News Reports for August 19, 2012

US: Amid fair season, warning is issued on swine flu risks (Massachusetts)

The last weeks of summer are prime time for agricultural fairs in Massachusetts, drawing tens of thousands of visitors to browse crafts, sample food, and pet livestock, with pigs often a popular attraction. But a new strain of influenza found in pigs that has infected more than 220 people nationwide - mostly children who have come in contact with the animals - is prompting health warnings for fairgoers.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is advising children younger than 5, people older than 65, pregnant women, and people with certain chronic conditions, such as asthma, to consider avoiding pigs and swine barns this season.

(Snip)

The warnings prompted the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources, which oversees state fairs, to send an e-mail advisory earlier this month to fair organizers with guidelines for minimizing chances for infections. Those guidelines directed organizers to carefully inspect animals for illness, remove any that appear ill, and keep all animals returning to farms separate from other livestock for two weeks.

'We are . . . aware of the [flu] and are taking every precaution to stay on top of it.' "We are paying attention to what has been going on in other states, but we are not overly concerned about it," said department spokesman Reginald Zimmerman.

No cases of the new swine flu have been reported in Massachusetts, but two of the 12 cases detected last year were found in Maine. A sudden surge of illnesses reported in people who attended agricultural fairs in July, mostly in Indiana and Ohio, spurred the CDC to issue two health advisories in recent weeks. The agency said all of those infected have recovered.

The virus does not appear to spread easily from person to person, but is thought to spread from pigs to people when an infected pig coughs or sneezes and a person inhales the droplets. There is also evidence, the agency said, that people are infected by touching something with the virus on it and then touching their nose or mouth.

While this new strain of swine flu contains a gene from the 2009 H1N1 swine virus that killed more than 500 children nationwide and sickened millions, officials said it is a different germ and does not appear to be nearly as virulent. Continued: http://bostonglobe.com/lifesty...

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 Aug 19, 2012 at 06:00:32 AM UTC

US: New flu strain keeps pigs out of Allentown Fair petting zoo (Pennsylvania)

You won't be able to pet the pigs at the Great Allentown Fair this year. Swine will be at the fair for judging but won't be in the petting zoo because of the spread of Influenza A H3N2v, a variant of swine flu.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has confirmed 225 cases of H3N2v swine flu this year, mostly in children who have attended agricultural fairs in recent weeks.

The disease has been found largely in Indiana and Ohio, but on Friday, Pennsylvania Department of Health officials said there were four confirmed and six likely cases in people who attended the Huntingdon County Fair in the south-central part of the state earlier this month. No one was hospitalized.

It was enough for the Allentown Fair's management team to bring in the city Health Bureau for pre-fair planning. The fair will be held Aug. 28 to Sept. 3. "We've certainly been keeping an eye on everything up to this point," said Marketing Director Bonnie Brosious.

Fair officials have decided to keep pigs out of the petting zoo and will set up additional hand-washing stations in the zoo and elsewhere at the fair, Brosious said. Fair-goers also will see prominent messages urging them to wash their hands after going to the petting zoo and at any time before they eat. Animal handlers also will see signs about keeping their hands clean after working with their animals. Fair-goers can get their fill of pigs at the fair's 4H barnyard, but will be asked not to touch them.

(Snip)

Of the 225 cases reported this year, the CDC says none has been fatal, but eight people have required hospitalization. Continued: http://www.mcall.com/news/loca...  

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 Aug 19, 2012 at 06:08:25 AM UTC

Mexico: Mexican citizens attempt to illegally bring eggs across the border as prices spike

An outbreak of bird flu in western Mexico has caused the price of eggs and chicken to spike and now health inspectors are on the lookout for shoppers who cross the border to buy lower cost eggs and poultry in the U.S.

Mexico has vaccinated 80,000 chickens to prevent the spread of the disease and destroyed 8 million chickens infected with the virus in the state of Jalisco.

The price of eggs has topped three dollars a dozen eggs in some parts of Mexico.

