Grippe porcine / Swine flu - Nature biting back at industrial animal production?

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Swine flu genes from pigs only, not humans or birds

April 28, 2009 -- The deadly H1N1 influenza virus that’s fueling fears of a global pandemic is a hybrid of two common pig flu strains, scientists who have studied the disease told Wired.com Tuesday. Earlier reports called it a combination of pig, human and avian influenza strains. The findings may resolve some uncertainty about the nature of the virus, but much is still unknown about its origins and effects. “This is what we call a reassortment between two currently circulating pig flu viruses,” said Andrew Rambaut, a University of Edinburgh viral geneticist. “Why it’s emerged in humans is anyone’s guess. It hasn’t been seen before in pigs as far as I know.” Rambaut analyzed the gene sequences of viral samples taken from two infected California children. The samples were collected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and made available to researchers through an international database of flu genomes. His conclusions were echoed by Eddie Holmes, a virus evolution specialist at the University of Pennsylvania, and Steven Salzberg, a University of Maryland bioinformaticist. Both have looked at the CDC-provided sequences. The CDC could not be reached for comment, but a document released to scientists and obtained by Wired.com affirms their analysis.

The samples from California are the same viral strain as one that’s believed to have killed as many as 150 of an estimated 1,600 hospitalized Mexicans, and caused hundreds more infections worldwide, including at least 64 in the United States. The two strains whose genes are found in the hybrid belong to influenza families known generally as North American and Eurasian pig flu. The former was first described in the 1930s, and the latter in 1979. The Eurasian strain is generally found in Europe and Asia, rather than North America. Neither of the strains have ever proven contagious in humans. One of the genes inherited from the Eurasian strain has reportedly never been seen in humans. It codes for the neuraminidase enzyme — the N1 in H1N1 — which controls the expansion of the virus from infected cells. “The new neuraminidase gene that came in from Eurasian swine is one we’ve never before seen circulating in humans,” said Rambaut. “That’s one of the reasons it’s spreading rapidly. Very few people will have any immunity to this particular combination, which is what gives the concern that this will be a pandemic rather than just a normal seasonal flu outbreak. It remains to be seen how much and to what extent there is existing immunity.”

In medical terms, the genetic origins of the virus may not matter. Whether it come solely from pigs rather than a mix of pigs, birds and humans doesn’t change its immunological novelty. However, understanding the origins could eventually help scientists determine how the virus evolved and where it originally emerged. The earliest cases occurred in the town of La Gloria in the Mexican state of Veracruz, not far from a large and notoriously unsanitary hog farm operated by Granjas Carroll, a subsidiary of giant American food company Smithfield Foods. Vercruz residents and some journalists have alleged that the virus could have evolved in the farm’s pigs, then passed into humans through water or insects tainted by infected waste. Many researchers, including the authors of a report issued last year by the Pew Commission on Industrial Farm Animal Production, have warned that unsanitary conditions at industrial hog farms could prove a breeding ground for new forms of influenza. The World Health Organization has sent inspectors to the Granjas Carroll farm. The results of the investigation have not been announced. Smithfield issued a press release on Saturday stating that “it has found no clinical signs or symptoms of the presence of swine influenza in the company’s swine herd or its employees at its joint ventures in Mexico.” The company declined further comment, though CEO Larry Pope told USA Today that “(The term) swine flu is a misnomer.”

Rambaut, Holmes and Salzberg declined to speculate on whether the new H1N1 virus evolved on a hog farm or specifically in the Granjas Carroll facility. However, it seems likely that pigs were the original host. “That’s a logical conclusion,” said Salzberg. “It was probably two different pigs, or one who got co-infected from others. The two strains mixed, and now you have a brand-new strain.” “Presumably somewhere there was a pig infected with both forms. We don’t know where or when. It could have been circulating in this form for a while,” said Rambaut. What comes next is anyone’s guess. “Influenza virus mutates remarkably rapidly so there is no doubt that the virus will mutate and evolve in humans,” said Holmes. “Quite what this evolution will result in is difficult to tell.”

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Morocco strengthens health checks at borders to face swine flu threat

April 28, 2009 -- Morocco activated measures to address the swine flu threat, including fever detectors at international airports, health checks at ports and land border and monitoring of common flu and acute respiratory infections, MAP quoted a statement of the health ministry as saying on Monday (April 27th). No case of swine flu has been reported, officials said.

