Forum: Not Bird Flu but Close NEWS

Thought it might be nice to have something for News that wasn’t exactly H5N1 but was close or suspect. Things that are not exactly rumors and not exactly H5N1 but might indicate misdiagnosed cases, missed cases, health issues that might impact the response of the health care system if H5N1 goes pandemic. - you get the idea.

Pakistan

Thirty more patients of Viral Hemorrhagic Fever were admitted in private and government hospitals in Karachi during last 24 hours. Forty-nine patients of the disease were discharged from hospitals after recovery.

Government and private hospitals in the metropolis have discharged 49 patients of the Viral Hemorrhagic Fever during 24 hours, while 30 new cases were admitted in hospitals, focal person to the Dengue Fever Surveillance Committee Dr. Abdul Majid told Geo News.

Provincial Programme Manager of the Sindh Blood Transfusion Authority Dr. Zahid Ansari has said a kit used in dengue fever diagnosis process need 96 blood samples and tests can be made after collection of the required number of samples.

http://tinyurl.com/u6mlh

Plague in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

“WHO has received reports of a suspected pneumonic plague outbreak in 2 health zones in Haut-Uele district, the majority reported from Wamba health zone in Oriental province in the northern part of the country. Six hundred and twenty-six suspected cases including 42 deaths have been reported from 31 July to 8 October. However, the low case fatality ratio is unusual for pneumonic plague which suggests that the number of suspected cases may be an overestimation. Preliminary results from a rapid diagnosis test in the field found three samples positive, out of eight. Additional laboratory confirmation is under way. “

http://tinyurl.com/yjar7x

HHS backs respirator use in caring for pandemic flu patients

Health and Human Services (HHS) has issued new guidance calling for stronger respiratory protection for healthcare workers in the event of an influenza pandemic. A new interim guidance document says the use of N-95 respirators—designed to stop 95% of small airborne particles….. The report recommends that healthcare workers caring for pandemic flu patients use respirators rated at N-95 or higher during activities likely to generate infectious aerosols, such as intubation, nebulizer treatment, bronchoscopy, and resuscitation. In addition, a respirator should be used when providing any kind of direct care for a confirmed or suspected pandemic flu patient who has pneumonia, because such patients may produce unusual amounts of infectious particles when they cough. …

http://tinyurl.com/y8smen

for seasonal flu,

CDC puts flu vaccine supply at 115 million doses

“The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) today increased its estimate of the flu vaccine supply for this season but said many healthcare providers don’t have their full supply yet because of distribution issues. …

about 115 million doses of flu vaccine will be available this season, which is 15 million more than the agency’s September projection. She said 40 million doses were distributed by the end of the second week of October, and that 75 million doses would be distributed by the end of the month. …

http://tinyurl.com/yz6ap4

Deadly TB Found in All Nine Provinces of South Africa
Scientists’ suspicions that the deadly new strain of extremely drug resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB) first identified in KwaZulu-Natal earlier this year is circulating in all nine provinces have been confirmed by the National Health Laboratory Services (NHLS), it emerged yesterday.
The disease has public health experts around the world deeply worried, as it poses a severe risk to people infected with HIV.
XDR-TB first hit the headlines two months ago, when scientists told the 16th International AIDS Conference in Toronto that a devastating outbreak of the disease in rural KwaZulu-Natal had killed all but one of the 53 patients they had identified. All were HIV-positive.
Since then a total of 78 patients have been confirmed with XDR-TB in the province, 74 of whom have died. Another nine cases have been identified in Gauteng, 10 in North West, six in Eastern Cape and three in Limpopo, according to health department director-general Thami Mseleku.
[snip]
“Infection control in many public hospitals is either inadequate or nonexistent,” [Medical Research Council’s Karin] Weyer said.
[snip]
[health department director-general Thami] Mseleku strove to reassure the public, saying there was limited evidence of outbreaks of XDR-TB within communities.
“XDR-TB is not an epidemic (in SA),” he said.

I don’t have any close news but I think this thread is an excellent idea. Thanks Dennis!

New Delhi, Oct 19 (IANS) In one of the worst days since the dreaded mosquito-borne dengue fever spread its tentacles in the country, eight people died Thursday, five in Delhi, taking the toll to 115.

With five more deaths in the national capital, the tally of dead has touched 40 since September. In all, 6,740 patients are being treated in hospitals and clinics across the country. And, the health officials are running out of options to check the spread of the virus.

Eight die of dengue in India, five in Delhi

Thanks for all your hard work DennisC.

Thanks DennisC over here we will be able watch abb morph into…

Dengue claims more lives in India

The dengue outbreak has claimed eight more lives - five of them died in Delhi and three others in Andhra Pradesh, latest figures show.

The outbreak in recent weeks has claimed 155 lives so far and 89 fresh cases were reported in the country.

Across India, 834 cases of dengue is reported in Kerala, 830 in Rajasthan, 580 in Maharashtra, 573 in West Bengal, 478 in Uttar Pradesh, 413 in Punjab, 317 in Tamil Nadu, 232 in Haryana, 92 in Karnataka and 67 cases in Andhra Pradesh.

http://tinyurl.com/sef43

Twelve die of encephalitis, malaria, 4 from dengue in WB

Siliguri, Oct 19: Twelve persons have died of encephalitis and malaria in government hospitals in West Bengal’s Malda district in the past one week, while another four have died of dengue and another 500 affected in the rest of the state. Malda district magistrate Chittaranjan Das told PTI that of the 12, eight were children and four women…

http://tinyurl.com/yynqa3

I don’t know if we have a thread specific to dengue in Indonesia. I’ll put this one here.
http://tinyurl.com/yhrh2w
Older brother-Be Siblings was attacked by DB
(20 Oct 2006, 13 x, printed, Comment) WATAMPONE — Aswita flowers, 13, and Asti Usma Diwati, 11, villagers Arasoe, the Chinese Subdistrict, Bone, was rolled over limp in RSUD Tenriawaru Watampone, since October 17. The couple’s child Usman and Sukmawati this entered the hospital because of being attacked by the dengue fever illness (dB). Apart from older brother-be siblings that, Nursahira, 5, that also the citizen Arasoe, was attacked by the similar illness. This one casualties were still having the family’s relations with older brother-be siblings this. The three sufferers dB from Arasoe, at this time was treated in RSUD Tenriawaru. Was based on the hospital data, the sufferer dB since this October just reached five people. Usman, parents older brother-be siblings when being found said that, initially the two temperatures of his two children were very tall. Initially, he expected only normal fevers. However after two days did not experience the change, he began to be suspicious if his child was attacked dB. Knew this matter, Usman brought him to the Mare Community Health Centre on Monday, October 16. The next day, Usman brought his two children to RSUD Tenriawaru. Although getting the maintenance from the RS side, but older brother-be siblings this not yet recovered. According to Usman, since entering RS, his two children have finished the liquid infussebanyak ten bottles. He said, in his area at the beginning Ramadan, the official of the Bone Health of the Service had carried out fumigation. However fumigation was not carried out evenly, and only in the certain area then. “Fumigation did not arrive home I.” In fact has been sent, explained Usman. He hoped that the related side immediately intervened did fumigation in Arasoe, to prevent other casualties. Considering, already approximately 15 children were attacked dB.

http://www.newagebd.com/front.html#15

Elephants kill 5 in Ctg Staff Correspondent . Chittagong

Five members of a family were trampled to death by a herd of wild elephants at Gunagar village under Banskhali upazila, 30 miles south of the Chittagong city, early Thursday. The dead were identified as Tejendra Nath, 60, his wife Pratima Nath, 48, daughter-in-law Rika Nath, 26 and two granddaughters Simul Nath, 12 and Nayan Nath, 2. The police said the elephants rampaged through the hilly area and trampled the five to death at about 1:00am. The officer-in-charge of the Banskhali police station, Jahirul Islam, said a flock of wild elephants suddenly attacked and damaged two non-brick houses of a poor family. As the victims were trying to come out of the houses for safety, the elephants in their frenzy trampled each of them to death on the spot and later vanished into the nearby forest, he said. A pall of gloom descended on the area following the incident and hundreds of people from the neighbouring areas thronged the spot.

Albert – at 07:11

Now you’re being facetious.

