India: Dengue like an epidemic in some areas, concedes Kolkata mayor

Sep 4, 2012

 KOLKATA: Dengue outbreak has taken the proportion of an epidemic over the last couple of weeks, but the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) is yet to put an extra effort to prevent it from spreading. Sources in the KMC told TOI that the civic body had to "compromise" with dengue awareness campaign this year for want of funds.

 However, the KMC has finally woken up and went on a damage-control drive, with mayor Sovan Chatterjee, who even a week ago dismissed the gravity of dengue outbreak by saying it was a "routine" phenomenon, on Monday admitting that the situation was grave and it can take the proportion of an epidemic in some areas of the city.

The civic body has now set up a dozen of makeshift dengue clinics, started distributing leaflets and also assigned autos to spread awareness on the disease. "We have intensified our drive against dengue across the city. It is true that dengue has been spreading in some areas in Kolkata very fast. We have devised our plans to combat the disease accordingly," Chatterjee said on Monday.

Continued:  http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata/Dengue-like-an-epidemic-in-some-areas-concedes-Kolkata-mayor/articleshow/16243848.cms

India: Chicken from infected farms flood Kolkata

Aug 31, 2012
KOLKATA: Chicken from farms infected with a yet-to-be identified disease in North 24-Parganas' Baduria are being sold in markets across the city for nearly a month now. Though owners of the infected poultry farms said they had informed the block livestock development officer (BLDO), the latter has remained mum on the matter following pressure from industry and politicians.

According to poultry farm owners in Baduria, the deaths began around 27 days ago from the farm of one Gulab Nabi in Kankrasuti village. It then quickly spread to other farms there. "Within days of the first death, we informed the BLDO but since the animal husbandry department did not act, we are continuing to do business," said poultry farm owner Syed Md Mijanur Rehman Gaji.

Yet, the animal husbandry department failed to implement the protocol that it needs to take in case of a suspected outbreak. According to the plan, officials from the veterinary office need to immediately visit the site when there are any unnatural deaths or when a large number of chicken die. Also, wild and migratory birds in the area need to be monitored for at least 24 hours. The investigating officer needs to be equipped with necessary kit to make preliminary probe, following which a clinical investigation is to be carried out by a disease investigation officer.

"Following the report of the investigating officer, pathological samples of at least five diseased birds need to be sent to the Regional Disease Diagnostic Laboratory in Belgachia. Till the results come, the entire suspected farm or site has to be cordoned off, barring movement of people, poultry, eggs or dead carcass from the site," a veterinarian said.

All these norms have been flouted as business goes on as usual at Baduria despite a disease infecting 15,000-20,000 small and medium sized poultry farms and leaving several thousand chickens dead in August. Chicken traders who sell the poultry in wholesale markets in the state have kept the matter under wraps, allowing chicken from these farms to be sold at retail points for consumption in homes and restaurants.

Poultry farm owners alleged that the deaths were hushed up following pressure from a section of the industry and politicians. While the former feared major losses in the event of a scare, the latter does not want the government to be embarrassed with avian influenza or bird flu at a time when it is battling to play down dengue that has reached endemic proportions in Kolkata and North 24-Parganas.

At the wholesale mart in Kolkata's New Market, over 10,000 chickens arrive from Baduria and Basirhat daily. New Market Poultry Association member Md Shahabuddin refused any knowledge of the deaths and brushed it off as rumour. "We don't know about any unnatural deaths at poultry farms in Baduria. In any case, none of the chicken appears to be sick," he said.

But with deaths continuing unabated in Baduria, agitated poultry farm owners blocked a road outside the BDO office demanding state intervention in controlling the outbreak.

State animal husbandry department sources said poultry in Baduria being infected by avian influenza or bird flu was a distinct possibility. Though a dead chicken has been analysed with a virus, department officials are mum on the cause of the death. If bird flu is detected, poultry in the entire region will have to be culled. 

Vietnam: Bird flu cases on the rise

04/09/2012
Excerpt:
Northern Bac Kan Province's Department of Animal Health said on Friday the H5N1 bird flu epidemic had broken out in 11 hamlets in Cho Don District, with about 380 birds infected and 2,370 birds having to be destroyed, while more than 280 pigs were reported dead in the province's Cho Moi District and Bac Kan Town.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has supplied 25,000 litres of antiseptic chemicals from national reserves to support the provinces of Ha Tinh and Ninh Binh to prevent the spread of bird flu.

Central Ha Tinh Province's Preventive Medicine Department said H5N1 bird flu had broken out in four districts and Ha Tinh City while in northern Ninh Binh Province bird flu had spread to seven districts and towns with 32,000 birds having to be destroyed.

