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Pandemic Swine Flu – Novel H1N1 World Report 7-01-2009

Here is the world pandemic flu report for today. It consists of the WHO report dated July 1, 2009 plus the latest reports from Australia, Canada and the United States and other countries marked in this color. The totals are those posted at those sites at the time this report was produced. Those sites will change as they receive new data. We will post a new report as we are able. Region Cases Deaths Africa 105 0 Asia 7,281 4 Europe 9,235 4 Middle East 780 0 North America 51,152 278 Pacific 5,095 7 South America 11,103 44 ===== ===== 84,751 337 Cumulative total Country, territory and area Cases Deaths Egypt 67 0 Morocco 17 0 Mauritius 7 0 Cap Verde 3 0 Tunisia 3 0 Algeria 2 0 Cote d’Ivoire 2 0 Ethiopia 2 0 Kenya 1 0 South Africa 1 0 ===== ===== Africa 105 0 Philippines 1,709 1 China – Mainland 1,518 0 Thailand 1,414 3 Japan 1,266 0 Singapore 701 0 Korea, Republic of 202 0 Viet Nam 123 0 Malaysia 112 0 India 109 0 China – Taiwan 61 0 Brunei Darussalam 29 0 Sri Lanka 15 0 Indonesia 8 0 Cambodia 6 0 Laos 3 0 Nepal 3 0 Bangladesh 1 0 Burma / Myanmar 1 0 ===== ===== Asia 7,281 4 United Kingdom 6,929 3 Spain 717 1 Germany 417 0 France 277 0 Netherlands 128 0 Italy 123 0 Greece 92 0 Sweden 69 0 Switzerland 56 0 Denmark 55 0 Cyprus 48 0 Belgium 47 0 Ireland 41 0 Norway 32 0 Romania 28 0 Finland 26 0 Portugal 17 0 Austria 15 0 Poland 15 0 Estonia 13 0 Slovakia 13 0 Serbia 12 0 Bulgaria 10 0 Hungary 10 0 Czech Republic 9 0 Jersey, UK Crown Dependency 8 0 Guernsey, UK Crown Dependency 5 0 Iceland 4 0 Luxembourg 4 0 Montenegro 4 0 Slovenia 4 0 Russia 3 0 Isle of Man, UK Crown Dependency 1 0 Latvia 1 0 Lithuania 1 0 Ukraine 1 0 Monaco 0 0 ===== ===== Europe 9,235 4 Israel 506 0 Saudi Arabia 81 0 Lebanon 39 0 Kuwait 34 0 Turkey 32 0 Jordan 20 0 Bahrain 15 0 West Bank and Gaza Strip 13 0 Iraq 11 0 Qatar 10 0 United Arab Emirates 8 0 Yemen 7 0 Oman 3 0 Iran 1 0 ===== ===== Middle East 780 0 United States of America 31,926 127 Mexico 9,028 119 Canada 8,321 25 Panama 417 0 Nicaragua 293 0 Costa Rica 279 2 Guatemala 254 2 El Salvador 226 0 Honduras 118 1 Dominican Republic 108 2 Trinidad and Tobago 53 0 Cuba 46 0 Jamaica 32 0 Cayman Islands, UKOT 13 0 Barbados 10 0 Netherlands Antilles, Curaçao 7 0 Netherlands … Read entire article »

Filed under: Analysis, Avian Flu, Influenza, Medicine, Original writing, Reporting, Swine Flu

Avian Flu Update Through Feb 27 2009

408 cases reported. 256 deaths. World Health Organization NOTE I think this may be very important. Indonesia has reported no new cases in 2009, despite having the largest number of cases and the highest death rate. Has the feud between WHO and the Indonesian government resulted in them withholding information as well as samples? Reports of infection in Indonesian poultry Avian influenza has struck a second district in Bali despite efforts to contain the spread of the disease on the island, the district’s animal husbandry, marine and fisheries agency said on Friday. I Gusti Ngurah Sandjada, the head of the agency in Jembrana district in western Bali, said the outbreak was discovered after 52 chickens in the village of Banyubiru died over the course of four days. “We immediately conducted a rapid test and found … Read entire article »