India

This is from RSOE Havaria’s disaster board. If the experts are betting on Dengue and Chik to go down due to cooler weather and H5N1 cases to go up, looks like we should see these numbers go down here pretty soon. Crosses fingers, and adjusts rose colored glasses.

http://tinyurl.com/y49gv3

Doctors and health experts are now banking on the change in weather for the outbreak to be curbed. And the overnight rain and the subsequent dip in temperature have already signalled that there will now be a downturn in the the transmission of the dengue virus.

“We need to see daytime temperature of 16 degree Celsius. Decrease in daytime temperatures would certainly lead to a change in the disease pattern. The Aedes mosquito thrives on hot, humid and high temperature, which is anywhere between 20–30 Degree Celsius,” said P.L. Joshi, Director of National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme. According to doctors, the next couple of days could be vital. “This is definitely a good sign, but it is too soon to say if the rain will eventually lead to reduction in dengue and chikungunya cases. The mosquito transmission goes down only when the days are cooler,” said Dr D.K. Sharma, Medical Superintendent of AIIMS.

This is old (Feb) but just to remind some in light of the new Greece news. And remember what was going on in Turkey about that time.

“Greek health officials are examining 54 illegal immigrants picked up in eastern Greece near the Turkish coast for signs of the bird flu virus, the merchant marine ministry said on Saturday.

“First indications showed there are no signs of bird flu. The immigrants seemed to be just tired. The process is still ongoing,” a ministry spokeswoman said. She said health officials are also conducting autopsies on three dead illegal immigrants found within the group. A police official said the immigrants were found in two rubber boats 10 miles north-east of the island of Samos near the Turkish coast. They were transferred to the port of Lavrio east of Athens, where they were placed under quarantine. Bird flu virus has killed four Turkish children. There are fears the virus could mutate into a form that can pass easily from person to person, setting off a pandemic.

Tens of thousands of migrants attempt to cross illegally into European Union member Greece every year either through the Greek-Turkish land border that stretches along the Evros river or by boarding a boat along the western Turkish coast.

Story Date: 23/1/2006″

http://tinyurl.com/uhx4d

Here is the link to the current events: “Four illegal immigrants from India with bird flu symptoms have been hospitalised in Greek Island of Syros” http://tinyurl.com/y4qntd

You are using the very tragic and unfortunate deaths of this family to make what point? In other words, “And your point is?” Perhaps it’s best you stay on the India thread

That was for Albert

Oremus: yes, after looking it up in an online dictionary, I agree. I stand condemned as accused.

Anon for this post, and this post too : I use my own handle to post and my parents thaught me not to talk to strangers.

Anon for this post---- please don’t send him over to the India thread.

plague in Uganda

Six people have been confirmed dead following a suspected outbreak of a plague in Arua district. Dr. Darlington Akusa, who is part of the American-funded Uganda Virus Research Institute team studying the plague outbreak, said the deaths occurred in Logiri sub-county, near the north-eastern Congolese border, a hotbed for the disease.

He said 24 people had been infected with the plague and had been admitted to isolation wards. Akusa said they had flu-like symptoms, vomiting and diarrhoea, which are associated with the plague. He said preliminary results from the tests confirmed pneumonic plague, the least common but most lethal form of the a typical disease. Akusa said the disease was suspected to have originated from areas bordering the DR Congo, where the World Health Organisation (WHO) reported an outbreak of the plague three months ago. He said Logiri sub-county has a hill that inhabits rodents carrying fleas that transmit the plague bacterium from rats to humans. The WHO warned that the disease kills 30% to 60% of infected people if they do not get treatment.

Commonground - at 6:30:

RSUD Tenriawaru is in South Sulawesi. Going back and browsing the news, there have been quite a few children in the Sulawesi and Makassar area that have contracted dengue (DBD), including several fatalities. Between Jan. and the end of Oct. last year, Sulawesi saw 250 cases of dengue, “casualties almost all children and preschoolers,” with 4 deaths. Then in Oct. of last year there was a big increase in cases in Makassar city. One year ago, on Oct. 22, 2005, there were 12 children in intensive care in RS Labuangbaji, Makassar.

I don’t have any theories here, but do wonder if anyone tested these children presenting with “hot high” for H5N1.

Eight hospitalized overnight after falling ill on cruise

“Eight passengers on a Mississippi Queen riverboat cruise remained hospitalized in western Kentucky Saturday after developing flu-like symptoms while aboard the boat…

Hospital spokeswoman Shelia Patterson said 17 passengers were treated. Nine were released late Friday, while eight others were kept overnight for observation… “A lot of people are nervous about staying aboard,” said Carol Taliaferro, a passenger from El Cerrito, Calif., who boarded the ship in Louisville on Wednesday. “I feel very uncertain about what’s going on. I don’t think they are telling us everything.” The cause of the outbreak was still under investigation Saturday

http://tinyurl.com/y4u96e

DennisC – at 18:47 No Links, first hand information, some of the passengers (10 for sure) who were not ill went to the local airport and bought tickets to fly home.

Anon_451 – at 18:58 No Links, first hand information

Some how I trust your first hand info more than a second or third hand info from a published article by an un-named journalist talking about some un-named source.

500,000 flu-shots recalled

“The pharmaceutical company Novartis is recalling 500,000 doses of its flu vaccine after two shipments bound for use in a childhood immunization program in New York were found frozen. Freezing can inactivate influenza vaccine, making it ineffective but not dangerous. ..

The recall covers only a small fraction of the 110 million doses expected to be available in the United States this flu season. About 40 million doses had been shipped to health departments, doctors’ offices and clinics by the end of last week, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. The VFC program ordered 5.6 million doses. ..

http://tinyurl.com/tvawq

DennisC – at 19:54 Thank you Kind sir. (The Folks at the ticket counters and the TSA folks were a bit concerned). They were advised to insure that they wore their gloves and change them often, used alcohol on all non-porous surfaces and Lysol disinfectant all around. Coupled with lots of hand washing.

The Local media is speculating that it MAY be Norwalk virus but they do not know for sure.

Norwalk virus- isn’t that the one that keeps recking havoc on these large cruise ships, like Carnival?

http://tinyurl.com/yd66gm

The above is a link to the local newspaper. Note that the local TV stations are reporting that the boat is continuing on to St Louis with a couple of doctors on board to make sure all is OK.

cottontop – at 23:01 yes

One dies in Nepal

“Kathmandu: Nepal reported its first dengue related death on Saturday. On the basis of a clinical test it was confirmed that a resident of the Tikulim area of Gaur died of dengue, the state-run National News Agency (RSS) reported. ….

Authorities said that there was no dengue case in Nepalgunj in Banke district bordering India.

All suspected dengue patients in the Nepalgunj Medical College were diagnosed negative, they said.”

http://tinyurl.com/ydc6ez

oops, the link for that one should be : http://tinyurl.com/yxudtn

I posted more detail on the situation in Nepal that DennisC - at 16:24 menions here.

Six people were brought into the Nepalganj Teaching Hospital with suspect dengue about a week ago. All tested negative.

Now medical staff and others at the hospital are also suspected to have dengue. They are also having problems getting a diagnosis.

Patients are presenting with fever and there is one report of a hemmoraghic case. It seems that people are also being sent out of the Nepalganj hospital and are being told to seek treatment elsewhere.

I meant to say that I posted more info on the Nepal situation on the India thread.

cottontop – at 23:01 Norwalk virus- isn’t that the one that keeps recking havoc on these large cruise ships, like Carnival?

I live near Pt. Canaveral in FL where the Norwalk virus has manifested on cruise ships here in the recent past, with hundreds of sick passengers at one time. This is a port of call for many ships, and home port to Disney ships and Carnival Cruise Lines among many others, and I am appalled at how this is handled. The passengers who are not showing symptoms are allowed to disembark and board busses to visit area malls and shopping centers and beaches. They literally arrive by the bus loads and mingle with the locals and tourists from all over the world.

The sick passengers are treated on board and removed to area hospitals and/or medical centers while the ship is disinfected. Then everyone boards again and the ship moves on. Sometimes it takes days for the ship to be disinfected to the point it can pass inspection.

When I hear of a sick ship coming in, I drive to the mainland to do my shopping. We have the second largest passenger port in the country, so it’s just a matter of time before something like H5N1 comes along and gets off a ship and on a bus, then BINGO.

thanks seabreeze. another disease to learn about.

Oh, and remind me not to take any curises. Get motion sickness anyway.

