Tag Archives: virus

Influenza

H7N9 update: U.S. declares state of emergency!!! Your immune system does not respond!

08 May 2013 (17:07 UTC-07 Tango)/27 Jumada t-Tania 1434/18 Ordibehest 1392/29 Ding-Si (3rd month) 4711

Quietly, in the middle of April, The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) declared a public health emergency over the new H7N9 virus.  On the surface the declaration allows the use of testing kits that are not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).  However, on 22 April a new FDA approved H7 test was made “….available to all qualified U.S. public health and U.S. Department of Defense laboratories…”

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has already set up a Situational Awareness Coordination Unit, which includes coordination with the U.S. Department of the Interior.

Quietly, on 01 May, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) stated: “…CDC has activated its Emergency Operations Center to coordinate efforts. In the United States, planning for H7N9 vaccine clinical trials is under way. Although no decision has been made to initiate an H7N9 vaccination program in the United States, CDC recommends that local authorities and preparedness programs take time to review and update their pandemic influenza vaccine preparedness plans……CDC also recommends that public health agencies review their overall pandemic influenza plans…..”

A report from the NewScientist says health and security personnel will begin testing people at entry points into the country, as several Asian countries are already doing.  The concern is that H7N9 is proving to be not only difficult to detect and treat, but that it is a sneaky virus which manages to avoid detection by your own body’s immune system.  This allows it to replicate and overwhelm you.

International

Coronavirus MERS update: Spreads to France!

08 May 2013 (14:02 UTC-07 Tango)/27 Jumada t-Tania 1434/18 Ordibehest 1391/29 Ding-Si (3rd month) 4711

“We still don’t know the animal reservoir of this virus or the source of exposure. We need a solid epidemiological investigation to nail down a common behavior between patients….All we can tell people at the moment is they should be very vigilant about their basic hygiene practices.”-Gregory Hartl, UNWHO

France has confirmed a 65 years old man is infected with the new SARS like coronavirus called MERS.  He got infected while on a trip to the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The UN World Health Organization says there are now 30 confirmed human cases, 18 of which have died.  Most cases are in Saudi Arabia, but have spread to Jordan, UAE, Qatar, United Kingdom, Germany and now France.

 

International

Coronavirus update: 2 more deaths! Now called MERS.

07 May 2013 (09:19 UTC-07 Tango)/26 Jumada t-Tania 1434/17 Ordibehest 1391/28 Ding-Si (3rd month) 4711

The new SARS like virus in Saudi Arabia has killed two more people.  The death toll is now 18.

Both of the latest victims were from the same family, from the Al-Ahsa governorate.  So far six of the deaths were people from Al-Ahsa.

Health officials still don’t understand how the new coronavirus works.  It results in death from pneumonia or kidney failure.  Some researchers think it’s related to a bat virus.  However, most victims did not have contact with non-human animals.

International health researchers have decided on a name for the new virus: MERS.  It stands for Middle East Respiratory Syndrome.

 

International

Coronavirus update: 3 new cases! Possibly 50 more!

06 May 2013 (12:40 UTC-07 Tango)/25 Jumada t-Tania 1434/16 Ordibehest 1391/27 Ding-Si (3rd month) 4711

Three more people are confirmed infected with the new SARS like virus in Saudi Arabia.

Since September 2012 there have been 27 lab confirmed human cases, and 16 deaths, in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Jordan and United Kingdom.

The three new cases are people related to other people already hospitalized.

Saudi health officials also said that tests on 50 other people are being done to determine if they have the new coronavirus. So far, all the cases in Saudi Arabia have originated in the eastern Al-Ahsa governorate.

Influenza

H7N9 update: 130 cases, 31 deaths! More evidence of Tamiflu resistance!

06 May 2013 (12:32 UTC-07 Tango)/25 Jumada t-Tania 1434/16 Ordibehest 1392/27 Ding-Si (3rd month) 4711

After several days of no reports, the Chinese National Health and Family Planning Commission says the number of human case are now 129 (however, by my count it’s 130), and 31 people have died.

