Nipah Outbreak News in Bangladesh and elsewhere since 15 Oct 2021 till 29 Jan 2023

Bangladesh reports eight Nipah virus cases this season [Outbreak News Today, 29 Jan 2023]

The Bangladesh Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Zahid Maleque, announced that Nipah virus cases in the country have risen to eight, including five fatalities, according to a local media report.

This is more than the three cases that were reported in all 0f 2022.

The health minister notes that most of the cases were from Rajshahi Division.

This has prompted officials to urge the public not to drink raw date juice and not to eat half eaten fruit that may be found.

The World Health Organization (WHO) says the mortality rate due to Nipah is between 40-75 percent globally. In Bangladesh, it stands at 71 percent.

Nipah is also one of the WHOs nine “priority diseases” (diseases that pose the greatest public health risk due to their epidemic potential and/or whether there is no or insufficient countermeasures)

According to icddr,b, the Nipah virus emerged in Bangladesh in 2001. Even if people recover from the sickness, they remain vulnerable to severe neurological issues. It also causes complications towards the end of pregnancy for women.

Bangladesh researchers: Transfer of immunity against Nipah virus from mother to child confirmed for the first time [Outbreak News Today, 26 Jan 2023]

Recently, a novel finding by icddr,b (formerly known as the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh) scientists, and partners published in the journal of Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease have confirmed the transfer of humoral immunity against Nipah Virus (NiV) from mother to newborn baby for the first time. This paper described novel information on the vertical transfer of immune properties.

According to the World Health Organization, the mortality rate for NiV is estimated at 40% to 75% and in Bangladesh it is about 71%. The survivors of NiV infection suffer from severe neurological complications. Moreover, there is a high chance that these symptoms worsen progressively when a survivor becomes pregnant and approaches the term.

In January 2020, a baby girl aged below five years and her mother from the Faridpur district of Bangladesh were infected with NiV. Both had a history of raw date palm sap consumption and were diagnosed as confirmed NiV cases. Unfortunately the daughter passed away, and the mother survived with significant residual neurological impairment. She was conceived in November 2021 and was under thorough antenatal follow-up by the National Nipah surveillance authority. A healthy male baby was born in August 2022. As part of the follow-up, specimens were collected and tested for NiV infection at the reference laboratory to exclude vertical transmission. Although tested negative for anti-Nipah IgM and PCR for NiV, a high titer of anti-Nipah IgG was observed. The transfer of humoral immunity against NiV from the mother to the neonate was confirmed for the first time.

The study’s lead researcher, Dr Syed Moinuddin Satter, Assistant Scientist & Deputy Project Coordinator, Emerging Infections, Infectious Diseases Division at icddr,b said, “To best of our knowledge, this finding is the first to report the vertical transfer of NiV-specific immune properties. It warrants further exploration of its effectiveness in virus neutralization and its potential to protect newborns. This will also be a reference for vaccine recommendations for pregnant and young women against the Nipa Virus.”

To warn people from consuming raw date palm sap, Professor Dr Tahmina Shirin, Director of the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR), said, “Recently, we are observing a profound interest among people to consume raw date palm sap and also involve in promoting this culture through social media. People indulge in it without knowing the havoc it can create. Even if someone says they have taken precautions while collecting raw date palm sap, we would urge everyone not to drink raw date palm sap because it is still unsafe.”

Dr Tahmeed Ahmed, Executive Director at icddr,b appreciated the collaborative efforts and said, “icddr,b in partnership with the Government of Bangladesh has been running the world’s longest Nipah virus surveillance to detect Nipah Virus outbreaks, understanding the disease transmission, and finding new knowledge and insights that can help develop therapeutics and vaccines against this deadly infection. The effort has been rewarding, and I hope we will soon have effective preventive measures and treatments, and be able to save lives.”

NiV is a zoonotic virus (it is transmitted from animals to humans) and can also be transmitted through foods contaminated by animals or directly between people. Fruit bats from the genus Pteropus are its natural reservoir, and NiV, one of present time’s fatal emerging pathogens. In Bangladesh, the virus was first reported in 2001, and since then, the NiV has become endemic to this densely populated country, with confirmed cases reported almost every year. Until January 2023, a total of 331 cases of NiV infection have been reported, and 236 patients died.

Newborn receives Nipah antibody from mother: icddr,b [The Daily Star, 25 Jan 2023]

Researchers at the icddr,b have found evidence that a newborn received immunity against the Nipah virus from the mother who survived infection previously.

They revealed this after testing the specimen of a newborn whose mother survived a previous Nipah virus infection, said a press release of the icddr,b today.

The finding was published in the journal titled "Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease" on December 27 last year.

"To best of our knowledge, this finding is the first to report the transfer of Nipah virus-specific immune properties from mother to newborn… Hopefully this will be a reference for vaccine recommendations for pregnant and young women against the Nipah virus," Dr Syed Moinuddin Satter, the lead researcher of the study, said in the press release.

The mother and her baby girl aged under five in Faridpur were infected with the virus in January 2020 after they drank raw date juice. While the daughter died from the infection, the mother survived but had significant residual neurological impairment.

The woman later conceived in November 2021 and was under thorough antenatal follow-up by the National Nipah surveillance authority. A healthy male baby was born in August 2022.

Appreciating the revelation, Dr Tahmeed Ahmed, executive director at icddr,b, said, "I hope we will soon have effective preventive measures and treatments, and be able to save lives."

Prof Tahmina Shirin, director of the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR), said, "Even if someone says they have taken precautions while collecting raw date palm sap, we would urge everyone not to drink raw date palm sap because it is still unsafe."

According to the World Health Organisation, the mortality rate for Nipah virus infection is estimated at 40-75 percent, and in Bangladesh, it is about 71 percent.

The survivors suffer from severe neurological complications. Moreover, there is a high chance that these symptoms worsen progressively when a survivor becomes pregnant and approaches the term.

Bangladesh: Additional Nipah virus death reported in 2023 . [Outbreak News Today, 23 Jan 2023]

In Rajshahi, near the Bangladesh-India border, a seven-year-old child died of Nipah virus Monday, according to local media.

The boy is the is the second victim that died of the virusthe Rajshahi Medical College Hospital in January 2023.

It is reported that the child drank raw date juice on Friday.

From 2001-2022, 325 Nipah virus cases were reported in Bangladesh, according to the Institute of Epidemiology Disease Control and Research (IEDCR), including more than 230 fatalities (more than a 70 percent case fatality rate).

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Nipah virus (NiV) is a zoonotic virus, meaning that it can spread between animals and people. Fruit bats, also called flying foxes, are the animal reservoir for NiV in nature. Nipah virus is also known to cause illness in pigs and people. Infection with NiV is associated with encephalitis (swelling of the brain) and can cause mild to severe illness and even death. Outbreaks occur almost annually in parts of Asia, primarily Bangladesh and India.

Nipah virus with Emily Gurley, PhD
Nipah virus infection can be prevented by avoiding exposure to sick pigs and bats in areas where the virus is present, and not drinking raw date palm sap which can be contaminated by an infected bat.

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Nipah virus continues to kill in silence [newagebd.net, 11 Jan 2023]

By Rashad Ahamad

The Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research came up with the revelation at an event organised in the city to make people aware about the virus which is neglected by people.

According to the IEDCR statistics, 231 NiV deaths occurred out of 326 positive cases since the country first detected the disease in 2001 and started surveillance.

The IEDCR has recorded another death in Rajshahi district on January 3 due to the virus.
A 35-year-old woman died in the district hospital after she drank date juice while the country recorded three NiV deaths in 2022.

IEDCR director professor Tahmina Shirin at a seminar on Wednesday said that analysing history they found all the patients were infected with the disease after being consuming raw palm juice contaminated by bat saliva or urine and by the secondary contact with Nipah-infected persons or any food prepared from raw date/palm juice.

She urged people not to drink raw date juice to save them from one of the deadliest vector-borne diseases.

Tahmina said that those who survived also suffered from complexities for the rest of life.

Virologist professor Nazrul Islam told New Age that the vector-borne disease Nipah topped the second deadliest disease in the country as Rabies counted nearly 100 per cent deaths.
He said that cooked date juice was safe.

‘Nipah may cause contamination from half-eaten fruits and also from other contaminated animals,’ he said, asking people to maintain hand hygiene as well.

Virologists said that the NiV infection was an emerging vector-borne zoonotic infectious disease with significant public health risk as people across the country continued consuming raw date juice.

‘It is very unacceptable when educated people celebrate date juice festival despite knowing danger,’ said ASM Alamgir, a virologist.

So far NiV cases had already been detected in 32 of 64 districts across the country while the rest of the districts were under risk as well.

In terms of case detection, Rajbari, Faridpur, Lalmonirhat, Rajshahi, Jashore and Tangail were found among the top-infected districts.

NiV first emerged in Malaysia in 1998 while Bangladesh reported its first Nipah case in 2001 and so far India and Singapore also detected the virus.

Virologist Manjur Hossain Khan said that mainly Nipah was a winter disease when people harvested and consumed date juice.

Bangladesh has already experienced several Nipah outbreaks over the years including in 2001 when a total of nine people died out of 13 positive cases in Meherpur.

In 2004, 50 people died out of 67 Nipah-infected persons across the districts.

The highest over 30 infected patients were found in Faridpur district since the virus outbreak in 2004 and 2011.

The other notably infected districts are Lalmonirhat, Naogaon and Rajbari, with infected patients ranging between 21 and 30.

Nazrul Islam said that there was no treatment of the disease so far in the country that caused the highest deaths.

Patients with NiV die in hospital within two to three days of admission, he added.

IEDCR director Tahmina Shirin said that a team of researchers from Oxford University was working for vaccine development among other initiatives.

‘Vaccine development is still at a primary level,’ she pointed out.

The World Health Organisation has listed NiV as one of 10 viruses with pandemic potential.

Langya vs. Nipah: China's New Virus Spread by Shrews Has a Deadly Relative [Newsweek, 10 Aug 2022]

BY JESS THOMSON

L Langya henipavirus (LayV), a virus that spreads by shrews which has been identified in 35 people in China, has an extremely deadly relative: Nipah virus.

The latest Langya cases were announced in a letter published in the New England Journal of Medicine. In it, Xiao-Ai Zhang, from the Beijing Institute of Microbiology and Epidemiology, and colleagues said cases had been found in two provinces: Shandong and Henan.

As reported by Focus Taiwan, the Taiwan Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said it is starting to develop ways to track the Langya virus and that methods of sequencing its genome will be ready within a week.

Nipah virus outbreaks and symptoms

This new virus is a close relative of a previously reported, extremely deadly, Nipah virus. Both Nipah and Langya belong to the henipavirus family, which according to the World Health Organization (WHO) are classed as biosafety Level 4 viruses.

The Nipah virus is zoonotic, having evolved in fruit bats. It is able to be transmitted to humans via animals like bats or pigs, contaminated foods, and between humans.

It is fatal in between 40 to 75 percent of cases. The fatality rate, however, varies on local capabilities.

Nipah was first discovered during an outbreak among pig farmers in Malaysia in 1999. Two years later, cases were found in Bangladesh. There have been an outbreaks almost every year in India ever since.

Other regions known to be at risk include Cambodia, Ghana, Indonesia, Thailand, Madagascar and the Philippines, as natural reservoirs of the virus exist in bats in these regions.

Symptoms of Nipah virus are known to include fever, headaches, myalgia (muscle pain), vomiting and sore throat, as well as dizziness, drowsiness, and acute encephalitis. In serious cases, the patient may fall into a coma within 48 hours.

How does Langyna virus compare?
The NEJM letter describes the symptoms of the 35 Langya patients. It said that of the 26 patients who were infected with Langya alone, had a fever, 54 percent were experiencing fatigue, 50 percent had a cough, 46 percent had muscle aches and pain, 38 percent had nausea, and 35 percent had a headache. The same number reported vomiting.

Half of the patients had anorexia, while 35 percent developed thrombocytopenia—a condition where the platelet count in the blood drops too low. Over half developed leukopenia, where a person's white blood cell count drops. Thirty five percent developed impaired liver function, and eight percent had impaired kidney function.

The fatality rates of this new strain are not yet known, as nobody infected with the virus has yet died.

Canada Sent Nipah Virus to Wuhan; Lab Conducts 'Most Dangerous Research' on Nipah, Scientist Testifies to US Senate [The Epoch Times, 10 Aug 2022]

By Omid Ghoreishi

A U.S. scientist recently testified at a U.S. Senate hearing that his research provides evidence that the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) has conducted synthetic biology research on the deadly Nipah virus. Some scientists are expressing concern about Canada sending Nipah and Ebola viruses to a lab potentially engaged in such research.

“The Nipah virus is a smaller virus than SARS2 [virus causing COVID-19] and is much less transmissible. But it is one of the deadliest viruses, with a greater than 60 percent lethality. This is 60-times deadlier than SARS2,” Dr. Steven Quay, a Seattle-based physician-scientist, told a Senate subcommittee at an Aug. 3 hearing.

Quay, who was previously on the faculty of Stanford University’s School of Medicine for about a decade, also said the work on Nipah at the Wuhan lab wasn’t conducted at biosafety level 4 (BSL-4) facilities, which have the highest level of biosafety, but rather at BSL-2 or BSL-3 facilities with lower safety protocols.

“This is the most dangerous research I have ever encountered,” he said.

In an interview with The Epoch Times, Quay said international agreements forbid synthetic biology on certain lethal viruses, such as Nipah and Ebola. Synthetic biology involves creating or redesigning biological entities and systems. An example of synthetic biology is gain-of-function research, which involves increasing the lethal level or the transmissibility of pathogens.

Canada’s National Microbiology Laboratory (NML) in Winnipeg shipped samples of the Nipah and Ebola viruses to the WIV in March 2019 after receiving a request from the Chinese lab. The shipment was arranged by Chinese-born scientist Xiangguo Qiu, who worked at the NML at the time, with permission from her superiors. Qiu and her husband, Keding Cheng, were the subjects of a Royal Canadian Mounted Police raid at the lab in July 2019 and were later fired for undisclosed reasons.