Pakistan

Fourteen of the 77 samples received so far by the National Institute of Health have tested positive for Dengue Fever. These include five samples received from three hospitals in Rawalpindi (Rawalpindi General Hospital-2, Railways Hospital-2, Social Security Hospital-1) that were declared positive Monday. However, no death from the infection has so far been reported from the twin cities, a spokesman of the Ministry of Health disclosed. As far as the situation in Karachi is concerned, 1,337 patients with symptoms of the disease have been admitted to different hospitals since October 2. Of these, 432 were found positive for the virus while 25 have died so far.

“The epidemic-like situation seen in Karachi only is now showing a static trend whereas there are only isolated sporadic cases reported so far from a few other districts of the country. ….He emphasised that the disease was not contagious and has no man-to-man transmission

http://tinyurl.com/yhbnzq

36 W&M students show flu symptoms

“Thirty-six students at the College of William and Mary have sought treatment since Saturday for flulike symptoms that include nausea, fever and an elevated white-blood-cell count.

Sam Sadler, the school’s vice president for student affairs, said in an e-mail to students, faculty and staff yesterday that one student also has come down with the symptoms of mumps, a contagious disease that recently broke out among students at the University of Virginia. Sadler said health officials are involved in the school’s response to both of the public-health incidents, which do not appear to be related.

He said one student reporting the flulike symptoms, which included diarrhea, was sick enough to be hospitalized…..”

http://tinyurl.com/y6ltkj

Squash the Bug

Europe is killing off hospital infections. Why isn’t the United States following suit?

By Arthur Allen

Slate

Posted Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2006, at 2:33 PM

If you are an American admitted to a hospital in Amsterdam, Toronto, or Copenhagen these days, you’ll be considered a biohazard. Doctors and nurses will likely put you into quarantine while they determine whether you’re carrying methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, a deadly organism that is increasingly common stateside, especially in our hospitals.

And if you test positive for methicillin-resistant staph, or MRSA, these European and Canadian hospital workers will don protective gloves, masks, and gowns each time they approach you, and then strip off the gear and scrub down vigorously when they leave your room. The process is known as “search and destroy”—a combat mission that hospitals abroad are undertaking to prevent the spread of germs that resist antibiotics. Our own health authorities, meanwhile, have been strangely reluctant to join the assault.

In the United States, MRSA kills an estimated 13,000 people every year, which means that a hospital patient is 10 times as likely to die of MRSA as an inmate is to be murdered in prison. The latest survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that 64 percent of the Staphylococcus-aureus strains in American hospitals were MRSA—that is, resistant to the powerful antibiotic methicillin and other antibiotics—which makes them difficult to treat. MRSA has also spread to the general public, afflicting football teams and schools in the last three years. I know a healthy 5-year-old who got a staph infection recently after she skinned her knee on the playground. She ended up requiring two full months of antibiotic treatment, while her mother scoured the house with bleach on doctor’s orders. And she may not be rid of the bug yet.

Given the dimensions of the threat, you’d think that the CDC would be making a priority of fighting it. After all, federal health agencies have spent billions to fight anthrax (which caused five deaths in 2001), smallpox (last U.S. death: 1949), and pandemic flu (yet to appear in the United States). And there is reason to think that search and destroy works, since health-care authorities abroad have kept rates of antibiotic-resistant bugs in their countries much lower than ours. In Dutch hospitals, the rate of MRSA is less than 1 percent. Canada’s rate is 10 percent. And more than 100 studies have shown the effectiveness of search and destroy, including work released in the last month in the United States.

Yet the CDC refuses to endorse search and destroy. It is sticking to the mantra that hospital workers should wash their hands more carefully and frequently, and that in most cases patients should be isolated only after symptoms of infection with MRSA appear. Routine surveillance to find patients who may not be symptomatic, but are still contagious, is rarely practiced, and not recommended in the CDC’s new hospital infection-fighting guidelines, which were released last week after five years of deliberations. The guidelines do not include a routine recommendation for search and destroy.” excerpt

This is a bitter pill for many infectious-disease experts, who have been joined by the relatives of dead patients, Consumers Union, and even a few Congress members in pressing the CDC. “ - excerpt

http://tinyurl.com/ya46ml

Hospitals would have to shut down and clean itself from the top down. It could take weeks, people could die waiting for a hospital bed, and it would just take one employee or visitor who is a carrier to blow the whole process. Europe doesn’t stand a chance. In the beginning we did that too. We lost.

And, as much as I hate druggies, if TPTB would have given them clean needles, it wouldn`t have spread quite so rapidly. I consider all meth addicts to have MRSA, and wear gloves even when triaging them, and make sure I do an extra good wipedown of BP cuffs,etc.

I am a nurse. I remember a few years ago when I started my clinicals I had to take care of a few patients with MRSA or VRE. It was troublesome then, we had to wear gowns, and goggles plus the usual gloves. I did notice then that alot of my fellow students did not wash hands between patients, yes they did wear gloves but still did not wash. I remember washing my hands so much that when I went to bed I had to soak my hands in hand lotion and cover with mitts. (Wash your hands folks!) A couple of years ago I would hear of staph infection spreading to the school football team in South Texas… they would go in and spray the locker-rooms down. Now the local school district has a staph infection spreading. I found this out by lurking around a local message board for the city I live in. We did not get a notice home or anything. It could start out as a small infected wound then turn into something really nasty. I think we should have gotten notice of this.. I am a nurse and I know what to look out for, but for your average Joe. ??. We need to keep people informed about this.. it is a problem now and will only become bigger. I say get the word out. Okay, thats enough before I get on my soapbox. Take Care all.

FriscoParent – at 10:20 wrote:

I am a nurse. I remember a few years ago when I started my clinicals I had to take care of a few patients with MRSA or VRE. It was troublesome then, we had to wear gowns, and goggles plus the usual gloves. I did notice then that alot of my fellow students did not wash hands between patients, yes they did wear gloves but still did not wash. I remember washing my hands so much that when I went to bed I had to soak my hands in hand lotion and cover with mitts. (Wash your hands folks!) A couple of years ago I would hear of staph infection spreading to the school football team in South Texas….. it is a problem now and will only become bigger. I say get the word out. Okay, thats enough before I get on my soapbox. Take Care all.

Thanks FriscoParent,

I’m married to a nurse - MRSA and biofilms are part of my wife’s vocabulary. I posted this piece on MRSA to give folks a heads-up on the realities on it (& C.Difficile). If individuals are going to hospitals during an official pandemic, they should be aware of all the realities.

The Gutenberg Press was suppose to do, what the Internet is hoping to do - time will tell.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Gutenberg

“Biofilms have been found to be involved in a wide variety of microbial infections in the body, by one estimate 80% of all infections (NIH 2002). Infectious processes in which biofilms have been implicated include common problems such as urinary tract infections, catheter infections, middle-ear infections, formation of dental plaque, gingivitis, coating contact lenses, and less common but more lethal processes such as endocarditis, infections in cystic fibrosis, and infections of permanent indwelling devices such as joint prostheses and heart valves. (Lewis 2001, Parsek and Singh 2003)”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biofilm

Question- If you or a family get sick/are sick during a pandemic, do you really want to go to the hospital where hundreds of sick people are, lined along the hallyways, no room in the E.R.? Is this reall a wise dicision? I understand that staying at home is useless, but what would you do. If you went to the E.R., what is the estimated time you think you would be seen and treated?

Most plans will stand up offsite(from hospitals) triage centers and PODS.

cottontop – at 21:46 “do you really want go to the hospital where hundreds of sick people are”

If it is H5N1, the hosptials will not be be best places to visit. How often do you think they will really clean the hallways?

“When we tested the virus in Hong Kong from 1997, the virus was killed at 37 degrees Celsius (98 Fahrenheit) in two days. The current H5N1 is still viable for six days at 37,” said Webster, from St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in the U.S. city Memphis. ….”H5N1 at room temperatures can stay (alive) for at least a week in wet conditions,” Webster told Reuters on the eve of a bird flu conference organized by the Lancet medical journal in Singapore. ….

The choice of going to the hospital would depend on what the infection rate would be. If there is only 5 infected in town that is one thing, but if there are thousands…..

DennisC- “….but if there are thousands…”

I just don’t see how you hope to be treated at the e.r. You’d get lost in the mountain of people. taking a chance at home would be useless, going to hospital would be useless(with hundreds/thousands of people.)

