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INFLUENZA A(H1N1) VIRUS, SWINE, HUMAN – USA (02): (CALIFORNIA, TEXAS)
> *********************************************************************
> A ProMED-mail post
>
> ProMED-mail is a program of the
> International Society for Infectious Diseases
>
>
> [1]
> Date: Thu 23 Apr 2009
> Source: CIDRAP (Center for Infectious Disease Research & Policy) News [edited]
>
>
>
> More US swine flu cases; Mexico illnesses raise pandemic questions
> ——————————————————————
> Five more cases of an unusual swine influenza virus infection have
> surfaced, officials from the US Centers for Disease Control and
> Prevention (CDC) announced today [23 Apr 2009], bringing the total to
> 7 and raising more concerns about human-to-human transmission.
>
> The new cases include 2 clusters, 2 16-year-old boys in San Antonio,
> Texas, who attended the same school, and a father and daughter from
> San Diego County [California]. Anne Schuchat, MD, interim deputy
> director for the CDC’s science and public health program, told
> reporters today [23 Apr 2009] at a teleconference that the clusters
> are consistent with human-to-human spread. She also said that the
> World Health Organization has not raised its 6-phase pandemic alert
> level above phase 3 (no or very limited human-to-human transmission).
>
> The 5th new case occurred in a patient from Imperial County
> [California], which borders San Diego County. Both counties are home
> to the 1st 2 swine flu patients that the CDC announced on 21 Apr 2009.
>
> News of the 5 new swine flu cases came on the same day Canadian
> officials warned its public health, medical, and quarantine workers
> to look for illnesses among Canadians returning from Mexico. Mexico
> has reported several cases of severe respiratory illness and has
> asked Canada to assist in finding the source of the illnesses, some
> of which have been fatal, according to a report today [23 Apr 2009]
> from the Canadian Press (CP). Schuchat said no swine flu cases have
> been confirmed in Mexico or Canada, but that CDC officials are
> discussing the situation with Mexican health officials and
> representatives from the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).
>
> Concerning the 7 American cases, Schuchat said, “The good news is
> that all of the patients have recovered, and one was hospitalized.
> This is not looking like a very severe influenza.” Patients
> experience fever, cough, and sore throat symptoms similar to typical
> influenza, but some of the patients who had swine influenza also
> experienced more diarrhea and vomiting than is typical of seasonal
> flu.
>
> The CDC said genetic sequencing of samples from the 1st 2 patients,
> California children who lived in adjacent counties, show that the
> swine flu virus contains segments from 4 different viruses: some
> North American swine, some North American avian, one human influenza,
> and 2 Eurasian swine. “This virus hasn’t been recognized in the USA
> or elsewhere,” Schuchat said. CDC scientists have determined that the
> novel swine flu virus is resistant to the older antivirals
> rimantadine and amantadine but is susceptible to oseltamivir and
> zanamivir.
>
> Schuchat said the CDC expects to see more swine flu cases and that it
> would provide regular updates on its website. “This is not time for
> major concern around the country, but we want you to know what’s
> going on,” she said. Most of the public health response will focus on
> the California and Texas areas where cases have been identified, but
> the CDC is urging health departments in other states to heighten
> their awareness of respiratory illnesses, particularly in those who
> have had contact with pigs or traveled to the San Diego or San
> Antonio areas. Schuchat said the CDC doesn’t know yet if the H1N1
> component of this season’s [2008-09] influenza vaccine provides any
> protection against the swine flu virus, but she said studies are
> under way to determine if there is any cross-protection.
>
> Michael T Osterholm, PhD, MPH, director of the University of
> Minnesota Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy,
> publisher of CIDRAP News, said the findings, though concerning, don’t
> mean that a pandemic is imminent. However, he said health officials
> shouldn’t take comfort in the fact that the illnesses so far have
> been mild. “The 1st wave of the 1918 pandemic was mild, too,”
> Osterholm pointed out. Walter Dowdle, PhD, who worked in the CDC’s
> virology unit during the 1976 swine flu outbreak, told CIDRAP News
> that it’s interesting but not greatly alarming that the 2009 swine
> flu strain contains such an unusual mix of gene segments. “It’s a
> real mutt,” said Dowdle, who now works with the Task Force for Child
> Survival and Development, based in Atlanta “When you have an evolving
> RNA mechanism, it’s hard to be surprised by anything.” The H1N1
> component of the seasonal flu vaccine might provide some degree of
> protection, he said. And if the swine flu virus persists, federal
> officials could consider adding an additional H1N1 strain to next
> year’s [2009-10] vaccine.
