News Reports for December 29, 2012

CIDRAP: Study tracks avian-origin H3N2 in China's dog populations

The first systematic surveillance of H3N2 canine influenza virus (CIV) in various dog populations in southern China revealed that the viruses were similar to recently isolated avian-origin strains in dogs and cats from Korea and elsewhere in China.

(Snip)

Serologic surveillance revealed that the infection rates for avian-origin H3N2 in farmed and pet dogs were 12.22% and 5.3%, respectively. The authors suggested that the virus probably spread via close contact between infected dogs in different dog populations.

The group warned that virus circulation in a densely populated area with heavy animal trade poses a risk for pets and provides an environment for mutations and reassortment that could lead to new virus strains and possible threats to public health. http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/cidr...

Dec 20 Infect Genet Evol abstract http://www.sciencedirect.com/s...  

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 @ Sat Dec 29, 2012 at 06:30:54 AM UTC

CIDRAP: Duke health system curbs visitors amid North Carolina flu spike

A  sharp rise in flu activity in parts of North Carolina prompted officials at Duke University Health System yesterday to temporarily restrict visitors at its hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers (Snip).

(Snip) The move follows a Dec 21 comment from the state's health director, Laura Gerald, that flu activity in North Carolina is at its highest level in the past decade.

North Carolina has already recorded 12 flu deaths. "It is very unusual for us to see this many deaths so early in the flu season," Gerald said (Snip).

Neighboring South Carolina is experiencing an early, steep rise in flu activity and deaths as well (Snip). According to figures through Dec 15 from the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control, 519 hospitalizations and 10 deaths have been recorded, well above totals for all of the last flu season (Snip).

Continued with 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 @ Sat Dec 29, 2012 at 06:39:29 AM UTC

CIDRAP: H5N1 hits poultry in Bangladesh, Nepal

In what officials in Bangladesh are describing as the worst poultry H5N1 avian influenza outbreak in 5 years, animal health workers are culling 150,000 birds at a large poultry farm near the country's capital, Dhaka (Snip).

The outbreak was detected on Dec 24 after farm workers noted dozens of dead chickens. Authorities said the outbreak is Bangladesh's 23rd this year (Snip). A rash of outbreaks in 2007 led to the culling of more than 1 million birds.

Elsewhere, an H5N1 outbreak at a commercial poultry farm in Nepal prompted the culling of 2,500 chicks and the destruction of 19,000 eggs (Snip).  The farm is located in a suburb of Kathmandu, the capital, and represents the first outbreak in that area in 3 years (Snip).

Continued with 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 @ Sat Dec 29, 2012 at 06:48:16 AM UTC

CIDRAP: Study - Smooth sailing for self-administered LAIV flu vax

Self-administered intranasal live attenuated influenza vaccine (LAIV) is as safe and effective as that administered by health providers, according to recent analysis of data from a randomized, placebo-controlled study conducted in 1997 and 1998. (Snip).

Self-administered flu vaccines could be useful in a pandemic mass immunization setting and could be a tool for making vaccination more efficient and less costly, the authors say.

Continued: 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 @ Sat Dec 29, 2012 at 06:59:25 AM UTC

CIDRAP: Survey in Southeast Asia finds flu vaccine sales low but rising

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 @ Sat Dec 29, 2012 at 07:01:50 AM UTC

Eight Adolescent Seasonal Flu Deaths In Week 51 FluView

Recombinomics Commentary

Eight influenza-associated pediatric deaths were reported to CDC during week 51. Three were associated with influenza B viruses, 3 were associated with influenza A (H3) viruses, and 2 were associated with influenza A viruses for which the subtype was not determined. All 8 deaths occurred during week 50 (week ending December 15, 2012). This brings the total number of influenza-associated pediatric deaths reported during the 2012-2013 season to 16.