During a parliamentary committee meeting in March 2021, members of Parliament (MP) challenged the NML’s senior management on why the lab allowed the shipment of the Nipah and Ebola viruses to the WIV.

NML’s acting scientific director general, Guillaume Poliquin, told MPs that the lab only sent the samples to the WIV after receiving assurance that no gain-of-function research would take place.

Conservative MP John Williamson said in response that the word of a state-run Chinese lab can’t be trusted, as the Chinese regime “has a history of theft and lies.”
NML

Before she was ousted from the NML, Qiu traveled several times to the WIV, helping train personnel at the lab on level 4 biosafety.

Qiu also collaborated and published papers with Chinese military researchers, including People’s Liberation Army Maj. Gen. Chen Wei.

Qiu and Cheng, along with a group of Chinese students, were escorted from the NML in July 2019 amid a police investigation. The two were formally fired from the lab in January 2021.

The Canadian federal government has refused to provide details of why Qiu and Cheng were fired, citing privacy and national security concerns. This has been challenged by opposition parties, with MPs in the House of Commons issuing an order in the previous Parliament requiring the government to disclose the information.

The government took the speaker of the House to court seeking to withhold the documents, then later dropped the court case once an election was called in August 2021 and Parliament was dissolved.

Cathy He contributed to this report.

Editor’s note: This article was updated with a statement from the Public Health Agency of Canada provided on Aug. 11.

Measles and Nipah virus assembly: Specific lipid binding drives matrix polymerization [Science, 20 Jul 2022]

Authored by MICHAEL J. NORRIS, MONICA L. HUSBY, WILLIAM B. KIOSSES, JIEYUN YIN, ROOPASHI SAXENA, LINDA J. RENNICK, ANJA HEINER, STEPHANIE S. HARKINS RUDRAMANI POKHREL, SHARON L. SCHENDEL, KATHRYN M. HASTIE, SARA LANDERAS-BUENO, ZHE LI SALIE, BENHUR LEE, PREM P. CHAPAGAIN, ANDREA MAISNER, W. PAUL DUPREX, ROBERT V. STAHELIN, AND ERICA OLLMANN SAPHIRE

Abstract
Measles virus, Nipah virus, and multiple other paramyxoviruses cause disease outbreaks in humans and animals worldwide. The paramyxovirus matrix (M) protein mediates virion assembly and budding from host cell membranes. M is thus a key target for antivirals, but few high-resolution structures of paramyxovirus M are available, and we lack the clear understanding of how viral M proteins interact with membrane lipids to mediate viral assembly and egress that is needed to guide antiviral design. Here, we reveal that M proteins associate with phosphatidylserine and phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate [PI(4,5)P2] at the plasma membrane. Using x-ray crystallography, electron microscopy, and molecular dynamics, we demonstrate that PI(4,5)P2 binding induces conformational and electrostatic changes in the M protein surface that trigger membrane deformation, matrix layer polymerization, and virion assembly.

Measles and Nipah virus assembly: Specific lipid binding drives matrix polymerization [Science, 20 Jul 2022]

Authored by MICHAEL J. NORRIS H, MONICA L. HUSBY, WILLIAM B. KIOSSES 050, JIEYUN YIN, ROOPASHI SAXENA, LINDA J. RENNICK H, ANJA HEINER, STEPHANIE S. HARKINS, RUDRAMANI POKHREL, SHARON L. SCHENDEL, KATHRYN M. HASTIE, SARA LANDERAS-BUENO, ZHE LI SALIE , BENHUR LEE 9, PREM P. CHAPAGAIN, ANDREA MAISNER, W. PAUL DUPREX, ROBERT V. STAHELIN, AND ERICA OLLMANN SAPHIRE

Abstract
Measles virus, Nipah virus, and multiple other paramyxoviruses cause disease outbreaks in humans and animals worldwide. The paramyxovirus matrix (M) protein mediates virion assembly and budding from host cell membranes. M is thus a key target for antivirals, but few high-resolution structures of paramyxovirus M are available, and we lack the clear understanding of how viral M proteins interact with membrane lipids to mediate viral assembly and egress that is needed to guide antiviral design. Here, we reveal that M proteins associate with phosphatidylserine and phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate [PI(4,5)P2] at the plasma membrane. Using x-ray crystallography, electron microscopy, and molecular dynamics, we demonstrate that PI(4,5)P2 binding induces conformational and electrostatic changes in the M protein surface that trigger membrane deformation, matrix layer polymerization, and virion assembly.

NIH Launches Clinical Trial of First mRNA Nipah Virus Vaccine - HS Today [HSToday, 19 Jul 2022]

Since 1999, outbreaks have occurred annually in Asia, primarily in Bangladesh and India. An estimated 40 to 75 percent of people infected with Nipah virus die.

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, has launched an early-stage clinical trial evaluating an investigational vaccine to prevent infection with Nipah virus. The experimental vaccine is manufactured by Moderna, Inc., (Cambridge, Massachusetts) and was developed in collaboration with NIAID’s Vaccine Research Center. It is based on a messenger RNA (mRNA) platform—a technology used in several approved COVID-19 vaccines. NIAID is sponsoring the Phase 1 clinical study, which is being conducted at the NIH Clinical Center in Bethesda, Maryland.

Nipah virus infection is a zoonotic disease, meaning that it is spread between animals and people. Fruit bats are the natural host for the virus. The first known Nipah outbreak occurred in 1998 in Malaysia and Singapore and resulted in 265 human cases and 105 deaths, and caused significant economic damage to the swine industry there. Since 1999, outbreaks have occurred annually in Asia, primarily in Bangladesh and India. The virus can cause mild-to-severe disease rapidly progressing from respiratory infection symptoms to encephalitis (brain swelling) leading to coma or death. An estimated 40 to 75 percent of people infected with Nipah virus die. Although most cases are transmitted via animals, person-to-person transmission can occur. Currently, there is no licensed vaccine or treatment for Nipah virus infection.

“Nipah virus poses a considerable pandemic threat because it mutates relatively easily, causes disease in a wide range of mammals, can transmit from person-to-person, and kills a large percentage of the people it infects,” said NIAID Director Anthony S. Fauci, M.D. “The need for a preventive Nipah virus vaccine is significant.”

NIAID’s Pandemic Preparedness Plan, published earlier this year, established a framework to study viruses of pandemic potential and prioritize research on prototype pathogens, such as Nipah virus. This is the first clinical trial using the prototype pathogen approach since the plan’s publication.

The experimental mRNA-1215 Nipah virus vaccine will be tested in a dose-escalation clinical trial to evaluate its safety, tolerability and ability to generate an immune response in 40 healthy adults ages 18 to 60 years. Specifically, 4 groups of 10 participants each will receive two doses of the investigational vaccine via injection in the shoulder muscle four or 12 weeks apart. Group 1 (10 participants) will receive two 25-microgram (mcg) injections; group 2 will receive two 50-mcg injections; and group 3 will receive two 100-mcg injections, each four weeks apart. The vaccine dose for the fourth group of participants will be determined based on an interim analysis of the results from the three previous groups. The fourth group will receive two injections 12 weeks apart. Study participants will be evaluated through clinical observation and blood collection at specified times throughout the study and will be followed by clinical study staff through 52 weeks following their final vaccination.

NIH launches clinical trial of mRNA Nipah virus vaccine [NIH, 11 Jul 2022]

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, has launched an early-stage clinical trial evaluating an investigational vaccine to prevent infection with Nipah virus. The experimental vaccine is manufactured by Moderna, Inc., Cambridge, Massachusetts, and was developed in collaboration with NIAID’s Vaccine Research Center. It is based on a messenger RNA (mRNA) platform—a technology used in several approved COVID-19 vaccines. NIAID is sponsoring the Phase 1 clinical study, which is being conducted at the NIH Clinical Center in Bethesda, Maryland.

Nipah virus infection is a zoonotic disease, meaning that it is spread between animals and people. Fruit bats are the natural host for the virus. The first known Nipah outbreak occurred in 1998 in Malaysia and Singapore and resulted in 265 human cases and 105 deaths, and caused significant economic damage to the swine industry there. Since 1999, outbreaks have occurred annually in Asia, primarily in Bangladesh and India. The virus can cause mild-to-severe disease rapidly progressing from respiratory infection symptoms to encephalitis (brain swelling) leading to coma or death. An estimated 40% to 75% of people infected with Nipah virus die. Although most cases are transmitted via animals, person-to-person transmission can occur. Currently, there is no licensed vaccine or treatment for Nipah virus infection.

“Nipah virus poses a considerable pandemic threat because it mutates relatively easily, causes disease in a wide range of mammals, can transmit from person-to-person, and kills a large percentage of the people it infects,” said NIAID Director Anthony S. Fauci, M.D. “The need for a preventive Nipah virus vaccine is significant.”

NIAID’s Pandemic Preparedness Plan, published earlier this year, established a framework to study viruses of pandemic potential and prioritize research on prototype pathogens, such as Nipah virus. This is the first clinical trial using the prototype pathogen approach since the plan’s publication.

The experimental mRNA-1215 Nipah virus vaccine will be tested in a dose-escalation clinical trial to evaluate its safety, tolerability, and ability to generate an immune response in 40 healthy adults ages 18 to 60 years. Specifically, four groups of 10 participants each will receive two doses of the investigational vaccine via injection in the shoulder muscle four or 12 weeks apart. Group one (10 participants) will receive two 25-microgram (mcg) injections; group two will receive two 50-mcg injections; and group three will receive two 100-mcg injections, each four weeks apart. The vaccine dose for the fourth group of participants will be determined based on an interim analysis of the results from the three previous groups. The fourth group will receive two injections 12 weeks apart. Study participants will be evaluated through clinical observation and blood collection at specified times throughout the study and will be followed by clinical study staff through 52 weeks following their final vaccination.

For more information about the clinical trial, visit ClinicalTrials.gov using the study identifier NCT05398796.

NIAID conducts and supports research—at NIH, throughout the United States, and worldwide—to study the causes of infectious and immune-mediated diseases, and to develop better means of preventing, diagnosing, and treating these illnesses. News releases, fact sheets and other NIAID-related materials are available on the NIAID website.

About the National Institutes of Health (NIH): NIH, the nation's medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit www.nih.gov.

Evaluation and comparison of three virucidal agents on inactivation of Nipah virus [Scientific Reports, 5 Jul 2022]

Authored by Yi Huang, Shuqi Xiao, Donglin Song & Zhiming Yuan

Abstract
Modern human activity is profoundly changing our relationship with microorganisms with the startling rise in the rate of emerging infectious diseases. Nipah virus together with Ebola virus and SARS-CoV-2 are prominent examples. Since COVID-19 and the West African Ebola virus disease outbreak, different chemical disinfectants have been developed for preventing the direct spread of viruses and their efficacy has also been evaluated. However, there are currently no published efficacy studies for the chemical disinfection of Nipah virus. In this study, the virucidal efficacy of three disinfectants (Micro-Chem Plus detergent disinfectant cleaner, FWD and Medical EtOH) against Nipah virus was evaluated in quantitative suspension tests including. Our results showed that the > 4 log reduction achieved for all products in inactivating Nipah virus in 15 s. Even, 19% ethanol was able to inactivate Nipah virus when applied for at least 8 min contact time. Comparative analysis displayed virucidal efficacy of each of the evaluated disinfectants against SARS-CoV-2, Ebola virus and Nipah virus, with only minor differences in working concentrations and contact times required for complete inactivation. We expect that our study can assist in decontamination in healthcare settings and high level biosafety laboratories and can be beneficial to control for emerging enveloped viruses.

UTMB drug discovery partnership awarded $56 million grant [EurekAlert, 18 May 2022]

Thanks to a $56 million grant, the University of Texas Medical Branch and global health care company Novartis will enhance their work together to discover drugs to fight off the next pandemic.

The grant comes from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and is one of nine such grants awarded by NIAID to establish Antiviral Drug Discovery (AViDD) Centers for Pathogens of Pandemic Concern.

“We must prepare for the next pandemic by working together across governmental, non-governmental, academic and private sectors to develop an arsenal of countermeasures,” said Dr. Pei-Yong Shi, a professor in the Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology and VP for Research Innovation at UTMB and one of the leaders of the partnership. “This project is built on an ongoing collaboration between Novartis and UTMB. Combining our world-leading virology research capabilities with the state-of-the art drug discovery technologies at Novartis, we have a real opportunity to discover safe and effective drugs against viruses with pandemic potential.”

The partnership, dubbed the UTMB-Novartis Alliance for Pandemic Preparedness (UNAPP), will focus on coronaviruses, flavivirus and henipavirus, three major classes of viruses with pandemic potential. SARS-CoV-2 is the now well-known coronavirus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic. Falviviruses include Zika, West Nile, and yellow fever, among others.
Henipaviruses include Nipah and Hendra virus, both highly virulent emerging pathogens with the potential to cause outbreaks in humans.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has shown us how important it is to be prepared,” said Dr. Charles Mouton, Executive Vice President, Provost and Dean of the John Sealy School of Medicine at UTMB. “Through his hard work and ability to both innovate and collaborate, Dr. Shi is making sure we are on the cutting edge of research and discovery so that when the next pandemic hits, we have the antiviral drugs necessary to respond.”

The partnership’s projects will include looking at well validated drug targets as well as phenotypic screening, which will allow for the discovery of clinical drug candidates as well as new targets that will advance the fundamental understanding of the biology of the viruses.

Scientists develop Nipah virus vaccine that 'gives lifesaving protection in three DAYS' [Daily Mail, 14 Mar 2022]

By CONNOR BOYD

A vaccine that could protect against the deadly Nipah virus in just three days has been developed by scientists.

All six monkeys given the experimental jab seven days before being exposed to a lethal dose of the disease survived. Two-thirds of primates given the shot three days in advance lived.

Like Covid, Nipah can spread through respiratory droplets. But it is far more deadly, killing up to three-quarters of people it infects.

It has been listed as one of the viruses most likely to cause the next pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO).

There is currently no vaccine approved for humans — but at least eight are currently being tested on animals, including one made by Oxford University.

However, most studies suggest immunity takes about a month to five weeks to kick in.

