News Reports for August 4, 2012

US: CDC Preparing Vaccine for New Swine Flu

Only 29 human cases of a new strain of "swine" flu have been identified in two years, but the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is making sure it's prepared should the H3N2 strain become more widespread.

"This virus is still principally a swine virus, but it doesn't seem to have onward spread. It's still not a human virus," Dr. Joseph Bresee, from the CDC's influenza division, stressed during a noon press conference Friday.

"Even so, a H3N2 candidate vaccine has been prepared and clinical trials are being planned for this year," he said. The reason the CDC is concerned about this particular virus is that it contains an element seen in the pandemic 2009 swine flu strain, H1N1, which may make it more likely for the virus to spread from person-to-person.

All 29 cases were infected with strains of H3N2 "that contained the matrix (m) gene from the influenza A H1N1 pandemic virus," Bresee explained. "This 'm' gene may confer increased transmissibility to and among humans, compared with other variant influenzas viruses."

(Snip) the virus appears to have become more active recently, the CDC said. (Snip) Of the 12 cases reported this week, 10 were from Ohio and one each came from Hawaii and Indiana, the CDC said. According to Bresee, "29 cases of infection with this H3N2 virus since 2011 is a significant increase for these types of viruses that we have seen in recent years."

(Snip)

Each of the recent 16 cases were among people who had direct contact with pigs. In 15 cases, contact happened at a county fair, he added. It may yet be possible, however, to transmit this virus from one infected person to another, Bresee said.

No human-to-human transfer of the virus occurred in the more recent cases, Bresee said, although scientists did find evidence of limited human-to-human transmission in three cases in 2011.

(Snip)

Of the 16 new cases, 13 arose in children (Snip) Studies indicate that children may be more susceptible to the infection than adults, as occurred during the 2009-2010 pandemic H1N1 flu outbreak, Bresee said.

Right now, there is no cause for alarm, the CDC said. Symptoms of this flu are similar to seasonal flu, none of the recent 16 cases required hospitalization and there were no deaths. This flu did hospitalize three people with underlying disease last year, he noted.

"We expect more cases from contact with pigs and through limited human-to-human spread," Bresee said. "We also suspect that some of the cases might be severe."

Reported cases usually represent a small number of actual cases, since most people don't see a doctor and many doctors don't report flu cases. Bressee said, however, it's too early to hazard a guess about how many cases of this flu there might actually be. Continued: http://www.newsday.com/news/he...

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 Aug 04, 2012 at 01:47:49 AM UTC

US: C.D.C. Reports Outbreak of Swine Flu

Federal health officials reported a new outbreak of swine flu on Friday, mostly among children who appeared to have picked up the virus at county fairs. Sixteen people have become infected with the H3N2 swine flu virus over the past three weeks (Snip) There were 12 cases in 2011. The new flu has a gene from the 2009 pandemic strain that officials are monitoring because it could make the illness more contagious. So far it has only been picked up from pigs and has not been passed from person to person (Snip) http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08...  

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 Aug 04, 2012 at 05:53:33 AM UTC

US: Warnings issued on new strain of swine flu

ATLANTA -- More than two dozen cases of a new strain of swine flu are prompting warnings from state and county fairs and health officials to fairgoers and others who might find themselves around pigs.

(Snip) Officials say 29 human cases of the new strain have been confirmed in the U.S. in the last year, most of them in children. Ten of the 12 cases confirmed this week were linked to the Butler County Fair in southwest Ohio (Snip)

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been tracking sporadic cases since last year, when the new strain was first seen in people. The new strain has a gene that allows it to spread more easily to people than pig viruses normally do. So far, it hasn't been spreading easily from person to person -- which is the greater concern.

It also has not been unusually dangerous. All of the recent cases were mild, as were most of the earlier illnesses. But even regular flu can be a serious illness, so people should be careful if they're going be around pigs (Snip)

(Snip)

With summer and fall fairs, "we're likely to see additional cases," (Snip) The Ohio State Fair sent home two pigs with the flu this week. http://www.star-telegram.com/2...  

