Category Archives: WHO

H1N1 swine flu, May 25, 2009, Bloomberg article, Swine Flu Is Spreading Wider Than Official Data Show, woman in her 50s died in New York over weekend

From Bloomberg, May 25, 2009:

“Swine Flu Is Spreading Wider Than Official Data Show”

“Swine flu is spreading more widely than official figures indicate, with outbreaks in Europe and Asia showing it’s gained a foothold in at least three regions.

One in 20 cases is being officially reported in the U.S., meaning more than 100,000 people have probably been infected nationwide with the new H1N1 flu strain, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In the U.K., the virus may be 300 times more widespread than health authorities have said, the Independent on Sunday reported yesterday.

Japan, which has reported the most cases in Asia, began reopening schools at the weekend after health officials said serious medical complications had not emerged in those infected. The virus is now spreading in the community in Australia, Jim Bishop, the nation’s chief medical officer, said yesterday.

“I think we will see the number rise,” Bishop told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio today after confirming the nation’s 17th case and saying test results are pending on 41 others. “This is going to be a marathon rather than a sprint.”

Forty-six countries have confirmed 12,515 cases, including 91 deaths, according to the World Health Organization’s latest tally. Almost four of every five cases were in Mexico and the U.S., where the pig-derived strain was discovered last month. Most of those infected experience an illness similar to that of seasonal flu. The main difference is that the new H1N1 strain is persisting outside the Northern Hemisphere winter.

Summer Disease?

“While we are seeing activities decline in some areas, we should expect to see more cases, more hospitalizations and perhaps more deaths over the weeks ahead and possibly into the summer,” Anne Schuchat, CDC’s interim deputy director for science and public health program, told reporters on a May 22 conference call.

The U.S. has officially reported 6,552 probable and confirmed cases, Schuchat said. “These are just the tip of the iceberg. We are estimating more than 100,000 people probably have this virus now in the U.S.”

There have been nine deaths and more than 300 known hospitalizations, she said. The fatalities exclude a woman in her 50s who died in New York over the weekend.

China reported cases today in Shanghai and the eastern province of Zhejiang, taking its tally of confirmed infections to 12. Taiwan confirmed the island’s first domestically transmitted case and reported two imported infections, giving it nine. South Korea confirmed 12 more cases, bringing its total to 22, while the Philippines confirmed a second infection today.”

“Community spread of the new virus in a second region means WHO’s criteria for a pandemic has been met, said Michael T. Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy of the University of Minneapolis.”

Read more:

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=agHVPFaC5R.M&refer=worldwide

Baxter International, H1N1 Swine flu vaccine, Obama, Chicago, May 18, 2009, British government orders 90 million dosages of swine flu vaccine from Baxter, Glaxo

From the Chicago Tribune, May 18, 2009:

“British government orders 90 million dosages of swine flu vaccine from Baxter, Glaxo

 

The British government this morning announced deals with vaccine manufacturers including Deerfield-based Baxter International Inc. to make up to 90 million dosages of a vaccine as a precaution against the swine flu.

The United Kingdom Department of Health today said this morning the deals with Baxter and GlaxoSmithKline Plc “will enable production of pre-pandemic vaccine to begin as soon as possible.” Financial terms of the deal were not available this morning

“The agreements could provide enough vaccine to protect the most vulnerable in our population before a pandemic is likely to arrive, without affecting our supply of seasonal flu vaccine,” the department said in a statement on its web site.

Baxter and other vaccine makers last week obtained strains of the A/H1NI virus from the World Health Organization, which is working with countries around the world. “The WHO has set up a pandemic vaccine supply group that meets weekly and Baxter is part of that group,” Baxter said this morning.”

Read more:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-biz-swine-flu-vaccine-britain-baxter-may15,0,5442108.story

Obama owned stock in a company owned by Baxter International several years ago and  company employees were sizeable contributors to Obama’s campaign. Obama also warned of a global pandemic in 2005.

