News Reports for June 7, 2012

China: No bird flu in Guangdong, say authorities

Guangdong authorities denied on Wednesday that there was an outbreak of highly pathogenic bird flu in the southern province. Sources with the provincial department of agriculture said only one test sample collected from a duck in Jiangnan bazaar of meats and vegetables was suspected of being positive for the deadly H5 bird flu virus.

The samples were sent to the State's laboratory for further examination (Snip) "More than 40 samples collected from poultry in local meat and vegetable bazaars have been examined since the beginning of the month, and all the samples were negative," said the press release.

The Guangdong provincial department of agriculture has also issued a notice to relevant cities and departments, asking them to expand examination and stress sterilization work on local live poultry booths and bazaars to prevent the outbreak of bird flu in the province, which borders the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions.

(Snip)

In another development, He Jianfeng, director of Guangdong Provincial Institute of Infectious Disease Control and Prevention, said Guangdong is now experiencing a high incidence of flu.

"The spread of flu has entered into the peak period in Guangdong, with many outbreaks having been reported in schools and kindergartens in previous months," (Snip)
And 92.2 percent of the flu is type A, caused by H3N2 virus, while 7.8 percent is type B (Snip)

He predicted that the number of flu patients will continue to grow in the province in the coming months, reaching a peak in July. (Snip) the cities of Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Foshan, Dongguan and Zhanjiang have been hardest hit, he said.

Guangdong has been on the warning list for flu, meaning that flu patients have made up more than 5 percent of the province's total number of outpatients since March, he added.
(Snip)
Luo Xuequn, a professor from the Paediatrics Department of Zhongshan No 1 Hospital affiliated to Sun Yatsen University, said the number of children coming to his hospital because of flu has doubled in the past two months. "Paediatricians are seeing more than 500 children a day," (Snip)

Zhong Shijie, a doctor from Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicines, said the number of flu patients in his hospital has grown by 20 to 30 percent since May. "The hospital now has to cope with more than 3,000 flu patients a day, accounting for more than 15 percent of outpatients," (Snip) http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/c...


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 Jun 07, 2012 at 05:37:06 AM UTC

This sent my PPF up

My Personal Pucker Factor just went up.

1.  There are no reported H5N1 outbreaks in poultry in Guangdong, other than the one duck that happened to be slaughtered in front of a 2-year-old boy, who contracted the virus.

Possibilities:
- H5N1 is widespread in domestic poultry, but causes asymptomatic infections, and/or
- There is another (unidentified) vector, and/or
- There are sub-clinical infections in people and the virus has shifted enough that the quick tests are not detecting it.

2.  There is a high level of influenza A cases in Guangdong.

This opens some nasty possibilities:
- Co-infection with H3N2 and H5N1, leading to viral mutations tending to increase human adaptation of H5N1
- Cases of H5N1 are misdiagnosed because of the high volume of cases & possibly viral shifts making the quick tests unreliable.

Oh boy.

---

by: AlohaOR @ Thu Jun 07, 2012 at 06:14:32 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Oh wait, I forgot...

This is China.  Therefore, the simplest (and most reassuring) scenario is that H5N1 is endemic in domestic poultry (as it is in Indonesia, Vietnam and Egypt), and authorities are simply covering it up.

Therefore there would not necessarily be much viral shift, no unidentified vectors, and the rapid tests for humans might actually still be somewhat accurate.

---

by: AlohaOR @ Thu Jun 07, 2012 at 06:34:44 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

All excellent points.... thanks AlohaOR.

China really worries me. There is always so much shit being covered up in China by the Chinese government that anything could happen and we wouldn't know it until it was like the SARS outbreak.

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 Jun 07, 2012 at 06:44:11 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Australia: Macarthur region urged to avoid spreading flu

THE winter cold and flu season has prompted health officials to urge residents in the Macarthur region to try and avoid spreading germs.

South Western Sydney Local Health District public health director Dr Stephen Conaty said people should mind their hygiene if they got sick. Dr Conaty recommended covering your mouth with a tissue while sneezing or coughing, disposing of used tissues in a waste bin, staying at home while ill and washing hands regularly with soap.

