Influenza Virus Mashup

Via the Guardian, a report dated June 1: Swine flu pandemic likely to hit UK in early autumn before vaccine is ready. Excerpt:

The UK is likely to be struck by a swine flu pandemic in the early autumn before a vaccine is available, an influenza expert said yesterday. 

A pandemic should be expected in September or October when schools and universities reopen and people return from their summer holidays, said John Oxford, professor of virology at St Bartholomew’s and the Royal London hospital. 

The warning came as the Health Protection Agency (HPA) confirmed another 14 cases of swine flu in England, bringing the UK total to 244. 

The professor said the number of cases in Britain unrelated to travel suggested the H1N1 virus was “silently spreading around”. 

Oxford said: “When children go back to school in September the virus has an opportunity, and normally it takes it. That’s the scenario we should prepare for and that’s what we are preparing for.”

His comments came as the HPA wrote to the parents of pupils at Eton College stating there are now four confirmed cases and 32 suspected cases of swine flu at the school. A 13-year-old pupil tested positive for the illness last week, prompting the Berkshire school to close for a week. 

The professor urged people to observe good hygiene. “I view it like a medieval castle, with several layers of defence,” he said. “You’ve got the outer layer that is hygiene and social distancing, then the virus breaks through that and then we have antivirals like Tamiflu and then the final layer is the vaccine.”

To extend a metaphor from my post just below, when the Turks have come over the walls, a few street barricades around Hagia Sophia are not going to save the Byzantine Empire.

Via the Australian department of health: Health Emergency - H1N1 Influenza 09 (Human Swine Influenza) Outbreak. Excerpt:

There were five (5) new confirmed cases of Human Swine Flu reported overnight, all in Queensland. The new cases include two people in Cairns including the mother of the 13 year old girl who was confirmed as having H1N1 Influenza on Saturday and a year eight student from St Mary’s Catholic College, Woree. 

There are three from the Gold Coast. One of these was a passenger on the Pacific Dawn that berthed in Sydney on Monday 25 May 2009. The other two people were identified contacts of this case. 

This brings the number of confirmed Swine Flu cases in Queensland to 20. 

The total of confirmed Human Swine Influenza cases in Australia as at 0500 AEST today to 302. Every Australian States and Territories now has at least one confirmed case. The breakdown is: ACT 4, NSW 57, SA 6, Qld 20, Tas 1, Vic 212, WA 1, NT 1

Via Lew Rockwell.com: Swine Flu Hysteria to Be Launched Again. Excerpt:

The day that Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano declared a national emergency due to a few swine flu outbreaks almost seems like a front-page story from The Onion. 

Since this “national emergency” lost traction and the swine flu hysteria became nothing more than pesky chattiness, the agents of hysteria have been frustrated at the result of their plans for mass hysteria. 

But Big Government ain’t giving up on this one just yet. There’s still hysteria to be spread for the purpose of 1) grabbing more powers for government due to the appearance of an extraordinary crisis that is sweeping America and the world, and, even more so, 2) there is still billions to be made for the vaccine producers in the Big Government-Big Pharma corporate state.

Well, the West Bengal media beat up their Communist government for not being hysterical enough about bird flu, so I guess it’s fair for the US right wing to complain that Washington under Obama is entirely too hysterical. As Virchow famously said, “Politics is medicine conducted on a large scale.”

Via Australia’s ABC News: All passengers clear as flu ship docks in Sydney. Excerpt:

New South Wales health authorities say all the passengers on the cruise ship Pacific Dawn, which has docked in Sydney this morning, have been cleared of swine flu. 

New South Wales Chief Medical Officer Dr Kerry Chant says passengers will allowed to get off the ship as normal after it has finished docking at Darling Harbour. 

“I can confirm that the last test result came back as negative so we have no evidence of any swine influenza transmission to any passengers on board the cruise ship. So the normal disembarkation procedures will occur,” Dr Chant said. 

Despite some experts making dire predictions about the spread of the swine flu, in recent days the Government and health officials have been trying to play down the threat it poses. 

Virologist Allan Hampson is the chairman of the Influenza Specialists Group. He says the swine flu is a threat, but it is one that is being kept in check for the time being. 

“We’re still very definitely - to my mind - within that contained phase that the Government has declared, and a long way I think yet from moving into the sustained phase, which would be an admission that the virus is spreading out of control,” he said. 

“A lot of the cases we’ve seen are in large clusters, where it’s known where the virus has originated, including that cruise ship, which has been the source of a lot of cases.”

(Sun, 31 May 2009 15:59:51 -0500)

We’ve had occasion to write about the endocrine noise-maker bisphenol-A (BPA) quote a few times (see here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here for starters). The word about BPA has gotten to consumers and they have fled BPA-containing products like they are swine flu carriers. Meanwhile the scientific evidence is piling up and what the market hasn’t done will likely bring BPA into the cross-hairs of food safety regulations, if not via the FDA then by state and local governments, some of which have already acted.