A rapid vaccine that may protect people from the deadly Nipah virus in just three days has been developed by scientists (pictured, an illustration of the individual viruses)

The new jab works like the AstraZeneca Covid vaccine, using a weakened virus to deliver a chunk of Nipah's protein to the cells, where it cannot replicate.

It gives the body the chance to get a read of the virus so it can recognise and fight the real thing.

The vaccine uses a virus from the same family as rabies that has been modified so it cannot cause symptoms.

It acts as a vehicle deliver the harmless protein to the cells.

Once inside, the cells display the protein on their surface, and the immune system recognises that it doesn’t belong there.

This triggers an immune response in which antibodies and T-cells are released, simulating what would happen in the event of a real infection.

The body then keeps a memory of this process so it knows how to deal with the real Nipah virus in the future.

University of Texas researchers trialled the jab on 12 monkeys and used six as a control group.
Half were given the vaccine a week before a deadly dose of Nipah and the other half were given it three days prior.

In the seven-day group, all vaccinated monkeys survived and showed no signs of illness, compared to a 100 per cent fatality rate in the control group.

Among those given the shot three days before, 67 per cent survived but most were symptomatic.

Writing in the paper, the researchers said: 'There are currently no NiV [Nipah virus] vaccines licensed for human use.

'While several preventive vaccines have shown promise in protecting animals against lethal NiV disease, most studies have assessed protection 1 month after vaccination.

'However, in order to contain and control outbreaks, vaccines that can rapidly confer protection in days rather than months are needed.'

Outbreaks of the Nipah virus are rare, with only around 700 cases reported since the virus was first discovered in Malaysia in 1999.

A 12-year-old boy died during an outbreak in India last year, where outbreaks are most common, along with Bangladesh.

It is also present in bats in Cambodia, Ghana, Indonesia, Madagascar, the Philippines and Thailand, suggesting there is potential for it to spread among people there.

The WHO says the virus is a public health concern because 'it infects a wide range of animals and causes severe disease and death in people'.

It lists Nipah alongside other deadly, threatening diseases such as Ebola, Lassa fever, Zika, Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever and Rift Valley fever.

Pirbright receives grant to develop Nipah virus vaccine [National Hog Farmer, 18 Feb 2022]

Pirbright researchers have been awarded £389,089 to develop a Nipah virus vaccine that could protect pigs and prevent disease in humans.

This funding was provided by the United Kingdom government's UK Vaccine Network and will be delivered by Innovate UK. The Institute's award is part of £10million of UK aid funding going to 22 projects advancing research into vaccines to tackle some of the world's deadliest diseases in low- and middle-income countries. These include Nipah, Ebola, Lassa fever, Zika, Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever and Chikungunya virus.

Nipah virus can be transmitted to pigs from infected fruit bats, which contaminate the environment with their saliva, urine or feces containing the virus. Infected pigs can then pass the virus on to humans when they come into close contact. This was seen in Malaysia, where the first outbreak of Nipah virus saw over 200 human cases in pig farmers.

While the disease is relatively mild in pigs, in humans it is much more dangerous. Initial symptoms include fever, headache, coughing and breathing difficulties, followed by brain swelling and leading to a coma. If a human becomes infected with the virus, there is a 45 to 75% chance that they will die.

There is currently no vaccine against Nipah virus in pigs and control methods include having 'designated pig farming areas' and culling of animals during an outbreak to prevent the spread of disease.

Researchers at Pirbright aim to change this by developing a vaccine which will protect pigs from the virus. They aim to exploit a highly successful pseudorabies vaccine that is routinely used to vaccinate pigs in Southeast Asia. In collaboration with the Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Germany, they will genetically engineer the vaccine so it can also induce protection against Nipah virus. This dual-purpose vaccine should be an economically viable approach to mass immunization of pigs against Nipah virus. The team also plan to develop a companion diagnostic test that can tell the difference between animals that have been vaccinated and animals that have been naturally infected. Without this, disease surveillance and determining the success of the vaccine would be difficult.

"The risk of this emerging disease is increasing due to the increase in pig farming across Southeast Asia," says Professor Simon Graham, leader of the Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome Immunology group at Pirbright. "In turn, this increases the risk of pig to human transmission which could have devastating consequences for pig and human health.

With a vaccine to protect pigs, we will be able to improve pig health and welfare, while also preventing transmission to humans, this is why work to create an effective vaccine is so important.

"This grant will help us build upon existing research and produce a vaccine that will give at-risk countries the opportunity to protect their pig populations. In addition to the welfare and economic advantages this will bring, it offers an opportunity to create a vaccine that will protect humans from Nipah virus infection."

Gates Foundation, Wellcome offer $300M to CEPI's pandemic, vaccine development efforts [Homeland Preparedness News, 21 Jan 2022]

by Chris Galford

The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations’ (CEPI) 100 Days Mission to reduce the vaccine development timeline received a $300 million investment from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Wellcome.

While a fraction of the organization’s overall fundraising goal of $3.5 billion, the Gates Foundation and Wellcome funding will help advance CEPI’s development of new COVID-19 vaccines and work to reduce vaccine development to a within 100 days process – a third of the time it took to develop some of the current COVID-19 vaccines. This would benefit the development of other vaccines as well, including priority focuses such as Chikungunya, Lassa fever, MERS, Nipah, and Rift Valley fever. For coronaviruses, a major push will be on developing all-in-one vaccines to protect against multiple SARS-CoV-2 variants and other Betacoronaviruses in a single go.

“Achieving this funding target will enable CEPI to further advance, and enable equitable access to, life-saving vaccines and help the world develop ground-breaking new technologies including universal vaccines against Betacoronaviruses,” Dr. Richard Hatchett, CEO of CEPI, said. “Both these Foundations have shown incredible leadership with regards to global health, and we are enormously grateful to them for their visionary contribution to our work. If fully funded, CEPI’s ambitious plan will revolutionize the way the world deals with future epidemics and could prevent us ever again having to suffer the devastation of a pandemic like COVID-19.”

Both the Gates Foundation and Wellcome were co-founders of CEPI in 2017, together with the governments of Norway and India and the World Economic Forum. Now, each foundation will provide $150 million in advance of CEPI’s planned Global Pandemic Preparedness Summit, which the UK government will host in March 2022. The summit will unite government, industry, philanthropy, and civil society leaders and discuss and address global health security and work toward CEPI’s funding goals.

“As the world faces the grim consequences of a continuously evolving coronavirus pandemic, the ability to rapidly develop and deliver new tools to address current and future health threats has never been greater,” Bill Gates, co-chair of the Gates Foundation, said. “By investing now in collaborative approaches to global health, the world will save millions of lives and trillions of dollars later on by ending the acute phase of this pandemic sooner, while also preventing or preparing for the next pandemic, and easing the heavy burden of longstanding epidemics.”

In terms of the 100 Days Mission, CEPI’s goals have also been backed by the G7 and G20 to limit damage to lives, economies, and the emergence of new COVID-19 variants. However, financial pledges will allow CEPI to partner with developers and scientific organizations to advance preparedness and response efforts.

As winter nears, many in Bangladesh fear a Nipah Virus re-emergence [The Business Standard, 26 Nov 2021]

It spreads from fruits half eaten by bats or birds too, half of the country is vulnerable to the virus

It was an evening of late October in Lalmonirhat. Taposhi Gosh – a mother of two, could be seen cleaning dust off a photo of her son and daughter. Tears flow down her cheeks on the photo frame as Ghosh recalls the time 10 years ago when both her children died of the dreaded Nipah virus, leaving her only with their memories to hold on to.

In February, 2011, Ghosh's son Aronno Kumar, 8, was the first of the two children to get infected by the virus. Two days later, his sister Ananya, 4, was also infected. Ghosh suspects that both the children may have eaten guavas from their yard that were half eaten by bats or drunk raw date juice with friends.

Since then, Taposhi, a former NGO worker, and Ashok Kumar Gosh, headteacher of Char Dhuboni Govt Primary School, have been living in the Bandar area of Hatibandha Upazila in the Lalmonirhat district with their memories of children as they have no other children. After Ananya was born, Taposhi permanently adopted the method of birth control.

Taposhi said, "My kids ate half-eaten fruits because of ignorance. I wish no other parents has to endure such pain. Government should do more to prevent this from happening."

However, Taposhi and Ashok are not the only parents woh lost their children to Nipah. In the same month that year, another kid in the area, Sudipta Sarker Dwip, 12, a VI-grade student of the S S High School, also died in a Dhaka hospital of the same deadly virus.

Like Aronno, Sudipta was also the only son of his father - Subal Chandra Sarker. "With his friends at school, he (Sudipta) drank raw date palm juice from the local market. Then he suffered from fever, pain, and headache," Sarkar recalls.

The tragic death of his son created a huge wave of panic in the neighbourhood, Sarkar recalls. As a result, the family was socially ostracized which only added to their pain.

"When my son died of the Nipah virus, the area turned into a desert due to fear. Our close relatives kept their distance out of concern for infection. Nobody talked to us or took care of us," said Sarkar, who, ironically, is a doctor himself.

"We could not cremate my son's body the usual way. I had to carry my son's body alone to the crematorium, in a pushcart and manage to cremate him. Our neighbours avoided us for at least two years. So, winter emerge to us as a panic," added Sarker.

In Lalmonirhat district so far, 30 people have been infected, while in 2011 it turned into an epidemic that caused several deaths in a week.

Nipah Virus in Bangladesh
NiV first emerged in Malaysia in 1998 while Bangladesh reported its first Nipah case in 2001. According to the Infectious Diseases Division of icddr,b as of October 2021, a total of 322 Nipah cases have been reported, 229 of them have succumbed to the infection. The infection has claimed the lives of 71.1% of the patients.

Several researchers speculate that Nipah Virus (NiV) may be the next pandemic agent after COVID-19, and World Health Organisation (WHO) has listed Nipah virus as one of the ten viruses with pandemic potential.

So far two strains were found named NiV Bangladesh (NiVB) and NiV Malaysia (NiVM).

According to a research titled "Pathogenic Differences between Nipah Virus Bangladesh and Malaysia Strains in Primates: Implications for Antibody Therapy," NiVB is more likely infectious than NiVM.

Bangladesh has detected this virus in 32 of its 64 districts. The highest number of infections —over 30 infected patients--was found in the Faridpur district. There were epidemics of this virus in 2004 and 2011 in Faridpur.

The second highest infected districts are Lalmonirhat, Nagoan, and Rajbari where 21-30 infected patients were found. These districts experienced more than once epidemic of the virus.

Nine districts had 11 to 20 infected patients, seven other districts had 6 to 10 infected patients and nine each district had one infected patient.

Experts say that the widespread infections by Nipah virus is mostly due to the fact that virus spillover from a primary reservoir (bats) to intermediate hosts (pig) to humans is still poorly understood.

Deadly Virus in a Winter Delicacy
In Bangladesh, it transmits mainly from traditional liquor made from Date Palm sap as it is a very popular drink across the country. People drink the juice untreated or raw – which is collected overnight from date palm trees. Often at night, bats visit the tree and leave their saliva or body fluid on the tree which gets mixed in the juice collected by raw juice sellers. As bats are a natural reservoir of Nipah virus -meaning the virus lives in their bodies naturally, the saliva also can contain the virus. Unaware of this bat saliva or the possible existence of Nipah virus in the raw juice, sellers and drinkers use it freely which makes them highly vulnerable to an infection.

Dr Syed Moinuddin Satter, assistant scientist, and deputy project coordinator, Emerging Infections, Infectious Diseases Division of ICDDRB tells The Business Standard, "It is one of the most fatal communicable diseases of our time and unfortunately, it is endemic to our country.

"It is spread from bats to humans which is considered a spillover event. The most common medium of this spillover is through consumption of raw date palm sap, contaminated with bat saliva, urine, or feces. It can also spread from one infected person to another via bodily secretions e.g., saliva, blood, urine, feces, etc. In addition to this, there is a history of human infection through infected domestic animals," he adds.

Post-recovery complications
In February 2011, Sharmin Zaman Mare, 32, of Lalmonirhat Matibhanga, became infected after eating plum picked up from the ground under a plum tree. After three weeks of treatment, she recovered, but the infection left lasting effects.

"I have regular headaches, memory loss, weakness, breathing problems and a regular mild fever," she said.

"Bats used to visit the plum tree, but I was always tempted to eat some ripe plums in the morning. One day, a few hours after eating the fruits, I became sick.

My husband took me to the hospital where I was diagnosed with Nipah," she says.

According to Dr Satter of iccdr,b, after recovering from the initial infection, almost all the survivors suffer from neurological problems such as difficulty to perform fine movement, difficulty to maintain balance, diminished or loss of cognitive functioning, partial or complete paralysis; and ophthalmological complications such photophobia as well as mild to severe form of visual impairment. All of these radically affect their mental health, quality of living, ability to earn and maintain a stable societal status.

Along with the health problems, Nipah survivors and family members of deceased patients also face severe social stigma even when they are no longer infected. They are stigmatized by neighbours and Relatives who avoid their contacts in fear of infection. Sharmin Zaman Mare, one of the survivors, explained that many of her relatives avoided her family for a long time.

"Anyone who heard about my Nipah virus infection still continue to act negligently," said Sharmin.

Subal Chandra Sarker, has a medicine shop in the local market, says that social stigma led to economic hardship for him. "I had lost all my customers after my son died in Nipah," he says.

Experts' recommendations:

Experts recommend that people should be more careful and avoid the known mediums of infection, such as avoiding raw date palm sap, handling live or dead infected animals, and eating fruits eaten by bats or birds. Experts' emphasis on more awareness as no medicine or vaccine has been developed against Nipah virus infection among human.

Dr Syed Moinuddin Satter of icddr,b said "Nipah virus infection is more prevalent in Bangladesh, from December to end of April as the winter is raw date palm sap harvesting season."

Healthcare workers and doctors in the country should be more cautious when they encounter patients who have a history of raw date palm sap consumption.

"We have no formal large awareness campaign programme. The local hospital educates patients who come for treatment during the winter since the virus spreads more in the winter season," says Dr Siddiqur Rahman Civil Surgeon of Faridpur district, the most infected district in Bangladesh.

