News Reports for August 3, 2012

Expected H3N2v Cluster Expolsion In Jackson County Indiana

Recombinomics Commentary

The Indiana State Department of Health has identified a case of variant influenza A in Jackson County, bringing the total to five cases statewide. All cases have been linked to swine. Laboratory testing is pending on potential additional cases.

The above comments, from today's press release from the Indiana State Department of Health (ISDH), confirm an H3N2v case in Jackson County and strongly suggest many more cases are likely.  (Snip) yesterday Jackson County personnel confirmed that they began sending swabs to the state lab on Friday, per an alert that was sent out after H3N2 was confirmed in people and pigs at the LaPorte County Fair.  (Snip) the confirmed case above likely represents one of the first swabs tested.

(Snip) Jackson County also noted that there have been symptomatic cases in the country for the past six weeks, suggesting many clusters of cases are present.  The confirmation of H3N2 in one of the initial swabs suggests most or all of the additional swabs will also be H3N2v confirmed (Snip)

It is also likely that the H3N2v in Jackson will match the H3N2v cases at the LaPorte Fair as well as the suspect cases (human and swine) linked to the Monroe County Fair.  Moreover, it is also likely that the H3N2v in Indiana will match the H3N2v in Ohio at the Butler County Fair, where 10 cases have been confirmed and 31 more are suspect.

These cases also strongly suggest that additional cases will be identified at the Indiana State Fair, which begins tomorrow in Indianapolis. http://www.recombinomics.com/N...
 

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away. --Unknown

     

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by: Carol@SC @ Fri Aug 03, 2012 at 06:16:08 AM UTC

US: Jackson County flu case tied to pigs (Indiana)

Five human cases of influenza A associated with pigs have been confirmed in Indiana. They include one case involving a Jackson County resident (Snip)

Although precautions are urged, the larger concern appears to have passed locally, Dr. Kenneth Bobb, the county's public health officer, said Thursday. "We're not seeing any new cases, and the fair is over," Bobb said.

A common thread among those sick in Jackson County is that they had exhibited swine at the county fair or had visited the swine area (Snip) Cases started showing up July 26 and July 27 (Snip)

Several patients were treated by an area doctor and the emergency room at Schneck Medical Center in Seymour, triggering submission of patient swabs for testing with the state health department (Snip)

He earlier warned the hospital and doctors to be aware of a possibility for the flu because of similar reports involving the LaPorte County Fair in northern Indiana. http://www.therepublic.com/vie...

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away. --Unknown

     

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by: Carol@SC @ Fri Aug 03, 2012 at 06:25:36 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

US: 9 Ohio swine flu cases confirmed, linked to Butler County Fair (Ohio)

CINCINNATI - Health officials investigating illnesses linked to an Ohio county fair have confirmed a strain of swine flu in nine cases and say it matches the virus that recently infected four people at an Indiana fair.

(Snip) Testing is pending in a tenth case.

Officials say up to 41 people, nearly all of them children, have become sick with symptoms like those of a swine flu strain.

The southwest Ohio cases are linked to the Butler County Fair (Snip) Officials are asking doctors there and throughout Ohio to be alert to patients with flu symptoms, especially if they've attended a fair or have had other contact with hogs or with people who have. http://www.newsnet5.com/dpp/ne...


Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away. --Unknown

     

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by: Carol@SC @ Fri Aug 03, 2012 at 06:44:10 AM UTC

US: Ill Hogs Sent Home From Ohio State Fair

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The Ohio Department of Agriculture ordered two pigs to be sent home from the Ohio State Fair Thursday, after both tested positive for a strain of swine flu.

In response to nine confirmed cases of swine flu in humans in Butler County, State Veterinarian Dr. Tony Forshey had veterinarians monitoring hogs at the Ohio State Fair and taking the temperatures of any that looked ill. Both hogs that tested positive were running a fever at the time they were swabbed (Snip)

"We will continue to have veterinarians in the barns to closely monitor the hogs at the Ohio State Fair and to take temperatures and samples of any that do not look 100 percent healthy," (Snip) "We're also going to keep reminding exhibitors and visitors to keep washing their hands often, to refrain from eating and drinking in the barns, and to limit direct contact with the pigs. (Snip)

(Snip)

Health officials investigating the illnesses linked to the Butler County Fair said it matches the virus that infected several people recently at an Indiana fair. http://www2.nbc4i.com/news/201...

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away. --Unknown

     

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by: Carol@SC @ Fri Aug 03, 2012 at 06:53:10 AM UTC

India: H1N1 claims 2 lives in 24 hours (Maharashtra)

MUMBAI: The H1N1 virus struck twice in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, claiming the lives of a nurse from Navi Mumbai and a 19-year-old Chembur boy within a few hours on Wednesday. This is the first time since a pandemic broke out in 2009 that a healthcare worker fell to it.