India-

Even as Delhi battles with dengue, it seems to have been gripped by chikungunya as well. Of the seven chikungunya cases reported from across the country in the last 24 hours, two are from the Capital. Confirming this, officials from Directorate of National Vector-borne Disease Control Programme said the Aedes mosquito, the dengue vector, is simultaneously active in spreading chikungunya as well. The rest of the cases are from Tamil Nadu. Till now, 11 of the 31 chikungunya cases reported from Delhi have travel history from South India. So travel history of the latest cases is also under the scanner now. Doctors in city hospitals have now started sending more samples to the National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD). The chikungunya virus has hit the city after nearly three decades. “We suggest the NICD carry an epidemic study so as to get more details.

http://tinyurl.com/y68ew3

cottontop – at 22:54 “going to hospital would be useless”

If there are really hundreds, I would not go to the hospital. And that is coming from someone that was once on the hopital board. I would take my chance at home with the care of my love ones. But it would be nice if I or someone else could “drive thru” and get some Tamiflu or an oxygen bottle.

cottontop and DennisC— you most likely will not be seen in an ER. Most hospitals are planning to triage offsite. Only the critcally ill (needing ventilators etc.) will be taken to the hospitals.

Enza:

I’ve seen you mention off site triage and pods before. How does that work exactly regarding flow of patients? Are the hospital doors locked to anyone who doesn’t come from the triage centers? Do ambulances and paramedics pick up from home and then go to triage centers? What about family members dumping their sick outside the hospital doors and leave. Then what? Just curious.

And even at triage centers, you run the same risk of being exposed to infections persons. They may not be at the center ofr BF, but are there for another reason and don’t know they’re infected yet. Still, if there are places people can go for say only “stitches/broken bones” at one place “pregnancy” at another, etc. that would help ease the burden on the hospitals. Also, as long as you are an adult you can not have company with you at the center. Fewer people, lower viral spread.

Sorry, back to “close news”!

BTW, an oxygen bottle a single person can lift and move lasts just a few hours. I seriously doubt there are enough bottles around to even handle a small percentage of pandemic cases. I have purchased my own concentrator, you can get rebuilt ones for as low as $200 to $350 along with $200 for a finger oximeter. Of course, if there is no power for the machine…..

No, no hospitals for us-thats why I’m doing this @#$% housecleaning so I can wipe down surfaces with bleach if nessesary. (I have to FIND the surfaces first! :−0 )

Leo7-- this is the plan I have heard from several hosp. across the country and personally from the health officers of our bi-county area. Obviously it’s not a ‘one size fits all’ plan. The logistics? They’re working on it, exercises are being planned in our counties to test the logistics.

LauraB— yes there will be risk of exposure at triage centers. One of the ways our county plans to keep the ‘worried well’ home is by utilizing our 211 system for phone triage. Our 211 is already up and running. We also have reverse 911 for info dissemination.

Notice the original info out of Egypt was that they though it was food poisoning and they are now suspecting BF- Hopefully it is just food poisoning, but it warrants following.

China’

At least 16 children, most between 2 and 5, were hospitalized with food poisoning after eating at a kindergarten in northwest China, state media reported on Friday. One of the children was in serious condition, after eating this week at the kindergarten in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. The incident was the latest in a string of mass food-poisoning outbreaks since August, all but one of them in schools. The cases appear to be unrelated. On Monday, that 56 children in a nursery school in Jiangxi province in southern China fell sick after eating cakes and noodles. Most of the children were between 3 and 6.

http://tinyurl.com/y4ml4c

Don’t forget about the out breaks here in the U.S. Their saying now wild pigs were responsible for the e.coli on the spinach. I believe it to be just outbreaks of food poisioning. I do recognize that it seems a little odd, now food poisioning out breaks, but we’ve had out on outbreaks. Does that seem odd to you?

Just thought I would put this here since (if you recall) some cases of H5N1 were first misdiagnosed as meningitis and this is close Sudan where we are hearing suspected bird cases.

Ethiopia: Acute Watery Diarrhoea Claims 279 Lives

Acute watery diarrhoea has continued to spread alarmingly in Ethiopia, with the death toll rising to 279 and 29,880 people infected, … assessment by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in the eastern Afar region showed 84 new cases, with 11 deaths, according to OCHA….

“Last week, three samples were sent to Addis Ababa and only one tested positive for meningococcal meningitis. … Earlier this year, 621 cases of meningitis, among them 32 deaths, were reported in three regions in Ethiopia.

Early symptoms of meningitis include fever, which is followed by a rash and vomiting. Patients suffer stiffness before unconsciousness and death. The meningitis bacteria are transmitted through droplets of respiratory or throat secretions.

http://tinyurl.com/y85wyh

Fiddlerdave – at 16:59 on 10/26 “I have purchased my own concentrator, you can get rebuilt ones for as low as $200 to $350 along with $200 for a finger oximeter.”

Could you elaborate more on what prompted you to purchase your own oxygen concentrator, and how you plan on using it, particularly in conjunction with the finger oximeter?

Comment: This is a Comment

Comment alert. Please don’t flame me.

I mostly lurk. Putting some of the things together from the news thread, the rumor thread, this thread…my PPF is off the charts. All of these stories of various diseases that share many of the symptoms of h5n1 infection all over the world. None of these folks being tested for h5n1 because it “isn’t h5n1, it is (insert dengue, chikunguya, food poisoning etc)”. Is it possible that TPTB actually think that they might segment the pandemic enough by doing this that they hope to “hide the pandemic in plain sight”?

I mean, if you announce an outbreak of Dengue (the virulent type that kills people), and you suggest to the doctors that what they are seeing is a “new type” of dengue, you are going to get Dengue diagnosis. Ditto for malaria, food poisoning, unusually virulent seasonal flu, chikunguya, pnuemonic plague. If no one ever tests because the disease has truly jumped species to humans and birds aren’t dropping dead all around us anymore. Or, maybe even, “it couldn’t be h5n1 because the pandemic strain hasn’t emerged yet according to the WHO”.

I’m probably just “out there”, hence the anonymity. I’ll probably feel better in the morning. Sounds pretty paranoid, I admit, but the concept has had my “spidey sense” tingling for a couple of days now.

(Klatu -thanks for my new vocab word for the day; “Biofilm”)

anon for this – at 16:52, History is written by the “victors”? We’re in the seat of “interesting times” where they won’t show us the last half of the script…

anon for this post - 16:52

I think that the watching of all of the disease outbreaks in all parts of the world has our PPF factors raised. I believe that it is truly a good thing to have the information, but I can almost see the glassy eyed stare of information overload as we try to read and keep up with the outlook posts. I know that I personally am having a hard time finding info about Central and South America, and the stuff that I’m finding is gloomy and alarming.

Might TPTB be deliberately covering up the truth? Sure, there’s a 50–50 chance. I believe though that we are seeing the lie of omission rather than commission. If we’re not testing, we won’t find the truth.

My personal opinion is that everything is connected. We exist in a circle of balance. Recall the study that said that global warming was allowing a conducive atmosphere for diseases to flourish? We have a higher number of outbreaks of a large number of very disturbing viruses and bacterias. Suddenly, the numbers in the Indonesian thread which were looking huge pale in comparison to almost 30,000 infected with Acute Watery Diarrhoea with almost 300 dead. We’re now pulling a lot more numbers with a lot more victims, people just like you and me. We’ve had several volcanic eruptions since August which may lead to a colder winter which may lead to more h5n1 outbreaks.

We need to remain vigilant, not panic and keep it all in perspective. Having said that, this week seems to be a hard week to get through. Perhaps it all of the freak weather…

anon for this – at 16:52 my PPF is off the charts

Relax, take a few deep breaths and repeat, “there are always epidemics somewhere in the world and the rumors are just rumors”. The only reason I started this thread is to help keep the news thread “clean” from speculation. A few of the cases here just might be BF related but most will not be. Just think of it as an early warning system on an early warning system. The thing to keep your eye open for is an abrupt change in the rates.

Oh yes my PPF is still at 3… but I take it in its stated form of how close are we to have the MSM announce that quarentine will be imposed within 24 hours and not my stress level. I am fairly well prepare (an old boy scout) but my stress is more concern for those in large cities and the ones that can hardly survive as it is.