"We also inform it to the people in different programmes when we get an opportunity," added Rahman.

The civil surgeon of Lalmonirhat district, Dr Nirmelendo Roy, also suggested a large government campaign to raise awareness about the virus as he said "Many people are being infected lack of proper awareness campaign."

The story is supported by the Earth Journalism Network.

Nipah Virus Outbreak Eyed as Trigger of the Next Pandemic; Is Our Healthcare Sector Ready to Face Another Zoonotic Disease? [Science Times, 2 Nov 2021]

By Ron Jefferson

The coronavirus risked global health not just through its destructive potential but also due to the lack of information and the doubt over appropriate preparedness slated since the pandemic surged. Although most regions in East and Southeast Asia had the gist of dealing with a widescale health risk during the 2003 SARS outbreak, they could not perfectly enable their defenses, and a lot of casualties still overlapped the expected rates. Due to what the world observed and experienced throughout the pandemic, it is necessary to know more and prepare a competent response in the event that another pandemic spreads globally.

What is Nipah Virus and How Likely It Could Cause a COVID-Like Pandemic
Nipah virus is being eyed by many health authorities and scientific experts today. A recent outbreak of the specified virus in India stirred theories about how every country should prepare for a worse threat. And even though it may be considered taboo for some, many people are aware of the risks that future infections might have in store for us and corresponding ideas to what we can do about it.

COVID-19 vaccines are the greatest breakthrough that was developed since the pandemic started. Through the implementation of vaccination, the cases did drop for many countries, and most of the industrial and social activities are gradually coming back to normal. Despite the threats of SARS-CoV-2's multiple mutations, the availability of vaccines provides a much transparent path to ensure public health safety and decrease the cases compared to the first few waves where global health authorities are stunned, and empty answers are at hand.
Although a batch of prepared vaccines presents the most effective solution for an upcoming pandemic, predicting a novel type of virus is still either challenging or impossible.

The first detected case of the Nipah virus was charted in Malaysia back in 1998. The case seems to be far behind the clock, but a recent Science Times report confirmed a new outbreak of the same virus. The worst part is that it took the life of a 12-year-old boy in India. Due to the unexpected event, many experts expressed their scientific concerns over the matter. Like the coronavirus, the Nipah virus might mutate following its initial presentation and could be transmitted to a wider population if not acknowledged as early as today.

Nipah Virus and the Preparedness of the Global Health Protocols
Nipah virus shares a similar zoonotic feature with COVID-19. However, the Nipah virus is considered paramyxovirus, a devastating type of virus that could inflict health conditions as much as the coronavirus. Paramyxovirus can impact an individual's health through an acute respiratory disease, and like the coronavirus, it could be transmitted through airborne droplets.
Among the most common hosts of the Nipah virus are bats and flying foxes located at the hearts of South and Southeast Asia.

According to a study published in the journal PNAS, titled "Nipah virus dynamics in bats and implications for spillover to humans," most of the Nipah virus transmissions occur by either drinking raw date palm sap or simply by the presence of an overwhelming bat population in an area. The cases of coronavirus highlight the fact that transmissions and mutations are most frequent in human-to-human contacts, and not just by natural interactions.

Today, the known spread of the Nipah virus is recorded only from close contact with the primary patient. University of Reading's virology expert Ian Jones said in an IFL Science report that while the Nipah virus does not pose any threat of a global pandemic today, awareness and improvement of public health protocols should still be secured.

Can Deadly Indian Nipah Outbreak Lead to the Next Global Pandemic? [Nature World News, 2 Nov 2021]

By Rain Jordan

A recent outbreak of the Nipah virus in India has prompted the issue of whether authorities should begin to think of it as a potential future danger and start preparing our defenses now.
In 1998, the Nipah virus was discovered in Malaysia. Cases like the recent death of a youngster in Kerala, India, have sparked fears that it might evolve and improve its transmission efficiency, leading to global dissemination.

That prospect is terrifying, given that the virus presently has a case fatality rate of over 50% and no vaccination or tried-and-true treatment.

Risk Assessment
Transmissible or zoonotic wildlife diseases increase as nature is damaged, due to the increase of bats and rats harboring pandemic pathogens such as the COVID-19 virus. Human-induced destruction of ecosystems cause an increase in the populations of animals such as bats and rats, as well as other animals which carry diseases which could cause pandemics.

However, before experts devote resources to developing a vaccine for Nipah, they must determine whether it poses a genuine pandemic danger. Even if it is, there are other viruses out there, so we need to figure out where it belongs on the priority list.

There is a need to look at how the virus spreads and replicates to determine the danger.

A paramyxovirus is Nipah. It's linked to a human virus called the human parainfluenza virus, one of the few viruses that may cause a cold.

Fruit bats, big and tiny flying foxes found across South and Southeast Asia, are natural hosts. But, too far, all occurrences of Nipah virus infection in humans have been caused by direct or indirect contact with infected bats.

Bats' illness is sub-clinical. Therefore it remains unnoticed for the most part. However, a virus is discharged in the urine, ensuring transmission within and between colonies through grooming and crowding.

The primary method of viral transmission to humans is through fruit or fruit juice contaminated with bat urine.

Bat population density, virus prevalence, and individuals drinking raw date palm sap are the primary elements explaining the transmission pattern, according to long-term research in Bangladesh, where Nipah virus epidemics occur regularly. While the fluid is being tapped from the date palm tree, the bats contaminate it, then consume it locally.

This is a significant finding. Better transmitting viruses emerge while circulating among human, not animal, hosts, as we have observed with SARS-CoV-2.

As a result, limiting the number of infections in individuals decreases the death rate from Nipah and the risk of viral adaptation. Stopping the spread of the virus eliminates the potential of a pandemic.

Human Infection
In the event of human infection, only intimate contacts of the primary infected individual, such as family members or, if the person is hospitalized, hospital workers, have been affected.

Because the Nipah virus's receptors, which it utilizes to enter cells, are concentrated in the brain and central nervous system, there is no widespread transmission.

In most cases, Nipah infection results in mortality due to acute encephalitis, as the virus multiplies best in tissues where it is easiest to penetrate cells.

The virus replicates in the vasculature, blood vessels that offer a pathway for the virus to migrate from eaten foods to the brain system. However, the predilection of the central nervous system may explain why onward transmission is restricted. From there, the pathogen cannot readily spread.

Of course, a sick person will have a virus all on them, but unlike Ebola, the virus is not easily transferred through the respiratory system and instead needs contact or the transfer of bodily fluids. To infect someone else, you must be nearby.

Low Chance of Being a Full Blown Pandemic
While this does not rule out the possibility of a pandemic, the chances of the virus mutating to replicate in the upper respiratory system, where it would most likely be more transmissible, are slim. Like other zoonotic illnesses, the actual spillover occurrence from bat to human and the persons directly impacted is more of a concern than the potential for epidemic transmission.

There is a justification for a Nipah vaccine, but it should be used as an emergency measure for people who have come into contact with a primary case rather than as part of a broader immunization program.

The rationale against it is based on the fact that absolute numbers are few, prices are high, and outbreaks are so rare that conducting a clinical study would be extremely difficult. In addition, therapeutic antibodies have been demonstrated to be successful in studies, making them a lot more viable therapy option in the near term.

Vaccine Rollout
The rapid development of vaccinations against SARS-CoV-2, a new coronavirus, has given a route out of this pandemic. If vaccinations for potentially harmful viruses can be created and stored, they can be used as soon as a new epidemic is discovered. Then, society would be ahead of the game, and a pandemic would be averted.

This strategy is admirable, but it is based on the assumption that viruses with pandemic potential can be recognized in advance, which is challenging. It also carries the danger that a "don't worry, there's a vaccination" mentality may lead to the neglect of simpler prophylactic measures.

Nipah virus likely won't be next pandemic, but should be watched [UPI News, 29 Oct 2021]

By Ian Jones

Oct. 29 (UPI) -- The severe and devastating consequences of the coronavirus pandemic were undoubtedly made worse by a substantial lack of pandemic preparedness, with the exception of East and South East Asia, which had built up defenses after their experience with SARS in 2003. So it is crucial that governments begin to develop strategies to protect us if other deadly viruses emerge.

A recent outbreak of Nipah virus in India has raised the question of whether we should start to consider it as a future threat, and look to build up our arsenal of defenses now.

The rapid development of vaccines against the novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, have provided a pathway out of this pandemic. So, if vaccines for other potentially dangerous viruses could be developed and stockpiled, they could be rolled out as soon as any new outbreak is detected. We would then be ahead of the curve and a pandemic could be avoided.

This approach is laudable -- but it assumes that viruses with pandemic potential can be identified in advance, which is not easy to do. And it also runs the risk that a "don't worry, there's a vaccine" mindset might cause simpler preventative methods to be overlooked.

Nipah virus was first identified in Malaysia in 1998. Cases such as the recent death of a boy in Kerala, India have raised concerns that it could mutate and increase its efficiency of transmission, leading to widespread circulation.

That scenario is frightening as the virus currently has a case fatality rate of over 50% and there is no vaccine or tried-and-tested treatment.

But before we can invest resources into vaccine development against Nipah we need to assess whether it is a realistic pandemic threat. And even if it is, there are other viruses out there, so we must understand where it should rank on the list of priorities.

Assessing the risk
To assess the risk, we need to look at how the virus transmits and replicates.

Nipah is a paramyxovirus. It is related to a human virus, human parainfluenza virus, one of the handful of viruses that cause the common cold. Its natural host is the fruit bat, the large and small flying foxes which are distributed across South and Southeast Asia. All cases of human infection with the Nipah virus to date have been due to direct or indirect contact with infected bats.

The infection in bats is sub-clinical, so goes largely unnoticed. Virus is excreted in the urine which, via grooming and crowding, ensures transfer within and between colonies.

Fruit or fruit juice contaminated by bat urine is the principal route of virus transmission to people.

A long-term study in Bangladesh, where regular Nipah virus outbreaks occur among its people, suggests that bat population density, virus prevalence and people drinking raw date palm sap are the main factors explaining the pattern of transmission. The bats contaminate the sap while it is being tapped from the date palm tree, and it is then consumed locally.

That is an important finding. As we have seen with SARS-CoV-2, better transmitting viruses evolve while the virus is circulating among its human, not animal, hosts. So, keeping the number of infections in people to a minimum not only minimizes the death rate from Nipah itself but also reduces the chance of virus adaptation. Stop the transmission and you stop the pandemic threat.

In the cases of human infection, so far, there has been limited spread to only close contacts of the primary infected individual, such as family members or, if the person is hospitalized, hospital staff.

General transmission does not occur, mainly because the proteins the Nipah virus uses to enter cells, the receptors, are concentrated in brain and central nervous tissues.

Nipah infection leads to death by acute encephalitis in most cases as the virus replicates best in the tissues where it is easy for the virus to enter the cells.

The virus does replicate to a small degree in the vasculature, the blood vessels, which provide a route for the virus to travel from consumed foodstuffs to the nervous system. But the central nervous system preference also suggests why onward transmission is limited. The virus cannot easily transmit from there.

Of course a very sick individual will have virus everywhere, but as with Ebola, the virus is not efficiently transmitted by the respiratory route and requires touch or transfer of body fluids. Very close contact is required to infect someone else.

The chance of the virus changing to replicate in the upper respiratory tract, from where it certainly would be more transmissible, is small, and while this does not rule out pandemic potential it significantly lessens its probability. Like other regular zoonotic infections, the spillover event itself from bat to human, and the immediate people affected is more the issue than the potential for epidemic spread.

There is a case for a Nipah vaccine, but more for emergency use in those in contact with a primary case than for a vaccination campaign in general.

The case against it rests on the fact that absolute numbers are low, costs high and outbreaks so sporadic that a clinical trial would be very difficult to organize. Research has shown that therapeutic antibody is effective and that would make a far more practical treatment option in the short term.

In my view, Nipah does not pose a high risk of causing a pandemic. Its current pattern of outbreak is likely to remain the norm. Instead, as has been discussed elsewhere, we need to ensure that surveillance, improved awareness and effective public health measures are in place and adhered to. They will have a much bigger impact on the control of Nipah virus cases in the immediate future. As for pandemic preparedness in the medium and long term, we need to turn our attention to identifying which other viruses pose a threat and work to develop vaccines and other defensive measures against those.

Intestine 'organoid' grown in lab to see why bats live with viruses but don't get sick [EurekAlert, 21 Oct 2021]

Experiments attempting to explain why bats can be infected with many viruses at a time without succumbing to diseases such as COVID-19—knowledge that could help us to reduce the threat to humans of infectious disease—have struggled until now with the fact that live wild bats make poor research subjects. To overcome this obstacle, for the first time researchers have grown rousette bat “organoids,” which reproduce intestines in vitro.

A paper describing the bat organoid growth technique appeared in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences on October 5.

Bats are the natural source of a raft of human pathogens (or, in epidemiological jargon, the ‘reservoir’—the host in which a pathogen survives without causing disease). These include the viruses that cause a great many illnesses such as Ebola, Marburg, Nipah, Hendra, SARS, MERS, and COVID-19. In fact, a single bat can host these viruses without getting sick. Why bats can live with so many viruses without themselves falling ill remains one of the great mysteries of virology and its neighbouring disciplines. And solving this mystery has been made all the more urgent by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Yet bats are wild animals, not domesticated experimental animal subjects. It is much more difficult to conduct reproducible investigations on bats than on more common experimental animals such as mice or pigs. And so most experiments have had to take place on cell lines taken from bats rather than bats themselves or bat organs.

“If this experimental blockage could be overcome, virus-bat relationships could be understood and lead to reduce human illness and death.,” said Tsutomu Omatsu, one of the authors of the paper and an associate professor with the Center for Infectious Diseases of Epidemiology and Prevention Research at Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology.

So the researchers developed a bat organoid that could be used for such experimentation. An organoid is a three-dimensional tissue construct grown ‘in vitro’ (in a petri dish or with other laboratory equipment) from stem cells and that mimics the organ in the living animal. In this case, they grew organoids from cells from the intestine of a flying fox, the species Rousettus leschenaultia within the wider genus of Rousettus, also known as Rousette bats.

