UGA Study Identifies North American Wild Bird Species That Could Transmit Bird Flu
University of Georgia researchers have found that the common wood duck and laughing gull are very susceptible to highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza viruses and have the potential to transmit them.
Their finding, published in the November issue of the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases, demonstrates that different species of North American birds would respond very differently if infected with these viruses. David Stallknecht, associate professor in the department of population health at the UGA College of Veterinary Medicine and co-author of the study, said knowing which species are likely to be affected by highly pathogenic H5N1 viruses is a vital component of efforts to quickly detect the disease should it arrive in North America.
Their finding, published in the November issue of the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases, demonstrates that different species of North American birds would respond very differently if infected with these viruses. David Stallknecht, associate professor in the department of population health at the UGA College of Veterinary Medicine and co-author of the study, said knowing which species are likely to be affected by highly pathogenic H5N1 viruses is a vital component of efforts to quickly detect the disease should it arrive in North America.
~snip~ The laughing gull is a common coastal species ranging from the Southern Atlantic to the Gulf Coast.
“Doing avian influenza surveillance is pretty tricky because there are a lot of species differences and there are also seasonal differences,” he said. “So you’ve got to pick the right species at the right time and you’ve got to collect the right samples.”
~snip~ In a related study scheduled to be published in December issue of the journal Avian Diseases, the researchers have quantified how long the virus persists in water samples. They found that highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza viruses don’t persist as long as common low-pathogenicity strains. In some cases, persistence times were reduced by more than 70%. This could affect transmission and supports the idea that these viruses may not have much of chance of becoming established in North America.
~snip~”With this information, public health officials will be able to better understand the human health risks associated with both low-pathogenic and highly pathogenic avian influenza viruses in both domestic and wild bird populations,”
SOURCE: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=54918
This thread is in response to the Volunteers Needed As Lookouts Worldwide --- Circle the Wagons and Post the Lookouts thread.
More Than 800 Attendees Participate in 2nd Annual Mid-Atlantic Bio Conference
~snip~ During the morning plenary on October 11, 2006, Dr. Fauci provided insight into the “Matrix of Infectious Diseases.” He discussed both emerging infectious diseases such as AIDS and SARS, and re-emerging diseases such as West Nile Virus and Influenza. During his remarks he noted that a new case of West Nile Virus has just been reported this week in Maryland and that the disease, while prevalent in Africa and the Middle East for centuries, was not evident in the United States until 1999. “More than 26% of all deaths in the world are caused by infectious diseases,” Fauci said, adding that a new strain of drug resistant TB known as XDR-TB had recently lead to the deaths of several people overseas. Putting the common seasonal influenza in perspective, he said “Influenza is a very different, unique re-emerging disease for which the world’s population goes largely under vaccinated.”
SOURCE: http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=74232
I hope I am doing this right. Figure if I start it… “others will come.”
I do know that these 2 articles seem to give directive as to what “TPTB” are looking for, and I know that TB and WNV are on the upswing in Texas (where I live).
EnoughAlready – at 08:27 You’re doing great!
EnoughAlready - Every new drop of info helps!!
anon 14:21 is me!
The thread was started by Mamabird concerning monitoring of H5N1 samples.
Another link to Mamabird’s USDA monitoring site… not pdf
http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/usdahome?navtype=SU&navid=AVIAN_INFLUENZA
My tv is on the Fox channel #5 on Direct TV in the other room. I just walked past, and I have just seen an add for ‘the race is on against bird flu’ by GlaxoSmithKline. I work in the other room. Thank heavens for Tivo! I heard the mention of bird flu and thought I was hearing things.
GSK-birdflu.com
Ok, just replayed the commercial. It starts out showing a scientist who works for them that describes their work on diabetes, other diseases, and she starts talking about the pandemic that has not even happened yet. They are hyping their search for a vaccine and giving you a feel good about their company at the same time. Last image is the scientist walking toward DH and child.
They end with the GSK-birdflu.com website to learn more. Going there now to learn more or just see if it is a commercial to help plump up their bottom line.
comment - still talking about the harvard study from yesterday, but a more exposure kind of story as it is on cbs.com.
USA
‘’‘Would Americans Panic In A Flu Pandemic? Experts Predict Willingness To Obey Officials’ Mandates Would Wane If Problems Mount’‘’(WebMD) A large majority of Americans would comply with government orders to avoid work, school, or other public places in the event of a flu pandemic, according to a survey released Thursday.
