Asia

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2004

MacKenzie, Debora, “Experts Fear Escape of 1918 Flu from Lab ,” New Scientist, October 21, 2004. http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn6554-experts-fear-escape-of-1918-flu-from-lab.html

  1. “‘The potential implications of an infected lab worker – and spread beyond the lab – are terrifying,’ says D. A. Henderson of the University of Pittsburgh, a leading biosecurity expert.”
  2. “‘All the virologists I have spoken to have concerns,” says Ingegerd Kallings of the Swedish Institute for Infectious Disease Control in Stockholm, who helped set laboratory safety standards for the World Health Organization.'”
  3. “Kallings and others are calling for international discussions to resolve the issues related to such work. ‘It is time for influenza scientists to find a consensus on containment,’ she says. John MacKenzie of the University of Queensland in Australia, who investigated how the SARS virus escaped from high-level containment labs in east Asia on three occasions after lab workers became infected, agrees. ‘A meeting would be beneficial.'”
  4. “The team started the work at the highest level of containment, BSL-4, at Canada’s National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg. Then they decided the viruses were safe enough to handle at the next level down, and did the rest of the work across the border in a BSL-3Ag lab in Madison.”
  5. “The main difference between BSL-4 and BSL-3Ag is that precautions to ensure staff do not get infected are less stringent: while BSL-4 involves wearing fully enclosed body suits, those working at BSL-3Ag labs typically have half-suits.”
  6. “Kawaoka told New Scientist that the decision to move down to BSL-3Ag was taken only after experiments at BSL-4 showed that giving mice the antiviral drug oseltamivir (Tamiflu) in advance prevented them getting sick. This means, he says, that if all lab workers take oseltamivir ‘they cannot become infected’.”
  7. “Terrence Tumpey’s team at the US Department of Agriculture’s poultry research lab in Athens, Georgia, got quite different results: they found that mice given oseltamivir still got sick and 1 in 10 died. It is not clear why Kawaoka’s mice fared better.”
  8. “Yet Kawaoka’s decision does comply with the US National Institutes of Health guidelines for BSL-3 agents: those causing ‘serious or lethal human disease for which preventive or therapeutic interventions may be [its italics] available.'”
  9. “By contrast, the team in Georgia, the first to experiment with genetically engineered 1918 viruses, did all its work at BSL-3Ag. Meanwhile, Michael Katze at the University of Washington at Seattle is planning to expose monkeys to aerosols of 1918-type viruses at BSL-3, a step down from BSL-3Ag. The recent SARS escapes were from BSL-3 labs.”
  10. “‘We would have to do any such work at BSL-4,’ says John Wood of the UK’s National Institute for Biological Standards and Control. In the US, the differing standards applied by different groups are due to the fact that experiments on engineered viruses such as the 1918 flu are approved on a case-by-case basis by Institutional Biosafety Committees (IBCs), composed of local scientists and officials. Critics say these are free to interpret the official guidelines in a way that suits them.”
  11. “‘There is no effective national system to ensure consistency, responsibility and good judgement in such research,’ says Edward Hammond of the Sunshine Project, a biosecurity pressure group in Austin, Texas. In a review of IBCs published this month, he found that many would not provide minutes of recent meetings as required by law.”
  12. “He [Hammond] says the IBC that approved the planned 1918 flu study at the University of Washington considered only one scenario that could result in workers being exposed to airborne virus – the dropping of samples. Its solution: lab workers ‘will be trained to stop breathing.'”

1918 Flu, Lab Safety, Flu, Canada, U.K., WHO, SARS, Asia, Academia, BSL

2010

Dema, Tashi, “Anthrax outbreak,” Kuensel Online, NEWS, Thursday, September 09, 2010. http://www.kuenselonline.com/2010/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=16659

  1. “An anthrax outbreak had killed about 29 cattle and infected eight people in Kaktong village in Panbang, Zhemgang as of September 2.”
  2. “Seven patients were treated in the BHU with antibiotics and injection, while one man with severe wounds was referred to Panbang BHU.”
  3. “Officials from the regional livestock development office in Zhemgang, who went to investigate the case after receiving the report last month, told Kuensel that the outbreak was caused by bacillus anthrax is, a bacteria which stays in the soil and spreads to animal during rainy seasons.”
  4. “The country was put on high alert on Sunday, September 5, as the bacterial disease continued to spread between animals and people, and killed 150 cattle.”

Anthrax, Asia

 

Habib, Haroon, “Anthrax spreads in Bangladesh,” The Hindu, NEWS / International, http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/article623516.ece, DHAKA, September 9, 2010.

