Swine Flu - Human-Human Spread Reported

[Squawk]

http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,25379257-5005962,00.html

Human-to-human spread reported in new strain of swine flu
From correspondents in Washington, USA April 24, 2009 10:43am

SEVEN people have been diagnosed with a strange and unusual new kind of swine flu in California and Texas, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported.
All seven people have recovered but the virus itself is a never-before-seen mixture of viruses typical among pigs, birds and humans, the CDC said.
"We are likely to find more cases," the CDC's Dr Anne Schuchat said.
"We don't think this is time for major concern around the country."
However, some experts fear this strain, or another strain, could spark a pandemic that could kill millions.

Strange mixture

Unusually, the viruses all appear to carry genes from swine flu, avian flu and human flu viruses from North America, Europe and Asia.

"We haven't seen this strain before, but we hadn't been looking as intensively as we have," Dr Schuchat said.

"It's very possible that this is something new that hasn't been happening before."

The CDC reported the new strain of swine flu on Tuesday in two boys from California's two southernmost counties.
Now, five more cases have been seen - all found via normal surveillance for seasonal influenza.
None of the patients, whose symptoms closely resembled seasonal flu, had any direct contact with pigs.

Human-to-human spread

"We believe at this point that human-to-human spread is occurring," Dr Schuchat said.
"That's unusual. We don't know yet how widely it is spreading.
"We are also working with international partners to understand what is occurring in other parts of the world."
Two of the new cases were among 16-year-olds at the same school in San Antonio "and there's a father-daughter pair in California," Dr Schuchat said.
Surveillance for and scrutiny of influenza has been stepped up since 2003, when highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza reappeared in Asia.
H5N1 currently only rarely infects people but has killed 257 out of 421 infected in 15 countries since 2003, according to the World Health Organisation.
The influenza strain is an H1N1, the same family as one of the seasonal flu viruses now circulating.

Undetectable at home

Now that the normal influenza season is waning, it may be easier to spot cases of the new swine flu, Dr Schuchat said.
Only one of the seven cases was sick enough to be hospitalised and all have recovered.
"This isn't something that a person could detect at home," she said.
The new cases appear to have somewhat more vomiting and diarrhea than is usually seen in flu, which mostly causes coughing, fever, sore throat and muscle aches.
The CDC is already preparing a vaccine against the new strain. The agency will issue daily updates at http://www.cdc.gov/flu/swine/investigation.htm.

[Squawk]

http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,25386712-5005962,00.html

Worried about swine flu? Wash your hands

By Maggie Fox
April 25, 2009 08.37pm

WORRIED about swine flu? There is one easy way to protect against infection, health experts agree - handwashing.

Global health officials are worried about an unusual new strain of flu that may have killed as many as 68 people in Mexico, with 1000 showing possible symptoms. It has infected at least eight people in the United States.

Officials at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the California Department of Public Health said they expected to find more cases in the coming days and weeks.

Little can be done to prevent an outbreak of flu from spreading, health experts caution, but they say common sense measures can help individuals protect themselves.

Number one is hand-washing, they say - a surprisingly effective way to prevent all sorts of diseases, including ordinary influenza and the new and mysterious swine flu virus.

"Cover your cough or your sneeze, wash your hands frequently," advised Dr Richard Besser, acting CDC director.

Influenza can spread in coughs or sneezes, but an increasing body of evidence shows little particles of virus can linger on tabletops, telephones and other surfaces and be transferred via the fingers to the mouth, nose or eyes.

Alcohol-based gel or foam hand sanitizers work well to destroy viruses and bacteria.

Anyone with flu-like symptoms such as a sudden fever, cough or muscle aches should stay away from work or public transportation and should see a doctor to be tested.

"If you have the flu, then you shouldn't be getting on the bus or getting on the plane and traveling," Dr Besser said.

"Social distancing" is another tactic. It means staying away from other people who might be infected and can include avoiding large gatherings, spreading out a little at work, or perhaps staying home and lying low if an infection is spreading in a community.

[Squawk]

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/04/25/2552667.htm

Concern grows over Mexico's killer flu

Posted 3 hours 11 minutes ago
Updated 3 hours 4 minutes ago

Concern is on the rise in Mexico and the United States after officials in both countries took emergency steps to contain a new multi-strain swine flu that has killed up to 60 in Mexico and infected eight in the United States.

Mexican Health Minister Jose Angel Cordova confirmed 20 deaths from swine flu late Friday (local time) and said authorities were probing another 40 who had died with flu symptoms.

