Influenza Virus Mashup

(This is just my way of thinking folks, but I take this as mjor news and should be taken very seriously.-cottontop)

MONDAY, Feb. 22 (HealthDay News) — Research in mice suggests the avian flu virus and the ordinary seasonal flu virus could combine to create a new deadly kind of flu, (Snip)

A single bit of genetic material from the seasonal virus converted the avian flu –officially known as H5N1 — into a very dangerous form, the scientists report in a study published in the Feb. 22-26 online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. “Some hybrids between H5N1 virus and seasonal influenza viruses were more pathogenic than the original H5N1 viruses. That is worrisome,” study senior author Yoshihiro Kawaoka, a virologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said in a news release.

The researchers warn that swine flu — H1N1 — could also play a role in viral combinations.

(Snip) the reality is that H5N1 avian virus is still out there,” Kawaoka said. “Our data suggests that it is possible there may be reassortment between H5N1 and pandemic H1N1 that can create a more pathogenic H5N1 virus.”

http://news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20100223/hl_hsn/deadlyhybridflupossible?

Africa
• Gambia is Prepared for Swine Flu’ Says Health Official (Link)
• Ghana: Outbreak of new strain of cerebrospinal meningitis: 17 killed (Link)
• Uganda: Meningitis outbreak hits West Nile (Link)

Egypt
• Death of a child from H1N1: total now 270 cases (Link)
• 33 H5N1 cases since Feb. 1 (Link)

Indonesia
• Two Bird Flu Suspects in Central Java (Link)
• Pork ban lifted (Link)

Mexico
• Epidemiologists Explore Dynamics of Mexico’s H1N1 Pandemic (Link)

Myanmar
• H5N1 in birds (Link)

Russia
• Unknown intestinal infection in poultry workers (Link)

Taiwan
• Taipei: low-path H5N2 among poultry (Link)

United States
• US: FDA Panel Recommends Single Flu Vaccine (Link)
• WA: Baby, born to swine flu victim, dies in father’s arms (Link)

• Swine Flu May Have Infected 63 Million Americans, Study Finds (Link)

Vietnam
• Three-year-old baby infected with A/H1N1 — H5N1 in Ca Mau (Link)
• Khanh Hoa girl is first bird flu patient of the year (Link)

General
• Poll: Americans favor getting antibiotics after anthrax attack (Link) 
• Study yields highly pathogenic avian, human flu virus mix (Link)

Research
• Virus hybridization could create pandemic bird flu (Article and abstract)
• After H1N1, Researchers Warn of a Potential New Superbug [another article on the above study] (Link)

Commentary
• Recombinomics: WHO H1N1 Vaccine Target Selection Failure (Link)

General
• ProMED: Influenza Pandemic (H1N1) (18): WHO Update (Link)

Via Reuters: Pandemic has not peaked yet, WHO experts advise. Excerpt:

The pandemic of H1N1 swine flu has not yet peaked, a committee of experts advised the World Health Organization on Tuesday. 

“The committee advised that it was premature to conclude that all parts of the world have experienced peak transmission of the H1N1 pandemic influenza and that additional time and information was needed to provide expert advice on the status of the pandemic,” WHO spokesman Gregory Hartl said by e-mail.

WHO hasn’t posted anything on its website yet, but I gather it will hold a news conference on Wednesday. I’ll link to its statement as soon as it’s up.

Via Radio Prague: Government makes swine flu vaccine available to broader public. Excerpt:

Originally, one million doses of the swine flu vaccine was to have been available only to those at the greatest health risk, including health workers and those suffering from serious and long-term illnesses. Now, that has changed: on Monday the government agreed that the vaccine will be available to almost all. 

The only question is, whether the new broad access to the swine flu shot will boost what until now has been surprisingly low interest. 

Almost from the get-go patients’ interest in the swine flu vaccine has been lower - far lower - than anyone expected and the question now that the government has made the vaccine available to all is whether that will change. 

On Monday, according to sources, even government ministers offered the shot by the health minister refused it: not much of an example for the rest of the population. 

Still, flu experts have largely recommended that those who can now should strongly consider getting the vaccine, given that the swine flu has become dominant among flu strains. Despite the drop in incidence, experts say it will continue to spread and they also warn that swine flu will again dominate the next flu season.

Via Thanh Nien Daily: Khanh Hoa girl is first bird flu patient of the year. Excerpt:

A three-year-old girl in the central province of Khanh Hoa has tested positive for H5N1, becoming the country’s first bird flu patient this year, the Ministry of Health reported in Hanoi on Monday. 

