News Reports for May 9, 2012

India: 132 swine flu cases reported in Andhra Pradesh this year

HYDERABAD: After one-year lull, the swine flu has made a come back to the state with number of victims is on the rise this year.

Just four months of the year passing, the state has reported 132 cases of swine flu. (Snip) The disease went pandemic in the state in 2009 with 718 cases, which rose to 758 in the next year. In 2011, there was a substantial drop in the disease spread with only 11 cases reported in the state.

Speaking to Express, T Geethaprasad, Nodal officer for Swine Flu and additional director of Medical and Health department, said the number of swine flu cases may go up further this year adding the next year would see a drop in number of cases again. The spread of swine flu virus would go cyclic in an erratic manner this year as the disease in its post-pandemic phase and it is very difficult to predict the disease spread in such situation, she said. Continued: http://ibnlive.in.com/news/132...  

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 May 09, 2012 at 06:40:22 AM UTC

South Africa: Ostrich culling almost complete

CAPE TOWN - The Western Cape Agriculture Department on Monday said it planned to complete the culling of ostriches affected by bird flu in the Karoo by the end of this week. Agriculture MEC Gerrit van Reinsburg met with industry players in Oudtshoorn earlier.

More than 40,000 ostriches have been culled since the initial outbreak of avian influenza in March 2011.
(Snip)
The department's Wouter Kriel said, "The Department of Agriculture will conclude the culling operation that has been ongoing for the past year in the ostrich industry. The last 360 ostriches will be culled this week." The department said it would monitor the area carefully in the following weeks.

The department will in the next three months apply to the EU for the resumption of ostrich exports.

According to the department, the entire Klein Karoo Valley, home to about 70 percent of the country's ostrich industry, was affected by the outbreak. Continued: http://www.eyewitnessnews.co.z...

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 May 09, 2012 at 06:45:04 AM UTC

US: Blanchet High School closes due to outbreak of flu, some whooping cough (Washington)

Bishop Blanchet High School, a private Catholic school in Seattle's Green Lake neighborhood, will close tomorrow and Thursday after school officials reported that about 150 students and an unspecified number of staff members were absent.

School officials at first blamed whooping cough, also known as pertussis, but officials from Public Health - Seattle & King County said the school's description of most students' symptoms and of the speed of the outbreak more closely matched influenza, which is still circulating in the community. "This sounds flu driven" said James Apa, public health spokesman.
(Snip)
Dr. Jeff Duchin, the county's communicable disease expert, said pertussis has a longer incubation period than flu and rarely results in a sudden, high absentee rate,  Apa said. In addition, the symptoms school officials described sounded like flu, he said. However, Apa added, "given how much pertussis there is in the county, it is likely that there are some pertussis cases at the school." Continued: http://blogs.seattletimes.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 @ Wed May 09, 2012 at 06:52:29 AM UTC

CIDRAP: US - FEMA's first national preparedness report cites progress, gaps

May 8, 2012 (CIDRAP News) - The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) issued a report last week on the nation's progress in emergency preparedness, highlighting successes in all-hazards planning and gaps in cybersecurity efforts and disaster recovery. The report is the first in a series of annual reports designed to gauge key capabilities and help national officials set priorities and fill gaps.

Dated Mar 30 but posted on the FEMA Web site on May 3, the 75-page report includes input from FEMA's federal agency partners, data from state preparedness reports, and its own assessments of data for 31 core capacities. It contains 70 key findings, including eight that address broad national trends.

The report is part of Presidential Policy Directive 8 (PPD8), an order issued on Mar 30, 2011, aimed at defining and enhancing the nation's preparedness for a range of threats, from natural disasters to influenza pandemics. The directive includes a requirement that the Secretary of Homeland Security submit an annual national preparedness report update to help with administration budget setting.

Other PPD8 steps have included establishing a national preparedness goal, which was completed in October, and a description of a national preparedness system. As part of the directive, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in January issued guidance to help hospitals and health systems prepare for medical surges.

One of the key findings is that the nation's overall preparedness capabilities have improved significantly since the Sep 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, especially in the areas of all-hazards planning, operations coordination, intelligence and information sharing, environmental response, search and rescue operations, operational communications, and public health and medical services.

Gaps remain in protecting against cybersecurity attacks, especially at the state level, and helping communities recover after disasters, such as providing long-term housing and restoring services.

The report said national preparedness investments have helped strengthen several areas, but federal grants aimed at enhancing cybersecurity enhancements have been minimal, and less than 1% of the Department of Homeland Security's nondisaster preparedness assistance between 2006 and 2010 fiscal years have been earmarked for boosting recovery capabilities.

States have developed fatality management plans, though not all are adequate and practical, the FEMA report found. Jurisdictions are still relying heavily on the federal government for fatality management during disasters, it said.

Resources for mass care services are in place for response to catastrophic events, FEMA reported, though distribution still poses challenges. Another gap identified in the report is challenges reunifying families after a disaster.

The report cited improvements in the nation's medical countermeasure efforts but said recent reductions in public health funding have hampered the capability to manage incidents.

Continued with more of the report and links: http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/cidr...

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 May 09, 2012 at 07:06:12 AM UTC

China and Bhutan deal with fresh bird flu outbreaks

The Chinese government is fighting to contain a fresh outbreak of avian flu virus H5N1 in central China farms, according to the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE). http://www.globalmeatnews.com/...

(Note: This is a copyright protected article but the site states that I can share the amount I posted above. To read the article go to the link.)

