News Reports for September 4

Predicting a pandemic

(Snip) Could a pandemic happen in this day and age?
"I would like to say we don't have to plan for it, but the truth is, we expect that it's coming, it's just a matter of when it comes," says Dr. Julie Swann, Professor of Industrial and Systems Engineering at Georgia Tech.

Operations researchers at Georgia Tech's Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering are taking steps to be prepared. They have developed a mathematical model using Georgia census data to track a pandemic before it hits.

"What's different about the research that we're doing is it really looks at the aspects that relate to the spread of the disease over time and over geography," says Dr. Swann. The model can also be used to plan distribution of food and medicine.

Dr. Pina Keskinocak says depending on the number of infected people, it will tell you where you should open and close facilities and how to allocate your resources. Experts say understanding a pandemic before it hits could help ensure we all get the help and medicine we need to survive.

Researchers say the model could be applied to any area in the U.S. And they hope emergency responders will use it to prepare for the next pandemic. http://www.baynews9.com/conten...

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 @ Wed Sep 03, 2008 at 23:25:14 PM CDT

Virologists working on DNA vaccines for H5N1 virus

TAIPEI, Taiwan -- Scientists at the Academia Sinica are working on developing some novel vaccines for the avian influenza H5N1 virus and DNA-based vaccines have proven to be capable of providing protection for various H5N1 strains, researchers at the institution said yesterday.

A team of researchers at Taiwan's leading academic body has also discovered that once new virus strains are found, the strains' genetic information can be incorporated into the vaccine database to produce new vaccines that can induce immunity against new strains of H5N1, one of the academics said.
(Snip)
The team started its research two years ago with the focus on hemagglutinin, or HA -- a type of glycoprotein molecule that can be found on the surface of all H5N1 viruses and plays a vital role in the viral infection process, according to a press release of the Academia Sinica.

After analyzing hundreds of hemagglutinin samples that were collected from various H5N1 strains, an identical gene sequence -- dubbed "Consensus HA" -- were found on all specimens. The sequence was later genetically engineered to produce the prototype vaccines.

During experiments, lab mice that have been inoculated were found to develop immunity of various H5N1 strains, including the strains found in Vietnam, Indonesia, Turkey, and southern China. "When infected by the Indonesian strain of H5N1, 80 percent of the subject mice survived, " (Snip) "Meanwhile, 100-percent survival rates were found among all mice that were exposed to the other three strains," she said.

However, DNA-based vaccines have one distinct drawback. "Based on the experiments (and) research done by other scientists, DNA-based vaccines are prone to elicit weak immune response, " said Chen Ming- wei, a post-graduate student at National Yang-Ming University and the paper's lead author.

The team therefore decided to enhance the vaccines' effects with an electroporation device developed by Ho, Chen said, adding that the device injects the vaccine into the muscle while generating a brief electrical pulse to "push" the DNA into the cells. "Delivered in this way, the DNA-based vaccine induced quite drastic immune responses, and protected mice against most of the avian flu strains tested," he said.

Continued: http://www.birdflubreakingnews...

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 @ Wed Sep 03, 2008 at 23:46:08 PM CDT

CEO Addresses Illinois Business Leaders About Developing Pandemic And Business Continuity Plans

Story
George Abercrombie, president and chief executive officer, Hoffmann-La Roche Inc., told more than 100 Illinois business leaders today at a Rotary Club of Chicago luncheon that the threat of a pandemic flu presents businesses with challenges unlike those anticipated with traditional emergency preparedness plans.

"While businesses are all too familiar with preparing for potential disasters such as floods or tornadoes," according to Abercrombie, "local businesses also need to look at the special challenges posed by the potential of a public health crisis caused by a global influenza pandemic."

Source
http://www.webwire.com/ViewPre...