"Droplets from someone with a cold or flu get into the air and can be inhaled by anyone close by," Dr Conaty said. "Flu germs can live for hours on hard surfaces, such as doorknobs, desks and tables." Continued:  

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 Jun 07, 2012 at 05:50:45 AM UTC

UK: Global Warning

A viral pandemic has the potential to cripple the nation's workforce and infrastructure. Where does government provision end and your contingency planning begin? By Andrea Kirkby

With 5.3 million extra tourists arriving for the Olympics, the risk of avian flu and other pandemics arriving in the UK has greatly increased.

But back in December 2005, the Lords Select Committee on Science and Technology said the country was not ready to defend itself against an avian flu pandemic. Have things changed since?

According to Dr Doug Quarry, medical director of International SOS Pandemic Planning Services, the spread of the H5N1 virus is not the only issue - new strains have developed, too. Has preparedness kept up to date with the risk, or are we becoming dangerously complacent?

Globally, government preparedness varies widely. But overall, in terms of healthcare, preparedness has certainly improved. Major vaccine manufacturers ramped up their capabilities in 2006 and the UK government stockpiled 16,000 doses of Pandemix. In fact, now the political issue is whether the UK government has bought too much vaccine and paid too high a price.

The government also put a detailed pandemic strategy in place, which was overhauled in 2011. However, while this covers NHS and social services preparedness in detail, it's pretty vague on how businesses will cope. Generally, it foresees 'business as usual'; borders won't be closed, nor will schools, and while events organisers 'may prefer' to cancel major events, there will be no government compulsion.

Unfortunately, that throws the entire burden for preparedness on to individual businesses. And the Association of British Insurers says business interruption policies are unlikely to cover closures as a result of an influenza epidemic. In terms of medical preparedness, a number of businesses are now stockpiling antivirals for key staff and their families. But that's only the tip of a very large iceberg. Bird flu or swine flu here and in the rest of the world could have a major impact on businesses in many different areas of operations.

Logistics is an obvious area where business continuity plans will be vital. Even if the UK itself isn't affected, companies that import supplies or outsource parts of their business process are at risk from outbreaks in other countries. British business is now highly dependent on the Far East for its components and sub-assemblies. Call centres in other countries could also be badly affected.

Continuity plans need to enable a speedy response. Australia declared it would close its borders within two hours in the event of a bird-flu pandemic - that would give businesses little time to prepare. Continued: http://www.fm-world.co.uk/feat...

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 Jun 07, 2012 at 05:59:36 AM UTC

once it's a pandemic, it's too late...

Hmm... sounds good that Australia wants to act "within two hours"... but once a pandemic is declared (as we saw in 2009)it's all around the world already! So... that won't help much, will it? :-}

---

by: Cathy M @ Fri Jun 08, 2012 at 01:37:48 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Yes and no.

Yes, a pandemic could be everywhere before you identify it but if the fatality was high, you'd know a lot sooner.

Annoyingly, most plans assume that an H5N1 pandemic would be like any other. That businesses would try or even want to keep working and that the public would demand to carry on much as normal. Really? Would you? A new virus maybe, because you would be expecting it to be so bad but H5N1?

If the fatality was even 5% the public would panic and want as much done about it as possible. They'd self quarantine as much as they were able. Closing the borders doesn't prevent it being on your shores but it does stop it romping about freely. You can then concentrate on dealing with cases in house that could be very few.

In a real crisis people act far better than the movies portray.

The theory goes that we can't last long without trade and business as usual but that would go out the window if masses of people were dying. A week's lost trade while you try to ascertain how bad the pandemic was, would be worth any potential financial loss. After all, most business stop for a week over Christmas/New Year and we don't all go bankrupt. So long as there's heat, light, food, water, media and medical care most people could isolate their families for quite some time.

H5N1 is not Houdini, it can't break in through a front door unless you let it in. The ONLY reason we have communicable diseases is that we do so little to stop them. With enough determination an island could stamp out any existing cases and keep it out. Long term actions would depend upon global effects and local sentiment.

The fatalistic approach to H5N1 would get a lot of people killed.

---

by: UK - Bird @ Fri Jun 08, 2012 at 08:13:33 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Hi UK - Bird

I agree with just about everything you said here and you said it well.

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

     

---

by: Carol@SC @ Sat Jun 09, 2012 at 00:28:02 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Hi Carol :-)

It's a particular bugbear of mine that they've tried to go for a one size fits all policy for pandemic planning.

