S.C. Mother Battling Flesh-Eating Bacteria 'Slightly Improved'

She's undergone 11 debridement surgeries to remove tissue

Friday, May 25, 2012

 The health of a South Carolina woman battling a rare flesh-eating bacteria has "slightly improved," a spokeswoman for a Greenville hospital said Thursday, though the new mother remains sedated and in critical condition.

Lana Kuykendall has "undergone 11 debridement surgeries to remove tissue since being admitted May 11" to Greenville Memorial Hospital, spokeswoman Sandra Dees said Thursday by e-mail.

But unlike 24-year-old Aimee Copeland of Georgia -- who has lost a leg, part of her abdomen, her remaining foot and her hands as she fights the same disease, according to online updates from her father, Andy Copeland -- no parts of Kuykendall's body have been amputated.

"Last night, Darren told the family in his update that 'Lana's vitals and blood work is good.' This is a good day for her, and we will take it," said Brian Swaffer, Kuykendall's brother, in a message relayed by the hospital.

Kuykendall gave birth to twins, Ian and Abigail, on May 7 in Atlanta.

At that time, Kuykendall, a paramedic, was believed to be healthy. But a few days later she went to hospital near her South Carolina home after noticing a rapidly expanding bruise on her leg, her husband Darren, a firefighter, told CNN last week.
She was diagnosed then with necrotizing fasciitis and has been intubated and sedated every day since, according to her brother and the hospital.

A number of bacteria, which are common in the environment but rarely cause serious infections, can lead to the disease. When it gets into the bloodstream -- such as through a cut -- doctors typically move aggressively to excise even ...   http://www.jems.com/article/news/sc-mother-battling-flesh-eating-bacteria

 

WHO: Meningococcal disease: situation in the African Meningitis Belt

24 May 2012 - From 1 January to 17 April 2012 (epidemiologic week 17), outbreaks of meningococcal disease have been reported in 42 districts in 10 of the 14 countries of the African Meningitis Belt ¹. These outbreaks have been detected as part of the enhanced surveillance.

The 10 countries (Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad, Central African Republic, Côte d'Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Mali, Nigeria and Sudan) reported a total of 11 647 meningitis cases including 960 deaths resulting in a case fatality ratio of 8.2%. The outbreaks were mainly caused by the W135 serogroup of Neisseria meningitidis (Nm) bacteria.

In response to the outbreaks, the Ministries of Health implemented a series of preventive and control measures which included enhancement of surveillance, case management, sensitization of the population, strengthening of cross border collaboration and provision of vaccines through the International Coordinating Group on Vaccine Provision for Epidemic Meningitis Control (ICG).

The ICG released a total of 11 000 vials of antibiotic (Ceftriaxone) and 1 665 673 doses of vaccines to six countries (see table below ²) most affected by the epidemic, upon requests. The vaccines released include 919 023 doses of polysaccharide ACW/ACYW vaccine, 746 650 doses of meningitis A conjugate vaccine and 81 418 doses of polysaccharide AC vaccine.

The ICG is working with manufacturers and partners to ensure the stockpiles of the appropriate vaccines are maintained in sufficient quantities, for responding effectively to epidemics in the future. ICG partners include WHO, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF), and Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF).

The emergency stockpile was established with the support of Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI). The vaccination campaigns were conducted with the support of MSF, UNICEF, IFRC, the European Community Humanitarian Aid Office (ECHO), and the United Nations through its Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF).

WHO continues to monitor the epidemiological situation closely, in collaboration with partners and Ministries of Health in the affected countries.

---

¹ The 14 countries in the African Meningitis Belt with enhanced surveillance for meningococcal disease include Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Chad, Côte d'Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Sudan and Togo.

²

Country*	Suspected cases	Deaths	Case fatality ratio (%)	Pathogen that caused the epidemic	Number of districts that experienced epidemic
Benin	758	71	9.4	Nm W 135	6
Burkina Faso	5,300	553	10.4	Nm W135	13
Chad	2,828	135		NmA	12
Côte d'Ivoire	399	49	12.3	Nm W135	1
Ghana	569	56	9.8	Nm W135	4
Sudan	275	13	4.7	Nm A	1

*Data up to epidemiologic week 17, except Chad and Sudan (up to epidemiologic week 15)

Indonesian Exporter Linked To Salmonella Outbreak Identified

 

May 24, 2012 By Carla Gillespie

Contaminated tempeh starter culture linked to a Salmonella Paratyphi B outbreak that has sickened 88 people in North Carolina came from an exporter named Bambang Surprapto in Bekasi, Indonesia, an attorney familiar with the investigation told Food Poisoning Bulletin this morning.
The exporter sold tempeh starter yeast, some of which was found to be tainted with Salmonella Paratyphi B, to clients all over the world including one in Rockville Md. which operated the websites IndonesianFoodMart.com and Tempeh Online. Tempeh manufacturer Smiling Hara of Asheville N.C. purchased the product from Tempeh Online.
Dozens of people in Asheville became sick after eating Smiling Hara tempeh made with the tainted starter. Many more have now become sick through person-to-person transmission, according to public health authorities in North Carolina.
Here is the outbreak timeline:
April 27 Buncommbe ...
http://foodpoisoningbulletin.com/2012/indonesian-exporter-linked-to-salmonella-outbreak-identified/

Dien Bien announced H5N1 avian influenza

 Thursday, 24/05/2012
Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has written peace proposal PPC directed the authorities to focus unhandled outbreak of blue ear disease in the province. Earlier, PRRS has happened in social democracy, the City Peace and four communes: Residential Yen, Lien, and Peter Trach Hoa Son (Luong Son district), but the detection, reporting very slow. In particular, the epidemic has occurred in foreign farm pigs in the province, so a very high risk of spread.

