Category Archives: Influenza

Influenza

New bird flu evolves to infect humans!

23 June 2013 (02:00 UTC-07 Tango)/14 Sha’ban 1434/02 Tir 1392/16 Wu-Wu (5th month) 4711

Health officials in Taiwan confirm that a woman has become the first person to be infected by H6N1.  At least four people who know the woman are showing signs of infection, but tests have been negative.

The woman recovered.  H6N1 normally infects only birds.  Health officials say  they’ve tested poultry farms in the area where the woman lives, and not one bird was positive for H6N1 (just like in the case with H7N9).

Influenza

H7N9 update: Outbreak considered finished! Class BSL-3 virus!

10 June 2013 (20:53 UTC-07 Tango 09 June 2013)/01 Sha’ban 1434/20 Khordad 1392/03 Wu-Wu (5th month) 4711

China’s National Health and Family Planning Commission considers the H7N9 outbreak over.  No new cases have been reported.  Official updates will take place once per month.   The official count is 131 human cases, 39 deaths.

On 07 June, the UN World Heath Organization reported 132 cases (one man in Taiwan) and 37 deaths.  Apparently two more people died between then and now.

The UNWHO continues to insist that it comes from poultry, even though testing doesn’t show that (Chinese officials tested a total of 899758 bird samples. Only 53 were positive!  51 were chickens in live markets.  The other two were wild pigeons.).  UN health officials admit that there were four “clusters” of possible human to human cases.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) classified H7N9 as a biosafety level 3 (BSL-3) virus.  Laboratories around the world are now studying the virus.  The CDC also reported that vaccines don’t work against H7 viruses.  A recent Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) study came to the same conclusion.

The MIT study also said the H7N9 contains a protein that can easily evolve to make it infectious to humans.  It then can infect you in your upper respiratory tract (nose, sinuses, throat).

What I find interesting is that it’s taken U.S. researchers this long to conclude what Japanese researchers concluded just days after the outbreak began.

A recent study by National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) says the H7N9 does not follow the currently accepted medical dogma about how flu viruses evolve.   They warn pandemic is still possible.

Influenza

H7N9 update: Easy to catch, old men are the targets!

29 May 2013 (14:45 UTC-07 Tango)/19 Rajab 1434/08 Khordad 1392/20 Ding-Si (4th month) 4711

“…the low antibody levels we measured indicate that there is likely to be very little immune protection against this virus…..It is now essential that follow up studies on patients with H7N9 include serological investigations to determine what antibody levels are indicative of clinical protection…..These data will give us a better tool to gauge the size of a second H7N9 outbreak…”-Maciej F. Boni,  Center for Tropical Medicine, Oxford University Clinical Research Unit, Vietnam

Researchers in Vietnam are warning that H7N9 is potentially just as easy to catch as other human flu viruses, and that humans have weak immunity protection against it.

In China, researchers have released data on just who is getting sick and what are the dominant symptoms of H7N9:

100% of infected people had fevers

97% of patients had signs of pneumonia

90% had coughs

76% needed ICU treatment

68% were men

42% were aged 65 years or older

27% died

The researchers also suggested that there could be a genetic reason why some people get sick, and others do not.

 

Influenza

Coronavirus MERS update: More deaths and cases! U.S. & China join forces!

28 May 2013 (12:28 UTC-07 Tango)/18 Rajab 1434/07 Khordad 1392/19 Ding-Si (4th month) 4711

“…the imminent threats are the H7N9 influenza virus and the new coronavirus emerging in the Middle East.”-Ian Lipkin, Center for Infection and Immunity

French news media reporting that the man who returned from Dubai, infected with the new bat related virus, MERS, has died.  It was that case which confirmed that MERS is airborne and can infect human to human, because another man sharing the hospital room with the MERS infected man is now sick.

In Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), a woman suffering from chronic illness was finally done in by MERS.  KSA Ministry of Health are also reporting five new cases.

By my count, the number of deaths are at 24, out of 49 cases.

The UN World Health Organization says it will now help KSA prepare for possible massive outbreak of MERS during the upcoming Islamic Haj pilgrimage (in October).

The U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention is now warning all U.S. medical personnel to be on the lookout, as any person who returned from the Middle East (West Asia) showing sings of illness could have MERS.

