Officials in Northeastern Bangladesh are reporting that a new outbreak of bird flu has killed 500 birds in the Moulavibazar district. Salehuddin Khan, the Bangladesh director of livestock stated, “After the confirmation of bird flu, authorities culled nearly 800 chickens, ducks and birds in a one-kilometer area around the affected farm.”

Since the first phase of the outbreak occurred in March of last year, authorities have had to cull more than 300,000 birds. The deadly H5N1 virus has now spread to 71 farms located in over 22 districts.

Poultry farms are a booming business in Bangladesh and account for $750 million in income every year. Authorities are concerned that the virus may jump to humans, since nearly 4 million Bangladeshi’s work with poultry. So far, there have been no reports of human cases.

Indonesia is still struggling to deal with their own outbreak of bird flu. 117 people have been hospitalized with the virus and 94 people have died. Nearby China reported that a man who was hospitalized for bird flu reportedly contracted it from his son who died of the disease in November.

continue reading Bird Flu Hits Bangladesh

A new research team announced today that they may have discovered a new way to fight HIV. They worked to isolate 270 human proteins that are essential for the AIDS virus to attack the immune system. This new discovery will give scientists a lot more ammunition to discover methods of effectively stopping HIV in its tracks.

This discovery is very important for several reasons. First, at least 200 of these proteins were not believed to be part of the process, but now researchers have identified them and found out how they work to give AIDS inroads into a patient’s body. These new proteins were discovered by using a “genome wide scan,” a new technology that was recently developed.

Previously, it was thought that AIDS could only be targeted with drugs that interrupt one of the main steps found in the virus life cycle. This new find opens up several doors that suggest there could be several other ways to treat the virus. “This is likely destined to be on the best papers on HIV for this coming decade,” commented Robert C. Gallo. He is the co-discoverer of the AIDS virus. He added, “I think it is terrific.” Gallo was not involved in this study, but appears to be cheered by its results.

continue reading A New Way to Fight HIV Discovered