Dien Bien province officially announced avian influenza (H5N1) Dien Bien district, the translation appears in Thanh Yen from 21-5. At the same time prohibits the movement of poultry, poultry products from areas with epidemic prohibit the processing, sale and use of infected poultry products; and tight control of the slaughter, trade in poultry and poultry products in the communes, wards and towns without translation.

Dien Bien: Announcement of H5N1 avian influenza in the area

17:55 | 24/05/2012 17:55

Dien Bien province officially announced avian influenza (H5N1) in the district of Dien Bien, the bird flu occurred in Thanh Yen from 21/5. To date, 230 communes have found the number of infected poultry and poultry have been destroyed according to procedures and techniques to ensure hygiene.     Dien Bien province prohibits the movement of poultry and poultry products from areas with epidemic prohibit the processing, sale and use of infected poultry products at the same time strict control slaughter, sale, movement of poultry, poultry products in the communes, wards and towns remaining districts, towns and cities.  . The province of Dien Bien district also directed the organization and implementation of measures enclosure, control of service areas, to prevent the bird from the service areas for consumption, prohibition of breeding ducks drop contract. Provincial statistics requires poultry, especially ducks are raised in outbreak areas and communes of Muong Thanh basin plan to actively fight against epidemics ... Department of Agriculture and Rural Development to guide and coordinate with the People's Committee of Dien Bien district promptly implement measures enclosure, control and stamping out under current regulations, determined not to translate widely spread.  . Department of Animal Health to strengthen disease surveillance, strengthening their officials for the services to guide organizations and individuals to make poultry disease prevention regulations required for cattle, while supply of chemical disinfectant in time. Department of Health initiative preventive measures for monitoring and responding to epidemics of influenza A (H5N1) in humans ...  . Thus, to this point, at Yen Thanh commune (Dien Bien district) people are facing two diseases have a strong influence on the economy, which is PRRS (occurs from mid- 3/2012) and avian influenza    http://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?hl=en&ie=UTF8&prev=_t&rurl=translate.google.com&sl=vi&tl=en&twu=1&u=http://www.cpv.org.vn/cpv/Modules/News/NewsDetail.aspx%3Fco_id%3D30179%26cn_id%3D524070&usg=ALkJrhgbuGCoJJnArJcGKV2My5Pb8LWH1g

Bacteria that caused flesh-eating illness at normal levels in river, lab says

 

by Winston Jones/Times-Georgian Associated Press

 

A Carrollton laboratory has found that the Aeromonas hydrophila bacteria, the type that caused the flesh-eating bacterial illness in University of West Georgia graduate student Aimee Copeland, is present in normal levels in the Little Tallapoosa River.
“We did specific testing on the Little Tallapoosa River, both above and below the city’s wastewater treatment plant,” said Denny Ivey, spokesman for Environmental Labs and Services of Carrollton. “In comparison to other bacteria, it didn’t seem relatively high.”
Assistant City Manager Tim Grizzard said he ordered the tests soon after he became aware of Copeland’s illness. Copeland contracted the bacteria after she was injured May 1 in a fall from a zip line into the Little Tallapoosa.

Grizzard pointed out that while the city’s raw water supply comes from the river, this bacterial species is not found in the treated water that goes into customers’ lines.

“We have the highest technology water treatment plant in the country,” he said.

Carrollton’s water system recently won a Gold Award from the state’s division of the American Water Works Association for having highest water quality during 2011.

“It’s a very common bacteria in any surface water samples, especially when the weather gets warmer,” Ivey said Wednesday. “In everything I’ve read, it’s one of those things in the environment that will be found anywhere.”
Ivey said in the bacterial tests, conducted on May 14, the upstream test showed a bacterial count of 1,500 colonies per...

 

 http://www.times-georgian.com/view/full_story/18704792/article-Bacteria-that-caused-flesh-eating-illness-at-normal-levels-in-river--lab-says?instance=west_ga_news

Flesh eating disease Updates

Milledgeville Man Resting After Partial-Leg Amputation

Submitted by Bernard O'Donnell

Thursday, May 24th, 2012, 12:37pm

Video

...Today, at their lake house, Mike Bales told 13WMAZ's Austin Lewis that he hasn't been back in the water since.

But he said he would go back into Lake Sinclair, and would let his children back in. He said he doesn't want the lake to get a "bad rap."

http://milledgeville.13wmaz.com/news/news/71061-milledgeville-man-resting-after-partial-leg-amputationnPDFK/

Downtown Pittsburgh cafe worker may have flesh-eating bug

A cafeteria worker at Pittsburgh's federal office building is being treated for possible flesh-eating bacteria, but health officials say those who also work or eat at the facility face no threat.
Officials with the Allegheny County Health Department and the General Services Administration, which runs the Moorhead Federal Building downtown, say the..

 http://www.wpxi.com/ap/ap/pennsylvania/w-pa-cafe-worker-may-have-flesh-eating-bug/

Friends help woman fighting fleshing-eating bacteria

Mom remains in critical condition

10:57 PM, May 22, 2012

As Lana Kuykendall remained in critical condition battling necrotizing fasciitis, her friends and colleagues are holding prayer vigils, raising money and now donating blood to help.
Kuykendall, a paramedic at Greenville Hospital System, noticed a lesion on her leg after giving birth to healthy twins on May 7 at an Atlanta hospital.
She was soon hospitalized for what turned out to be the flesh-eating bacteria and has undergone at least seven surgeries to remove dead tissue from her legs, officials said.
Necrotizing fasciitis is a potentially fatal bacterial infection that occurs when bacteria, often Group A Strep, destroy the soft tissue, which becomes gangrenous and must be removed, according to the National Necrotizing Fasciitis Foundation.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates there are between 550 and 1,000 cases of necrotizing fasciitis each year. About one in four patients dies.
Kuykendall’s family and friends have rallied to her support, along with the community, both locally and nationally, hospital officials said.
A fund was set up for the 36-year-old Piedmont woman at the GHS Federal Credit Union within days of her hospitalization and on Sunday, her colleagues held a prayer vigil for her.
Another first-responder has been selling $10 bracelets in an effort called Loops for Lana, according to GHS.
And now Kuykendall’s fellow first-responders plan a blood drive on Thursday.
“She is part of the EMS family, so we’ve invited EMS to support her and give blood in her honor,” said Lisa Hubbard, a supervisor with Medshore Ambulance Service in Greenville.
“It can happen to anybody, but when it happens to someone like this, it hits home,” she said.
“We want to let her know we’re thinking about her and we’re with her in her fight.”
The drive will be held at Medshore Ambulance Service in Greenville across from Greenville Memorial Hospital from 4 p.m. until 7 p.m.
Kuykendall’s husband, Darren, a firefighter, said in a statement Sunday that he was touched by the outpouring of love and support.
For information about helping, contact the GHS Federal Credit Union, 211 Patewood Drive, Greenville; call 864-455-7112, or go to www.facebook.com/#!/ LoopsForLana.


