Bird flu mix-up could have spelled disaster

IT'S emerged that virulent H5N1 bird flu was sent out by accident from an Austrian lab last year and given to ferrets in the Czech Republic before anyone realised. As well as the risk of it escaping into the wild, the H5N1 got mixed with a human strain, which might have spawned a hybrid that could unleash a pandemic.
Last December, the Austrian branch of US vaccine company Baxter sent a batch of ordinary human H3N2 flu, altered so it couldn't replicate, to Avir Green Hills Biotechnology, also in Austria. In February, a lab in the Czech Republic working for Avir alerted Baxter that, unexpectedly, ferrets inoculated with the sample had died. It turned out the sample contained live H5N1, which Baxter uses to make vaccine. The two seem to have been mixed in error.
Markus Reinhard of Baxter says no one was infected because the H3N2 was handled at a high level of containment. But Ab Osterhaus of Erasmus University in the Netherlands says: "We need to go to great lengths to make sure this kind of thing doesn't happen."

What are the risks to humans from the current H5N1 outbreak

H5N1 virus does not usually infect people, but since November 2003, nearly 400 cases of human infection with highly pathogenic avian influenza A (H5N1) viruses have been reported by more than a dozen countries in Asia, Africa, the Pacific, Europe and the Near East. Highly pathogenic avian influenza A (H5N1) viruses have never been detected among wild birds, domestic poultry, or people in the United States. Most of these cases have occurred from direct or close contact with infected poultry or contaminated surfaces; however, a few cases of human-to-human spread of H5N1 virus have occurred.
So far, spread of H5N1 virus from person to person has been rare, limited and unsustained. Nonetheless, because all influenza viruses have the ability to change, scientists are concerned that H5N1 virus one day could be able to infect humans and spread easily from one person to another. Because these viruses do not commonly infect humans, there is little or no immune protection against them in the human population.
If H5N1 virus were to gain the capacity to spread easily from person to person, an influenza pandemic (worldwide outbreak of disease) could begin. No one can predict when a pandemic might occur. However, experts from around the world are watching the H5N1 situation very closely and are preparing for the possibility that the virus may begin to spread more easily from person to person.

Can domestic cats be infected with avian influenza viruses?

While domestic cats are not usually susceptible to influenza type A infection, it is known that they can become infected and die (both experimentally and naturally) with avian influenza A (H5N1) viruses and, in a laboratory/research setting can spread the virus to other cats. It is not known whether domestic cats can spread the virus to other domestic cats under natural conditions

What animals can be infected with avian influenza A (H5N1) viruses

In addition to humans and birds, we know that pigs, tigers, leopards, ferrets and domestic cats can be infected with avian influenza A (H5N1) viruses. In addition, in early March 2006, Germany reported H5N1 infection in a stone marten (a weasel-like mammal). The avian influenza A (H5N1) virus that emerged in Asia in 2003 is evolving and it's possible that other mammals may be susceptible to infection as well. CDC is working closely with domestic and international partners to continually monitor this situation and will provide additional information to the public as it becomes available

Bird flu in Pakistan was a hoax: BABA

The Birds and Animals Business Association (BABA) alleged that at the end of 2003, certain vaccine-producing multinationals spread rumours about the outbreak of bird flu, Avian Influenza, in the poultry industry of many countries around the world. They spent millions of dollars on propaganda (mostly in third-world countries), trying to prove that the very strain of bird flu called H5N1 was transferable to human beings. For almost five years of their propaganda campaign, they tried to link the death of almost 200 people (mostly related to the poultry industry) with bird flu, whereas the actual cause of their deaths could not be ascertained. The association said that most countries affected by the propaganda have managed to free themselves of the ban but Pakistan is still giving ‘due consideration’ to this issue. The association also added that when the matter was taken up with the Animal Husbandry Commissioner, MINFAL, a letter was finally issued — dated December 30, 2004 — to certain countries confirming that there was outbreak of H7 and H9 (low pathogenic strain of Avian Influenza) in Karachi, however no strain of H5N1 was found.