Great Lakes Area

http://tinyurl.com/ymvoa8

A federal order designed to prevent the spread of a fatal fish virus in the Great Lakes could increase the cost of live bait, cripple commercial fish farms and take a bite out of the region’s $4.5 billion sport fishery. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, or APHIS, issued an emergency order this week banning the interstate shipments of 37 species of live fish between the eight Great Lakes states and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The order was aimed at preventing the spread of Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia, or VHS, a saltwater virus that showed up in parts of the Great Lakes last year. The virus, suspected of being imported to the Great Lakes in the ballast water of ocean freighters, has caused die-offs of 14 fish species in Lake Huron, Lake St. Clair, the Detroit River, Lake Erie and Lake Ontario, according to federal officials. Fish managers said the virus likely will spread to Lake Michigan and Lake Superior and eventually kill a portion of many species of fish, including trout and salmon. The virus does not affect humans, according to state officials. “We’re going to see more dead fish because of this,” said Gary Whelan, fish production manager for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. He said, “it’s just a matter of time” before the virus spreads to Lake Michigan and Lake Superior. <snip>

“This will certainly have an impact on people who raise fish in Michigan,” Whelan said. “It’s unclear what it will mean for (the state’s) hatchery system.” Chris Weeks, president of the Michigan Aquaculture Association, said the federal order will be financially devastating for people who raise trout and other fish to sell to restaurants and food brokers in neighboring states. “We have growers in this state who will be severely impacted by this rule,” Weeks said. The VHS virus found in the Great Lakes last year is a new strain of the saltwater virus, according to federal officials. The virus causes bloating in fish, lesions and bleeding from the eyes and gills; it is transmitted from fish to fish. VHS has not been detected in any aquaculture facilities in the Great Lakes basin, according to federal records. The source of VHS in the Great Lakes is not known, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture records. Some Great Lakes fish managers believe the deadly fish virus was imported here in the ballast water of ocean freighters from Europe or Asia.

Anon,

you are not alone.

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.

Vanu Bagchi of Hannibal Regional Hospital tells WGEM News doctors believe it is the Norwalk Virus Group, which is an intestinal feces-born illness. People contracted the illness through food and personal contact. Symptoms included vomiting and diarrhea.

Passengers are not being confined to the boat. The virus is not airborne. Exposure to the city of Hannibal is believed to be minimal, according to Rex Pflantz of the Marion County Health Department.

http://tinyurl.com/u5zay

http://tinyurl.com/u96lu

The Mississippi Queen is the same ship with the 36 passengers reported ill in Kentucky earlier this week. URL is above. Anybody know how those passengers are doing in Kentucky?

Blue Ridge Mountain Mom – at 17:56

Viral hemmrrhagic fatal fish virus?? It just never ends.

I’m going to go have a glass of wine now.

DH and I are going out just the two of us this evening. I’ll be thinking about the viral increase in shrimp before a major viral outbreak from an article posted earlier this week out of Maryland, and I’ll be thinking about this new fish virus that might have come from ballast water from Asia where the viral activity would be heightened. And you know what? I won’t be ordering any seafood the warnings that if you cook it properly it will be okay be damned!

Think I’ll join you with that cup of wine. Cheers!

Cuba

Cuba is containing an outbreak of dengue fever that has caused a number of deaths, the Pan-American Health Organization said this week, citing a Cuban government report that gave no figures. Cuba’s Minister of Health Jose Ramon Balaguer informed the Washington-based PAHO on Aug 1 that Cuba was facing an outbreak of classic dengue in four of its 14 provinces. An updated Health Ministry report on October 13, posted on PAHO’s Web site this week, said the outbreak had spread in territorial terms, but the number of cases was dropping. “All cases of dengue hemorrhagic fever have taken place in the adult population and have, in a limited number of cases, produced deaths associated with pre-existing chronic pathologies,” it said. Cuba has not said how many people died of dengue. But the Caribbean nation stepped up a campaign in August to eradicate the Aedes Aegypti mosquito that transmits the virus. Health workers have gone door-to-door spraying homes with smoke. Large Soviet-era Antonov 2 biplanes regularly roar over roof-tops spraying insecticide to kill the eggs. Most people who get infected by dengue develop a fever and rash, but recover in five days. The more virulent hemorrhagic form of the fever kills 1 in 20 of those infected.

http://tinyurl.com/y857bw

Mexico-Oct. 25

“High Incidence of Dengue in Veracruz”--Health Secretary Jon Rementeria of Veracruz,reported 4,500 -plus cases of dengue this year.with 450 of the dangerous hemorrhagic strain.”

Rementeria said 50 percent of the cases are located in seven villages of Boca del Rio.www.plenglish.com

Witness- Isn’t the hemorrhagic strain rare? Or would this be common for that part of the world? I don’t think India reported that many with hemorrhagic strain, if memory serves. (and it’s fading,ha ha)

cottontop- the hemorrhagic strain seemed to be rare before this year. Don’t for the Lookout Posts for Central America. I am going to pull witness’s article over to there as well.

It mutated…like every other pathogen on the face of the earth…it seems!!

Blue Ridge Mountain Mom- Also take at look at the Northern African Posts, for Egypt. There has been a new development with the strain that the last person was infected with.

Cottontop - check out the Michigan Thread where we have a new hemorrhagic fever in fish in the Great Lakes along with our low path h5n1.

It just seems to me that whatever environmental factors have allowed H5N1 to mutate are also allowing a lot of other viruses to mutate. Seems like we are on viral overload. The question is when will critical mass be reached and how bad will it be?!?

Blue Ridge Mountain Mon- Where abouts are you? I’m in upstate new york, new the St. Lawerence river, and lake Ontario. I’m really wanting to start a new york thread, mainly pertaining to upstate, but time is a factor for me. I WILL get to it. (hopefully).

I agree with TomDVM, that something has happened to cause these viruses to make themselves more prevelant now, and environmental factors are certainly my thought, along with people being a factor, (too many of us). I do beleive critical mass will be reached, and it will be bad. Any kind of bad is not good news for us. We have such a delicate infrastructure, that it won’t take too much “bad”, for a mass panic. Hope we are WRONG about this.

Not sure where to put this but..

on the pandemicflu.gov site

http://tinyurl.com/wtfmu

they now have info about 1918 by state. Just little short narrative about what it was like in various states. It makes interesting reading.

from my home state NM:

“No one is sure when the pandemic first arrived, though it may have been carried into Carlsbad (southeast corner of the state) by members of an out-of-own circus. On October 4th, there were reports of “a few cases” in “several places.” A week later, epidemics were reported in Albuquerque, Gallup (west of Albuquerque), and Carlsbad. And the pandemic continued to spread.

In some cases, Smith and Wesson and Colt stood in the way. Fearing introduction of the disease, armed vigilantes from across the state stopped trains from flu-ridden regions and forced passengers to get back aboard and return from where they came…”

“….To his horror, he discovered that his wife had not been dead at the time she was buried after all. In his fear and haste to bury influenza victims, the doctor who had pronounced Clara dead had been mistaken. She had been buried alive, only to suffocate in her coffin…”

and that is the way it was in 1918 here.

Cottontop - There has been a NY thread in the past. I don’t know if it is still active or not. That way you wouldn’t need to create it afterall.

I am in the southern part of the Blue Ridge in Georgia a stone’s throw from the North Carolina border and about 30 minutes from South Carolina. Unfortunately, I’m within a 100 mile radius of Atlanta, though barely. Dangit!

If you look at the current situation, India, Egypt and the Middle East bear closer scrutiny as does Indonesia. North and South America are just getting into the ballgame, but I have a feeling that we will be playing catchup pretty quick if the fish and birds in Michigan are any indicator, IMHO they are. Blast China for the no news anyway!

We’ve all been looking for the hidden mammalian reservoir for the virus. What if the local watering hole is the hidden reserve? What if it starts near/in the water and gets past back and forth from the marine life to animals back to the marine life?

DennisC- I posted a website on the new for today entitled: 1918 Spanish Influenza Outbreak: The Enemy Within

cottontop - there is a New York thread. Science Teacher & someone else I can’t remember, were from my area. I didn’t see anyone from your area. But we do have new people joining all the time.

“Mystery virus hits central Puerto Rico”

More than 200 children and adults have fallen ill with a mystery virus in central Puerto Rico, forcing officials to close down a local school, officials said.Most of the children had diarrhea and a fever, and were vomiting. The health dept. will send an epidemiologist to the school. www.localnewsleader.com

Thanks gals. I thought at one time I saw the New YOrk thread. I really need to update that and get it more productive. If I come across anything I think Blue Ridge Mountain Mom can use, I’ll pass it along. My sister-in-law just left for Georgia to visit her sister, and I’m like, “you know, I wouldn’t take up much room. Throw me some bread crumbs, and a few drops of water. Check on me every now and them…” Told ya I was looking for someone heading south!