The results suggest public health officials could easily convince most people to temporarily alter their daily lives in a bid to stem the spread of influenza.
But researchers warn such willingness would likely erode after just a few weeks as lost wages, food shortages, and runs on medical attention mounted.
“You would find significant levels of cooperation early on,” says Robert J. Blendon, author of the report and a professor of health policy at the Harvard School of Public Health. “The question is, how are we going to provide essential services as they [the public] can’t go to normal places?”
I posted this on the Closebutnotbirdflu thread. http://tinyurl.com/y2vxbj 18:23. This is the same ship with the 36 sick passengers in Kentucky. Can y’all do some research to find out what happened to these people? I’m hoping that this is just a case of a ‘sick’ ship that needs to be disinfected. Thanks, everybody!!
Mississippi Queen passengers taken to Hannibal Regional Hospital
Nine ailing passengers from the Mississippi Queen riverboat have been taken to Hannibal Regional Hospital following what is believed to be a virus outbreak.
Two other passengers are believed to be sick, but they have not been admitted to HRH.
The Marion County Health Department is assisting the Center for Disease Control and the Food and Drug Administration in investigating the cause of the illness…
Also posted on News Reports November 4 thread.
In-Forum- ‘ Dr. Mary Ann McNeilus will present a seminar on avian flu at 2 p.m. Sunday in Room 101, Comstock Memorial Union at Minnesota State University Moorhead, 615 14th St. S.
McNeilus will explain why relying solely on vaccines and expensive drugs is ill-advised. She’ll demonstrate simple, inexpensive treatments.
She is a health and preventative medicine lecturer. For the past 15 years, she and her husband……giving assistance to the Amish community there. They also travel often to southeast Asia to provide medical assistance there.”
http://tinyurl.com/yenrxf
Anybody in the area interested?
Rumor of Bird Flu in NC thread
http://www.fluwikie2.com/pmwiki.php?n=Forum.RumorOfBirdFluInNC
From News Report Nov 6th thread:
Whooping cough may affect 24 children http://www.wdnweb.com/articles/2006/10/24/news/news01.txt
Mystery Illness Effects South Valley Camp http://abclocal.go.com/kfsn/story?section=local&id=4727597
Nov 5th thread:
Boise, Idaho — A gastrointestinal virus, possibly norovirus, has sickened four patients and eight staff members at the Idaho Elks Rehabilitation Hospital in Boise. http://www.ktrv.com/Global/story.asp?S=5628253
Whooping-Cough Outbreak
It may sound like an illness that you thought was wiped out long ago, but whooping cough is making a comeback from Texas to New England.
~snip~
Nationwide, more school-aged children are coming down with whooping cough. That’s why, for the first time, the federal [Department of] Health and Human Services is now offering a booster to anyone 11-years-old or older.
Whooping cough first presents itself with nasal congestion and possibly fever. A mild cough can get worse and can last two to three months. Once patients start taking antibiotics, they are no longer contagious after five days. Infants are most at risk. Last year in Texas, eight children died from whooping cough.
http://www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=2&aid=113336
Article compiles several state statistics of whooping cough, plus gives symptoms list.
According to the symptoms and the sound (you can hear some sounds (examples) of a child coughing, and an adult male) in the link at 01:43, I indeed had this in September. I was on antibiotics and had a 99.8 fever when I went to the doctor. Doctor diagnosed me with Bronchitis. My son is at college in New Hampshire, and was diagnosed with it two weeks ago. Put on antibiotics. He’s fine now.
NEWS - HONG KONG, CHINA - http://tinyurl.com/yg7xj5 - Chinese scientists identify deadly gene in H5N1 - Mon Nov 6, 2006 5:12am ET
HONG KONG (Reuters) - Chinese scientists have identified a gene in the H5N1 bird flu virus which they say is responsible for its virulence in poultry, opening the way for new vaccines.
The Chinese researchers zeroed in on the virulent gene after analyzing two closely related strains of the H5N1 obtained from infected geese in southern Guangdong province in 1996 — one highly pathogenic in chickens and the other harmless.
Differences between the two strains were located in four genes, they found.
The scientists designed four genetically modified viruses each containing one of the four genes in question and tested them on laboratory chickens.