>
> Marie Gramer, DVM, PhD, a University of Minnesota veterinarian who
> has studied swine flu, said her preliminary examination shows that
> the outbreak strain doesn’t appear to closely match anything
> currently circulating in pigs. However, Gramer added that she has
> only looked at a small number of viruses and only at the
> hemagglutinin gene.
>
> Peter Sandman, PhD, a risk communication consultant based in
> Princeton, New Jersey, also listened in on today’s [23 Apr 2009] CDC
> teleconference. While he credited the CDC with getting a clear, calm,
> and concise scientific message out about the swine flu cases, he said
> they missed a teachable moment to promote pandemic preparedness
> “Everyone needs to learn how to say ‘This could be bad, and it’s a
> good reason to take precautions and prepare’ and ‘This could fizzle
> out,’” Sandman said. “They need to simultaneously say both
> statements.” He added that “good risk communicators need to know how
> to be both scary and tentative.” Federal health officials are
> probably treading cautiously around the word “pandemic,” because some
> accused them of fear mongering when they raised concerns about the
> H5N1 virus 2 years ago and also because of overreaction during the
> 1976 swine flu epidemic that led to vaccination missteps. When
> talking to the public about pandemic risks, federal officials could
> take some cues from hurricane forecasters, Sandman said, “and
> speculate responsibly.”
>
> Canada’s Public Health Authority (PHAC) said today [23 Apr 2009] in a
> situation update that Mexican authorities have asked its assistance
> in determining the cause of 2 clusters of severe respiratory
> illnesses that have occurred this month [April 2009]. A cluster in
> Mexico City involved 120 cases and 13 deaths; the other occurred in
> San Luis Potosi, where 14 cases and 4 deaths were reported. Three
> deaths were reported from other locations: one from Oaxaca in
> southern Mexico and 2 from Baja California Norte, near the US border.
> The PHAC report said the disease outbreak struck some healthcare
> workers and that most patients were previously healthy young adults
> between the ages of 25 and 44. Symptoms included fever, headache,
> ocular pain, shortness of breath, and fatigue that rapidly progressed
> to severe respiratory distress in about 5 days. Mexican officials
> detected some influenza A/H1N1 and influenza B viruses, but have
> apparently ruled out H5N1 virus involvement. The PHAC said it
> received 51 clinical samples from Mexico for testing at its National
> Microbiology Lab. Mexico told the PHAC that it had a late influenza
> season with an increasing number of influenza-like illnesses since
> the middle of March [2009]. The country also had a higher proportion
> of influenza B viruses than previous seasons.
>
> [byline: Lisa Schnirring]
>
> –
> communicated by:
> Mike Nunn BA
>
>
> ******
> [2]
> Date: Thu 23 Apr 2009
> Source: Reuters Health News [edited]
>
>
>
> Seven people in US hit by strange new swine flu
> ———————————————–
> 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 on Thursday [23 Apr 2009]. All 7
> 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 told a
> telephone briefing. “We don’t think this is time for major concern
> around the country.”
>
> The CDC reported the new strain of swine flu on Tuesday [21 Apr 2009]
> in 2 boys from California’s 2 southernmost counties. Now, 5 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. “We believe
> at this point that human-to-human spread is occurring,” 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,” Schuchat said. One of
> the boys whose cases were reported on Tuesday [21 Apr 2009] had flown
> to Dallas but the CDC has found no links to the other Texas cases.
>
> Unusually, said the CDC’s Nancy Cox, 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,” Schuchat said. “It’s
> very possible that this is something new that hasn’t been happening
> before.” Surveillance for and scrutiny of influenza has been stepped
> up since 2003, when highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza reappeared
> in Asia.
>
> Experts fear this strain, or another strain, could spark a pandemic
> that could kill millions. H5N1 currently only rarely infects people
> but has killed 257 out of 421 infected in 15 countries since 2003,
> according to the World Health Organization.
>
> The influenza strain [in the California outbreak] is an H1N1, the
> same family as one of the seasonal flu viruses now circulating. Now
> that the normal influenza season is waning, it may be easier to spot
> cases of the new swine flu, Schuchat said.
