From Flu Wiki 2

Forum: News Reports for November 18

18 November 2006

MaMa – at 00:58

(If you want any of the links to open in a new window, hold down the shift key and then click on the link)

Lookout Posts – here are the links (if no Lookout Post exists, it will not be highlighted)

Please visit these threads for latest information from these regions or to add news

NoRegion NameNoRegion NameNoRegion Name
1USA8East Africa15Arab Peninsula
2Canada, Greenland and the Arctic Circle9Southern Africa and Madagascar16Central Asia
3Central America and Caribbean10Northwest Europe and British Isles17Southern Asia
4South America and Surrounding Islands11West and Southwest Europe18Mainland East Asia and Japan
5Northern Africa12Central and Southeast Europe19Southeast Asia
6West Africa13Eastern Europe and Baltic Region20Australasia Melanesia and Micronesia
7Central Africa14Middle East and Caucasus Region21Pacific Islands and Antarctic

(Please see the thread Volunteers Needed as Lookouts Worldwide if you want to help)

Separate forum threads for India, Indonesia and Nepal

link to Indonesia wiki page

Summary of News for 17 November 2006

(From WHO as at 13 Nov - latest update) Total human cases worldwide 258, deaths 153 (2006 – 111 with 76 deaths)

Indonesia

Egypt

Australia

North Korea

Vietnam

Greece

Croatia

USA

General

Link to news thread for 17 November (link News Reports for November 17 )
(Usual disclaimer about may not have captured everything. Feel free to add your own where omissions have occurred.)
Please note that I copy the links directly from the thread so if they don’t work you may need to re-visit the Thread.

Thanks to all of the newshounds!

AnnieB – at 01:53

International Avian Flu Meeting To Be Held in Bamako, Mali

U.S. co-sponsors conference organized by African Union, Mali, European Union

By Cheryl Pellerin USINFO Staff Writer

Washington — Health and agriculture ministers from many countries around the world will gather in Bamako, Mali, December 6–8 to address issues of growing concern involving avian and pandemic influenza and international response and preparedness. The African Union, the government of Mali and the European Union are co-organizing the conference, and the U.S. State Department is a co-sponsor.

The meeting will be the fourth since September 2005, when President Bush announced before the United Nations General Assembly a new International Partnership on Avian and Pandemic Influenza that would bring together key nations and international organizations to bolster global readiness ahead of the growing threat.

<snip> “Avian influenza is expanding across the globe and remains a serious concern for all of us, including countries that are not yet affected, such as those in the Western Hemisphere,” said Ambassador John Lange, special representative for avian and pandemic influenza at the State Department, at a press briefing November 16. The United States is working with many other countries, Lange added, including African nations, “because avian influenza spread to Africa in 2006 and continues to be a concern.”

PREPAREDNESS IN AFRICA

The 4th International Conference on Avian Influenza in Bamako aims to give new insights into avian influenza disease development worldwide and offer the latest information on strategies, vaccination and forms of compensation to citizens for poultry deaths. The assembled ministers also will work to foster integrated national strategies coordinated at regional and global levels.

“Given the urgency and the seriousness of the situation,” said African Union Chairman Alpha Konaré of Mali in a statement on the conference Web site, “I therefore invite all our partners and stakeholders to leave no stone unturned in working towards our goal of minimizing HPAI [highly pathogenic avian influenza] impact in livestock and public health domains in Africa.”

The United States is concerned about the possible decimation of the poultry population in Africa if bird flu spreads beyond the eight currently affected countries. “If [avian influenza] continues to spread in Africa,” Lange said, “then separate from the infections that take place in humans who are very close to the chickens, you may have a loss of a primary protein source [for human diets] in some countries.”

For those interested in the economic and social development of Africa, he added, “that is a serious concern.”

<snip>

ENHANCING THE ASIA-PACIFIC REPONSE

The focus on preparedness is also intensifying in Asia.

The two-day 18th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Ministerial Meeting concluded November 16 in Vietnam with a joint statement by representatives from 21 member economies that included a section on enhancing avian and human pandemic influenza preparedness and response.

The ministers renewed their commitment to communicate outbreaks transparently and share samples for research to improve preparedness, and urged continued efforts to develop, integrate and practice avian and pandemic influenza preparedness plans to mitigate human suffering and major effects on commerce, trade and security.

APEC economic ministers also agreed to continue to collaborate with the International Partnership on Avian and Pandemic Influenza and to maintain cooperation with international organizations such as the WHO, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Organization for Animal Health.

