Queens Warehouse Transforms into Makeshift Cat Hospital for Hundreds of Felines Exposed to Bird Flu

By Angi Gonzalez

Sunday, January 15, 2017 at 06:04 PM EST 

A warehouse in Long Island City has been transformed into a makeshift shelter for hundreds of cats being treated for a strain of bird flu. NY1's Angi Gonzalez has the story.

"It'll be great to see these guys get out and go to homes," said Tim Rickey, with ASPCA.

This cat is among more than 500 felines on the road to recovery at this Long Island City warehouse.

"We have about 45 responders here every day providing care for the cats," Rickey said.

The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals — took over two floors of this facility on Austell Place — right after Christmas.

Days earlier, they were tapped by the city’s Animal Care Centers to help quarantine hundreds of cats from three different shelters who'd started showing symptoms of the H7N2 virus — or bird flu.

"The ASPCA has basically an animal emergency response team and whether its disaster or cruelty cases or outbreaks like in this case we travel around the country and provide the necessary people to manage the situation," said Joel Lopez with the society.

It is still unclear just how the cats got sick, but according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, transmission to both cats and humans is rare.

Still, volunteers and the medical staff caring for the animals, aren't taking any chances suiting up before entering the cat quarantine.

 "We take every necessary precaution to keep our responders safe," Lopez said.

Some clients of a doggy daycare, located in the same building, initially expressed concern about what was going on just few feet away from their pets.  

"They should have told us and let us know that there is something going on in the building," said a dog dare care client.

Read more and watch video 

Bird Flu Pandemic Facts From The CDC

ForexTV.com (New York) by Conor Kelly

Viruses, like all living organisms are adaptive by nature.  However, they rely upon other organisms, or hosts, to survive and thrive.  The adaptive properties of viruses include the ability to change basic genetic structure to survive within their host.  Despite very rare cases of H5N1 viruses in humans, medical experts are becoming increasing concerned that the H5N1 virus could mutate, or adapt to human hosts and become more transmittable between humans.  In the case of the H5N1, or bird-flu the virus is most virulent in avian animals.  According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC) these include: 

·         Avian influenza A viruses have been isolated from more than 100 different species of wild birds from around the world. Most of these viruses were low pathogenic avian influenza A viruses.

·         The majority of these wild birds have been aquatic birds, including gulls, terns, and shorebirds, or waterfowl such as ducks, geese and swans. These wild birds are considered reservoirs (hosts) for avian influenza A viruses.

• Around the world, avian influenza A outbreaks occur among poultry from time to time.
• Currently, highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) A (H5N1) virus is considered endemic among poultry in six countries (Bangladesh, China, Egypt, India, Indonesia, and Vietnam). This means the virus is commonly found in poultry in those countries. Sporadic outbreaks have occurred among poultry in other countries.

Bird flu in humans is very rare.  Since 2003, approximately 606 cases of bird flu have been reported world-wide.  However, those known infections carried a 60% mortality rate, mostly in adolescents between the ages of 11-18 and the elderly.  Although rare the CDC says that Avian influenza A viruses may be transmitted from animals to humans in two main ways:

·         Directly from birds or from avian influenza A virus-contaminated environments to people.

·         Through an intermediate host, such as a pig.

HPAI H5N1 viruses circulating among birds have evolved and are continuing to evolve into different subgroups of viruses, called ‘clades.’ Notably, there are geographic differences in the circulation of some HPAI H5N1 viruses. Because HPAI H5N1 viruses are evolving in unpredictable ways, it is critical to monitor the spread and circulation of these viruses among poultry and other birds, in order to understand the risk of spread to humans.

Now, scientists have engineered versions of the H5N1 bird flu that spread easily among mammals through droplets in sneezes and have concluded that the deadly virus could trigger a global pandemic in humans.

Vaccination and Treatment for HPAI H5N1 in Humans

HPAI H5N1 vaccine is being stockpiled for pandemic preparedness by the United States government. It is not currently available for use. It could be used if an HPAI H5N1 virus begins transmitting easily and efficiently from person to person.

Oseltamivir remains the primary recommended antiviral drug for treatment and chemoprophylaxis for HPAI H5N1.

http://www.forextv.com/forex-news-story/bird-flu-pandemic-facts-from-the-cdc

Pandemic Potential? Bird Flu Becomes Airborne With Just 4 Mutations

Bird flu can be transmitted between mammals — and possible humans — needing only four mutations to do so, a new study published this week in the journal Nature suggests. But the mutant virus is not deadly, and the work could show virologists how to combat others like it.

The research, by Yoshihiro Kawaoka, professor of virology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, is one of two studies that already made headlines when bits of the results were made public. That's because the studies outline how to make a more easily transmissible — and deadly — version of H5N1, or avian flu. The other paper, by Ron Fouchier, of the Erasmus Medical Center in the Netherlands, also described a method of breeding a virulent and transmissible flu in ferrets.

Debate flared as to whether either study should be published at all, because of fears that a terrorist group or hostile government could use it to make biological weapons. This kind of research is classified as "dual use," much like that involving nuclear material. In the end, the National Science Advisory Board on Biosecurity (NSABB), which advises the government on publicly financed research, decided to allow the publication of Kawaoka's work. In the Netherlands, Fouchier was granted an export license, allowing him to submit the work to the journal Science. Fouchier, however, had previously said he would go ahead with publication regardless of a license. 

Read on:  http://www.livescience.com/20047-mutant-h5n1-bird-flu-published.html

Tests rule out lethal bird flu strain in Cork

A strain of the bird flu virus has been detected in a flock of 100 pheasants reared on behalf of a gun club in Cork.

The Department of Agriculture confirmed that preliminary tests identified a H5 strain in the birds, but ruled out the most pathogenic H5N1 strain of the virus.

It is understood the birds are reared for a gun club on private grounds near the village of Shannonvale, outside Clonakilty.

The birds are for game and leisure purposes and are not for use in the commercial food chain.

Further tests are being carried out to establish the precise strain. The results are expected to be available within days.

As a precaution, the birds on the affected premises are being slaughtered and the department has put in place all necessary biosecurity measures, including a 1km exclusion zone around the premises where the strain was identified.

In this zone, additional surveillance is being undertaken by departmental veterinary staff and the movement of poultry, other birds and their products, and other animals on poultry holdings is prohibited, except under licence from the regional veterinary office.

In a statement, the department moved to reassure the public.

"It is important to note there is no concern relating to the consumption of poultry meat or poultry meat products and there are no restrictions on poultry movements outside the 1km restriction zone," the statement said.

While the department has ruled out the most highly pathogenic strain of bird flu, it advised people having contact with birds to ensure that appropriate biosecurity measures are in place.

People handling birds should also check birds regularly and, if an unusually high number of sick or dead birds are noticed, this should be reported to their regional veterinary office.

IFA president John Bryan also urged poultry growers and their families to be extra vigilant in respect of their biosecurity measures.

The particularly virulent strain of the virus H5N1 — not present in the Cork case — has been responsible for outbreaks throughout Asia since 2003 and has been implicated in further outbreaks across Europe in recent years, including in Britain.

In most cases, bird flu does not affect humans. However, there have been rare cases. According to the World Health Organisation, 598 cases of H5N1 virus in humans were detected worldwide, which resulted in 352 deaths.

The vast majority of cases and deaths were in Vietnam, Indonesia, and Egypt.

Read more: http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/tests-rule-out-lethal-bird-flu-strain-in-cork-189011.html#ixzz1qgu0S9A6