http://www.greenvilleonline.com/article/20120523/NEWS/305230022/Friends-help-woman-fighting-fleshing-eating-bacteria?odyssey=mod%7Cnewswell%7Ctext%7CFRONTPAGE%7Cs&nclick_check=1

Map of Georgia outbreak

Insidious: This scanning electron microscopic image of WT Aeromonas hydrophila strain SSU, the bacteria responsible for the flesh-eating disease that attacked Aimee Copeland

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2149366/Paul-Bales-fourth-Georgia-victim-eating-bacteria-leg-amputated.html#ixzz1voNs6VO9

Aimee Copeland sitting up in a chair, beaming ear to ear

9:14 AM, May 24, 2012

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- For the first time since she contracted the flesh eating bacteria that has claimed her leg, both hands and her remaining foot, Aimee Copeland has been able to sit up in a chair this week.Blogging on Facebook Thursday morning, her father Andy Copeland compared Aimee's dogged determination to that of an Olympic athlete.
"When the doctors set the bar height, she raises it," he blogged. "She is determined to break records and her effort is beyond Olympian."
This week Aimee went a full 24 hours without a ventilator.
"Each breath is a victory. Each heart beat is a cause for celebration," her father blogged.
His complete blog post follows on her progress follows:

I was going to post on my blog on the West Georgia University site and post a link here, but the


http://www.11alive.com/news/article/242443/40/Aimee-Copeland-sitting-up-in-a-chair-beaming-ear-to-ear

Researchers take virus-tracking software worldwide

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

A biomedical informatics researcher who tracks dangerous viruses as they spread around the globe has restructured his innovative tracking software to promote even wider use of the program around the world.

Associate Professor Daniel Janies, PhD, an expert in computational genomics at the Wexner Medical Center at The Ohio State University (OSU), is working with software engineers at the Ohio Supercomputer Center (OSC) to expand the reach of SUPRAMAP (supramap.org), a Web-based application that synthesizes large, diverse datasets so that researchers can better understand the spread of infectious diseases across hosts and geography. By separating SUPRAMAP's client application from the underlying server software, the goal is to reconfigure the server in a way that researchers and public safety officials can develop other front-end applications that draw on the logic and computing resources of SUPRAMAP.

Janies and his colleagues at Ohio State, the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH), and OSC developed SUPRAMAP in 2007 to track the spread and evolution of pandemic (H1N1) and avian influenza (H5N1).

-snip-

Now that the H5N1 papers detailing transmission among mammals have been published, we can next pinpoint the natural geographic distribution of key sets of mutations that could lead to human-to-human transmission. Our maps will allow scientists to better deploy public health resources to protect citizens and forces in the field."

[continued - click on title for full article]

Nature: Bird-flu research: The biosecurity oversight

The fight over mutant flu has thrown the spotlight on a little-known government body that oversees dual-use research. Some are asking if it was up to the task.
23 May 2012

The packages that started arriving by FedEx on 12 October last year came with strict instructions: protect the information within and destroy it after review. Inside were two manuscripts showing how the deadly H5N1 avian influenza virus could be made to transmit between mammals. The recipients of these packages — eight members of the US National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity (NSABB) — faced the unenviable task of deciding whether the research was safe to publish.

The group deliberated. Soon, the rest of the NSABB's 22 voting members and two dozen non-voting members and advisers were drawn in. For five-and-a-half weeks, they pored over the data in the papers, weighing the benefits of sharing the information against the risk that doing so might lead to the accidental or intentional release of a lethal new virus. They exchanged views in hundreds of e-mails and in more than 24 hours of teleconference calls.

On 21 November, the NSABB recommended that journals should redact the papers, publishing their conclusions but sharing methods and data only with approved scientists and health officials. It was the first time that the board had recommended any such restriction since it was convened in 2005, and it sparked a global debate — aired in journals, meetings, blogs and newspapers — that is still raging and has left the US government in an awkward spot. “The United States funded this research and then wanted to censor it,” says David Fidler, who teaches international law at Indiana University Bloomington. “This looked dysfunctional.”

Throughout these turbulent months, the spotlight has shone as much on the NSABB as it has on the mutant flu viruses. The board's members, with backgrounds ranging from biology to medicine to national security and law, have been developing guidelines for biosecurity oversight for nearly seven years. The flu research was a major test of the principles they had been espousing.

By all appearances, the board struggled. By mid-February, the NSABB was under pressure to overturn its initial assessment. And in the last days of March, it did — voting unanimously in favour of full publication for one paper, which appeared early this month¹. The board also recommended that the second paper be published, but six members dissented, arguing that the work still posed significant concerns. (That paper's publication is expected within weeks.) The whole episode has left many people with questions. Could the board have done better? Why wasn't the research flagged earlier? And is there a way to publish sensitive information while minimizing risks?

[Continued...click on Title for full article]

Mystery virus hits resorts in Turks and Caicos

Probably a norovirus..