“As one of the core principles of the International Partnership,” Lange said, “we are stressing to country after country the importance of transparency and sample sharing in dealing with avian influenza.”

The sooner the world knows about each outbreak, he added, “the more able we are to help a country try to control the outbreaks and to deal with what could someday be a pandemic.”

More at http://tinyurl.com/yzmxbk

anon_22 – at 06:17

The United States is concerned about the possible decimation of the poultry population in Africa if bird flu spreads beyond the eight currently affected countries. “If [avian influenza] continues to spread in Africa,” Lange said, “then separate from the infections that take place in humans who are very close to the chickens, you may have a loss of a primary protein source [for human diets] in some countries.”

For those interested in the economic and social development of Africa, he added, “that is a serious concern.”

I hope that does not represent their order of priority.

The last time they met in Africa about avian flu, there was no mention of how to prevent human infections. Since in a lot of these countries, political leaders and big commercial poultry farmers are one and the same, I guess that’s where all the aid money went.

I hope the US Ambassador John Lange, special representative for avian and pandemic influenza at the State Department has not become too integrated with the local culture…

African Bird Flu Conference Fails to Discuss Human Infection

By Franz Wild Abidjan 22 March 2006

At the end of a three-day bird flu conference in Gabon, some experts are surprised that African ministers did not discuss measures to prevent human infection. African ministers met to coordinate attempts to stop the spread of the lethal virus on the continent.

Many of those attending the conference in Gabon’s capital, Libreville, left with unanswered questions.

While everyone at the U.N.-organized meeting agreed that cooperation was necessary to prevent bird flu from spreading across the continent, many were baffled that the issue of human infection was not brought up.

Klatu – at 10:58

H5N1 In Delaware

Recombinomics Commentary November 18, 2006

The updated USDA table of detection of H5N1 in the United States identifies positive green winged teal in Sussex County, DE. Further testing is underway. However, the updated table included two more failures to isolate virus from H5N1 positive samples in New York, and raises serious questions about the methodology and resource allocation of the surveilance program.

The vast majority of the samples are from hunter killed birds, yet the only positive sample from hunter killed birds is from mute swans in MI. Detection of the Qinghai H5N1 strain in Europe was most frequent in mute swans. Similarly, a second positive sample was from environmental samples in MD, which is also the source of most H5N1 positives in the recent PNAS paper on the spread of the Fujian strain of H5N1 in China.

Live birds have yielded H5 virus (H5N1 and H5N3) in PA and MT, while all hunter killed ducks (green winged teal, mallard, northern pintail, northern shoveler) are either still being tested, or have failed H5 virus (H6N2 was isolated from an IL sample and the remaining samples were negative for virus).

The widespread detection of H5N1 in hunter killed ducks, raises questions about failures to detect H5N1 in other sources. The failure to isolate H5N1 from five locations, and the fact that the seven locations still being tested are also from hunter killed birds, raises questions about detection failures in live birds and environmental samples. “ - excerpt

http://tinyurl.com/yn3co9

Klatu – at 11:01

Inoculate kids first: bird-flu expert

Montreal Gazette

Friday, November 17, 2006

Once the bird flu virus strikes, vaccinate children first, a leading epidemiologist suggested yesterday.

“Children are excellent transmitters of infection, so it’s useful to protect them first, Danuta Skowronski of the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control told an immunology symposium held in Montreal.

Older people have some crossover immunity from previous flu outbreaks, Skowronski said. Of the 40 million people who died in the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic, most were under 40, she noted. Ditto for victims of the current avian influenza virus, Skowronski said. Of the 153 cases of death reported to the World Health Organization, 94 per cent involved people younger than 40.”

It’s crucial health officials reconsider their bird-flu priority strategy now because it will be next to impossible to switch tactics during an outbreak, she warned. “The idea of children first needs to be discussed as one alternative.”

