Mysterious U.S. Swine Flu Probe Widens as Mexico Finds Swine Flu *updated*

Indiana's 4th swine flu death is Elkhart County resident

Elkhart - State health officials say a resident of northern Indiana's Elkhart County has died of complications from swine flu.

The death announced Friday is the fourth in the state linked to the illness since April. The State Department of Health said it would release no other details about the latest death.

Two of the state's deaths were a 26-year-old woman and her 19-year-old brother from Dearborn County, while the other was a Lake County resident.

Health officials from around state plan to meet Tuesday in Wabash to discuss preparations for the coming flu season, including the possibility of mass vaccinations.

.

reply to post by JBA2848


It is between 200 - 300 deaths.

Mexican citizens were still reporting deaths, even when the government declared the outbreak over.

Hong Kong Man Died of Swine Flu Yesterday, City Government Says

Aug. 1 (Bloomberg) -- A 58-year-old man with a history of heart disease died from swine flu in Hong Kong yesterday, less than 24 hours after entering hospital, the city government said.

The patient hadn’t been isolated before he was admitted on July 30, according to a statement posted on the government’s Web site today.

Swine flu infects 60 on Royal Caribbean Voyager of the Seas cruise ship

Shares in Royal Caribbean, the US-Norwegian company that owns the liner, fell as much as 7 per cent in Oslo trading after news that 60 crew members had been diagnosed with the H1N1 virus.

Seventy more crew members on the Voyager of the Seas showed signs of the disease, local authorities said in a statement on Friday. None of the 3,600 passengers was reported to be ill.

The people infected are being treated and will stay on board the "Voyager of the Seas" liner, which docked at Villefranche in southern France on Friday morning as part of its planned itinerary and will continue to Marseille in the evening.

All other members of the 1,500-strong crew will also stay on board and have been isolated in their rooms, although the passengers were allowed to disembark during the day.

None of those infected was in a grave condition and the ship did not need additional medical assistance or medication, local authority spokeswoman Geraldine Soulier said.

I guess the CDC report will no longer show state by state. Just the number of deaths and hospitalized cases for the US.

Reporting States and Territories* Hospitalized Cases Deaths
47 5,514 353


CDC Report

With there new reporting style I believe there will be relax feeling among states toward swine flu when people don't know there was a death in there own state such as Alabama, Alaska and Colorado who all reported the first deaths in there states this week. People will simply think its still those same states with big out breaks adding to the death tolls. Hopefully local media will keep them informed of whats happening in those states since the CDC feels its not there responsibility to.

[edit on 31-7-2009 by JBA2848]

The flutrackers site is a good one for updates as they have people working in many areas investigating county, state, etc. DOH websites, making calls...

Flutrackers Confirmed U.S. Fatalities 7/31/09 .....
*Fatalities are listed by probable location of infection, not by the victim's state of residency, when the two are different. Totals may not match each state's official number of reported deaths.

U.S. States
Alabama: 1
Arizona - 15
California - 88
Colorado - 1
Connecticut - 9
Florida - 33
Georgia - 1
Hawaii - 6
Illinois - 17
Indiana - 3
Maryland - 4
Massachusetts - 10
Michigan - 9
Minnesota - 3
Missouri - 1
Nebraska - 1
Nevada - 6
New Jersey - 15
New York - 73
North Carolina - 8
Ohio - 1
Oklahoma - 1
Oregon - 7
Pennsylvania - 8
Rhode Island - 2
Tennessee - 1
Texas - 28
Utah - 16
Virginia - 3
Washington - 8
Wisconsin - 6

U.S. Territories
Guam - 1
Puerto Rico - 10

TOTAL - 396*

Fresno County H1N1 Fatality Victim Identified

The victim of Fresno County's first H1N1 related death has been identified.

28-year-old Chang Yang of Fresno died from the virus back on July 24th, though his death wasn't confirmed to be H1N1 related until July 30th.

First swine flu death reported in San Luis Obispo County

San Luis Obispo County is reporting its first swine flu related death.

The San Luis Obispo County Public Health Department says the middle-aged man, who has not been identified, died after being hospitalized with the swine flu virus (H1N1). Health officers say the man had other underlying health conditions which may have put him at risk.

This is the 81st person to have died from swine flu in California.

.