By Hayden Boyce, Publisher & Editor-in-Chief
Several resorts in the tourism belt of Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands have been hit by a mysterious illness, characterized by diarrhea and vomiting, that has sickened scores of visitors to this high-end tourist destination located 500 miles from Miami.The outbreak, which was first reported about a week ago, may have contributed to the death of an elderly tourist who was found lifeless in his hotel room. Autopsy results have not yet confirmed the official cause of death. Officials from Government, tourism, hotel and health sectors have gone into a state of high alert, embarking on massive public awareness and public relations campaigns to ensure tourists and visitors alike that the Turks and Caicos Islands is still a safe destination, despite an “increase in diarrhoea and vomiting in some resorts on Providenciales”.

“The (Tourist and Caicos Islands) Tourist Board would like to reassure travelers that the TCI remains a safe place to visit,” said a release from Neil Smith, spokesman from the office of British Governor Ric Todd. Smith added that public health professionals are working with hoteliers to gather data on the number of cases and to determine if there is any common cause.

“Samples have already been sent to a laboratory for investigation in the US and results are currently awaited. As a precaution, refresher hygiene training courses for all hotel staff are being arranged,” Smith said. “Those persons experiencing diarrhoea, abdominal pain or vomiting should report to their nearest health care facility. The health surveillance team may also need to interview any person experiencing such signs and symptoms in order to help pinpoint the source of the outbreak. Information will be kept confidential; however, updates on the number of cases will be released as soon as they are confirmed.”The Government spokesman said the Ministry of Health, Environmental Health Department, TCI Health Surveillance Team, Hotel Association and Tourist Board are committed to working closely together to address this situation and to ensure that there is little or no disruption to people, guests and to business locally and overseas.
“Public health teams are assessing, identifying and reporting on the situation utilizing Caribbean Epidemiology Centre (CAREC) and Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) guidelines. Their top priority is to protect the public as well as the tourism industry from any further illness by containing any outbreak,” Smith’s release added.
Meantime, the Ministry of Health and Education encourage the general public to practice healthy hygienic measures at all times such as frequent hand washing, especially when preparing meals, before eating and after using the toilet.
Posted May 23 2012   http://www.suntci.com/index.php?p=story&id=2572

Milledgeville Man Fights Flesh Eating Bacteria

Rick DevensStory Updated: May 23, 2012 at 11:15 PM EDT

"It's very surreal. I'm quite shocked we're having to deal with this in this area but there's been a lot of news recently of the flesh eating bacteria. Not just in Middle Georgia but when it's hitting this close to home it's a little shocking," says Barry Toon, vacationing with his family on Lake Sinclair.

Paul Bales, a Milledgeville man, was scheduled to have his leg amputated Wednesday because it's infected with the same flesh eating bacteria that has already claimed three other Georgia..

video

 

http://www.newscentralga.com/news/local/Milledgeville-Man-Fights-Flesh-Eating-Bacteria-153353935.html?skipthumb=Y

Infection is not flesh-eating, not uncommon in Augusta, experts say

 By Tom Corwin

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Dr. Jack Austin is pretty clear about all of the interest in so-called flesh-eating bacteria sparked by the highly publicized case of a Georgia woman fighting a devastating infection at the Joseph M. Still Burn Center at Doctors Hospital.“There’s no such thing as a flesh-eating bacteria,” said Austin, an infectious disease expert at University Hospital and the Walton Wound Care Center. “It’s a media-derived, made-up word.”
Austin sees one or two cases a month, usually in people with compromised immune systems.
Doctors, a regional referral center for many large wounds, saw 42 cases last year, including 33 from Georgia and seven from South Carolina, Doctors spokeswoman Barclay Bishop said.
About 8.5 percent – three or four of the wound cases – were admitted to the intensive care unit.
The invasive infection is often caused by common bacteria.

The infection is most often associated with group A streptococcus, typically found in the throat or on the skin, that causes common mild infections such as “strep throat” or an itchy skin rash, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
But in 9,000 to 11,500 cases a year, it gets into the bloodstream, becomes invasive and causes a much more serious infection. It takes a certain set of conditions or just bad luck for it to cause necrotizing fasciitis, Austin said.
In up to 7 percent of those systemic infections, it gets into the fascia, the lining between muscle groups and organ systems,
where it can create a reservoir of infection and...

http://chronicle.augusta.com/news/health/2012-05-22/infection-not-flesh-eating-not-uncommon-augusta-experts-say

Pa Cafeteria worker treated for flesh-eating bacteria

Published: Wednesday, May 23, 2012, 5:46 p.m.Updated 2 hours ago

A cafeteria worker in the Moorhead Federal Building, Downtown, is hospitalized for treatment of a possible flesh-eating bacteria, but there is no threat of infection to the public or customers of the cafeteria, a federal spokeswoman said...
Guillermo Cole, spokesman for the Allegheny County Health Department, confirmed that health officials don't see a need to examine or evaluate other employees at the building, even if tests confirm the man has necrotizing fasciitis.The bacteria are passed only by direct contact with a sore or wound, he said.
"There's no risk to the public or any other workers in the federal building," Cole said.