New York Reports Its First Swine Flu Death, May 17, 2009, assistant principal, New York City public school, Mitchell Wiener, experimental drug, Ribavirin, overwhelmed by the illness

From the NY Times, May 17, 2009:

“New York Reports Its First Swine Flu Death”

“An assistant principal at a New York City public school died of complications from swine flu in an intensive care unit of a Queens hospital on Sunday night, the first death in New York State of the flu strain that has swept across much of the world since it was first identified in April.”

“On Friday, Dr. Daniel Jernigan, head of flu epidemiology for the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said there had been 173 hospitalizations and 5 deaths reported to the agency. But he emphasized that most cases in the United States — possibly “upwards of 100,000” — were mild.”

““We are now seeing a rising tide of flu in many parts of New York City,” Dr. Frieden said. But he added: “Nothing we’ve seen so far suggests that it’s more dangerous to someone who gets it than the flu that comes every year. We should not forget that the flu that comes every year kills about 1,000 New Yorkers.”

Mr. Wiener, 55, had been “overwhelmed” by the illness, despite beginning a course of treatment with an experimental drug, Ribavirin, after he failed to respond to other antiviral drugs, according to Ole Pedersen, a spokesman for Flushing Hospital Medical Center, where Mr. Wiener had been a patient since Wednesday.”

“His wife, Bonnie, a reading teacher, blamed the city for failing to act sooner to close the school where she and her husband both worked. “I know we have a duty to educate the children of New York,” Ms. Wiener, who is not sick, said on Friday. But, she added, “something just doesn’t fit right.””

“A total of 105 students were documented with flulike illness at Middle School 158 in Bayside, Our Lady of Lourdes in Queens Village and a building in Flushing that houses three schools with a total of 1,320 students, including Intermediate School 25. All of the schools will be closed beginning Monday for at least five days, the department said.”

Read more:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/18/nyregion/18swine.html?ref=health

CDC H1N1 Flu Update, May 8, 2009, Illinois, IL largest reports, US Human Cases of H1N1 Flu Infection, Obama and Baxter International Chicago, IL connections

** Update, The lastest CDC numbers are at the bottom. 5/08/2009, 12:15 PM ET **

I, like many of you, am watching reports of the Swine flu, H1N1, more carefully each day. I have been visiting the CDC site with regularity and due to my math background and inquisitive nature, something  in the data stood out this morning. It may mean nothing, but it is a curiousity, and given Obama’s connections to Chicago and Baxter International being located there, there is cause for more scrutiny.

Notice in the CDC report of confirmed flu cases by state that Illinois has almost twice as many cases as the next highest state. Illinois has 204, California, with a much higher population and located adjacent to Mexico has 106, Texas with a large population and located adjacent to Mexico has 91 and New York with a much larger population has 98. The more I have pondered these numbers and logistics, the more curious I have become.

CDC Human Cases of H1N1 Flu by state:

http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/update.htm

Let me know what you think

 

 

U.S. Human Cases of H1N1 Flu Infection
 
 
 

 

States

 

 

 

 

Laboratory
confirmed
cases

 

 

 

 

Deaths

 

 

 

 

 
Alabama    

4    

   
Arizona    

48    

   
California    

106    

   
Colorado    

17    

   
Connecticut    

4    

   
Delaware    

38    

   
Florida    

5    

   
Georgia    

3    

   
Hawaii    

3    

   
Idaho    

1    

   
Illinois    

204    

   
Indiana    

15    

   
Iowa    

5    

   
Kansas    

7    

   
Kentucky*    

2    

   
Louisiana    

7    

   
Maine    

4    

   
Maryland    

4    

   
Massachusetts    

71    

   
Michigan    

9    

   
Minnesota    

1    

   
Missouri    

4    

   
Nebraska    

4    

   
Nevada    

5    

   
New Hampshire    

2    

   
New Jersey    

7    

   
New Mexico    

8    

   
New York    

98    

   
North Carolina    

7    

   
Ohio    

5    

   
Oklahoma    

1    

   
Oregon    

15    

   
Pennsylvania    

2    

   
Rhode Island    

2    

   
South Carolina    

17    

   
Tennessee    

2    

   
Texas    

91    

2    

 
Utah    

8    

   
Virginia    

11    

   
Washington    

23    

   
Wisconsin    

26    

   
TOTAL (41)    

896 cases    

2 deaths    

 
(As of May 7, 2009, 11:00 AM ET) 

 

U.S. Human Cases of H1N1 Flu Infection

States*

 

Laboratory
confirmed
cases

 

Deaths

 

 
Alabama 

   
Arizona 

131 

   
California 

107 

   
Colorado 

25 

   
Connecticut 

   
Delaware 

39 

   
Florida 

   
Georgia 

   
Hawaii 

   
Idaho 

   
Illinois 

392 

   
Indiana 

29 

   
Iowa 

   
Kansas 

12 

   
Kentucky** 

   
Louisiana 

   
Maine 

   
Maryland 

   
Massachusetts 

83 

   
Michigan 

49 

   
Minnesota 

   
Missouri 

   
Nebraska 

   
Nevada 

   
New Hampshire 

   
New Jersey 

   
New Mexico 

   
New York 

174 

   
North Carolina 

   
Ohio 

   
Oklahoma 

   
Oregon 

15 

   
Pennsylvania 

   
Rhode Island 

   
South Carolina 

29 

   
South Dakota 

   
Tennessee 

36 

   
Texas 

93 

 
Utah 

24 

   
Virginia 

14 

   
Washington 

33 

   
Washington, D.C. 

   
Wisconsin 

240 

   
TOTAL*(43) 

1639 cases 

2 deaths 

 

(As of May 8, 2009, 11:00 AM ET) 

 

CDC, Press briefing transcripts, May 7, 2009, 4 PM ET, New England Journal of Medicine Articles on H1N1 Flu, 1918 flu pandemic, H1N1 Virus, Triple Reassortant Swine Influenza A (H1)

Read the following transcript and provide your thoughts:

“Press Briefing Transcripts

CDC Telebriefing on New England Journal of Medicine Articles on H1N1 Flu

May 7, 2009, 4 p.m. ET”

“>>> Welcome and thank you for standing by.  At this time, all participants are in listen-only mode until the question and answer period of today’s conference call.  During the question and answer session, you may press star one to ask a question.  At this time, I’ll turn the call Over to Mr. Dave Daigle.  You may begin. 

>> Hi, this is Dave Daigle, with CDC Media Relations, thank you for joining us on this short-notice telebriefing to discuss two “New England Journal of Medicine” publications: The Emergence of Novel Swine-Origin Influenza A H1N1 Virus in Humans and Human Infections with Triple-Reassortant Swine Influenza A (H1) in the U.S. from 2005 to 2009.  Joining us today are Drs. Michael Shaw, Lyn Finelli, Carolyn Bridges and Fatimah Dawood. I think we’re going dispense with opening statements and just go right into the questions.  So can we have the first question, please? 

>> Thank you, again. If you would like to ask a question, please press star one.  Our first question comes today from Donald McNeil with “The New York Times.” You may ask your question. 

>> Hi.  In reading over the article about the triple-reassortant swine influenza A. I’m assuming this is tracing infections that do not include the Eurasian swine sequence found in the patients in the current outbreak, and I wondered if you can tell us more about whether or not that Eurasian swine strain had ever been found in the United States, whether you can tell from genetic sequencing where it got into the combination along with these triple reassortants or give us any details of that.

>> Those genes had never been seen in the Americas before. 

>> Wait one second, this is Dr. Michael Shaw.

>> Thank you.

>> This was the first time they had been seen in any virus in any human or animal.  And the genetic lineage of the virus we can trace back, there’s clearly a gap in the surveillance because there are no really close relatives, nothing that we can say was an immediate precursor.  Because of this new finding, a lot of researchers in the field are going back through their archives now, digging through their freezers to see if they had something that was overlooked but there’s absolutely nothing in the literature, nothing publicly available and nothing that our colleagues knew about when this was first found. 

>> This is Carolyn Bridges.  I think it’s also important maybe to just point out and maybe you want to take questions over to USDA as well, but from our understanding, there were no importation of pigs into the United States from Eurasia.

>> Next question, please.

>> Our next question comes from Maggie Fox with Reuters. 

>> Oh, darn, I wanted someone else to ask some first.  Can we go back over that, what is it that’s new and any hint as to whether somebody might have carried this reassortant to Mexico or whether it emerged there considering the surveillance we have is of people who had that triple-reassortant in the U.S. 

>> This is Michael Shaw again.  Genetics are indicating that the origin of this virus apparently happened before anyone was aware of it occurring in animals or humans.  It was six of the genes were similar to what had already been seen in the Americas circulating in pigs and that we knew about.  The acquisition of these two new Genes from the Eurasian lineage have never been seen in the Americas.  There is importation of pigs, the way I understand, too to Europe and Asia for breeding purposes, but not the other way around.  So whether it might have come into this hemisphere by a person or an animal, we have no idea.  There’s just not — we’re not in a position to say right now. 

>> Thank you, Maggie.  Next question, please.

>> Thank you, our next question comes from Mike Stope from Associated Press.  Ask your question. 

>> Hi, thanks, doctors, for doing this.  Two questions.  The first one, I saw in one of the articles, we saw this in I think the MMWR2, 38% of cases in the U.S. looking at the U.S. cases also involved vomiting or diarrhea.  That’s not typical of seasonal influenza.  What explains that in this virus?  Can you give us any information about what is it about this virus that’s causing those symptoms at a higher amount? 

>> Yes.  This is Fatimah Dawood.  We did find in the first 642 cases or patients who are diagnosed with swine-origin influenza virus infection that 25% either had diarrhea or vomiting.  This is a new virus and we’re still learning how transmission occurs.  But because we’ve made this observation, we are recommending that clinicians think about transmission not only through a respiratory route but also through the gastrointestinal route as fecal-oral transmission, but it’s not fully understood what role those symptoms played yet.

>> Thank you, Mike.  Next question, please. 

>> Thank you.  Our next question comes from Heidi Sloot with “Internal Medicine News.”  You may ask your question.

>> Hi.  Thanks for taking my question.  This is sort of a follow-up to the previous question.  What right now is the take-home message then for clinician relating to this as far as symptoms to watch for or what to tell patients? 

>> This is Fatimah Dawood again.  In our paper, again we looked at the first 642 cases and we found that the majority of people with confirmed swine-origin influenza virus infection had symptoms that are typical of seasonal influenza.  Those would include fever, cough and sore throat, which are the three most common symptoms observed.  As mentioned previously, diarrhea and vomiting were prominent symptoms as well, so what I would say is that clinicians and people should be aware of those symptoms and I think that as members of the community have symptoms that are concerning to them, they should discuss that with their clinician.

>> Thanks very much.  Next question, please.

>> Thank you, our next question comes from Daniel Denude with webmd.

>> Thanks for taking my question.  I have to push beyond this.  Perhaps you all noticed there was also a paper published at the same time about the signature features of pandemic flus in the past and it strikes me that these flus continually seem to have some of the features that we’re seeing here, striking younger people, and that there is a wave phenomenon.  I wonder if you could comment on the risk groups that you’re seeing for this virus and what we might expect looking forward from our experience with pandemic flu about what future waves of viruses tend to look like as they tend to become pandemic.  I know that’s a wide question but I appreciate you addressing it.

>> This is Fatimah Dawood.  You know, I would say that this is an evolving outbreak and we’re still learning about how this virus works, but what we observed in our paper is that 60% of confirmed cases occurred in people who are 18 years of age and younger.  Now there may be several possible explanations for that. One is the possibility that younger people are more susceptible to the virus, but there may also be a bias in the way that we are finding cases right now because the numbers of cases were identified in school outbreaks and still more young people are being tested right now.  There is also the possibility that older people may have some antibodies to other influenza viruses that give them cross protection against the current virus.  I think it’s difficult to make predictions at this point. 

>> This is Dr. Carolyn Bridges. In terms of the second part of your question about what we might expect, of course we’ll have to sort of wait and see, that’s always the tricky part with influenza.  We never sort of know what we’re going to get until we get there.  But with past pandemics where there’s been a novel strain where there has been initiation or introduction of that virus, the initial outbreaks if they occur in the summer are generally milder.  We know that the influenza virus, in general, prefers lower humidity, lower temperatures for transmission.  So as we’re in the summertime, we expect it to be seasonal influenza but what we’re likely to see is some transmission that occurs over the summer with the possibility that in the fall when the weather turns cooler again that we might see an increase in cases that will be looking closely toward the southern hemisphere, during their winter that is coming up to see what happens and that may give us some clues as to what we might expect in the upcoming winter months here in the United States.

>> Thank you very much.  Next question, please. 

>> Our next question comes from John Warren with Bloomberg News, you may ask your question.

>> Hi.  Thanks for taking my question.  Yeah, I was wondering if you could talk more about whether the ancestors of this virus may have been circulating in people before it was in pigs and whether that might have given immunity to older people.  Thanks.

>> This is Michael Shaw.  Well, ultimately all of the ancestors of this particular swine strain and circulating seasonal H1N1 can be traced back to the 1918 pandemic.  That virus established itself both in humans and in pigs.  And they’ve been evolving along separate tracks.  And in the process being both mammalian species they’ve maintained the ability to go back and forth, which is what we’ve seen obviously, for example, in the other paper we’re talking about today that they are able to make the jump.  What’s unusual about this particular case, is that it’s able to apparently establish sustained transmission.  What’s clear from what we’re seeing genetically and just the behavior of the virus, it was already well-adapted for transmission in humans before it popped up in this particular case.  But ancestors are the same.  You can trace them all back to 1918. 

>> Thank you, John.  Next question, please.

>> Thank you.  Our next question comes from Elizabeth Weiss with “USA Today.”  You may ask your question. 

>> Hi.  Thanks for taking my call.  This is follow-up on that then. You talked about there may be a missing link in observation or surveillance.  How much observation and surveillance is there worldwide and how likely is it that you would actually see something close to real-time virus like this popping up? 

>> This is Carolyn Bridges.  I think what we can say is that we certainly are much better prepared this year than we would have been a few years ago.  And although what we were preparing for most urgently was potential emergence and spread of H5N1, the avian virus, those investments have paid off in spades.  And so we have invested from the U.S. government with many colleagues from different countries.  Other donors in increasing laboratory capacity in countries around the world.  So I can’t tell you for sure how early we might be able to identify — have identified this virus, but we certainly are in much better shape than we would have been even just two years ago.

>> Thanks.  Next question, please.

>> Thank you, our next question comes from Mary Manning with “Las Vegas Sun.”  You may ask your question.

>> Yes.  Thank you for taking my question.  I’d like to know if there’s been any studies done on how long this virus lasts when it gets out in the environment? 

>> This is Michael Shaw.  There have been no — we haven’t had the virus long enough to do studies on this particular one.  All I can go by is past experience with other influenza viruses.  It depends on the environmental conditions.  It survives better on a hard surface than a porous surface, for example.  It’s inactivated quickly at higher temperatures.  Those are just general facts about flu.  But these particular strains, people are working on it.  We haven’t done — don’t have that information yet. 

>> Thanks very much.  Next question.

>> Thank you, our next question comes from Brian Thompson with KS public radio.  You may ask your question.

>> Hi.  Thanks for this opportunity.  As for the predecessors of this virus that emerged in pigs in the late 1990s, the humane society of the U.S. has made the argument that intensive factory farming is responsible for the shift in the genes that caused all this to happen.  I’d like you — Juergen Rick at Kansas State University, by the way ,argues that backyard pigs would be more susceptible because they are exposed to more viruses left by bird droppings and such.  So I would like you to weigh in on that, please. 