Two people in Fujian Province are infected. On 02 May there were 128 cases, so these two new cases makes 130.   42 people are reported to have recovered.

In Shandong Province a test of poultry waste at a market was positive for H7N9.  A chicken in a live market, in Jiangxi Province, was positive for H7N9, as well as a chicken in a market in Guangdong Province.

Health officials in Shanghai say that four men who were in critical condition did not benefit from anti-viral treatment with oseltamivir (Tamiflu).   Three of the men had not been in contact with birds.  One man died, two actually recovered, and one is apparently still hospitalized.

Health officials believe anti-viral treatment was started too late in the infection, that as the infection progresses it becomes much stronger.  They suggest starting anti-viral treatments ASAP.

International

Norovirus / Tummy Bug update 06 May 2013: Egypt getting hit hard! Killer superbug bacteria strikes Scotland!

Egypt reporting its fourth outbreak of vomiting bug in the past month.  The latest outbreak involves at least 350 people. Some suspect biological warfare from Israel, because the latest outbreak is in governates along the Sinai Peninsula.  The day prior a smaller outbreak hit the Al-Azhar University, where 25 students became sick.  The university got hit twice before, once on 29 April when 179 students got sick, and on 01 April when 500 people got sick.

The Hilton Westchester (aka Rye Brook hotel), in New York U.S.A., resumed food service on 03 May after three days of trying to sanitize after an outbreak made hundreds of people sick. Westchester County Department of Health officials say you can’t use just any cleanser to sanitize against norovirus.  They estimate that it cost the hotel $50000 USD.

The Visalia Country Club was closed for cleaning because of an outbreak.  The California, U.S.A., golf club will not open until county health officials determine it’s sanitized.  The county linked 51 cases of norovirus directly to the club.

In Santa Rosa County, Florida U.S.A., parents got warnings of possible school closures due to outbreaks in neighboring Escambia County.  Santa Rosa officials say they’re “…just trying to get ahead of the eight ball.”

In Republic of Ireland, the Beaumont Hospital and Saint Joseph’s Hospital Raheny and the Raheny Community Nursing Unit are restricting visitation because of outbreaks.

Reports from people returning from their Holland America cruise from Asia to Vancouver, Canada, that they had to deal with a norovirus outbreak. 28 guests and one employee got sick.  The pools and hot tubs were drained.  It was a 31 day cruise.

The East Surrey Hospital, Redhill U.K., has suspended visitation to four wards because of an outbreak.

The Ronald Reagan school in Wisconsin U.S.A., hit with “stomach bug”.  School officials are not calling it norovirus, but said many students are sick.

In Scotland, health officials are ordering the vaccination of infants against another type of vomiting bug; rotavirus.  Starting this month, all babies born in Scotland will be vaccinated. Health officials say at least 1200 Scottish infants get sick with rotavirus every year.

In the United Kingdom, Doncaster and Bassetlaw NHS Foundation Trust have been hit with a $900000 USD fine.  It’s because of 63 cases of clostridium difficile (C.diff).  The British health system set a minimum number of cases ‘allowed’ at each hospital Trust, and Doncaster and Bassetlaw exceeded that minimum.  C.diff is a superbug bacteria that causes tummy bug symptoms, and is the direct result of using too much antibiotics.  Antibiotics can kill your good bacteria in your gut, allowing C.diff to take over.

And C.diff can be deadly.  In Scotland, two hospitals located in the same health board area are being blasted by relatives of people who died from C.diff.  They claim hospital officials failed to report to the public that there was a C.diff outbreak.  Three people died.  It’s the first time an outbreak of C.diff happened at two hospitals in the same Scottish health board area, at the same time (Victoria in Kirkcaldy and the Queen Margaret in Dunfermline).

18 people at the hospital in Vale of Leven, West Dunbartonshire Scotland, have died from C.diff.  An official government investigation is underway.  There are rumors that National Health Service officials are trying to cover up a massive C.diff outbreak.

Influenza

H7N9 update: 20% kill rate!