(Snip)

On　the border, people routinely cross back and forth to get the best prices. In this case, comparison shopping means buying food in another country.

Both Mexico and the U.S. ban some items to prevent the spread of animal or plant diseases. Neither country allows eggs from the other across the border.

"It's more common for people to cross with eggs from the U.S. since the price is so much cheaper," said Victor Arce, a health inspector.

Inspectors for SENASICA, which regulates food quality and safety, and SAGARPA, which oversee animal health, work side by side with Mexican customs officers at ports of entry.

A red light and a loud buzzer is the signal for drivers entering Mexico to stop for a random search. Often shoppers returning to Mexico are not aware certain groceries are not allowed into the country but others smuggle banned food items across the border.

"We find them in the spare tire, under the seat, "said Arce. There are also smugglers who move banned food in bulk across the border.

Shoppers are allowed to bring packaged chicken and pork into Mexico if it has a USDA seal. Beef is banned. Continued: http://www.khou.com/news/texas...

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 Aug 19, 2012 at 06:20:45 AM UTC

India: Man dies of swine flu in Bhavnagar (Gujarat)

A man died of Swine Flu in Bhavnagar (Snip). Bhavan Goswami, a native from Mahuva, was undergoing treatment for H1N1 infection at a hospital in Bhavnagar, (Snip)  he died on Friday night. http://www.hindustantimes.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 @ Sun Aug 19, 2012 at 06:26:02 AM UTC

India: Woman succumbs to swine flu in Nashik (Maharashtra)

In the first such death of this monsoon season, a 42-year-old woman died of swine flu at a hospital here (Snip) Manda Chandrakant Chatona, a resident of Savarkar Nagar area, was admitted to the ICU of the civil hospital here on August 15 where she succumbed to her illness yesterday (Snip)

She was earlier being treated at Satpur's EDI hospital for flu-like symptoms and her blood sample was tested positive for swine flu at Pune's National Institute of Virology, he said.

(Snip) some more patients suspected to be suffering from swine flu were being treated at the hospital but their condition is fine.

Asserting the situation was under control, Phadanvis appealed to the people not to get panicked and said the hospital has been having a separate ward to treat swine flu patients for past three years. http://www.deccanherald.com/co...

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 Aug 19, 2012 at 06:46:18 AM UTC

India: 40-year-old man dies of swine flu in Bhavnagar

BHAVNAGAR: Bhavanbharti Goswami, 40, a resident of Konjli village in Mahuva taluka of Bhavnagar district, died of swine flu in Civil Hospital here on Saturday evening. Goswami was admitted to Civil Hospital on August 14 after he complained of high fever and cough. His blood samples were sent for H1N1 virus test and he had tested positive.

This is the third death due to swine flu in Saurashtra in the last one and a half month. Earlier, two persons from Jamnagar had died of swine flu in July, sources said (Snip) Mangalsinh Vala, 32, a resident of Bharvad Sheri of Indiranagar in city, was on August 17 admitted to a hospital as a suspected swine flu patient. (Snip) the report is awaited.

Lilaben Kalthiya, 55, a resident of Dhamel village in Lathi taluka of Amreli district, was admitted on August 14 in a private hospital as a suspected swine flu patient. She has tested positive (Snip).

The health department carried out a survey in the areas of these patients. The department is on a high alert (Snip) http://timesofindia.indiatimes...

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 Aug 19, 2012 at 19:19:12 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Swine flu cases don't deter visitors to Montgomery's fair

Three massive hogs were spooning in a pen near the Swine Show Pavilion. Two others lounged with a bit more personal space. As pink ears and tiny tails flopped, Katie Sayer was thinking about taking one home, not getting sick.

"We're having a good time, and I'm not going to stop going around and looking at animals and pigs because I might get the swine flu. That's what doctors are for," said her boyfriend, Scott Salsbury, 27, who made his first trip to the Montgomery County Agricultural Fair on its final day Saturday.