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La grippe porcine traverse les continents et l’Algérie se prétend immunisée

Mercredi 29 Avril 2009 -- Le virus de la grippe porcine s’est propagé à une vitesse vertigineuse dans les quatre coins du monde, faisant 152 morts et 1600 cas atteint par ce virus, alors que la plupart des pays a annoncé hier et avant-hier l’état d’alerte médicale. Les ports, les aéroports et les frontières terrestres Algériennes demeurent toujours dépourvus d’équipes et d’équipements médicaux susceptibles à faire face à l’entrée d’un cas atteint de ce virus. Une source bien informée de la cellule médicale des frontières a révélé que l’Algérie n’a, jusqu’à aujourd’hui, pris encore aucune décision au niveau des aéroports et des ports, ciblant à faire face au virus de la grippe porcine. La même source a ajouté que le ministère de la santé et le bureau de l’organisation mondiale de santé en Algérie n’ont jusqu’à maintenant pas contacté les services des frontières. L’orateur a expliqué, hier dans une déclaration accordée à El Khabar, que si un cas rentre en l’Algérie via les frontières, terrestres ou aériennes, alors la catastrophe sera difficile à maîtriser, même si tous les services de surveillance médicale des frontières sont en état d’alerte maximum. Le ministère de la santé et de l’habitat et de la reforme hospitalière a annoncé dans un communiqué publié hier que l’Algérie dispose de tous les éléments nécessaires pour faire face au virus de la grippe porcine, suite à l’installation d’une commission spécialisée pour proposer les mesures qui s’imposent au niveau national pour faire face à cette épidémie. Une source responsable du groupe Saidal a affirmé que le médicament « Saiflu », produit local, et l’antidote de la grippe aviaire est disponible en quantités suffisantes au niveau des magasins de la société, ajoutant que le groupe est prêt à fabriquer des quantités supplémentaires de ce médicament si jamais on reçoit des instructions émanant du ministère de la santé.

[Al-khiyal]

Grippe porcine :
Toujours pas de dispositif dans les ports et les aéroports

Mercredi 29 Avril 2009 -- Jusqu’à hier, les ports et les aéroports algériens n’avaient pas encore pris de mesures sanitaires spéciales pour la prévention contre la grippe porcine qui continue à se propager à travers le monde à une vitesse vertigineuse, obligeant plusieurs pays à renforcer leurs mesures préventives car craignant une pandémie .Dans un communiqué rendu public hier, le ministère de la Santé indique qu’un comité ad hoc a été mis sur pied pour la lutte contre la grippe porcine. Ce comité sera chargé de suivre l’évolution de cette maladie infectieuse au niveau international et de proposer les mesures à prendre au niveau national en termes de surveillance, de prévention et de dispositif de lutte, précise-t-on de même source. «Bien que l’évolution actuelle de cette épidémie semble réduire le risque d’une extension mondiale qui pourrait toucher notre pays, le comité a pris, sur la base du principe de précaution, un certain nombre de mesures urgentes relatives à la surveillance épidémiologique et à la mobilisation si nécessaire et en fonction de l’évolution épidémiologique internationale», assure encore le ministère, au moment où l’Organisation mondiale de la santé (OMS) s’est mise en alerte suite à plusieurs cas d’infection humaine de la grippe porcine à travers le monde. Le département de Saïd Barkat, qui a réuni avant-hier tous ses responsables pour se pencher sur le problème, a indiqué que «les moyens nécessaires à la lutte contre cette épidémie sont disponibles en Algérie» ajoutant que «toutes les mesures nécessaires seront prises au moment opportun».