Anyone with concerns can call the health department's infectious disease program at 412-578-8082.

http://triblive.com/news/allegheny/1850751-74/bacteria-building-cafeteria-federal-health-worker-cases-cole-confirmed-department

Local Man Could Have Flesh Eating Bacteria Syndrome

May 23, 2012 9:40 PMPITTSBURGH (KDKA) – The petri dish is still doing its work and it could be a day or more before there is confirmation, but doctors believe a man in Allegheny County is hospitalized tonight with a case of Necrotizing Fasciitis, otherwise known as Flesh Eating Bacteria Syndrome.
Allegheny County Health Department Director Dr. Bruce Dixon says, “There’s a presumptive case in Allegheny County. We don’t have all the facts yet. We don’t have all the microbiology yet, but clinically it looks like that’s what this individual may have.”...
video
http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2012/05/23/local-man-could-have-flesh-eating-bacteria-syndrome/

B.C. law requires animal disease outbreak reports be kept secret under threat of massive fines

We've all seen this TV scenario: Investigators are racing to track down the source of a deadly virus, or maybe a terrorist nuclear device, threatening a big city.
But they're keeping the publicity lid on because they don't want people to panic.
Well, a move by the B.C. government feels a little like that.
Freedom of information advocates are criticizing provisions of the province's new Animal Health Act which forbids anyone, including journalists, from reporting an animal disease outbreak.
The Vancouver Province reported the law requires anyone — a journalist, say, or a farm or lab employee — who learns about an outbreak must keep the details secret or face "administrative penalties," bureaucratise for fines, of up to $75,000.
According to the Province, a section of the law states: "A person must refuse, despite the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, to disclose . . . information that would reveal that a notifiable or reportable disease is or may be present in a specific place or on or in a specific vehicle."
The B.C. Agriculture Ministry's news release on the proposed
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/blogs/dailybrew/b-c-law-requires-animal-disease-outbreak-reports-191138775.html

#Necrotizing Faciitis "Flesh Eating Disease" -Links and Resources

Sepsis Alliance: Sepsis and Necrotizing Faciitis - http://www.sepsisalliance.org/sepsis_and/necrotizing_fasciitis/

CDC: Group A Streptococcal Disease (strep throat, necrotizing faciitis, impetigo) - http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dbmd/diseaseinfo/groupastreptococcal_g.htm

NIH: Necrotizing soft tissue infection - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0002415/

National Necrotizing Faciitis Foundation - http://www.nnff.org/

Necrotizing Faciitis facts, treatment - http://www.medicinenet.com/necrotizing_fasciitis/article.htm

Water from river where flesh-eating bacteria victim infected tested

CARROLTON, Ga. -- Many have asked what was in the Little Tallapoosa River that got Aimee Copeland so sick? WXIA-TV (Atlanta) took a sample a got it tested.
 Video http://www.wtsp.com/video/1648616779001/1/Water-from-river-where-flesh-eating-bacteria-victim-infected-tested

More flesh eating bacteria cases reported in Nebraska

May 23, 2012 By

Karla James

Flesh eating bacteria is once again in the news circuit after a Georgia woman contracted a severe case after falling from a zip line into a river. Aimee Copeland had both hands and a leg amputated but she is recovering and now breathing on her own.
Dr. Jeffery Sartin is an infectious disease specialist at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha and he says flesh eating bacteria made news back in the 1990′s but it appears to have mutated and they are seeing an increase in numbers.
He says there are different resistant germs including the staff infection mrsa that are being treated in the state. He says there are other “odd-ball” germs like the one Copeland is suffering from that basically lives in water.
Dr. Sartin says for the most part flesh eating bacteria does not spread from one person to another but if you do have contact with one who is infected you may have that bacteria on your body. He says this is why it is important to treat all cuts and puncture wounds by keeping them clean with soap and water and then a bandage. He says if it does become infected, seek medical treatment immediately.
Dr. Sartin says symptoms include extreme pain and some discharge. He says there is swelling around the wound, a foul smell and the skin may become soft and ...

http://nebraskaradionetwork.com/2012/05/23/more-cases-of-flesh-eating-bacteria-cases-in-nebraska/

4th person with flesh eating disease in Ga

Son: Flesh-Eating Bacteria Struck Milledgeville Man

Submitted by Bernard O'Donnell

Wednesday, May 23rd, 2012, 7:06pm

 

Doctors are scheduled to amputate a Milledgeville man's leg because it's infected with the flesh-eating bacteria.  http://milledgeville.13wmaz.com/

Paul Bales of Milledgeville latest flesh eating bacteria victim

6:07 PM, May 23, 2012

He was admitted to the Oconee Regional Medical Center on May 5, then sent to the Medical Center of Central Georgia a week later.
Mike Bales says doctors have told the family that his father suffers from necrotizing fasciitis, the same flesh-eating bacteria that struck north Georgia student Aimee Copeland and at least two other Georgians."  http://www.11alive.com/news/article/242378/40/Milledgeville-man-gets-case-of-flesh-eating-bacteria

 

Grandfather battling flesh-eating bacteria after accident

May 22, 2012 5:49 PM EDT

A grandfather is hospitalized in Macon after contracting a life-threatening flesh-eating condition.

Paul Bales, 67, retired to Milledgeville, but owns a restaurant in Lithonia.

Bales suffered a cut in his leg when he fell on May 2 as he cleaned up his boat ramp at his Milledgeville house. He believed that the injury was minor, so he put a Band-Aid on it and didn't even go to the hospital.

"It was a very small cut...as a matter of fact, he just bandaged it up and then went and played golf for the next couple of days," said his son, Mike Bales.

However, the cut had come into contact with water so – like Aimee Copeland – he contracted dangerous flesh-eating bacteria.

Bales' son Mike is a 16-year-veteran and captain with the DeKalb Fire Department. Capt. Bales says the flesh-eating bacteria that threatens his dad's life has already led to two tissue-removing surgeries, but there's more...

http://www.myfoxatlanta.com/story/18597781/grandfather-battling-flesh-eating-bacteria-after-accident?clienttype=printable

Dr Margaret Chan appointed to a second term as Director-General

 

Unprecedented momentum for better health must not be compromised by financial crisis, she tells health ministers