They chose Rousette bats, a type of megabat or fruit bat, because they are thought to be a natural reservoir of the filovirus family of viruses, including the Ebola and Marburg viruses.
This particular species of rousette bat was also selected because in previous research, another species of rousette bat, Rousettus leschenaultii, had shown a transient but not robust infection from an experimental inoculation of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, while a cell line from the intestine of Rousettus leschenaultia had not been infected at all.
Several species of flying foxes in Southeast Asia and Australia have also been found to be hosts of Pteropine orthoreovirus (PRV), which has caused respiratory disease in humans.

The researchers first had to find an optimum medium for the growth of bat intestine cells.

They did this by attempting to culture organoids with nine different growth supplements (nutrients and other molecules that encourage cell proliferation). Three out of the nine achieved significantly higher cell growth and proliferation rates after seven days.

In addition, the rousette bat intestinal organoids grown with these three supplements were long-lived, being able to maintain active proliferation for up to ten passages (up to 10 times of reconstructions of organoids from separated cells that were composed of the previous organoids). Organoids that were long-term cryopreserved (in essence frozen) could also grow normally once thawed.

To confirm that the organoid was mimicking the epithelial (outer) tissue of the bat’s intestine—the part of the bat organ that first encounters virus particles and thus of particular scientific interest—the researchers deployed two techniques. First, they used transmission electron microscopy to investigate the cellular anatomy (histology) of the organoids. Second, they used immunofluorescence staining—a common method used to detect and visualize molecules in biological samples—to look for molecular markers that indicate that the tissue under investigation comes from bat intestines. Together, these two techniques told the researchers that the organoids were indeed recreating the typical cellular components of rousette bat intestine tissues.

An initial test of the use of the organoids to investigate viral relationships was also performed. They were shown to be susceptible to PRV but not to SARS-CoV-2 in experimental inoculation.

Having successfully produced bat organoids for the first time, the researchers now want to repeat their trick with other flying fox organs such as lungs, liver, and kidneys. The researchers will then infect this mass of bat ‘insides’ with highly pathogenic viruses to analyse their gene expression (turning genes on and off) in detail to be able to clarify the mechanism of why bats can host such pathogens without getting sick.

Global Nipah Virus Nucleic Acid Detection Kit Market 2021 Growth Opportunities and Competitive Landscape 2027 – BioGerm, Liferiver, Sansure, Bioperfectus [The Manomet Current, 21 Oct 2021]

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The investigation begins with reviewing vocabulary, classification, and market surveys for the Nipah Virus Nucleic Acid Detection Kit market. Nonetheless, it gives a thorough grasp of the different product characteristics, supplier networks, production procedures, and value propositions. To offer a full view of the components of this global sector, the analysis is separated into regions, kinds, and applications Nipah Virus Nucleic Acid Detection Kit.

The segmentation based on product type is covered in the analysis:
• Dry PCR
• Fluorescence PCR
The following research applications are mentioned in the report:
• Hospital
• Clinic
These nations and regions are listed in the worldwide Nipah Virus Nucleic Acid Detection Kit market research:
• Americas (United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil)
• APAC (China, Japan, Korea, Southeast Asia, India, Australia)
• Europe (Germany, France, UK, Italy, Russia)
• Middle East & Africa (Egypt, South Africa, Israel, Turkey, GCC Countries)
The key companies covered in the global Nipah Virus Nucleic Acid Detection Kit market report are
• BioGerm
• Liferiver
• Sansure
• Bioperfectus
• Mole
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Nipah virus could cause another deadly pandemic, warns the inventor of AstraZeneca’s COVID vaccine [Euronews, 15 Oct 2021]

By Pascale Davies

As the world continues to grapple with COVID-19, there is another virus that is one of the next pandemic threats, warns a scientist who is one of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine inventors.

It goes by the name of the Nipah virus and there is currently no treatment or vaccine.

“If we had a delta type of Nipah virus, we would suddenly have a highly transmissible virus with a 50 per cent mortality rate,” Dame Sarah Gilbert said during an event at the Cheltenham Festival of Literature in the United Kingdom on Thursday.

So, what is the Nipah virus and should we be worried?
The Nipah virus is not new and has been lurking for years. In 1999, the virus arrived in central Malaysia after it found a host in bats, who then stopped over to eat from fruit trees that hung over pig farms.

The pigs ate the leftovers from the bats and the virus passed through the pigs to the humans that worked with them.

How is it transmitted?
Transmission is thought to have occurred via unprotected exposure to secretions from the pigs, or unprotected contact with the tissue of a sick animal.

About 105 Malaysians died within eight months after contracting the virus after suffering comas, fevers and brain inflammation. Nipah killed about 40 per cent of those infected.

Nipah virus can be transmitted to humans from animals as well as by contaminated foods and human-to-human contact.

What is the threat today?
Nipah now erupts annually in Bangladesh and also emerges periodically in eastern India. In September, a 12-year-old boy died after contracting the virus.

The World Health Organization (WHO) says in subsequent outbreaks in Bangladesh and India, consumption of fruits or fruit products (such as raw date palm juice) contaminated with urine or saliva from infected fruit bats was the most likely source of infection.

According to the WHO, countries with certain bat species may also be at risk, including Cambodia, Ghana, Indonesia, Madagascar, the Philippines, and Thailand.

Fruit bats of the Pteropodidae family are the natural host of the Nipah virus.

Human-to-human transmission of the Nipah virus has also been reported among family and caregivers of infected patients.

From 2001 to 2008, around half of reported cases in Bangladesh were due to human-to-human transmission through providing care to infected patients.

How deadly is the virus?
The fatality rate in reported cases is estimated at between 40 per cent and 75 per cent, according to the WHO.

Humans can develop asymptomatic infections but symptoms can range from mild to severe respiratory infection, and fatal encephalitis (brain inflammation).

Infected people initially develop symptoms including fever, headaches, muscle pain, vomiting and sore throat. This can be followed by dizziness, drowsiness, altered consciousness, and neurological signs that indicate acute encephalitis.

Some people can also experience atypical pneumonia and severe respiratory problems.

Encephalitis and seizures occur in severe cases and can progress into a coma.

There is currently no treatment or vaccine for Nipah for humans or animals. The main treatment for humans is supportive care.

Zoonotic Bird Flu News since 17 till 30 Nov 2021

Italy: Rome seals off park after swan dies from bird flu [Wanted in Rome, 30 Nov 2021]

Death of swan in Villa Pamphilj prompts partial closure of popular Rome park.

Rome's largest park has been partially sealed off to the public after a swan died from a case of avian influenza, or bird flu.

The news was announced on Monday night by the city's mayor Roberto Gualtieri who ordered the 10-day closure of the eastern part of Villa Pamphilj, in the area around the Giglio lake.

Gualtieri said he signed the order with "great regret", after the Italian public health institute IZSVe confirmed the swan died from bird flu, but stressed that "the health of citizens is a priority for us."

The "precautionary closure" follows a recent outbreak of bird flu at Ostia Antica, near Rome, resulting in the lockdown of 35 small farms in the area.

• Italy reports bird flu outbreak near Rome

The death of the swan, known to park-goers as Orietta, comes days after local media reported the deaths of two other birds in the park: another swan, Giulietta, and a goose known as Ines. It is not clear if the two other birds died from avian influenza.

Lazio regional health councillor Alessio D'Amato said on Monday the situation is "under control" and that there are no restrictions on eating eggs or poultry products.

Symptoms of the disease in birds include decreased activity or vocalisation, eating and drinking less and producing fewer eggs.

In addition to Rome and Ostia Antica, cases of avian influenza have been reported in recent months at commercial chicken and turkey farms in the Verona area of the northern Veneto region.

France detects ‘highly pathogenic’ bird flu outbreak [POLITICO.eu, 27 Nov 2021]

BY PAOLA TAMMA

Birds to be culled at farm near Belgian border.

France has detected a "highly pathogenic" strain of bird flu at a poultry farm close to the Belgian border, the government said today.

It's the first time since an serious outbreak last winter that the avian flu has been found in a French farm, the agriculture ministry said in a statement, although four cases have been found among wildlife and three in backyard poultry.

The virus is being analysed by the French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health and Safety. All birds at the affected farm in the northwestern town of Warhem will be killed and a 10-kilometer surveillance perimeter has been set up, with all movement of poultry prohibited in the area.

Part of the circumscribed area is in the Belgian province of West Flanders. Belgium's Federal Agency for the Safety of the Food Chain today adopted additional measures for the towns of De Panne, Veurne, Alveringem and Poperinge. Poultry farmers and private owners must keep birds caged, and poultry shows and markets are prohibited.

Consumption of poultry and eggs presents no risks to humans, the French ministry said.

Bird Flu: Scottish Government introduce measures after cases in Fife and Scotland [centralfifetimes.com, 26 Nov 2021]

By Ieuan Williams

NEW housing measures to protect poultry and captive birds against avian influenza (Bird Flu) are being introduced after cases across the UK, including in Fife.

The Chief Veterinary Officers for Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland have agreed to bring in new housing measures to protect poultry and captive birds from avian influenza following a number of confirmed cases across the United Kingdom in recent weeks.

The new housing measures, which will come into force on Monday next week, November 29, mean that it will be a legal requirement for all bird keepers across the UK to keep their birds indoors and to follow strict biosecurity measures in order to limit the spread of and eradicate the disease.

Wild birds migrating to the UK from mainland Europe during the winter months can carry the disease and this can lead to cases in poultry and other captive birds.

Public health advice remains that the risk to human health from the virus is very low and food standards bodies advise that avian influenzas pose a very low food safety risk for UK consumers.

Government Chief Veterinary Officers are encouraging bird keepers to use the next five days to prepare for the new housing measures, including taking steps to safeguard animal welfare, consult their vet and put up additional housing where necessary.

The Chief Veterinary Officers from across all four nations have worked together to introduce the new housing measures at the same time, meaning that the restrictions will be applied across the whole of the UK.

In a joint statement the UK’s four Chief Veterinary Officers said:
“We have taken swift action to limit the spread of the disease and are now planning to introduce a legal requirement for all poultry and captive bird keepers to keep their birds housed or otherwise separate from wild birds.

“Whether you keep just a few birds or thousands, from Monday 29 November onwards you will be legally required to keep your birds indoors, or take appropriate steps to keep them separate from wild birds. We have not taken this decision lightly, taking this action now is the best way to protect your birds from this highly infectious disease.”

Following the news that bird keepers across the UK will have to house their birds from Monday, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife Claire Baker has highlighted the importance of backyard keepers following the new requirements in order to mitigate risk.

Last week, Ms Baker called on the Scottish Government to ensure keepers of birds and poultry, as well as the general public, were prepared to respond to any cases of avian influenza virus, following reports of cases in Fife, Perth and Angus, and the status of the UK as an avian influenza prevention zone.

During Portfolio Questions on Environment and Rural Affairs, Ms Baker asked the Scottish Government how it was ensuring keepers, including households with a small number of chickens, were up to date with their responsibilities, and what steps were being taken to encourage preparedness ahead of the anticipated outbreak season this winter.

Following the update from the Scottish Government, MSP Baker said: "Over a million households across Britain now keep chickens but registration is only a legal requirement for keepers of larger flocks. With new housing requirements for birds and strict biosecurity measures coming into force it is vital that all keepers are up to date with their responsibilities.

“Chickens make friendly pets and many backyard keepers will enjoy looking after chickens and the benefits they bring, but they may not always be fully aware of their responsibilities and how important it is to follow them, even for a very small number of birds. From Monday 29 November there is a legal requirement for all bird keepers to keep their birds indoors, in addition to limiting movement in and out of bird enclosures and disinfecting clothing and footwear after entering.

“The Scottish Government needs to ensure it is working to communicate with smaller backyard keepers and the general public on what steps should be taken to mitigate risk and what to do if encountering dead birds.”

Avian flu confirmed in dead wild bird found in Stockton [The Northern Echo, 26 Nov 2021]

By Catherine Priestley

A NEW case of bird flu has been confirmed in the region.

People in the Stockton area are urged to be extra vigilant after the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) confirmed a case of Avian Influenza H5N1 in a wild bird found dead in the borough.

The discovery follows a number of cases across the country, including at three premises near Thirsk and two in Leeming Bar, North Yorkshire.

Control zones are in place at those premises and infected birds will be humanely culled.

Sarah Bowman-Abouna, Director of Public Health for Stockton-on-Tees, said: “UK health agencies have made it clear that the risk to human health is very low and UK food standards agencies advise that bird flu poses a very low food safety risk for UK consumers.

“Nonetheless, the confirmation of a case in our Borough is something we are concerned about and we are appealing to people to be vigilant and take steps to help limit further spread.”

Anyone who finds dead wild waterfowl or other wild birds is asked not to touch or move them but report it to Stockton Borough Council's Animal Health Service on 01642-524789, if it is on public land, or Defra on 03459-335577, if it is on private land.

Bird keepers must follow strict biosecurity measures put in place under the nationwide Avian Influenza Prevention Zone, from 00.01am on Monday which includes keeping birds indoors.

Bird flu confirmed in Sambhar, 80 birds dead in 5 days [Down To Earth Magazine, 25 Nov 2021]

By Madhav Sharma

Veterinarians deployed by local administration yet to reach bird flu-hit Sambhar

Birds in and around the Sambhar tehsil of Jaipur district in Rajasthan died of avian flu in the last five days, according to the report of the Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI) in Bhopal released November 24, 2021.

A team from the forest and animal husbandry departments had collected four samples and sent them to the IVRI in Bhopal November 20. Some 80 birds have died of bird flu so far in the area, most of them crows.

Some eight birds were found dead at the Sambhar lake November 23. They included a rufous tree pie, an owl, five crows and a gull. A crow and a Common Teal were found injured.

A stock-taking meeting was organised at the Jaipur district collectorate on the morning of November 24. Officials from the animal husbandry and forest departments and local administration took part.

The animal husbandry department has deployed 10 veterinarians to tackle the situation. But nobody had reached the area till the time of filing this report.

There are fears that if timely action is not taken, there could be a repeat of the events of 2019. That is when over 30,000 migratory birds died of avian botulism.