So it looks like the writing is on the wall for BPA unless the food packaging industry can reverse the trend. They can’t fight it on science, so they are desperately casting about for the right set of lies. It’s not easy, as we learn from these leaked minutes of a private meeting held Thursday about “potential communication/media strategies around BPA” at an exclusive Washington, DC social club (The Cosmos Club). This is a peek behind the curtain and it’s not pretty. The document has been verified as authentic:

Read the rest of this post… | Read the comments on this post…

Via the Business Standard: Bird flu hits Bengal again. Excerpt:

Even as the threat of swine flu continues, a fresh outbreak of the highly pathogenic avian influenza (bird flu) has been reported from West Bengal.

About 20 backyard poultry birds were reported to have died on May 20 in the rural areas of Uttar Dinajpur in West Bengal, not far from the Assam and Bangladesh border. 

These birds were confirmed on May 25 to have died of the most virulent H5N1 strain of bird flu. All the samples tested by the High Security Animal Disease Laboratory, Bhopal, and the National Institute of Virology, Pune, had tested positive for this virus. 

The animal husbandry department formally notified the outbreak of bird flu in the area to the World Organisation of Animal Health(OIE) on May 28. It also told OIE that measures — curbs on the movement of poultry products, screening and culling of domestic poultry in a 3 km radius around the outbreak spots — have already been taken. 

No vaccination or treatment of the affected birds has been resorted to, as part of the government’s strategy to tackle bird flu. The places of infection would be suitably disinfected. 

The latest eruption of bird flu has occurred around six months after the last outbreak of this disease in Hajo, Rajabazar and Kamrup areas of Assam. About 325 birds had died of H5N1 infection at the time. Besides, over 52,000 birds in a 3 km area around these spots were culled.

Such outbreaks tend to cause a lot of political unrest in West Bengal, not to mention acrimony between India and Bangladesh as to whose fault it is.

Via The Australian: Plan to treat, not contain swine flu. Excerpt:

Federal health authorities are considering abandoning the strategy of quarantining people who come into contact with swine flu, with the virus now outstripping Victorian attempts to contain it. 

Last night[May 31] there were 303 confirmed cases of swine flu in Australia of which 212 were in Victoria. In the past 24 hours 39 new cases were diagnosed in that state, and again the majority were school-aged children. 

As a result, six more schools will close today, bringing the total number of closures in Victoria to 11. Two secondary schools in far north Queensland will also close this week after two girls in Cairns tested positive for the virus over the weekend, bringing the Queensland tally to 20. 

Parents of Year 8 children at St Monica’s and St Mary’s in Cairns were yesterday briefed by public health officials on the infections. While health authorities were not giving any official reasons how the virus entered far north Queensland, it is believed that one of the girls recently returned from overseas, and she passed it on to the other girl. The mother of one of the girls has also tested positive.

Via Stuff.co.nz: Swine flu alert goes out to schools. Excerpt:

Schools nationwide are on notice and Queenstown Airport is ramping up border controls as the global swine-flu alert grows. 

The Ministry of Health is tomorrow sending letters to schools outlining what swine flu “will mean for schools when the infection starts to spread in New Zealand”. 

At least 11 schools in Australia had been closed,as confirmed cases there mushroomed to 303 yesterday. Victorian Health Minister Daniel Andrews said yesterday most of the new cases were children, aged five to 18. 

New Zealand’s Ministry of Education renewed advice to schools last week to be prepared for swine flu. 

“The recent outbreaks of swine flu are just the latest reminder that the potential for a pandemic is real,” the ministry said. 

“If you haven’t done so lately, now is the time to check your school or [early childhood] service’s pandemic plan. Ensure it’s up to date and that everyone knows what to do if the virus appears at your school or ECE service.” 

Principals’ Federation president Ernie Buutveld said it was prudent for schools to review their processes. 

The rapid spread of the disease in Australia had led to concerns over Queenstown’s preparedness for a winter influx of tourists. 

Health Ministry national incident controller Steve Brazier said that as confirmed cases of swine flu in Australia grew, it would become harder for New Zealand to contain the spread. 

Screening was already in place at Queenstown Airport but would be stepped up for the ski season, Brazier said. Buutveld said Queenstown schools were on notice.

That made me wonder how my own North Vancouver school district is preparing for a possible serious outbreak of H1N1. That led me to this page, which has some information and useful links, but nothing that looks like a district plan.

Here’s today’s HPA - Update on confirmed swine flu cases. Excerpt:

14 further patients under investigation in England have today been confirmed with swine flu. Together with one case in Wales announced by the Welsh Assembly today (May 31 2009) the current total number of confirmed UK cases is now 244.

Via Reuters: Jamaica reports its first confirmed H1N1 flu cases. Excerpt:

Jamaica reported its first confirmed cases of H1N1 flu in two of its citizens who returned recently to the Caribbean island from the United States, the Health Ministry said at the weekend. 

A ministry statement released late on Saturday said both citizens, who were unrelated, had been to New York. They have both recovered, it said. 

“Household contacts have been investigated, samples taken, and they have been declared in good health by the medical teams,” the ministry said, without giving further details.