In China, a new research center is being opened by National Institute for Viral Disease Control and Prevention (Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention) and the U.S. Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health’s Center for Infection and Immunity.

It’s been years in the planning and is called Joint Research Laboratory for Pathogen Discovery.  The operators say the timing is just right, since it appears the World is being hit with several new diseases right now.  Researchers believe the greatest need is finding ways to fight H7N9 and MERS.   China is paying for the new research center.

Influenza

H7N9 update: New case, more deaths!

28 May 2013 (12:00 UTC-07 Tango)/18 Rajab 1434/07 Khordad 1392/19 Ding-Si (4th month) 4711

New main streamer news media reports say a new study says H7N9 is resistant to tamiflu.  No shit Sherlock,  I’ve been reporting that for weeks now (go over my past H7N9 updates)!

In China, the city of Beijing reports its second case of H7N9 human infection.  A six years old boy got sick, went to hospital where blood samples were taken.  He was allowed to go home and return to school.  It was later confirmed he has H7N9.  However, health officials say he has not shown any symptoms since being sent home.

Beijing health officials have ordered that H7N9 must be tested for in all suspected flu cases, and must be reported to officials.

Chinese news media reporting another person has died from H7N9.  China’s National Health and Family Planning Commission says 131 people have been infected, with 36 of them dying (by my count it’s 133 including the case in Taiwan, and 37 deaths).

Influenza

False Flag Bio-War? Alabama mystery blamed on mixture of viruses and bacteria!

25 May 2013 (14:16 UTC-07 Tango)/15 Rajab 1434/04 Khordad 1392/16 Ding-Si (4th month) 4711

“The Alabama Department of Public Health (ADPH) and the Houston County Health Department have determined that the cause of a respiratory illness cluster in southeast Alabama was a combination of influenza A, rhinovirus, the virus associated with the common cold, and bacterial pneumonia.”-ADPH press release

 

Influenza

H7N9 update: Like I said before, it is human to human! More blood tests prove it’s not the chickens!

25 May 2013 (13:49 UTC-07 Tango)/15 Rajab 1434/04 Khordad 1392/16 Ding-Si (4th month) 4711

“Under appropriate conditions human to human transmission of the H7N9 virus may be possible.”-Infectivity, Transmission, and Pathology of Human H7N9 Influenza in Ferrets and Pigs

“We also found that the virus can infect pigs, which was not previously known……People may be transmitting the virus before they even know that   they’ve got it.”-Maria Zhu Huachen, Hong Kong University

As I’ve been warning since I first started reporting on the H7N9 outbreak in March, it is human to human!  If you go over all my H7N9 updates, you’ll notice that very few birds are infected.  More than 90% of infected poultry were found at live markets, where they come into contact with lots-o-humans.  I’ve postulated that the chickens are getting infected from contact with humans.

To back that up, not one chicken or duck on a farm has been found to be infected.  Not one poultry sent to the industrial butcher shops has been found to be infected, just the ones in live markets.

And to add to that, China’s Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) just released their latest H7n9 testing data (on 23 May 2013), and yet again not one bird on a poultry farm was positive!   They’ve tested a total of 899758 samples, here’s the results: Only 53 positive results out of the hundreds of thousands of samples!  51 were in live markets.  The other two were wild pigeons.  The MOA says they are done testing birds for H7N9. 

The resulting paranoia about getting H7N9 from chickens and ducks has resulted in China’s poultry industry losing $6.5 billion USD.  Poultry markets around Asia are expected to see huge loses as more and more countries join in banning innocent but delicious chickens and ducks.

The biggest biological threat to poultry markets is still H5N1, not H7N9.

How many humans have gotten sick?  So far 132 infected with 36 deaths.  By the way, research is showing this new H7N9 is an airborne disease which means washing your hands won’t do you much good.

Influenza

False Flag Bio-War? Mystery deaths called “coincidence”, yet infections increasing! Getting sick (or vaccinated?) while pregnant will cause mental problems for the baby!

23 May 2013 (13:55 UTC-07 Tango)/13 Rajab 1434/02 Khordad 1392/14 Ding-Si (4th month) 4711

“At this time, there is no epidemiological link between these patients.”-Alabama Department of Health statement

The mystery illness in Alabama is more mysterious after health officials stated that the age of the people infected range from 20s to 80s, and has now infected a total of ten people: “Since we sent out the alert to providers last night, we have had three additional patients/cases. These patients all have the same symptoms of cough, shortness of breath and ‘something’ on their chest….”-Mary McIntyre, Alabama Department of Public Health

Also, the patients have other health problems, which complicate the diagnostics.

