Influenza Virus Mashup

(Sat, 30 May 2009 06:24:23 -0500)

The natural reservoir for most influenza viruses is birds, especially aquatic birds, but some versions of the virus have also become adapted to the host cells of other species, among them sea mammals, horses, dogs and of course pigs and humans (among others). How long is the list? We really don’t know, as there has been little systematic inquiry into influenza hosts in the natural world. While human influenza is seasonal in the northern and southern hemispheres, where it goes in the “off season” is a matter of debate. Most flu experts think it remains at low levels in the community, spiking to outbreak levels during “flu season” for reasons that are yet to be agreed upon. Another possibility is that it remains in some unidentified non-human reservoir. And there is surprisingly little information about influenza in tropical climes (see this interesting piece by Declan Butler in Nature).

A paper just published in Emerging Infectious Diseases is a stark example that the virus could exist almost anywhere. The paper describes an outbreak with a human seasonal H1N1 virus in a colony of Myrmecophaga tridactyla, more popularly known as The Giant Anteater:

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Via Xinhua: Venezuela declares state of emergency to avoid A/H1N1 spread. Excerpt:

Venezuelan health authorities declared on Friday a state of emergency after reporting the first case of A/H1N1 influenza in the country on Thursday.     

President from the National Institute of Hygiene (INH) Jesus Querales said the Health Ministry gave orders to all private and public doctors “to be on alert.”    

Querales said that the first case of A/H1N1 flu in the country is a male patient who arrived from Panama and the health authorities monitor the rest of the passengers who were on the same flight.     

Querales also called on people to go to health centers when having any of the symptoms.  

“These virus are characterized for their high capacity to reproduce, but the mortality rate is low,” Querales said.

Via La Prensa: Panama confirma 130 casos de nueva gripe. [Panama confirms 130 cases of H1N1] Excerpt, with my translation below: 

Las autoridades de salud informaron hoy, viernes, de 23 nuevos casos de gripe porcina, con lo cual aumenta a 130 el número de contagiados en Panamá. 

Ninguno de los infectados por el virus de la influenza A(H1N1) está hospitalizado, dijo el Ministerio de Salud en su más reciente informe.

Detalló que a 81 pacientes se les ha dado de alta epidemiológica y se han reincorporado a su vida cotidiana. 

Desde que se conocieron los primeros casos el ocho de mayo, las autoridades han descartado 272 casos sospechosos, cuyas pruebas de laboratorio resultaron negativas. 

Health authorities announced 23 new cases of swine flu on Friday, making a total of 130 infected in Panama.

None of those infected has been hospitalized, said the minister of health. 

He said that 81 patients have recovered and returned to their normal lives. 

Since the first cases were identified on May 8, the authorities have cleared 272 suspicious cases whose laboratory tests were negative.

(Sat, 30 May 2009 03:51:39 GMT)

Reminder: Please do not post whole articles, just snippets and links. Thanks!!

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News for May 29, 2009 is here.

Thanks to all of the newshounds! Special thanks to the newshound volunteers who translate international stories - thanks for keeping us all informed!

Other useful links:

CDC A(H1N1) Site

WHO A(H1N1) Site

WHO H5N1 human case totals, last updated May 28, 2009
Charts and Graphs on H5N1 from WHO
Google Flu Trends (U.S.)
CDC Weekly Influenza Summary
Map of seasonal influenza in the U.S.
CDC Morbidity & Mortality Weekly Report and this week
CIDPC (Canada) Weekly FluWatch
European CDC Influenza News
Flu Wiki Main Page

Via the New Zealand Ministry of Health: Influenza A (H1N1) Swine Flu - Update Fifty-three. Excerpt:

New Zealand’s efforts to contain the influenza A (H1N1) swine flu virus and delay any spread into the community, continue to be successful. 

There remains no evidence of community spread of the virus in New Zealand. All of New Zealand’s cases had recently returned from travel in affected areas or were close contacts of cases. But as more countries report cases and more see local spread of the virus, it will become increasingly difficult to keep influenza A (H1N1) out of New Zealand. 

Given the continuing increase in the number of overseas cases being notified to the World Health Organization, the Ministry of Health has updated its information for travellers and is working with Customs to ensure all incoming international travellers receive the notification. There will also be a greater profile of health information at airports through posters and billboards. The number of confirmed cases in Australia continues to rise (148), and some schools have been closed. 