-excerpt

http://tinyurl.com/whjw4

Klatu – at 11:04

H5 strain found in wild duck in central Greece; measures demanded

Nov 18/06

International Tribune Hearald

“A veterinary laboratory in Halkida, Evia, said yesterday that it had discovered the H5 strain of bird flu in a wild duck that was found in Fthiotida, central Greece. The H5 virus is only lethal to birds but samples from the duck will be sent to England to determine whether the virus is the H5N1 strain which can also kill humans. Authorities in Fthiotoda have been instructed to adopt emergency bird flu measures, such as ensuring that poultry is kept indoors.”

http://tinyurl.com/w6ltg

Klatu – at 11:36

RE: “U.S. is lucky” - Nov 17/06 Date: Fri, 17 Nov 2006 11:45:08 −0800 From:”Russell, Sabin” <SRussell@sfchronicle.com>   To:”Klatu” <kxxxxx>

“Low path H5N1 has been around North America for decades, and it isn’t surprising they are finding a lot of it now that they are looking so hard for it. You raise an interesting point about low path becoming high path; it has happened before. But since this bug has been around here for so long without causing trouble, the more significant risk would seem to be the arrival of the Asian high path strain. It could come in a boat as easily as in a migrating bird. SR

Original Message-----

From: Klatu Sent: Friday, November 17, 2006 8:14 AM To: Russell, Sabin Subject: Re: “U.S. is lucky” - Nov 17/06

Checks of migratory birds show no avian flu in U.S.

San Fransico Chronicle

Sabin Russell, Chronicle Medical Writer Friday, November 17, 2006

“A multimillion dollar national effort to screen North American migratory birds for potentially deadly strains of avian influenza has so far come up empty and if the United States is lucky, things will stay that way.” - excerpt

http://tinyurl.com/y5suw8

“Katu wrote to :”Russell, Sabin” <SRussell@sfchronicle.com>  

The following might be of some interest.

Klatu…..

H5N1 In Missouri Recombinomics Commentary November 17, 2006

“The number of H5N1 positive samples in the United States continue to grow, as H5N1 migrates to the south. The latest samples are from hunter killed Northern Shoveler in Stodard County, MO, collected on November 4, 2006. H5N1 was also detected in Stanley County, SD in hunter killed Northern Shoveler. 

 H5N1 Mallard duck samples from three locations in Grundy County, IL, two locations in Niagara County,

NY, and two counties in MI signal the widespread distribution of H5N1 in the United States.” - excerpt

http://tinyurl.com/swv3a

“- The following link shows widespread low-path H5N1, throughout the U.S. (its been in Canada for several years) Low-path is harmless to humans, but can be converted to hi-path. Presently there are multiple clades and sub-clades circulating throughout Asia, they all started as low-path.

‘’‘LOW PATHOGENIC “NORTH AMERICAN” H5N1 AVIAN INFLUENZA STRAIN IN WILD BIRDS PRESUMPTIVE AND CONFIRMED TEST RESULTS’‘’

http://wildlifedisease.nbii.gov/ai/LPAI-Table.jsp

Klatu – at 12:32

The Plague of Bird Flu in Riau Meluas

November 18 2006 19:58 WIB Indonesian Archipelago - Sumatera

Pekanbaru — MIOL: “The Plague of bird flu in Riau continued to spread. For the last one months already six regencies/the city that was stated positive terjangkit the bird flu virus. Now in Pekanbaru, the number of positive areas terjangkit the bird flu virus also increased.

“This plague continued to spread although the alert I status the bird flu danger was determined by Riau” Governor”.”

I hoped the community’s participation so that immediately destroyed his poultry or did not maintain the poultry completely

The house, the headword of the Livestock Breeding Service Riau Marzuki Husin to the Indonesian Media in Pekanbaru, on Saturday (18/11). The six regencies/the positive city this bird flu was the Pekanbaru City, Dumai, the Siak Regency, Bengkalis, and Rokan Lower.

So, the Livestock Breeding Service carried out the anticipatory action by closing for the time being the distribution route of the poultry to this region.

“We also dropped the team from the Province that was assigned to carry out investigation produced by the report on the death of the sudden chicken off.”

- excerpt

http://www.mediaindo.co.id/berita.asp?id=116897

BeWell – at 12:57

anon_22

“Older people have some crossover immunity from previous flu outbreaks, Skowronski said.”

What do you know about this? (What does ANYONE know about this??) From what I’ve read no one has any natural immunity to H5N1. I would appreciate any and all input, thanks.

CabinLass – at 13:11

This quote is from Niman’s site “Qinghai isolates in the Middle East continue to acquire mammalian polymorphisms, of which PB2 E627K has become fixed.”

What does it mean to acquire mammalian polymorphisms and what does it mean that PB@ E627K has become fixed? This is good news right?

anon_22 – at 13:30

BeWell – at 12:57

anon_22

“Older people have some crossover immunity from previous flu outbreaks, Skowronski said.”

What do you know about this? (What does ANYONE know about this??) From what I’ve read no one has any natural immunity to H5N1. I would appreciate any and all input, thanks.

I read the piece at the link and it is not clear to me exactly what she was referring to.