Only chickens infected with the modified virus containing the highly pathogenic gene died. The other chickens had no signs of disease, the scientists wrote in the November issue of the Journal of Virology.
OOooops sorry I meant to post this on the news thread
My daughter had whooping cough last year and she constantly coughed for MONTHS! Doc said she was one of the 10% who were vaccinated but came down with it anyway. Maybe there’s something wrong with the vaccine? Isn’t this usually given with tetanus and dyptheria?
Since H5N1 low path has shown up in my home state, and since USDA says they’re not going to report it anymore unless they get high path H5N1, I’ve been keeping an eye on cases where birds have tested positive for H5N1, and we’re waiting for the final results from Ames Iowa. Today the list was updated to add 2 more birds in Grundy County, IL, so now we’re waiting for results on 3 H5N1 positive mallards from Grundy County. http://tinyurl.com/yd35h9
Also, it appears birds have initially tested positive for H5N1 in Washington http://tinyurl.com/op8br and Lakeport, California http://tinyurl.com/jvpbp although none of these appear on the USDA list
I just found out that the low path strain has been found here in New York. Pleaaaaaaaaase don’t ask me where I saw it. O.k. go ahead anyone, and I’ll spend the rest of my life looking for it!
It definately got my attention and I’ve heard nothing about it being reported in my local news or newspaper.
Yes, Cottontop, it was reported in samples taken on 10/21. http://tinyurl.com/yd35h9
Even though it is “low path,” I still think it is prudent to keep an eye on it. I wonder if any of the findings have been near any chicken farms. I’ve not heard of any testing on domestic poultry. Supposedly, the poultry industry has undertaken that task, but since they’re self-regulating, I doubt we’ll see any results, expecially if it’s “low path.” I still don’t understand how U.S. is “exempt” from OIE reporting.
We have a neighbor in TN that raises fighting cocks (sells them to other countries since that “sport” is illegal in all but two US states). They cage the male cocks, but the females are free ranging…lay eggs in various containers, etc. I would guess they have over 200 chickens. Clearly they are not, IMHO, falling within the boundaries of the “poultry industry”. Does anyone know of any communities that have put a required caging policy into effect?
cottontop – at 15:53 http://wildlifedisease.nbii.gov/ai/LPAITable.pdf
anonymous- thanks for the post. was trying to remember just where in N.Y. it was.
tjclaw1 – at 15:19 - My daughter had whooping cough last year and she constantly coughed for MONTHS! Doc said she was one of the 10% who were vaccinated but came down with it anyway. Maybe there’s something wrong with the vaccine? Isn’t this usually given with tetanus and dyptheria?
My 0.02 cents… My son was vaccinated against whooping cough in France when he was a baby, had his booster shots on time, and having been to schools for a number of years with classloads of sick children, in France, he did not get it. We moved to UK when he was 10, and he caught it at age 14 or so, while the vaccine was still supposed to be good, and he was coughing for months too, however it was not a particularly “strong” whooping cough, according to the English doctor. I myself had the French whooping cough vaccine when young, and re-did the whole (French) lot of vaccinations in 1980, and never caught my son’s illness in 1991.
I took what happened to mean that the English strain was perhaps slightly different to the French one, and that’s why he caught it, and that since he’d been vaccinated, he had partial protection against the most severe effects of the whooping cough. Now, why didn’t I catch the English whooping cough? It’s one of those mysteries.
Could it be then that the whooping cough your daughter caught was slightly different to that in the vaccine strain? Or, else, that she never did develop antibodies? Though I’d think that would be more to do with personal factors than anything wrong with the vaccine itself.
anonymous – at 18:47, this is why the USA is just another one of those countries where they sleep with their chickens
We have illegal activity that is not going to be monitored or stopped, we have kids and 4-H fairgrounds, we have illegal exotic animal trade, (and, didn’t I read somewhere that Seattle or so probably has 500 unregistered backyards people are keeping 2 or 3 chickens for fresh eggs? likely many other urban areas do too), we have gamebird hunters who do not sit upwind, and never smoke, eat, drink not touch their faces without disinfecting their hands first, when handling gamebirds, wild pigs can be shot on sight in some locales because they are an invasive weed species, don’t we still have live/wet markets here and there?, we have illegal dogfighting as well as cockfighting….We have people who cannot afford to go to a docotr or hospitla and will not report illness ntil family members find them at death’s door, we know of local areas that are not ready and do not test for H5N1, in birds, mammals, humans, ect.
