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An airport staff member wearing a mask takes a passenger's temperature at Taoyuan International Airport, northern Taiwan, April 24, 2013. A 53-year-old Taiwan businessman has contracted the H7N9 strain of bird flu while travelling in China.

a new strain of bird flu that has killed 22 people in China was one of the most lethal flu viruses it had encountered and was more easily transmittable from poultry to humans than an earlier strain that had killed hundreds around the world since 2003.

Masks All around the capital and other cities, people are wearing masks and hand-cleansers are appearing at public venues. Schools are urging parents to monitor their children for signs of sickness.

This is definitely one of the most lethal influenza viruses that weve seen so far. When we look at influenza viruses, this is an unusually dangerous virus for humans, said Keiji Fukuda, the WHOs assistant director-general for health security. He said the situation remains complex and difficult and evolving.

An international team of experts led by the WHO and the Chinese government conducted a five-day investigation but said they were no closer to knowing whether the virus could become transmissible between people.

Meanwhile, the government in self-ruled Taiwan confirmed an H7N9 bird flu infection in a Taiwanese traveller from China, which shows the risk of the killer virus entering cities outside the mainland and spreading in the region.

A 53-year-old man tested positive for the latest strain of avian flu after a trip to the eastern mainland city of Suzhou, returning to Taiwan via Shanghai, Taiwans Centres for Disease Control said yesterday.

The patient did not come into contact with birds and poultry and is in a critical condition at an unspecific medical facility, minister of health Chiu Wen-ta said. The outbreak has so far been centred on Shanghai and neighbouring provinces. A total of 33 cases, including 12 that have ended in death, have been reported in Shanghai.

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China bird flu virus “one of most lethal”

Taiwan confirmed an H7N9 bird flu infection in a traveler who came back to the island from China, the first case of the killer virus outside the mainland.

A 53-year-old Taiwanese man tested positive for the strain of avian flu after a business trip to the eastern city of Suzhou and returning to Taiwan via Shanghai, Minister of Health Chiu Wen-ta said at a briefing in Taipei yesterday. The patient, who is in critical condition in an isolation room, didnt come into contact with birds, Chiu said.

The first discovery of the virus outside China, 10 years after an outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, may lead to increased scrutiny of travelers into and out of the country. Taiwans largest trade partner is battling to control spreading of the virus, which so far has killed 23, according to data compiled by Bloomberg from reports released by the government and World Health Organization.

With any new influenza virus that emerges, the concern is that it could genetically mutate to become easily transmissible between human beings, Raina MacIntyre, a professor of infectious diseases at the University of New South Wales, said in an interview before the announcement of Taiwans confirmed case. With all past pandemics, and even with SARS, they were spread around the world by travel.

Suzhou is in Jiangsu province, where more than 20 cases of the new bird flu strain have been reported. China has tallied 109 infections since the virus was discovered in March.

Taiwans Centers for Disease Control said in a statement that the infected male had not been exposed to birds and poultry during his stay in Suzhou and had not consumed undercooked poultry or eggs. He developed his illness three days after returning to Taiwan and came in contact with at least 139 people including 110 hospital workers, according to the CDC.

Scientists in China confirmed for the first time that people are contracting the virus from birds at a wet poultry market, according to research published in The Lancet medical journal today.

The scientists analyzed swabs from 20 chickens, four quails, five pigeons and 57 ducks from six markets likely to have been visited by four people who got sick. Forty percent of the pigeons and 20 percent of the chickens tested positive for H7N9, though the virus wasnt found in the quails or ducks, the researchers found. After studying virus samples taken from one of the patients, the scientists determined the source of the infection was exposure to birds.

Aggressive intervention to block further animal-to-person transmission in live poultry markets, as has previously been done in Hong Kong, should be considered, the researchers said. Temporarily closing live bird markets, surveillance, culling, separating bird species and possibly vaccinating poultry seem necessary to halt evolution of the virus into a pandemic agent, they said.

Taiwanese authorities are monitoring three medical staff who have exhibited symptoms of upper respiratory infection after coming in contact with the patient while wearing protective gear, the Centers for Disease Control said. Three others who came in contact without wearing protective gear have shown no symptoms, and are also being monitored.

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Bird Flu Strain Spreads as Taiwan Reports First H7N9 Case

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How Worried Should We Be About New Bird Flu Strain?