News release

23 May 2012 | Geneva -The World Health Assembly today appointed Dr Margaret Chan for a second five-year term as Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO). In her acceptance speech to health ministers and representatives of WHO’s Member States, Dr Chan pledged her continued commitment to improve the health of the most vulnerable.
“In my view, universal coverage is the single most powerful concept that public health has to offer. It is a powerful equalizer,” said Dr Chan. “[It] is the best way to cement the gains made during the past decade.”
In addition she said that the biggest challenge over the next five years will be to lead WHO in ways that will help maintain the unprecedented momentum for better health that marked the start of this century.
“The future of funding for international health development is uncertain,” said Dr Chan. “If we let down our guard, slacken our efforts, problems that are so close to being brought under control will come roaring back.”
The Director-General is WHO's chief technical and administrative officer and oversees the policy for the Organization's international health work. Dr Chan's new term will begin on 1 July 2012 and continue until 30 June 2017.
Dr Chan, from the People’s Republic of China, joined WHO as Director of the Department for Protection of the Human Environment in 2003. In 2005, she was appointed Director of Communicable Diseases Surveillance and Response, as well as Representative of the Director-General for Pandemic Influenza. Later that year she was named Assistant Director-General for Communicable Diseases. In November 2006 she was elected to her first appointment as Director-General of WHO.
Before joining WHO, Dr Chan was Director of Health of Hong Kong. In her nine-year tenure as director, she launched new services to prevent the spread of disease and promote better health. She also introduced new initiatives to improve communicable disease surveillance and response, enhance training for public health professionals and to establish better local and international collaboration. She also effectively managed outbreaks of avian influenza and of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS).
Dr Chan obtained her medical degree from the University of Western Ontario in Canada. http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2012/dg_appointment_20120523/en/index.html

Flesh-Eating Disease Lands Man Down Hall From Aimee Copeland

May 22, 2012

A Georgia landscaper is battling flesh-eating disease at the same Augusta hospital as Aimee Copeland, the 24-year-old student who lost her leg to the deadly infection.

Robert Vaughn, 32, contracted necrotizing fasciitis after cutting on his thigh while trimming weeds May 4, three days after Aimee Copeland sliced open her calf falling from a homemade zip line near the Little Tallapoosa River.
Vaughn went to a hospital in Cartersville, Ga., where doctors gave him a prescription for antibiotics and recommended he stay for observation, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. But Vaughn, "being the man that I am," went home and watched the painful gash swell from the size of a peanut to that of a grapefruit.
He returned the next day and underwent emergency surgery.
"It was that bad," he told the newspaper, describing how doctors removed some of the infected flesh and sent him to Doctor's Hospital in Augusta for more surgeries. "They told me I was close to death."
It took five surgeries to remove more than two pounds of tissue infected by bacteria that

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Wellness/flesh-eating-disease-lands-man-hall-aimee-copeland/story?id=16403448

PRRS spreads in Vietnam

Delegation of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to work with provincial leaders.
 - Afternoon 22/5, the delegation of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development Deputy Minister Diep Kinh Tan, head of delegation has been working with provincial leaders on prevention - against PRRS in the province. And worked with the delegation were Mr. Nguyen Van Dung, Vice Chairman and led a number of departments.


Previous situation of PRRS occurred in Luong Son district and Hoa Binh city in recent days, 21/5, the Chairman has the urgent request that the heads of departments and branches , Chairman of the districts on strengthening anti-PRRS.
Accordingly, from 8/5 to date, PRRS has happened at the Center for Aquatic Animal breeds and localities in the Social Housing TPHB and Yen, Lien Son, Nhuan Trach Hoa Son (Luong Son) has killed 449 pigs, there is still 409 children are infected. The outbreak of blue ear pig is anticipated that a very high potential to spread and cause major damage to livestock production in the province.

3 more cases of dermatitis in Quang Ngai strange

 (Zing) - On 21/5 past Ba Dien commune further recorded three new cases, bringing the total number of cases of dermatitis thick horn hands, feet at Ba To, Quang Ngai to 209, which 21 people died.


In addition, 55 patients still being treated at all levels, including 4 cases of severe disease.


There were 209 cases of the strange dermatitis Ba Dien Commune, Ba To, Quang Ngai - (Photo)


Also on 21/5, the delegation of the Ministry of Health has allocated food nutrition and health advice for over 250 patients of Ba Dien commune.

Ministry of Health continues to allocate 30,000 multivitamin tablet, conduct health advice, dietary guidelines and ensure nutritional enhances the body's resistance.

Results of laboratory tests of blood samples from 220 people showed that 94 samples of vitamin B3, however, the lack of this vitamin is more impact for many cases only by lack of vitamin B3 does not yet have the clinical manifestations gastritis horn palms, feet.

Some updated reports on the Ga. / S.C. Flesh Eating Bacteria Disease

Some updated reports on the outbreak

Woman with flesh-eating disease takes own breaths

1:48 PM, May 21, 2012 |  ATLANTA -- The father of a Georgia woman fighting a flesh-eating disease says his daughter is now able to breathe on her own, a milestone that sent the family's spirits soaring.

Aimee Copeland is now focused on taking each breath without the aid of a ventilator, which will help her lungs recover...

more

http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/georgia/article/257164/5/Woman-with-flesh-eating-disease-takes-own-breaths

Georgia flesh-eating bacteria patient breathing on own: father

She has been off of the ventilator for over 10 hours," Andy Copeland wrote late on Sunday. "In other words, she is breathing completely on her own! How cool is that?"

http://health.yahoo.net/news/s/nm/georgia-flesh-eating-bacteria-patient-breathing-on-own-father

She still feels like she has fingers, he said, a phantom sensation that sometimes occurs after the loss of limbs. Doctors had already amputated most of her left leg.
But she's maintained her positive outlook since the amputations, inspiring loved ones at her hospital bedside in Augusta and strangers around the globe, her father said.
"Her message doesn't reside in her ability to use her hands, it's her ability to use her heart and her mind," he said.
"I just thank God my daughter is alive."  

more
http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/05/21/2809826/woman-with-flesh-eating-disease.html

Vigil held for mom with flesh-eating bacteria

Updated: May 21, 2012 8:46 AM EDT

 

Lana Kuykendall with her newborn twins before getting sick in Greenville. (Courtesy Janelle Alier)

GREENVILLE, SC (FOX Carolina) -

A Greenville woman remains in critical condition after contracting a form of flesh-eating bacteria.