Vietnam: Food poisoning leads to check on chicken imports

 9/4/12

So far this year, food poisoning has killed 17 people and hospitalised 2,500 others as the level of substandard food imports, particularly chickens, continues to rise.
Last month alone, the Ministry of Health said 17 cases of food poisoning occurred across the country, killing one person and hospitalising 585 others.
During September, the Ministry of Industry and Trade has asked 12 government offices throughout Viet Nam to check on the hygiene of food imports.
This follows a request from the Viet Nam Breeding Association for better controls on imported livestock and poultry.
The 12 offices are located in Ha Noi, HCM City, the port city of Hai Phong, the central city of Da Nang, the central province of Quang Tri and Tay Ninh in the South.
About 6,500 tonnes of chicken are imported into Viet Nam a month, making up 25 per cent of local chicken supplies.
Experts from Viet Nam Food Administration said food poisoning tended to increase as levels of imported food rose, much of it sub-standard and containing banned preservatives.
They said the management of street-food stalls and markets was not strict enough.
The trade ministry will also check food and bottled water processing and trading in some cities and provinces.

CDC Health Advisory: Notice to Health Care Providers: Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome Cases Associated with Staying in Yosemite National Park, California

I previously posted on this, here

August 31, 2012, 11:51 EST
Summary: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is working with the National Park Service and the California Department of Public Health on an investigation of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS) in people who stayed at Yosemite National Park during June through August 2012. The purpose of this HAN Advisory is to inform state health departments and health care providers to be alert to the possibility of HPS in patients who may have had recent exposure to rodents or a history of travel to Yosemite National Park during this period.

Continued:  http://emergency.cdc.gov/HAN/han00326.asp

Vietnam: Quang Ngai Province 80 Samples Confirmed #H5N1 #birdflu in Poultry

Quang Ngai Province yesterday announced the A/H5N1 avian flu as an epidemic after the disease has spread to 23 hamlets in 17 communes by August 31. The provincial veterinary agency has sent 80 samples to Da Nang City for testing and the test results showed that all these sample have been infected with the A/H5N1 virus.

http://www.tuoitrenews.vn/cmlink/tuoitrenews/society/breakfast-tuoitrenews-september-1-1.84897

Egypt: Implement Program Against Stray Dogs, Seminars for FMD, Avian Influenza

August 30, 2012
Implementation of the program against stray dogs in order to preserve the safety of citizens in the lake, Eng Mukhtar Hamalawy Governor lake on the need to focus on livestock health and care to increase their productivity and provide safe animal protein to the citizens of the province.In this regard, the Department of Veterinary Medicine during the period from 08/16/2012 till 08/31/2012 AD organized convoys all villages and centers to maintain and further intensify the number of committees spraying committees group therapy for sheep stations "Damanhur - Kafr El Dawar - Itai gunpowder - Hosh Issa - Rahmaniya - Aldlnecat - Hbrakhitt - Abu Matamir - Wadi Natrun - Abu Homs - EDCO - Rasheed - Liberation - Kom Hamada - MAHMUDIYA - Ganaklis ", in coordination between the Department of Public Health and Zoonoses and manage veterinary care directorate and the local units of these centers as well as the Department of Public Health and Disease joint implementation of the anti-stray dogs planned centers and cities of the province in order to preserve the safety of citizens.On the other hand, the Department of veterinary extension directorate implementing a series of seminars indicative at agricultural associations villages and hamlets maintain targeted awareness jam animals and train them on how to interest the animal and the reduction of disease outbreaks, including seminars "FMD - Avian Influenza and livestock insurance blood parasites" and aimed the seminars to reduce the spread of diseases.

http://www.almesryoon.com/permalink/23271.html

India: Govt denies bird flu report, samples sent to Bhopal lab

 [editing is mine]
Sep 01 2012

With bird flu panic gripping Swarupnagar in North 24-Parganas for the past few days, the state husbandry department has decided to send the blood samples of the chickens to a Bhopal research laboratory. The Belgachia lab here did not find any H5N1 positive case.

Animal Resources Development (ARD) Minister Noor-e-Alam Chowdhury, said bird flu was not behind the fowl deaths and said samples will be sent to Bhopal. “Following their confirmation, we can say whether there has been an occurrence of bird flu in that area,” he said.

The unusual death of a large number of poultry triggered the panic. Officials of ARD Department on Friday said there has been no report of fresh case of bird death from the area. They suspect that chickens may have been given stale food that resulted in their largescale deaths.
A senior official of the ARD department said the preliminary blood test reports confirmed that the birds died not due to bird flu but because of some “unnatural disease”.