The girl, who lives in Ninh Hoa District’s Ninh Than Commune, fell sick with fever, sore throat, cough and a runny nose on January 27.
She was admitted to Ninh Hoa Hospital the next day and was confirmed to be infected with the virus on February 12, according to the ministry. 

The girl was recovering, it said. 

An inspection conducted in Ninh Than showed no sign of the avian flu in the commune, and the poultry raised by the girl’s family showed no signs of sickness. 

However, the ministry’s inspectors found that about a month earlier, ostriches had died of unclear reason sat a farm a kilometer away from the patient’s home. 

According to the ministry, 112 people had been infected by H5N1 since 2003, and 57 have died.

(Tue, 23 Feb 2010 13:58:00 +0000)

# 4375

While I’m mindful of the the Law of Unintended Consequences, which always seems positioned to remind mankind that it’s not nice to fool with Mother Nature, scientists have come up with a unique way – they believe – will help control mosquito borne Dengue fever.

Essentially, they plan to release genetically altered male Aedes Aegypti mosquitoes that would produce flightless female offspring, a trait not carried forward by the males.

Since female mosquitoes are the ones that bite and transmit Dengue, grounding them would go a long way towards reducing the disease.  

Whether this sparks protests from `mosquito’s rights’ advocacy groups remains to be seen. 

This report from the BBC.

 

‘Lame’ mosquitoes to stop dengue

The dengue virus is spread by infected female Aedes aegypti mosquitoes

Scientists are breeding a genetically altered strain of mosquito in an effort to curb the spread of dengue fever.

 

The dengue virus is spread by the bite of infected female mosquitoes and there is no vaccine or treatment.

 

Experts say the illness affects up to 100 million people a year and threatens over a third of the world’s population.

 

Scientists hope their genetically altered males will mate with females to create female offspring that will inherit a gene limiting wing growth.

 

The study is published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The scientists say their approach offers a safe, efficient alternative to harmful insecticides and could be used to stop other diseases spread by mosquitoes, like malaria.

 

They estimate that if released, the new breed could sustainably suppress the native mosquito population in six to nine months.

(Continue . . . )

For those who would like more than the BBC condensed version, here is the PNAS abstract, and a link to the entire open access article.

 

Female-specific flightless phenotype for mosquito control

Guoliang Fu Rosemary S. Lees  Derric Nimmo Diane Aw Li Jin  Pam Gray Thomas U. Berendonk Helen White-Cooper Sarah Scaife Hoang Kim Phuc Osvaldo Marinotti Nijole Jasinskiene Anthony A. James Luke Alphey

Abstract

Dengue and dengue hemorrhagic fever are increasing public health problems with an estimated 50–100 million new infections each year. Aedes aegypti is the major vector of dengue viruses in its range and control of this mosquito would reduce significantly human morbidity and mortality. Present mosquito control methods are not sufficiently effective and new approaches are needed urgently.

 

A “sterile-male-release” strategy based on the release of mosquitoes carrying a conditional dominant lethal gene is an attractive new control methodology. Transgenic strains of Aedes aegypti were engineered to have a repressible female-specific flightless phenotype using either two separate transgenes or a single transgene, based on the use of a female-specific indirect flight muscle promoter from the Aedes aegypti Actin-4 gene.

 

These strains eliminate the need for sterilization by irradiation, permit male-only release (“genetic sexing”), and enable the release of eggs instead of adults. Furthermore, these strains are expected to facilitate area-wide control or elimination of dengue if adopted as part of an integrated pest management strategy.

(Tue, 23 Feb 2010 12:17:00 +0000)

(Updated)

# 4374

Meanwhile, in Indonesia  . . .

Ida at The Bird Flu Information Corner – a joint endeavor between Kobe University, in Japan and the Institute of Tropical Disease, Airlangga University, Indonesia – has a translation of a local TV news report on two suspect H5N1 cases in the central Java town of Megelang.

 

 

 

Magelang, Central Java ::: Two bird flu suspect patients

Magelang – A 36-year-old woman, named Sururi, and a 16-month-old boy, named Rizki Putrawan, were treated at Unit G, Tidar Hospital in Magelang, Central Java as they suspected of contracting bird flu virus H5N1. Sururi is a resident of Desa Balarejo, while Rizki is a resident of Desa Madurekso, which both places are the name of villages in Kecamatan (sub-district) Kaliangkrik.

 

The boy’s mother said that her son had high fever of unknown cause. Rizki had been brought to public health center nearby his house before been transferred to Tidar hospital to get intensive treatment. Afterward, he had been recovered and discharged from hospital.

 

In mean time, the hospital is still treating the other suspect patient woman, Sururi.