81 Deaths in California

H1N1 Flu Claims Carmichael Hospital Nurse

SACRAMENTO, CA (AP) -- Health officials say a Sacramento-area cancer nurse's death is the first among California healthcare workers related to H1N1 (swine) flu.

Mercy San Juan Medical Center spokesman Bryan Gardner said officials at the Carmichael hospital did not know if Karen Ann Hays, 51, contracted the virus on the job. She died July 17
.

Piggery tested positive with swine flu

A piggery in central western New South Wales has been placed under quarantine, after testing found it's been infected with swine flu, most likely introduced by its own staff.

Authorities have stepped in to reassure consumers that pork products are still safe to eat.

Samples were taken from some pigs yesterday, and the piggery's now in quarantine after two tests returned positive for the influenza A H1 virus.

The owner and staff at the piggery previously suffered flu-like symptoms, and are now themselves being tested for swine flu.

It's the first time pigs have been infected with the virus in Australia, and follows a similar outbreak at a Canadian piggery in May.
.

Mutation fears as pigs catch swine flu

One expert says there is a very real risk the swine flu virus will become more dangerous to humans in the wake of a swine flu outbreak in a New South Wales piggery.

The piggery in central-western NSW has been placed in quarantine after some of the 2,000 pigs there were found to have swine flu.

It is the first time ever that Australian pigs have been infected by the virus.

Doctor Andrew Jeremijenko, an epidemiologist, says the there is a risk the virus will now gain strength and mutate.

"The alarmist bells that concern me most is that in pigs, the disease that can transmit between humans and pigs, in the pig population it could mutate a little bit and come back slightly different to humans," he said.

[edit on 31-7-2009 by JBA2848]

More Nevadans Die From Swine Flu

LAS VEGAS (AP) - Health officials are reporting two more deaths in Nevada related to swine flu.

Southern Nevada Health District spokeswoman Jennifer Sizemore says a 73-year-old man with underlying health conditions died Monday.

A 35-year-old woman who was in the hospital for two months died on July 24. Thomas Wilson, Sabrina Gibson's father, says his daughter was diagnosed with swine flu and was cured of it, but she suffered massive internal bleeding and lung failure.

The deaths bring the number of swine flu-related deaths in Nevada to six.

Earlier in July health officials reported the deaths of a 47-year-old man with underlying medical conditions and a 51-year-old man. In June, health officials reported the death of a 33-year-old man and a 70-year-old woman who was a New York state resident.
.

Calif. H1N1 flu more virulent than Mexican

MANHATTAN, Kan., July 31 (UPI) -- The California isolate of the pandemic H1N1 virus is more virulent than the Mexico isolate and both are more virulent than seasonal flu, U.S. researchers say.

Juergen Richt of Kansas State University College of Veterinary Medicine and colleagues say establishing animal models for pandemic H1N1 is important because physicians have two types of antiviral medications to treat influenza. One type, adamantine-like drugs, targets the M2 protein; the other type includes drugs like Tamiflu that target the neuraminidase protein.

Richt says that this pandemic H1N1 is already resistant to the M2 inhibitors but still is sensitive to Tamiflu.

"Some pandemic flu isolates from humans have now shown resistance to the Tamiflu," Richt says in a statement.

"So the big issue now is if these Tamiflu-resistant strains take over, we have no drug to treat infected patients. And because we don't have a vaccine yet in the United States, this might be a problem."

Two more deaths from swine flu

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35) - The Orange County Health Department said Friday that two more people have died from Swine Flu.

Health department officials say the women who died, a 70 year old and a 25 year old female, both lived in Orange County bringing the
.

Guess they cut the last sentence short due to knowing the death total?

Another OC Resident Dies

Santa Ana (myFOXla.com) - Swine flu claimed the life of a 13th Orange County resident this month, authorities confirmed on Friday.

