News Reports for September 13, 2012

New Just a few genetic tweaks could turn an influenza virus found in pigs into the next pandemic threat in people.

At least one virus isolated from pigs in Korea may already have potential to cause disease in people, researchers report (Snip) in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The virus caused severe flu in ferrets, a favored proxy for humans in flu research, and grew in human lung tissue in the lab.

"That makes it a bit scary," says study coauthor Robert Webster, a virologist at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital (Snip). So far, the virus has not been found in people, but "if it is in the pig, beware," he says.

Pigs are known to be genetic mixing vessels where influenza viruses from birds, humans and pigs swap genes. The (Snip) triple reassortants, are a concern because adaptations arising in pigs may help the viruses spread in humans. (Snip) http://www.democraticundergrou... flu virus could infect people

(Note: "If it's in the pigs, beware." When Robert Webster speaks...... I listen!)

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

     

---

by: Carol@SC @ Thu Sep 13, 2012 at 06:06:58 AM UTC

An advance toward a flu-fighting nasal spray

In an advance toward development of a nasal spray that protects against infection with influenza and spread of the disease, scientists are reporting identification of a substance that activates the first-line defense system against infection inside the nose. They describe effects of a synthetic form of a natural substance found in bacterial cell walls in ACS' journal Molecular Pharmaceutics.

David C. Jackson and colleagues explain that the body's so-called innate immune system forms a first-line defense system against respiratory diseases like influenza A-which causes up to 1 billion infections and 500,000 deaths during seasonal epidemics. Those defenses swing into action almost immediately when viruses enter the nose and begin launching an infection. Scientists have been looking for ways to jump-start those defenses during flu outbreaks, and Jackson's team turned to Pam2Cys. That synthetic lipoprotein, a substance consisting of a fat and a protein, has shown promise in activating the innate immune system.

The team found in laboratory tests that using Pam2Cys as a nasal spray primes the body's immune system to fight infections. Importantly, they showed that the compound encourages but does not replace a normal immune response, which has been a concern about some anti-viral medicines. Because Pam2Cys stimulates the immune system against a wide spectrum of viral and bacterial attacks, the authors suggest it may be a particularly useful agent against pandemics and emerging viral strains. Continued:  http://medicalxpress.com/news/...

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

     

---

by: Carol@SC @ Thu Sep 13, 2012 at 06:15:31 AM UTC

India: Swine flu confirmed in Indore (Madhya Pradesh)

INDORE: Alarmed with the rising number of patients found with symptoms of swine flu, health department has finally confirmed its arrival in the city. The sudden spurt in rising number of the flu afflicted patients has left the department officials worried and hence they have advised people to remain in isolation so as to avoid contracting flu.

Chief medical and health officer Dr Ashok Dagaria said, "The situation is alarming and the rising number of patients confirms strike of swine flu in the city. Fluctuating temperature and migration of people only increase the risk of people getting afflicted with the flu. The first three cases reported in the city were from Ujjain, Ratlam and Dhar districts. People should remain in isolation to avoid complications."

"Though we have ample stock of medicines, and the officials have already been instructed to check the arrangements in city hospitals,' he added.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday, the department sent a fresh lot of eight swab samples for tests to Jabalpur laboratory while on Tuesday night, two more patients were declared positive escalating the figures to 11 this year. The department had sent six samples on Monday for confirmation, of which a 40-year-old female and a 50-year-old male confirmed positive for the flu. The department has so far sent 37 swab samples of suspected patients. It has received reports of 29 samples with 11 testing positive with swine flu. So far, two deaths have been reported in the city.

The infection rate had gone down in March this year, when only a single female patient was diagnosed positive. None of the swab samples received by Jabalpur-based laboratory had tested positive until last month. Incidentally, the infection rate went at an all-time high in first week of September when humidity and rain changed the weather conditions.

According to health experts, fluctuating weather conditions had made situation conducive for virus to spread. "Continuous downpour and humidity are playing spoilsport and are the major reasons for the spread," said Dr GL Sodhi, District Health Officer. Continued:

(Note: Only laboratory confirmed cases are counted and India doesn't appear to test many samples. Physicians have been instructed now to treat all patients with antivirals if they have flu symptoms. The number of people infected, especially in the poorer areas, are sure to be much higher than the numbers listed here as positive. IMO, the fact that officials are recommending "isolation" says this is more serious than the confirmed number of cases being cited in the news.)

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

     

---

by: Carol@SC @ Thu Sep 13, 2012 at 06:50:35 AM UTC

Link to article:

http://timesofindia.indiatimes...

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

     

---

by: Carol@SC @ Thu Sep 13, 2012 at 06:52:48 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Eight swab samples from Indore sent for swine flu test (Madhya Pradesh)

Indore, Sep 13 (PTI) Swab samples of eight persons, suspected to have contracted the swine flu (H1N1) virus, have been sent to the Central ICMR Laboratory (Snip). Out of these patients, three are from Indore, two from Dhar, and one each is from Mhow, Khargon, and Bhopal (Snip). The Reports are expected within three days, he said. These patients -- two of them women -- are currently being treated at different private hospitals in the city. Besides, seven other patients who were confirmed infected with swine flu are being treated at various city hospitals. Since May, swine flu has claimed two lives in Indore. http://www.moneycontrol.com/ne...

