Flu Watch: 2013-14 Flu Season

Replikins is hedging their bets and developing vaccines for both H5N1 and H7N9. Australia just got hit with an H7N9 outbreak and Vietnam has had 2 H5N1 outbreaks in the past week. The trade games are starting - Hong Kong banned chicken and egg imports from Australia's New South Wales.

The Chronic Disease Pandemic aka NCD Pandemic continues - with air pollution now proven to be a carcinogen causing lung cancer. The advice for pollution-caused cancer and other chronic diseases also applies to infectious disease like bird flu. Forget looking for "treatments" and go straight for the cause:

...there is only one way to stop it: Clean up the air (and environment).

"We can't treat ourselves out of this ..." ...

An early cold spell in September resulted in a rash of flu cases but now, relatively warmer temperatures and higher humidity have temporarily postponed the 2013-14 flu season. It's still going to come but it's anyone's guess which strains will dominate. North American vaccines cover H1N1 (which is still circulating), H3N2 and an Influenza B strain. Thailand is on alert for H5N1, H7N9 and MERS. Two new bird flu viruses have appeared (H7N7 and H6N1) but seem relatively benign.

Update.

Indonesia Reports Human H5N1 Avian Influenza Fatality In West Java Woman

…According to the information in the release, the patient is a 31- year-old housewife who first developed symptoms on Nov. 1. She was admitted to several clinics and hospitals and was diagnosed with typhoid fever at one point.

Her symptoms got progressively worse and she died on Nov. 11. The Center for Biomedical and Healthcare Technology Association, Balitbangkes confirmed the diagnosis as H5N1 avian influenza.

…The last case of H5N1 bird flu in Indonesia was reported in September of this year, in a 28-year-old male also from West Java Province. He also succumbed to the lethal viral disease.

Since 2005, Indonesia has reported 195 cases of human H5N1 avian influenza. Of these cases, 163 people have died, with a case-fatality of 83 percent.

MERS

Two cases of MERS reported in Kuwait, Spain tests 2nd probable case

To date the WHO has confirmed 157 cases of MERS, 66 of which have been fatal. All the infections are linked back to six countries on the Arabian Peninsula: Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Kuwait.

Cases have also been diagnosed in Britain, Germany, France, Tunisia, Italy (probable cases), but all were either in people who contracted the virus in a Middle Eastern country or who were infected locally by someone who brought the virus back from a MERS-affected country.

Not at all surprised about the narcolepsy in the Swine Flu vaccine. They really rushed that out the door. They usually take an entire year to make the vaccine supply and have it at least somewhat tested and use tried and true methods for the batch, but this one came out for a new strain in a very small space of time. It was very suspicious.

Watching a coworker now who came back from India with something. Her flight connected through the Middle East. Although if she had MERS, I'd think she's be sicker than she currently is.

UPDATE:

U.S. FDA approves Quebec-made bird flu vaccine for stockpile use only

The U.S. government has for the first time approved an adjuvanted vaccine to protect against H5N1 bird flu.

..."In an H5N1 pandemic, the U.S. government could have more than 35 million doses of this adjuvanted vaccine available within weeks to protect people, and GSK could produce additional doses to meet the nation's needs for this vaccine," said Dr. Nicole Lurie, the department's assistant secretary for preparedness and response.

GSK also holds Canada's pandemic flu vaccine contract.

UPDATE:

Saudi Arabia announces 55th MERS death
Posted on 2013-11-24 17:51:24

RIYADH: The Saudi health ministry on Sunday announced a new MERS death, raising to 55 the number of people killed by the coronavirus in the country with the most fatalities.

WHO: Humans, animals both likely fueling MERS spread

…the continuing outbreak of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) cases is probably being sustained, as some researchers have suggested, by a combination of human-to-human transmission and spillover from animals or other non-human sources—not one or the other.

In its latest summary and literature update, the WHO also agreed that many MERS-CoV cases are probably going undetected and warned that this poses a risk of further outbreaks in hospitals.

The agency's current MERS-CoV count is 157 confirmed and 19 probable cases, for a total of 176. With 69 deaths, the case-fatality ratio is 39.2%. Two cases recently reported in Spain remain in the "probable" category, pending completion of testing.

…"The critical remaining question about this virus is the route by which humans are infected." It also noted that most of the patients in sporadic cases were not exposed to camels.

UPDATE:

MERS Coronavirus Global Total Reaches 160 With Three New Cases Confirmed In Saudi Arabia

The Saudi Arabia Health Ministry has informed the World Health Organization (WHO) of three additional laboratory-confirmed cases of infection with Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV), according to a WHO update today.

…None of the three patients were exposed to a previously laboratory-confirmed case or had exposure to animals.

This brings the global total number of cases reported to the WHO to 160. Of the 160, 68 people died due to the illness.

UPDATE:

China reports 3rd H7N9 case in Nov.

…as one moderator at the infectious disease website, Pro Med Mail notes, “The prospects for the coming winter are threatening.”

When reported and confirmed by the World Health Organization (WHO), this will be the 140th case. To date, there has been 45 fatalities recorded from the virus.