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 Aug 04, 2012 at 06:02:56 AM UTC

Hawaii Match With Indiana and Ohio Signals H3N2v Pandemic

The CDC has released a series of H3N2v sequences from the recently confirmed cases in Hawaii (Snip), Ohio (Snip)Butler County), and Indiana (Snip) Jackson County).  Full or partial sequences were generated for all 8 gene segments by sequencing of the clinical sample.  In additional partial sequences were generated for the two confirmed LaPorte County cases (Snip) which were not cloned.

All of these sequences were closely related in all gene segments and matched the two earlier sequences from LaPorte (Snip) which were closely related to the sequences from the Mineral County daycare center (A/West Virginia/06/2011 and A/West Virginia/07/2011) which involved 23 symptomatic contacts and no swine exposure.  These sequences were also related to the first cases in 2012, A/Utah/10/2012.

All human H3N2v cases since November 2011 represent a novel sub-clade that efficiently transmits in humans (H2H), as seen at the West Virginia daycare center, and swine (S2S as seen at the LaPorte County Fair where 12/12 swine were H3N2v confirmed).  Thus, this novel sub-clade transmits H2H, S2S, H2S, and S2H leading to significant transmission at county fairs with swine, especially in areas like Jackson County, Indiana where there have been symptomatic human cases for the past 6 weeks.

The presence of the same novel sub-clade in all human cases since late 2011 indicates transmission is sustained, but poorly detected in cases without swine exposure. 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 @ Sat Aug 04, 2012 at 06:11:11 AM UTC

US: Six more cases of human flu linked to hogs (Indiana)

US: The Indiana Department of Health has confirmed six more cases of human flu linked to hogs, bringing the total to 11, and officials say they continue to investigate potential new cases.

The additional cases were identified in Tipton, Jennings and LaPorte counties. The health department confirmed the first four cases on July 24 in LaPorte County and the fifth case in Jackson County was announced Wednesday. Continued: http://www.koaa.com/news/six-m...

(Note: The virus has now been confirmed in people from 4 Indiana Counties. They are LaPorte, Jackson, Tipton and Jennings.)

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 Aug 04, 2012 at 06:26:35 AM UTC

Indiana Confirmed H3N2v Cases Widespread

Recombinomics Commentary

Health officials have confirmed six additional cases of variant influenza A, bringing the total case number to 11 statewide. All cases have been linked to swine. The Indiana State Department of Health and local health departments continue to investigate potential new cases. The additional cases were identified in Tipton, Jennings and LaPorte counties. Jackson County has also experienced four cases.

The above comments (Snip) confirmed cases in two new counties (Tipton and Jennings) and increase the number of cases in Jackson to four or five, confirming the expected explosion of cases in Jackson. These new cases (Snip) confirm Indiana as the epicenter of the H3N2v outbreak, with a significant concentration in Jackson County, where symptomatic cases have been noted for six weeks. 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 @ Sat Aug 04, 2012 at 07:06:15 AM UTC

US: New strain of avian flu killed seals

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) -- A new strain of avian flu that jumped into the seal population caused the deaths of more than 100 harbor seals along the New England coast last fall (Snip). So far, there's no indication that humans are capable of contracting the new virus strain, but scientists plan further study of the new influenza strain's implications.

"Any time we find a new virus, there's a concern that it's going to have a larger impact than on the population in which we originally find it," said W. Ian Lipkin, one of the authors of the study and a professor of epidemiology at the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University.

(Snip) 162 dead seals were found between September and December from southern Maine to Massachusetts. The young seals -- most of them 6 months old or younger -- caught scientists' attention when the first ones were found off New Hampshire because they were otherwise healthy.

The report (Snip) identifies the cause of deaths as a new strain of the influenza A virus, called H3N8, that's capable of jumping from birds to marine mammals.

Other strains of H3N8 have been found in dogs and horses, but this strain had many new mutations that make it different (Snip) The report said further study is necessary and that the emergence of the strain "must be considered a significant threat to both wildlife and public health." http://www.berkshireeagle.com/...

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 Aug 04, 2012 at 07:15:55 AM UTC

Scientists Identify Target For Potent First-Strike Influenza Drugs

Scientists at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital have reported details of how certain drugs can precisely target and inhibit an enzyme essential for the influenza virus' replication. Since all strains of the virus require the same functioning enzyme, researchers believe their findings will yield drugs that can effectively treat new strains of the virus, which may be resistant to current antiviral treatments.