Health officials think this is just a bunch of cases of common colds or flus (first off the term ‘cold’ refers to many different viruses, and second flus have proven not to be ‘common’), and they don’t think this is caused by a “…new or unexpected virus…”

In a study, published in JAMA Psychiatry, historical researchers have found a link between influenza infections in pregnant woman and a nearly four-fold increase in cases of bi-polar disorders in their children.

The study isn’t new, but the release of the data is.  Researchers reviewed a ten year study done by Kaiser Permanente insurance, conducted from 1956-66.  It involves just over 19000 people in California.

Reports are suggesting this study is proof that people should get vaccinated.  A very small percentage of the study group got vaccinated.

However, another study concluded that a fetus can not identify viruses.  Remember that vaccines are viruses, grown in a controlled environment.  If a fetus can not recognize viral RNA, wouldn’t that apply to RNA viruses in vaccines?

Flus are RNA viruses (as are norovirus, MERS, SARS, SFTS),  and it has already been established that vaccines don’t work well on RNA viruses!  (as opposed to DNA viruses)

Previous studies have already linked schizophrenia to influenza viruses.  Is there a correlation between increased human brain function problems and the increased use of flu vaccines?

 

Influenza

More mystery deaths, this time in Alabama! H7N9? MERS? SFTS? False Flag bio-war?

22 May 2013 (15:13 UTC-07 Tango)/12 Rajab 1434/01 Khordad 1392/13 Ding-Si (4th month) 4711

Reports out of the U.S. state of Alabama, two people dead and five hospitalized with flu like symptoms.  State Department of Public Health officials calling it a “cluster”.

The flu like symptoms are described as fever, coughing and difficulty breathing.  These symptoms are also common with H7N9, MERS (coronavirus) or SFTS infections.

The Alabama mystery illness began 19 April 2013, however, state health officials say they were not notified until 16 May.  The U.S. CDC has been notified.

In Texas, the most recent reports say health officials are still stumped as to what killed two teenagers in March and April.

 

Influenza

H7N9 / Bird Flu update: Mexico hit! Thousands of humans carriers? North Korea kills 160000!

20 May 2013 (14:01 UTC-07 Tango)/10 Rajab 1434/30 Ordibehest 1392/11 Ding-Si (4th month) 4711

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea reporting that H5N1 bird flu has struck their poultry industry hard.  They’ve had to cull (kill) 160000 ducks, at just one Pyongyang duck farm, to try and stop the spread of the virus.  United Nations health officials were notified.

Here’s some more news to make you more fearful of the creation of new biological weapons: Chen Hualan, of China’s Harbin Veterinary Research Institute, has discovered a single gene that can make bird flus easily become deadly human flus.  She found that one of two genes from the human version of H1N1 made the bird flu H5N1 infectious to animals other than birds.

Vietnam recently declared their H5N1 epidemic fini.  Health officials report no new cases in birds or humans for the past 21 days, thanks to efforts to cull or vaccinate tens of thousands of birds.  Since 2003, 62 people in Vietnam died from H5N1, the most recent being a four years old boy in April.  123 people got sick.

Animal health officials in Nepal have been culling poultry, as two new H5N1 outbreaks hit Kathmandu.  Outbreak response teams are overstretched and officials said they are unable to respond to the latest outbreak.

Indonesia has been put on warning for new H7N9 infections.  Researchers at the Bogor Institute of Agriculture studied how farmers keep their livestock, and concluded that current Indonesian livestock practices have the potential “….to facilitate the spread of the H7N9 virus.” 

China’s National Health and Family Planning Commission claims that no new cases of H7N9 ‘bird’ flu have been reported.  However, in a joint study by  National Health and Family Planning Commission, and the UN World Health Organization, researchers are now concerned that not only has the virus evolved to spread human to human, but that possibly thousands of people are now carriers, showing little or no symptoms.

The Mexican state of Puebla has been hit with H7N3.   The National Service of Health, Food Safety and Food Quality say the source is laying chickens brought in from surrounding states.  So far 55000 chickens have been culled.  33 million doses of vaccine have been issued.  The United Nations has been notified.