[edit on 31-7-2009 by JBA2848]

First H1N1 flu death in Qatar

A 36-year-old Qatari man diagnosed with H1N1 flu has died, HE the Minister of Health and Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Health Abdullah Khalid al-Qahtani said yesterday.
It was the first death from the pandemic flu in the country.
The man was said to be suffering from acute pneumonia and high temperature when he was brought to Hamad General Hospital on July 26.
Hospital sources said the patient was admitted following arrival from Dubai where he had been suffering from flu-like symptoms for a week and had visited a hospital twice.
He was diagnosed with the H1N1 virus at the Hamad hospital and was moved to intensive care immediately.
The patient was said to be obese, which is considered one of the risk factors that could increase the probability of contracting H1N1 flu.
The Supreme Health Council said that all previous H1N1 cases in Qatar had been cured without the need of admittance to hospital, and “the health condition of the victim’s family members is being followed on daily basis,” according to a QNA report.
.

Governments Stockpile Pandemic Body Bags
Dave Feschuk
Toronto Star
August 1, 2009

As concerns grow of a possible flu pandemic onslaught this autumn, alert authorities worldwide have been stockpiling emergency supplies. Masks, gloves and anti-viral medications are on the list. And body bags.

www.thestar.com...



Also passing on some information told to me by a friend...who
works as a head nurse at a hospital. All workers are being fitted for bio hazard ventilator masks, in preparation for this fall. The masks will arrive before the normal flu season hits.

reply to post by burntheships


Now where did you find the body bag article...........lol

The clock is ticking........enjoy your day>>

[edit on 1-8-2009 by Cloudsinthesky]

reply to post by Cloudsinthesky


It just popped up with a typical "flu" search.

Yes tick tick tick. I have decided that since I wont be accepting any vac's I had better get my quarentine stash going. I am probably a little late, but have some stuff, so will add to it.

I wish I could say this was a bad dream...but unfortunately from the looks of things seems likely this will be a testing fall/winter.

Clouds, Have a good weekend!

Perak girl, 10, is fifth H1N1 death

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 2 — The post-mortem report of a 10-year-old who died in Perak on Friday showed that she was influenza A(H1N1) positive.

Director-general of Health Tan Sri Dr Mohd Ismail Merican said tests on phlegm taken from the girl by the Institute of Medical Research (IMR) showed that the girl from Bagan Serai, Perak had the H1N1 virus.

"The latest case brings the number of deaths due to influenza A (H1N1) to five. According to information received, the girl was ill since July 27 but she did not suffer from any breathing problems when she received outpatient treatment at a private clinic," he said in a statement last night.

Dr Mohd Ismail said on the night of July 28, the girl had complained of breathing difficulties and received treatment at a Bagan Serai health clinic the next day (July 29) and while receiving treatment, she was in stable condition and did not complain of breathing difficulties or cyanosis and was given outpatient treatment including antibiotics and cough medicine.

However, on Friday morning at 3am, she complained of breathing difficulties, fever and cough before arriving at the Bagan Serai health clinic for treatment but while receiving treatment, she passed out and was pronounced dead at 5.30am while the post-mortem done at the Alor Star Hospital revealed that she died of severe pneumonic changes.

He added the girl's parents had also undergone tests and cleared of any disease while her five other siblings had slight breathing difficulties but were in stable condition.
.

Jamaica records third Influenza A H1N1 virus death

Jamaica has recorded another death from the Influenza A H1N1 virus.

The number of deaths now stands at three.

The Ministry of Health on Friday night reported that the latest case involved a patient who had underlying medical conditions
.

As was the case with the other two deaths, the Ministry did not provide details.
.

Two more people die of swine flu in the Mideast, bringing regional toll to 8

BEIRUT — Two more people in the Middle East died from swine flu, authorities reported Saturday, as the deadly virus continues its spread across on the region.

The latest deaths bring the toll across the region to 8, with half of the deaths being in Saudi Arabia.

Lebanon's Health Ministry reported Saturday that a man suffering from advanced lymph gland cancer, which likely weakened his immune system, succumbed to swine flu.

Local media reported that he actually died Thursday and subsequent tests revealed swine flu was the cause.

Lebanon has reported 162 cases of swine flu, many of them in expatriates coming to spend the summer vacation in the country.

The Gulf emirate of Qatar also reported is first swine flu death when an obese 36-year-old died after being admitted to the hospital with acute pneumonia, according to a report in the state news agency.

The man had just travelled from Dubai where he had visited two other hospitals.

Qatar has reported 43 other cases of the swine flu, but the rest of them have been successfully treated.

The worst hit country in the Arab world has been Saudi Arabia, where 595 people have tested positive for the H1N1 virus and four people have died.

.