Hmm. MERS might be the one to watch.

MERS Spreads Across Middle East

Jordanian boy, 8, diagnosed with Mers coronavirus in Abu Dhabi

Nationwide testing of animals for MERS virus to begin soon

QATAR: Health officials allay fears over Mers outbreak

...The Mers-CoV has claimed four lives in Qatar since 2012 and the virus was also suspected in a total of 4,323 persons, whose samples were checked at the Hamad Medical Corporation’s Virology laboratory, explained SCH Surveillance and Outbreak section head Dr Hamad Eid al-Romaihi.

“It was the first time in Qatar that camels were linked to Mers-CoV infections and no new cases have so far been reported because we conducted a comprehensive epidemiological investigation into potential sources of exposure of human cases involved, with the support of an international team constituted by World Health Organisation (WHO) and Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO),” he said.

…“People need not panic as it is only established that camels can be a host of the virus that is already identified as an animal disease, but we are yet to verify whether it is being transmitted from humans to animals or from animals to humans,” Dr al-Hajri said while recalling that a case linking the disease with bats was diagnosed in Saudi Arabia.

China reported a new H7N9 case too.

Hong Kong and China report new H7N9 cases

Health officials in Hong Kong today said they detected a second imported H7N9 flu case, in an 80-year-old man from the mainland, while mainland China reported another new infection, which sickened a 30-year-old man from Zhejiang province.

Both of the H7N9 cases reported this week have travel ties to Shenzhen, a major city just north of Hong Kong in China's Guangdong province. The new case in Zhejiang, about 800 miles northeast of Guangdong province, further boosts the province's status as China's hardest hit by the H7N9 virus.

…Meanwhile, new scientific findings released today suggest that the virus doesn't latch on to human cells strongly enough to pose a pandemic threat, though the virus bears close monitoring for further changes.

Source of H7N9 still a mystery

A team of local medical experts met with Shenzhen and Guangdong provincial health authorities but could not trace the source of the H7N9 bird flu that has sickened two people in Hong Kong.

…the second patient, an ailing 80-year-old who lives in Shenzhen, did not come into contact with live poultry, although his family members bought slaughtered chicken.

The information on the first patient, a 36-year-old domestic helper from Indonesia, has also been changed, with the center now saying it is not clear if she had indeed bought live chicken from a Shenzhen wet market.

New case of H7N9 confirmed

Monday, December 16, 2013

Authorities in Guangdong province have confirmed a new H7N9 bird flu case.
A 39-year-old man, surnamed He, has been hospitalized and is in serious condition, provincial health authorities said, Xinhua News Agency reported.

The Dongguan city resident tested positive for the virus on Saturday in a local hospital, and the result was confirmed yesterday by the provincial disease control center.

The 53 people who had close contact with the patient have shown no abnormity. The mainland has reported 141 human infections of H7N9 so far.

Oh, Here we go again. Okay, yea, I will rush down to CVS on Monday, NOT!


I will never get one and the people that do, happy trails.

Do a little research before you play roulette with your body.

www.jimstonefreelance.com...

reply to post by PRS395


What the heck are you talking about?

More H7N9 in China, and the first H7N9 death in Hong Kong - reported cases are now up to 147 and almost 50 deaths - but NO outbreaks, NO epidemic and certainly NO pandemic. Yet. ...Nothing new on H10N8 after the virus appeared and killed one woman. ...Meantime, MERS isn't going away but H5N1 is in a lull.

H7N9

Hong Kong reports first H7N9 death

...So far, 147 people have been infected -- 144 on the Chinese mainland, two in Hong Kong and one in Taiwan. China’s CDC says no evidence shows that the virus can be transmitted between people, but both animal-to-human and human-to-human routes of transmission are being investigated.

H10N8
China says woman died from bird flu new to humansTaiwan issues level-2 alert for Jiangxi Province over H10N8 flu (update)

MERS
New MERS death raises Saudi toll to 57
UAE reports another MERS caseWHO announces two new cases of MERS-CoV

H5N1

H5N1 Avian Influenza In Humans: By The Numbers

...what stands out concerning human infections of H5N1 avian influenza (AI) this year is Cambodia.

The Southeast Asian Kingdom recorded 26 cases of human H5N1 AI in 2013. Since the virus was first confirmed in a human in Cambodia in 2005 to 2012, the total cases amounted to 21.

55 percent of all human H5N1 AI in Cambodia occurred in 2013. Of the 26 confirmed cases, 14 resulted in death (54%).

In fact, more than 68 percent of all human H5N1 AI cases recorded in 2013 were from Cambodia. The rest of the world confirmed 12 cases.

The other countries reporting the virus in humans this year include Bangladesh (1), China (2), Egypt (4), Indonesia (3) and Vietnam had 2.

Indonesia, the country who has the most confirmed human cases (195) and deaths (163) since data was tracked in 2003, has been on a steady downturn in cases in the past several years.

Indonesia maintains the highest case-fatality rate with more than 83 percent of those infected end up dead.