Botulinum is a natural toxin produced by a bacteria known as Clostridium botulin. It produces the toxin when it starts reproducing.

Botulinum affects both humans and animals but the type of the toxin varies — botulinum C in birds and A, B and E in humans. The toxin has been recognised as a major cause of mortality in wild birds since the 1900s.

A week before the bird deaths were reported from Sambhar, 189 demoiselle cranes had died at Jodhpur’s Kaparda pond.

At least seven more cranes died on November 20. Samples of the dead birds were examined. The cause of death was ascertained to be bird flu.

The H5N1 strain of bird flu can spread from birds to humans if they come into contact.
Symptoms of H5N1 include cough, fever, sore throat, muscular pain, headache and difficulty breathing. The H5N1 strain can also result in human deaths.

Austria finds bird flu on small chicken farm as virus spreads [WTVB News, 25 Nov 2021]

by Francois Murphy & David Clarke

VIENNA (Reuters) – Austria has found a case of bird flu on a small chicken farm near Vienna airport and is ordering poultry farms with more than 350 birds to keep them indoors, public health agency AGES said on Thursday.

The spread https://reut.rs/3l858m7 of highly pathogenic avian influenza in Europe and Asia has put the poultry industry on alert. Past outbreaks, which usually occur in the autumn, have led to the culling of tens of millions of birds and can lead to trade restrictions.

Known as bird flu, the virus is attracting the attention of epidemiologists too as it can be transmitted to humans. China has reported 21 human infections https://reut.rs/3oTNIe2 with the H5N6 subtype of avian influenza so far this year, more than in the whole of 2020.

“The affected farm’s chickens died or were slaughtered under the authorities’ supervision. The farm was closed,” AGES said in a statement, adding that the case was confirmed on Wednesday.

The farm is in the town of Fischamend, east of Vienna and near the borders with Slovakia and Hungary, both of which have reported outbreaks of bird flu in poultry in the past week.

Bird flu was last detected in Austria early this year, on another small farm, AGES said.

It said the virus was being spread across Europe by migratory birds and that local wild birds such as ducks and geese usually also play a role.

The Health Ministry plans to issue a decree on Thursday ordering poultry farms of more than 350 birds in “risk areas” to keep them inside, AGES said.

It did not elaborate on where the risk areas might be but said all contact between farm birds and wild birds should be avoided and farms should implement protective measures such as only feeding their birds in areas with a roof.

Bird flu outbreak: BCP Council continues visits [Bournemouth Echo, 25 Nov 2021]

By Ben Williets

SEVENTY per cent of visits aimed at identifying bird keepers following an outbreak of bird flu have been completed, BCP Council confirmed.

A temporary control zone covering all of Bournemouth, most of Christchurch and Poole was declared following an outbreak of bird flu at a premises in Pokesdown on November 19.

Providing an update, a BCP Council spokesperson said: “We have completed 70 per cent of our visits aimed at identifying bird keepers in order to provide precautionary advice.

“We should be completed by end of the week, or possibly into the weekend.

“No new cases in Bournemouth have been identified although there have been outbreaks in other parts of the country.

“As a result of this, a new order from Defra has been issued requiring bird breeders to keep their flock’s under-cover.

“This order affects BCP residents and businesses, whom we are advising through direct contact and media messaging.”

'Bird flu fears: Worcester's swans still need feeding' [Worcester News, 25 Nov 2021]

By Barry Kinghorn

DEAR Editor – Re the avian flu outbreak, there have been no deaths or sick swans in Worcester for over a week.

The barriers were put up at the top of the boathouse steps next to the Severn in Worcester to reduce the possibility of infection being spread by walking in droppings.

Exceptions were made by the city council for two named volunteers to cross the barrier at different times for the welfare of the swans. These volunteers are equipped with the appropriate sprays for their boots on leaving the step area.

We are monitoring the river for any further outbreaks. Last year there were no further deaths once the virus had passed through the flock.

There is no reason why people should not feed swans in Worcester on account of the virus.
The swans flock together naturally before feeding times, and at night many of them sleep in the shelter of Diglis Island or the oil basin, towards which sick swans tend to drift anyway.
They get thoroughly mixed up.

And the more hungry the swans are, the more they will bunch together at regular feeding times.

We can try to spread the swans out by the way we feed – it makes us feel better to think we are doing something to help but really the virus is a natural occurrence in a flock that builds some immunity in survivors – just like all the infections our youngsters get in school every winter.

Marilyn McCarthy

Western Cape avian flu oubreak sees seabird deaths top 21 000 [News24, 25 Nov 2021]

More than 20 500 endangered Cape cormorants have died in the Western Cape following an avian flu outbreak.

The outbreak, which was first recorded last month, has seen 21 172 wild seabirds dying. The majority of these birds were endangered Cape cormorants. The worst affected area is Dyer Island off Gansbaai, home to a Cape cormorant breeding colony, where 13 195 deaths have been recorded.

Before the outbreak, there were an estimated 57 000 breeding pairs in South Africa, said Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (Sanccob) research manager Katta Ludynia.

Ludynia previously told News24 the Cape cormorant population had declined by more than 50% in the past 30 years.

According to Anton Bredell, Western Cape MEC for Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning, the number of dead birds is decreasing, with less than 100 dead birds being recorded per day.

"The numbers remain low but constant at the moment. All efforts continue to manage the situation, with the primary focus on responding swiftly to areas where dead and sick birds are found, and then implementing a clean-up. We believe if the efforts are let up, the numbers may increase again so all our stakeholders continue to work hard to address the situation where it crops up," he said.

The Disaster Management Centre has urged residents across the province to continue to be vigilant and report unusual behaviour or mortalities among any birds to their local municipality, conservation authority or state veterinarian. The SPCA may also be contacted.

Bird flu confirmed in Sambhar, 80 birds dead in 5 days [Down To Earth Magazine, 25 Nov 2021]

By Madhav Sharma

Veterinarians deployed by local administration yet to reach bird flu-hit Sambhar

Birds in and around the Sambhar tehsil of Jaipur district in Rajasthan died of avian flu in the last five days, according to the report of the Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI) in Bhopal released November 24, 2021.

A team from the forest and animal husbandry departments had collected four samples and sent them to the IVRI in Bhopal November 20. Some 80 birds have died of bird flu so far in the area, most of them crows.

Some eight birds were found dead at the Sambhar lake November 23. They included a rufous tree pie, an owl, five crows and a gull. A crow and a Common Teal were found injured.

A stock-taking meeting was organised at the Jaipur district collectorate on the morning of November 24. Officials from the animal husbandry and forest departments and local administration took part.

The animal husbandry department has deployed 10 veterinarians to tackle the situation. But nobody had reached the area till the time of filing this report.

There are fears that if timely action is not taken, there could be a repeat of the events of 2019. That is when over 30,000 migratory birds died of avian botulism.

Botulinum is a natural toxin produced by a bacteria known as Clostridium botulin. It produces the toxin when it starts reproducing.

Botulinum affects both humans and animals but the type of the toxin varies — botulinum C in birds and A, B and E in humans. The toxin has been recognised as a major cause of mortality in wild birds since the 1900s.

A week before the bird deaths were reported from Sambhar, 189 demoiselle cranes had died at Jodhpur’s Kaparda pond.

At least seven more cranes died on November 20. Samples of the dead birds were examined. The cause of death was ascertained to be bird flu.

The H5N1 strain of bird flu can spread from birds to humans if they come into contact.

Symptoms of H5N1 include cough, fever, sore throat, muscular pain, headache and difficulty breathing. The H5N1 strain can also result in human deaths.

Alert after bird flu found on Leicestershire farm [BBC News, 25 Nov 2021]

Restrictions have been placed on the movement of poultry after bird flu was found in Leicestershire.

Two zones, one 3km (1.9 mile) and another 10km (6.2 miles) from a poultry farm near Barrow upon Soar, have been put in place, covering Loughborough.

Inside the zones there are tighter measures, including more controls on the movement of poultry, eggs and meat.

Leicestershire County Council has said the risk to public health from avian influenza is "very low".

Further testing is under way and all the birds on the infected farm will be killed.

Measures directed at bird owners inside the zones include keeping records of visitors, records of movement of any poultry products and keeping any birds housed or isolated.


A number of locations across the UK - as well as Europe and Asia - have seen outbreaks of bird flu this year.

The H5N1 virus is highly contagious and can kill poultry flocks.

But the government has said that while bird flu can transmit to humans, it is rare and the risks are low.

It is also safe to eat poultry products, officials said.

The controls will be in place until further notice.

Austria finds bird flu on small chicken farm as virus spreads [WTVB News, 25 Nov 2021]

by Francois Murphy & David Clarke

VIENNA (Reuters) – Austria has found a case of bird flu on a small chicken farm near Vienna airport and is ordering poultry farms with more than 350 birds to keep them indoors, public health agency AGES said on Thursday.

The spread https://reut.rs/3l858m7 of highly pathogenic avian influenza in Europe and Asia has put the poultry industry on alert. Past outbreaks, which usually occur in the autumn, have led to the culling of tens of millions of birds and can lead to trade restrictions.

Known as bird flu, the virus is attracting the attention of epidemiologists too as it can be transmitted to humans. China has reported 21 human infections https://reut.rs/3oTNIe2 with the H5N6 subtype of avian influenza so far this year, more than in the whole of 2020.

“The affected farm’s chickens died or were slaughtered under the authorities’ supervision. The farm was closed,” AGES said in a statement, adding that the case was confirmed on Wednesday.

The farm is in the town of Fischamend, east of Vienna and near the borders with Slovakia and Hungary, both of which have reported outbreaks of bird flu in poultry in the past week.

Bird flu was last detected in Austria early this year, on another small farm, AGES said.

It said the virus was being spread across Europe by migratory birds and that local wild birds such as ducks and geese usually also play a role.

The Health Ministry plans to issue a decree on Thursday ordering poultry farms of more than 350 birds in “risk areas” to keep them inside, AGES said.

It did not elaborate on where the risk areas might be but said all contact between farm birds and wild birds should be avoided and farms should implement protective measures such as only feeding their birds in areas with a roof.

Minnesota Turkey Farm Hit by Bird Flu [krforadio.com, 23 Nov 2021]

By Roy Koenig

A Minnesota turkey farm has been hit with a case of a mild version of avian influenza. The situation is not a food safety issue according to the Minnesota Board of Animal Health, who also states, "This is not the same virus that was the cause of the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI Outbreak in the Midwest in 2015."

The news release from the board indicates the outbreak was found in a turkey flock from Kandiyohi County during a routine test. "Testing birds before they go to market is standard protocol for our poultry flocks in Minnesota because it verifies healthy birds are sent to market, and if disease is detected, we can hold the flock and work quickly with producers to address the disease," said Dr. Beth Thompson, State Veterinarian.

The flock was quarantined on Monday, November 22. The animal health board is continuing to test the flock "as well as commercial poultry operations and individuals with backyard flocks within 10 kilometers for signs of the disease. Avian influenza is not a food safety issue."

Slovakia reports bird flu outbreak in poultry – OIE [WTVB News, 23 Nov 2021]

by Sybille de La Hamaide & Gus Trompiz

PARIS (Reuters) – Slovakia has reported an outbreak of the highly pathogenic H5N1 bird flu virus among backyard poultry, the Paris-based World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) said on Tuesday.

The outbreak followed several outbreaks among poultry farms in Europe and Asia in recent weeks in a sign the virus is spreading quickly again.

The virus was detected in 14 backyard birds in Dunajska Streda, southeast of Bratislava, the OIE said, citing a report from the Slovakian authorities.

Bird flu added to COVID-19 in Tatarstan [Realnoe vremya, 23 Nov 2021]

by Eleonora Rylova

Farmers in Tukay District have to slaughter their poultry, Minnikhanov is concerned about pensioners, while Kazan and Almetyevsk were short-charged

The introduction of new restrictions due to the strained situation due to COVID-19 and new trouble in the form of a bird flu outbreak — these are two hot-button issues among those that were discussed at a traditional Saturday meeting with Rustam Minnikhanov in the House of Government on 20 November. Also, it became known that large-scale repairs in blocks of flats hadn’t been completed in 10 cities of the republic. A shortage of financing from local budgets is the culprit. Only 64% of money envisaged by the programme was received, Kazan and Almetyevsk are key debtors. Read more in Realnoe Vremya’s report.

“Transport is that zone where one can get infected faster”
Tatarstan President Rustam Minnikhanov started the meeting with a topic that wasn’t on the agenda deciding to get the priorities right. He claimed that the tense situation in the republic due to COVID-19 required new restrictive measures. Since Monday 22 November, only those adults of the republic who have QR codes (about vaccination or recovery from the coronavirus in the last six months) or certificate of a medical exemption have been able to use public transport.

“Transport is that zone where one can get infected faster, of course, people have mixed feelings about these novelties, but we don’t have choice. The situation in those countries that took this road is already stabilising,” the Tatarstan president stressed.

Rustam Minnikhanov touched on pensioners who have the lowest vaccination rate, just 49%.

Meanwhile, according to him, most beds in COVID-19 hospitals are occupied precisely by citizens older than 60 years. They account for 85% of deaths. To stimulate vaccination in this group of population, the citizens above 60 years who don’t have a QR code or medical exemption will have their social transport cards blocked.

“The elderly are in the high risk group because they seriously suffer from COVID-19. We are trying to protect them as much as possible,” Minnikhanov stressed.

According to the president, from 15,000 to 30,000 citizens are daily vaccinated in Tatarstan.

1,9 million people have already received at least one dose, 1,4 million have been fully vaccinated. 54,000 people have been revaccinated. The head of the republic noted that the growth pace of new infection cases was falling, but it was necessary to save the dynamics so that people could calmly celebrate New Year, which is around the corner, “so that they will be positive.”

Minnikhanov reminded the audience that it has been ordered to suspend the workers who haven’t received the first dose since 9 November according to a decree of the chief state sanitary doctor of Tatarstan, besides people who have a medical exemption or recovered from the disease in the last six months.

“Directors of enterprises and organisations must mandatorily comply with the decree. This is in your interests. Your employees must be healthy, shouldn’t pose a threat to their colleagues and their families. The work is running very smoothly in those workplaces where managers considered this issue responsibly. There is no other way. We will strictly keep an eye on this,” the Tatarstan president said.