 

Source: Indonesia regional TV, TATV.

Updated: 7:40 EST

As I posted the above translation the details seemed a bit familiar to me, but a quick search of my blog didn’t turn up a similar report.  

A few minutes ago, Commonground contacted me and let me know that Dutchy had a series of earlier reports on these cases going back to the 17th, and had posted it on FluTrackers.

My thanks to Commonground, Dutchy, Ida and the rest of the flu forum newshounds – without whose considerable efforts, this blog would be impossible to maintain.

(Tue, 23 Feb 2010 12:08:00 +0000)

# 4373

We actually got our first hint about this story coming out of Vietnam yesterday, when Treyfish on FluTrackers posted a series of translated news reports on this thread. 

Although machine translations are pretty good for conveying the gist of a story, the details can be a bit more of a challenge to interpret.  Luckily, Vietnam is one of the countries where we usually get an English language version of their bird flu reports within a few hours.

Overnight  we got just such a report from the Thanhnien News.

 Wikipedia Map

Last Updated: Tuesday, February 23, 2010 16:34:53 Vietnam (GMT+07)

 

Khanh Hoa girl is first bird flu patient of the year

A three-year-old girl in the central province of Khanh Hoa has tested positive for H5N1, becoming the country’s first bird flu patient this year, the Ministry of Health reported in Hanoi on Monday.

 

The girl, who lives in Ninh Hoa District’s Ninh Than Commune, fell sick with fever, sore throat, cough and a runny nose on January 27.

 

She was admitted to Ninh Hoa Hospital the next day and was confirmed to be infected with the virus on February 12, according to the ministry.

 

The girl was recovering, it said.

 

An inspection conducted in Ninh Than showed no sign of the avian flu in the commune, and the poultry raised by the girl’s family showed no signs of sickness.

 

However, the ministry’s inspectors found that about a month earlier, ostriches had died of unclear reason sat a farm a kilometer away from the patient’s home.

 

According to the ministry, 112 people had been infected by H5N1 since 2003, and 57 have died.

Via Ida at Bird Flu Information Corner, a report from a regional media outlet, TATV: Magelang, Central Java ::: Two bird flu suspect patients.

A 36-year-old woman, named Sururi, and a 16-month-old boy, named Rizki Putrawan, were treated at Unit G, Tidar Hospital in Magelang, Central Java as they suspected of contracting bird flu virus H5N1. 

Sururi is a resident of Desa Balarejo, while Rizki is a resident of Desa Madurekso, which both places are the name of villages in Kecamatan (sub-district) Kaliangkrik. 

The boy’s mother said that her son had high fever of unknown cause. Rizki had been brought to public health center nearby his house before been transferred to Tidar hospital to get intensive treatment. Afterward, he had been recovered and discharged from hospital. 

In mean time, the hospital is still treating the other suspect patient woman, Sururi.

Via the National Post: Family mourns Toronto rapper killed by H1N1. Excerpt:

Sharon Modeste recalls the stunned numbness she felt the day her vibrant young son succumbed to the H1N1 virus just before Christmas. 

Advanced by the 21-year-old’s diabetes, the flu felled Matthew Modeste in a matter of days. But the family is just now learning how their loss has saved several lives. 

“To me he’s a hero. He gave somebody a second chance in life,” an emotional Ms. Modeste said during an interview at her apartment in Toronto’s Weston neighbourhood. 

Mr. Modeste, an aspiring rapper known as “Scrilla,” donated his kidneys, liver, eyes and some tissue. At least three people — ranging in age from 22 to more than 50 years old — have been saved as a result, the family recently learned through the provincial organ donor agency.

Via Google News, an AFP report: S.Korea sends flu aid to N.Korea despite tensions. Excerpt:

South Korea Tuesday sent aid worth hundreds of thousands of dollars to help North Korea fight swine flu despite recent military tensions between the two sides. 

Twenty trucks carrying 200,000 litres of hand sanitiser crossed the closely guarded frontier en route to the North’s border town of Kaesong, Seoul’s unification ministry said. 

The sanitiser worth one billion won (863,000 dollars) follows Seoul’s shipment in December of Tamiflu and Relenza, worth 15 million dollars and enough to treat 500,000 people. 

The delivery of the anti-viral drugs marked Seoul’s first government-level assistance to its impoverished communist neighbour for nearly two years. 

North Korea in December reported nine cases of the (A)H1N1 virus but has not announced any deaths. Seoul officials and private groups suspect there are more cases and that the disease is spreading amid poor health conditions. 

Seoul-based welfare group Good Friends in December reported about 50 deaths in the North.