My wife was in the local farm supply store earlier today. She casually asked them what they thought of the bird flu and go more than she bargained for. She was told that bird flu is already in NC and it has been kept quiet to avoid creating panic. All the chicken farms have been buttoned down. The Farm Store is no longer able to carry any live animals ie: chicks, goslings, poults etc. . .
No doubt it is the lo path variety, which of course is of no danger to humans. I’ll stop by the store tomorrow and find out what I can and follow-up here.
My wife was in the local farm supply store earlier today. She casually asked them what they thought of the bird flu and go more than she bargained for. She was told that bird flu is already in NC and it has been kept quiet to avoid creating panic. All the chicken farms have been buttoned down. The Farm Store is no longer able to carry any live animals ie: chicks, goslings, poults etc. . .
No doubt it is the lo path variety, which of course we all know is of no danger to humans. I’ll stop by the store tomorrow and find out what I can and follow-up here.
I hope this is not related in any way. But I will leave it to others to reach their own conclusions.
A possible outbreak of the flu forces Yancey County school officials in to cancel classes through early next week.
About 250 students have gone home sick with flu-like symptoms at two schools and several child-care centers this week. There will be no school Thursday, Friday and Monday. Tuesday is a teacher workday, so students will return to class next Wednesday, November 8th. The Yancey County Health Department is waiting for test results to come back to determine if it is the flu. If that happens, Yancey will be the first county in North Carolina to have confirmed flu cases this season.
(posted 10:00 pm 11/01/06)
I’ve been following this story today for a while. According to what I have read, as many as 85 kids were out as early as October 26th. According to AP, some samples have tested positive for a “B” variety flu on a rapid test, and final typing will take up to a week by state health officials. Let’s not panic. I have yet to hear of any hospitalizations or deaths. It is flu season after all. Also, I understand from my other reading that schools throughout the region will close schools sometimes when 10% of their students are out sick.
This bears watching, but doesn’t feel like “IT” to me.
Remember that H5N1 is type A. So this is good news
Follow up:
The victims tested positive for influenza B, the less serious of two types of the virus that commonly infect humans, the department said in a news release….
An outbreak of flu-like illness kept 250 of Yancey County’s 2,575 pupils out of class on Wednesday… We just need everyone to act responsibly,” Kinnane said. “Sporting events, recreational events — any high-gathering event — have been canceled or we’re recommending that they be canceled.” …
The findings at the North Carolina State Laboratory of Public Health must still be confirmed by further tests that could take up to a week, the state Department of Health and Human Services said….
“We just need everyone to act responsibly,” she said. “Sporting events, recreational events — any high-gathering event — have been canceled or we’re recommending that they be canceled.”
I haven’t seen this before.
Is there a more reliable place on the web for flu statistics by state rather than the one at weather.com? It still says October 21st on their site. It is two weeks later now.
Siam, I have’t see that before either. Maybe they don’t know anything special but just understand that mixing seasonal flu with oh….say low path h5n1 could be an issue? Beats me.
I was in Wilkes County NC last weekend. Wilkes is a heavy Tyson chicken producer and is affectionately referred to by both current and former residents as the chickens**t capitol of the state. I heard nothing from my family that lives there, and they would be in a position to know and talk if anything strange were going on.
While there’s tremendous potential for infection there, just because of all of the chicken farming, I don’t think this is it. This time, it sounds like the germ factories are the schoolkids.
ReallyDisappointed at 19:28
You have undoubtedly found a reference to the CDC’s weekly numbers released each week throughout the flu season.
You can find them directly at cdc.gov/flu and click on current week report.
mcjohnston? Please don’t tell me that this is the fastest we can compile information on the flu by state.
ReallyDisappointed
They usually post each Thursday evening or Friday for the week ending the previous Saturday. So they are 7 days behind when they post, and it isn’t updated for another week. One thing to keep in mind is that their numbers are highly suspect, as they only report the percentage of visits to a network of “sentinel” providers for febrile respiratory illness. They miss a lot of cases. It is, however, the closest to “hard” numbers we will likely get from a government agency. Oh, and they also rely on “self reporting” by states. There is plenty of opportunity to, shall we say, fudge the numbers.
www.cdc.gove/flu/weekly/usmap.htm
I check this map weekly. I wouldn’t rely on it for total honesty as a pandemic indicator, or monitar. This site takes you right to the map.
Okay, maybe I am missing something but if the current numbers are from cases reported the week ending 10/21/06 then where is the report for 10/28/06?