The above figure and description from the CDC week 51 FluView describe 8 adolescent flu deaths, all of which were reported in week 50.  This spike was predicted by recent media and state lab reports, but some of these cases have yet to be reported in the CDC FluView.  The location of the cases is given on the reportable disease page of the weekly MMWR, but the week 51 report will not be published until 2013 due to the holidays.  (Snip)

All 8 of the newly reported fatalities were in week 50, and include 3 influenza B cases.  However, earlier reports described 4 influenza B cases in week 50 (2 in Colorado, 1 in Texas, and 1 in Michigan).  Similarly only one of the two week 48 fatalities in South Carolina have been reported, and the case in Maine was in week 49.  The five infleunza A cases reported in the Week 51 FluView may include the previously cited cases in Michigan and Washington, as well as the New York case cited in the week 51 New York report.

However, the number of cases in week 50, as well as earlier weeks, is expected to rise.  As seen in the above figure, the 8 cases listed for week 50 are more than any week since the peak of the flu activity in the 2010/2011 season.  Moreover, the deaths in early 2013 are also expected to increase as the number of states reporting widespread influenza increases and the frequency of H3N2 cases increase (influenza A frequency increased to 84.9% in week 51 and almost all influenza A cases were H3N2).

Continued: 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

     

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by: Carol@SC @ Sat Dec 29, 2012 at 07:47:14 AM UTC

Cameron limiting visitors due to flu

ANGOLA - Cameron Memorial Community Hospital announced today that its visitation policy will change temporarily to decrease the risk of spreading influenza.

(Snip) restrictions are being implemented to protect Cameron's patients, visitors and staff, (Snip)
http://www.kpcnews.com/news/la...

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 @ Sat Dec 29, 2012 at 08:12:27 AM UTC

Egypt: Diversity of H5N1 strains poses challenges for vaccination

The antigenic diversity of H5N1 influenza viruses circulating in Egyptian poultry as well as an emerging clade, 2.2.1.1, poses mounting challenges for vaccination programs for both animals and humans in the country, says a study slated to appear in the Jan 20 issue of Virology.

Egypt has seen highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) of the H5N1 subtype since 2006. Control measures, including a poultry vaccination program undertaken at that time, have largely failed, and the virus became endemic in the country by 2008.

In addition, nearly 170 human cases have occurred. The authors used antigenic cartography and principal component analysis to assess the antigenic characteristics of H5N1 viruses circulating from 2007 through 2010. A total of 26 HPAI H5N1 viruses in poultry located through phylogenetic trees of amino acid sequences were used as prototypes for antigenic characterization. The researchers found that in 2010, multiple antigenic clusters co-circulated in Egypt, even in the same province, and they identified antigenic differences both between and within H5N1 clades, including clade 2.2.1 and the newly recognized clade 2.2.1.1.

The authors say their results "emphasize the need to monitor constantly the genetic and antigenic evolution of H5N1 viruses in endemic countries such as Egypt in order to make educated decisions on vaccine candidates for humans and animals."

Jan 20 Virology article abstract

http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/cidr...

United we stand: Divided we fall
www.flunewsnetwork.com

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by: cottontop @ Sat Dec 29, 2012 at 13:02:36 PM UTC

Norwegian boy dies of swine flu infection

2012-12-29

OSLO, Dec. 29 (Xinhua) -- An 11-year old boy from the southern Norwegian county of Telemark has died of a swine virus infection, the Norwegian-language newspaper Aftenposten reported on Friday.

The boy had been seriously ill for two weeks before being transferred on Christmas Eve from a local hospital in Porsgrunn to the Riks Hospital in Oslo, capital of Norway, said Bjoernar Nyen, a doctor in the boy's hometown.

Nyen confirmed that the boy died of influenza A caused by the H1N1 virus, which is also called the swine flu.

The boy's immediate family members were being monitored by medical workers, according to the Telemark Daily.

No other details about the death were available.

Several schoolmates of the boy were also ill but their condition was not life threatening.