We have local public health officials and politicians that turn out to be “keep the public calm at all costs” officials..
(Off to see if coffee is ready. I’ll try and keep my ranting to a minimum today; having a bad week.)
(uh-oh; I’m typing worse than I thought- maybe I better not post before sunrise or something -oh, yeah; before coffee…)
FrenchieGirl – at 05:04 You bring up some really good points. Her cough wasn’t as bad as I’ve heard described, but it just was constant. So she probably had at least some protection. It was crazy though as ped said it couldn’t be whooping cough because she was vaccinated, so I finally took her to an allergist and put her through a whole bunch of testing only to find out she had no allergies and it was, in fact, whooping cough. Baby has a terrible cough right now, with no fever, and that was the first thing I thought of was that whooping cough is going around again. The constant coughing for months is enough to drive you mad!
crfullmoon – at 06:28 Enjoy that coffee and have a nice day.
“Health Dept. Investigates Norovirus Outbreak”--Omaha, Nebraska
Early indications are it could be widespread not just limited to Douglas County
There will be a news conference on Wed. with the Douglas County Health Dept. to talk more about it.(Google title if you would like more info.)
Whooping cough outbreak in P.A. (Palo Alto, CA)
INFECTION AMONG TEENS REFLECTS NATIONAL TREND OF MORE CASES REPORTED
It started in September with one student coughing.
Soon pertussis, commonly known as whooping cough, hit members of the cross-country team.
Now seven cases of the tough, rib-cracking infection have been confirmed at Palo Alto High School; county health officials suspect 37 more. And all 1,700 Palo Alto students are being encouraged to get booster shots to keep the disease from spreading.
The Santa Clara County health department will hold a free pertussis vaccination clinic on campus Wednesday, and has alerted more than 5,000 local health care providers about the outbreak, reminding doctors how to test for the disease and treat it.
While many people assume whooping cough is gone, eradicated like polio, it’s been on the rise in recent years across the United States.
The infection can result in weeks of coughing, cracked ribs, pneumonia and other complications. The cough, which may be accompanied by a ``whooping’‘ sound, can be so severe that it leaves patients struggling to catch their breath.
In the Palo Alto students, the disease typically mimicked a common cold at first, with a terrible, lingering cough developing days later.
`It’s really a tough, tough disease,’‘ said Dr. Marty Fenstersheib, the Santa Clara County health officer. It can kill babies, and the highest death rates are in infants too young to be immunized.
While most children are vaccinated, scientists have learned that protection wanes significantly within 10 years. So teens who got the standard series of DPT shots as babies may be susceptible again.
Last year, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended that everyone between the ages of 11 and 64 get a new `Tdap’‘ booster shot to protect against tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis.
`These new vaccines will hopefully cause a decline in the number of pertussis cases,’‘ said Curtis Allen, a CDC spokesman.
Whooping cough has been on the rise in the United States since the 1980s, and the number of reported cases in 2004 — about 25,000 — was the highest in more than four decades. However, infection rates are still dramatically lower than they were in the early 1940s, when more than 200,000 people were infected annually in this country. It wasn’t until around World War II that the pertussis vaccine was widely used, slicing the number of cases by 90 percent.
What’s spurring the recent increase?
`There’s a lot of discussion all over the country about this,’‘ said Celia Woodfill, an epidemiologist with the California Department of Health Services’ immunization branch.
Scientists are trying to determine whether more people are coming down with whooping cough or doctors are just doing a better job at diagnosing it.
`I lean toward increased awareness, Woodfill said. `There’s nothing different about the disease. It’s just that more doctors are thinking about pertussis and it’s being diagnosed.
Since its resurgence, whooping cough has cropped up annually in Santa Clara County, Fenstersheib said.
Until the Palo Alto outbreak, 2006 was looking comparatively good. The county has had only 70 cases so far this year, compared with 161 in 2005. But there were more than twice as many cases in October this year than last — 12 compared to five.
In San Mateo County, reported cases are down from 72 last year to 42 so far this year.
At Palo Alto High, officials sent notices Oct. 6 to about 100 teachers and classmates of the first student who fell ill, telling them to watch for signs of pertussis.
