CLG Flu Oddities

Doctors warned to look out for new H7N9 bird flu virus

Wed, 1 May 2013 18:55:29 -0400

Virus already acquired two of five key mutations thought to be necessary for it to become a disease that can circulate in human population --Doctors have been urged to look out for signs of a new [lab-generated] strain of bird flu in patients, as experts warned it poses a "serious threat" that could cause a pandemic. Public health officials have issued an alert to GPs and health workers asking them to report any signs of influenza in people who have recently travelled from China. Experts fear that while the disease is currently only being passed from birds to humans, it is changing rapidly and could start passing directly from person to person, raising the risk of a pandemic.

Boy, 4, infected with H7N9 bird flu after father

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 12:12:21 -0400

Chinese health officials say the 4-year-old son of a man infected with a new strain of bird flu has also caught the virus. Shandong province's health department says there is no evidence of human-to-human transmission, and that the boy is in stable condition at a hospital. The Jinan Times newspaper says the boy's 36-year-old father had no direct contact with poultry, but that the family lives near a market that sells live poultry.

US health leader warns of human-to-human H7N9 bird flu

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 02:17:48 -0400

There is no evidence that the deadly H7N9 bird flu has yet spread between humans in China but health authorities must be ready for the virus to mutate at any time, a top US virologist has warned. Anthony Fauci, the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), cautioned that authorities needed to be ready for the possibility of the virus mutating and spreading between humans. Researchers are already developing a diagnostic test to identify H7N9, along with a vaccine, with clinical trials due in July or August. [Right, the mutation will occur right on schedule, so US pharma-terrorists can make a killing on the vaccines they're making to respond to the pandemic that they created. --LRP]

Lab-Altered H5N1 Flu More Infectious to Humans than Birds

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 02:17:49 -0400

A new study suggests a laboratory-mutated H5N1 avian influenza virus could pose a greater risk to humans than to birds, adding to concerns about the new avian flu strain that has emerged recently in China. Over a year ago, Japanese researchers created a genetically-altered version of the H5N1 avian influenza virus to 'explore the risk of' human-to-human transmission. They reported in the journal Nature in early 2012 that the mutated pathogen could be transmitted among mammals through the air in aerosol droplets -- for example, from sneezing. They conducted their experiments with ferrets, small domesticated mammals that are a good model for human disease transmission. [Right, US (and Japanese) bioterrorists are *dying* to get the pandemic party started, to make a killing on their deadly vaccines.]

China finds new bird flu case in eastern Fujian province: Xinhua

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 12:08:18 -0400

Chinese authorities discovered on Friday the first case of a new strain of bird flu in the eastern province of Fujian, signaling the spread of the virus which has killed 23 people in China, the official Xinhua news agency reported. This week, the World Health Organisation called the virus, known as H7N9, "one of the most lethal", and said it is more easily transmitted than an earlier strain that has killed hundreds around the world since 2003. Fujian's health authority said a 65-year-old man surnamed Luo had tested positive for the virus, Xinhua reported.

Taiwan confirms first H7N9 bird flu case outside China

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 17:58:50 -0400

Taiwan on Wednesday reported the first case of the H7N9 bird flu outside of mainland China. The man, who had been working in the eastern Chinese city of Suzhou, showed symptoms three days after returning to Taiwan via Shanghai, the Centers for Disease Control said, adding that he had been hospitalised since April 16 and was in a critical condition.

New bird flu strain called 'one of most lethal' viruses baffles scientists

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 17:26:21 -0400

Possible motive for the recent Waterford martial law drill: Mike Shaw, who works at the CDC's flu lab, said they found certain mutations of the virus, which had they mutated further, would have been rendered ineffective against antivirals. 24 Apr 2013 A new bird flu strain that has sickened more than 100 and killed 22 in China is "one of the most lethal" of its kind, and has now spread to another country, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). A 53-year-old Taiwan businessman contracted the H7N9 strain of bird flu while travelling in China, Taiwan's Health Department said Wednesday. This is the first reported case outside China's mainland. Dr. Joseph Bresee, a flu expert at the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, said it is possible the flu is being transmitted from person to person, but it's not yet been 100 percent confirmed.

H7N9 Bird Flu Cases In China Top 100; Deaths Reach 20

Sun, 21 Apr 2013 17:14:11 -0400

The number of confirmed H7N9 bird flu cases in China increased by five to 101 today, according to the official Xinhua news agency. Two new deaths were reported, bringing the total to 20. The outbreak has been concentrated in eastern China. The two latest deaths were in Zhejiang Province, already one of the most-hit areas.

Many bird flu patients had no contact with poultry, WHO says

Sun, 21 Apr 2013 17:10:14 -0400

More than 50 percent of patients infected with a new type of bird flu in China had no contact with poultry, the World Health Organization said on Friday, further raising questions about whether the virus was transmitted between humans. The H7N9 virus has so far infected 87 people in China and killed 17, but it remains unclear how they contracted the disease. A Chinese official earlier this week said about 40 percent of patients had been in no contact with poultry. The WHO's China representative, Michael O'Leary, issued the new data, but said human-to-human transmission was rare.