ReallyDisappointed
W/E 10/28 should appear on their website sometime in the next 24 hours.
Oh, oh. I get it now. I think. We will see the numbers of flu cases probably tomorrow reported between 10/21/06 and 10/27/06. That is unacceptably slow when we have a possible pandemic with maybe a short incubation period. If a lot of people came down with some serious flu on the 22nd, 23rd, and 24th then it won’t show up on the CDC website until 11/3/06? Bad, bad, bad.
Can’t we get some sort of real time reporting like the USGS uses for earthquakes?
I think the point might be that we shouldn’t actually depend on CDC for any “real” information, ultimately.
The best information will probably be on the fluwikie first, IMHO.
I agree with you. You know what else just occurred to me that we need to change. Really, we must change. We shouldn’t hold elections in flu season.
I always check flustar. I don’t think there are actual numbers on there but you can see where flu appears and see how it spreads from “Low”, to “Moderate” , and finally to “High.” NC isn’t even on the radar yet on that map. So far it’s just FL and the Gulf coast.
cottontop – at 19:47 www.cdc.gove/flu/weekly/usmap.htm
that has an extra “e”. It should be
DennisC- thanks for the correction. Fingers sometimes have a mind of their own!
This isn’t a scientific observation of course, but I can tell you that I attend what is fondly, or infamously, called a “mega church” due to its size in proportion to our area.
At the church we have a very strict protocol for whether a child with symptoms of any illness are allowed into Sunday School and/or nursery. No rashes, fevers, runny noses (accept a little clear, as in the kind the kids get when they are teething), bronchial cough unless the child has asthma or similar condition, etc. Same sort of rules there should be in the public school system.
We also have a cleaning protocol that is really strict. All surfaces and toys are cleaned at the end of the day if a child(ren) has been in the room … usually even if the room goes unused for some reason it is included in the cleaning schedule.
Even with these strict measures we have been dealing with an unusually high number of student and teacher illnesses … and it then goes around in their families. We had a peak like this back at the end of VBS (vacation Bible school) and we are seeing a similar peak again. Its some kind of flu (aches and pains and fever) with some gastro-intestinal elements to it. Yuck … especially as our family became one of the statistics of it a couple of weeks ago.
Its all over in the schools and has started to hit the adult workforce as well as their kids bring it into the home.
Kathy in FL:
I’m in CA, and have attended two large churches over a 20 year period. They both have a “custom” of having the entire congregation stand, shake hands, and greet each other during the service. I find this to be a very poor idea, as it does nothing but facilitate the transfer of whatever is going around at the time. BF threat or not, I don’t want someone else’s cold or “harmless” flu. I’m actually thinking of approaching the leadership to recommend they stop. If not, I probably will stop attending…
Kathy in FL 9:49
We also attend a large church in NC. Same thing there, although it also went through my office at the same time. I kept a running tally in my head and it was a surprise when I spoke to someone who had not had it. My whole family had it and that is 6 people. I too believe it was early season flu. Hope it conveys some immunity to bird flu! :)
Shaking hands is bad enough, but my daughter attends a church that still holds with the old tradition of the communal wine cup . . . the priest wipes off the edge of the cup after each person drinks. Like that’s going to do much good . . . makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up just to think about it. She’s an otherwise very intelligent young woman. This practice alone will make me jump to the conclusion that it is time to SIP sooner than many others may think, simply to protect us all from this practice.
Would those of you who have had what you think is this year’s flu please say what your symptoms were, and how the course of the disease progressed? I become quite distressed when I see people say they have the flu, and then they go on to describe the symptoms of food poisoning or a norovirus - not to say I think that’s what’s happening in this case at all. People should close schools in a norovirus outbreak, but I’ve not heard of them doing it.
I’m not as familiar with type B as with type A flu, and would be very interested in the symptomatology.
We live in close proximity to the area in question . . . too close for me.
Aches, pains, fever, deep fatigue, sweats, tight/heaviness in chest, deep racking dry cough followed week later by green pleghm producing cough. Total time 3 weeks give a few days.
In addition to the symptoms listed by Homesteader above, I have always had an additional 3 to 6 weeks of fatigue, runny nose and dry hacking cough—lingering and hanging on and on. It feels like a couple of months. And, if you are exposed to another bug, coronavirus, pnuemococcus, Haemophilius Influenzae (spelling??), etc, while you are recovering, expect to be down for a while longer as the opportunistic secondary infection will pounce on you in your weakened state and make you sicker than it otherwise would.
