This could be the real Deal! Swine Flu Mexico

[beast]

MEXICO CITY: The global swine flu epidemic showed a sharp rise on Tuesday as the number of cases in the United States jumped by more than a third, denting optimism that the crisis was being tamed.

As Mexico counted the cost to its economy and prepared to put up business as usual notices after a five-day shutdown, world health officials said the A(H1N1) virus had now affected 1,419 people, including 30 who have died. The figure from the UN’s World Health Organisation (WHO) was a significant rise from Tuesday when 1,124 cases had been confirmed with 26 deaths.

Meanwhile the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the number of confirmed cases in the United States had jumped from 286 to 403 in the last 24 hours. Thirty-eight of the 50 states are now affected with two more states — Georgia and Maine — confirming cases.

In Illinois, the number of confirmed infections rose more than tenfold in the space of 24 hours, climbing from eight cases on Monday to 82. New York continues to lead the tally, with 90 confirmed cases of H1N1 flu. “CDC expects that more cases, more hospitalisations and more deaths from this outbreak will occur over the coming days and weeks,” the health agency said in a statement posted on the Internet. Asia’s first person-to-person swine flu infection was confirmed by officials in South Korea, who said a nun had caught the disease from her colleague. Although it was not immediately clear where the latest deaths had occured, the United States is the only other country apart from Mexico to have recorded any deaths, that of a Mexican toddler in a Texas hospital. However the president, in a televised address, said it was coming to the point where the country could start returning to normal after the virus had peaked. Starting on Wednesday, Mexico would progressively return to normal activities by reopening its businesses, schools, museums and other venues closed for a week or more, Calderon explained.


Source: http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=176043

[beast]

TORONTO — A Canadian woman with swine flu has died, a health official said Friday, but he noted that she also had serious underlying medical conditions.

Dr. Andre Corriveau, Alberta's chief medical officer of health, said it's the first death associated with the swine flu in Canada.

The woman was in her 30s and had other health problems but Corriveau would not elaborate on them. She died on April 28 in her hometown in northern Alberta, Corriveau told reporters.

Health officials tested her remains earlier this week after a relative contracted a mild form of swine flu on May 5.

Source: http://www.newsvine.com/_news/2009/05/08/2792338-canada-says-woman-with-swine-flu-dies

[beast]

.

[beast]

A crew member on a cruise ship currently in Alaska waters has been diagnosed with probable infection of A/H1N1 influenza, health authorities in the U.S. state of Alaska announced on Sunday. In a statement, Alaska Department of Health and Social Services said it was notified by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) about the probable case on Serenade of the Seas, a Royal Caribbean ship now traveling through Alaska waters. A female crew member onboard the ship became ill while the ship was in the U.S. state of Washington. Testing on the crew member was performed by a Washington laboratory and the CDC is in the process of validating the laboratory's results. The patient has been isolated since the ship left Washington. She is now taking antiviral drugs and is recovering, but will remain isolated throughout the duration of the ship's voyage in Alaska waters, health officials said. If confirmed, it will be the first case of A/H1N1 flu in Alaska, one of few states in the U.S. that are free of the new flu so far.

[beast]

A country to watch the next couple of weeks.

-------

Bandung, West Java ::: Swine flu suspect condition

Bandung, West Java – The condition of E (39), co-pilot of Air Asia from Surabaya who is being treated at  isolation unit Hasan Sadikin hospital, Bandung, has not improved yet.

He is still observed having high body temperature about 38?, breathing difficulty and coughing.

E was admitted to hospital yesterday evening (11/5). He is suggested to be infected by swine flu virus. Previously, E is reported flying to Malaysia, Singapore and Jakarta.

“Samples have been sent for examination, but we can’t announce the result. The authority is belonging to Health Minister”, said dr Sudjana, a doctor team who responsible for swine flu case in Hasan Sadikin hospital.

 

Source: Indonesia local newspaper, Tribun Jabar.
Source: http://www.tribunjabar.co.id/read/artikel/7518/kondisi-suspect-flu-babi-di-rshs-masih-buruk

[beast]

New virus "very unstable", more changes seen-expert
Tue May 12, 2009 8:39am EDT
* For full coverage of the flu outbreak, click [nFLU]

By Tan Ee Lyn

HONG KONG, May 12 (Reuters) - A leading virologist has described the new H1N1 influenza virus as "very unstable", meaning it could mix and swap genetic material when exposed to other viruses.

The new virus, which has infected 5,251 people in 30 countries and killed 61, has displayed great efficiency in spreading among people, said Guan Yi, a microbiologist with the University of Hong Kong.