As Bird Flu Spreads in China, Source Remains a Mystery

Sun, 21 Apr 2013 16:56:28 -0400

[Check the labs at Fort Detrick - mystery solved.] The new bird flu in China has come with a long list of questions. Are the 82 cases so far just the tip of a larger outbreak? Why does the virus cause mild symptoms in some people and severe pneumonia in others? Perhaps the most critical question is also the simplest: How do people catch the bug? The clearly infects birds... But many people who have gotten sick didn't came near birds, the World Health Organization said Wednesday.

Bird Flu discovered at Suffolk poultry farm

Sun, 21 Apr 2013 16:31:08 -0400

Bird flu has been discovered at a poultry farm in Suffolk, according to environment agency Defra. The outbreak was confirmed at the Bernard Matthews farm after signs of the disease were spotted over the weekend. Environment agency Defra confirmed the outbreak but said initial tests were negative for the H5 and H7 strains which are potentially lethal for humans. However, movement restrictions are in place at the farm and further tests are due to be carried out.

China confirms 77 H7N9 cases, 16 deaths

Tue, 16 Apr 2013 18:34:37 -0400

During the period from 6 p.m. on Monday to 8 p.m. Tuesday, China confirmed 14 new cases of H7N9 avian influenza, with two more death reported in Shanghai. The National Health and Family Planning Commission said in its daily update on H7N9 cases that a total of 77 H7N9 cases have been reported in China, including 16 cases that have ended in death.

Health Officials on Alert For Bird Flu

Sun, 21 Apr 2013 16:31:09 -0400

U.S. health officials are on high alert because of a new strain of bird flu that's already killed several people in China. So far no cases have been reported in the United States, but health departments across the country are ready to respond. Those who have gotten sick in China, have all gotten the virus from animals. Nevertheless, the CDC has raised its alert level because it's always possible for viruses to mutate [which happens when they're mutated].

Beijing fears over 4-year-old bird flu 'carrier'

Tue, 16 Apr 2013 14:39:27 -0400

Doctors find 4-year-old asymptomatic 'carrier' of H7N9 --Doctors say the discovery of a 4-year-old carrier of the H7N9 bird flu virus who shows no symptoms of the potentially lethal virus is a worrying development that could make the spread of the infection more difficult to monitor. The Beijing Municipal Health Bureau said the boy was detected from a group of close contacts of the first infection in Beijing and the laboratory results showed the boy was an asymptomatic carrier of the disease.

China confirms 63 H7N9 cases, 14 deaths

Tue, 16 Apr 2013 14:09:27 -0400

During the 24-hour period ending at 6 p.m. on Monday, China confirmed three new cases of H7N9 avian influenza, with one more death reported in Jiangsu Province. The National Health and Family Planning Commission said in its daily update on H7N9 cases that a total of 63 H7N9 cases have been reported in China, including 14 cases that have ended in death. The three new infections were confirmed in patients from Anhui, Zhejiang and Jiangsu provinces.

China says bird flu death toll rises to 13

Tue, 16 Apr 2013 14:04:47 -0400

Two people in the central Chinese province of Henan have been infected by a new strain of avian influenza, the first cases found in the region, while the death toll has risen to 13 from a total of 60 infections after two more deaths in Shanghai. One of the Henan victims, a 34-year old man in the city of Kaifeng, is now critically ill in hospital, while the other, a 65-year old farmer from Zhoukou, is stable. The two cases do not appear to be connected. A total of 19 people in close contact with the two new victims were under observation but had shown no signs of infection, state news agency Xinhua said.

China bird flu: Reported H7N9 cases rise to 60

Tue, 16 Apr 2013 14:04:19 -0400

China has reported 11 fresh cases of bird flu, with the virus now appearing in the central province of Henan and the capital Beijing. The new cases of the H7N9 strain bring the total number of reported cases to 60. Two more people have now died. Authorities believe the virus is being spread through direct contact with infected poultry.

H7N9 human infections in China hit 51

Tue, 16 Apr 2013 14:02:05 -0400

The total number of confirmed human infections of the H7N9 bird flu in China has risen to 51, as two new cases were reported in Central China's Henan Province on Sunday. The latest cases were confirmed following tests by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention early on Sunday.

Chinese capital reports its first bird flu case

Sat, 13 Apr 2013 04:09:48 -0400

China's capital has reported its first case of the new strain of bird flu, which has thus far infected at least 44 people and killed 11. A young girl is the first to have contracted the virus in Beijing. The new strain of bird flu has spread to the Chinese capital. The new H7N9 bird flu had previously only been found in humans in eastern China. Now, however, a seven-year-old girl is in stable condition in a Beijing hospital after developing flu symptoms.