Came down with something that could have been a cold or allergy. Decided it was allergy, but avoided some gatherings, in case I was contageous.. Cleared up in two days unlike a cold. The church I do on occassion attend ,does shake hands, holds hands in a circle a number of times, in the more intimate service I attend during the week. They drink if they so choose from the communal cup after it is wiped with a cloth, or dip into the chalice. This service ,held in a side chapel is more hands on, but less likely to pass on illnesses, as the people don’t attend if they are ill, and there are less than a dozen attending at any time. I prefer it to the Sunday service. Perhaps your churches have services on days other than Sunday. The Catholic Church has early morning services for the most devout who start their day this way. I am not ill, but had a dry cough which was so irritating that my diaphram is sore. If it was a cold it hasn’t lingered, and allergies and colds share symptomology. What people should do, and what they actually do are two different things. Traditional things change very slowly, though saying “Peace” and shaking hands is a reletively new introduction, and under normal conditions a pleasant interaction. If we have an epidemic, much less a pandemic of flu, they should reconsider and announce it during the service.I might bring this up as a question the next time I attend.
mcjohnston92 @ 14:09
this is what’s been happening to me. I had back to back colds, got a reprieve, and have picked up something else this week. I use hand santizer, and wash my hands, and my hands are so cracked, that repeated doeses of lotion have not helped. We have really stepped up hand washing, and wiping down since school started, and it seems to be in vain. This time around, it’s deep in my lungs, not so much in my head. I have no aches, no fever, but I am fatigued, and so tired of coughing up green stuff you’d find on an alien plantet. No one else in my family is sick. I seem to be “the chosen one” for sickness, and I’m in reasonable good health.
The woman next door to me has the same symptoms listed by all of you, but she had the flu shot three weeks ago. Did anyone with these syptoms have the flu shot?
I have hesitated to post about this but it seems important - at least for lessons to be learned.
A good friend, a teacher, has been hospitalized twice in the last month with flu.
The day she was admitted to the little local hospital, there were 4 others admitted with the same symptoms, and this caused complete overload for the hospital - my friend’s husband had to stay, change sheets, help her, etc. due to overloaded nurses.
She got worse and worse, was given morphine for pain, was terribly dehydrated, etc.
After a week of IV to restore hydration, various IV meds, etc. she was sent home.
She “relapsed” and her husband took her to a nearby city to a pulmonary specialist who hospitalized her in a big city hospital.
The flu had turned to pneumonia of course and she had very damaged and inflamed lungs (I am not a health care worker so I may have terms wrong).
She was treated with lots of stuff including what I think was a steroid because the doctor said it would help with the severe inflammation.
So, the lessons?
- Well, for one they never tested to see what kind of flu she had - second, small hospitals will fold quickly one way or another
- 3rd, there will be no pulmonary specialist to help locally and those in cities will be deluged if they are even around -
4th, if this was just “regular” flu which I am sure it was, in case of anything worse, we certainly are screwed.
5th, she is a teacher in an area with a fairly large number of legal and illegal immigrants - but, no testing
Lots of sick kids, teachers but local reports say no more than usual for flu season BUT an early flu season for sure!
it takes AT LEAST 2 weeks to build up even a little immunity to the flu after the shot. She could have been harboring it for 2–7 days before even showing symptoms. Maybe her symptoms took a little longer to manifest because she had built up some immunity. In any case, getting the flu shot isn’t instant immunity. it takes a while. she probably didn’t have it in her system long enough, or the flu she go tisn’t a “match” to the strain in the shot, or , she doesn’t even have the flu and just has a bad cold. she should go get tested for the flu. -she may get a prescription for tamiflu that she may or may not decide to use now. ;)
Leo7- Funny you should mention that, because we got our 3 weeks ago. The other three are fine, and have not displayed one symptom. I am the only one.
:-(
cottontop – at 14:45
Better go check and see if something you’ve had isn’t trying to turn into bronchitis. Sounds like it … or walking pnuemonia, especially the fatigue part. Better safe than sorry.
The North Carolina thing. Http://www.citizen-times.com apps/pb…D=20061102046 and Http;//www.citizen-times.com apps/pb…D=200661102029… Evidently Yancy County is hit hard. They have terms mixed up. It might be a epidemic, but they are calling it a pandemic which it’s not.