Chief veterinarian instructed farmers to start slaughtering poultry
Besides coronavirus, another trouble has appeared in Tatarstan, which is the bird flu. In autumn, it was registered in neighbouring regions: in Saratov, Samara, Orenburg, Kirov Oblasts, Bashkortostan and Udmurtia. On 19 November, it “crossed the border.” As Director of the Main Veterinary Office of the Tatarstan Cabinet of Ministers and chief state veterinarian inspector of Tatarstan Almaz Khisamutdinov explained, an outbreak of very pathogenic bird flu were detected at a quail farm in Tukay District. The farm bred 42,000 adult quails and 10,000 quail chicks. All of them had to be destroyed. Another 48,000 eggs and 171 kg of meat in the farm’s warehouse were disposed of too.

The five-kilometre outbreak area includes 3 settlements of the district. Their residents keep over 3,500 different kinds of birds.

“Today we cannot permit the infection to keep spreading. Farm owners must start slaughtering poultry they have raised for their own needs. Those who breed the poultry on an industrial scale for sale must switch to a closed maintenance regime and comply with all our requirements and instructions of Russia’s agricultural safety watchdog,” Khisamutdinov gave farmers valuable instructions.

Also, he urged them to be careful about where the fodder is brought from and disinfect the amenities so that employees don’t bring the virus on their clothes and shoes. Rustam Minnikhanov reminded that farmers must meet all the requirements given by the veterinarian office. He also urged them to calculate the losses the farmers would have.

“It is better to act strictly on time. It is necessary to introduce very stringent control in all the enterprises that deal with poultry: over staff, fodder, following the rules. All these issues must be seriously overseen,” the Tatarstan president said.

Kazan and Almetyevsk considered debtors
At the Saturday meeting, they traditionally talked about the execution of republican major repair programmes. Tatarstan Minister of Construction, Architecture and Utilities Marat Ayzatullin reported that nowadays 15 in 27 programmes have been implemented, that’s to say, 1,030 in 3,488 facilities have been repaired. Another 12 programmes are still in work. It is necessary to complete 38 facilities and a number of blocks of flats in 10 municipalities for over 1,7 billion rubles.

Kindergarten No. 104 in Kazan, four hospital buildings in Nizhnekamsk, Chistopol, Bugulma and Leninogorsk, two children camps, four facilities that belong to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, a series of sports venues are among the places where big repairs haven’t yet ended. Only 48 in 413 educational establishments have been repaired.

Ayzatullin delivered a report reading that last week contractors completed works in the last facilities in two programmes. So 881 facilities have been repaired for 1,4 billion rubles in six engineering infrastructure modernisation areas.

The minister said there was a delay in the repairs of houses because 15% of this programme is financed by municipal money, while there is a shortage of money. Nowadays 740 million rubles, or 64% of the amount envisaged by the programme, has been received from local budgets.
The republic’s two richest cities — Kazan and Almetyevsk — unexpectedly turned out to be debtors.

Only 34% of settlements are in the registry
Tatarstan Minister of Land and Property Fanil Agliullin noted that today the United State Real Estate Registry contains information about only 34% of settlements (1,059 in 3,119), which are parts of 293 municipalities. To include them in the registry, it is necessary to elaborate general plans of 327 municipalities. If the pace stays, this will take more than 8 years, the speaker said.

He added that it is also necessary to create 565 projects on land use and development rules. 130 rules have been approved since 2018. But territorial zones only in 15 approved rules have been added to the cadastral registry.

Fanil Agliullin named the reasons for the delay. It is the absence of information about the borders of territorial zones in the materials of rules. Also, the executive committee (client) doesn’t send information about the borders of territorial zones to the registry or stops further actions after being denied cadastral registration.

The Ministry of Land and Property reported on the course of works designed to establish the borders of the Republic of Tatarstan. The total length of the republic’s border is about 3,500 kilometres. It is necessary to add information about eight parts of the border with neighbouring regions to the registry. The minister called 570 of them “problematic”, nowadays 90% of issues have been resolved, the work on 29 segments goes on.

Working projects on borders were approved at joint meetings of task forces regarding the borders with Orenburg Oblast and the Chuvash Republic, the Republic of Mari El, Samara Oblast and the Republic of Bashkortostan. An agreement with Orenburg Oblast signed with the Republic of Tatarstan has been sent to the region’s governor.

Works on the approval of projects of the border with Ulyanovsk Oblast are about to end. Joint events and three rounds of negotiations on the discussion of the border’s project were held. Nowadays the final round of talks is being prepared.

22 segments remain unapproved on the border with the Udmurt Republic. The materials on the border near Agryz city prepared by the administration of Agryz District, Tatarstan, and Malopurgino District, Udmurtia, were the foundation of the project.

The performer of works to establish the borders have not yet been chosen in Orenburg and Ulyanovsk Oblasts, the Republics of Mari El and Bashkortostan. Due to this, the works on the projects are done by the Spatial Data Fund of the Republic of Tatarstan.

Zelenodolsk District asks the republic for money
Governor of Zelenodolsk District Mikhail Afanasyev reported on socio-economic development and asked the republic to help to repair the road at the entrance to the city and organise water supply and discharge in the Raifa area, which doesn’t have centralised sewerage in general.

The road repair project is already ready and was inspected, only money is needed to start the works. While the Raifa area doesn’t have centralised sewerage in general, this is why Afanasyev asked the president for support with engineering sewerage for villages and settlements of this territory.

Also, the head of the district reminded the audience that the municipality was preparing to celebrate the 90th jubilee since it obtained the status of city. On this occasion, Afanasyev invited the president, thanked him for supporting the initiative of giving Zelenodolsk the status of Labour Merit City.

“Hopefully, on its jubilee, Zelenodolsk will get this honourable status,” Afanasyev expressed his hope.

Measures in place after Bird Flu outbreak in North Fambridge | Echo [Echo, 22 Nov 2021]

By Jessica Day-Parker

PRECAUTIONARY measures are being put in place after an outbreak of bird flu has been confirmed at a premise in North Fambridge.

Essex County Council has confirmed the isolated outbreak is in birds and there are no cases in people.

This is the second outbreak of Avian Influenza in Essex in the past two weeks but the county council says there is no evidence to suggest the two are linked.

The response is being led by Essex County Council, Maldon District Council, Chelmsford City Council, Rochford District Council and the Animal and Plant Health Agency.

Health officials have visited the site and taken actions including testing and cleansing.

Avian Influenza is a disease which mainly affects birds but on rare occasions it can affect mammals including humans.

Due to this a number of precautionary measures are being put in place.

Officers will be visiting 965 houses and commercial properties within a 3km zone detailing actions which need to be undertaken and who to contact in the event of a suspected case.

Residents are required to notify Essex County Council of any poultry on their premises and to avoid moving poultry in and out of the 3km zone.

Road signs will be put up on roads entering or leaving the 3km zone.

Anyone who is concerned should call NHS 111 or speak to their GP.

People in direct contact with the affected birds have been contacted and offered appropriate preventative treatment.

John Spence, the county council’s cabinet member for adults and health, said: “It is important to reassure people that the risk of anyone becoming infected as a result of an outbreak like this is extremely low.

“Nevertheless, it is important that we put the correct precautions in place and working with Defra, Maldon District Council, Rochford District Council and Chelmsford City Council this is what we have done.

"We will be visiting premises around the site of the outbreak, and offering information and advice, over the coming days.”

Pet owners with other animals don't usually need to take other action.

If a person has concerns regarding their pet they should contact their private vet.

Richard Siddall, Maldon District Council’s leader designate, said: “As the local council, we are ready to help our colleagues at Defra, the Animal and Plant Health Agency and Essex County Council in any way we can, and particularly with activity to make local people aware of this outbreak.

“The important thing is for people to react sensibly, understand there is minimal risk to human health, and if you keep birds then to follow the measures set out by the authorities.”

The Food Standards Agency has said on the basis of scientific evidence Avian Influenza poses a very low food safety risk for UK consumers.

Properly cooked poultry and poultry products, including eggs, are safe to eat.

Dr David Edwards, Public Health England’s Regional Deputy Director (Acting), UK Health Security Agency East, said: “Avian Influenza is primarily a disease of birds and the risk to the general public’s health is very low.

"We are working closely with Defra to monitor the situation and have provided the necessary health advice to anyone on site as a precaution.

“We know the importance of washing hands when it comes to COVID and the same applies here – try not to touch any sick or dead birds and make sure to wash your hands thoroughly with soap after contact with any animal.”

Bird flu confirmed at Blackpool's Stanley Park as total of 15 birds killed [Accrington Observer, 22 Nov 2021]

By Jamie Lopez

Blackpool Council says a total of 15 birds have died with similar symptoms

One of the swans which died at a Blackpool park has tested positive bird flu, it has been confirmed.

Three swans died at Stanley Park after showing symptoms of the disease, also known as avian influenza.

Blackpool Council says a total of 15 birds have died with similar symptoms and confirmed that one of the swans was carrying the disease.

A cordon has been erected after the birds died and while the park is still open, people are asked not to go near the edge of the lake.

Avian influenza is a disease which mainly affects birds but on rare occasions it can affect mammals including humans.

Consequently, several precautionary measures have been put in place around the several areas in where it has been identified in Lancashire and Cumbria - including a 3km protection zone, a 10km surveillance zone and the humane culling of birds at risk of infection

A spokesperson for Blackpool Council said: “Unfortunately one of the swans that died at Stanley Park last week has tested positive for Avian Influenza.

“Sadly 15 birds have now died with similar symptoms.

“We know that many people love visiting Stanley Park and will find this upsetting news. We can assure you that the birds are well fed and we are keeping a close eye on them.

“Although the risk to the general public’s health is very low it is vitally important visitors to the park follow the signage that is in place.”

Over the last week, disease control zones were put in place in Kirkham, Preston, South Ribble, Wyre,Fylde and Copeland in Cumbria.

The Cumbrian case has been confirmed by the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs as being highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), which is the more serious type and is often fatal in birds. However, the risk to public health remains “very low”.

Blackpool Council has issued advice to those visiting Stanley Park, including to respect the cordon and not walk by the lake or dogs in the water. It also warned people not to touch any injured or deceased birds.

The spokesperson added: “Thank you to everyone who has offered support and assistance. Our team has been specially trained and has appropriate PPE to handle the birds to minimise any risks.

We will continue to keep you updated and will lift the cordon once it is safe to do so.”

Bird flu outbreak on aristocrat's country estate puts Christmas dinner turkeys at risk [Mirror.co.uk, 22 Nov 2021]

By Alahna Kindred

This is the third outbreak of the highly-contagious H5N1 strain of avian flu in the East Anglia region recorded by the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs in recent days

A bird flu outbreak has been confirmed on an aristocrat's estate in an area where millions of turkeys are being raised for Christmas dinner.

The disease is carried by migrating birds and has been found in a small flock of pet birds including chickens and turkeys on the Holkham Estate in Norfolk.

The small flock on the Holkham Estate is being culled to prevent the spread of the disease.

Temporary control zones have been set to restrict the movements of the birds in surrounding areas.

This is the third outbreak of the H5N1 strain of avian flu in the region recorded by the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs in recent days.

On November 11, the highly-contagious virus was found at an animal sanctuary at Kirby Cross, Essex.

It was then found again 12 miles away at "premises" in North Fambridge near Maldon.

The latest outbreak was invited yesterday evening after several birds suddenly died at a rented house in the 3,000 across of parkland that surrounding Holkham Hall.

The 18th century Palladian mansion is home to Thomas Coke, the 8th Earl of Leicester, and his family.

Norfolk is the country's turkey-producing area with dozens of farms and suppliers.

One includes Bernard Matthews, which produces turkeys to get ready for Christmas dinner tables.

A spokesperson at Holkham said: "A case of bird flu has been identified at a residential address on the Holkham estate in a very small domesticated flock of housed foul.

"A 3km temporary control zone is now in place and the situation is being monitored carefully."

Defra said further testing was underway to confirm the pathogenicity of the virus strain at Holkham to try and establish how infectious it is.

A spokesperson for the department added: "A number of birds have already died on the premises, all remaining birds will be humanely culled to limit the risk of onward transmission."

An Avian Influenza Prevention Zone (AIPZ) has been in place across the UK since November 3 with all bird keepers - whether large commercial farms or back-yard hobbyists - having to follow strict biosecurity measures to help protect their flocks.

However, outbreaks have been recorded in Cumbria, Warwickshire, Cheshire and North Yorkshire as well as Essex.

Previous, outbreaks of the disease had led to the culls of thousands of turkeys and ducks in East Anglia last November.

UK food and health agencies advise that the risk to public health from the virus is very low and that avian influenzas pose a very low food safety risk for consumers.

Health officials still insist that properly cooked poultry and poultry products, such as eggs, are safe to eat.

The temporary control zones around Holkham restricts all unlicensed movements of poultry and requires flocks to be kept indoors or isolated with no contact with other birds.

Lesser restrictions apply to birds kept with 10km of the infected flock.

Poultry keepers and members of the public should report dead wild birds to Defra's helpline on 03459 33 55 77 (option 7) and keepers should report suspicion of disease to APHA on 03000 200 301.

BBC News Bird flu outbreak confirmed in Wells-next-the-Sea [ABC News, 22 Nov 2021]

Once again, Europe is experiencing bird flu outbreaks – the deadliest animal disease known. In chickens and turkeys, over 90% of an affected flock will die within a couple of weeks, although in ducks and geese the disease may be milder.

Bird flu outbreaks are caused by avian influenza viruses, most of which cause mild infection in birds, but two sub-types (called H5 and H7) can occur as a very deadly virus.

Flu viruses have a high mutation rate and can exchange genes when two viruses simultaneously infect a single host. These genetic changes allow them to change their make up and escape immunity in their host and continue spreading.

In the previous century, epidemics of the deadly bird flu were rare and always originated from mild H5 or H7 viruses that mutated into a deadly virus while transmitting in a chicken or turkey flock. Until 1996, resulting outbreaks and epidemics were either effectively controlled or faded out due to a lack of susceptible hosts.