Pendant ce temps, les services du contrôle sanitaire au niveau des ports et des aéroports algériens ne procèdent toujours pas au moindre contrôle, aussi superficiel soit-il, sur les voyageurs qui rentrent au pays, a indiqué un médecin de la Protection civile au service contrôle sanitaire de l’aéroport d’Alger, joint hier par téléphone. La même source ajoute, toutefois, que «les directions des ports et des aéroports se penchent sur les éventuelles mesures urgentes à prendre pour faire face à cette épidémie», précisant que «tous les corps concernés ont été sollicités pour participer à cette étude». «Des réunions se tiennent régulièrement et des mesures sont en train d’être préparées», a ajouté le docteur. Interrogé sur les précautions d’usage susceptibles d’être prises, le médecin a indiqué qu’en l’absence en Algérie d’équipements sophistiqués usités ailleurs pour la détection des porteurs du virus, les médecins n’ont d’autre alternative que de contrôler les personnes suspectes présentant des symptômes de grippe. «Dans de tels cas, ces personnes sont automatiquement mises en quarantaine», a-t-il souligné. Mais jusqu’à hier, «il n’y a rien de tout cela, il n’y a pas de contrôles effectué à cet effet» au niveau de l’aéroport d’Alger, a affirmé la même source. L’épidémie de la grippe porcine, qui s’est déclenchée il y a deux semaines au Mexique où 20 cas mortels ont été confirmés, continue de se propager à travers le monde au moment où plusieurs pays ne cessent de renforcer leurs mesures préventives craignant une pandémie humaine. Depuis son apparition à la mi-mars dans ce pays, l’épidémie s’est étendue aux Etats-Unis, au Canada, en Grande-Bretagne et en Espagne, suscitant l’inquiétude d’une pandémie d’ampleur mondiale. Hier, d’autres cas confirmés ont détectés en Israël. D’autres pays ont annoncé avoir détecté des cas non-confirmés de grippe porcine parmi lesquels le Danemark, la Suède, le Chili, le Pérou, la Colombie, la Chine et l’Allemagne.

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Swine flu:
Was first victim a modern Typhoid Mary?

April 29, 2009 -- The first person to die of swine flu was a 39-year-old tax inspector whose job required her to make door-to-door visits, putting her in contact with at least 300 unsuspecting members of the public when the disease was at its most virulent, Mexican authorities have said.

Maria Adela Gutierrez, a census-taker in the southern tourist city of Oaxaca, was admitted to a local hospital on 8 April and died five days later. She'd been suffering acute respiratory problems, exacerbated by diabetes and severe diarrhoea, and is believed to have infected scores of people.

The story of her death, which occurred three weeks before the virus was officially identified, came as Mexico remained on a state of high alert, with schools, government offices and many workplaces closed. The suspected death toll in Mexico reached 152 last night, with over 2,000 people infected. In the U.S. the confirmed total of cases jumped to 64; California, with more than a dozen infected, declared a public health emergency and the World Health Organisation said it had notification of 79 confirmed cases worldwide.

Ms Gutierrez's demise may fuel controversy over Mexico's handling of the outbreak, which has been criticised as chaotic and secretive. Authorities at Oaxaca's Hospital Civil Aurelio Valdivieso, where she was treated, did not confirm that an infectious disease had broken out there until 21 April, by which time one further patient had also died.

Doctors initially thought Gutierrez was suffering from pneumonia. But when 16 further patients exhibited signs of severe respiratory infection, they established a quarantine area around the emergency room. Shortly afterwards, state health authorities began to track down every person she'd had recent contact with and conduct check-ups.

That discreet search suggested that Gutierrez may have unwittingly been a latter-day "Typhoid Mary". It turned up more than 300 people, including many members of the public whom she'd interviewed as she knocked on doors in late March and early April. Local sources told Veratect, the U.S. disease-tracking company which sounded the alarm, that between 33 and 61 of those interviewees "exhibited symptoms" of a flu-like illness, though none have died.

Oaxaca is the historic capital of Oaxaca state, a mountainous region on Mexico's southern Pacific coast. Its location may be crucial to tracking the spread of swine flu, because it borders Veracruz, the state where the virus is believed to have first infected humans.

Edgar Hernandez, a boy who contracted the disease on 2 April and subsequently made a full recovery, was on Monday identified by Mexico's health secretary Jose Angel Cordova as "patient zero" – the first officially identified victim of the disease. He lives in the small town of La Gloria, in Veracruz province, five miles downwind of a vast pig farm identified a potential source of the outbreak. The farm is owned by owned by Smithfield Foods, a U.S. agribusiness corporation, whose Mexican subsidiary raises a million pigs per year.

In February, dozens of locals began falling ill from a mysterious, flu-like disease. On 6 April, authorities in La Gloria declared an "alert," saying 400 people had required treatment and 1,800 were exhibiting respiratory problems. The town has a population of 3,000.

Public health workers sealed off the town and began exterminating huge numbers of flies that had reportedly begun swarming through homes. However, they are yet to identify this outbreak as swine flu. News teams who have descended on the town have been urged against jumping to conclusions.

But the locals aren't convinced. Jose Luis Martinez, a 34-year-old resident of La Gloria, told reporters yesterday that he knew the disease which had infected his town was swine flu the minute he heard description of its symptoms: fever, coughing, joint aches, severe headache and, in some cases, vomiting and diarrhoea. "When we saw it on the television, we said to ourselves, 'This is what we had,' " he said. "The symptoms they are suffering are the same that we had here."