TIG:
My neighbor called me cause she realized she was in trouble. Her shot going by her calendar was on October 11. Plenty of time to be primed and pumped, even if in her late sixities. She walks two miles a day, nearly every day. She has had classic flu symptoms for over three days when she called me. She had decreased breath sounds in her left lung so I called an ambulance for her. She couldn’t even sit on the side of the bed without feeling dizzy and nearly fainting on me. Her son met her at the hospital. Today he called to thank me she has viral pneumonia. The doctor told him either the vaccine didn’t match or it wasn’t given correctly. I said what type of flu—he didn’t know but said he would ask later today. Her story is close to Sunny’s friend’s story although Sunny doesn’t say if her friend had a flu shot or not.
Kathy in Fl- I agree. I forgot what feeling normal feels like. This discussion has also made me remember something that I had forgotten, concerning one of my blood test this past spring. My white blood cell count came back elavated with concern from my doctor. Given this test was taken at 8:00 in the morning, when to my understanding, the count is suppose to be low. Two weeks later another test was done, and results were more acceptable to her, but the blood was taken in the afternoon. So I’m thinking there might be a correlation here as to timing or maybe there is something going on.
I’m out of Charlotte, NC. Mid-day news confirms 250 kids out with flu and closing school in Yancy County (Asheville area). Way too close for comfort. Should be in Charlotte, oh, in about…. NOW! Killer leaf season in Mtns..So should be spreading pretty rapidly back to tourists homes throughout the southeast. Haven’t seen anything about Bird Flu in papers or news locally though. Hopefully just a rumor, as I’ve got my SIP cabins in NC Mtns (above Wilkes County) YIKES….
In answer to Leo’s note about my friend and flu shot. She had not gotten this year’s since our local flu clinics had not started - private doctors had none until now - BUT she had always gotten one every previous year. Thanks
Bumping to ask if anyone has heard anything new on this . . .
Here is yesterday’s news
Flu Keeps Yancey County Schools Closed
Nine schools and 2,000 students will stay out of class tomorrow as the flu hits one mountain community hard.
Last week, hundreds of Yancey County students suddenly found themselves out sick. As a result, all Yancey County schools will remain closed for the next two days to help keep the flu virus from spreading even further. Many parents agree with the school closing to keep their kids, and themselves, away from the virus.
The outbreak of flu symptoms hit 250 students and up to 45 teachers. It forced yancey county officials to close school to control it. State Health Officials say tests show the county appears to have the first two confirmed cases this season. Physicians at mission family Medical Center in Burnsville say they’ve had a slew of flu patients, including some parents who got the flu from their kids. Many more people are requesting the flu shot as well, but doctors warn the shot has no guarantees, it’s just a precaution.
Students in Yancey County will return to classes on Wednesday after a scheduled teacher workday on Tuesday.
posted 11:38pm, 11/05/06
“Many more people are requesting the flu shot as well, but doctors warn the shot has no guarantees, it’s just a precaution.” = they don’t have enough to vax everyone if they wanted it?
Hope they are cleaning the school surfaces well in the meantime…
Just in case someone doesn’t know it, pharmacies are giving flu shots too – CVS, Rite Aid, Eckerd - probably others as well.
My oldest son and I got our shots on Friday at a CVS. They had already given 100 shots in the first two hours of their flu clinic.
I asked if they had any trouble getting vaccine. The nurse looked very surprised, and said “Oh, no, we always order it.”
It wasn’t clear if that meant they always get the amount they want or if she is very removed from the ordering process and so hasn’t a clue.
Some grocery stores around are also having flu clinics - I got my vaccine at a Food Lion, daughter got hers at a Kroger.
I don’t know if they have CVS stores in North Carolina. I would recommend your checking out their minute clinic staffed by Nurse Practitioners. I mentioned it in more detail on the Dummies thread. I got my Pneumonvax 23 injection. They are open 6 days a week. It is a valuable adjunct to your medical needs. You have your primary physician and your specialists, this is one more resource. I don’t mean this to be spam, but many have expressed frustration in getting the pneumovac. Check them out.
There are many CVS stores in NC.
The minute clinic in my local CVS opened last week. They carved out a small office for the Nurse Practioner. Give various injections, do simple tests, and take care of common complaints. Open from 8a.m. to 8p.m. on weekdays and until 4p.m. on Saturdays. I was in and out in no time for my Pneumovax 23.