Kepp up the good work gals. Your an inspriation to me, and I’ve decided to focus more on gathering the news, and lesson the chat sessions. It makes me loose my focus, and I wanted to be a news gather, not so much a gabber(that’s to me comment. I’m a real talker!).

I posted this over at the West Africa thread, but it may interest you.

Interesting article. Same CFR as current Indonesia outbreaks. Wonder if they can distinguish from H5N1. Especially with 20 doctors left in the country!

Liberia: China Steps in to End Lassa Fever Outbreak

UN Integrated Regional Information Networks

October 27, 2006 Posted to the web October 27, 2006

Monrovia

The Chinese Embassy in Liberia has pitched in enough drugs to treat an outbreak of the deadly lassa fever virus that the Liberian authorities had said they were powerless to stop.

A virus transmitted by rodents, lassa fever kills up to 5,000 people ever year in West Africa. It broke-out in Nimba county northern Liberia in September, quickly killing off seven of ten people diagnosed with it. Liberia’s health ministry does not have any more recent information.

Liberian health officials contacted by IRIN in September said they were short of drugs to treat people infected with lassa fever, and the United Nations warned that the country’s ramshackle health infrastructure was not able to cope with an infectious disease.

But on Thursday, officials at the Chinese Embassy in Monrovia told IRIN they would be providing enough drugs to control the outbreak, following an emergency request from the Liberian health minister.

“The total consignment is three hundred treatment medicines that can be used to treat three hundred lassa fever patients,” a Chinese embassy official told IRIN.

The same official said China is also donating drugs to treat malaria, and has provided medical equipment to hospitals in the capital. A nine-specialist team has been providing free treatment at the John F. Kennedy hospital in Monrovia.

Some 18 officials and technicians at the Liberian health ministry have also undergone training in China in malaria treatment and the treatment and prevention of HIV/AIDS, the official said.

According to Liberia’s National Human Development Report released in August over 95 per cent of the 325 health facilities that operated before Liberia’s 14-year civil war were either completely or partially destroyed in the war. Rural health facilities were worst affected.

The same report revealed that by the time the war ended in 2003, there were less than 20 Liberian doctors left in the country. By the end of 2005, only 14 extra doctors had been trained, bringing the total to 34 doctors.

http://tinyurl.com/vmke9

I mean 34 doctors now - sheesh, I had to do the same correction over on the other thread!

witness - 16:10

I tried the link from this, but I just got an advertisement and not the story. Could you check for a better link? I’d like to get this posted over on a Lookout thread. Thanks!

Blue Ridge Mountain Mom – at 20:53 Mystery virus hits central Puerto Rico- links

I tried to trace the article (via content) and found: http://tinyurl.com/y5kw7v

it seems to date from Oct 8

update on the Mississippi Queen passengers

Virus strikes passengers on Mississippi Queen Saturday, October 28, 2006

By Ann Pierceall

Herald-Whig Staff Writer

HANNIBAL, Mo. — Nine passengers on the Mississippi Queen paddle-wheel riverboat were taken to Hannibal Regional Hospital Friday afternoon after showing symptoms of the Norwalk virus.

The stomach flu-like illness first appeared on the boat last weekend when 36 passengers fell ill during a cruise on the Ohio River.

Vanu Bagchi, spokesman for Hannibal Regional, said the ill were mostly elderly.

“Nine people were brought into the hospital, and they’re in a contained area,” Bagchi said. “We understand two more people on the boat are showing symptoms, but they’ve not come into the hospital.”

Bagchi said the Centers for Disease Control confirmed the illness was the Norwalk virus, which he called a gastrointestinal illness. He said the ill passengers, who had boarded the boat on Wednesday in St. Louis en route to St. Paul, Minn., had been moved from the emergency room to a “separate area,” and were being hydrated.

“It is not airborne. It’s contagious by touch and through food and so forth,” he said. “This is not a life-threatening disease. They’re doing quite well.” ….. http://tinyurl.com/ylr672

Pakistan

Thirty more patients of Viral Hemorrhagic Fever were admitted in private and government hospitals in Karachi during last 24 hours. Forty-nine patients of the disease were discharged from hospitals after recovery. Government and private hospitals in the metropolis have discharged 49 patients of the Viral Hemorrhagic Fever during 24 hours, while 30 new cases were admitted in hospitals, focal person to the Dengue Fever Surveillance Committee Dr. Abdul Majid told Geo News. Provincial Programme Manager of the Sindh Blood Transfusion Authority Dr. Zahid Ansari has said a kit used in dengue fever diagnosis process need 96 blood samples and tests can be made after collection of the required number of samples. The patients from interior of Sindh can send blood samples to the Services Hospital’s laboratory in Karachi putting the samples in thermos with ice, he said”

http://tinyurl.com/u6mlh

Not bird flu, but just for those that might what to know that a weekly flu report exists.

Weekly Report: Influenza Summary Update Week 42, ending October 21, 2006

“…Since October 1, 2006, WHO and NREVSS laboratories have tested a total of 3,833 specimens for influenza viruses and 32 (0.8%) were positive. Among the 32 influenza viruses, 24 (75.0%) were influenza A viruses and 8 (25.0%) were influenza B viruses. Twenty-two (91.7%) of the 24 influenza A viruses have been subtyped: 18 (81.8%) were influenza A (H1) viruses and 4 (18.2%) were influenza A (H3) viruses. Ten states from six of the nine surveillance regions** have reported laboratory confirmed influenza this season. …”

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

Oh yes, notice the chart on the cdc site. We are just coming out of the low flu part of the curve and seasonal flu death (US) should be picking up soon. The peak comes around week 10 or so of each year. That is why my “crystal ball” picked Feb-Mar for special attention.

I still haven’t got the hang of posting these things so I hope I don’t mess up the side scroll.

Thank you Pogge for fixing my mistake - I’ll try harder next time.

Dengue cases hushed up as malaria

“Kolkata, Oct. 29: With the number of the dengue afflicted crossing the 700 mark in West Bengal, some doctors in government health clinics are passing of dengue cases as malignant malaria in the districts. Sources revealed that hundreds of patients come with dengue symptoms to North Bengal Medical College and Hospital everyday. However, they were being referred to as victims of malignant malaria. Therefore, the toll of dengue deaths remain much lower than the previous years.

The number of cases being hushed up exceeded 50, while the actual toll of dengue could be around 100, sources said. A hospital staff working for the last couple of years said, “The count is very high here compared to 2005….When contacted, the hospital authority denied of such malpractice. A spokesperson on behalf of the authority said, “Some outsiders are trying to bring disrepute to the hospital.”“

http://tinyurl.com/wnlme

It is still important to watch Nepal.

Epidemic Hazard:Nepal “A mysterious disease has killed at least 20 people in two villages of west Nepal over the past 10 days, and hundreds more are sick, a health official said on Tuesday. “People suddenly catch high fever, start shivering, faint and then die,” said Ram Bahadur Chand, a senior official the district public health office in Nepalgunj, 321 km (201 miles) west of the capital, Kathmandu. Local media reports put the death toll at 36 from four remote villages near Nepalgunj.

“We have 20 confirmed deaths so far and more than 300 people are suffering from the unknown disease,” said Chand. He said 200 blood samples had been collected and medical workers had reached the affected villages. Each year Nepal’s rickety health infrastructure run by a mere 1300 doctors in 87 hospitals around the country deals with hundreds of thousands of cases of pneumonia, cholera, fever, diarrhoea and tuberculosis. Many of the poor Himalayan nation’s 26 million people are either unable to afford the cost of medical treatment or do not have access to basic health care.

http://tinyurl.com/s6d8k

picture of a clinic in Nepal where “At least 20 people have died of an unidentified disease over the past two weeks in west Nepal”. (picture #3)

http://tinyurl.com/y8usuf

36 die of unknown illness in Banke

In Phattepur VDC alone, 23 people have died due to the disease. According to Nedeer Khan, a local, 11 people from Prirahawa village of ward number 4 and 5 of the VDC; seven from Nagakaipur village; three from Phattepur village and two from Hardaiwa village have died.