---

by: UK - Bird @ Sat Jun 09, 2012 at 20:06:10 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Avian Genes In Clade 2.3.2.1 H5N1 Guangdong China Isolate

Recombinomics Commentary

Further tests conducted by the Public Health Laboratory Services Branch of the CHP on the Influenza A virus isolate from the nasopharyngeal aspirate taken from the boy showed that the H5 gene of the isolate belonged to clade 2.3.2.1, which is the same clade as the isolates from wild birds detected in 2011 and 2012 and in the imported human infection case in late 2010. So far all the genes characterised belong to avian origin

The above comments name the sub-clade of the latest human H5N1 case from China, but fail to describe H5 changes that are associated with adaptation to humans, such as those described in recent and upcoming H5N1 transmission in ferrets.  The two published papers included gene segments that were not avian, but such acquisitions have not been reported previously in H5N1 isolates from Asia.  The closest example of a natural H5N1 isolates with non-avian genes was the PB2 gene from a chicken in Qalubiya, Egypt, (Snip) which had recombined sequences largely from seasonal H1N1 and H1N1pdm09.

The recent transmission study by Kawaoka (Snip) placed a clade 1 H5 on an H1N1pdm09 genetic background and obtained droplet transmission in a subset of ferrets, while Donis obtained similar transmission with an H5 placed on a clade 1 genetic background as well as an N2 from seasonal H3N2.

(Snip) the Kawaoka studies identified an initial H5 change N158D in a subset of the ferrets, which was also likely in similar studies by Fouchier which will soon be published in Science.  (Snip) N158D and associated loss of the glycosylation at position 160, is widespread in clade 2.2 in the Middle East.  (Snip) N158D is also widespread in wild bird clade 2.3.2.1 sequences, including the published sequence from the prior case in Guangdong, A/Shenzhen/1/2011, from late 2011.

Those sequences also had receptor binding domain changes V223I and M230I, which have been fixed in clade 2.3.2.1.  (Snip) release of sequences from the case described above would be useful. 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 Jun 07, 2012 at 06:10:12 AM UTC

Avian Influenza found at large poultry facility in Russia

Avian influenza has recently been identified during the study of pathological material, selected from major Russian poultry producer company (Snip) The virus was identified as low pathogenic avian influenza type A subtype H9. According to preliminary expert estimations the virus came from China.

"There is reason to suppose that among poultry stock in the facility (Snip) an infectious process caused by the specified agent of bird flu is taking place. When low pathogenic virus is circulating among non-immune poultry stock, its pathogenicity could increase" (Snip)

Rosselkhoznadzor has said it considers it necessary to warn of a possible outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza and actions in accordance with the current regulations for the prevention and elimination of avian influenza must be enforced.

In April (Snip) About seven thousand heads of poultry died, reportedly due to mycotoxins that were found in the forage, but the Veterinary Service specialists have subsequently refuted this claim. http://www.worldpoultry.net/ne...

---

by: NewsDiary @ Thu Jun 07, 2012 at 06:31:01 AM UTC

This was posted by me

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 Jun 07, 2012 at 06:34:39 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Sri Lanka: Suspected Swine flu kills one

One employee died and another two are being treated at the Mental Health Institute (MHI) of Angoda after complaining for a respiratory blockade from a suspected viral attack similar to that of H1N1, widely known as swine flu (Snip)  the three employees at the MHI had reportedly fallen ill with respiratory problems and tests conducted by the Medical Research Institute (MRI) and Government Epidemiology Unit (GEU) had revealed that the virus belongs to the H1N1 2009 family (Snip).

"The MRI and GEU have isolated the virus and advised the MHI to separate the remaining two patients and treat them under strict medical supervision. The Health Ministry has alerted other hospitals (Snip) and also taken steps to supply to equip all hospitals with required drugs to face a possible spread of the disease,' (Snip) http://www.dailymirror.lk/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 Jun 07, 2012 at 15:48:02 PM UTC

US: New toolkit demonstrates use of data-driven science to plan for future pandemics (Texas)

In 2009, the H1N1 "swine flu" pandemic struck, infecting millions and killing more than 18,000 worldwide, according to the World Health Organization. Though less severe than initially feared, the pandemic highlighted the potential threat of deadly viruses emerging from animals into humans, and the importance of quick and effective public health intervention.

In a globalized world, the probability of a severe pandemic striking are high, according to Lauren Ancel Meyers, an expert in infectious disease epidemiology at The University of Texas at Austin. A biologist by training, Meyers applies mathematical models and computer programs to understand, analyze and predict the transmission of diseases based on a large number of factors.