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

     

---

by: Carol@SC @ Thu Sep 13, 2012 at 20:10:55 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

India: Three samples sent for swine flu test (Madhya Pradesh)

BHOPAL: Three more samples of suspected swine flu cases were sent for tests from Bhopal on Wednesday. This year, about 200 swab samples have been tested (Snip). About half of the samples were from the city.

(Snip) of the three samples sent to RMRC, two are residents of Bhopal. The infection rate of the H1N1 influenza has shown a slight revival since August. Epidemiologists attribute the surge to prevailing weather conditions. One in 10 suspected cases in the Bhopal has been found positive for swine flu.

So far 39 people in the state have tested positive for the H1N1 virus leading to six deaths. http://timesofindia.indiatimes...

(15% CFR)

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

     

---

by: Carol@SC @ Thu Sep 13, 2012 at 07:07:34 AM UTC

Mexico Continues to Kill Birds Hoping to Curtail Spread of Flu

Mexico's poultry farmers slaughtered 22.3 million birds between June and August to contain an outbreak of avian flu, and they immunized 140 million other birds, the National Food Health, Safety and Quality Service, or Senasica, said. The final tally of birds destroyed to prevent the spread of the AH7N3 avian influenza virus has been completed, the Senasica said.

The avian flu outbreak started in June at poultry farms in the Los Altos region of the western state of Jalisco.

No new avian flu cases have been reported in the past three weeks and affected farms are being restocked with "flocks of between 4.5 (million) and 5 million birds each month," (Snip). The restocking of farms is expected to boost egg production to an average of 2,700 tons daily, with output rising gradually as new hens are added (Snip). Bird populations should be back to the pre-emergency level by November, the Senasica director said.

A total of 22.3 million birds were destroyed between June 19 and Aug. 31, of which 10.9 million were certified for slaughter by Senasica, while the rest were killed before health officials were notified of the flu outbreak, Sanchez said. "Some others were eliminated in a preventive manner by poultry farmers near where the outbreak started to prevent infections on their farms," the Senasica director said. The largest losses of birds occurred at farms in the city of Tepatitlan, with 13.6 million, and in San Juan de los Lagos, where 8.3 million birds were lost, Sanchez said.

The measures taken to control the spread of AH7N3 helped prevent larger losses and irreparable damage to Mexico's poultry industry, the Senasica director said. Continued: http://www.hispanicallyspeakin...

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

     

---

by: Carol@SC @ Thu Sep 13, 2012 at 07:17:21 AM UTC

H7N3 Virus Infection in Two Poultry Workers - Jalisco, Mexico

(Hat-tip Avian Flu Diary)

Notes from the Field: Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza A (H7N3) Virus Infection in Two Poultry Workers - Jalisco, Mexico, July 2012
Weekly
September 14, 2012

This report describes two cases of conjunctivitis without fever or respiratory symptoms caused by HPAI A (H7N3) virus infection in humans associated with exposure to infected poultry.

Patient 1. On July 7, a poultry worker aged 32 years complaining of pruritus in her left eye was examined at a clinic in Jalisco. Physical findings included redness, swelling, and tearing. Conjunctivitis was diagnosed; the patient was treated symptomatically and recovered fully. Because the patient had collected eggs in a farm where HPAI A (H7N3) virus was detected, the Institute for Epidemiological Diagnosis and Reference, Mexico, tested ocular swabs from both of her eyes for influenza A (H7) by real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (rRT-PCR), and embryonated chicken eggs were inoculated for viral isolation. The swab material was positive for influenza A (H7) virus by rRT-PCR and virus was isolated from each eye. These findings were reported to the World Health Organization on July 19, and full genome sequences (CY125725-32) were uploaded to GenBank. The virus was closely related by nucleotide sequence to previously reported HPAI A (H7N3) viruses collected during poultry outbreaks in Jalisco with sequences available in GenBank (JX397993, JX317626).

Patient 2. A man aged 52 years, who was a relative of patient 1 and worked on the same farm, developed symptoms consistent with conjunctivitis on July 10 and sought care at a local clinic on July 13. He was treated symptomatically and recovered without sequelae. When public health authorities became aware of this patient, they obtained eye swabs, which were tested by rRT-PCR, revealing influenza A (H7).
(continued here)

---

by: AlohaOR @ Fri Sep 14, 2012 at 03:25:47 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

CDC Human / Swine H3N2v Discordance Caught On Tape

Recombinomics Commentary

Public health officials provide the latest update on the H3N2, the new strain of influenza that appears to have jumped from swine to humans and has already infected nearly 300 people in the United States.