Greenville Memorial Hospital said Sunday that Lana Kuykendall remained in critical but stable condition while undergoing treatment and surgeries to fight necrotizing fasiicitis. She was admitted earlier in May, just after giving birth to twins at a hospital in Atlanta.

During a press conference Sunday afternoon, Kuykendall's brother Brian Swaffer said his sister was still sedated and in intensive care.

Hospital officials said she has now undergone seven debridement surgeries to remove dead tissue from her legs, and the family says she's fortunate to have the infection localized to that area of her body..

more

http://www.wistv.com/story/18566919/friends-and-family-hold-vigil-for-flesh-eating-bacteria-victim

Seventh surgery for Piedmont mom

 

more 

 Officials say risk of infection from flesh-eating bacteria spreading to other patients is negligible

A Piedmont woman diagnosed with flesh-eating bacteria after giving birth to twins May 7 has now undergone seven surgeries as the disease has spread to both legs.
Lana Kuykendall was in critical but stable condition at Greenville Memorial Hospital on Sunday afternoon. Hospital officials say she’s had debridement surgeries — which trims dead or diseased tissue from around a wound — as a result of the necrotizing fascitis Kuykendall found on the back of her left leg four days after she gave birth in an Atlanta hospital.
The 36-year-old’s brother, Brian Swaffer updated the media Sunday afternoon on his sister’s condition at a gathering at GHS.
“We’d just like to say thank you to the entire community for rallying around Lana, Darren and their two children,” Swaffer said. “Thank you for offering up prayers.”

Swaffer and hospital officials revealed the bacterial infection has spread to both legs, but has not touched any vital organs. Swaffer said Kuykendall is intubated and sedated and has spoken little since her hospitalization.
“I don’t know what she knows,” about her own condition, he said. “She has responded at times.”
Kuykendall, a paramedic, recognized the lesion on the back of her own leg and decided to seek medical attention which resulted in the first surgery just 90 minutes after her arrival. Necrotizing fascitis is a fast-spreading infection. Her infection was caused by Group A Streptococcus, which is a bacteria that causes everything from strep throat to scarlet fever...

More http://www.greenvilleonline.com/article/20120521/NEWS/305210008/Seventh-surgery-Piedmont-mom?odyssey=tab%7Ctopnews%7Ctext%7CFRONTPAGE&nclick_check=1

An Upstate mother of twins battles flesh-eating bacteria

Lana Kuykendall remains in critical but stable condition while undergoing treatment and surgeries to fight necrotizing fasiicitis.

pics

http://www.foxcarolina.com/slideshow?widgetid=53235

Third flesh-eating case brings focus to deadly condition

 Updated: May 21, 2012 5:06 PM EDT

By Michelle Jones - email

Landscaper Bobby Vaughn is not sure how he contracted the flesh-eating bacteria. (Source: WGCL)

 

Lana Kyukendall is sedated in a Greenville, S.C. hospital. (Source: WHNS)

 

Aimee Copeland was treated in an Atlanta hospital for her leg injury before falling ill to a flesh-eating bacteria. (Source: WGCL)

ATLANTA (RNN) - A Cartersville, GA, man has become the third case of necrotizing fasciitis to make headlines in recent weeks, coming just after a 24-year-old Georgia woman lost her foot and both hands to the condition.

Bobby Vaughn, 32, is in Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta after receiving five surgeries to treat flesh-eating bacteria that attacked his groin. Vaughn works outside and said he was not feeling well one day, and went to his truck and began vomiting.

"It went from a little peanut to a grapefruit fast, whatever it was," he told WGCL-TV in Atlanta.

Necrotizing fasciitis is a serious and severe infection of the deeper layers of skin that spreads easily across and to the subcutaneous tissues. It is quick and progressive and destroys the tissue it attacks.

It can be caused by several types of bacteria, including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureas, or MRSA.

Emory University physician Dr. Walter Ingram said he treats at least two patients per month for various strains of flesh-eating bacteria.

"Two bacteria are known to spread rapidly within hours - strep and clostridia. Those two strains of bacteria are very rapidly spreading, and in a matter of six to eight hours they can spread to an entire leg," said Ingram.

University of West Georgia student Aimee Copeland contracted the flesh-eating bacteria when a May 1 zip-line accident left her with a large gash in her leg.

After several surgeries, Copeland was taken off her ventilator last week, and is now breathing on her own with the help of an oxygen mask and a tracheostomy. She is awake and in good spirits, although she has lost both hands and her lower leg. Doctors have said her other foot will need amputation, as well.

Copeland's father, Andy Copeland, broke the news to Aimee that she would lose her hands, and she did not blanch.

"Let's do this," she told him.

Aimee Copeland was first treated for the cut in an Atlanta hospital, receiving 22 staples to close the wound. Three days later, she returned to the emergency room in severe pain.

Copeland was flown to the Joseph M. Still Burn Center at Doctors Hospital in Augusta, GA, where she was treated for the flesh-eating bacteria caused by group A streptococcus. Group A also causes more benign conditions such as strep throat.

It is unknown whether she contracted the bacteria in the original accident or at the hospital where she received treatment, but the wound is believed to be the entry point.

New mom Lana Kyukendall of South Carolina has had seven surgeries to clear her system of the bacteria, but no amputations. She gave birth to twins on May 7 in Atlanta, but returned to a hospital near home a few days later after noticing a rapidly growing bruise.

"We don't know what the next day is going to bring, so we're just trusting the Lord," her brother Brian Swaffer told CNN on Sunday. "We're taking it one day at a time."

One in four people - about 1,800 - die from necrotizing fasciitis every year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

 About 11,500 contract the disease in a year. There are hundreds if not thousands of cases every year that don't make headlines.