Suman Kamble (44), an auxiliary nurse and midwife, was posted at a dispensary of the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) in Nerul. Chief health officer of NMMC Dr Ramesh Nikam said, "It is very unfortunate that this is the second death due to H1N1 in Navi Mumbai this year, and the fact that she was one of our staffers makes it worse." He added that Kamble was diagnosed as H1N1 positive on July 28 and since then, she had been on antiviral treatment. She died on Wednesday afternoon.

The same day, a Chembur family lost one of its members to the infection. Vinay Talewar (19) was suffering from pneumonia and he also tested positive for H1N1; doctors at Kasturba Hospital in Chinchpokli suspect that his condition remained undiagnosed and untreated for at least 10 days. Malnourished, he weighed 35 kg, grossly underweight for his age. BMC officials also confirmed that he had a history of epilepsy. Talewar became the first person in the city to die of H1N1 since June, 2010 though doctors attending him said the untreated pneumonia killed him.

Families of both the victims have already been screened. Nikam said Kamble was survived by her bank employee husband and a son. "Both have been given the antiviral as a preventive measure. A carpenter who had recently worked at their house has also been given the medicine," he said. Continued: http://timesofindia.indiatimes...  

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away. --Unknown

     

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by: Carol@SC @ Fri Aug 03, 2012 at 07:54:47 AM UTC

Three die after flu outbreak in Australia's New South Wales

SYDNEY, Aug. 3 (Xinhua) -- Three people have died at two separate disabled care centers in Australia's New South Wales ( NSW) after an outbreak of flu virus, local media reported on Friday.

Two men in their 60s and a woman in her 40s died from the dangerous flu in the past week at the Kanangra facility at Morisset Hospital and the Stockton Center in the Hunter Valley of NSW (Snip). Fourteen other residents of the centers have recovered from the virus. There are 450 residents living in the centers (Snip)

The New South Wales Disability Services Minister Andrew Constance said authorities were doing their best to stop the virus spreading. "We have appropriate protocols in place, we hope we'll continue to protect residents knowing that we still have 51 residents who are still being treated," he told the ABC.

NSW Opposition Health spokesman, Doctor Andrew McDonald, said he was concerned that it could be a new strain of flu. "This is a great concern because most of these people had been vaccinated against the flu, this means that the vaccination is either ineffective or it's a new virus," he said. Continued: http://www.mysinchew.com/node/...

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away. --Unknown

     

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by: Carol@SC @ Fri Aug 03, 2012 at 08:00:29 AM UTC

Australia: Flu alert for Hunter - three deaths trigger quarantine lockdown (New South Wales)

Quarantine restrictions are in place at two Hunter disability and aged care facilities after three people are suspected of dying from a strain of flu. The deaths have prompted NSW opposition health spokesman Andrew McDonald to warn of a significant outbreak of influenza A, subtype H3N2.

More than 50 residents at Kanangra, in the grounds of Morisset Hospital, and Stockton Centre have been quarantined after showing symptoms of the potentially deadly flu.

It is understood the alarm was raised after two men, both in their 60s, from Kanangra, and a woman in her 40s, from Stockton, died in the past week after exhibiting flu-like symptoms. The latest death occurred at Stockton yesterday and triggered the NSW Ministry of Health to intervene and place both facilities under lockdown.

Hunter New England public health physician David Durrheim said influenza A, H3N2, considered the dominant strand of flu in Australia, posed significant problems because the virus did not match the vaccine perfectly. "Whereas with H1N1 the virus was perfectly matched to the vaccine, in this case it's drifted slightly," he said. "The vaccine still has the potential to protect people from the virus but in some cases it will fail."

All residents at both centres were vaccinated against the flu this year but Dr McDonald said it was a great concern that the H3N2 vaccine was not completely effective.

"It's a real worry when you have a highly vaccinated population that cannot be protected from a fatal respiratory illness," he said. "If 51 people have it then there is a potential for a significant outbreak.

"It's highly transmittable and there is a serious risk that this illness could become wider spread throughout the population. This incident requires an urgent investigation from public health." Continued: http://www.northernargus.com.a...

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away. --Unknown

     

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by: Carol@SC @ Fri Aug 03, 2012 at 08:25:00 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

US: More Cases Of New Swine Flu Virus Appear In Three States

Federal health officials Friday reported a jump this summer in the number of people who have gotten infected with a new swine flu virus.

Sixteen cases of the new H3N2 swine flu have been confirmed in the last few weeks, including 12 in the last week alone, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. Ten of last week's cases occurred in Ohio, while the two others were in Indiana and Hawaii.

The new cases brings the total number of cases of the new virus in people to 29 since the pathogen was first identified last year.

Almost all the infections have occurred in people who had close contact with pigs - mostly kids at agricultural fairs.