Three weeks later, after two members of the cross-country team fell ill, the school sent their teammates more detailed information about the disease. `We got a letter saying we had to be vaccinated or go on antibiotics,’‘ said senior Renata Cummins, 17. She chose antibiotics.
That same day, the school notified the entire student body and staff, said registered nurse Terri Weber, the school’s health technician.
The challenge, she said, has been to get sick kids to stay home. Following county health guidelines, the school district requires students with a severe cough to stay out of school for five days after being put on antibiotics.
`That’s a problem. To miss five days of classes at high school, it’s a lot of time out,’‘ said Weber, who has sent home some kids who came back to school prematurely.
Principal Scott Laurence has talked to department heads, asking that they urge teachers to be supportive of ill students and allow them to make up work.
It is, after all, in teachers’ interest to be considerate, Weber pointed out: `They don’t want to have anyone with possible pertussis coughing all over them.’‘
Nearly 200 Tested For TB At Moss Point High… Mississippi. Results for test tomorrow, Wednesday. Story found: well, decided against link because it may cause the wide screen. If interested, do TB google search & hit news.
New West Nile cases popping up along Coast (this report also from Mississippi) http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061113/NEWS/61113009
~snip~ MDH says about 80 percent of people infected with West Nile virus will have no symptoms. The remaining 20 percent may experience a range of flu-like symptoms and in a small number, infection can result in encephalitis or meningitis which can possibly lead to death.
South Carolina’s First Human West Nile Case This Year Diagnosed At Musc
http://www.abcnews4.com/news/stories/1106/374428.html
~snip~ Gainey says she is feeling better Monday, but just recently suffered high fevers and has still not regained use of her legs.
2006 record year for West Nile virus
http://www.tahoebonanza.com/article/20061110/Nevada/111100041
A record 123 human cases of West Nile virus were confirmed in Nevada in 2006, just one of those in October in Pershing County. The figure doesn’t jibe with what was seen last year, when almost 25 percent of the cases were diagnosed in October, according to figures from the Nevada State Health Division.
Dr. Annette Rink, director of Nevada’s animal disease and food safety lab in Reno, said the only predictable thing about West Nile is its unpredictability.
“Not a single year was predicted correctly on the East Coast,” she said.
“We were expecting last year to be a record year with respect to West Nile virus in Nevada. It was our second or third year after the virus was introduced and we had a lot of precipitation,” she said. “It (2005) was an excellent mosquito year and we expected West Nile to be prevalent throughout the state, but it didn’t happen.”
Nevada had an abundance of mosquito breeding sites in 2006, together with warm temperatures. The disease was much more prevalent and hit us hard this year, Rink said.
“We had a second winter with a lot of precipitation,” she said. “We’re still seeing water in areas throughout the state that are normally dry by May.”
According to statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, neighboring Idaho had more human West Nile infections than any other state, a total of 824 confirmed cases. Colorado came in second with 310 cases, Texas had 290 and then California, with 257.
Most Americans Surprised, Concerned that 90 Percent of Flu Shots Contain the Toxin Mercury
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/061113/nym036a.html?.v=2
Health Officials’ Aggressive Flu Shot Campaign May Disregard Safety, According to Survey of 9,000 Americans 74 Percent of Respondents Unaware Flu Shots Contain Mercury, 78 Percent Disagree with CDC About Vaccinating Pregnant Women and Children
PORTLAND, Ore., Nov. 13 /PRNewswire/ — As health officials step up their effort to vaccinate Americans against the flu, a new survey suggests serious concerns over the toxin mercury, an ingredient in over 90 percent of this season’s flu shot supply. PutChildrenFirst.org, a parent-led organization advocating vaccine safety, commissioned a survey of over 9,000 Americans to learn their plans for getting flu shots, their knowledge of its ingredients, and who they hold responsible for making sure vaccines are safe.
(there is more story at the link)
Flu outbreak almost under control
http://www.fox21.com/Global/story.asp?S=5675914&nav=menu149_2
From last sentence of article: “It’s just because of the flu epidemic.”