There are two possibilities:

1) she is not too well informed and this is a generic statement about immunity in general, which is incorrect for a pandemic virus.

2) she is very well informed and she is referring to immunity to N1.

As discussed in this thread, recent research shows that the H1N1 of 1918 and H5N1 are distantly related.

H1N1 was the circulating seasonal human flu strain from 1918 to 1957, after which it reassorted to become H2N2. In 1977, an old H1N1 sample from a lab ‘escaped’ and has since been circulating in humans since. ie current seasonal flu is mostly H3N2 but we also have H1N1 infections from time to time. So she may be referring to previous immunity to the N1 component, which may give some degree of protection. How much, we don’t know.

In 1968, H2N2 reassorted again and became H3N2, ie the N2 was retained. The 1968 pandemic was very mild, not much worse than a very bad seasonal flu, which could have been due to immunity to N2.

However, note that the N2 in 1968 was exactly the same as the one before, so immunity would be stronger.

The N1 from H5N1 is very different from the seasonal H1N1, but they are related. If there is any protection, it is unlikely to prevent infection, but it may be protective against fatal disease. Particularly if you get vaccinated every season with a slightly different strain, which is present in the seasonal flu vaccine, you may be able to build up some immunity.

One hopes…

anon_22 – at 13:42

CabinLass – at 13:11

What does it mean to acquire mammalian polymorphisms and what does it mean that PB@ E627K has become fixed? This is good news right?

This is one of the mutations that are consistently found in human viruses but not in avian ones, as confirmed by at least 2 different large scale studies, discussed here, see 19:41 post for summary.

The only times this was found in avian viruses were in those that had jumped species to infect humans, such as H5N1 and H7N7. It has not previously been consistently found in H5N1 samples.

What Niman means by ‘fixed’ is that he thinks it is now persistent in isolates from the Middle East, which were originally spread from a strain from Qinghai China. I haven’t followed it recently to know whether this is accurate, but I do agree that this is a significant mutation to watch out for.

No, it is not good news.

Klatu – at 14:19

Four Suspect H5N1 Patients Hospitalized in Suhaj Egypt

Recombinomics Commentary November 16, 2006

The above translation desscribes four suspect H5N1 bird flu patients hospitalized in central Egypt.  Two patients are already unconcious, and the cluster includes three siblings and a neighbor. 

Clusters in Egypt are cause for concern.  The HA from a recent fatality had M230I, which matches all three seasonal flu’s (Influenza A H3N2 and H1N1 as well as Influenza B. The change creates five consecutive amino acids (QSGRI) that match the receptor binding domain of infleunza B, raising ocnerns of increased human-to-human transmission. - excerpt

http://tinyurl.com/afp73

Klatu – at 14:33

Map of Suhaj Egypt:

Jane – at 15:07

Forbes magazine has advised 5 actions to help a company survive and maintain its operations: Increasing contact centers (phone operations), self-service applications, cross training employees, supply chain alternatives, and financial modeling.

Forbes advice on preparing for pandemic

http://tinyurl.com/uuap9

Jane – at 15:13

Maryland

Baltimore area hospitals have had a task force working on pandemic planning for the past 3 years. They studied past flu epidemics and learned that

<snip>”The (U.S.) cities that reacted effectively and aggressively early had significantly less impact” from that pandemic, said Pierre Vigilance, the Baltimore County health officer, at a public forum on pandemic flu held at GBMC last month.

An aggressive response includes “closing schools, getting people to stay home and limiting interactions,” said Vigilance, who serves on the task force. “Keeping people home is one of the best things we can do.”<snip>

http://news.mywebpal.com/news_tool_v2.cfm?pnpID=809&NewsID=763290&CategoryID=5830&show=localnews&om=1|Baltimore area hospitals planning

http://tinyurl.com/yg8afm

comment His name is perfect Vigilance!

Jane – at 15:17

Canada

Residents of British Columbia have been ordered to boil their water after storms stirred up their reservoirs. Order may last weeks.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-11/18/content_5345927.htm

http://tinyurl.com//yzllay

Mary in Hawaii – at 15:26

From Nov 18 news summary above, this rather alarming story. (I don’t know if it should be made into a new thread or not, and I’m a newbie to fluwickie, so if someone thinks it should be made into a thread, please do so.

Mystery Illness Sweeps Through School

POSTED: 5:18 pm EST November 17, 2006 UPDATED: 6:00 pm EST November 17, 2006

FLOYD COUNTY — For several days this week, half of the students at a local elementary school have been out sick after a mystery illness swept through. Now, one kindergartner is in critical condition at the hospital.