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 May 09, 2012 at 18:42:39 PM UTC

Researcher death highlights dangers of pathogen work

A researcher in the US has died of a disease caused by the bacteria he was studying. The tragedy highlights the dangers of research on human respiratory germs. Research on airborne mutants of H5N1 bird flu is currently under an indefinite moratorium, partly over fears of just such laboratory infections.

Richard Din was working on Neisseria meningitidis at the Veterans Health Research Institute in San Francisco. (Snip)
Din had a fever, headache and chills on the evening of 27 April, and went to hospital the next morning after developing a rash. He died just 17 hours after symptoms started. He had been infected by the same strain of meningococcus as the one he worked with - serogroup B.

(Big snip)

Flu fears
A fear of lab infections is just one of the issues that have held up the publication of work on lethal H5N1 bird flu that can spread readily between mammals.

Michael Osterholm at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, and others opposing full publication fear it will lead to similar work in other labs, where lab infections could release the viruses to the community. Din's friends and colleagues are being treated to keep them safe and stop them spreading bacteria. Flu would be harder to contain, says Osterholm.

"Our security precautions render human infection virtually impossible," says Ab Osterhaus, head of the lab in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, that did one of two controversial H5N1 experiments. "There are no laminar flows that could malfunction, but negatively pressurised, completely closed glove boxes", plus numerous other precautions, and independent inspection.

"I'm sure the Rotterdam lab is safe," Osterholm agrees. "But what worldwide standards do we have to make sure every lab is like them?" The World Health Organization may now review H5N1 research rules worldwide, but cannot impose standards.

Din's death demonstrates the choice facing researchers: working on pathogens could be dangerous, but the natural diseases that the research aims to fight are definitely dangerous. "The trade-off between security and progress must err on the side of caution," says Peter Openshaw, head of the Centre for Respiratory Disease at Imperial College London, "but rare events like this sometimes mean the rules get tightened too far, slowing research that might save lives." http://www.newscientist.com/ar...

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 May 09, 2012 at 18:51:11 PM UTC

Old osteoporosis drug may help in killing flu viruses

A old osteoporosis drug may be effective in killing a range of influenza viruses, including ones that are very dangerous to people like the H5N1 bird flu virus, scientists in Hong Kong reported on Wednesday.

Unlike antiviral drugs that target and mute flu viruses, the drug pamidronate boosts a certain class of human immune cells and sets them off on a killing spree to exterminate host cells that are infected with flu viruses.

The experts, who published their findings in the Journal of Experimental Medicine, described the immune cells -- called gamma-delta T-cells -- as being able to recognize host cells that are infected with flu viruses. They punch holes through the membrane of the infected cells, then secrete and inject an enzyme into the cells, killing them.

"The drug activates and expands this group of T-cells, their numbers dramatically increase and they kill these virus-infected cells by secreting and injecting an enzyme," said Professor Malik Peiris, a member of the research team and leading microbiologist at the University of Hong Kong.

Unlike antiviral drugs, which constantly face the prospect of becoming useless because viruses mutate and become resistant, this drug does not deal directly with flu viruses.

"This drug boosts our own immune system, so the likelihood of it triggering a mutation (that results in viruses becoming resistant) is lower," said Professor Lau Yu-lung, head of pediatrics and adolescent medicine at the same university. Continued: http://www.ottawacitizen.com/h...

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 May 09, 2012 at 21:01:34 PM UTC

UK: Nine new cases of influenza identified in London area

The Middlesex-London Health Unit has found a total of nine new cases of laboratory-confirmed influenza B cases (Snip)

From May 1 to 7, five cases were derived from the community, while four - including one in a long-term care facility - were institutional-based.

There have been three new hospitalizations during this time. (Snip) there have been no deaths.

(Snip) there have been a total of 33 influenza A and 62 influenza B cases found during the Middlesex-London Health Unit's 2011-12 surveillance season. http://metronews.ca/news/londo...

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 May 09, 2012 at 21:17:13 PM UTC

I think that should be Canada, not UK.

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by: Ruby Murray @ Wed May 09, 2012 at 22:57:26 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Thanks Ruby, you are right.

The Middlesex-London Health Unit is located in Ontario, Canada.

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 May 09, 2012 at 23:02:20 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

India: Swine flu wipes out adults in their prime (Karnataka)

The H1N1 virus seems to have slowly but steadily made its way into the state, with the deaths toll since January this year standing as 12. Adults, particularly young to middling adults, are more prone to it. All the 12 deaths were in the age group of 22-45 years, and of the 217 positive cases registered with the State Health and Family Welfare Department, about 90 per cent belong to this age group, says Dr Aruna, joint director, communicable diseases, health and family welfare department.

Normally, in the case of any seasonal flu, it is people above 65 years of age and below five years who are the most vulnerable. But in the case of H1N1, it is the 22-45 age group that is at risk. A possible reason for this says Dr Sashidhar Buggi, director of the Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Chest Diseases (RGICD), is that people in this age group move around for work and mingle around in the community and so are more exposed to the virus.
(Snip)
Dr T.S. Cheluvaraju, director, health and family welfare department, who was earlier the joint director, communicable diseases, said the number of deaths from this virus have increased this year. "In 2009, H1N1 influenza had claimed 135 lives, 120 lives in 2010 and 16 lives in 2011. The number of deaths has subsided over the years, but this year the number seems to show a steady growth. Like any influenza, H1N1 too will be in the community for a few more years. Statistics from these three years have shown that about 90 per cent of the people who have succumbed to H1N1 influenza were adults." http://www.deccanchronicle.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 @ Wed May 09, 2012 at 23:17:48 PM UTC

Please post new news stories to...

News Reports for May 10, 2012

Thank you!

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by: AlohaOR @ Thu May 10, 2012 at 04:59:24 AM UTC