. Earth Science News .
Sanyo says filtering system effective against bird flu viruses

A different system that sprays a fine mist of the electrolyzed water onto a cotton swab infused with the viruses also rendered 99 percent or more of the viruses inactive, the company said.
by Staff Writers
Tokyo (AFP) May 15, 2006
Japan's Sanyo Electric Co said Monday that one of its filtering systems had been shown in tests to be effective in suppressing airborne bird flu viruses.

Air infected with the H5 type of avian influenza virus was forced through the system's honeycomb-shaped disinfectant filter impregnated with electrolyzed water containing a type of chlorine.

Measurements of the filtered air found that at least 99 percent of the viruses were suppressed, Sanyo announced at a press conference.

"Sanyo is proud of the work we have done in developing this technology which possibly could lead to the prevention of a major world threat," Sanyo chairman Tomoyo Nonaka said.

"We will continue to research the practical uses of this technology in homes, schools and other public places," she said.

A different system that sprays a fine mist of the electrolyzed water onto a cotton swab infused with the viruses also rendered 99 percent or more of the viruses inactive, the company said.

The technology, developed in collaboration with scientists at Tottori University, can rapidly disinfect a large room, Sanyo said. It is already used in some products such as air purifiers and washing machines.

Since 2003 bird flu has killed some 115 people, mainly in Asia, through transmission from birds, according to the World Health Organization.

There are 15 strains of flu that affect birds, but the one behind the global health scare is the sub-type known as H5N1.

Almost all the human cases of bird flu have been people who were directly exposed to infected fowl.

Scientists' big worry is that H5N1 could pick up genes from conventional human flu viruses, mutating into a form both highly lethal and highly infectious.

Related Links

Bird Flu Vaccine Priority
Washington (UPI) May 17, 2006
U.S. heath ethicists are considering bird flu pandemic priorities -- specifically, when there isn't enough vaccine for everyone, who gets the first doses?







  • Dutch Soldiers Move Into Afghanistan Under Apache Protection
  • MSV Supports New Laws Boosting Satellite Communications Provisions For Emergencies
  • Indians At Risk In Afghanistan
  • Pacific Tsunami Alert System Tests To Start Mid-May

  • Global Warming May Have Damaged Coral Reefs Forever
  • Environmental Groups Urge Canada To Withdraw As Chair Of Bonn Talks
  • Redirecting Mississippi River Proposed As Way To Save Louisiana Coast
  • Clinton Says Climate Change Greatest Threat

  • NASA Looks At Hurricane Cloud Tops For Windy Clues
  • Raytheon Tests Advanced Space-Based Weather Sensor
  • Tibet Provides Passage For Chemicals To Reach The Stratosphere
  • ESA To Host Atmospheric Science Conference

  • Oil experts seek technology to increase reserves
  • Russia Stable Energy Partner, Shares West's Values
  • EADS And ASB To Create Of US Thermal Battery Company For The Military
  • Alternate Fuel-Powered B-52 To Fly In September

  • Bird Flu Vaccine Priority
  • Suspected Bird Flu Cluster In Indonesia
  • Sanyo says filtering system effective against bird flu viruses
  • Indian Government Intervenes In Stone Age Tribe Health scare

  • Plants Tell Caterpillars When It's Safe To Forage
  • Non-Coding RNAs Help Silence The Mammalian Transcription
  • Larval-Stage Organisms Effect Measurements Of Marine Biodiversity
  • Contaminants May Cause Renal Lesions In Polar Bears

  • New "Toxic" Ship Bound For India
  • Russian Ecologists Despair Over Lack Of Govt Vision
  • China's "Cancer Villages" Pay Heavy Price For Economic Progress
  • China Says River Clean After Thaw

  • Brain Research Reveals Us To Be Lost In Thought
  • Guard Likely To Support Border Patrol Says National Security Adviser
  • Humanity May Have Caused Pre-Historic Extinctions
  • Evolutionary Forces Explain Why Women Live Longer than Men

  • The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2006 - SpaceDaily.AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA PortalReports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additionalcopyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement