Manitoba confirms 27 new cases of swine flu

Manitoba confirms 27 new cases of swine flu

www.cbc.ca

...Manitoba Health authorities announced Wednesday 27 new confirmed cases of the H1N1 virus in people between the ages of one month and 56 years. Of the new cases, three patients have been treated in hospital.

...Two women and 10 children have been admitted to hospitals in the city.

The two women are listed in critical condition and one of them, who was pregnant, has lost her baby.

(visit the link for the full news article)


Related News Links:
www.winnipegsun.com
www.chrisd.ca
swine-bird-flu.com

There now are 38 confirmed cases of H1N1 swine flu in Manitoba. 25 of the 38 confirmed infections occurred in Winnipeg.

Of the 27 cases announced today, 12 may have been people flown to Winnipeg by air ambulance earlier this week from a northern community.

Manitoba government is not telling the public where the new infections occurred.

I live in Winnipeg - and I know many people are sick, some very sick. Especially babies and children. Some are running fevers of 104. ...Many of us have been leveled off and on with a mystery bug for a while now.

As in other locations, it doesn't look like people are tested for H1N1 unless the symptoms are acute.


www.cbc.ca
(visit the link for the full news article)

When this news first broke, people were saying the new cases were linked to overcrowded living conditions. This factor would apply especially to First Nations aboriginals on "reserves" or in Winnipeg.

Also, there was chatter that the medical personnel who brought the 12 people to Winnipeg by air ambulance were at risk because they did not follow protocol.

These two items have both disappeared from the radar, and are not being discussed or addressed publicly.

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The most significant danger H1N1 presents is that it spreads easily between people, and can and will recombine with other viruses to share genetic material.

West Nile virus has been present and spreading in Manitoba for several years.

There is a danger that H1N1 swine flu will recombine with West Nile, and that the two viruses will share genetic material. If they do, H1N1 might acquire West Nile's ability to affect the nervous system - or West Nile might acquire H1N1's ability to spread person-to-person.


The H1N1-West Nile danger in Manitoba is similar to the H1N1-dengue potential in Buenos Aires, the H1N1-H5N1 threat in Asia and the looming H1N1-HIV recombination in Africa.

...The worst scenario is that H1N1 will recombine with another virus that does NOT kill quickly, but rather causes long term debilitation and disability in survivors.


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Dengue Fever rising in Pacific Rim with Influenza numbers

Manitoba's reported cases may be pivotal in the WHO's current discussions about whether or not to raise the pandemic alert to level 6.


SSerious H1N1 cases in Canadian Inuits raise concern

An official from the World Health Organization (WHO) said today that health experts are closely monitoring novel H1N1 influenza infections in Canada's Inuit populations, following reports that the communities are seeing more than their share of severe cases.

Keiji Fukuda, MD, told reporters at a press briefing, "We can say now that we know a larger number than expected of young Inuit people developed serious illnesses and had to get hospitalized."

WHO ‘Very Close’ to Declaring Pandemic

In Canada, there are reports of infections in Inuit communities with a disproportionate number of serious cases occurring, “which is of concern to us,” said Fukuda.

The current swine flu pandemic is "mild," but Manitoba's health system is already "straining."


Manitoba First Nations, health system straining under flu outbreak

Currently, there are 26 people — 23 adults and three children — in intensive care units of Manitoba hospitals, using ventilators to aid their strained breathing from flu-related reasons.

It is expected many of them will be confirmed as cases of swine flu, or the H1N1 influenza A virus, Manitoba's chief medical officer of health, Dr. Joel Kettner, said at a press conference Monday afternoon.

Another 25 children are in hospitals with respiratory illnesses and are being tested for swine flu, according to health officials.

Typically, at this time of year, there are very few — if any — cases of severe flu, said Kettner.

...More than half of the 26 people in Manitoba's intensive care units are of aboriginal descent with an average age of 35, said Kettner.

Living conditions in Canada's aboriginal communities, called "reserves," are similar to those in the developing world.


Reserves hit hard by swine flu

swine flu ...ravages native communities in Manitoba and Nunavut.

"It has taken way too long to recognize how bad the situation is," said David Harper, chief of Garden Hill First Nation.

"Such a disease coming at an atypical time of year, in an atypical population, with an atypical severity - this is a big red flag," said Dr. Ethan Rubinstein, head of adult infectious diseases at the University of Manitoba who's been working steadily with flu patients hospitalized in Winnipeg.

Throughout the province, 26 people - more than half of them aboriginal - have been placed on ventilators due to the flu. That figure includes three children, two residents of Nunavut and at least six pregnant women.

As the pandemic's first wave plays out, the poor and socially disadvantaged are hit hardest. This fact may contribute to the WHO's reluctance to declare a level 6 alert.

A level 6 pandemic alert will cause restrictions on global travel and trade, and worsen the current 'global economic crisis.'


WHO keen to avoid panic in any pandemic call

GENEVA (Reuters) - The World Health Organization wants to avoid excessive panic in any declaration of a flu pandemic by making sure countries are well prepared to deal with the move, its top flu expert Keji Fukuda said Tuesday.

"One critical issue is we do not want people to 'over-panic' if they hear we are in a pandemic situation," Fukuda, who is acting assistant director-general, told a news conference.

ALSO SEE:

Manitoba Government: June 8, 2009; BULLETIN #18 H1N1 FLU

Sofi-

Awesome post- I started one, as well (!) but with fewer sources. Here's what I read today and it chilled me. the 1918 strain was found in a North American Native woman, sequenced, and (ostensibly) sent to CDC only.

Now we have a prominent prof at U of Winnipeg, saying that he fears this event will mimic 1918-

www.nationalpost.com...

Does he knwo something we don't? Does he have the sequence of the "real" H1N1 going round and is aware of what's to com?

What are your thoughts?

Thanks and S&F for you

The US Military is also threatened (and this is off-topic slightly, but it does apply to N.A. security).

Many bases have multiple reposts of infections: the Iowa Jima is heading back to Norfolk, where no DOUBT the families of the sailors will be infected, and Canadadoesn't have the same ability to enforce military quarantine as the US. But if the Us is in trouble froma security standpoint, any attempt at martial law, or border closing will be a joke at best.


Again, thoughts?

Originally posted by CultureD
Sofi-

Awesome post- I started one, as well (!)

PLEASE darlin' - post those links! ...I very much would like to read what you posted.

...the 1918 strain was found in a North American Native woman, sequenced, and (ostensibly) sent to CDC only.

Now we have a prominent prof at U of Winnipeg, saying that he fears this event will mimic 1918-

www.nationalpost.com...

Does he knwo something we don't? Does he have the sequence of the "real" H1N1 going round and is aware of what's to com?

What are your thoughts?

Many statisticians, scientists and researchers have been saying that swine flu's spread has paralleled the 1918 pandemic from the beginning.

From the article you cited:

He said no one knows whether the latest cluster of flu cases is the end of the first wave of illness, or the beginning of a second wave.

The 1918 pandemic started with a mild wave of flu in spring that fizzled out, resurfaced in the fall and hit hard in November, 1918, The flu circled the globe and killed anywhere from 20 to 50 million people -- more lives than the First World War claimed.

"The working hypothesis now is that this pandemic will follow the 1918 [pattern]," Dr. Rubinstein said after a lecture at the University of Winnipeg on Wednesday.

...From what I've read - this pandemic has been following the 1918 pandemic's pattern from the outset. ...It remains to be seen whether it will continue doing so, or will fizzle out. I'm thinking it won't fizzle.

Originally posted by CultureD
The US Military is also threatened (and this is off-topic slightly, but it does apply to N.A. security).

Many bases have multiple reposts of infections:

NOT off topic. Over-crowded reserve communities, military barracks and prisons have a whole lot in common - and ALL are implicated as breeding grounds for virus reassortment, recombination and spread.

the Iowa Jima is heading back to Norfolk, where no DOUBT the families of the sailors will be infected,

Yep. That's how it works.

and Canada doesn't have the same ability to enforce military quarantine as the US.

Manitoba, at least, passed some fairly draconian quarantine/emergency measures legislation in 2005:

The Quarantine Solution

In addition, NAFTA Super-sized and NORTHCOM provide the legal basis for human quarantine, the imprisonment of non-compliant citizen/consumers and other interventions...

The Patriot Act 2, Immigration and NORTHCOM

US Brokers Continental Corporate Takeover: Update March 22, 2005

More Here


It was clear years ago that agricultural industries needed to be changed and better regulated to prevent the emergence of a zoonotic pandemic.

But instead, profits were protected, and laws were put in place to quarantine people when the inevitable pandemic occurred.

...legally, the i's were dotted and the t's were crossed under the Bush administration...

But if the Us is in trouble from a security standpoint, any attempt at martial law, or border closing will be a joke at best.

Again, thoughts?

...I'm hoping the bad guys will be infected too, not just the police and soldiers. But when people are hungry, frightened and angry, almost everyone who can still walk can be a "bad guy," huh?

All in all, the future looks a bit grim doesn't it?

Sofi- read yesterday on a local Canadian site that doctors are actually PULLING personnel from Winnipeg, even though so many people are ill- esp. the First Nation population. The article stated that the cases were kind of a "lost cause" (paraphrased), as most are expected to succumb to the virus, and materials are needed elsewhere. It was more than horrifying.

Do you know anything about this? I haven't been able to find any other supporting articles on the web.

Also---forgive me for not positng links at my signature line- or always in my posts. I'm on Dilaudid now, for my neck, which needs some more drilling, it seems, and I'm lucky (and forcing myself) to be reading and/or typing. Doing my best- be patient with me I might bounce out for a while (3-6 months) if that happens- seeing surgeon this week-going to try to teach my hands how to work again- spinal chord is impinged and all hell is breaking loose up there. Happy birthday! I'm 36 next week.....but I'll make it through-

I hope you're feeling better. Have been thinking of you and praying you're staying well.

Would love to know if you find out about pulling med support from the First Nation- eugenics, anyone? It's hard to even type- and was harder to read.

Peace,

C