A team of officials from ARD today inspected the poultry in Swarupnagar, where its sale has been stopped. Around 40 commercial poultry farms have been sealed in four panchayat areas of North 24-Parganas — Baduria, Kakrasuti, Lakshmikantapur and Nayabandh — where about 50,000 chickens died, a few days ago. 

Quarantine measures like spraying lime has been started within one square kilometre area where the bird deaths took place, according to the guidelines of the Animal Husbandry department of the Union government.

It may be noted that in 2011, bird flu spread in parts of Tehatta in Nadia and the government gave around Rs 17 lakh as compensation to around 4,000 poultry farmers. Officials of the ARD department said this year, a total of around Rs 25 lakh has been allotted to control the disease of animals and preventive measures, therefore, should be taken earlier to prevent any outbreak.

Govt hiding facts: CPM
Leader of the Opposition Surya Kanta Mishra on Friday criticised the government and said the state government is trying to hide facts regarding bird flu. He said “he was confirmed that bird flu panic has gripped North 24-Parganas and that the government is trying to hide facts”. “There is no need to take all ministers along with secretaries on district tours. The secretaries have their work in the field too”, he said. The need of the government is to send the blood samples of the dead birds to laboratories in Bhopal and Pune for testing, he added.

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/govt-denies-bird-flu-report-samples-sent-to-bhopal-lab/996246/1

India: #H5N1 Alert

A team of Animal Resource and Husbandry Department (ARD) on Wednesday visited Swarupnagar in North 24-Parganas to collect blood samples of dead chickens as reports of widespread deaths of poultry were reported from the area, triggering fear of an outbreak of bird flu.

In the last 22 days, around 50,000 chickens have reportedly died in the four blocks of Swarupnagar — Baduria, Kakrasuti, Lakshmikantapur and Nayabandh. 

“I am closely monitoring the situation and the blood samples have been sent to Belgachia government laboratory for test,” said Chief Medical Officer (Health) of North 24-Parganas Susanta Kumar Sil.

ARD Minister Noor -E- Alam Chowdhury urged people not to panic and said the government is prepared to tackle any outbreak of bird flu. “Yes, birds have died, but there can be a number of reasons behind it. We are prepared to tackle any such outbreak,” he said.

Senior officials said if the blood samples of the dead birds are found positive of Avian Influenza Virus (H5N1) then it would be sent to National Institute of Virology in Pune for confirmation. Positive result from Pune lab would lead to beginning of culling operation within three days. Rapid response teams will be formed to carry out surveillance of bird deaths, said an official.
Lime and bleaching powder are being sprayed in the area as a preventive measure. Leaflets containing dos and don’ts are being distributed. “We have started an awareness campaign in the area and asked villagers to dispose of the carcasses of the birds in a pit,” said an official. Villagers are being told to wear gloves while feeding their poultry or wild birds.

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/bird-flu-scare-in-north-24parganas-govt-on-alert/994979/

Viral fever...dengue...now a bird flu scare in Bengal

 Kolkata, August 30, 2012
There appears to be another assassin at Bengal’s doorstep. While parts of Kolkata and its surroundings have been hit by dengue and viral fever, a spectre of bird flu is lurking in Baduria and Swarupnagar, about 100 km from here, where more than 1 lakh chickens have reportedly

perished.

The suspected outbreak of the virus took place over the past fortnight with birds displaying symptoms of respiratory trouble, lack of energy, swelling of head, eyelids and comb, similar to the deadly virus. Bird flu virus (H5N1) had struck Bengal between 2007 and 2009 affecting the entire poultry industry.

“We have got reports of several thousands of poultry birds, mainly chickens, dying in some villages of Baduria and Swarupnagar with symptoms of bird flu. Our experts have rushed to the spot to take stock of the situation,” K K Saha, director of the animal resource development department), told HT.

“Some carcasses have been sent to the Regional Disease Diagnostic Laboratory (RDDL) in Belghachia for serological tests which will confirm if the birds died because of H5N1 virus. But there is no need to spread panic among the villagers,” Saha added.

An ARD official said all villages in both the blocks and adjoining areas have been sensitised on how to keep a watch on poultry birds.

Bengal’s poultry industry suffered more than Rs. 500 crore loss following the deaths of about 40 lakh chickens in 18 districts during 2007 and 2008. Most of the deaths were because of precautionary culling to prevent the spread of the virus.

A senior ARD department at New Secretariat building said, “We have alerted all district offices of the animal resource development soon after we came to know about Baduria and Swarupnagar. Districts offices have been asked to rush to the spot and find out if birds are dying in large numbers.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/Kolkata/Viral-fever-dengue-now-a-bird-flu-scare-in-Bengal/Article1-921644.aspx

CDC: Children with neurologic disorders at high risk of death from flu

Press Release

For Immediate Release: August 29, 2012
Health care and advocacy groups join to protect children most vulnerable to influenza
A disproportionately high number of children with neurologic disorders died from influenza-related complications during the 2009 H1N1 pandemic, according to a study by scientists with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The report in the journal Pediatricsunderscores the importance of influenza vaccination to protect children with neurologic disorders. CDC is joining with the American Academy of Pediatrics, Families Fighting Flu and Family Voices to spread the message about the importance of influenza vaccination and treatment in these children.
The Pediatrics study looked at influenza-related deaths in children during the 2009 H1N1 pandemic based on data submitted to CDC from state and local health departments. The number of pediatric deaths associated with 2009 H1N1 virus infection reported to CDC during the pandemic was more than five times the median number of pediatric deaths that were reported in the five flu seasons prior to the pandemic. Sixty-eight percent of those deaths occurred in children with underlying medical conditions that increase the risk of serious flu complications.
Of the 336 children (defined as people younger than 18 years) with information available on underlying medical conditions who were reported to have died from 2009 H1N1 flu-associated causes, 227 had one or more underlying health conditions. One hundred forty-six children (64 percent) had a neurologic disorder such as cerebral palsy, intellectual disability, or epilepsy. Of the children with neurologic disorders for whom information on vaccination status was available, only 21 (23 percent) had received the seasonal influenza vaccine and 2 (3 percent) were fully vaccinated for 2009 H1N1.
“We’ve known for some time that certain neurologic conditions can put children at high risk for serious complications from influenza,” said Dr. Lyn Finelli, chief of the surveillance and outbreak response team in CDC’s Influenza Division. “However, the high percentage of pediatric deaths associated with neurologic disorders that occurred during the 2009 H1N1 pandemic was a somber reminder of the harm that flu can cause to children with neurologic and neurodevelopmental disorders.” 
“Flu is particularly dangerous for people who may have trouble with muscle function, lung function or difficulty coughing, swallowing or clearing fluids from their airways,” said study coauthor and pediatrician Dr. Georgina Peacock. “These problems are sometimes experienced by children with neurologic disorders,” said Peacock, of CDC’s National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities
The most commonly reported complications for children with neurologic disorders in this study were influenza-associated pneumonia and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Seventy-five percent of children with a neurologic condition who died from 2009 H1N1 influenza-related infection also had an additional high risk condition that increased their risk for influenza complications, such as a pulmonary disorder, metabolic disorder, heart disease or a chromosomal abnormality.
CDC is partnering with the American Academy of Pediatrics and influenza advocacy groups to help promote awareness about the importance of influenza prevention and treatment in these high risk children. Since the H1N1 pandemic, children with neurologic conditions continue to represent a disproportionate number of influenza-associated pediatric deaths. CDC, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), Family Voices, and Families Fighting Flu recognize the need to communicate with care takers about the potential for severe outcomes in these children if they are infected with flu.
“Partnering with the American Academy of Pediatrics, influenza advocacy groups and family led-organizations CAN help prevent influenza in children at highest risk,” said CDC Director Dr. Thomas R. Frieden.
The partnering organizations are working to coordinate communication activities with their constituents, which include parents and caregivers, primary care clinicians, developmental pediatricians and neurologists in hopes to increase awareness about flu prevention and treatment in children with neurologic disorders.
“The American Academy of Pediatrics, Families Fighting Flu and Family Voices were all natural partners when we thought about how to reach as many key people as possible with this message,” Dr. Peacock adds. “The collaboration and energy around this effort has been fabulous.”
“Our network of physicians is committed to influenza prevention in all children, and especially in reducing complications in those children at higher risk for experiencing severe outcomes as a result of influenza-like illness,” says Robert W. Block, M.D., president of the AAP. “This coalition can more broadly engage the entire community of child caregivers to express how serious flu can be for these children. These efforts emphasize why the medical home is so important for children and youth with special health care needs.”
Family Voices is a national family-led organization supporting families and their children with special health care needs. Ruth Walden, a parent of a child with special needs and president of the Family Voices Board of Directors, says, “It’s frightening to think that flu can potentially lead to so many complications or even death. We’re pleased to see organizations working together to educate families and providers about the importance of prevention.”  
Families Fighting Flu, an advocacy group dedicated to preventing influenza, has a long history of reaching out to families who’ve lost loved ones to flu. “Throughout the years we’ve seen firsthand how flu can affect these kids and their families’ lives. We understand that prevention is absolutely critical,” explains Laura Scott, executive director of Families Fighting Flu. “Working with other groups only expands our mission of keeping kids safe throughout the flu season.”
CDC recommends that everyone aged 6 months and older get an annual influenza vaccination, including people who are at high risk of developing serious complications. Flu vaccine is the best prevention method available. Antiviral drugs, which can treat flu illness, are a second line of defense against flu.
To learn more about influenza, visit www.cdc.gov/flu.
About American Academy of Pediatrics
The American Academy of Pediatrics is an organization of 60,000 primary care pediatricians, pediatric medical subspecialists and pediatric surgical specialists dedicated to the health, safety and well-being of infants, children, adolescents and young adults. For more information, visit www.aap.org.
About Family Voices
Family Voices provides families with resources to make informed decisions, advocate for improved public and private policies, build partnerships among professionals and families, and serve as a trusted resource on health care. There are Family Voices representatives in each state and territory across the country ready to assist you with issues related to the health care of a child or youth with a special need or disability. More information is available at www.familyvoices.org, or by calling 1-888-835-5669.
About Families Fighting Flu
Families Fighting Flu is a nonprofit, 501(c)(3) volunteer-based advocacy organization dedicated to protecting the lives of children. Our members include families whose children have suffered serious medical complications or died from influenza, as well as health care practitioners and advocates committed to flu prevention. In honor of our children, we work to increase awareness about the seriousness of the disease and to reduce the number of childhood hospitalizations and deaths caused by the flu each year by increasing vaccination rates. Families Fighting Flu offers support to other families and communities who have been severely affected by the flu through resources available at www.familiesfightingflu.org.