Still, the archipelago accounts for three out of 10 cases since 2003 and 42 percent of fatalities.

CIDRAP reports that US flu activity keeps climbing - flu season is hitting early in North America but not in the rest of the Northern Hemisphere. Most cases are the 2009 strain of H1N1 swine flu. Meanwhile, Hong Kong has the first case of H9N2 avian flu in four years - experts worry about seeing different bird flu subtypes infecting humans more often, and fear the assorted infections "may signal a higher risk of virus mutation and genetic swapping." Meaning watch out for more new strains, heads up on increased pandemic potential.

US flu activity keeps climbing

www.scmp.com...]Hong Kong sees first case of H9N2 avian flu in four years

An 86-year-old Hongkonger living in Shenzhen has become infected with the H9N2 strain of bird flu - Hong Kong's first human case of the virus strain in four years.

The case, in light of the other bird flu strains hitting humans with increased frequency - including the deadly H7N9 and H10N8 subtypes - may signal a higher risk of virus mutation and genetic swapping, experts say.

…"This case has not raised the overall risk much, but it is worrying that we are recently seeing various avian flu subtypes infecting humans more frequently," microbiologist Dr Ho Pak-leung of the University of Hong Kong said yesterday.

Two more H7N9 cases, one in Zhejiang and the other in Shanghai.

H7N9 avian influenza: Zhejiang woman becomes 150th confirmed case

January 5, 2014
A 34-year-old woman from Zhejiang Province on the eastern coast of China has been confirmed positive for avian influenza A(H7N9), according to a Hong Kong Centre for Health Protection (CHP) press release Jan. 5.

...Their are no details on the epidemiology of the case and whether the patient had contact with poultry.

This newest case follows yesterday's report out of Shanghai where a 86-year-old man was confirmed positive for the virus.

The Zhejiang woman becomes the 146th case of human avian influenza A(H7N9) on mainland China and the 150th confirmed case overall.

Two goose meat samples and one sewage water sample from two poultry booths in a wet market in Zengcheng, a satellite city of Guangzhou, tested positive, Guangdong Provincial Center of Disease Control and Prevention confirmed yesterday.

“It’s serious that the water sample test is positive, as it means all the birds in coops have the possibility of being infected with H7N9 avian influenza. The longer they stay in the coops, the risk of being infected rises,” said Yang Zhicong, deputy chief of the Guangzhou municipal CDCP.

UH OH. Not lookin' good. H5N1 just wiped out a poultry farm in China's Guizhou province. H7N9's host and reservoir are still unknown - but - if H5N1 is back big, there's more likelihood the two will get together in a nasty way.

H5N1 Bird flu in China killed 8,500 chickens in December

BEIJING, Jan. 4 (UPI) -- Chickens showed symptoms of avian flu at a farm in a village in the province of Guizhou in China where 8,500 chickens died in December, officials say.

Officials at the Ministry of Agriculture in China said the fowl died Dec. 27 and the National Avian Influenza Reference Laboratory confirmed the epidemic was H5N1 bird flu after testing samples collected at the farm, China's official Xinhua News Agency reported.

I'm confussed - isn't H7N9 the same as MERS?

Also - people only have to come into contact with "live" chickens to get this (minus the ones that are now jumping from person to person)? If so - mandatory protective gear should have been implemented long ago. Pass laws on stupid stuff that doesn't affect anyone but the individual, and let this one go? Never mind - it's a pointless thing to bring up.

But...let's say someone bought an infected chicken at a market (dead and packaged), went home and cooked it - washing hands and doing all of the normal stuff - would the cooked product make them sick? Would the raw but dead product make them sick?

How are these birds getting this? Have they found out what's causing that?

I know this is a staple just about everywhere but there's s a reason these birds are getting sick in China and not in the US or UK. They live in crowded conditions in these Countries too so that isn't a good enough reason for me. What within that environment is causing this?

reply to post by Dianec

I'm confussed - isn't H7N9 the same as MERS?

Yes, you ARE confused! H7N9 is a flu virus, MERS is a coronavirus (cold virus).

But...let's say someone bought an infected chicken at a market (dead and packaged), went home and cooked it - washing hands and doing all of the normal stuff - would the cooked product make them sick? Would the raw but dead product make them sick?

Heat kills viruses - so cook well done.

How are these birds getting this? Have they found out what's causing that?

Specifically, unknown; generally, life evolves - especially microbial life and viruses.

I know this is a staple just about everywhere but there's s a reason these birds are getting sick in China and not in the US or UK. They live in crowded conditions in these Countries too so that isn't a good enough reason for me. What within that environment is causing this?

Not true. We get them in North America too - here's where the 1918 H1N1 flu pandemic started and the 2009 one too. We also get H5N1 and a few other goodies too. There is a war going on - corporations are trying to "prove" that China's grassroots agriculture and open markets "cause" deadly diseases to evolve; meanwhile, "green" scientists show that the extreme overcrowding and over-medicating that occurs in factory farms creates new mutations and new diseases.

I'm with the green guys. Factory farming is WAY worse than backyard farming. No doubt.