Filed under: Analysis, Avian Flu, Medicine, Original writing

Avian Flu Update – February 3 2009

China appears to be the focal point for avian flu [H5N1] cases so far in 2009. Of 9 reported cases, 7 are from China. Nearly all are reported to have had contact with poultry. In Third World nations, especially rural regions, when livestock become sick, the rush is to slaughter them and perhaps use them before they die. Since H5N1 is primarily transmitted through contact with infected poultry, this means that every sick bird is a tiny hotspot of infection. Here are the latest two reports from China. WHO update 3 27 January 2009 — The Ministry of Health in China has announced three new confirmed human cases of H5N1 infection. The first, a 31-year-old female from Urumqi, Xinjiang Autonomous Region had onset of symptoms on 10 January. She received treatment in hospital … Read entire article »

Filed under: Avian Flu, Commentary, Medicine, Original writing

Avian Flu Update for 1-21-2009

A Facebook conversation prompts me to examine the current situation with the A type H5N1 influenza virus, known as “bird flu” or “avian flu”. Birds suffer from several types of influenza, however, and most are not contagious for humans. The terms “bird flu” and “avian flu” are, thus, very non-specific. A)H5N1 is the influenza virus that was discovered in Scotland, in birds, in 1959. It was first seen in humans in 1997, after 1996-97 outbreaks in birds in China and Hong Kong. To date, the World Health Organization is reporting 397 cases, of which 249 were fatalities. 63% of the reported cases were fatal. Indonesia has had the most cases and one of the highest death rates at 81%. Vietnam runs second, and its death rate is 49%. 12 countries in Asia and … Read entire article »

Filed under: Avian Flu, Commentary, Medicine, Original writing, Pandemic

Bird Flu Update

WHO table for all cases through January 7, 2009 China The Ministry of Health in China has reported a new case of human infection with the H5N1 avian influenza virus. The case is a 19-year old female from Chaoyang District, Beijing. She developed symptoms on 24 Dec 2008, was hospitalized, and died on 5 January 2009. The case was confirmed by the national laboratory. The case had contact with poultry prior to her illness. All contacts have been placed under medical observation. All remain healthy to date. Of the 31 cases confirmed to date in China, 21 have been fatal. Vietnam The Ministry of Health in Viet Nam has reported a new confirmed case of human infection with the H5N1 avian influenza virus. The case has been confirmed at the National Institute of Hygiene … Read entire article »

Filed under: Avian Flu, Medicine

One Quarter of Bird Flu Cases Unexplained

Reuters The H5N1 bird flu virus may sometimes stick to surfaces or get kicked up in fertilizer dust to infect people, according to a World Health Organization report published on Wednesday. The WHO team reviewed all known human cases of avian influenza, which has infected 350 people in 14 countries and killed 217 of them since 2003, and found that 25 percent of cases have no explanation. Most are passed directly from bird to people, they noted in their report, published in the New England Journal of Medicine. And very rarely one person can infect another — always close relatives via intimate physical contact. … Read entire article »

Filed under: Avian Flu, Medicine

Avian influenza – situation in Pakistan

As is the normal procedure, the samples here have been sent to a lab capable of accurately determining if it is bird flu. Local labs are wrong 50% plus of the time. WHO The Ministry of Health in Pakistan has informed WHO of 8 suspected human cases of H5N1 avian influenza infection in the Peshawar area of the country. These cases were detected following a series of culling operations in response to outbreaks of H5N1 in poultry. One of the cases has now recovered and a further two suspected cases have since died. Samples taken from the suspected cases have tested positive for H5N1 in the national laboratory and are being forwarded to a WHO H5 Reference Laboratory for confirmation and further analysis. The MoH is taking steps to investigate and contain … Read entire article »

Filed under: Avian Flu, Medicine

Bird Flu Deaths By Year

YEAR KILLED TOTAL CASES 2007 49 73 2006 79 115 2005 43 98 2004 32 46 2003 4 4 World Health Organization … Read entire article »

Filed under: Avian Flu, Medicine

Bird Flu in Europe

Two items from Reuters, France and Germany France confirms H5N1 flu virus in swans PARIS, July 5 (Reuters) – Tests have confirmed that three swans found dead in eastern France were killed by the H5N1 bird flu virus, the French agriculture ministry said on Thursday, France’s first cases of the disease in over a year. The government raised its alert level to “high” as a result, meaning that birds and poultry in mainland France will either have to be locked up or protected by nets to avoid all contact with wild birds, a ministry official said. Pigeon races and other events where birds are gathered will be forbidden. “Michel Barnier, minister of agriculture and fishing, is putting in place the risk-prevention measures corresponding to the shift from the ‘moderate’ level to the ‘high’ level,” the … Read entire article »

Filed under: Avian Flu, Medicine