Bits and pieces of the Puzzle
It’s been a busy couple of days for flubies. Lots of rumors, subtle hints in the media, and every once in awhile, a genuine news report.
For the first time that I’ve seen, a financial headline hinted that today’s stock market jitters were based, in part, on Bird Flu fears. Carried by ABC news, the headline screamed:
Stocks Fall After Bird Flu Strain Detection
The upshot of the story is that more dead birds, infected with H5N1, were found in Hong Kong. The authorities in Hong Kong are getting very nervous, and are enacting laws to outlaw the keeping of poultry in small family coops.
Meanwhile, in Lithuania, a sailor on a commercial freighter died, and the local doctors fear it was from avian flu. No test results back on that one, and the captain of the ship is balking at allowing an autopsy.
The Indonesian reports keep coming in, with more deaths reported, and more H5N1 positive test results. The WHO is not accepting these local tests as definitive, and will wait until they can run their own tests.
In Iraq, the uncle of the girl who died last month, who subsequently died 10 days later, was confirmed to have died of Avian Flu. Another suspected death, in the southern part of Iraq, has been linked to H5N1. Tests are pending.
As far as word from the quarantine area? There is none.
Researchers, including the noted virologist Dr. Robert Webster, have published a paper indicating that there are now FOUR distinct variants of the Avian Flu, which will make the development of a vaccine more difficult. They also concluded that the bird flu has been spread by both domestic poultry and migrating wild birds.
And this last little tidbit. The United States has announced that they will join forces with the Pasteur Institute in France to do their own Avian Flu investigations in S.E. Asia. Dissatisfaction over the performance of the UN and WHO these past few months is speculated as being behind this move, although no one is officially saying that.
As I said. It’s been a busy couple of days.