Officials aren't too worried yet because the virus isn't spreading easily from person to person. Only three of the cases were hospitalized and no one has died (Snip)

But whenever a pig virus jumps to people, it always raises concerns about a possible outbreak because so few people have immunity against it. And, as we've reported, there's been more talk in recent years about the need for better monitoring the health of the animals most likely to pass on a flu virus with pandemic potential - pigs and birds. Continued: http://www.npr.org/blogs/healt...

(Note: There are key phrases here that IMO, everyone should pay attention to. They are (1)  **Almost all** the infections have occurred in people who had close contact with pigs. (2) the virus isn't spreading **easily** from person to person. They are wrong about the number of infected people. It is much higher than what is listed here. As far as I can tell, there are at lease 9 confirmed cases related to the Butler County Fair - Ohio, 12 confirmed cases at the LaPorte County Fair - Indiana, 1 case in Jackson County - Indiana. There are many symptomatic cases tied to these but either they haven't been tested or confirmed yet.)    

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away. --Unknown

     

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by: Carol@SC @ Fri Aug 03, 2012 at 20:43:08 PM UTC

There is also 1 confirmed case in Maui, Hawaii.

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away. --Unknown

     

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by: Carol@SC @ Fri Aug 03, 2012 at 20:45:23 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

US: New Swine Flu Cases Confirmed

(Snip)

The agency (CDC) is also concerned about the new subtype, Bresee said, because it has acquired a key gene - the "M gene" -- from the 2009 H1N1 pandemic strain. Although there remain questions about the function of the M gene (Snip), it's known to be involved in viral replication and viral release from infected cells.

"The M gene from a virus that's shown the ability to adapt to humans is now in a virus that's coming from swine," Bresee said, which may mean the H3N2v strain has to ability to infect or spread among humans to "a greater extent" than those with M genes from other types of flu.

On the other hand, he said, there's no need to panic: There has been no human-to-human spread this year, and all the cases in 2012 have been self-limiting respiratory infections that did not require hospital care. "It may be a little different, but it's still not a human virus," Bresee said.

Human infections with the virus have been confirmed in eight states -- Hawaii, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Utah, and West Virginia -- and the virus has been found in pigs in 11 states, according to Lisa Ferguson, DVM, of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Given the wide geographical spread of the virus, she told reporters, it's "unlikely" that there was a single swine herd that led to all of the cases, but investigators are still trying to pin down the links. While there is some genetic variation among virus isolates from the infected humans, they are "very similar viruses," Bresee said.

The current seasonal flu vaccine contains an H3N2 strain, but it's sufficiently different from the swine variant that it's unlikely that a vaccination would be protective, he said. Instead, the CDC is urging standard precautions - washing hands before and after exposure to pigs, avoiding eating near them, and staying away from pigs that have runny noses, coughs, or "goop in their eyes."

He added that CDC researchers have developed a candidate vaccine against the strain, which will be entering clinical trials soon to test its immunogenicity and safety. http://www.medpagetoday.com/In...

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away. --Unknown

     

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by: Carol@SC @ Fri Aug 03, 2012 at 21:30:02 PM UTC

Australia: Queensland hit hardest by one of Australia's worst flu seasons

WORKPLACES, schools and sporting groups have been ravaged by one of Australia's worst flu seasons - and it's not over yet.

Latest figures show laboratory confirmed cases across the country are up almost 40 per cent on last year, with two months until warmer weather eases the congestion. And Queensland is suffering the most. The federal Department of Health and Ageing said flu notifications started climbing this year and rose more sharply than previous years.

With the season running until October, It has reinforced the need for flu vaccinations. The notifications are the highest in years, with the exception of 2009's pandemic. Increased awareness and testing are believed to have bolstered numbers.

From January 1 to July 20, the National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System (NNDSS) logged 17,302 flu cases, compared with 12,416 for the same period last year. Queensland had the highest tally with 4652, followed by NSW with 4352, South Australia (2952), WA (2156), Victoria (2135), Tasmania (449), ACT (369) and NT (237).

"Nationally, influenza A (H3N2) remains the predominant circulating virus with some co-circulation of influenza B, however this varies by jurisdiction," a department spokeswoman said.

"Although there continues to be increasing activity in Queensland, activity across all other jurisdictions have either stabilised or started to decrease in recent weeks."
There have been 19 flu-associated deaths reported to NNDSS, with a median age of 73 years.

However, flu fatalities are not routinely reported and it is believed about 2500 deaths a year are linked to flu and pneumonia. Continued: http://www.dailytelegraph.com....  

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away. --Unknown

     

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by: Carol@SC @ Fri Aug 03, 2012 at 22:00:31 PM UTC

Bronco Bill, it's Friday joke time!

Your giggles are here: http://www.newfluwiki2.com/dia...

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away. --Unknown

     

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by: Carol@SC @ Fri Aug 03, 2012 at 23:21:51 PM UTC

Please post new news stories to...

News Reports for August 4, 2012

Thank you!

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by: AlohaOR @ Sat Aug 04, 2012 at 04:14:29 AM UTC