Likewise, 10 people died of the disease in Gangapur and three in Narainapur village-one died during treatment in Nepalgunj Hospital on Sunday, while two had died in the Gangapur earlier.

snip

Several patients have been going to local drugstores asking for help. “About 30–35 patients come to us daily. As we do not have any means to diagnose the ailment, we have been giving antibiotics to the patients assuming it is common cold,” said a local pharmacist, requesting anonymity.

Meanwhile, health agencies are yet to send medical teams to the villages in the region. Doctors and medicines had still not reached the region even until Tuesday afternoon.

snip

Although the “mystery” disease that has affected over 150 people in six villages of four VDCs is suspected of being Malaria, blood tests conducted by a team of Malaria inspectors and lab assistants yesterday failed to identify aliment.

“In the absence of electricity, our equipments failed to identify the disease”, the team was quoted saying.

However, malaria medicine has already been administered to patients whose condition has become critical, Gangapur Health post in charge Narayan Sharma said.

snip

Oremus – at 13:36

What country is your article in ref to?

Nepal-

comment: What does this sound like to you?

Yes, they didn’t find dengee, they didn’t find malaria, and the symptoms are: “Viral fever, body ache, shivering and sudden unconsciousness “.

the numbers keep climbing. was 150 yesterday, it is now 400 today. (http://tinyurl.com/vooyw)

the deaths are starting to climb - was 20 yesterday now at 36

http://tinyurl.com/tyc7v

I sure hope they send samples and “peg” this thing fast.

Are we there yet – at 13:41 Nepal

DennisC If this turns out to be H5N1 it’s killing quicker. PPF is up to 4 from a 2.5

Almost every household in these villages has at least one member suffering from the ailment, locals claimed.

The lack of breathing distress makes me think it’s not H5N1. But the next pandemic doesn’t have to be H5N1.

Six Diagnosed with Dengue Fever in Nepalgunj

Six patients, who were admitted in the Teaching Hospital of Nepalgunj Medical College two weeks ago, diagnosed with dengue fever. “Dengue positive was found in six patients. With the suspicion of affected with dengue fever, blood sample, ‘Eliza’ of the patients was sent to Kathmandu-based National Public Health Lab for examination,” said Dr M Kidwai, director of the Nepalgunj Hospital. The patients are from Banke, Dang and Bardiya districts. They have already returned to their houses after being treated, Dr Kidwai said. Two suspected dengue patients are still undergoing treatment in the hospital. A four specialists’ group headed by Dr G D Thakur, Chief of Epidemiological and Disease Prevention Division, had found ‘negative’ after examining virus. The same patients are found suffered from dengue after ‘Eliza’ examination. The team had examined 15 dengue-affected patients in Nepalgunj Medical College and Kohalpur Medical Hospital. Blood sample, ‘Eliza’ of the 15 patients was sent to Kathmandu for examination. Of the 15 samples, six patients of Nepalgunj Medical College were found affected with dengue fever. Similarly, two dengue-suspected patients who were sent to Lukhnow, India, for further treatment, have been diagnosed with dengue fever. Altogether nine dengue patients have been found in Nepal, said Dr Kidwai. The government has not initiated any step to control this disease, Dr Kidwai said, adding, none dengue-affected patients have died in Nepal.

http://tinyurl.com/y2temc

Sunday October 29, 2006

State investigating dead birds

Pressconnects.com

The Department of Environmental Conservation is investigating the mysterious deaths of dozens of water birds found along the shores of eastern Lake Ontario since last weekend.

Tests for Type E Botulism and other clinical analyses are being conducted on the carcasses of gulls, grebes, and loons collected from Sodus Bay to Deer Creek Marsh by the department’s Wildlife Pathology Unit.

Type E Botulism was first documented in birds near Lake Ontario in 2002, but the mortality this year is the largest so far. In July 2002 and August 2005, several gulls were tested from the eastern basin of Lake Ontario and many of those tested positive. There have been no reports of any human illnesses associated with the outbreaks.

Type E Botulism is a specific strain of botulism most commonly affecting fish-eating birds. The associated neurotoxin produced by actively growing bacterium (Clostridium botulinum) causes paralysis in the affected birds and often results in drowning. The ingestion of the toxin produced by the botulism bacterium and can be harmful to humans who eat contaminated birds or fish. Cooking may not destroy the botulism toxin.

To date, Type E Botulism has not been found in any fish from Lake Ontario or the St. Lawrence River. Hunters and anglers are advised not to take waterfowl or fish that appear sick or are acting abnormally. Waterbirds impacted by botulism toxin cannot fly and their legs become paralyzed.

http://www.pressconnects.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061029/COLUMNISTS16/610290340/1003/

(Certain H5N1 strains also cause hind-leg paralysis. Gulls and Loons are at higher risk for the virus)

Zoo’s lorikeet exhibit re-opens after birds’ deaths

01:11 PM PST on Tuesday, October 31, 2006

By TERESA BELL, kgw.com Staff

The Oregon Zoo is re-opening its popular lorikeet exhibit after several of the colorful parrots died from a mysterious illness.

Two lorikeets nuzzle at the Ore. Zoo exhibit. Veterinarians still don’t know exactly what caused 15 of the rare birds to become ill and die, but they were confident that the remaining birds’ health had stabilized.

“We identified seven different serotypes of Escherichia coli, none of which seemed particularly virulent,” said Mitch Finnegan, lead veterinarian at the Oregon Zoo. “We surmise that there must have been some additional,unknown factor that may have compromised the birds’ immune systems.”

The birds died between Sept. 9 and Sept. 18. Finnegan said others became ill but quickly recovered. However, the exhibit remained closed until zoo veterinarians received additional lab results to ensure the problem was safely contained.

“Even though the birds have been doing well since mid-September, we had to make sure we knew what type of bacteria we were dealing with before we could move forward,” said Oregon Zoo Director Tony Vecchio. “To ensure the safety of our visitors, we also compared the seven strains of bacteria to those known to cause illness in people, and, as expected, all of those tests came back negative.”

Poison water is killing the birds By Sam Adams

Tragic: The body of a swan floats with glass bottles and a can in algae at Eagle Pond © POLICE are monitoring a Snaresbrook pond where restaurants are believed to be killing birds by dumping food.

The body of another dead swan was found recently near Eagle Pond in Snaresbrook Road, where dozens of wildfowl have died since the summer because of pollution caused by discarded waste.

Snaresbrook ward Cllr Sue Nolan, says police have begun to monitor the area to stop the dumping of waste, ranging from bread to raw meat, which has gradually poisoned the water.

Comment: Apparently they have noted many birds dying here just since this summer, although this dumping practice has been going on for years. Swans seem to be the most common victims.

Sorry, the second story at 12:42 took place in England somewhere.

Why, why do people dump their garbage like this? With resteraunts its probably an economic thing to avoid paying trash pick up. Those resteraunts should be shut down.

United Arab Emirates

“Responding to reports of the death of a two-year-old boy due to haemorrhagic fever and his family being infected, the Ministry of Health has said there was no confirmation of such a case and there was no need for panic. In a Press statement issued yesterday, the MoH said a medical team of specialists was formed and all needed measures such as quarantine, prevention and diagnosis were taken since the time the family was admitted to Al Qasimi Hospital. “The team eliminated 98 per cent of threats and ensured that other patients remained unaffected.” The statement also said that blood samples of the suspected cases of haemorrahgic fever had been sent to Germany and France for further testing to confirm the results obtained by the hospital and would be available within the next 24 hours….

Some of these cause relatively mild illnesses, whilst others could cause severe, life threatening disease. Examples include Lassa fever, Marburg virus, Ebola virus, Bolivian haemorrhagic fever, Korean haemorrhagic fever, and Dengue haemorrhagic fever. Diagnosis requires specialised laboratory tests on blood specimens…”

http://tinyurl.com/w62qe

I didn’t know that undercooked beans would do that.