http://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2012/p0829_neurologic_flu.html

Nature: Pig fever sweeps across Russia

Deadly virus may be poised to spread to neighbouring states.

• Ewen Callaway

28 August 2012

 

Russian authorities have incinerated tens of thousands of pigs and closed roads in the past few weeks, in an attempt to contain an emerging outbreak of African swine fever, a viral disease so lethal to the animals that it has been likened to Ebola. The spread of the disease comes with a heavy economic toll — last year, the Russian Federation lost 300,000 of the country’s 19 million pigs to swine fever, at an estimated cost of about 7.6 billion roubles (US$240 million).
African swine fever was also detected for the first time in Ukraine in late July, and European and Asian countries are on the alert to deal with outbreaks that could cost their pork industries billions of dollars. With no vaccine or cure for the disease, mass culls and vigilant hygiene offer the main defence.

Scientists first encountered African swine fever in the 1920s in domestic pigs in Kenya, where the vicious haemorrhagic fever felled nearly every animal infected. The virus, which is also carried by warthogs and ticks without causing disease, is now endemic in much of sub-Saharan Africa, limiting pig farming there. It does not infect humans.
In 1957, the virus jumped to Portugal after pigs near Lisbon’s airport were fed infected human food scraps (the virus particles can survive meat curing processes). It then hit Spain, and import of the region’s ham — including the coveted jamón ibérico — was banned by many countries, until the disease was eradicated in Spain and Portugal in the mid-1990s.

 The cases now flaring up in Russia, Ukraine and other countries in the Caucasus have their origins in a 2007 outbreak in the former Soviet republic of Georgia, where the virus gained a foothold after being imported from Africa. “It wasn’t diagnosed for several months because they weren’t really looking for it,” says Linda Dixon, an expert on African swine fever at the Institute for Animal Health in Pirbright, UK. The disease quickly jumped to neighbouring Azerbaijan, Armenia and Chechnya, before fanning out across Russia (see ‘Pig plague’).

Source: C. Netherton/OIE

The recent spread of the virus means that the Ukrainian outbreak, now under control after authorities culled 208 pigs and instituted quarantine measures, did not come as a surprise, says Juan Lubroth, the chief veterinary officer at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in Rome, who is in charge of the organization’s response to the outbreak.
Nearby countries, such as Moldova, Belarus and the Baltic states, could be next. To the east, the disease has been detected on the doorstep of Kazakhstan, which shares a long border with China, home to more than 1 billion pigs. China also risks importing the virus through its growing trade with African nations.