The H1N1 virus infection is regarded as an ordinary seasonal flu, said the doctor.

"Some can be very sick and very occasionally it gets as serious as this case. But most are not sick at all," said Nyen.

The school has informed all students and their parents of the case and gave no special advice other than proper hand washing and good hygiene.

The Department of Public Health in Norway expected a strong increase in influenza infection in December.

Normally, about 10 percent of the population get flu through the winter, according to the department.

About 900 people die of flu in Norway annually, mostly the elderly.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/engl...

United we stand: Divided we fall
www.flunewsnetwork.com

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by: cottontop @ Sat Dec 29, 2012 at 13:18:15 PM UTC

244 people hospitalized with flu in Colorado

http://kdvr.com/2012/12/28/244...
Posted on: 2:43 pm, December 28, 2012, by Thomas Hendrick, updated on: 09:38pm, December 28, 2012

DENVER - The Colorado health department said Friday that 244 people have been hospitalized with the flu this season. Last year only 32 people were hospitalized.

The state has also recorded two pediatric deaths associated with influenza. One death was in Denver county and the other was in Jefferson county."The two deaths occurred between mid-November and mid-December," said Mark Salley of the health department. "Both were children under age 3, and one had an underlying health condition."
(SNIP)

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by: bgw in MT @ Sat Dec 29, 2012 at 17:28:13 PM UTC

Tasikmalaya Bird Flu Alert

December 29, 2012
http://www.republika.co.id/ber...
Tasikmalaya, Indonesia:  The County Government Tasikmalaya, West Java, is on alert following the outbreak of bird flu epidemics of the death of ducks in the area.

"This case has already led to the avian flu, so people should keep and report ducks that die if for us immediately to deal with," said Head of Animal Health and Veterinary Public Health, Department of Animal Husbandry, Fisheries and Maritime Affairs, Tasikmalaya District, Idik Abdullah on Saturday .

He said there are three sub-communities with bred (breeding?) ducks that suddenly died in a period during December, 2012.  He explained that the region first reported death of ducks as many as 20 birds in the Jamanis District, then in the District Sukaratu many as 40 ducks.

"Now the new cases in the District Cisayong were reported since Wednesday (26/12), to date there are161 dead ducks," he said.

Anticipation for the death of ducks is not widespread, and related office workers are spraying disinfectant in every bird cage within a radius of 500 meters from the location of a dead duck.
Further monitoring of other areas of concern is done by service officers where there is a similar case.  Then they disseminate to the public how to handle dead animal birds.

"We continue to be vigilant with precaution, worried that the virus that attacks the ducks could be transmitted to humans," said Idik.


"I am opposed to any form of tyranny over the mind of man."  Thomas Jefferson

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by: History Lover @ Sat Dec 29, 2012 at 20:03:19 PM UTC

Palestine: Nine succumb to swine flu in the West Bank

Nine West Bank residents have died as a result of contracting swine flu with 187 cases of the H1N1 virus recorded, the Palestinian Authority health ministry said Saturday.

(Snip) a majority of the cases were reported in the northern West Bank, especially Jenin, with additional cases reported in Ramallah, Bethlehem and southern Hebron.

(Snip) most of the people who succumbed to the disease had weak immune systems or were suffering from pre-existing illnesses. The majority of people have gone to hospital and been treated for the virus, he said.

(Snip)

The Palestinian health ministry said it has doubled its efforts to combat the virus and is equipped with all the necessary medicines and testing kits. Roughly 25,000 people have been vaccinated so far.

A spokesman for the Israeli health ministry said officials were monitoring the situation in the West Bank, but so far are not taking any action. http://www.timesofisrael.com/n...

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 @ Sat Dec 29, 2012 at 21:17:37 PM UTC

Please post new news stories ...

...to News Reports for December 30, 2012

Thank you!

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by: AlohaOR @ Sun Dec 30, 2012 at 05:54:00 AM UTC