Archive for April, 2006

Thursday, April 13th, 2006

Bird flu swan was from outside UK

A dead swan found in Fife which tested positive for the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu was a whooper swan, DNA tests by government scientists have found.

The breed originates from outside the UK but it was unclear whether the dead bird picked up the disease abroad.

A number of migratory whooper swans have recently been checked in the UK and all results have been negative.

Some experts have suggested the swan could have died in another country and been washed up on the coast.

No other birds have tested positive for H5N1 since the discovery in Cellardyke on 29 March.

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Sunday, April 9th, 2006

Link to the bbc in depth section about bird flu

http://newsrss.bbc.co.uk/rss/newsonline_uk_edition/in_depth

/world/2005/bird_flu/rss.xml#

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Sunday, April 9th, 2006

As of today no new cases of H5N1 have been confirmed

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Thursday, April 6th, 2006

Bird flu H5N1 avian influenza

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

5 March 2006
 
 

UK BREAKTHROUGH AGAINST AVIAN FLU

CONTAINS AND KILLS THE H5N1 VIRUS

A team of biotechnologists from Citrox Ltd in Middlesbrough, UK, have achieved a significant breakthrough against the H5N1 bird flu virus. A non-toxic, organic, bioflavanoid based compound, Citrox MDC, has been tested at Professor John Oxford’s Retroscreen Virology Ltd (London) and proven to be 99.9998% effective in challenge work against the H5N1 virus, and is now commercially available under the trade name NVIROX, distributed by UTO Ltd, Halifax. Citrox Ltd has asked the Government to urgently consider Nvirox as a key element its strategic planning to combat avian flu.
 
A proposal (attached) outlining how Nvirox could be used as the most effective, cost-efficient, and environmentally friendly way to combat avian flu in the UK was delivered on Thursday 2 March to the Secretaries of State, Patricia Hewitt (Health) and Margaret Beckett (DEFRA), and to all other members of the Ministerial Committee on Influenza Pandemic Planning (MISC32) currently considering the government’s response to the potential ‘bird flu’ crisis.

Nvirox is available in sufficient quantities to combat any outbreak of H5N1 within 24 hours of the discovery of an outbreak, anywhere in the country, preventing the Avian Flu virus from spreading and thus minimising the risk of the virus entering the human population. Its use will enable the UK to retain its disease-free status, removing the need for costly large scale culling or vaccination.

An aerial decontaminant, Nvirox is applied by the method of ‘fogging’ in all types of poultry houses. It is easy to use, with no special precautions needing to be taken in its application as a 2.0% solution in water as a spray (or ‘fog’) to the environment in which the poultry and birds live, and to footwear, clothing, vehicles and other possible transmitters of the virus.
 
Unlike other compounds in general use, Nvirox is safe. It is non-toxic and environmentally friendly, posing no danger to either humans, or livestock. It is non-carcinogenic, non-allergic, non-mutagenic and non-corrosive. As a blend of natural compounds based on organic ingredients (compliant with regulations EU 20092/91) Nvirox affords organic farmers the opportunity to combat avian flu without compromising their organic status.
 
Applying Nvirox is vastly more cost efficient than administering anti-viral drugs, instituting a programme of vaccination, or mass culling. Depending on circumstances, the cost of using NVIROX to protect poultry against the H5N1 virus is in a range of between 10 pence and 20 pence per bird, per year. Moreover, other beneficial effects of Nvirox in respect of reduced mortality and increased feed efficiency would in all likelihood offset this cost. Commercial trials of Nvirox used as a fogging or misting agent in trials in poultry houses have shown a 40% reduction in mortality and a 6% improvement in feed utilisation. It appears that the reduction in pathogen burden in the atmosphere is improving the birds’ survival and growth rates.
 
Ian Ripley, Managing Director of Citrox Ltd, a former organic chemist who worked in research and development for ICI, and the man who developed Citrox MDC, stated:

“We now have the tools to contain the virus wherever it strikes. Not only will we be able to spray the chicken houses and farms, but also all forms of transport to prevent the spread of the virus. We are delighted to have been able to formulate products that are effective, safe, non-toxic, easy to use, and environmentally friendly.
 
If you destroy the avian flu virus in poultry and birds you will not only save the British poultry business but also minimise the risk of it entering the human population, or mutating into an even more virulent strain. Vaccination is expensive and merely hides the risk. Culling is not only expensive but the cloud of aerial soup produced during culling is also more likely to lead to infection of humans and a mutation in the strain. We believe that the use of Nvirox is essential in the fight against the possible outbreak of Avian Influenza in the UK and the rest of the world.”

The certification for effectiveness against a number of bird viruses — avian flu, paramyxovirus, and Newcastle disease — was previously awarded by the UK government authority MAFF (now DEFRA) to the Company, but the Citrox scientists recognised that further exhaustive up-to-date tests were necessary to cover any mutations that could have occurred since the original certification. Consequently, further tests have been carried out on the compound Citrox MDC over the last year by the independent laboratories of Retroscreen Virology Ltd (London) that have shown a substantial reduction of the H5N1 strain that makes the Citrox MDC-based product ‘eminently suitable for disinfection and decontamination’.
 
Citrox Ltd is a privately held company and has entered into an exclusive agreement with a financial partner to fund its technology development.

ENDS

For further information and prices please contact : ben@dransfieldpoultry.co.uk
 

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