A Ugandan chicken farmer rides to market in this file photo. In the wake of an outbreak of avian flu farmers have been told to quarantine their poultry.
EPA/Kim Ludbrook
The UK has just recorded its second outbreak of bird flu in less than three months. At the end of November, the relatively new subtype H5N8 – which was first spotted in late 2009 in China and which has…
Around 20,000 chickens were culled in Hong Kong last week after the virus was detected in birds imported from mainland China.
Alex Hofford/AAP Image
Australia’s federal Department of Health has advised general practitioners to be on the lookout for potential cases of the H7N9 strain of influenza A, or bird flu, following a spate of deaths in China…
Lack of exposure to a particular influenza strain means you won’t have had a chance to build up complete immunity. And if the strain spreads easily between people and there is little immunity in communities…
Maybe it’s just a normal part of growing older and “taking the time to smell the roses”, but I’ve been finding over the past few years that I’m much more interested in birds. That hasn’t yet turned me…
Only a lab test can confirm what virus you’ve been infected with.
Jason Rogers
Influenza or flu is one of those dustbin words used by the media and by health professionals to cover the myriad causes of a respiratory infection. The only way to be sure is with laboratory testing of…
Scientists could reconstruct the work on the avian flu virus from clues, making suppression of future work counterproductive.
AAP
Researchers working on a pathogenic strain of avian flu (H5N1) have agreed to pause their work for 60 days so international experts can discuss the safest ways to proceed. But it’s important to ensure…