Avian Flu Virus Confirmed in Beijing for First Time

Sat, 13 Apr 2013 03:53:43 -0400

The bird flu virus that has been centered in the city of Shanghai and surrounding provinces has now been reported elsewhere in China, as a 7-year-old girl was being treated Saturday in a Beijing hospital for avian influenza. The girl entered the hospital on Thursday and tests confirmed on Saturday that she had the H7N9 virus. The bureau said that she was in stable condition at the hospital, and that there were no indications that people she had come in contact with had the virus.

H7N9 Bird Flu Cases Reach 38, Deaths at 10 In China; UN Concerned

Fri, 12 Apr 2013 01:19:22 -0400

Five new cases of the deadly bird flu H7N9 were found in China yesterday, increasing the total in the country to 38, the state-run Shanghai Daily Newspaper reported today. A 74-year-old Shanghai man died yesterday, bringing the overall death total thus far to 10. In Thailand yesterday, an official from the Food and Agriculture Organization at the United Nations expressed concern about the possible spread of the disease beyond China's borders, the Shanghai Daily also reported.

Sanofi says authorities to assess new flu vaccine

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 19:57:15 -0400

Marketing authorization application for quadrivalent version of Vaxigrip intended to be presented --Sanofi said European authorities have agreed to review a marketing application for a new flu vaccine designed to 'combat' the four strains of virus expected [after they design that, too] in the coming season. The company's Sanofi Pasteur vaccine unit currently produces the three-strain Vaxigrip flu vaccine at a facility in Val de Rueil, in France.

Chinese colonel says latest bird flu virus is U.S. biological weapon

Wed, 10 Apr 2013 02:14:23 -0400

[Well, not just the latest one -- all of them.] A Chinese Air Force officer on Saturday accused the U.S. government of creating the new strain of bird flu now afflicting parts of China as a biological warfare attack. People’s Liberation Army Sr. Col. Dai Xu said the United States released the H7N9 bird flu virus into China in an act of biological warfare, according to a posting on his blog on Saturday. The charge was first reported in the state-run Guangzhou newspaper Southern Metropolis Daily and then picked up by several news outlets in Asia.

China Reports Two More Bird Flu Cases

Sun, 7 Apr 2013 19:40:30 -0400

China says two more people have contracted bird flu in Shanghai, and authorities in nearby Nanjing have closed live poultry markets and suspended all poultry trade to combat a new flu strain that has killed six people. Shanghai's government said Saturday that the latest cases of the H7N9 virus were found in two male patients, age 66 and 74. It said the two patients developed symptoms late last month and were diagnosed with pneumonia in the past two days.

U.S. issues advisory to doctors to help identify bird flu

Sun, 7 Apr 2013 03:46:51 -0400

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Friday it has issued an advisory to U.S. doctors that may help them identify any cases of the new bird flu virus known as H7N9, but stressed that no cases have been found in the United States. So far, the new strain of bird flu that has infected 16 people in China and killed six has not been shown to be capable of transmission from person to person, CDC's Dr. Thomas Frieden told reporters on a teleconference.

New Bird Flu Seen Having Some Markers of Airborne Killer

Sun, 7 Apr 2013 03:45:51 -0400

The new bird influenza that’s killed six people in eastern China has some of the genetic hallmarks of an easily transmissible virus, according to the scientist who showed how H5N1 avian flu could become airborne. The H7N9 strain, which is a new virus formed as a result of two others merging their genetic material [by its creators], has features of viruses that are known to jump easily from birds to mammals, and a mutation that may help it attach to cells in the respiratory tract, said Ron Fouchier, a professor of molecular virology at Erasmus Medical Center in the Netherlands, in a telephone interview yesterday. "That’s certainly not good news," said Fouchier, who reviewed a gene sequencing of H7N9 published by Chinese health authorities. "This virus really doesn’t look like a bird virus anymore; it looks like a mammalian virus."

Rotterdam scientists created mutant bird flu viruses in laboratory

Sun, 7 Apr 2013 03:52:27 -0400

Scientists in the Dutch city of Rotterdam know precisely what it takes for a bird flu to mutate into a potential human pandemic strain--because they've created just such mutant viruses in the laboratory. So as they watch with some trepidation the emergence in China of a strain of bird flu previously unknown in humans, they also argue it vindicates their controversial decision to conduct these risky experiments despite fierce opposition. Above all else, what the world needs to know about this new strain of H7N9 bird flu is how likely it is to be able to spread efficiently among human populations. Above all else, what the world needs to know about this new strain of H7N9 bird flu is how likely it is to be able to spread efficiently among human populations. [Right, and US pharma-terrorists are dying to make a killing on the(ir) next pandemic.]

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Sun, 7 Apr 2013 03:42:54 -0400

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