However, some flesh eating bacteria have been observed with increasing frequency.

Medical professionals emphasi...   http://www.foxcarolina.com/story/18572979/third-flesh-eating-bacteria-case-makes-headlines-bug-is-not-uncommon

Mad Cow Quarantines Lifted at Two U.S. Diaries

 

5:09 AM, May 19, 2012Officials have lifted quarantines on two Central California dairies linked to a case of mad cow disease, after investigators found the illness didn't come from cattle feed.
Tests performed by the World Organization for Animal Health confirmed what U.S. labs had found: The diseased cow had a form of the illness involving a spontaneous mutation of a protein gene that hasn't caused illness in humans...
http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/health/article/257081/10/Mad-Cow-Quarantines-Lifted-at-Two-US-Diaries

AVIAN POX - USA (02): (PENNSYLVANIA), EAGLE

Date: Fri 18 May 2012
Source: GoErie.com [edited]
http://reefrescue.wordpress.com/2012/04/29/disease-attacking-barrel-sponges-on-palm-beach-reefs/


A male eagle rescued Tuesday [15 May 2012] evening on Erie's east side is being treated for avian pox virus at the Tamarack Wildlife Rehabilitation and Education Center in Saegertown.

Pennsylvania Game Commission officers rescued the bird from the rooftop of a home in the area of East 10th Street and Downing Avenue at about 6 p.m. on Tuesday [15 May 2012].

The eagle is not injured but has a bad case of avian pox, an infectious, contagious viral disease among birds, said Kris Steiner, a Tamarack assistant wildlife rehabilitator.

"Avian pox is a virus that only affects birds,'' Steiner said. "Also, it is primarily only the young birds and the birds with poor immune function that contract it. Therefore, even though it is a virus, we don't expect to see more birds with it.

"This is a virus that is out in the environment, but healthy birds don't get sick," she said. "This is not of public-health concern. The virus can be spread by either direct contact or indirect contact (when) an infected bird lands on a bird feeder and passes the virus to other birds that are at that feeder later, and by mosquitoes."

Steiner said the virus produces dry, wart-like lesions in nonfeathered areas.

Steiner said the eagle, which she estimated is about one year old, has lesions on its beak, talons and lower legs where they meet the feathers.

"It's ugly and nasty, and he's in a lot of pain right now," Steiner said.

Tamarack staff members are nursing the eagle back to health. Steiner said the staff is washing the eagle's lesions twice a day and treating them with an iodine solution to speed drying and healing.

"He is currently receiving hydrating fluids 3 times a day now, and we are putting drops in his eyes to keep them lubricated since the [lesions] are currently surrounding both eyes," Steiner said. "We will transition him from fluids to solid food by the end of the week. If he begins to show signs of infection from the lesions, we will begin antibiotic treatment."

The eagle is not emaciated, but it is dehydrated and underweight, Steiner said.

"Once we get some weight on him, his immune system should improve and fight the virus on its own," she said. "I think he has a good prognosis."

Steiner said the public can track the eagle's progress by linking Tamarack's Facebook page. From a Facebook account, search for Tamarack Wildlife Rehabilitation and Education Center.

Vietnam launches Influenza project

Monday, May 21, 2012

 

 

 Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in Vietnam is about to implement the project to prevent bird flu and human flu Agency for International Development (USAID) funding. 
Malaysia's Bernama news agency on 21/5 quoted in the national press said that projects worth $ 300,000 will be made within one year starting this month, in 9 provinces-the including Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang, Can Tho and Khanh Hoa, Kien Giang, Thua Thien Hue, Quang Tri, and Lang Son.

The purpose of the project management process improvement and efficiency of national health systems to ensure that groups vulnerable to infection may be more access to health services.  http://translate.google.com/translate?sl=vi&tl=en&js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.voanews.com%2Fvietnamese%2Fnews%2F

Bizarre skin disease eludes Vietnam’s health officials

Monday, May 21, 2012, Posted at: 16:38(GMT+7)

The unidentified skin disease plaguing Ba To District in Quang Ngai Province continues to elude Vietnam’s public health officials and medical research teams, who now have sort assistance from the World Health Organisation (WHO), the US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention and Japan’s Nagasaki University. The Ministry of Health on May 20 proposed to clean up the district water supply system in an attempt to remove any infectious bacteria. The ministry said that health authorities in Ba To District must adopt measures to strictly monitor the water resource to prevent residents from being affected. One medical team after another has taken samples of blood, hair, nails of people from the affected areas, but the bizarre skin disease in the central province of Quang Ngai has yet to be identified. The skin disease has already claimed 21 lives and is showing an upward trend with more than 230 infectious cases; mostly in Ba Dien Commune, whose residents use the spring water, well water and ground water, which are all contaminated. In related news, the Preventive Medicine Centre in Quang Ngai Province has concluded that ‘Herbicide KANUP 480SL’ is the real culprit behind three deaths and 40 infected residents in Rieng Village of Son Ky Commune in Son Ha District. After more than a month of investigation, health offic ials in the central province of Quang Ngai pointed out that the herbicide used in Son Ky Commune was responsible for three deaths and health problems for 40 others last April. Victims experienced symptoms of numbness of the hands and feet and severe eye problems. The herbicide originated from the US and was bottled and supplied by a company in the northern province of Bac Giang. Test results of samples of spring water and soil taken from the commune in Son Ha District showed contamination of ‘Glyphosate’, a broad-spectrum herbicide used to kill weeds. Contents of ‘Glyphosate’ were found in the water samples of up to 1 mg per litre, while in the soil samples, it measured up to 14.3 mg per kilogram. Medical experts said that small amounts of ‘Glyphosate’ can cause harm to human health, and even kill if it exceeds permissible limits. Accordingly, health authorities have asked residents to dig wells at a depth of 6-8 metres, to replace the current water supply. http://www.saigon-gpdaily.com.vn/Health/2012/5/101303/