Paint-on Polymer Kills Flu on Contact
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?chanID=sa003&articleID=E3C976C5-E7F2-99DF-3CD89F4E6F0B569D
A surface coated in spiky polymer molecules destroys the flu virus at a touch, according to a new report. The experimental substance, which can be applied like paint, might complement other germ control methods used in public spaces such as hospitals and airplanes, the developers say. Some experts, however, dispute its potential value for taming flu. Chemist Alexander Klibanov of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and his colleagues had already found that the bristly coating of polymers kills bacteria including Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus, which can lie in wait on doorknobs or other surfaces for unsuspecting hands to pick up. To test its effect on the much smaller flu virus, they applied droplets of a flu solution to glass slips painted with the polymer. After a few minutes’ exposure, they were unable to recover any active virus from the samples, meaning the coating reduced the pathogen’s abundance by at least a factor of 10,000. The group reported their results in a paper published online November 13 by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA.
Klibanov says part of their motivation was the ongoing concern over the potential for a deadly global outbreak of flu. “This isn’t going to save the world,” he says, “but this could potentially be a useful tool.” Ideally the polymer coating would be applied to hospital or airplane doors and air filters, surgical gear and anywhere else a pathogen might linger, he says. Touching a contaminated surface can probably spread the flu virus, according to the World Health Organization, although actual instances of such transmission may be rare. (Rest story at link)
Synbiotics flu test gets OK from USDA Kansas City Business Journal - 1:53 PM CST Monday Synbiotics Corp., a manufacturer of veterinary diagnostic products, has received U.S. Department of Agriculture approval to distribute a new test for avian influenza in poultry.
Synbiotics, which said in August that it will relocate its headquarters from San Diego to Kansas City, previously has marketed the test, called Flu Detect, domestically under a conditional USDA license.
U.S. governmental agencies and foreign governments have used the test in their avian flu surveillance programs.
“Because Flu Detect has been designed to be a rapid in-field test, it has been adopted by several international agencies to be part of their First Response avian influenza detection and containment programs,” Chinta Lamichhane, Synbiotics director of avian research development, said in a release.
While the H5N1 subtype of Avian Influenza Type A hasn’t yet been identified in the United States, health officials and the poultry industry are on a high state of alert for the disease. Since H5N1 was first detected in Southeast Asia in 2003, it has caused severe illness and death in poultry, including wild waterfowl, and in rare cases it has been transmitted from birds to humans.
http://kansascity.bizjournals.com/kansascity/stories/2006/11/13/daily10.html?surround=lfn
With BYU Partner, FSU’s Magnet Lab Researchers Deciphering Flu Virus Main Category: Flu / SARS News Article Date: 14 Nov 2006 - 6:00am (PST)
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=56330
As the Northern Hemisphere braces for another flu season, researchers at Florida State University’s National High Magnetic Field Laboratory are making strides toward better understanding the mechanics of the virus that causes it — a virus that kills between one-quarter and one-half million people each year.
Tim Cross, director of the lab’s Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) program, and collaborators from Brigham Young University are trying to understand the minute parts of the highly virulent Influenza Type A virus. To do that, they are using all of the magnet lab’s NMR resources, including its 15-ton, 900-megahertz magnet, to produce a detailed picture of the virus’s skin.
“Using the magnet helps us build a blueprint for a virus’s mechanics of survival,” said Cross, who also is a professor of chemistry and biochemistry at FSU. “The more detailed the blueprint, the better our chances of developing drugs capable of destroying it.”
The only magnet of its kind in the world, the “900″ is critical to the project’s process. Otherwise, an image this complicated would be impossible to obtain. (More at link…)
Take my flu shot, please, CDC says
http://www.courierpress.com/news/2006/nov/14/take-my-flu-shot-please-cdc-says/
U.S. health officials said Monday they are worried that an abundance of unused flu vaccine this year may lead to millions of doses being thrown out, discouraging manufacturers from making as much in the future.
Pandemic Flu Outbreak Drill Planned for East Texas
by Ramonica R. Jones (link for more on this story http://tinyurl.com/yecd3t)
East Texas hospitals will soon find out how capable they are of handling a Pandemic Flu outbreak. Eight medical facilities, city and county officials, and public health leaders will participate in a Pandemic Flu Drill Wednesday.
Hospitals in Lufkin and surrounding areas will be flooded with sick and dying patients, emergency workers will have a shortage of employees who are out sick, and city and county offices will be understaffed because of the Avian Flu.