"There were 60 deaths with similar symptoms," Mr Cordova said, as authorities launched a huge campaign to prevent the spread of the virus, closing schools and urging people to avoid contact in public.

Theatres and museums in the Mexican capital have shut their doors, and authorities announced that two professional soccer games scheduled for this Sunday will be played without spectators, behind closed doors, to avoid massive gatherings of people.

Mexican President Felipe Calderon cancelled a trip and met with his cabinet to coordinate the country's response.

Medical teams were on stand-by at the capital's international airport, and all passengers had to fill out a health questionnaire.


High alert

Health officials have been investigating 943 possible swine flu infections. The US Embassy in Mexico City said some of cases may have been caused by resistant the H1N1 strain of swine flu.

In New York, health officials announced they were testing about 75 students at a Queens school for swine flu after the students exhibited flu-like symptoms, CNN television reported.

The World Health Organisation went on high alert, dispatching top experts to the United States and Mexico amid concern that the new virus could become a global epidemic.

"It's a virus that mutated from pigs and transmitted to some humans," Mr Cordova said earlier.

The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said tests show some of the Mexican victims died from the same new strain of swine flu that affected eight people in Texas and California, who later recovered.

"It's very obvious that we are very concerned. We've set up emergency operation centres," CDC spokesman Dave Daigle said.

The WHO said Canadian laboratory testing had confirmed 18 cases of swine fever among almost 1,000 Mexicans found to have an influenza-like illness in three regions - of whom 62 died.

"Because there are human cases associated with an animal influenza virus, and because of the geographical spread of multiple community outbreaks, plus the somewhat unusual age groups affected, these events are of high concern," the Swiss-based body said in a statement.

"The majority of [the Mexican] cases have occurred in otherwise healthy young adults. Influenza normally affects the very young and the very old, but these age groups have not been heavily affected in Mexico," the WHO said.

The UN health agency said samples from 12 were "genetically identical" to cases detected in the US state of California.

US medical authorities also expressed strong concern as eight known cases were reported, with United States President Barack Obama being fully briefed on an outbreak, according to a White House spokesman. The US also probed nine suspect cases.

The WHO was to send a team of experts to Mexico to work with health authorities and WHO head Margaret Chan was due to speak on the issue Saturday.

Mexico City authorities initially announced a mass vaccination campaign using regular human flu vaccines, but later admitted that the WHO had advised them that it was better to use antiviral medicines.

- AFP

[JAS]

I see Sky News and their mates on Fox News are doing their best to try and terrify the world over this...still makes a change from Al Qaeda and MRSA in every hospital and illegal immigrants around every corner and sets us up nicely now it's spring for our bird-flu scares.

I recommend reading 'Level 4 Virus Hunters of the CDC' by Joseph McCormick and Susan Fisher-hoch...excellent and fascinating biographical insight into how this sort of outbreak is dealt with. However if you're in any way, even slightly, hypochondriacal then I'd give it a miss

Regards
JAS

[Squawk]

http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,25388560-5006301,00.html

Australia's top docter urges caution on alert over swine fluMELISSA JENKINS
April 26, 2009 05:15pm


UPDATE: The nation's top doctor has urged people to be vigilant but not alarmed in response to the deadly swine flu having reached Australia's doorstep.

The new influenza strain, feared to have killed 81 people in Mexico and infected 10 in the US, has "pandemic potential", the World Health Organisation (WHO) warned on Sunday.
A New Zealand school group has been quarantined after returning from Mexico City with flu-like symptoms.

Three teachers and 22 senior students from Rangitoto College in Auckland arrived back in NZ on Saturday after a three-week Spanish language trip.

The Rudd government has come under fire from the Australian Greens for being too slow to respond after learning of the situation on Saturday.

Chief medical officer Jim Bishop said emergency departments were alerted late Saturday, while GPs were notified on Sunday.

The World Health Organisation has not changed its warning level on pandemics and Australian officials had taken that into account, he said.

"We don't think we should be very worried at the moment," he told AAP.

"We're not aware of any cases (in Australia). We have a good surveillance system in this country, we have got plenty of the anti-viral medicines.

"We're in a good state of preparedness and then obviously it will become clear (in) the next, I guess, few days, week or so, whether more steps need to be taken."

Australian Greens leader Bob Brown said the government should have done more, sooner.

"It should have been on the front foot on this yesterday," he told AAP.

"Every day in dealing with a pandemic is absolutely crucial."