New Zealand’s Director of Public Health Dr Mark Jacobs will be writing to schools next week to advise them about the issue, and what it might mean for schools when the infection starts to spread in New Zealand. 

It’s been over three years since the planning was done around Avian Influenza. The messages are largely the same though systems and processes need to be revisited to make sure they are up-to-date.

Via the Sydney Morning Herald: Vic doctors’ flu supplies ‘running out’. Excerpt:

Victorian doctors on the front line of the growing swine-flu outbreak are rapidly running out of supplies to protect themselves, the state’s peak medical body says. 

Australian Medical Association Victorian president Dr Harry Hemley says an urgent call went out on Saturday for access to federal stockpiles of masks, gowns, gloves and the antiviral drug Tamiflu. 

He says back-up supplies have run out and medical staff in the northern epicentre of the Melbourne outbreak are at risk. 

“We’re running out of the necessary equipment to help protect the staff and the doctors and the allied health people from contracting the swine flu and also we’re running out of masks also to protect our patients in the waiting rooms as well,” Dr Hemley said. 

“To help limit the spread, it’s very important to have that equipment so we’re actually calling on the federal government to release their stockpile, certainly to the northern suburbs of Melbourne.”

Via the Australian Broadcasting Corporation: ACT confirms fourth case of swine flu. Excerpt:

There has been another case of swine flu confirmed in the ACT[Australian Capital Territory]. 

A 53-year-old woman has been diagnosed with the disease, and has been placed in isolation. 

Health Minister Katy Gallagher says the woman has been treated with Tamiflu and is quite well. 

“She’s already been in isolation and given Tamiflu prior to her confirmed status, so on that front very good, the process is working well and thankfully she’s quite well,” she said. 

“But it is our fourth case and we will be expecting more over the next week.” 

The national figure stands at more than 200. 

Meanwhile, the ACT Government is in the final stages of setting up a medical clinic dedicated to managing swine flu cases. 

Ms Gallagher says getting the swine flu clinic up and running is part of the the Government’s pandemic strategy.

Another thought the Australians are considering before we are: What do you do if your national capital might be paralyzed by a disease outbreak?

Here is WHO | Influenza A(H1N1) - update 41. Excerpt:

As of 06:00 GMT, 29 May 2009, 53 countries have officially reported 15,510 cases of influenza A(H1N1) infection, including 99 deaths.

The update also says that “Chinese Taipei has reported 9 confirmed cases of influenza A (H1N1) with 0 deaths. Cases from Chinese Taipei are included in the cumulative totals provided in the table above.”

Via Bloomberg.com, a report dated May 30: Australian Swine Flu Count Rises to 208; Cruise Ship Arrives. Excerpt:

Australia confirmed more swine flu cases and let a Carnival Corp. cruise ship with infected passengers and crew dock at a port on its east coast. 

The country’s infection count increased to 208, from 168 yesterday, the Department of Health and Ageing said today in a 5 a.m. bulletin on its Web site. 

The cruise ship Pacific Dawn has berthed in Brisbane as the Queensland government invoked quarantine powers to stop passengers who don’t live in the state from disembarking, the Courier Mail reported. 

Carnival plans to reimburse vacationers cruising Australia’s Great Barrier Reef after 53 passengers and crew tested positive for the H1N1 virus following two voyages on the vessel. 

The ship was asked not to dock at some ports in Queensland’s northern tourist centers this week to stop the spread of the virus.

Australia is becoming our canary in the coal mine. Every national health department on the planet should be sending its best epidemiologists and public-health experts there, to lend a hand and to take very, very detailed notes.

I just complained about Hawaii and Canada as slow reporters of H1N1 cases. Now, via El Universal, Mexico joins the club: Suman 97 muertos por influenza en México. [97 dead from influenza in Mexico]. Excerpt, with my translation below:

La cifra de casos de influenza A H1N1 confirmados en México llegó a cinco mil 29, de los cuales 97 fallecieron, informó este viernes la Secretaría de Salud y anunció que a partir del próximo lunes, 1 de junio, los reportes sobre este virus se darán a conocer cada tercer día, lunes, miércoles y viernes.

The total of confirmed Mexican cases of H1N1 has reached 5,029, of which 97 have died, the Health Secretariat announced this Friday. It also said that as of next Monday, June 1, reports on this virus will appear every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

This may be politically convenient in the short term, but pushing H1N1 into the background is going to be disastrous in the long term.