Taiwan confirmed an H7N9 bird flu infection in a traveler returning to the island from China, the first incidence of the killer virus spreading outside the mainland.

A 53-year-old Taiwanese man tested positive for the latest strain of avian flu after a business trip to the eastern city of Suzhou and returning to Taiwan via Shanghai, Minister of Health Chiu Wen-ta said at a briefing in Taipei yesterday. The patient, who is in critical condition in an isolation room, didnt come into contact with birds and poultry, Chiu said.

The first discovery of the virus outside China, 10 years after an outbreak of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, or SARS, may lead to increased scrutiny of travelers into and out of the country. Taiwans largest trade partner is battling to control its spread, which so far has killed 22, according to data compiled by Bloomberg from reports released by the government and the World Health Organization.

With any new influenza virus that emerges, the concern is that it could genetically mutate to become easily transmissible between human beings, Raina MacIntyre, a professor of infectious diseases at the University of New South Wales, said in an interview before the announcement of Taiwans confirmed case. With all past pandemics and even with SARS, they were spread around the world by travel.

Suzhou is located in Chinas Jiangsu province, where more than 20 cases of the new bird flu strain have been reported. The country has tallied 109 infections since the virus was discovered in March.

Taiwans Centers for Disease Control said in a statement that the infected male had not been exposed to birds and poultry during his stay in Suzhou and had not consumed undercooked poultry or eggs. He developed his illness three days after returning to Taiwan and came in contact with at least 139 people including 110 hospital workers, according to the CDC.

Authorities are monitoring three medical staff who have exhibited symptoms of upper respiratory infection after coming in contact with the patient wearing protective gear, it said. Three others came in contact without wearing protective gear, have shown no symptoms, and are also being monitored.

Link:
Taiwan Finds First Bird Flu Infection Outside China in Traveler

Dozens of dolphin carcasses counted on west coast of Italy Dolphins thought to have died from virus that causes measles in humans Found on beaches from Tuscany to Sicily since turn of the year

By Sam Adams

PUBLISHED: 08:30 EST, 22 April 2013 | UPDATED: 08:33 EST, 22 April 2013

Scientists believe that more than 100 dolphins washed up dead along the Italian coast were struck down by a killer strain of measles.

A total of 101 dolphin carcasses have been counted on the west coast of Italy since the beginning of the year.

All are the same species - striped dolphins which have a distinctive blue and white pattern and grow to about eight feet long. They usually live for 50 or 60 years.

Concerns: More than 100 striped dolphins have washed up on the west coast of Italy during the last three months

The bodies have appeared on beaches spanning more than half the western coastline of Italy, from Tuscany to Calabria, as well as the island of Sicily - which suggests that the problem is not caused by humans pollutants such as oil.

Instead the deaths are being attributed to a possible outbreak of Morbillivirus, the virus that causes measles in humans, which scientists believe created a gateway for other illnesses among the animals.

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100 dolphins wash up on Italian coast after being hit by killer strain of measles

A dodgy software update for virus-killer Malwarebytes disabled thousands of PCs before a fix was issued this week.

Malwarebytes' database version v2013.04.15.12 erroneously flagged core Windows system files as malicious, resulting in unstable - and in some cases unbootable - machines. Windows system files were wrongly identified as Trojan-Downloader-ED.

The antivirus firm quickly pulled Monday's update and issued instructions on how to nurse crippled machines back to health. Despite its prompt response within minutes of the problem flaring up, thousands were still affected. Both consumer and enterprise users of Malwarebytes' technology were affected.

Marcin Kleczynski, Malwarebytes' chief exec, apologised for the botched update before later promising improvements in its update process.

From now on, antivirus updates from Malwarebytes will be tested on a virtual server before they are pushed out into the world, we're told, a move that ought to identify at least more obvious problems.

Malwarebytes is best known for its freebie security scanner software but it branched out last September to target enterprises with a grown-up version of its antivirus tech.

False positives involving antivirus signature updates are a perennial problem that have affected nearly every vendors at one time or another. The consequent problems are most bothersome when they misidentify Windows operating system files as potentially malign and quarantine them, as in the latest case involving Malwarebytes.

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Malwarebytes declares Windows 'malicious', nukes 1,000s of PCs