Factory farming is already a contentious issue in Veracruz state because thousands of farmers claim they were evicted from their land there by the Mexican government in 1992, in an alleged move to make way for US farming companies seeking to exploit relaxed welfare standards. If La Gloria was indeed the source of the original outbreak, it is likely to have quickly spread to major cities. Roughly half the people with homes in the town live and work in Mexico City during the week.

Yesterday, the capital was again in a state of high alert. Most people were wearing surgical masks in public, large gatherings of people are banned, restaurants can only serve take-out food, and bars forced to shut at 6pm. Those measures are almost certainly too late. Swine flu is likely to have arrived in the city during the first fortnight of April – timing which may have been fatal, since it coincided with Semana Santa (Holy Week), bringing a million people to the capital from all over the country.

'Typhoid Mary'

Mary Mallon was an Irish chef who became the first person in the U.S. to be identified as a carrier of typhoid fever. She is believed to have infected 53 people, three of whom died. She denied spreading the disease and refused to cease working. Born in 1869, she died in quarantine in 1938.

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'My head hurt a lot' - child who could reveal origin of swine flu outbreak

April 29, 2009 -- On either side of the long straight road to La Gloria scrawny horses pull ploughs across flat sandy fields, sending up clouds of dust that mingle with the early morning mist. For the final mile, the tarmac turns to gravel as the road begins to wind on its way into the village in the southern Mexican state of Veracruz.

Here, in an unassuming little white house, lives Edgar Hernandez Hernandez. A neat five-year-old with a shy smile, he might just turn out to be key to understanding why swine flu is slowly shutting down Mexico and keeping health officials around the world locked in emergency meetings.

As the number of confirmed infections rose above 100 on four continents and anxiety gripped corners of the globe thousands of miles from La Gloria - from California, where officials last night said they were investigating two deaths, to Britain, where some tour operators said they were stopping flights to Mexico, Edgar told the Guardian about the illness that laid him up in bed for a week at the end of March: "My head hurt a lot ... I couldn't breathe."

Local nurses took a swab from Edgar's throat on 3 April and two weeks later this found its way into a batch sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia. By this time the Mexican government was getting increasingly concerned about a spike in atypical and fatal flu cases. Within hours they were informed that many of the samples tested positive for a new strain of swine flu and Edgar's was the earliest.

The authorities have not explained why the disease's first stop in Mexico should be a boy in La Gloria. But the villagers, who believe they suffered the disease before Edgar, blame a huge pig farm in the area belonging to a multinational, Smithfield Foods. "We are not doctors, but it is hard for us not to think the pig farms around here don't have something to do with it," says Anselma Amador. "The flu has pig material in it and we are humans, not pigs."

The pigs at the heart of the village's angst live in modules around the valley in long metal buildings with large rectangular tanks attached.

The closest one to La Gloria is a few miles back down the paved road and then a couple more down a cactus-lined track, where the wind whips up dust clouds that travel across the plain.

The tank lies open, apparently unattended, a putrid odour emanating from it - which is probably why the farmer herding his goats past is wearing a mask.

Residents in La Gloria say the prevailing wind invariably blows the fetid air their way, where it gets stuck because of the hills that rise just behind the village.

The company has vehemently denied that its pigs had anything to do with the outbreak and has shown journalists around pristine installations. The federal government has also said that it has no reason to believe there is any link.

"I think it is foolhardy to make such a link," the Mexican health minister, José Ángel Córdova, said on Monday. He added that the agricultural ministry had regularly tested the pigs and found nothing to indicate an association.

Córdova also insisted Edgar was the only case of swine flu in La Gloria - although residents say his illness came after weeks during which most of the village fell ill.

In February a seven-month-old baby died of pneumonia, and in early March a two-month-old died. The parents were told both children had died of bacterial pneumonia. Then, around 21 March, dozens of people started suffering high fevers, terrible aches and sore throats that led to trouble breathing.

Worried, Bertha Crisostomo, a local community leader, called the authorities in the city of Perote, and doctors were sent in with antibiotics and painkillers. But still the illnesses persisted.

"Eventually we began to get better, but it was truly terrible while it lasted," Crisostomo remembers, sitting in her living room surrounded by artificial flowers and china figurines of elephants and giraffes. "They told us that it was just an atypical cold that was nothing to worry about, that was probably caused by the flies from the pig farms, so they sent in fumigation teams to get rid of the flies."

