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New bird flu outbreak: More than 60 farms in France infected
Published time: 22 Dec, 2015 16:38
New
cases of highly pathogenic avian flu in poultry have recently been
detected in south-western regions of France, forcing authorities to step
up sanitary measures.
The
total number of confirmed cases of contamination with the virus in
France has risen to 61, according to a statement from the French
Ministry of Agriculture. The statement was published on Tuesday.
Special
protection zones stretching for between 3 to 10 kilometers around the
farms have been set up until the epidemic ceases, a decree published in
the Official Journal said.
There is currently no evidence that the
virus is transmitted to humans through birds’ eggs, meat or foie gras,
the World Health Organization (WHO) and the European Centre for Disease
and Control (ECDC) stated.
Violent storms and flooding kill at least 16 people in Cannes, Biot, Golfe-Juan and Mandelieu-la-Napoule.
04 Oct 2015 15:25 GMT
About 35,000 homes were confirmed to be without power [Valery Hache/AFP]
At
least 16 people have been killed in and around the French Riviera after
sudden heavy rains prompted flooding, trapping some in cars and in a
retirement home.
Francois Hollande, the French president, said in a
statement on Sunday that people were found dead in the towns of Cannes,
Biot, Golfe-Juan and Mandelieu-la-Napoule in the southeast.
Heavy
flooding along the Cote d'Azur in France's southeast saw the River
Brague burst its banks close to the city of Antibes, sending deadly
waves crashing into a nearby home for the elderly, killing three people.
A
woman in her sixties also died on the street in the city of Cannes when
huge storms hit the region on Saturday night, sending water and debris
coursing down submerged roads in the famous festival town and in
neighbouring Nice.
SARS: French scientists lose 2,300 samples of potentially deadly virus
Institut Pasteur realized tubes were missing during a routine inventory check. Pictured posed.
BY HEATHER SAUL – 15 April 2014
The
renowned Institut Pasteur in France has admitted that it has misplaced
2,349 vials containing samples of the potentially deadly SARS virus and,
despite enlisting help from France’s drug and health safety agency,
have been unable to find them.
The
investigation by the ANSM at the unnamed laboratory failed to locate the
samples, which have been missing since January. It has now filed a case
to the prosecutor of Paris to investigate the disappearance.
The Institut Pasteur has been quick to reassure the public that the vials do not pose any risk, according to The Local.
“The
tubes concerned have no infectious potential,” a statement said.
“Independent experts referred by health authorities have qualified the
risk as 'nil' in regards to available evidence and literature on the
survival of the SAS virus.”
The
Pasteur Institute in Paris has asked the authorities to investigate the
disappearance of more than 2,000 vials containing fragments of the SARS
virus, while insisting that missing samples represent no danger to the
public.
The institute said it discovered the loss of 29 boxes containing 2,349 tiny vials during a routine inventory check.
Professor
Christian Bréchot, the head of the Pasteur Institute, said "human
error" was the most likely explanation, but that they "did not want to
rule anything out."
"From the start, we’ve known that the samples are harmless,’’ he said.
Severe
acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is an airborne virus. In a 2003
outbreak, it spread to 30 countries infecting 8,273 people and causing
a reported 775 deaths, the majority in Hong Kong, for a mortality rate
of almost 10 per cent.
An outbreak of a
SARS-like illness in 2013 caused a reported 40 cases worldwide, two of
them in France, where a 65-year old man died from the illness.
Hundreds
of French school children have fallen victim to a mystery sickness that
has spread like wildfire through their school. All classes have been
suspended and baffled health authorities have advised the school to
close, while they try to determine the cause of the outbreak. Since
January at least 227 pupils at their school in south-western France have
reported headaches, dizziness, vertigo and trouble breathing while, but
health authorities, despite carrying out multiple tests, are no closer
to determining the cause. Earlier this week regional health authorities
in Aquitaine recommended "as a measure of precaution" closing part of
the College Jean-Moulin in Artix, French magazine L'Express reported.
The school apparently remains open for the moment, but all classes have
been suspended. So far the most promising lead was the series of
renovations completed at the secondary (junior high) school over the
winter holidays. It was shortly after classes resumed in January that
pupils began reporting symptoms. The head of the Aquitaine regional
health authority told L'Express they were baffled by the outbreak of
sickness. "This is an unexplained phenomenon. We carried out multiple
environmental analyses, starting with carbon monoxide tests, and so far
everything's come back negative," Michel Laforcade said. Health
inspectors have also checked for volatile compounds that could be in the
air after the renovations, perhaps coming from the glue used to attach
the carpet or materials in the furniture, but that also proven to be a
dead end. The hypothesis of a psychosomatic cause has not been ruled out
for the moment, but it doesn't seem likely in Laforcade's view. "We
don't believe that this many illnesses could have a social cause," He
told L'Express. As their investigation continues, health authorities
plan to keep a close eye on the children who have been withdrawn from
school due to illness. They also expect to carry out a complete analysis
of every material used in the school in an effort to find the cause.