“What would you do if your staff was all of a sudden reduced significantly? What about supplies?” asked Yana Ogletree, Memorial hospital’s marketing director. “We’ll go through each of those scenarios. For example, the first week, we will have the increase in patient load. [The] second week, a decrease in staff and Tamiflu runs out.”
The Pandemic Flu Drill is a region-wide project. Twelve East Texas counties and 250 people will be involved in Wednesday’s training.
School Sickness-MI Only Six of 22 students were healthy enough to go to their third grade class at Townsend Elementary last Thursday. That number was down to five on Friday.
Principal Paul Chilcote says it is a series of upper respiratory problems with coughing, headaches and fevers. While the entire school was affected- the problem was primarily in that classroom.
If things don’t improve, chilcote says he will contact the county health dept.
Not much more info. You can find the article by doing a google news search. Type in “school sickness”
Tennessee county closes schools due to flu outbreak
A county school system closed its doors after a flu outbreak sent hundreds of children and teachers home sick.
The Wayne County, TN School District closed schools yesterday and will remain closed until after their Thanksgiving break.
More than 300 students were absent earlier this week.
Schools Superintendent Jerry Pigg said that after the absences reached 20 percent, they had to take action.
Local physician Joe Hall, who advised the school system to close, said it’s the worst flu outbreak he’s ever seen.
<snip>
Minnesota - Novovirus
Public Health issues caution after second outbreak
During the past few weeks, Barron County Public Health has investigated two possible food-borne outbreaks. In both cases the end result proved to be norovirus, said Kaye Thompson, public health manager.
The most recent incident occured earlier this month at a wedding celebration in Rice Lake. County public health interviewed a number of people who attended, 40% of whom reported symptoms. Subsequent lab tests were positive for norovirus. The county also had an unconfirmed report that two out-of-state guests were hospitalized.
A state epidemiologist has told local health officials that norovirus is “going around all over this part of the state” and Minnesota public health officials have been swamped with incidents.
<snip>
http://www.chronotype.com/newarticle.asp?T=L&ArticleID=11185
Outbreak sickens 170 at Manchester school
MANCHESTER , IA - State health officials were investigating the source of an outbreak today at Lambert Elementary in the West Delaware School District.
Four staff members and 166 of about 500 students of the Manchester school called in sick this morning, according to the Iowa Department of Public Health.
Symptoms reported included vomiting and diarrhea, which could mean any number of illnesses, health department spokesman Kevin Teale said, including flu or a food-borne illness.
Manchester is about 30 miles north of Cedar Rapids.
Health officials determined norovirus, a highly contagious virus, caused an outbreak that sickened more than half the students at Longfellow Elementary in Iowa City in March.
http://www.crgazette.com/2006/11/17/Home/manchesteroutbreak.htm
Wyoming - Shigellosis outbreak continues
CHEYENNE - The number of people coming down with shigellosis, a gastrointestinal infection caused by bacteria, has grown to at least 35 as of Monday, according to the Indian Health Service and the Wyoming Department of Health.
The disease causes diarrhea, fever, stomach cramping and sometimes bloody stools, said Kelly Weidenbach, surveillance epidemiologist with the Wyoming Department of Health.
“A Shigella outbreak of this size is considered rare in Wyoming,” Weidenbach said.
At least 12 local children have been hospitalized over the past few months because of the disease. Weidenbach said the majority of the cases have been among elementary school-aged children.
More here: http://tinyurl.com/y8s9wq
Iowa - Department of Public Health investigates illness outbreak in Manchester
The Iowa Department of Public Health is hoping to have some answers later today on an outbreak of illness in the Manchester school district. Department spokesman, Kevin Teale, says nearly 170 students got ill on Friday.
Teale says they put together a questionnaire for the people who got ill and they can enter the information into the computer and look for common links. Teale says they do know that most of the ill students were at Manchester’s Lambert Elementary School and they’re trying to find out why.
More here: http://tinyurl.com/txa4t
International Attention for Zoonotic Infections
~snip~ when tons of live animals and unprocessed animal products are shipped internationally around the globe, providing many opportunities for rapidly translocating zoonotic pathogens. Episodes of emerging zoonoses are being increasingly recognized around the world. From 1996 to 2004, some 21% of 10,490 reports of animal diseases from 191 countries submitted to the Program for Monitoring Emerging Diseases (ProMED) concerned humans affected by zoonotic disease (1). This zoonoses theme issue of Emerging Infectious Diseases (EID) corroborates this finding, presenting reports of zoonotic disease from all corners of the globe, including the People’s Republic of China, Vietnam, Slovakia, Indonesia, the United States, Israel, Bangladesh, the Netherlands, Brazil, Algeria, India, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Italy.