Europe’s large pig farms are buffered by better biosecurity and hygiene practices. But agencies such as the UK Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in London are nevertheless watching the situation closely. “How this will pan out, we don’t really know,” Lubroth says. “You’re asking me to look into a crystal ball.”
The variety of ways in which African swine fever spreads only increases the uncertainty. Pigs can leave virus particles on transport vehicles, for example, exposing whole shipments of uninfected animals. Biosecurity measures, such as scrubbing trucks and decontaminating farmers before they enter and leave pig pens, can help to contain outbreaks. But infected wild boar, whose populations stretch across Russia and Europe, pose a transmission threat that is harder to control. “Boars don’t require visas to move across borders,” says Lubroth.
The pigs’ food can also carry the virus if it includes contaminated pork products. Swill feeding, in which pigs are fed scraps of human food waste, is popular among small-scale farmers. Limiting this practice (which is banned in the European Union) or heat-sterilizing the food scraps can prevent disease transmission, says Dixon. “I remember being taken to a little backyard farm near Nairobi, and that farmer was doing everything correctly. He had a cooker with a big pan of entrails that he was feeding to pigs and he had a little tray of disinfectant outside the pig pens.”
The FAO warns that continued spread of African swine fever could be very costly. Russia does not export its pork, but trade restrictions could prove expensive for other countries where the disease becomes endemic.

Denis Kolbasov, director of the National Research Institute for Veterinary Virology and Microbiology of Russia in Pokrov, says that officials often have little appetite for expensive countermeasures such as widespread culling and quarantine that could disrupt Russia’s billion-dollar pork industry. Meanwhile, backyard farmers often do not report suspected cases for fear of losing their livelihood.
“If you are a small producer, and you lose all your five pigs, that is devastating to the family,” says Lubroth. “That is the situation I see in many parts of Europe and Africa.” African swine fever was especially costly in South Ossetia during a 2008 conflict with Georgia, because many farmers there could not grow crops and relied on livestock for food and income.
While animal-health officials focus on containing the spread of African swine fever, scientists believe that it should be possible to develop a vaccine to eradicate the disease. The lucky few pigs that survive infection are rendered immune, so Dixon’s lab and others are working to identify which of the virus’s 175 or so genes trigger the immune system. In principle, researchers could engineer these genes into the genome of a harmless virus to create a vaccine. Alternatively, identifying and switching off the disease-causing genes in the virus could lead to an attenuated vaccine. In the longer term, these options offer the best chance of halting the march of the virus, says Lubroth. “I wish I had a vaccine.”

Nature

488,

565–566

(30 August 2012)

doi:10.1038/488565a

 

http://www.nature.com/news/pig-fever-sweeps-across-russia-1.11294

 

Summer Yosemite campers warned after discovery of second death from rare, rodent-borne illness

August 28, 2012
YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK, Calif. - A second person has died of a rare, rodent-borne disease after visiting one of the most popular parts of Yosemite National Park earlier this summer, and park officials were warning past visitors to be aware of some flu-like aches and symptoms and seek medical help immediately if they appear.

Health officials learned this weekend of the second hantavirus death, which killed a person who visited the park in June, spokesman Scott Gediman said in a statement.

There was one other confirmed case of the illness, and a fourth is being investigated.

Continued:  http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/health/167644365.html?refer=y

Vietnam:  A/H5N1 flu spreads fast in Quang Ngai

August 28, 2012,

A/H5N1 avian flu has spread to at least four districts in central Quang Ngai Province over the past two weeks, with nearly 43,000 affected ducks having died or been culled, prompting authorities to vaccinate all flocks of poultry in the province.

Yesterday, deputy head of the provincial Veterinary Sub-department Nguyen Van Thuan said the latest outbreak of the disease was recorded in Tinh Ha Commune, Son Tinh District, with ducks dying en masse.

Besides Son Tinh, three other districts Nghia Hanh, Tu Nghia and Binh Son, have also suffered from the avian flu with 22 areas affected, authorities reported.

The agency has sent 75 samples of the dead poultry to Da Nang for testing since August 13, and results have shown that all the samples were infected with the deadly A/H5N1 virus, Thuan said.

“The avian flu is spreading rapidly and no signs show it can be halted,” he said.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has granted 1 million doses of vaccines against A/H5N1 virus to Quang Ngai to vaccinate every flock of poultry in Quang Ngai city and six districts of the province.

Provincial veterinary officers are coordinating with authorities to tighten control over poultry slaughtering, transportation and trade to detect affected animals.

They also sprayed antiseptics in affected areas and those vulnerable to the disease to constrain the spread of the epidemic.

For fear that the disease could spread to Quang Ngai’s neighboring localities, the Quang Nam veterinary sub-department has set up a hot line at mobile phone number 0903548515 to receive information about the epidemic’s development.
http://www.tuoitrenews.vn/cmlink/tuoitrenews/society/a-h5n1-flu-spreads-fast-in-quang-ngai-1.84563

Hong Kong: Avian Influ. Rpt. Week 36

 PDF format.  Link at bottom of page.

Reporting period: August 19 to August 25, 2012 (Week 34)
(Published on August 28, 2012)
Summary
1. There were no new confirmed human cases of H5N1 avian influenza reported by
the World Health Organization (WHO) this week.