"This virus has been around only a few months, it is very unstable ... and we know that its presence is dramatically increasing in human population, so the chance of it meeting with H5N1 is actually increased," Guan said in an interview on Tuesday.

"Both H1N1 and H5N1 are unstable so the chances of them exchanging genetic material are higher, whereas a stable (seasonal flu) virus is less likely to take on genetic material."

While H1N1 appears to be mild so far with many infected people recovering even without treatment, the H5N1 has a mortality rate of between 60 to 70 percent.

Experts are fearful about the emergence of a hybrid which combines the killing power of the H5N1 with the efficient transmissibility of H1N1. H5N1 is believed to be endemic in countries like China, Indonesia, Vietnam and Egypt.

Guan, an expert on both the H5N1 and SARS, has analysed the genetic sequences of the new virus, which is a triple reassortant containing genetic material from swine, human and bird.

He said there was a huge information gap due to a lack of regular surveillance on animal disease.

Each one of the eight gene segments in the new virus has been seen in pigs in the past 10 years, but experts have no clue when this new H1N1 virus strain first appeared and in which animal species it had been incubating, Guan said.

"We know when each gene segment appeared, but we don't know when this strain first appeared, there is an information gap of about five to 10 years, from 1999 to 2009. If there was regular surveillance, we would know when this virus came about," he said.

"We don't know if this reassortment happened in pigs or human ... It's likely to have come from pigs because all the segments have been found in pigs, but we can't be 100 percent sure."


- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Guan backed stringent moves taken by some governments to keep the virus at bay, such as quarantining.

"They are useful because we are now fighting for time to develop vaccines and antivirals, which will then minimise its impact on people (over the longer term)," he said.

"Already it appears to more virulent than seasonal flu because it is killing younger people and it appears to have higher mortality than seasonal flu, so it doesn't make sense to treat this like seasonal flu."

Seasonal flu kills about 250,000 to 500,000 people annually with a fatality rate of less than 0.1 percent.

A study published in Science on Monday estimated that the new H1N1 flu virus has a case fatality ratio of 0.4 percent based on confirmed and suspected deaths. (Editing by Jeremy Laurence)


Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/asiaCrisis/idUSHKG147261

[beast]

WASHINGTON, May 15 (Xinhua) -- The number of confirmed and probable human A/H1N1 cases has risen to 4,714 in 47 U.S. states, with four deaths, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported Friday.

    According to the CDC, the state with the most confirmed and probable cases is Illinois which has 638 cases, followed by Wisconsin with 613 cases, California with 504, Texas with 506, Arizona with 435, Washington with 246, New York with 242.

    The number of confirmed and probable cases on Thursday was 4,298 in 47 states.

    The increase showed that the ongoing outbreak of the A/H1N1 influenza continues to expand in the United States. CDC officials have said they expect the A/H1N1 flu to spread to all 50 states, to cause severe disease and some deaths.


Source: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-05/16/content_11381849.htm

[beast]

WHO says H1N1 flu cases, death toll rise
Sat May 16, 2009 10:49am EDT

ZURICH (Reuters) - The number of confirmed cases of the new H1N1 flu has climbed to 8,451, including 72 deaths, the World Health Organization said on Saturday.

The number of countries reporting confirmed cases of H1N1, commonly known as swine flu, has risen to 36 with Ecuador and Peru confirming their first cases, the WHO said.

The vast majority of cases have been in Mexico and the United States.

The spread of the disease has led the WHO to declare a pandemic is imminent. On April 29 it raised its pandemic alert to 5 on a 6-level scale.

WHO Director-General Margaret Chan said on Friday there remained "great uncertainty" about the new strain, which continues to spread and could pose particular threats in Southeast Asia.

U.S. health officials later on Friday announced they were easing their warning on travel to Mexico.

The virus is behaving much like a seasonal influenza strain -- spreading rapidly and causing mainly mild disease, but severe illness in some people.

Seasonal flu kills 500,000 people a year, mainly the elderly or those with respiratory problems like asthma.

The WHO said Mexico has reported 2,895 confirmed cases including 66 deaths. The United States has reported 4,714 confirmed cases including four deaths. Canada has 496 confirmed cases and Costa Rica nine cases, both with one death.

The WHO's tally lags national reports but is considered more secure. Rising numbers can indicate that a backlog of cases is being processed, as well as the spread of the disease.


Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/internal_ReutersNewsRoom_ExclusivesAndWins_MOLT/idUSTRE54F1N120090516

[beast]