Health officials now say the mysterious illness seems to be pointing to signs of a flu outbreak at Midway Elementary School in Rome.

A 5-year-old boy is in critical condition on a ventilator at a hospital and that has Floyd County parents very nervous. School officials tell Channel 2 they are not convinced the sick boy and the illness at the school are directly related. But public health officials say this is something they are watching very closely.

“The child who was a student at Midway Primary School here in Floyd County and was carried to a hospital in Chattanooga yesterday with respiratory distress, has been placed on a ventilator and today seems to be doing okay,” said Logan Floyd with the Northwest Georgia Public Health Department.

The illness sweeping through the elementary school has cut the school population in half. Most of the students complained of flu-like symptoms including nausea, some vomiting and a fever.

The school went on a cleaning spree and began to disinfect all surfaces to try and combat the spread of the illness.

To health officials the illness remains a mystery and the testing continues. But they all signs are starting to point to an intense outbreak of the flu.

“…We suspect it may be the flu but we don’t have any conclusive tests to indicate that yet,” said Floyd.

Parents of children who are showing flu-like symptoms are urged to take their children to the doctor. Officials say the young child in the hospital is improving.

Snowdog – at 16:12

Seems a severe flu is making the rounds in the southern USA - here’s another school closing from Tennesse. We also had the reports earlier this month on the closings in North Carolina…..

http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?BRD=1211&dept_id=169697&newsid=17479666&PAG=461&rfi=9

Schools shut down because of flu outbreak

A Middle Tennessee school district shut down for an early Thanksgiving break this week after many teachers and hundreds of students became ill with the flu.

The Wayne County School District was having problems finding enough substitutes to fill in for teachers who called in sick.

The school district decided to close early Wednesday after 20 percent of students, or approximately 320 students, were out of school because of illness. Classes won’t resume until after Thanksgiving.

“This time, it seems like it’s taking longer for the kids to overcome this sickness,” Wayne County School Superintendent Jerry Pigg said.

Rachel Woods, a spokesman for the state Department of Education, said Wayne County is the only school district which has closed because of the flu.

School systems are allowed to close for widespread illness under the same policy that allows them to close for inclement weather, Woods said.

Dr. Joe Hall, who recommended to the school board that the district be closed, said he thought it was one of the worst local instances of the flu that he had seen.

witness – at 17:06

Mary in Hawaii---I agree—a litte nerve wracking---

I posted this story yesterday and have been trying to keep an eye on it.

This started out to be what officials thought was stomach oriented. ‘Now others are showing respiratory involvment also

Others symptoms are:fever,headache,vomiting,diarrhea and muscle aches.

DennisC – at 17:10

Snowdog – at 16:12 flu is making the rounds in the southern USA

The CDC has a new flu map for the week of Nov 11,

http://www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly/usmap.htm

Notice LA, MS, FL, NC, AL.

and the report here:

http://www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly/

Nimbus – at 21:21

If only this would prove to be true…

World may have averted bird flu pandemic

A bird flu pandemic may have already been averted by large-scale chicken culls and containment of infection, Australia’s chief medical officer John Horvath says.

But he warns the nation must be prepared, regardless, for the spread of a deadly influenza strain that has the potential to spread rapidly from human to human.

A new report sets out Australia’s latest preparations for a possible outbreak of influenza, including vaccine development, infection control and the crucial role of doctors in helping to contain the spread.

Much more here: http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=163847

Mary in Hawaii – at 21:55

Dennis C at 17:10. I checked those CDC links. Interesting that the majority of flu cases the past few weeks have been with an influenza a virus that has “ not been subtyped”. Why would they only subtype some and not all of them? Probably just a time/money saver, where they only subtype a certain percentage of the reported cases: I am sure they wouldn’t purposely cover up any cases of H5N1, but on the other hand you would think with the known threat of a pandemic involving a subtype of influenza A they would scrutinize every case of influenza A and save money by not subtyping the others like B.

AnnieB – at 23:01

Nimbus @ 21:21 - thanks to Australia for giving us the all clear! No wonder our Australian Wikians become so frustrated with statements like that being made! How can they get anyone there to prep??

It is to be noted further in the article that it is a government sponsored report …

The same article on Yahoo News goes on to ask Nabarro what he thinks and his response about it continuing to be a threat for the next decade is there.

Please join the queue to nominate Horvath for the most mindless public statement award … I will happily eat all my hats if he proves to have got it right.

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