SINGAPORE : Drug company Roche said sales of anti-viral drug Tamiflu have gone up in tandem with flu cases this year. Tamiflu is not just being stockpiled to fight against the avian flu, but also prescribed to patients down with severe flu.
Oct 3, 2008 (CIDRAP News) – A flu vaccine manufacturer’s decision not to build a US facility has highlighted the perpetual mismatch between flu-shot supply and demand—and the reality that the mismatch may undermine plans for pandemic flu vaccines.
Bird Flu Research Shows Potential to Stop Pandemic Threat.
# 2348. Today Dr Keiji Fukuda, Head of WHO’s Global Influenza Programme, gave a virtual telephone with journalists from around the world on the expectations for the upcoming flu season in the Northern Hemisphere.
Though it has fallen from the headlines, a global pandemic caused by bird flu still has the United States’ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on high alert.
Outbreaks of lethal avian influenza in Asia and Europe have spurred some of Emory’s top medical experts on infectious diseases and vaccinations to assemble a team in preparation for a North American pandemic.
Speculation remains over which wild waterfowl species are most likely to harbour and spread highly pathogenic avian influenza in the environment and into commercial poultry flocks.
Via CIDRAP, Lisa Schnirring has a good summary of the week so far, including Kyrgyzstan and Togo: Indonesia reports H5N1 decline in poultry flocks. Excerpt: An agriculture ministry official in Indonesia who spoke yesterday…
First, this from the CDC;The avian influenza A ( H5N1 ) epizootic outbreak in Asia is not expected to diminish significantly in the short term. however, the epizootic outbreak in Asia poses an important public health threat. ..