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by: Kobie @ Thu Sep 04, 2008 at 08:19:10 AM CDT

MDRNA Receives Additional Funding from National Institutes of Health

Story
BOTHELL, Wash., Sep 04, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- MDRNA, MRNA 0.70, 0.04, 5.4%) announced today that the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded the Company over $350,000 for further development of the Company's siRNA therapeutics program to prevent and treat influenza. These funds are part of a five-year grant totaling $1.9 million that the NIH awarded the Company in September 2006 to study the underlying scientific principles that enable RNAi to inhibit influenza.

The World Health Organization and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are concerned about the potential for a major global pandemic, such as the 1918 "Spanish Flu" in which up to 50 million people may have died worldwide. A global pandemic flu emerges from a sudden change in the influenza viral genome resulting in a new viral strain for which there may be no pre-existing immunity or vaccine

Source
http://www.marketwatch.com/new...

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by: Kobie @ Thu Sep 04, 2008 at 08:21:03 AM CDT

NIH Funds Discovery Of New Influenza Inhibitors By Integral Molecular, Inc.

Story
Integral Molecular, Inc. initiates a federally-funded program to discover new drugs to combat influenza infection. Sponsored by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Integral Molecular's R&D program will utilize its proprietary Lipoparticle technology to discover new ways of inhibiting M2, a critical viral ion channel. The M2 ion channel is a validated drug target for all strains of influenza, including the most dangerous H5N1 pandemic strains.

Source
http://www.medicalnewstoday.co...

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by: Kobie @ Thu Sep 04, 2008 at 08:22:49 AM CDT

USA - GA - University of GA - "UGA today"

Agrosecurity Seminar. Bill Thomas, GA Department of Agriculture, speaks on various animal security topics, such as animal issues in hurricane planning, and planning for an avian influenza pandemic. 3:30 to 4:45 p.m. 201 Ecology Building. Contact: 706-542-3045, karens@uga.edu

Source
http://media.www.redandblack.c...

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by: Kobie @ Thu Sep 04, 2008 at 08:27:04 AM CDT

Idaho Bird Farm Quarantined With Low-path Bird Flu

Idaho bird farm quarantined after bird virus found

The Associated Press • Published September 04, 2008

A southwestern Idaho bird farm has been quarantined after a bird there was found to have a low-pathogenic bird flu, but Idaho Department of Agriculture officials say it is not the same bird flu virus that has spread through birds in Asia, Europe and Africa.

According to a statement from the Agriculture Department, the type of virus found in the Idaho game bird is commonly found in wild birds and normally causes only minor illness in the animals. The statement said the virus poses little or no risk to human health and it's not believed that any people have gotten sick in connection with the ill bird.

The Agriculture Department quarantined the farm and will test the flock, investigate the source of the illness and notify neighboring gamebird and poultry farms.

http://www.theolympian.com/nor...

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by: Okieman @ Thu Sep 04, 2008 at 10:55:08 AM CDT

Hong Kong Mystery Death

Coroner to probe girl's death

The Coroner's Court will investigate the death of a six-year-old girl who died at Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital on September 3.

She came down with fever, abdominal pain, headache and vomiting on September 1 and attended the hospital's accident and emergency department the next day and was discharged after treatment.

She then saw a private doctor September 3 and was taken to the hospital in the evening and later died.

She tested negative for influenza-A and B, parainfluenza, adenovirus and respiratory syncytial virus and enterovirus.

Investigations are underway to ascertain whether she died from an infective or a non-infective cause. She had spent time in Guangdong and Hong Kong in August.

Centre for Health Protection staff have visited her school to give health advice. The school has had no outbreak of infectious disease.

http://www.news.gov.hk/en/cate...

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by: Okieman @ Thu Sep 04, 2008 at 11:00:27 AM CDT

USA - WI - Health Officials Concerned About Pandemic Outbreaks

Story
The threat of a pandemic sweeping across the country is rare. We haven't seen one in more than 30 years. However, if such an event were to occur, national health officials don't feel we are ready to respond.

Some of the most respected officials in the health industry were in La Crosse Thursday to speak at a pandemic preparation conference.