When new strains of influenza emerge, it can take many months for a vaccine to be developed. Experts are concerned that the emergence of any highly virulent strains could result in large numbers of people being hospitalized, and if the strain is or becomes resistant to current treatments, the impact could be catastrophic. The researchers' findings may lead to the ability to develop drugs that not only treat influenza but impede the ability of the virus to develop drug resistance. The study appears online in the August 2 issue of PLoS Pathogens.

St. Jude scientists tested drugs aimed at blocking a dual-purpose enzyme complex, called a polymerase, produced by the influenza virus. This polymerase produces copies of the viral genome during replication. It also assembles molecules called messenger RNA (mRNA) that code for viral proteins the virus needs to hijack the cell's machinery to make it produce more virus.

The drugs that investigators tested target an RNA-snipping enzyme called an endonuclease that is a key subunit of the polymerase complex. The endonuclease enables the virus to disguise its messenger RNA so it will be incorporated into the cell's protein-making machinery. This masking consists of snipping apart cellular mRNA, but retaining a segment called a "cap" that the cell's machinery uses to identify its mRNA. The polymerase then attaches this cap to its own mRNA.

"Inhibitors of the polymerase complex would make excellent drug candidates," said Stephen White, DPhil., chair of the St. Jude Structural Biology department and the study's senior author. "It is a good target because these polymerases are essentially the same across many strains, and also because the virus absolutely needs the polymerase to make copies of itself. The polymerase doesn't have very many similarities to other polymerases in cells, so it should be fairly specific for the flu polymerase."

By contrast, White said, viruses have readily developed resistance to antiviral drugs currently on the market, because they target viral proteins that a virus can readily alter without compromising its viability. Continued: http://www.redorbit.com/news/h...

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 Aug 04, 2012 at 07:30:52 AM UTC

US: No swine flu concerns yet for Nebraska fairs

Sporadic new cases of flu spreading from swine to people at fairs in Ohio and Indiana haven't raised red flags in Nebraska.

(Snip)

Fair goers are advised to wash their hands and avoid taking food and drinks into livestock barns. Pregnant women, young children, the elderly and people with weakened immune systems should be particularly careful.

Bill Angell, livestock superintendent at the Nebraska State Fair in Grand Island, said he plans to meet Tuesday with Dr. Dennis Hughes, the state veterinarian, to discuss the situation. "As of right now, it doesn't affect anything at the State Fair,'' Angell said. The State Fair runs Aug. 24 through Sept. 3.

In Springfield, where the Sarpy County Fair is under way through Sunday, officials didn't know of the swine flu concerns, said Marvin Ostransky, who was working in the fair office. "No one has told us to take any precautions," he said. Continued: http://www.omaha.com/article/2...  

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 Aug 04, 2012 at 07:44:17 AM UTC

New Zealand: Influenza Outbreak Strikes Hunter

(Snip) it has been revealed that influenza outbreak has taken place at Hunter's disability centers. Two centers Stockton Centre in New Castle and the Kanangra Centre in Morisset, have been witnessing a rise in number of people falling ill

(Snip) three people have already lost their lives at the two centers and other five people have been suffering from chronic respiratory illness. Tests have been done, and it will take some time to know that whether the person has been affected by H3N2 strain or not. If the test reports get confirmed then the total number of people falling ill from the virus will reach to 56.

The authorities concerned were of the view that they have been taking strict actions and have made sure that the centers remain lockdown position. (Snip) people should not visit hospitals if they have been witnessing flu like symptoms and should call doctor for home visit.

(Snip) Aged care facilities have also announced that they are going to adopt lock-down approach, so that resident remains safe from the deadly outbreak of influenza A. It is expected that NSW Health will issue health alert on the same. http://topnews.net.nz/content/...

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 Aug 04, 2012 at 16:51:29 PM UTC

This is Australia, not New Zealand.

Hunter is in New South Wales, Australia. I have corrected the headlines and I apologize for the mistake.

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

     

---

by: Carol@SC @ Sun Aug 05, 2012 at 07:20:12 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Please post new news stories to...

News Reports for August 5, 2012

Thank you!

---

by: AlohaOR @ Sun Aug 05, 2012 at 04:13:57 AM UTC