UN Agency Expands Team Investigating Bird Flu Cluster (human/human trans?)

[NorthernSpy]

Bad news -- avian flu antibodies have appeared in pigs near a cluster of human fatalities in Indonesia.


From Bloomberg:

May 18 (Bloomberg) -- The World Health Organization sent two officials to Indonesia's North Sumatra province to investigate the largest cluster of human bird flu cases, as a government official said sick animals may have been involved.

Medical epidemiologists Thomas Grein and Timothy Uyeki joined the team in the province today, said Sari Setiogi, a WHO spokeswoman in Jakarta. The H5N1 avian influenza strain infected as many as eight members of a family in the past month. It may also have been in farm animals near their homes, Agriculture Minister Anton Apriantono said today.
(...)

Waterfowl are the natural hosts of avian influenza. Pigs are susceptible to both human and avian strains and are considered a potential ``mixing bowl'' of flu viruses.

Ten of 11 pigs in the district where the infected people lived were found to have avian flu antibodies in their blood, Apriantono told reporters in Jakarta today.
(...)

``If the virus is in pigs, that would be a major concern,'' Ton Schat, a professor of virology and immunology at Cornell University, said in an interview today.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000080&sid=a8FKCeoat2aA&refer=asia


At the moment, human-to-human transmission within this disease cluster has not been ruled out.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

1. bird terra! bird terra!!

sorry. I couldn't resist. :blush:


This does worry me a little. I'll keep my eye on it. Thanks.

[TomInTib]

2. BECAUSE THE PIGS ARE EATING DEAD BIRDS!!!

Jesus, I cannot believe that they are still trying to beat this dead horse.

Ask any rancher or non-bought veterinarian.

This A(H5N1) shit is a total crock when it comes to human-to-human transmission.

If you are truly scared of the potential of this claptrap, I would recommend staying out of automobiles, crossing streets, avoiding the bathroom, etc., where your chances of injury or death are proven.

Have you heard that the Sky is Falling?

[Viva_La_Revolution]

3. I hadn't thought of that...

People forget that pigs will eat almost anything. I did.

Now it makes sense.

[TomInTib]

5. Yeah,V_L_R, A(H5N1) is a shark-bite sidestep.

As was BSE(Mad Cow).

The only Universal food source is poultry. I could go into great detail but I just don't want to take the time.

The deal was (as crazy as this sounds)to create a universal chicken. But it proved to be an insurmountable obstacle. Too many different geo/cultural differences in the way poultry was involved.

[Mojorabbit]

4. It IS a big deal that it was found in pigs

because they are natural mixing vessels."Pigs can act as mixing vessels in which human and bird flu viruses can swap genes, leading to a strain that can easily infect people and pass from person to person." from http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/JAK28830.htm
Hopefully there has been no further mutation. It looks like limited human to human. The lag times between the people infected are too far apart. So far no neighbors have been infected so it seems to be limited to this family and lets hope it stays that way.

[TomInTib]

6. OK, we're all gonna die. But it ain't gonna be from BirdFlu

I cannot believe people get worked up about this stuff.

Remember the Canadian beeve with mad cow? You know, the feed-borne crap that, miraculously, no other cow in the lot contacted?

I am a rancher (not a chicken farmer) and the swine-host thing is slightly re-warmed. Remember the Swine Flu Tragedy? You know, the Great Flu that wiped out entire populations?

I am not a cynic, just a realist. Why make yourself afraid of something that hasn't even registered with anything even approaching an actuarial scale?

[depakid]

8. My analogy for that is

If you're cooking and your smoke detecter goes off a couple of times, do you unhook it? or ignore it?

I'm not saying "be afraid," but I am saying that the scientists and epidemiologists around the world have been cconcerned- for several years now. A contagious influenza with a 15% mortality rate that kills healthy people in the prime of life isn't something to scoff at.

[Mojorabbit]

10. Egypt announces sixth bird flu death

http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=16506
CAIRO - An elderly woman died of the H5N1 strain of bird flu in Egypt on Thursday, marking the country's sixth fatal case of the virus in humans, a World Health Organisation official said.

"We have some basic information that she was a 75-year-old woman from Al-Minya" in southern Egypt, WHO regional health regulation officer John Jabbour said.

"She was admitted into hospital yesterday and she died today," he said.

[NorthernSpy]

9. no offense, but...

If scientists consider an H5N1 development worrisome, I consider that to be at least newsworthy. I also tend to give their opinions a little more weight than those of ranchers (who have an economic interest in limiting public concern about farming practices and the safety of farm products).

Not saying that your opinion is valueless, mind you.

[depakid]

7. WHO Phase 4

"Small cluster(s) with limited human-to human transmission but spread is highly localised, suggesting that the virus is not well adapted to humans."

This is NOT the first suspected instance of human to human transmission. Check the WHO EPR's. However, the swine involvement is unsettling.

[mike_c]

11. agreed....

Even if it did result from viral recombination, a six case cluster is likely contained unless new cases arise within a day or two. This isn't the first time pigs have been reported infected with H5N1 avian flu-- they probably have low susceptibility to this H5N1 strain similar to humans. But every effort should be made to keep it out of pigs for the same reason as keeping it out of humans.