Seems to be quite a NC contingent on fluwiki… of course more would be here seeing it is an NC story… Anyway, hi to all my fellow North Carolinians… I work in Charlotte and live in Belmont. Stomach virus is running through my daughter’s high school, but is not flu as symptoms are nausea, vomiting and fatigue, but recovery withing 24 to 36 hours…
Yancey flu scare draws CDC by Angie Newsome, ANEWSOME@CITIZEN-TIMES.COM published November 7, 2006 12:15 am Reader Feedback: Comment on this article | Register here
A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention research team is scheduled to arrive in Yancey County this week to investigate a recent flu outbreak that closed schools and some churches.
Lynda Kinnane, supervisor of the Yancey County Health Department, said the four-person research team would help local and regional officials research how the flu spread from person to person and whether the decision to close the school system last Wednesday was effective.
http://citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200661106081
This situation appears to be getting worse, not better.
Yancey extends school closures Flu outbreak still under investigation
by Angie Newsome, ANEWSOME@CITIZEN-TIMES.COM published November 8, 2006 12:15 am Reader Feedback: Comment on this article | Register here
As state and federal health officials begin to research the spread of a flu outbreak in Yancey County, local officials decided Tuesday to keep the county’s nine-school system closed until Monday.
The school system will take annual leave days today and Thursday, Yancey County Manager Michele Lawhern said. The system already planned to close Friday in observance of Veterans Day.
Lawhern said officials extended the schools’ closure, in part, because about 44 staff members would be out sick today, the day the system was originally set to reopen.
Yancey officials decided last Wednesday to close the school system after about 250 children and up to 45 staff members became sick with flulike symptoms. State public health officials confirmed Thursday that the county had the first cases of flu in the state this flu season.
“In general terms, the numbers are coming down slightly in the pediatric or child population,” she said. “However, it’s increasing a bit in the adult population.”
The illness is still showing up among new populations, specifically in the eastern part of the county and among siblings of sick children countywide.
Lawhern said officials are tracking the illness through a range of local and regional data from places including the community college, area hospitals, nursing homes and various employers.
This week, representatives of the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the N.C. Division of Public Health started researching how the illness spread and whether the decision to close schools was effective.
Acting Health Director Jan Lounsbury with Madison County Health Department said the CDC already asked the department whether the flu had spread there.
Lounsbury said there are two possible flu cases in Madison County adults, though there has been no mass absenteeism at county schools related to the respiratory illness.
Madison County had a mass vaccination clinic Monday, when officials administered up to 180 flu shots. The county is out of flu shots for children, she said. More is expected to arrive, she said, though the date is unknown.
ChuckE - thanks for the fix.
More schools closed in NC. Looks like a really bad flu season is upon us. From the article-
“Mitchell County canceled school today for its 2,200 students after health officials confirmed about 20 flu cases.”
“school officials believe the virus has been coming from Yancey County where schools closed last week”
North Carolinians:
I thought a CDC team went to Yancey County. To see if it was appropriate to close the schools etc. Was there a public report yet?
Flu outbreak in Mitchell County closes schools
“There’s no school Thursday for students in the Mitchell County school district. That after 20 confirmed flu cases and the threat of the illness spreading…”
Northeast Tennessee bracing for possible flu outbreak
“An influenza outbreak in the mountain counties of western North Carolina has northeast Tennessee health officials concerned. …At a flu clinic in Unicoi County last week, only about 300 people were inoculated, leaving about 200 doses of vaccine unused. …”
Does anyone know if CDC has arrived on the scene as yet?
Clawdia – at 13:47
…This week, representatives of the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the N.C. Division of Public Health started researching how the illness spread and whether the decision to close schools was effective.
Acting Health Director Jan Lounsbury with Madison County Health Department said the CDC already asked the department whether the flu had spread there.
Lounsbury said there are two possible flu cases in Madison County adults, though there has been no mass absenteeism at county schools related to the respiratory illness.
It has been a few days now, and no reported deaths. This can’t be H5N1.
I don’t think it is h5n1 either. But, the key is that tricky little “reported” word. However, I do think that numbers of deaths would be hard or impossible to hide in this country. That is not to say that TPTB will not try…
For Homesteader—
Any more word from the feed store??
Can anyone give me that site for the nation flu watch? I’ve lost mine, again!
Remember that the 1918 pandemic started out with the regular flu, lasting only a few days, and no deaths were reported. (if memory serves). A few months later, the biggie hit.
the flu only lasting a few days for the individual I ment to say.
I live in NC and the news on this has been sketchy at best — not a good sign for reporting getting out on any future pandemics. (In other words, it could be right on top of us and would we really know??)
