West Nile virus cases rising; 40% increase in one week: 66 dead in U.S.

 

Posted The Extinction Protocol: 2012 and beyond

August 29, 2012 – HEALTH – One of the worst outbreaksof West Nile virus to ever hit the United States continues to expand, with 66deaths and 1,590 illnesses reported as of Tuesday, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Cases have jumped 40 percent nationwide since just last week, the agency added. Cases have now reached their highest level since the mosquito-borne virus was first found in the United States in 1999, agency officials said in a Wednesday press briefing. While almost all states have reported at least one case of West Nile illness, over 70 percent of cases have come from six states — Texas, South Dakota, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Michigan. The outbreak has hit hardest in Texas, where nearly half (45 percent) of the total U.S. cases have been reported. “The number of people reported with West Nile virus continues to rise,” said Dr. Lyle Petersen, director of the CDC’s Division of Vector-Borne Infectious Diseases. “We have seen this trend in previous West Nile epidemics, so the increase is not unexpected,” he added. “In fact, we think the reported numbers will get higher through October.” According to Peterson, of the cases reported so far, 56 percent are what is calledneuroinvasive disease, when the virus enters the nervous system causing conditions such as meningitis or encephalitis. The remaining reported cases (44 percent) are non-neuroinvasive. “These numbers represent a 40 percent increase of last week’s report of 1,118 total cases and 41 deaths,” Petersen said. These numbers can be somewhat misleading since most cases of West Nile are non-neuroinvasive and are mostly unreported, the CDC said. That means that the number of unreported cases probably far exceeds reported ones. Neuroinvasive disease is the most serious for of West Nile infection and these patients usually are hospitalized, Petersen said. The size of the outbreak is based on these cases since they are the ones easily identifiable, he added. The only states that have not reported cases are Alaska and Hawaii, he said. “Based on current reports, we think the number of cases may come close to, or even exceed, the total number reported in the epidemic years of 2002 and 2003, when more than 3,000 cases of neuroinvasive disease and more than 260 deaths were reported each year,” Petersen said. The reasons for a major outbreak this year aren’t clear, Petersen said. The drought in Texas may have played a role, but there were probably other factors as well, he added. The best way to avoid the virus is to wear insect repellant and support local programs to eradicate mosquitoes, Petersen said. There are currently no treatment for West Nile virus and no vaccine to prevent it, he added. Speaking at the press conference, Dr. David L. Lakey, Commissioner of the Texas Department of State Health Services said that, “As I look at the data, I am not convinced that we have peaked. Since last week, there have been 197 new cases and 10 more deaths in Texas, Lakey said. “Those numbers will continue to go up,” he added. –US News

Highly pathogenic H7N3 outbreak in Mexico- largest in nearly 20 years: millions of chickens could be culled

Posted by The Extinction Protocol: 2012 and beyond

June 27, 2012 – MEXICO – Mexican veterinary authorities are intensifying avian influenza control efforts in a region that houses several large commercial farms after further tests determined that the strain responsible for more than 200,000 bird deaths at three farms is the highly pathogenic H7N3 subtype. The events represent the first highly pathogenic avian influenza outbreaks in Mexican flocks since the country battled H5N2 in the mid 1990s. In a follow-up report submitted today to the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), Mexican animal health officials said intravenous pathogenicity tests revealed the highly pathogenic H7N3 subtype. The initial report on Jun 21 said preliminary tests suggested a low-pathogenic H7 subtype. The outbreaks began at three large commercial farms in Jalisco state on Jun 13, causing clinical signs in the layer flocks that included gasping, lethargy, fever, and death. The disease sickened 587,160 of more than 1 million susceptible birds, killing 211,424 of them. About 60,000 have been culled so far to curb the spread of the virus. Today’s update said that, based on the latest test results, authorities are sampling birds at about 60 poultry farms near the outbreak area, and quarantine measures are under way in the region, which has about 500 production units. Full gene sequencing and an epidemiologic investigation to determine the source of the virus are also in progress. Jalisco state, in western Mexico, is the country’s top egg producer. Officials have also limited poultry movements near the outbreak area and are testing birds at commercial farms, backyard flocks, and poultry markets. They are also assessing bio-security practices and overseeing depopulation efforts at the affected farms, according to the OIE report. David A. Halvorson, DVM, an avian health expert at the University of Minnesota in St. Paul, told CIDRAP News that Mexico’s last high pathogenic avian influenza outbreaks occurred in 1994 and 1995 and involved H5N2. He added that low-pathogenic H5N2 circulated in the country for several years. John Glisson, DVM, PhD, director of research programs for the US Poultry and Egg Association, said in an e-mail statement to CIDRAP News, “The US poultry industry would strongly agree with the idea that the disease should be dealt with quickly and that quarantine of these farms and elimination of infected flocks would be a prudent measure.” In 2004, highly pathogenic H7N3 outbreaks in British Columbia’s Fraser Valley led to the culling of 19 million birds, and two related human infections were confirmed. The patients, both men who had been exposed to infected poultry on the farms, were the first known H7N3 infections in humans. Both had conjunctivitis with mild flulike symptoms, according to a December 2004 report on the cases in Emerging Infectious Diseases. -CIDRAP