  1. “Anthrax has already spread in many districts of Bangladesh, forcing the authorities issue a red alert.”
  2. “The Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) confirmed on Thursday that 447 people in eight districts had been infected with anthrax in the last three weeks.”
  3. “Health Ministry officials initially said the northern Sirajganj district had the most number of infected, numbering 207.”
  4. “Officials also confirmed the disease spread after villagers consumed anthrax infected meat sold at low prices.”

Anthrax, Asia

 

Editors, “Dhamrai residents get anthrax vaccine,Savar, NEWS, September 13, 2010. Last Checked Tuesday, September 14, 2010. http://bdnews24.com/pdetails.php?id=173263.

  1. “Though the deaths of birds and animals in Dhamrai area were not caused by anthrax, the local residents have nonetheless been given anthrax vaccine, livestock and health officials say.”
  2. “Dhamrai health and family planning officer Sukumar Sarker on Monday said the locals were given anthrax vaccine as a precaution, though no anthrax affected people was identified or admitted to hospitals.”
  3. “Upazila livestock official Habibur Rahman told bdnews24.com that a temporary camp has been set up in the area. ‘Three hundred cows of Kayetpara have been given anthrax vaccine.'”
  4. “Over 50 birds and animals – including several ducks, chickens, pigeons, crows, dogs and cats – were found dead in the area on Saturday noon.
  5. “Until Monday, there have been 495 people found to be infected by anthrax in nine districts. Of them, 208 in Sirajganj, 57 in Pabna, 46 in Kushtia, 26 in Tangail, 67 in Meherpur, eight in Manikganj, one in Satkhira, 75 in Lalmonirhat and seven in Rajshahi.”

Anthrax, Asia

 

AFP, “Bangladesh human anthrax infections cross 500,AFP, DHAKA, September 14, 2010. Last checked Tuesday, September 14, 2010. http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5i13ISrs35cZiSrGd3uAOupEHEWkA

  1. “Ten districts have confirmed outbreaks of anthrax in humans and cattle, with the total number of people infected rising to 508 across the country, health ministry director Mahmudur Rahman told AFP.”
  2. “No humans have died because the cases of human infection consist of cutaneous, or skin, anthrax — which causes wound-like lesions but is not fatal if treated properly.”
  3. “Thirteen new cases of human anthrax have been reported in the last 24 hours.”
  4. “According to health ministry director Mahmudur Rahman, ‘The vaccination programme for cattle is having an impact.'”

Anthrax, Asia, Vaccination

 

Editors, “Anthrax spreads to nearly one sixth Bangladesh districts,Xinhua News Agency, DHAKA, September 14, 2010. Last Checked Tuesday, September 14, 2010. http://www.istockanalyst.com/article/viewiStockNews/articleid/4496560

  1. “Anthrax cases among humans have so far spread to nearly one sixth districts of Bangladesh since the South Asian country recorded the first virus-infected patient on Aug. 18.”
  2. “The latest figures, released by Bangladesh’s Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) on its website on Tuesday, showed the disease spread to 10 out of 64 districts of the country.”
  3. “Following the quick spread of anthrax to more new districts, the Bangladeshi government last week announced red-alert across the country and formed committees in all the 64 districts to coordinate all efforts of anthrax prevention and treatment.”

Anthrax, Asia

 

Kuddus, Ruhul, “Containing anthrax outbreak: Some suggestions,” The Daily Star, Saturday, September 18, 2010, http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=154823, Last Checked September 22, 2010.

  1. “Authorities in Bangladesh, according to the information published in some daily news papers, stated that the government has sufficient reserve of anthrax vaccine. However, it is not clear what the authorities have actually done to contain the outbreak.”
  2. “The following measures could be helpful to achieve the goals: Quarantine all imported cattle, Test every imported cattle for anthrax before allowing the animals to enter the country, Test every cattle before it can be slaughtered, Restrict cattle slaughter in the permit-holding slaughterhouses, Isolate infected animals and treat the animals only if feasible. Many countries have laws that prohibit medical treatment of animals infected with anthrax because it may undermine animal vaccination. Ideally, confirmed infected animals are killed by lethal injection. Intravenous injection of ~10 ml of saturated solution (3.5 moles/litre) of potassium chloride would kill a large bull instantly without any suffering, Cover the dead animal with a plastic film if possible (before touching) and bury it under six feet of soil (incineration is ideal but not be practical in Bangladesh), Dispose of soil and water contaminated with exudates of the infected cattle in the same pit. Hay and other contaminated animal fodder should be burned, Enforce meat inspection uniformly, Restrict meat sale by licensed meat vendors only.”
  3. “The above steps are standard practices in the developed countries. In Bangladesh, those should be implemented at least in the affected areas. Such efforts would restore public confidence and actually bring the crisis to an end.”

