News Reports for May 13, 2012

Science journal could give recipe for deadly avian flu virus

A science journal is poised to publish a study that some experts believe could give a recipe to bioterrorists. The study is from an experiment by a Dutch scientist who engineered the avian flu virus to make it more deadly to mammals by making it spread through the air.
(Snip)
The National Institutes of Health and some scientists say it is worth it. They say it could ultimately protect mankind by trying to anticipate how the virus could mutate to one that causes a pandemic -- like the one in the film "Contagion."

Dr. Anthony Fauci heads the NIH agency that funds infectious diseases research. (Snip) "We need as scientists and health officials to stay one step ahead of the virus as it mutates and changes its capability," Fauci told CNN Radio recently. "To anticipate that would be important to determine whether the countermeasures we have available, such as antivirals and vaccines, would actually be effective against such a virus that changed in such a way."

But a number of scientists are stepping forward to say it is not worth it -- and that this research could actually bring us closer to that nightmare.
How? (Snip)

"We are playing with fire," says Dr. Thomas Inglesby and his colleagues at the Center for Biosecurity at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.

If this engineered virus were to escape the laboratory, by accident or by evil, "it could endanger the lives of hundreds of millions of persons," Inglesby says.

http://www.wcvb.com/news/natio...

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 @ Sun May 13, 2012 at 05:03:15 AM UTC

US Virgin Islands: Doctors report surge in flu cases

Some St. Thomas physicians have seen an upswing in influenza cases during the last week or two at their practices - an oddity for this time of year. Dr. James Clayton of Red Hook Family Practice said that a little more than a week ago, doctors at the practice started seeing more patients coming in with viral illnesses than was typical for this time of year.

Initially, doctors were not testing for influenza, because flu generally peaks during the winter months. But with patients complaining of classic influenza symptoms - sudden onset of high fever, headaches, body aches and a dry cough - doctors decided to do the testing, Clayton said. "As it turns out, what we've been seeing is influenza," Clayton said. "It's unusual to see an outbreak of flu this time of year."

As of mid-week this past week, doctors at the practice had seen five confirmed cases of influenza - and probably five more that were not tested, he said. "That's quite significant," he said, noting that even during the winter months this year, Red Hook Family Practice saw only a very few, isolated cases of influenza. "Now, it's occurring on a daily basis."

Clayton said that it is not yet clear whether this will be a trend or whether it will die down in a couple of weeks. "We just don't have enough data yet," he said.

Clayton said he discussed the flu cases with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, because of the unusual time of year. "I was wondering whether they were seeing something similar in the states," he said, adding that he was told they were not. Continued: http://virginislandsdailynews....  

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 @ Sun May 13, 2012 at 05:11:16 AM UTC

ProMED: Influenza (09): Africa update, WHO

The seasonal peak for influenza has passed in most countries in the temperate regions of the northern hemisphere.

Different viruses have predominated in different parts of the world in the northern hemisphere 2011-12 influenza season. In North America, Canada had a slight predominance of influenza B over influenza A(H3N2) (67 percent vs 33 percent respectively) particularly later in the season, while in the United States of America (USA), the proportions were reversed and A(H3N2) was more common.

Mexico's season was almost all related to influenza A(H1N1)pdm09. In Europe, the large majority of influenza viruses have been influenza A(H3N2) with only very small numbers of A(H1N1)pdm09 and B. In Asia, northern China, and Mongolia reported mostly influenza B early in the season with influenza A(H3N2) appearing later, though this sequence was reversed in the Republic of Korea and Japan where A(H3N2) was predominant initially and influenza B appeared later.

- At the beginning of the influenza season, most viruses tested were antigenically closely related to those found in the current trivalent seasonal vaccine. However, by mid-season, divergence was noted in both the USA and Europe in the A(H3N2) viruses tested and significant numbers of A(H3N2) viruses tested in recent months have shown reduced cross reactivity with the vaccine viruses. Influenza B virus detections have been both from the Victoria and Yamagata lineages with the former slightly more common in China and parts of Europe.

- Resistance to neuraminidase inhibitors has been low or undetectable throughout most of the season; however, a slight increase in levels of resistance to oseltamivir has been reported in influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 isolates in the USA. Most (11/16) of these oseltamivir resistant cases have been from the state of Texas, where influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 has been the most common virus circulating. Continued: http://virginislandsdailynews....

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 @ Sun May 13, 2012 at 05:18:48 AM UTC

This is the correct link for the above article:

http://www.promedmail.org/dire...

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 @ Sun May 13, 2012 at 07:14:37 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Nepal: Around 200 villagers fall sick in Myagdi

MYAGDI: Around 200 people at Neta of Arman VDC-7 in Myagdi district were affected in the last four days due to the outbreak of an unidentified disease.

The disease affected majority of the family members in around 50 house in Neta (Snip) The villagers would get their body shake, reel, suffer from fever, and finally fall unconscious (Snip)

Elderly people and children have been mostly affected by the disease. The villagers have been panic-stricken as they suffered from the disease in turn having the similar symptoms among them, said (Snip) the teacher of local Mangala Higher Secondary School.

The District Public Health Office have urged the local health post to examine and distribute the medicine in the effective manner after the unidentified disease took severe form in the village (Snip)

(Snip) the Arman Health Post organised a health camp at (Snip) Arman, to examine and distribute the medicine to the villagers affected by the disease. http://www.thehimalayantimes.c...

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Comment by ProMED:

The above newswire report mentions an as yet undiagnosed illness associated with fever, rigor (chills) and loss of consciousness, occurring in approximately 200 individuals over a reported 4 day period, affecting most severely the elderly and children. In the absence of additional information, the differential diagnosis list is rather extensive, involving viral, bacterial and parasitic etiologies. One wonders what the medication is that was distributed to the population and the success of the health camp in mitigating the illness. There is no mention of fatalities, suggesting the disease may be relatively mild.

In the past, ProMED-mail has covered a number of "undiagnosed" outbreaks in Nepal, of which several were identified as due to known endemic/epidemic agents such as influenza, malaria and Japanese encephalitis. A number of these outbreaks occurred in somewhat more remote villages without regular access to medical services, and the media were helpful in getting medical services to these areas. http://www.promedmail.org/dire...

According to Wikipedia, according to the 1991 Nepal census, Armon had a population of 3867, with 767 households. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A...  showing a map of Nepal with the location of Arman.

(Note: I always worry about a H5N1 human cluster when I see reports of unknown febrile disease outbreaks like this in countries such as Nepal where H5N1 is endemic in the poultry.)

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 @ Sun May 13, 2012 at 06:33:19 AM UTC

thaks for finding this

Yes, a case like this might be "the one" that introduces a new strain to humans... it's not a super-small village either, with almost 4,000 residents - but isolated, which hopefully means it wouldn't spread before it was identified. I always cross my fingers when I read articles like this! Thanks for all your good research, Carol!

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by: Cathy M @ Sun May 13, 2012 at 13:43:53 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Hi Cathy

It got my full attention when I read it! I am trying to find more info on this and will post any that I find.

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 @ Sun May 13, 2012 at 19:29:37 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Please post new news stories to...

News Reports for May 14, 2012

Thank you!

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by: AlohaOR @ Mon May 14, 2012 at 04:27:33 AM UTC