04 May 2013 (13:13 UTC-07 Tango)/23 Jumada t-Tania 1434/14 Ordibehest 1392/25 Ding-Si (3rd month) 4711

Medical researchers say the rate of people dying from H7N9 has reached 20%, or one in every five human infections.

Other researchers put together possible H7N9 spread maps, using wild bird flight patterns, and poultry distribution.

When looking at only wild bird migration patterns the spread of H7N9 seems to correlate.  However, problems pop up when looking at domesticated poultry.  Government testing of poultry has already shown that only poultry in the live markets show signs of infection, not one chicken or duck on a farm has tested positive.  Much more research needs to be done to find out why poultry are becoming infected after being brought to live markets.

In Taiwan, government health officials are in trouble after video was released showing the culling of poultry being done by people who are not protected.

The video also shows dead chickens piled in parking lots: “We can see vendors, workers and regular people moving around the market without gloves or masks, and no protection measures at all have been implemented. The market should be a model for the city’s bird flu prevention campaign, but has become a big loophole…”-Tung Chung-yen, Taipei City Council

 

International

New coronavirus killing people in Saudi Arabia!

03 May 2013 (10:41 UTC-07 Tango)/22 Jumada t-Tania 1434/13 Ordibehest 1391/24 Ding-Si (3rd month) 4711

A new SARS like virus is attacking people in Saudi Arabia.  It was first discovered last year, and is sometimes called Saudi, or London, SARS.  It’s a new (novel) type of coronavirus (aka London 1, nCoV).

Since September 2012 there have been 24 lab confirmed human cases, and 16 deaths, in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Jordan and the United Kingdom.  In the past week Saudi Arabia reported seven new cases, and five deaths. Death is usually caused by kidney (renal) failure.

The Ministry of Health in Saudi Arabia says they have not been able to find an origin, or connection, to the outbreak.

Influenza

H7N9 update: Man recovers from death bed! Thailand & U.K. on alert!

03 May 2013 (10:26 UTC-07 Tango)/22 Jumada t-Tania 1434/13 Ordibehest 1392/24 Ding-Si (3rd month) 4711

The government of Thailand is drafting an emergency plan to deal with a potential outbreak of H7N9: “Personally I believe the outbreak of this avian flu virus will reach Thailand by October, because of the rainy season. It will also deal a psychological blow to the poultry industry, not only in frozen chickens but cooked chicken as well.”-Pornthep Siriwanarangson, Disease Control Department

A 38 years  old man is now considered recovered after several days on death’s door.  Health officials in Zhejiang Province say he had been hospitalized for 22 days.  He was one of nine people recovered from H7N9 and released from hospitals on Friday.

In Taiwan, health officials say their first, and so far only human case of H7N9 is recovering.  The 53 years old man came back from a trip to China sick.  He’s been hospitalized since the first week of April.

Doctors in United Kingdom have been told to be on the alert for symptoms of H7N9 in Britishers.  The reason is that about 11000 Britishers visit China every week.  Also, about 3500 Chinese visit the U.K. every week.

Yet another study has confirmed what earlier studies have said about where H7N9 came from: It’s mutated from several other viruses.

 The Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the Chinese Academy of Sciences and other universities, identified some of the genes.  One set of genes came from ducks in the Yangtze River Delta region.  Another set of genes are believed to have come from wild migrating birds.  Six other gene types evolved from two different groups of H9N2.  Some of the genes are resistant to tamiflu anti-viral treatment.

 

International

H7N9 update: 128 cases, 27 deaths!

02 May 2013 (01:47 UTC-07 Tango)/21 Jumada t-Tania 1434/12 Ordibehest 1391/23 Ding-Si (3rd month) 4711

The Chinese National Health and Family Planning Commission reported that as of 01 May 2013, there were 127 human infections of H7N9.

On 02 May 2013, a 55 years old man died from the ‘bird’ flu in Hunan Province.  Apparently he got sick in Jiangxi Province and was transferred to Hunan on 26 April.

Also on 02 May, Hunan Province reported a new human case in the city of Shaoyang.