Finding the culprit will take as long as it takes, Laforcarde said,
adding: "This is really unheard of and all hypotheses bare exploring. We
will pass on the information as we get it."
Biohazard name:
Unidentified Illness
Biohazard level:
3/4 Hight
Biohazard desc.:
Bacteria
and viruses that can cause severe to fatal disease in humans, but for
which vaccines or other treatments exist, such as anthrax, West Nile
virus, Venezuelan equine encephalitis, SARS virus, variola virus
(smallpox), tuberculosis, typhus, Rift Valley fever, Rocky Mountain
spotted fever, yellow fever, and malaria. Among parasites Plasmodium falciparum, which causes Malaria, and Trypanosoma cruzi, which causes trypanosomiasis, also come under this level.
Symptoms:
headaches, dizziness, vertigo and trouble breathing
Status:
suspected
.....
A mystery illness has struck hundreds of pupils at a French school. Photo: Jean-Philippe Ksiazek/AFP
Hundreds
of French school children have fallen victim to a mystery sickness that
has spread like wildfire through their school. All classes have been
suspended and baffled health authorities have advised the school to
close, while they try to determine the cause of the outbreak.
Since
January at least 227 pupils at their school in south-western France
have reported headaches, dizziness, vertigo and trouble breathing, but
health authorities, despite carrying out multiple tests, are no closer
to determining the cause.
Earlier this week regional
health authorities in Aquitaine recommended “as a measure of precaution”
closing part of the College Jean-Moulin in Artix, French magazine L’Express reported. The school apparently remains open for the moment, but all classes have been suspended.
So
far the most promising lead was the series of renovations completed at
the secondary (junior high) school over the winter holidays. It was
shortly after classes resumed in January that pupils began reporting
symptoms.
The head of the Aquitaine regional health authority told L’Express they were baffled by the outbreak of sickness.
“This
is an unexplained phenomenon. We carried out multiple environmental
analyses, starting with carbon monoxide tests, and so far everything’s
come back negative,” Michel Laforcade said.
Health inspectors have
also checked for volatile compounds that could be in the air after the
renovations, perhaps coming from the glue used to attach the carpet or
materials in the furniture, but that also proven to be a dead end.
Weakened and exhausted by successive storms, more than 21,000 dead
seabirds washed up on the beaches of the Atlantic coast since late
January, an unprecedented "massacre" for at least a century, announced
today the League for the Protection of Birds (LPO). Until February 24,
21,341 dead seabirds are registered in the Basque country in southern
Finistère and 2,784 sent in rescue centres. Atlantic puffin and
guillemot are the most affected species, and to a lesser extent,
razorbill.
Biohazard name:
Mass. Die-off (birds)
Biohazard level:
1/4 Low
Biohazard desc.:
Bacteria and viruses including Bacillus subtilis, canine hepatitis, Escherichia coli, varicella (chicken pox),
as well as some cell cultures and non-infectious bacteria. At this
level precautions against the biohazardous materials in question are
minimal, most likely involving gloves and some sort of facial
protection. Usually, contaminated materials are left in open (but
separately indicated) waste receptacles. Decontamination procedures for
this level are similar in most respects to modern precautions against
everyday viruses (i.e.: washing one's hands with anti-bacterial soap,
washing all exposed surfaces of the lab with disinfectants, etc). In a
lab environment, all materials used for cell and/or bacteria cultures
are decontaminated via autoclave.
Photo taken on February 10, 2014 shows the bodies of puffins washed up
on a beach in Sainte-Marie-de-Re, western France, after heavy storms.
The Atlantic storms that have buffeted Europe in recent days have killed
at least 5,000 sea birds on the French coast, half of them puffins.
Most of the birds whose bodies have been washed up on beaches between
the Pyrenees and Brittany died of exhaustion or starvation as a result
of days of gale-force winds, which made it impossible for them to fish. |
XAVIER LEOTY via Getty Images
Thousands of birds have been killed in France. The culprit? Winter storms.
In a statement, the League for the Protection of Birds said that violent storms in January and February were responsible for the deaths of 21,341 birds. The country has apparently not seen a bird "slaughter" that large since 1900, the Agence France-Presse reports.
An initial estimate released earlier this month put the death toll at 5,000.
But once the organization enlisted volunteers to help with the count
from the start of the month through Feb. 24, the number rose
dramatically.
Of the species of sea birds affected, the Atlantic puffin
had the highest numbers of deaths, with more than 12,229 deceased
found. Large numbers of the common murre (or black guillemot) and
razor-billed auk were also killed. The league expects the overall death
toll to rise as it continues to track the bodies through the end of the
month.