2. From 2005 to 2007, about 100 confirmed human cases of H5N1 avian influenza
were reported to WHO annually. In 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011, 44, 73, 48 and 62
cases were reported, respectively. In 2012 (as of August 25), 30 cases were
reported by WHO.

http://www.chp.gov.hk/files/pdf/2012_avian_influenza_report_vol8_wk34.pdf

Indonesia: Bengkulu Goats Attacked by Viruses or Bacteria - Die Off

27 AUGUST 2012

Villagers Ulak,  merigi klindang district wide middle bengkulu sudden uproar, with the death of dozens of tails of goats are known to be attacked by viruses or bacteria.  As a result, blind goat to death.

The last two weeks has been more than 30 goats wide Ulak villagers are dead, and more than 20 birds had to be cut, 15 tails for sale, as well as dozens more missing.

This virus attacks initially cause the eyes are blind sheep, goats residents to experience stress and lead to death.

Office of the castle farms through farm field or ppl officer, has been doing business pembrantasan virus that attacked dozens of goats. Whole goat shed and injected drugs by officers.

According to residents, this event is the first time they have experienced, to cause panic and ranchers suffered losses slightly.

http://rakyatbengkulutv.com/?p=4675&utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=diserang-virus-puluhan-kambing-di-desa-ulak-lebar-mati

Hong Kong: Cases of Infectious Bugs Rises, and MRSA Cluster Warning

Mary Ann Benitez and Candy Chan
Friday, August 24, 2012

Health authorities have issued an alert over a fivefold surge in outbreaks of acute gastroenteritis, or stomach flu, just ahead of next month's school opening.
There has also been a 30 percent increase in cases involving the superbug community- associated methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus with 489 people infected.
Centre for Health Protection controller Thomas Tsang Ho-fai said there have been 55 outbreaks of acute gastroenteritis since the start of the year, including 15 in July.
Normally the norovirus that causes stomach flu is active in the winter, and the surge in the summer may be due to the introduction of a new strain from Europe.

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"One of the possible explanations is this year the predominant strain of the virus has undergone some changes," Tsang said. "A previous strain that was not so dominant became dominant in Hong Kong."
Symptoms include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, fever and malaise.
He appealed to the public to observe personal hygiene and good eating habits because the virus is normally transmitted through the oral route.
"They should also be specially careful about the handling of vomit because this virus is highly infectious through vomit produced by patients," he said.
Tsang said a single outbreak at a school has been known to infect up to 300 people and he urged parents to keep their children at home if they show symptoms.
The center also reported that of the 489 cases of the CA- MRSA superbug this year, 11 were household clusters or occurred among close contacts. Sharing of personal items, including towels, clothing, razors or nail clippers, carries up to a fivefold risk of infection while frequent handwashing cuts the risk five times.
Meanwhile, Tsang urged travelers to the United States to be wary of mosquito bites amid the worst outbreak of West Nile virus there, with 1,118 cases and 41 deaths so far this year.

http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?pp_cat=30&art_id=125732&sid=37448806&con_type=1&d_str=20120824&isSearch=1&sear_year=2012

Local institute's quick self-vaccine device nearing test

By Carol M. Ostrom
Seattle Times health reporter

Remember how the swine-flu scare in late 2009 prompted thousands of people in the Puget Sound area to wait in line for hours to get a flu shot?
What if, instead, they could get their flu vaccine in the mail, packaged with a little device that would allow them painlessly to give themselves a dose that was short on actual vaccine but long on effectiveness?
That's the goal of Seattle's Infectious Disease Research Institute (IDRI), which has just received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to start a Phase I clinical trial for an avian-influenza vaccine that's combined with something called an adjuvant, which strengthens the immune response, and is delivered through a skin-pricking device that uses tiny micro-needles.
Darrick Carter, vice president of IDRI's adjuvant-technology program and co-principal investigator for the project, said the federal government is well aware that the demands for vaccine during the swine-flu scare nearly overwhelmed the public-health system.
"We were already in the orange zone," he said. If a deadly pandemic were to hit, "they think the whole system might collapse."
Being able to quickly produce a vaccine which could be delivered through the mail and self-administered, and which would use adjuvants to enhance immune response, was very attractive to the government, Carter said. It funded the project through a division of the Department of Defense.
Trial starts next month
The trial, which will enroll 100 people in Florida, Texas and Wisconsin, will begin in September to test the vaccine's safety and immune response.
Getting to the clinical-trial stage was a three-company effort. IDRI developed the adjuvant, which allows much less vaccine to be used per dose — important if a pandemic flu caused vaccine to be in short supply.
Medicago, a Canadian biopharma company, developed a plant-based method to manufacture the vaccine, sidestepping the traditional egg-based method, which is difficult to quickly scale up or change as a virus mutates

Continued:  http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/avantgo/2018972192.html

Bird Flu Outbreak? The Vaccine (Patch) Is in the Mail

I previously posted on this issue, here

By JASON KOEBLER

August 23, 2012

If a flu pandemic breaks out, the last thing the government wants is for people to rush to hospitals and doctors' offices to get vaccinated among lots of already sick people. To prevent such a scenario, a self-administered flu vaccine is being developed that could be mailed out to the masses.