Got my flu shot (and one for my son) yesterday. (First chance we had, not being “high risk”). Figure this seasonal flu may move through the state via the school systems, so best to be prepared.
Couple of questions, comments, and observations I’m throwing out here in hopefully a semi-coherent form ‘cause it’s quitting time and I’m in a hurry.
1. This may not be (and probably is not) H5N1. There have been a few tests indicating it’s Flu B. However, this does not mean it can’t go pandemic. A pandemic with a low CFR has the potential to be a big huge honking pain in the butt because people are NOT going to quarantine (I know I won’t) and the R0 may therefore be higher than a pandemic with a higher CFR. Given the rate of infection so far, it sounds like it’s pretty hot, particularly for Flu B.
If we get a sufficient rate of infection, we can still have infrastructure failure and shortages of supplies.
2. Does anyone know if the strain of Flu B they’ve identified is one that’s circulated before, recently, or (better yet) is covered in this year’s vx? Because if there’s no native immunity and no vx for it, see above about pandemic. Doesn’t have to have a high CFR to be a pain in the patookas for a few months. This may be why the CDC is there … to determine this.
3. Election factor. We just had large numbers of people congregating at polling places for the elections. These people likely included flu patients who drug themselves out of bed to vote. All it takes is one person snotting flu virus on the tables, pens, booths, and voting machines to spread the bug to the next few hundred people who vote there. I am betting we see another surge of cases in the area …
Anyway. Worth considering and watching, I think.
Good evening all. Just wanted to ask, if CDC wants to know if closing of schools and churches, what have you, is effective at stopping the spread of flu, couldn’t they tell that by the incoming doctors reports to their offices?? Would they really have to go out into the field to investigate?? And as far as finding out how the flu was spread, duh… from person to person close contact in school, churches, public etc.! I am feeling extremely suspicious about this tonight, especially in light of the fact that this whole thread began with someone being told a “rumor” that bird flu was in NC from a farm supply store employee. If that person doesn’t know what’s going on with the local chicken farmers who does?
anonymous at 17:48 Nice link Anyone seen anything like it for other countries?
On another forum it was stated by a woman with 3 sick kids that her doctor told her that the current vaccine doesn’t help with the current strain of flu going around.
Three counties bordering on Yancy also have lots of flu cases and are closing schools. Tennessee is now concerned also as they have started to get flu cases in kids.
Does the seasonal flu spread like this normally and we just have’nt watched it before?
Re: North Carolina’s influenza B…
I just got a notice from state health officials that Pennsylvania has confirmed it’s first case of influenza - influenza B…
11/9/06 Advisory-Influenza Activity in Pennsylvania
“Positive influenza test identified: The Pennsylvania Department of Health released the following statement on November 9, 2006, regarding influenza activity throughout the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
On November 9, 2006 a case of influenza B was confirmed by the Department of Health Bureau Laboratories. This is the first influenza case in Pennsylvania confirmed by the Bureau of Laboratories in the 2006–2007 influenza season. The specimen was collected on October 30, 2006, from a 20 month old resident of Philadelphia.
Further subtyping of the influenza isolate is in progress.”
They won’t change the current flu vaccine, because it’s just too late. This flu B will have to be dealt with, without a vaccine because I don’t think CDC has ever gone back to the drawing board when they guessed wrong. I agree with Cygnet, this one is hot and virulent, at least in North Carolina. Update on my neighbor: Very shaky-ventilator two days, but she does have an asthmatic history. Currently, getting better and breathing with O2 mask.
If the circulating flu strain isn’t in the seasonal vaccine what we’re seeing in NC is normal, except I though B was more mild than A.
Folks:
I forgot to mention that on Nov 7 news thread I put in a tiny url for a flufacts.com site where you can plug in your zipcode and see a graph for local flu compared to national flu. Since Nove 7 my city went from a 3 to a 7. Would you folks mind putting in the Yancey zip code and telling the rest of us what the bar graph states? Please?
I put in three zip codes in NC 28714, 28740, 28755 and all three were below the national average. I don’t understand why my city-schools still open- at a 7 on graph and three zips in Yancey county, NC is below 2. Since my city has gone up in two days from 3–7 I don’t think the site is lagging behind in data. What’s up?
Leo 7 - Burnsville, NC is the seat of Yancey County, and the zip code there is 28714. The graph at flufacts.com is currently showing that location at a 1 (low) for flu status.
The above post was made by me, beehiver.
Cottontop, lay off the handwashing with soap & water and just use the alcohol gel and healing hand cream. Udder Butter and the creams made for cows work well, too.