As public health and animal health organizations attempt to respond to these emerging and reemerging zoonotic diseases, their ability and skill in forming new strategic partnerships are of paramount importance. This year was highlighted by the establishment of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as a World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) Collaborating Center for Emerging and Remerging Zoonoses.
To initiate this collaborating center, the International Symposium on Emerging Zoonoses (ISEZ) was held in conjunction with the International Conference on Emerging Infectious Diseases and the International Conference on Women and Infectious Diseases in Atlanta in March 2006. ISEZ was cosponsored by OIE, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, the US Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, the Department of Interior US Geological Survey, National Wildlife Health Center, the World Health Organization, and CDC. ISEZ was attended by >400 veterinarians, physicians, and public health professionals from all over the world. The objective of the symposium was to share information among public health and animal health professionals so that more effective and cooperative partnerships could be developed. In turn, this would help to better understand, prevent, and control new microbial dangers to human and animal health that occur globally every day.
Current issue on this particular topic @ http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/eid/index.htm
Nimbus @ 16:45 - I have never heard of this? “Shigellosis”. It made me think of Shingles but the symptoms are not the same. And this is very disturbing: “At least 12 local children have been hospitalized over the past few months because of the disease.”
Thank you Nimbus for these articles. I really appreciate it!
Google: Shigella
In a hurry to get to work or would elaborate. Sorry.
What is shigellosis?
Shigellosis is an infectious disease caused by a group of bacteria called Shigella. Most who are infected with Shigella develop diarrhea, fever, and stomach cramps starting a day or two after they are exposed to the bacterium. The diarrhea is often bloody. Shigellosis usually resolves in 5 to 7 days. In some persons, especially young children and the elderly, the diarrhea can be so severe that the patient needs to be hospitalized. A severe infection with high fever may also be associated with seizures in children less than 2 years old. Some persons who are infected may have no symptoms at all, but may still pass the Shigella bacteria to others.
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How can Shigella infections be treated?
Shigellosis can usually be treated with antibiotics. The antibiotics commonly used for treatment are ampicillin, trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole (also known as Bactrim* or Septra*), nalidixic acid, or ciprofloxacin. Appropriate treatment kills the Shigella bacteria that might be present in the patient’s stools, and shortens the illness. Unfortunately, some Shigella bacteria have become resistant to antibiotics and using antibiotics to treat shigellosis can actually make the germs more resistant in the future. Persons with mild infections will usually recover quickly without antibiotic treatment. Therefore, when many persons in a community are affected by shigellosis, antibiotics are sometimes used selectively to treat only the more severe cases. Antidiarrheal agents such as loperamide (Imodium*) or diphenoxylate with atropine (Lomotil*) are likely to make the illness worse and should be avoided.
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Once someone has had shigellosis, they are not likely to get infected with that specific type again for at least several years. However, they can still get infected with other types of Shigella.
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How common is shigellosis?
Every year, about 18,000 cases of shigellosis are reported in the United States. Because many milder cases are not diagnosed or reported, the actual number of infections may be twenty times greater. Shigellosis is particularly common and causes recurrent problems in settings where hygiene is poor and can sometimes sweep through entire communities. Shigellosis is more common in summer than winter. Children, especially toddlers aged 2 to 4, are the most likely to get shigellosis. Many cases are related to the spread of illness in child-care settings, and many more are the result of the spread of the illness in families with small children.
In the developing world, shigellosis is far more common and is present in most communities most of the time.
http://tinyurl.com/hsio
Halo CG-
Thanks for that. Never heard of Shigellosis. Funny how we are hearing about these diseases all at once. Another new one for me is Blue Tounge Disease. Have a great day.
Happy Thanksgiving Flu Crew!!!
Halo Cottontop, I hope you and yours have a wonderful Thanksgiving, and that goes for all my friends that share this “common ground”…..Happy Thanksgiving!
From Reuters: Studies show bird flu hard to detect until too late
closed and continued here