The vaccine, developed by the Infectious Disease Research Institute, will start human trials next month and is designed to protect against H5N1, one of the most deadly strains of bird flu. While H5N1 kills about 80 percent of people who contract it, so far it is unable to spread from person to person.

This 'microneedle' device could eventually be delivered with a patch.

Scientists started a political firestorm earlier this year after they published a paper proving they could manipulate the virus so that it could spread from ferret to ferret, animals that are often used to model the human immune system.

If H5N1 mutates on its own so that it can be spread among humans, doctors are worried that standard vaccine dispensaries, such as hospitals and doctors offices, will become a prime location at which to contract the disease. So the Infectious Disease Research Institute is using microneedles—a series of tiny needles that can be applied to a patch—to deliver the vaccine. A microneedle vaccine could be easily self-administered.

"The idea is to send it through the mail as a patch that's self-assembled and stable," says Darrick Carter, who helped develop the vaccine. "We could stop people from going to a hospital where there's a bunch of sick people."

Sending a vaccine through the mail could also help keep hospitals from becoming overwhelmed during a pandemic. Carter says that during the swine flu pandemic a few years ago, hospitals came close to having to turn patients wanting a vaccine away.

[continued - click on link below]

http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2012/08/23/bird-flu-outbreak-the-vaccine-patch-is-in-the-mail

Preparedness Plan for Influenza Pandemic The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (2012)

A. Introduction
An influenza pandemic is a global spread of disease caused by a novel
influenza virus against which the human population has low or no immunity.
The pandemic may not necessarily be caused by avian influenza virus, as seen
from the human swine influenza pandemic in 2009.
2. This document sets out the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
Government’s preparedness and response plan in case of an influenza pandemic.
It defines the response levels, the corresponding command structures to be set
up, and measures to be taken having regard to the development of the pandemic
situation at each response level. Relevant agencies, companies and
organisations should take note of this plan in devising their contingency plans
and response measures.
3. This plan was updated in 2012 and includes the following key features –
。three response levels, each representing a graded risk of the pandemic
affecting Hong Kong and its health impact on the community;
。examples of possible scenario depicting each response level;
。the standing down mechanism for each response level; and
。fine-tuned response measures based on the latest practical experience.

B. The Government’s Response Systems
4. The Government’s plan includes three response levels – Alert, Serious
and Emergency. These response levels are based on risk assessment of an
influenza pandemic that may affect Hong Kong and its health impact on the
community. Key factors to be considered in the risk assessment include –
。transmissibility of the infection, such as evidence of human-to-human
transmission capable of sustaining community level outbreaks;
。geographical spread of the disease in humans or animals, such as the
global distribution of affected areas, the volume of trade and travel
between the affected areas and Hong Kong;
。clinical severity of the illness, such as serious complications,
hospitalisations and deaths;
。vulnerability of the population, including pre-existing immunity, target
groups with higher attack rates or increased risk of serious disease;
。availability of preventive measures, such as vaccine and antiviral agents;
and
。recommendations by international health authorities, such as the World
Health Organization (WHO).
5. The assessment of risk is based on the prevailing situation. It should be
noted that information available at the beginning of a pandemic is often limited.
As the pandemic progresses, crucial information to support assessment of the
aforementioned factors, such as the population at increased risk, case fatality
ratio, complication rate, reproductive number and other transmission
characteristics, will gradually come to light. The Government will review the
risk assessment from time to time, having regard to the development of
scientific knowledge and evolving situation, to ensure that the appropriate
response level is activated and corresponding measures are adopted.

Alert Response Level
6. Alert Response Level corresponds to a situation where the risk of a novel
influenza virus causing new and serious health impact in Hong Kong is low.
Generally, it depicts the existence of a novel influenza virus capable of causing
more serious illness than seasonal influenza in neighbouring regions of Hong
Kong, but without imminent risk of causing any human infection in Hong Kong.
Illustrative scenarios are provided in Box 1.

[Continued at link]
http://www.chp.gov.hk/en/view_content/14854.html
erib_preparedness_plan_for_influenza_pandemic_2012_2012080601_en.pdf