So the CDC is in that zipcode to check out the virus that shut a school system down and that county is at a 1 on the graph? Does anyone know another site we can check for flu stats by state, county or zip?
Do we know if any of the states that have influenza B have identified the strain? Maybe it’s covered in this year’s vaccine?
“Each year, the vaccine contains three strains, including two A strains, to help to protect people from flu-like symptoms. This year, they are A/New Caledonia/20/99 (H1N1), A/Wisconsin/67/2005 (H3N2) and B/Malaysia/2506/2004.”
The article also reports that the WHO has been correct in their selection of viruses 22 of the pst 25 years.
Re: feed store — DON’T assume the person behind the counter at the feed store knows what the heck they’re talking about. Feed store employees are often paid very low wages with no benefits. They get what they pay for as far as education goes. Homesteading/livestock/horse/poultry boards (of which I’m a member) have pretty constant complaints about misinformation about NUTRITIONAL needs of livestock from feed stores and THAT is their BUSINESS. I would not expect a feed store employee to know anything about law ‘cept maybe what the last person through the store said. (This is NOT to diss ALL feed store employees. Some do actually know what they’re doing … and I use a feed store where the owner and her long-term employees actually have a clue … but not all due.)
For a better idea of what’s going on in the state in poultry, you might contact the local state show association(s) — they generally have an idea about what’s going around as many of them have $$$ birds.
I am wondering if the ‘epidemic’ in No. Carolina is being shown on TV news. I don’t have a working TV right now. I haven’t heard anyone talking about it, except here in the forums.
nann- I have not heard of it on my local news, or newspaper, or even on national t.v. I only heard about it from alertmap, and here.
Yes that is strange. I also went to a map, and it clearly showed it. It is very real.
Cygnet at 6:22
Point well taken. However, in this case it is a family business run by former chicken farmers. The “lowest employee” so to speak is the son of the owner. He has a degree in Poultry Science from NC State.
I spoke with the father recently. He knows as much about the bird flu situation as I do. He knew the vaccine process backwards and forwards and knows that is not going to happen. The example he used in our conversation was the vaccination for pink eye in cattle; there are 100+ strains of pink eye and the vaccine includes 7 of them, so why waste your money on the vaccine.
About the reports on TV. I’m in NC and watch the Raliegh news casts. I’ve been waiting for the news to carry the story also. They finally did. About three sentences worth. It went something like this …..Mitchell County is closing their schools because of the flu. They have had 20 cases reported. Last week Yancy county had their schools closed to stop the spead of the flu (no mention about the amount of cases or how long the schools were closed)….. Thats it, on to the next story. Perhaps the CDC is compiling the numbers on what effect early school closeures would have on the spread of the flu. I can only hope. I’ve been in NC since ‘79 and raised 3 children in public schools, they have NEVER closed schools for flu in any of the districts I’ve lived in.
It’s not what they say, it’s what they do.
Homesteader - at 08:35, I sort of agree with the pink eye example, but it is somewhat lacking. If the 100+ strains are basically equal, then the vaccination may well be a waste of money. If the 7 strains included in the vaccination account for a large percentage of cases because they are the most virulent, or are currently the most active, then it may well be worth the money. Sort of like saying don’t get the flu shot because there are thousands of strains, and the vaccination only covers three… ;-) Oh, for what it’s worth, I usually don’t get the flu shot… go figure…
I am also in NC, in the Charlotte area. My wife heard a report about school closures on the radio (106.9, which is out of the Ashville area and is nearer to the affected counties than Charlotte is). I have lived in NC my entire life, and I also do not recall any school closures due to flu. But I can remember several closure for cold rain!!! :−0 Missed snow forcasts!!!
I saw the reference to pink eye in the above posts. With regard to the NC flu cases, is conjunctivitis (“pink eye”) one of the symptoms?
Thanks,
Argyll.
anonymous – at 09:58 Pink eye has nothing to do with nothing - it was a vaccine example, not connected to the flu 8=(. I should have just let that pass. But, I did read Homesteader’s post again, and I have a question. Where you say “and knows that is not going to happen.” I may be a little obtuse, but what is the “that” that is “not going to happen”?
A former lurker:
Your comment about the CDC has me thinkking back to their study on social distancing (it’s on their web site). I had not considered that before. It does make good sense to compile information for reference. I do hope those ill in North Carolina are feeling better soon!
Argyll.
