouble because they can’t clear or fight off the virus; they get in trouble because they overreact.”

– by Gene J. Koprowski, Editorial Director

Smokers more prone to viral infections than non-smokers.

Posted: August 5th, 2008 under Avian Flu, Developing Diseases, Diseases, Impaired Immunity, Influenza, SARS, The Common Cold.
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Scientists are reporting an advance in the search for a fast, sensitive test to detect bird flu viruses — one that requires no refrigeration and can be used in remote areas easily.

The new technique is the first to use sugar molecules rather than antibodies.

In the new report, Jurgen Schmidt, Suri Iyer, and colleagues point out that conventional tests for flu viruses rely on antibodies, proteins produced by the immune system, to recognize viruses. 

However, antibody-based tests can be costly and require refrigeration to remain stable.

Doctors have developed artificial forms of sialic acid, a sugar molecule found on the surface of cells to which flu viruses attach. Researchers showed that their highly-selective artificial sugars could be used to quickly capture and recognize two common strains of influenza viruses, H1N1, which infects birds, and H3N2, which infects pigs and humans. They used the molecules to differentiate between two strains — from Sydney and Beijing – commonly found in human infections without isolating the viral RNA or surface glycoproteins.

These sugars remain stable for several months, can be produced in large quantities, and demonstrate extended shelf life.

– by Gene J. Koprowski, Editorial Director

Posted: July 31st, 2008 under Avian Flu, Developing Diseases.
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A new method of vaccination against avian influenza tricks the immune system into mounting a broad response against multiple strains of the disease has been developed by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.

In the study, macaques, mice, and ferrets were protected by the experimental vaccine from both disease and death when exposed to avian flu.

If proven for use in humans, the research could lead the way to effectively prepare against an outbreak of pandemic avian flu, experts said.

Health officials in the U.S., Europe, and Asia fret that the H5N1 bird flu virus will mutate into a form that is easily transmitted from person to person, starting a global influenza pandemic.

“This is the first study to show that a single DNA vaccine can induce protection against strains of pandemic flu in many animal models, including primates,” says David Weiner, PhD, professor of pathology and laboratory medicine at the university.  “With this type of vaccine, we can generate a single construct of a pandemic flu vaccine that will give much broader protection.”

The latest bird flu outbreak which began in 2003, human cases of H5N1 bird flu have been documented in 15 countries. Data compiled by the World Health Organization shows 385 cases have occurred, and of these, 243 people have died.

– by Gene J. Koprowski, MA, Editorial Director

Chinese bird flu patients confined to hospital.

Posted: July 2nd, 2008 under Avian Flu, Developing Diseases.
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An article in a leading medical journal indicates that a DNA-based vaccine to prevent pandemic influenza is doing quite well in animal studies. The research appears in this issue of The Journal of Infectious Diseases, and expands upon previously reported results with highly pathogenic strains of H5N1 influenza.

“We believe DNA vaccines offer significant advantages over conventional approaches,” said Vijay B. Samant, president and chief executive officer of Vical Inc., the firm developing the DNA-based vaccine. “The publication of our pandemic influenza vaccine animal challenge data in a peer-reviewed scientific journal illustrates the approaches we are currently pursuing in our Phase 1 trial.”

This trial is important, he noted, because it marks the first time in humans for the firm’s Vaxfectin adjuvant, which has potential applications with both DNA vaccines and conventional protein-based vaccines.

Scientists note that DNA vaccines can be adapted quickly to target emerging strains of influenza, manufactured in a few weeks in generic fermentation equipment, and stored for extended periods of time.

Other highlights of the medical journal article include the following:

 * A single injection of the company’s three-component DNA vaccine provided complete protection from death and disease in ferrets against lethal challenge with the A/Vietnam/1203/04 strain of H5N1 influenza virus.

* The three-part vaccine significantly decreased viral shedding in ferrets. Reducing viral shedding, which is the primary cause of disease transmission, could be critically important in limiting the scope of a pandemic.

* A one-part H5 version of Vical’s vaccine provided complete protection from death in mice against lethal challenge with the H5N1 influenza virus. Earlier research demonstrated that one-component H3 or H1 vaccines also provided complete protection from death in mice against a lethal challenge with H3N2 or H1N1 strains of influenza virus.

Vical’s three-component pandemic influenza DNA vaccine candidate targets two “conserved” and one “variable” influenza virus protein, the company said.

– by Gene J. Koprowski, Editorial Director

DNA-based vaccine — tested on ferrets.

Posted: June 16th, 2008 under Avian Flu, Developing Diseases.
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