Then she got ill and was out of action herself for more than a week.

The community was gradually beginning to put the illness behind them when they started seeing the outbreak of the flu that has brought Mexico City to a partial standstill, with schools and restaurants closed, and people being told to stay at home if they possibly can.

"I watch what is going on in Mexico City and we say to each other that is exactly what happened to us," says Rosa Jimenez, as she walks down the road holding her toddler's hand with a filthy mask around her neck. She notes that many families in La Gloria have relatives who work in Mexico City but came back to the village for the Easter week celebrations. "Could that be how it spread to the capital?" she asks.

Meanwhile, there is much fear in La Gloria; not so much that the illness will come back, but that the company will get angry at suggestions that it might have had something to do with it all. Many people will only talk on condition of anonymity, like one man raking rubbish outside his home.

"I was ill, my wife was ill, my children, my aunt. We were all in bed with exactly the same symptoms as we are now being told are swine flu," he says. "But I don't want to speak out, because I am afraid. This is a company with lots of power and lots of dollars. They have always been protected by the government and there is not much we can do about it."

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1st swine flu death reported in U.S. as worldwide numbers rise

April 29, 2009 -- The first death in the United States from swine flu was reported on Wednesday, as the number of confirmed and suspected human cases worldwide continues to rise following an outbreak in Mexico.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta said on Wednesday that swine flu has been ruled as the cause of death of a 23-month-old child in Texas. It is believed to be the first death outside Mexico.

Dr. Richard Besser, the CDC's acting director, confirmed the death during an interview with CNN on Wednesday. No further details about the child or the circumstances of the death were provided.

"As a pediatrician and a parent, my heart goes out to the family," Besser said.

Besser said the CDC expected the U.S. would see more infections and deaths based on the spread of the virus in Mexico.

American officials said Tuesday that 64 human cases had been confirmed in the United States.

It's too soon to say if the death suggests the virus is spreading more aggressively in the U.S., he said.

Meanwhile, three cases have been confirmed in Germany, the country's disease control centre said Wednesday.

The German cases include two women, ages 22 and 37, and a man in his 30s, said officials with the Robert Koch Institute said Wednesday. Two of the patients are from towns in Bavaria. The third is from Hamburg.

Officials said all three patients recently returned from trips to Mexico, where the disease was first detected and has now been found in several other countries, including Canada, where the total number of human cases increased to 13 on Tuesday.

More confirmed cases in Europe

Britain and Spain are the other European countries that have confirmed human cases.

There are five other suspected cases in Germany, and they're believed to be in Bavaria and the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, according to officials.

Polish health officials reported Wednesday that they are also awaiting test results for two suspected cases.

New Zealand confirmed more cases on Wednesday, bringing its total to 14. Officials said all patients were responding well to treatment with antiviral drugs and were in voluntary quarantine at home.

There are 44 other possible cases in New Zealand, said Dr. Julia Peters, a senior regional health official, and testing is underway.

In Australia, more than 100 people with flu symptoms are being tested for possible swine flu, according to officials.

Asia escapes illness so far

On Tuesday in Canada, where 13 Canadians have been confirmed with mild cases of the illness, new cases were reported in Alberta, Ontario and British Columbia.

There have not yet been any confirmed cases in Asia, where governments have taken strict precautions at airports.

Late Tuesday, authorities in Mexico said the number of suspected swine flu cases had risen to 2,498, with 159 suspected deaths and 26 confirmed deaths since mid-April.

The World Health Organization said Wednesday that laboratory tests have confirmed 112 cases in seven countries. The figures do not yet include the cases announced in Germany.

WHO not calling for travel restrictions

Dr. Keiji Fukuda, the WHO's assistant director general, said Tuesday that agency officials have been struggling to keep up with media reports on new confirmed cases.

Fukuda said the WHO still cannot offer any explanation why cases of the infection in Mexico are more severe than in other countries. He also advised countries to "take the opportunity to prepare for a pandemic."

The UN health body is holding an emergency scientific review of the flu outbreak in Geneva on Wednesday to collect information about how the disease spreads and how it can be treated.

The WHO has raised its alert level to 4 — out of a possible 6 — but has not called for travel restrictions or border closures. However, several cruise lines, tours and flights destined for Mexico have been cancelled, including several operated by Air Canada, WestJet and Transat.

Health authorities are trying to keep the threat of the swine flu in context, reminding people that flu deaths are common around the world.

About 36,000 people in the U.S. die annually from flu-related causes, according to the CDC.