Could someone please remove this thread there is no BF in North Carolia I live in the area and it is simply common flu. Keeping this open just invites more rumors. Thanks
BP – at 10:31 - Can you believe the wonderful weather here the past (and next) couple of days! It would be good, if possible, to rename this discussion to “Flu in NC.” Hope you can avoid it. I figure, as pointed out above, that all those going to look at the leaves will spread this flu in the next couple of weeks. My in-laws have a house in Ashe county, and will be retiring and moving up there permanently at the end of this month.
I also agree a title change to “Flu in NC” would be better, too. It would avoid confusion with BF.
Argyll.
No one is saying there is bird flu in NC. This thread started out as someone was told there was or could be BF in NC. Hence, Rumors of bird flu in NC. We all understand that it is the flu we are watching in NC. Go back and read the start of the thread.
The title is “historical”. There is no need to try to revise history. This shows clearly that rumors can develop into real information. It may not be what you originally think, but sometimes you can learn something new by following a “rumor”.
DennisC-
Very true.
Weather is great here but let’s keep it quite we don’t want to ruin it with more folks showing up. Been here just a few years so I don’t know Ashe county? Where is that? Do you mean Buncombe?
cottontop – at 11:06
“Go back and read the start of the thread”
I did read it hence I posted what I did. Please think before you post. “It is better to stay silent and let people think you are an idiot than to open your mouth and remove all doubt” Lincoln
DennisC – at 11:12
With all due respect no everyone has that kind of time. The topic is misleading and diminishes the quaility of this forum.
It looks from here that cottontop was responding to anonymous and not you. If you are the same as anonymous then it illustrates why it is always better to post with a handle to avoid confusion and hurt feelings.
DennisC – at 11:25
Never have been “anonymous” however my uncle is has been dry for 21 years. Always have been BP on this forum always will. No need to hide what I say.
BP, I agree. The original thread was a rumor about bird flu in birds in NC and it then become mostly about regular human flu in NC. It then starts drifting back to the bird flu rumor again. This is a misleading thread and makes it seem like we are drawing a correlation between the two.
Maybe a MOD can create a “copy-paste” of the human flu parts into a new thread titled “Ongoing Regional Flu Outbreaks”.
Of course others could use the handle BP so my previous statement would be inaccurate. So let me rephrase, I will always use BP however that may not be exclusive to just me, however I will never post as “anonymous”. That should be a little clearer.
I don’t see why someone saying it was a rumor Nov 2 by hearing a conversation in a feed store is misleading. If it worries you, why don’t you start a new thread- something like Follow up on the NC Flu Rummors, Follow up on the NC Flu cases or something similar and post a link to the new thread. Realize “we” cannot change a thread title- that is left for moderators and is best asked over in the ask the mod thread.
As far as I know “they” (CDC) has not said what kind of Flu it was. Although some early “rumors” was that it might be type B. But we know that type B is normally not that bad for children over 5. Do anyone know the exact nature of the Flu in NC. Has it been identified by sequence/type?
In my above three posts, I forgot to list my author as Argyll. But, I always sign my posts with my name at the end. Just a habit. Somehow yesterday the Author automatically listed my name, but today that is not the case. I will make certain to check that box before posting any new posts. But, even still you will see my name at the end of my posts. So, feel free to direct any questions to me — Argyll.
Argyll.
TreasureIslandGal – at 11:31
That is all I am saying. Facts are facts. If the BF becomes pandemic this forum needs to stay clear and focused and the only way to do that is to train ourselves to be that way now.
Here are the facts
http://www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200661109077
“State public health officials last week said preliminary tests confirmed that the Yancey County illness is influenza B, a milder form of the seasonal flu virus, the first cases confirmed this flu season. Another flu case has been preliminarily confirmed in Nash County, Engel said.”
I tried to start a new thread to help keep the peace and make things clearer.
Follow Up on Seasonal Flu Cases in NC
Hope that helps some.
will someone post a recap over there to help things along- thanks.
BP – at 11:21
Ashe county is the one at the top northwest corner of NC. Borders VA to the north and Tenessee to the west.
Well, really don’t understand why the upset, so I’m just gonna slink over to the lounge.
(DennisC- I really would not want your job!)
If you worked for the department of Health for the state of NC and wanted to prevent a panic, how would you do it? Let the people think it’s “B” instead of “A”? Keep it out of the news? Let the people think that the closing of the schools is standard operating proceedure under the present circumstances? What would the difference be if it is BF?
By request, I’m closing this and referring everyone to this thread.