Storms wash up 500 dead seabirds: Bodies of guillemots and razorbills recovered after they died of exhaustion due to the weather
Storms over the past month have made it hard for birds to hunt and feed
Majority of dead birds were washed up at Chesil Cove in Dorset
But numbers pale in comparison to 15,000 puffins found dead in France
By
Daily Mail Reporter PUBLISHED:
20:22 EST, 25 February 2014
| UPDATED:
20:22 EST, 25 February 2014
Hundreds of seabirds have been washed up along the south-west coast after dying of exhaustion in the recent storms. The
bodies of almost 500 birds, mostly guillemots and razorbills, have been
recovered from the beaches of Cornwall, Devon and Dorset after they
perished at sea. Experts at
the Dorset Wildlife Trust said consistent gale-force storms in the
English Channel during the past month had made it very hard for the
creatures to hunt and feed.
Devastated: The bodies of almost 500 birds,
mostly guillemots - like the one pictured in this stock image - and
razorbills, have been recovered from the beaches of Cornwall, Devon and
Dorset after they perished at sea
The malnutrition coupled with flying in ferocious winds meant they became exhausted and died. Birds fared even worse across the Channel, where 15,000 puffins were found dead on the shores of France. The French League for the Protection of Birds said the tragedy could have a devastating effect on the coming breeding season. The
majority of the dead birds have washed up at sheltered Chesil Cove in
Dorset, having being swept across Lyme Bay by south westerly winds. Some
conservationists have claimed the birds have been killed by a pollutant
similar to palm oil but this has been ruled out by the Dorset Wildlife
Trust (DWT).
Rescue workers stand next to a car crushed by a falling tree near Rheibach, Germany. Photograph: Axel Vogel/Corbis
The death toll across Europe from storms that began sweeping the continent on Sunday has reached at least 12, with Britain, Germany and the Netherlands among the hardest hit. Four people died in the south of England
after winds gusting up to nearly 100mph felled trees, and another four
were killed on Monday in Germany, adding to two deaths at sea off the
German coast on Sunday.
In Amsterdam a woman was killed and
another person injured when a tree by a canal was blown over. Other
injuries were reported around the city from falling debris.
In Denmark
a man died after he was hit by a flying brick north of Copenhagen. In
France a woman was still missing on Monday night after being swept out
to sea from a cliff at Belle-Ile, Brittany.
Transport
infrastructure took a battering across the continent. Sustained winds of
more than 75mph caused the cancellation of 50 flights at Amsterdam's
Schiphol airport, Europe's fourth largest, and there were delays at
Europe's busiest port in Rotterdam.
Hurricane-strength winds topple trees, cut power supplies and cause travel chaos across northern Europe.
As a deadly storm moves from Britain to mainland Europe, a tree falls on a car in Amsterdam, killing a woman.
Large waves break against the dyke at the port of Boulogne in northern France.
People watch a boat from the shore as a storm passes over the beach in Scheveningen in the Netherlands.
Some
10 people have died in Germany, France, the Netherlands and Scandinavia
after a fatal storm that struck Britain swept eastwards to northern
Europe.
A Danish man was killed near Copenhagen by a collapsing
wall, a woman was killed by falling trees in Amsterdam and a 47-year-old
woman was found dead after being swept out to sea during a cliff walk
on Belle Ile in France.
At least seven people died in Germany with
falling trees killing several drivers. One man also drowned and a
66-year-old woman died when a wall collapsed on her, German media
reported. Thirteen floor high scaffolding comes down in Merksem, AntwerpenHurricane-strength
winds cut power supplies and forced the cancellation of hundreds of
flights and train journeys across the continent.
Southern Sweden
was hit by torrential rain, and winds up to 84mph (136kph) blew down
trees, blocking roads and bringing down power lines, leaving around than
50,000 homes without electricity.
As evening fell there were no reports of injuries in Sweden but widespread reports of property damage.
LONDON—At
least 11 people were killed on Monday as a fierce storm tore across
northern Europe, causing mass disruption to transport.
Four people
were killed in Britain and three in Germany as heavy rain and high
winds battered the region. The storm also claimed two victims in The
Netherlands, one in France and one in Denmark.
Rough conditions at
sea also forced rescuers to abandon the search for a 14-year-old boy
who disappeared while playing in the surf on a southern English beach on
Sunday.
British Prime Minister David Cameron described the loss of life as “hugely regrettable.”
Winds
reached 99 miles (159 kilometers) per hour on the Isle of Wight off the
southern English coast, according to Britain’s Met Office national
weather center, while more than 500,000 homes in Britain and France were
left without power.
Heavy rain and winds of 80 mph elsewhere
brought down thousands of trees and left hundreds of passengers trapped
in planes at Copenhagen airport.
In Britain, a 17-year-old girl
died after a tree fell on the parked caravan where she was sleeping,
while a 51-year-old father of three died when a tree hit his car, police
said.
The bodies of a man and a woman were later found in the
rubble of three houses in London that collapsed in an explosion thought
to have been caused by a gas pipe being ruptured in the storm.
GRIPPE AVIAIRE 8 nouveaux foyers identifiés dans les Landes. 61 foyers désormais touchés dans le sud-ouest