Source
http://www.wkbt.com/Global/sto...

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by: Kobie @ Thu Sep 04, 2008 at 17:54:13 PM CDT

USA - WI - PANDEMIC PLANS

Story - story in caps, not my fault
THE HEAD OF THE CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL PLANS TO MAKE A VACCINE THE NEXT TIME A MAJOR FLU EPIDEMIC HITS THE U-S...BUT SHE SAYS OTHER PLANS ALSO MUST BE MADE.
DR. JULIE GERBERDING TELLS A PANDEMIC CONFERENCE IN LA CROSSE TODAY THAT PRIVATE BUSINESS AND ALL LEVELS OF GOVERNMENT SHOULD BE PREPARED FOR MANY DEATHS AND LONG ILLNESSES

Source
http://1410wizm.com/news.php?a...

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by: Kobie @ Thu Sep 04, 2008 at 17:56:08 PM CDT

USA - TX -Pandemic Flu Concerns Prompt One-of-a-Kind Handbook

Story
A new program funded by the state will give Brazos Valley residents a chance to brush up on a deadly potential problem.

Next week, these booklets on the pandemic flu will be sent to 137,000 homes in seven local counties.

While the mutation of the season flu bug into a deadly epidemic is hard to predict, health officials say millions worldwide could die as a result, crippling businesses and schools.

According to the health department, the last pandemic came in 1968 and 1969, when 700,000 people died, including 34,000 Americans. The pandemic outbreak of 1918 and 1919, more than 50 million people worldwide died.

Source
http://www.kbtx.com/home/headl...

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by: Kobie @ Thu Sep 04, 2008 at 17:58:08 PM CDT

Indonesia - Jakarta - Govt hopes agreement on birdflu virus specimen to be settled in November

Story
Indonesia hopes negotiations on material transfer agreement for birdflu virus specimen could be finished in the inter-governmental meeting of WHO members in November, health minister Siti Fadillah Supari said on Thursday.

After speaking about her book "Time for the World to Change" at Paramadina University here, the minister said Indonesia hoped the agreement could be made simple but able to accommodate the interests of the developing countries.

Source
http://www.antara.co.id/en/arc...

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by: Kobie @ Thu Sep 04, 2008 at 18:00:52 PM CDT

CIDRAP Article - Many Strains 06-07 Flu Season

US hosted wide mix of flu strains in 2006-07

Robert Roos * News Editor

Sep 4, 2008 (CIDRAP News) - Researchers who conducted genetic analyses of hundreds of influenza viruses collected during the 2006-07 flu season found that many different variants circulated in the US at the same time, suggesting that the way each year's epidemic spreads is more complicated than previously suspected.

The scientists, led by Martha I. Nelson of Pennsylvania State University as first author, found that several different clades, or lineages, of influenza A subtypes H1N1 and H3N2 circulated at the same time and even in the same localities, according to the report in PLoS Pathogens.

"Overall, the co-circulation of multiple viral clades during the 2006-2007 epidemic season revealed patterns of spatial spread that are far more complex than observed previously, and suggests a major role for both migration and reassortment in shaping the epidemiological dynamics of human influenza A virus," the report states. It says the findings indicate that several viral strains were introduced separately into the country.

Among other things, the authors found that clades of the same subtype (H1N1 or H3N2) exchanged genetic material through reassortment in a number of instances. In one case, this gave rise to an H3N2 variant that was sensitive to the antiviral drugs amantadine and rimantadine, unlike most H3N2 strains in recent years.

[snip]

http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/cidr...

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by: Okieman @ Thu Sep 04, 2008 at 20:32:10 PM CDT

News for Sept 5 is up

here:

http://www.newfluwiki2.com/sho...

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by: gardner @ Fri Sep 05, 2008 at 00:21:16 AM CDT

News for Sept 5 is up

here:

http://www.newfluwiki2.com/sho...

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by: gardner @ Fri Sep 05, 2008 at 00:21:17 AM CDT