Maryland public health officials announced Friday that five children and one adult in Queen Anne's County, across the Chesapeake Bay, contracted swine flu after having direct contact with pigs. None were hospitalized or are seriously ill. All handled pigs at the Queen Anne's County Fair, and they also encountered the animals in other agricultural settings. No cases have been reported in Virginia and the District.

"It's more like direct handling of pigs, as opposed to just a casual touch of a pig on one occasion," said David Blythe, a medical epidemiologist with the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. During the fair, Montgomery veterinarians were doing regular checkups of the pigs.

Sick pigs sneeze, cough and "bark," and health officials said people at higher risk of complications from influenza - such as those with compromised immune systems, pregnant women, children younger than 5 and the elderly - should take extra precautions.

"We would recommend those people avoid having contact with sick pigs if they can," Blythe said. The virus rarely transmits from human to human. "The basic message is to try to take precautions when around sick pigs. The precautions are similar to when you're around sick people."

And so a pig-loving vegetarian from Annandale named Abby Page, 12, happily watched as a piglet named Hammy Hamlin (named after Virginia-raised NASCAR driver Denny Hamlin) raced to victory around a small track lined with screaming children. At age 5, she wrote "I love piggies" in her diary, and has not looked back. She reads books on pigs, owns a T-shirt that reads "Eat your greens, not your pork and beans," and calls pigs caring not filthy.

"It's just another normal disease," Page said of the H3N2v flu strain. "Most of the time, diseases like that won't hurt you."

Maryland officials said that since July eight people have been hospitalized nationwide, but none has died.

Brian Zikmund-Fisher, an assistant professor at the University of Michigan School of Public Health, studies how people communicate about risk and how they make decisions about their health. "One of the things we know from the research is, our fear of risk is related to how much we think we can control that risk," Zikmund-Fisher said. The vast majority of Maryland's 5.8 million residents have not been spending time with pigs at a fair or farm, so "it's not something they have to personally worry about," he said. Continued: http://www.washingtonpost.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 @ Sun Aug 19, 2012 at 18:33:06 PM UTC

US: First Cases of the Flu Reported (Kentucky)

Kentucky has its first confirmed cases of flu for the year, and officials are urging residents to get their vaccinations. (WYMT-TV photo) The Department for Public Health reports six confirmed cases in Boyd County of the H3N2 strain, which is included in this year's flu vaccine. No cases of flu that contain genetic material from swine flu have been reported in Kentucky this year.

Kristy Bolen, senior epidemiologist at the Ashland-Boyd County Health Department, said both children and adults have been affected. "We do know that when kids go back to school, we tend to see more influenza," she said.

The reports of swine flu in Ohio and Indiana have prompted physicians to test for flu more than they normally would this time of year, Bolen told Kentucky Health News. "Being right on the border with Ohio, our local providers and local community members are more aware," she said. "It doesn't necessarily mean it will be a bad flu season." Continued: http://www.weku.fm/post/first-...

(Note:  

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 Aug 19, 2012 at 18:40:01 PM UTC

US: Dunn County teen comes down with swine flu from state fair (Wisconsin)

A young Wisconsin State Fair exhibitor from Dunn County is one of two Wisconsin residents to have contracted H3N2 (H3N2v) influenza, otherwise known as swine flu.

(Snip)

Test results indicate one of the infections occurred in an adult from southeastern Wisconsin who worked at the Wisconsin State Fair. The individual did not report direct contact with swine. A second H3N2v infection has been detected in an adolescent who was a swine exhibitor at the Wisconsin State Fair and lives in Dunn County, according to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services. The individuals are recovering from their illness and have not been hospitalized. Continued: http://www.piercecountyherald....  

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 Aug 19, 2012 at 18:46:52 PM UTC

Please post new news stories to...

News Reports for August 20, 2012

Thank you!

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by: AlohaOR @ Mon Aug 20, 2012 at 04:30:05 AM UTC