Anthrax, Asia

 

Editors,ANTHRAX UNDER CONTROL IN BANGLADESH WITH NO NEW CASE SINCE SEPT 18,” Newswire, Nationwide International News, DHAKA, Asia Pulse, September 23, 2010.

  1. “Bangladesh’s Fisheries and Livestock Minister Abdul Latif Biswas Wednesday claimed in Parliament that anthrax is now under control in the country in the wake of timely steps by the government.”
  2. “In a statement, the Minister informed the House that no new case of Anthrax has been detected in the country since September 18.”
  3. “He informed the House that the government is actively considering providing compensation to the affected cattle farmers.”
  4. “The Minister criticized some media for creating panic over anthrax, saying one media broadcast that 300 cows were infected with anthrax at Haimchar in Chandpur district.”

Anthrax, Asia

 

Daigle, Ashton, “Bangladesh livestock minister blames anthrax panic on poultry traders,Bioprepwatch, October 5, 2010, http://www.bioprepwatch.com/news/216708-bangladesh-livestock-minister-blames-anthrax-panic-on-poultry-traders, (Last checked October 13, 2010.)

  1. “Bangladesh Livestock Minister Abdul Latif Biswas has claimed that the anthrax scare in Bangladesh is only propaganda being spread by seven organizations of the poultry traders.”
  2. “Following a recent meeting with meat and dairy traders, Biswas told BDNews24.com that intelligence reports show that several unnamed poultry trader organizations were involved in spreading panic..”
  3. “The poultry traders, however, have denied the government’s claim that they are behind the anthrax scare.”

Anthrax, Asia

 

Editor, “Country Rid of Anthrax,” Dhaka, http://www.bdnews24.com/details.php?id=176010&cid=13, Last Checked October 20, 2010. Tuesday, October 12th, 2010.

  1. “Livestock minister Abdul Latif Biswas claims that Bangladesh is completely free of anthrax. “
  2. “Speaking as chief guest at the Bangladesh Fisheries Research Institute’s (BFRI) Annual Research, Planning and Evaluation Workshop’s opening session, he said government measures in this regard had been vital in eradicating the disease.”
  3. “Government agencies and departments have been asked to stay alert to prevent any further spread, he said. The workshop was held in Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council (BARC) auditorium.”
  4. “The minister stated that measures have been taken to reduce contamination in exported shrimp since there was a ban shrimp when they found to contain traces of supposedly cancerous substances like nitrofuran and chloromphenicol.”

Anthrax, Asia

 

Melik, James, and Ethirajan, Ethirajan, “Anthrax outbreak hits Bangladesh leather and meat sectors,” BBC, News, Business, BBC World Service, Last Checked October 20, 2010, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-11451570, October 13, 2010.

  1. “As a result, demand for beef and mutton has dropped significantly after consumers stopped buying red meat, with sales down nearly 90% in the past month.”
  2. “The sharp fall in the number of cattle slaughtered in various slaughtering houses has drastically limited the supply of hides to the tanneries.”
  3. “There has been a sharp increase in the prices of hides and many tanneries are running out of material.”
  4. “‘Due to the anthrax crisis, we lost more than $100m in our export target in the last one-month period,’ says Muhammad Hai, general secretary of the Bangladesh Tanners Association.”
  5. “Otherwise it could spell disaster for a Bangladeshi industry worth some $500m to the impoverished country.”

Anthrax, Asia

 

Alam, Helemul, “Cattle traders hope for loss recovery,The Daily Star, NEWS, India, November 10, 2010, http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/print_news.php?nid=161989

  1. “As the anthrax scare faded away over the last few weeks and the Eid-ul-Azha just days away, cattle traders are pinning their hopes to make up for losses during the peak trading season.”
  2. “The number of buyers from Chittagong, Sylhet, Chandpur and some other districts this year is very nominal owing to poor supply of animals to the market.”
  3. “During the period of anthrax contamination huge number of cattle remained unsold, which is expected to hit the market soon.”
  4. “The government on October 7 withdrew anthrax alert, which was imposed on September 5 as it was spreading rapidly in new districts and infected animals and humans.”

Anthrax, Asia

 

 

 

 

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