China

“Twenty-one students in a private school in Xinjiang fell ill and were hospitalized after having lunch in the school’s cafeteria. The students at Zhongcheng Private School, in Wensu County, complained of headaches, bellyaches and vomiting after lunch on Wednesday, according to a local health official. Nineteen of the students aged from six to 14, were discharged from hospital the same day after treatment, said the official. Two others were still in hospital, but out of critical condition. The school said undercooked beans possibly led to the poisoning. The county’s health monitoring authorities had run tests on the students for further examination.”

http://tinyurl.com/ym3tg9

Venezuela

More than 100 children were poisoned after eating bad food at a breakfast at the Las Augilas VI Bolivarian Integrated Education Center, in Los Guayos in the Venezuelan sate of Carabobo. The children reported stomach pains, vomiting and diarrhea around mid-day on Tuesday, and some of them even fainted, Venezuelan newspaper El Universal reported on Thursday. Local police rushed the children to local medical centers — 28children to Las Aguitas medical center, some to the Los Guayos Integral Diagnostic Center, and those in critical conditions to the Dr Enrique Tejera Hospital in Valencia and the Carabobo Hospital in the city of Naguangua. Samples collected by health authorities showed that the poisoning was caused by the breakfast the children had eaten. Local authorities have suspended teaching at the school. The incident is the second in recent days. On Monday, 40 children suffered food poisoning in the west Venezuelan state of Aragua, where food from the School Food Program was found to be contaminated.

http://tinyurl.com/yjjx72

Colorado

“Health officials report a positive case of bubonic plague in the Valley. Earlier this week, local veterinarian Dr. Scott Gillespie announced he is treating a cat that has contracted bubonic plague. The cat lives in the southern portion of the Valley near the airport. Felines and other animals catch the disease by eating an infected rodent such as a rat or through a bite from an infected flea. Domestic animals can be protected from the plague with flea powder. Pet owners should also keep their animals out of wild rodent habitats. Humans can also contract bubonic plague after being bitten by an infected flea or by handling an infected rodent. Symptoms of the disease in animals and persons are similar. Typical signs of bubonic plague are high fever, chills, vomiting, extreme exhaustion and swollen lymph nodes. If caught early, treatment with antibiotics is usually effective. If diagnosis and treatment are delayed, life-threatening complications can occur, said Dr. Gillespie. Gillespie noted the risk of bubonic plague is greater during the summer months, however, whenever the days are warm, rodents are out.”

http://tinyurl.com/ya52hd

Comment

I don’t think that these food problems and bubonic problems are related to H5N1. I just include them since it is nice to know the “noise level” from other items to help keep things in prespective.

Mexico

Francisco Cardoza, Secretary of Health of Baja California Sur, reported that the increase in dengue fever and dengue hemorrhagic fever cases in Los Cabos, BCS, Mexico, that total 63, requires strengthened epidemiological measures. The state agency has sent 70 additional workers to support the 40 who are working to lower larvae indices of the mosquito that transmits dengue fever and to control the outbreak. In Acapulco, Guerrero, authorities report a rise of 166 dengue cases in just six days, in both of its manifestations, which brings the total to 1,156 cases in this tourist destination. The Secretariat of Health has invested [US$1.4 million] in the fight against the transmitting mosquito. The incidence of dengue, that in its hemorrhagic fever form is life threatening, remains at high levels in the states of Veracruz, Guerrero and Quintana Roo, where 10,757 cases and five deaths have been recorded this year due to the resistance of the people to collaborate in official prevention programs, and in programs to fight the mosquito that transmits the disease.

http://tinyurl.com/y8w8vx

Dennis at 00:03 -We better hope this is dengue— Something tells me it might not be.

There were dengue cases around Guaymas when I went through a couple years back. See a map of its distribution here.

EPIDEMIC HITS PIGS IN KODAGU

http://tinyurl.com/yd4ubl

Madikeri, Nov. 6 (KMC)- Pandi curry (pork), the number one delicacy of Kodava cuisine, may become a rarity for want of pigs.

The reason is a yet-to-be diagnosed disease that has claimed several porcine lives in Kodagu district recently. According to some veterinarians in the district, pig-rearers have complained of their stock suffering from fever, often leading to death.

The feverish symptoms, when detected about four months ago, were suspected to be throat-fever by the veterinary doctors. But after examining specimens of dead pigs at a lab in Bangalore, the possibility of throat-fever was ruled out, causing further anxiety not only among the pig-rearers, but also the consumers.

So far, nearly 35 pigs have been reported dead because of the strange disease and several more are found to be ailing.

Though pork is a delicacy for the Kodagu people, commercial breeding is almost non-existent in the district. One or more pigs are reared by farmers or planters for domestic consumption, which again is a rarity these days because it is more economical and convenient to buy pork from the market.

Since the pigs are generally reared in concrete stys in Kodagu, they are seldom let out for grazing and are fed well for fattening. Hence, instances of deaths caused by cardiac arrests are common among pigs.

However, the latest incidents of deaths caused by the strange fever is a cause of alarm, according to some pig-rearers in Kodagu. Veterinarian Dr. M.T. Manjunath said that samples collected from the deceased porcines have been sent to a lab in North India from where a report is awaited.

“Only the local-breed pigs (naadu handi) are affected by the disease. But we sell pork brought from other districts and Andhra Pradesh, which are unaffected so far,” said a few pork dealers in Kodagu.

Found this on some other flu site.

Viral fever spreading in Sri Lanka

Over one thousand viral fever patients have been reported from the Colombo, Mannar, Kalmunai and Jaffna areas. doubts that there can be a spread of “Chicken Gunya viral fever” (chikungunya fever) in the island. High incidence of this rare form of viral fever spread by mosquitoes has been reported in the state of Kerala in southern India.

Health authorities have taken steps to send the blood samples of these patients to Thailand for special tests. Officials of the Ministry of Health’s Epidemiology Unit say they can ascertain whether the infection is chikungunya fever after receiving the reports. However, the Ministry of Health assured that this is not an outburst of bird flu.

Over one thousand viral fever patients have been reported from the Colombo, Mannar, Kalmunai and Jaffna areas. The Epidemiology Unit said that necessary measures have been taken to control the spread of the viral fever.

http://tinyurl.com/yl4dds

This is a really helpful map. Notice you can select which illness you want on the world map (example dengue, flu, ….)

http://www.healthmap.org/

DennisC – at 12:55

Wow that map is an impressive resource! Nice find!

Maybe we should all be worrying about dengue. Seems like it’s breaking out everywhere and in large numbers. 2nd in line would be the “mystery disease”. Gotta watch out for that also.

Commonground – at 13:09

You read my mind!

Outbreak of Dengue Fever in Saudi November 5, 2006

JEDDAH: Saudi media reported an outbreak of Dengue Fever in Jeddah this week. Hospital officials have so far reported four cases of dengue fever in Saudi Arabia. There have been no cases of dengue fever reported in Kuwait.

According to local reports agricultural engineer, Mohammed Habib Bukhari, has warned against a larger scale dengue fever outbreak in Jeddah.

He said stagnant pools of water left over by an abrupt, but severe downpour last week were a fertile breeding ground for dengue fever-carrying mosquitoes. Bukhari pointed out that some 40 swamps around the King Abdul Aziz International Airport in addition to the Mesk Lagoon, Jeddah’s dumping area, and the stagnant pools covering several parts of southern Jeddah were high risk areas.

Dengue is caused by the bite of the female Aedes aegypti mosquito breeding in stagnant water. It is marked by high fever, joint pain, skin rashes and a sharp drop in platelets in the blood that can prove fatal.

Several dozen people have died from the virus in a recent outbreak in India.

http://tinyurl.com/ymxhdr

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Bangladesh

November 5, 2006

Mosquito menace adds to people’s woes Rizanuzzaman Laskar

The sudden surge of mosquito menace in the city over the last few weeks continues to aggravate the woes of city dwellers.

The sudden increase of mosquitoes has created a fear in the minds of people who dread that a dengue epidemic might be on its way to plague their lives.

Despite the rapid increase of mosquitoes, Dhaka City Corporation (DCC)’s negligence in dealing with this menace continues to frustrate the city dwellers.

<snip>

Another official blamed the general people’s indifference towards cleanliness of their premises to be a major reason of the increase in mosquitoes. “If they continue to depend on us to eradicate mosquitoes and don’t keep their premises clean, then they are bound to be disappointed,” he said.

He also blamed wetlands, ponds and canals located in the fringes of city to be the major breeding grounds of mosquitoes. “We urge our field workers to cover up an addition of one kilometre area beyond our accounted vicinity to prevent mosquitoes from migrating.”

<snip>

http://tinyurl.com/y5w75u

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6 people died from Malaria in Jalpaiguri (regional proximity to Bangladesh) November 5, 2006

http://tinyurl.com/y3czjr

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Comment: For tracking purposes would it be useful to consider opening a new thread for reporting Dengue, Chick, and Malaria outbreaks?

Side scroll…Yikes. I am so sorry. What did I do to cause it?

Long thread closed and continued here

Last relevant post copied to new thread