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H5N1 emerges
Infections caused by these deadly viruses were also never seen in wild birds. This changed after the emergence of the H5N1 virus in China. Outbreaks in poultry were not effectively controlled. The virus gradually expanded its territory across China, and from 2003, further into Asia and Africa. Humans in close contact with infected poultry could become infected, resulting in the death of 456 people to date.

Wild birds became infected because of a spillover from the ongoing spread of the virus in poultry. This gave rise to new H5 viruses that were still deadly to poultry, but of little harm to certain waterbird species. Consequently, migratory waterbirds could fly thousands of kilometres, despite being infected by these viruses, and so were able to spread the viruses over very large distances.

In 2005, wild waterbirds introduced the virus to Europe for the first time during fall migration. This was the first sign that the ecology of these viruses had completely changed; a virus strictly associated with poultry had adapted itself to wild water birds, tremendously increasing its survival potential.

Each year in spring and summer, waterbirds mingle on their breeding grounds in Siberia and mix their influenza viruses, creating new variants they then bring to Europe, Asia and Africa during fall migration, causing deadly outbreaks in poultry.

Obviously, there is little we can do to control infections in the wild water birds. Surveillance is recommended to assess the risk of virus exposure to poultry and the removal of carcasses of dead birds from the environment.

Poultry farmers in areas with many waterbirds that stay there over winter are advised to keep poultry inside and should implement biosecurity measures to keep the virus out of their sheds. Faeces of infected wild birds can contain high amounts of virus and can easily enter a poultry shed by uncleaned boots or materials.

Current biosecurity programmes have not been sufficiently effective to prevent infections in risk areas. In the season 2020-21 there were over 1,000 outbreaks in the EU alone. And in the current season, tens of outbreaks have already been detected.

The yearly recurring outbreaks, with the associated mass killing of poultry, are an obvious threat to the sustainability of poultry farming.

Poultry vaccine
Vaccination could be a tool to help solve the problem. However, it is forbidden in many countries and its use results in trade barriers for poultry. The reason for the trade barriers is that most current vaccines prevent disease, but don’t stop transmission of the infection.

A vaccine that stops disease but doesn’t stop transmission will result in “silent” virus spread, which compromises outbreak control and is undesirable because the virus has the potential to spread from animals to humans.

Fortunately, most of the currently circulating H5 virus variants are not as dangerous to humans as their ancestor H5N1. Still, caution is needed as this could easily change because of the virus’s ability to change its genetic code.

We urgently need effective vaccines for poultry – it is the only sustainable solution. New-generation vaccines may have more potential to control bird flu, but their effectiveness to stop virus transmission should be demonstrated in the field. Such vaccines will not only protect poultry but also minimise exposure of humans to the virus.

Bird flu: What is avian influenza, how does it spread, which viruses infect humans and should we be worried? [ABC News, 22 Nov 2021]

By Belinda Smith

The COVID-19 pandemic may have crushed seasonal flu to historically low levels, but another type of flu — avian influenza or bird flu — has showed no signs of slowing.

In the past month, severe bird flu has popped up in poultry farms across Europe and Asia, with Japan confirming its third outbreak for the winter season so far.

The outbreaks follow Japan's worst winter for bird flu yet. More than 3 million chickens were destroyed in 2020-21.

Closer to home, six Victorian farms, including an emu farm, culled hundreds of thousands of birds in 2020 and early 2021 after multiple outbreaks involving three different strains of the virus.

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While bird flu viruses do generally stick to infecting birds, they occasionally make the potentially deadly leap to other animals, including humans.

In May, for instance, the first confirmed human case of a rare bird flu subtype was reported in China.

Ricardo Soares Magalhães, an infectious disease epidemiologist at the University of Queensland, says this recent spate of new bird flu strains that can hop to humans is unusual.

"Usually, you'd see these viruses just affecting the poultry population, and very few human cases, or none at all," Dr Soares Magalhães said.

"But most of the different examples we've had in the last year-and-a-half have been viruses that had some human transmission."

And despite the COVID-19 pandemic being driven by a coronavirus, epidemiologists are "very wary" when it comes to emerging flu strains, he added, with influenza still at the top of pandemic-potential diseases.

What is bird flu and where does it come from?
Bird flu is caused by a handful of influenza viruses, just like the seasonal flu that circulates each winter.

ABCs of Hs and Ns:
• Influenza A viruses, which infect humans and animals, are classified into subtypes depending on two spike proteins that cover their surface:
o haemagglutinin
o neuraminidase
• There are 18 different haemagglutinin (H1 to H18) and 11 neuraminidase (N1 to N11) proteins
• Each virus has one type of H and one type of N (such as H1N1 and H3N2)

But while seasonal flu infections rise in cool weather, drop off in spring and spread easily in human populations, bird flu — with the odd exception — is transmitted only between animals or from animals to humans.

It mostly circulates in wild birds, and spreads when migratory waterfowl fly between their summer and winter homes.

Larger birds, such as ducks and geese, tend to ferry bird flu viruses around the world, said Frank Wong, a CSIRO Australian Animal Health Laboratory microbiologist and World Organisation for Animal Health reference expert for highly pathogenic and low pathogenic avian influenza.

(Generally, if smaller migratory birds such as shorebirds are infected with bird flu, they're more likely to delay their migration, or not set out on their journey at all.)

And now, it's peak autumn waterfowl migration time in the northern hemisphere, which is why European and Asian countries are seeing an uptick in bird flu outbreaks, Dr Wong added.

"When the birds congregate [to feed and breed] … mixing of birds also results in mixing of viruses, including influenza viruses. Then when the birds fly south or westwards for the winter, they carry those viruses with them.

"If those wild birds interact with domestic birds, the viruses they're carrying might spill over and cause outbreaks in domestic poultry."

Free-range farming may increase spillover odds too.

YOUTUBEVictoria's worst outbreak of bird flu is raising questions about free-range farming.
Most bird flu viruses out there are low pathogenic strains, causing little to no disease to the wild birds that carry them.

But the problem is they can quickly become highly pathogenic, incredibly contagious and lethal.

Once a highly pathogenic bird flu virus has made its way into a poultry farm, it can spread rapidly and devastate entire flocks.

What's the bird flu situation in Australia?
Australia is in a pretty good place when it comes to bird flu.

There have been only eight outbreaks of the disease in Australia since the 1970s, with the biggest happening in Victoria last year.

Unlike Europe and Asia, Australia has no large waterfowl seasonal migrations from abroad, which bring in new viruses each year, Dr Wong said.

"Australian wild ducks are different species to migratory ducks and geese up in the northern hemisphere.

"Our endemic species of ducks are what we call nomadic. They don't travel according to the seasons — they mainly stay within the Australo-Papuan region — and they move according to drought and rain cycles."

Australia also has stringent controls around how poultry is shuttled into and around the country.

What are the symptoms of bird flu?
• Sudden death
• Difficulty breathing, such as coughing, sneezing, or rasping
• Swelling and purple discolouration of the head, comb, wattles and neck
• Rapid drop in eating, drinking and egg production
• Ruffled feathers, dopiness, closed eyes
• Diarrhoea

And the National Avian Influenza Wild Birds surveillance programme analyses bird poo and the like to keep tabs on the low-pathogenic H7 strains circulating in the wild, Dr Wong said.

Among other biosecurity measures, local regulations state that poultry farms cannot be located near lakes or other bodies of water, Dr Soares Magalhães said: "Just being a few kilometres away can be a risk factor."

That's because the virus doesn't always need direct contact or faeces to spread between birds.
"Because it's a respiratory virus, it can be aerosolised at very large distances. So having those water bodies nearby will attract wild birds, and that means you will have a greater chance of transmission through the air."

Still, these measures aren't completely watertight. And if bird flu is detected in an Australian poultry farm, the policy is clear.

"In Australia, we don't want these viruses around, so regardless of if it's a low pathogenic strain or a high pathogenic strain, depopulation is the way to go," Dr Soares Magalhães said.

Depopulation — or culling — may seem an extreme measure, but the disease can quickly cause debilitation and death, especially if it's a highly pathogenic strain.

"The best strategy from an animal welfare perspective is to depopulate the flock," Dr Soares Magalhães said.

"That happens on a radius of 3 kilometres around the affected zone, and then we impose a surveillance zone out to another 7km."

So that's birds. What about humans?
For a human to get bird flu, they need direct contact with infected birds, or contaminated feathers or faeces. It can't be passed on by eating eggs and cooked meat.

So far, there's been very little human-to-human bird flu transmission, but that doesn't mean new strains won't gain that ability, Dr Soares Magalhães said.

"COVID [which probably originated in bats] is a good example of that."

Pigs can be infected with more than one flu virus, and if that happens, they can act as a virus mixing vessel of sorts to produce new viruses.

Influenza's genetic code, which dictates qualities such as the animals it infects and its contagiousness, is stored as a strand of RNA. If two (or more) influenza viruses meet in a pig's body, they can swap sections of that RNA strand.

Most of the time, these mutations die out. Occasionally, they might spawn a particularly pathogenic strain.

"The H5N1 virus is a good example of a virus that emerged through the interaction of a poultry virus with a swine virus, and has elements of a human virus," Dr Soares Magalhães said.
"But there are some exceptions to that rule.

"H7N9 is a virus that did not need a pig at all. It came straight from chickens to human beings."
Which are the viruses to watch?

Of the different bird flu viruses, H5 and H7 subtypes have the propensity to mutate from low to high pathogenic strains.

The H5N1 subtype, for instance, was first detected in a human in Hong Kong in the 1990s and, in 2003, kicked off a major bird flu outbreak, killing at least 280 people.

There have been more than 860 confirmed cases of H5N1 in humans to date, 456 of whom died.

"The current lineage of highly pathogenic H5 that's causing outbreaks in the northern hemisphere has adapted to be more amenable for infection in many different wild bird species, including ducks and geese," Dr Wong said.

"This has allowed it to have this rapid seasonal spread, when the conditions are right."

Then there's H7N9, which was first reported in humans in China in 2013. It has been reported in more than 1,500 people since and can cause severe disease.

What makes this virus trickier to contain is that it doesn't produce many symptoms in birds.
"That virus is actually a little more insidious," Dr Wong said.

"When a low-pathogenic H7N9 circulates in chickens or ducks, it's harder to spot because the chickens or ducks may not show signs of disease.

"And the right interplay of genes that virus carried [allowed] multiple spillovers into humans."

Just recently, a third H type was found in humans. China reported that a H10N3 virus hospitalised a 41-year-old man.

When it was detected in birds, epidemiologists weren't overly concerned about it spilling over into humans, because there's no history of H10 viruses infecting us, Dr Soares Magalhães said.

"But then there was a human infection as a result of that virus, and the mechanism of transmission was similar to H7N9, whereby there was no indication of pig involvement."
So how worried should we be about a bird flu pandemic?

The COVID-19 pandemic has seen more funding made available for surveillance programs for diseases such as bird flu.

But even before the pandemic, regions where most bird flu strains first popped up — such as China — really stepped up their poultry farm biosecurity strategies, Dr Soares Magalhães said.

"China will perhaps be the location where new viruses emerge, but they will stop it very quickly."

So it's very much a watch and wait scenario, but we might not have to wait too long.

Dr Soares Magalhães's spatial epidemiology group is helping a World Health Organization program rank countries in South-East Asia according to their capabilities to control diseases that, like bird flu, can jump from animals to humans.

But the part of the world he has an eye on is further afield.

"It's very likely that new viruses will start to emerge; not in the traditional countries where that has happened, but in [what was known as] the Eastern Bloc," Dr Soares Magalhães said.

Even though the biosecurity of farms in the region has been scaled up in the past couple of decades, it "still tends to be suboptimal", he said.

Neighbouring Poland is currently grappling with multiple outbreaks of highly pathogenic H5N1 bird flu.

"Poland is the largest poultry producer in Europe, so they have the largest at-risk population.
"No wonder Poland is bearing the brunt of this."

Climate change could encourage new strains of bird flu to emerge too. As the world warms, migratory birds may spend winter elsewhere, and mix with different bird populations — and viruses.

"Every single year, we will have wildlife-originated influenza viruses in the poultry population, and I'm sure there will be a time when a virus similar to H5N1 will pop up," Dr Soares Magalhães said.

"There's a lot of naive poultry populations out there, and this gives a lot of opportunities for these new emerging viruses to really be devastating.

"Everyone is expecting a big resurgence in the next few years."

The southern German state has also imposed a lockdown on all districts

Farm lobby calls for chicken import ban after bird flu outbreaks [BusinessWorld Online, 17 Nov 2021]

By Revin Mikhael D. Ochave

A FARMING industry association, the Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura (SINAG), said the government needs to ban chicken and other poultry imports due to outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), also known as bird flu, in Asia and Europe.

SINAG Chairman Rosendo O. So said a poultry import ban needs to be in place until the Department of Agriculture (DA) fully implements a system for first border inspection of all imported agricultural products.

“Will we wait for bird flu to enter the country and destroy the livelihood of families relying on the poultry industry? We should have learned our lessons from the African Swine Fever (ASF) and the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic,” Mr. So said in a statement Wednesday.

SINAG said bird flu outbreaks were reported in parts of Japan, Norway, and South Korea.

“South Korea reported an outbreak at a farm of around 770,000 poultry in Chungcheongbuk-do. Japan reported its first outbreak at a poultry farm in the northeast of the country. In Europe, Norway reported an H5N1 bird flu outbreak in the Rogaland region in a flock of 7,000 birds,” the group said.

SINAG said imports should not be allowed in the absence of a quarantine inspection system at the port of first entry.

“We are the only country that is not applying the global standard of quarantine inspection at the port of first entry of any imported food, food products and agricultural commodity to ensure food safety and public health security,” Mr. So said.

The DA is set to establish the first commodity examination facility for agriculture at the Subic Freeport Zone, which will subject all agricultural and food imports to 100% sampling and laboratory testing.

The DA’s original plan was to build such a facility at the Manila International Container Port, which has been delayed.

The DA recently implemented a ban on poultry imports from the Netherlands after it reported an outbreak of H5N1 HPAI.