The above summary for the Lyn Finelli CDC presentation, ""Emergence of Animal-Origin H3N2 Influenza" at the ASM ICAAC meeting in San Francisco contains the word "appears" but the presentation (video and audio available here: http://www.microbeworld.org/in... failed to address the glaring discordance between the H3N2v sequences from the 2012 cases which were generated by the CDC and the swine H3N2v sequences generated by the USDA.

The sequence data was indirectly addressed by a question from Helen Branswell after Lyn Finelli noted an increase in the frequency of H3N2v in swine isolates.  Branswell asked if the recent H3N2v cases had the H1N1pdm09 M gene, which was present in all 2011 and 2012 cases, but Finelli had no answer.

However, the USDA data, which has been posted on the CDC and USDA websites notes that in FY2012 (beginning on October 1, 2011) the USDA identified 138 H3N2v swine cases, and 57 had an H1N1pdm09 M gene (called H3N2pM on both sites).  Thus, although the number of H3N2v swine cases in FY2012 was higher than the 73 H3N2v swine cases in FY2011, most of the FY2012 cases did not have H1N1pdm09 M gene.  In fact the 81 swine cases without the H1N1pdm09 M gene were higher than the total for FY2011.

However, the USDA data, which has been posted on the CDC and USDA websites notes that in FY2012 (beginning on October 1, 2011) the USDA identified 138 H3N2v swine cases, and 57 had an H1N1pdm09 M gene (called H3N2pM on both sites).  Thus, although the number of H3N2v swine cases in FY2012 was higher than the 73 H3N2v swine cases in FY2011, most of the FY2012 cases did not have H1N1pdm09 M gene.  In fact the 81 swine cases without the H1N1pdm09 M gene were higher than the total for FY2011. Continued: 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

     

---

by: Carol@SC @ Thu Sep 13, 2012 at 07:28:54 AM UTC

India: One more dies of swine flu, 3 test positive (Maharashtra)

NAGPUR: A 35-year-old woman became second person from city to succumb to swine flu during the current spell in Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) on Thursday. Three other patients admitted there tested positive for the infection on the same day.

The deceased, Manda Vaidya, belonged to Dongargaon near Butibori. She had been admitted to the hospital on September 7. Manda had developed some kidney complications and was put on dialysis but the organ gave way and she died. Among the other patients who tested positive were a 35-year-old man, a 45-year-old woman and a 17-year-old girl, all from Nagpur.

Only last week, a 25-year-old man, also from Butibori, was the first person to die of the infection from the city. A month before that, a man from Gondia, who had been brought to a city hospital, was the first casualty of H1N1 from the region. "Eight samples of people suspected to have the infection were sent to the National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune, on Wednesday. Of them, four had tested positive as per reports received on Thursday. While one died, two are stable and one has already been discharged," 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

     

---

by: Carol@SC @ Thu Sep 13, 2012 at 20:18:04 PM UTC

US: 2 more presumptive swine flu cases linked to Minnesota State Fair

ST. PAUL, Minn. - Two more people have become ill with presumptive cases of swine flu linked with the Minnesota State Fair.

The Department of Health says they're a school-aged girl from the Twin Cities area and a preschool boy from greater Minnesota. Neither was hospitalized. Both are fully recovered.

Both visited the swine barn Sept. 2, and became ill Sept. 5, but it's possible the boy was exposed on his family's farm.

Officials are awaiting confirmation it was a strain called H3N2v. These would the first human infections linked to the fair from that strain.

Four confirmed or presumptive cases of a different strain, H1N2v, had been reported earlier in swine barn visitors. Three confirmed or probable cases of H3N2v were reported earlier in visitors to live animal markets in Dakota County. Continued: http://www.therepublic.com/vie...

(Note: Both H1N2v and H3N2v in Minnesota. Not a good situation.)

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

     

---

by: Carol@SC @ Thu Sep 13, 2012 at 20:26:04 PM UTC

Wisconsin H3N2v Cases Increase to 20

Recombinomics Commentary

As of September 10, 2012, there are 20 cases in Wisconsin.

The above comments from the Wisconsin Department of Human Services increase the total number of H3N2v beyond the number of confirmed and suspect cases reported previously.  These initial cases were linked to four fairs, including the linkage of the first two cases to the Wisconsin State.  However, one of the cases was an employee who reported no swine contact.  The fair ended August 12 and the CDC has now released three sets of sequences, A/Wisconsin/22/2012 collected August 13, A/Wisconsin/23/2012 collected August 15, and A/Wisconsin/27/2012 collected August 17.  The collection date of the third case is outside of the typical incubation period of 2-4 days.

However, all three HA sequences from these cases are identical, signaling clonal expansion suggesting human to human (H2H) transmission.  

A recent CDC presenation cited 10 examples of human transmission of H3N2v suggesting these additional Wisconsin cases represent H2H transmission. Continued:  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

     

---

by: Carol@SC @ Thu Sep 13, 2012 at 20:40:32 PM UTC

Please post new news stories to...

News Reports for September 14, 2012

Thank you!

---

by: AlohaOR @ Fri Sep 14, 2012 at 04:03:21 AM UTC