>
> Only one of the 7 cases was sick enough to be hospitalized and all
> have recovered, Schuchat said. “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 asking doctors to think about the possibility of swine flu
> when patients appear with these symptoms, to take a sample and send
> it to state health officials or the CDC for testing.
>
> Cox said the CDC is already preparing a vaccine against the new
> strain, just in case. “This is standard operating procedure,” Cox
> said. The agency will issue daily updates at
> .
>
> Seasonal flu kills between 250 000 and 500 000 people globally in an
> average year. And every few decades, a completely new strain pops up
> and it can cause a pandemic, a global epidemic that kills many more
> than usual.
>
> [byline: Maggie Fox]
>
> –
> communicated by:
> ProMED-mail rapporteur Mary Marshall
>
> ******
> [3]
> Date: Thu 23 Apr 2009
> Source: Texas Department of State Health Services, News Release [edited]
>
>
>
> Two human cases of swine flu confirmed in Texas
> ———————————————–
> The Texas Department of State Health Services [DSHS] today [23 Apr
> 2009] announced that swine flu has been confirmed in 2 16 year old
> boys from Guadalupe County near San Antonio. One became ill on 10
> Apr, the other on 14 Apr 2009. Their illnesses were relatively mild.
> Neither was hospitalized. Both have recovered. Though the boys are
> friends, it has not been determined how either became infected.
>
> Laboratory test results received today [23 Apr 2009] from the US
> Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicate that the
> illnesses were caused by a swine influenza A (H1N1) virus.
> Preliminary lab data suggests that the virus closely matches the
> viruses from recent swine flu infections in human cases from Southern
> California. State public health officials are investigating to
> determine if any close contacts of the boys have become ill and are
> asking hospitals, doctors, and others in the area to be especially
> alert for other possible cases.
>
> DSHS and local public health agencies in Texas were already involved
> in a CDC-led swine flu investigation because one of the 2 original
> cases from Southern California, a 10-year-old boy, traveled to Dallas
> for an extended visit with relatives. No additional cases connected
> to the boy have been confirmed. Initial information from the
> investigation of the 2 teenagers’ illnesses indicates no recent
> travel and no connection to the boy who traveled to Dallas from
> Southern California.
>
> Symptoms of swine flu in people are similar to those of regular or
> seasonal flu and include fever, lethargy, lack of appetite, and
> coughing. Some with swine flu also have reported runny nose, sore
> throat, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. Health officials say the
> public should follow standard precautions to reduce the spread of any
> respiratory illness:
> – stay home when you are sick to avoid spreading illness to others;
> – cough or sneeze into the crook of your elbow or a tissue and
> properly dispose of used tissues;
> – wash hands frequently and thoroughly with soap and warm water or
> use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer.
>
> –
> communicated by:
> Susan N Rossmann, MD, PhD
>
>
> [Guadalupe County in south central Texas can be located on the map at
> .
> The state of Texas can be seen on the HealthMap/ProMED-mail
> interactive map at . - CopyEd.MJ]
>
> [The number of cases of human infection attributed to an atypical
> strain of swine A (H1N1) influenza virus in Southern California has
> increased from the 2 cases announced by the CDC on 21 Apr 2009 to 7.
> Now 2 similar cases have been identified in Texas. The disease
> process has been mild and an adult and children with no known
> exposure to swine have been affected.
>
> At present there appears to be no connection between this outbreak
> and the outbreak of more serious respiratory illness currently
> affecting mainly health care workers in Mexico. - Mod.CP]
>
> [see also:
> Influenza A (H1N1) virus, swine, human - USA: (CA) 20090422.1516
> Influenza A (H1N1) virus, swine, human - Spain 20090220.0715
> 2008
> ---
> Influenza A (H1N1) virus, swine, human - USA (TX) 20081125.3715
> 2007
> ---
> Influenza A (H2N3) virus, swine - USA 20071219.4079
> 2006
> ---
> Influenza, swine, human - USA (IA): November 2006 20070108.0077]
>
> ……………..cp/mj/lm
>
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Thomas Curry
tomcurry@mac.com
www.TomCurryImages.com

Tags: illegal aliens, new world order to kill millions, open borders, pandemics

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