During the H1N1 outbreak, Meyers worked with officials in national and international public health agencies to simulate the spread of the disease based on properties of the flu virus, demographic information, traffic patterns, and other data. Her models illustrated how the disease might spread and how the placement of preventative measures, like vaccines and antivirals, could mitigate the pandemic. Continued: http://phys.org/news/2012-06-t...

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 Jun 07, 2012 at 15:54:22 PM UTC

Gambia: Sub-regional trans-boundary animal diseases confab underway

A five-day sub-regional workshop on Trans-boundary Animal Diseases (TADs) opened Monday at the Kairaba Beach Hotel. The workshop, which brought together delegates from Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and The Gambia, is part of collaborative efforts to contribute and strengthen the capacity of veterinary services; to monitor, report, and control major trans-boundary animal diseases like pest of little ruminants, African swine fever, Contagious Bovine Pleuropneumonia, foot and mouth disease, rift valley fever and highly pathogenic avian influenza which has been selected from the list of priority diseases in the region established by FAO-ECTAD.

Officially declaring the workshop open on behalf of the minister of Agriculture, Sheriff Bojang, deputy permanent secretary at the Ministry of Agriculture, expressed profound gratitude to the United States Department of Agriculture and other partners for the trust and confidence bestowed in the country to host and organise the event.

He noted that in spite of continuous efforts by countries and their partners to prevent and control TADs, these diseases still remain the most important factor that limit the production of livestock in the sub-region with considerable negative impact on household food security, income generation, rural poverty and public health.

While warning that TADs posses a real threat to the lives and livelihoods of millions of people, the economy and to the human health, as it has no boundaries, Bojang noted that the government of The Gambia has committed itself to harmonise, coordinate, and build partnership approach in the effective dealings of the diseases. Continued: http://observer.gm/africa/gamb...  

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 Jun 07, 2012 at 15:59:44 PM UTC

China: Bird Flu Spot Detected Northwestern China

Beijing, June 7 - China's Ministry of Agriculture has announced the detection of an outbreak of the highly epidemic H5N1 bird flu virus in poultry at Gansu province, Northwestern China.

More than 6,200 chickens showed symptoms of suspected H5N1 bird flu Friday whereas 260 of them have died (Snip) the local authorities have sealed off and sterilized the infected area, where a total of 18,460 chickens have been safely disposed (Snip) http://www.bna.bh/portal/en/ne...

(Note: The Chinese government rarely admits to anything negative, especially something like an outbreak of H5N1. It appears to me that when they do, it is to take the spotlight off of or cover up something worse. I'm wondering if this is to hide an outbreak in Guangdong where the H5N1 postive 2 year old child lived. They have denied there is an outbreak there. See the article posted above titled "No bird flu in Guangdong, say authorities" Hong Kong imports millions of chickens & ducks from Guangdong province and any outbreak there usually stops the imports for 21 days or more. JMO)

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 Jun 07, 2012 at 16:53:37 PM UTC

Or it's so big, they can't hide it...

Yeah, it is worrisome when China "admits" to something like this. It could be a low-level staff member too foolish to hide it... or it could be so large that they're willing to admit to a small piece of it. Hope it's not the tip of any iceberg...thanks for finding it!

---

by: Cathy M @ Fri Jun 08, 2012 at 01:44:54 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Egypt: WHO confirms 1 human H5N1 case

http://www.who.int/csr/don/201...

Avian influenza - situation in Egypt - update

7 June 2012 - The Ministry of Health and Population of Egypt has notified WHO of a new case of human infection with avian influenza A(H5N1) virus.

The case is a four year-old female from Kfr -Elsheikh governorate. She developed symptoms on 25 April 2012, was admitted to a hospital on 26 April 2012 and received oseltamivir treatment upon admission. She was discharged from the hospital on 7 May 2012.

Investigations into the source of infection indicated that the case had exposure to backyard poultry. (continued)

---

by: AlohaOR @ Fri Jun 08, 2012 at 03:37:05 AM UTC

9th case in Egypt since January (n/t)

---

by: AlohaOR @ Fri Jun 08, 2012 at 03:52:13 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Please post new news stories to...

News Reports for June 8, 2012

Thank you!

---

by: AlohaOR @ Fri Jun 08, 2012 at 04:25:36 AM UTC