Doctors have been told to alert their local public health authority if they see patients with flu-like symptoms who have travelled overseas in the last fortnight, particularly to Mexico or the US, Professor Bishop said.

They have been advised to take swabs and tell travellers with flu-like symptoms to avoid public places until they are well.

Airports are not on official alert but are aware of the situation.

Prof Bishop said the health department has been consulting with border agencies and reviewing their preparedness.

"There has been no change in the current arrangements (at airports) at this time, but that's under constant review so that could be upgraded based on information that we might get from overseas," he said.

"All the cases in the United States are mild. We don't have good information out of Mexico."

The virus, which has infected about 1,100 people in Mexico, seems to be a hybrid form of human, bird and pig flu, Prof Bishop said.

"We're concerned it would produce a new type of flu that might be less predictable," he said.

"It does seem to be (transmitted from) human to human."



Anti-viral drugs that could be sensitive to the virus are available through pharmacies and are also in the national stockpile in case of emergency.

The health protection committee, of which Professor Bishop is a member, is liaising with the WHO as well as health authorities in New Zealand and the US.

The latest information on Australia's response to swine flu will be posted on the internet at www.health.gov.au.

[JAS]

Well Mexico is a 3rd World country so hardly surprising the toll is higher there and those who choose to visit or live near a border with a massive illegal immigration problem will run the risks of contracting it too. Our news is all over it too...a BA cabin crew member in quarantine after a flight back.

Sorry to be so cynical but my money is on it being the same as SARS...a gift for the media/governments to make out they're looking after us all but it'll be old news soon enough or when something more exciting comes along.

Regards
JAS

[Dog_ger]

This could be serious.

[zipzap]

My parents-in-law have been in Mexico all week FFS. They have just left for Vegas to presumably spread the porcine plague to thousands of multinational visitors who will head home blissfully unaware of the bacon bacteria within.

Geez I hope they give them a major spray in customs - they're not coming anywhere near my kids!!

[lesthemechanic]

My parents-in-law have been in Mexico all week FFS. They have just left for Vegas to presumably spread the porcine plague to thousands of multinational visitors who will head home blissfully unaware of the bacon bacteria within.

Geez I hope they give them a major spray in customs - they're not coming anywhere near my kids!!

Good an excuse as any I've ever heard to keep away from the Mother in Law. I'm lucky, mine lives in Canada.

[zipzap]

My parents-in-law have been in Mexico all week FFS. They have just left for Vegas to presumably spread the porcine plague to thousands of multinational visitors who will head home blissfully unaware of the bacon bacteria within.

Geez I hope they give them a major spray in customs - they're not coming anywhere near my kids!!

Good an excuse as any I've ever heard to keep away from the Mother in Law. I'm lucky, mine lives in Canada.

The thought had crossed my mind

[mal]

THE SWINE FLU HAS HIT CHINA
HEALTH AUTHORITIES HAVE MADE A PRESS RELEASE THAT THE SWINE FLU A MULTI CELL VIRUS HAS MUTATED WITH THE BIRD FLU.
THE NEW STRAIN OF VIRUS IS CALLED PIGS SARS

[magpie in the 80's]

[hearts on fire]

Im scared.

[JAS]

HOF don't let 'em scare you yet...a lot of the suspected cases will probably turn out to be nothing (the ones in Ireland were false alarms) and the 2 here in Scotland are confirmed but very mild.

This is the BBC's Q&A page and I'm sure your more sensible media outlets will have something similar...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/8021958.stm

Regards
JAS

[Dog_ger]

Be Scared Everyone.

Take Precautions.

Went to the supermarket yesterday,

I hate it when someone coughs or sneezes.

If you feel sick, STAY HOME.

This is not the pandemic. But the next one may be.

I hate it when a relation drops in, has a couple of coffees and then says,

I feel like crap, I think I have the FLU....

[Dog_ger]

The tree of life is not a lush green tree.

It has many dead branches.

The evolution of life has many different branches.

Some die off.

But the big picture, The strongest survive.

[hearts on fire]

your a wise man Dog_ger

[JAS]

Oh good grief...and no MAN on earth has ever had a mild head cold...it's always flu

Dog_ger I reckon Swine Flu could be the least of your worries...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_in ... e_syndrome

Regards
JAS

[Dog_ger]

No point worrying about it HOF...

Enjoy Life... Nothing else matters.

[GWW]

No point worrying about it HOF...

Just worry when a relative comes around for coffee hey Dog_ger