>> This is Carolyn Bridges.  I’m not sure we can really speculate about that, given what we believe based on the data that we have available from the genetic databases is that we don’t have any precursors like this in the United States despite tremendous amount of surveillance that goes on here in the U.S.  So I can’t speculate.  I wouldn’t able to say one way or the other. 

>> Thanks very much.  Next question.

>> Thank you.  Again, I’d like to invite parties who would like to ask a question, press star one.  Record your name prior to asking a question.  Our next question comes from Carrie Peyton with Sacramento Bee newspaper.  You may ask your question.

>> Hi.  Thanks for taking this question.  As we continue to do genetic analyses of these virus throughout the southern hemisphere flu season, what markers, if we start seeing changes in different markers, which ones would be especially troubling.  What areas of the genome do we not want to see change or would be early signs of it changing in ways that could make it much more prominent? 

>> This is Michael Shaw, there’s several critical parts of the genome that we look at.  Obviously the one primary concern right now is the determinants of resistance to the antiviral agents.  That’s going to be a high priority to continue monitoring.  Also any potential changes in the surface proteins that could potentially complicate selection of a vaccine strain.  As you know, under ordinary circumstances circulating influenza varies a great deal which is why the vaccine has to be updated every year.  There is the possibility that once it starts circulating more wide lane and different populations that you’re going to see, subpopulations popping up that could not be reactive with whatever vaccine strain might be chosen.  So we just have to keep an eye on changes in general, but the ones we look for in particular are the ones that are affecting the genetic makeup of the proteins that react with the vaccine and antiviral resistance or susceptibility.

>> Thanks very much.  Next question.

>> Thank you.  Our next question comes from Mike Shope with Associated Press.  You may ask your question.

>> Here’s the second question I was trying to ask earlier.  There’s a little bit more detail on the chronic conditions that the severe cases in the U.S., especially in the cases of the two deaths, the 22-month-old child had it looks like four conditions and a pregnant woman had several including autoimmune disease that was under treatment.  Can you tell me about those constellations of underlying conditions.  Would seasonal flu have killed those patients given those conditions?  Or are you learning anything about the patients who suffered severely who had underlying conditions?  What’s working together there? 

>> This is Fatimah Dawood.  I think we’re still learning about what patients are still most at risk for swine origin influenza virus and complication of that infection.  But what we do know from seasonal influenza is there are groups of people with characteristics with a higher risk.  That includes children younger than age 5, people with chronic underlying medical conditions.  Pregnant women and adults older than 65 years of a and one thing that we looked at in the 642 patients that were described in this paper and then in the subset of patients who were hospitalized, we had data for 22 patients.  About half of those patients had one of those characteristics.  Which does suggest that those groups of people may be at higher risk.  Those groups may not be the only groups but certainly we are seeing that those groups are well represented amongst the people who are hospitalized at this point. 

>> Thank you it, Mike.  Next question.

>> Thank you, our next question comes from Elizabeth Sweeth with “USA Today.”  You may ask your question.

>> Thanks again.  Just a quick question, I’m reading these paper, some of the facts are actually from May 5th.  I’m wondering when are these going to published and have you all ever done this quick a turnaround before I don’t recall having seen it.

>> This is Lyn.  I may be here the longest of anyone at this table.  I have never seen such a paper come out so quickly, I don’t think.  Is that what the question was? 

>> Right.  I mean there’s data in there from two days ago.  When I’m wondering when is it going to come out in print?  From your memories, some of the AIDS papers came out quickly, but quickly went three or four weeks.  I have never seen anything show up two days later.

>> I think print of both of these papers is going to come out the first week of July. 

>> This is Carolyn Bridges, but I understand these version are available online to anyone, not just by subscription, anyone would have access to these papers. 

>> This is Fatimah Dawood.  I would just add to that this paper is an effort by so many people in county and state health departments as well as CDC to really make this information available as soon as possible to people. 

>> Yeah, and this is Michael Shaw.  I want to emphasize we were getting this genetic information out basically as soon as we had it.  We had the first gene segments up there in April 25 and made special arrangements at NCBI and NIH to have them released essentially as they were submitted so.  April 27th, things started to getting up on the NIH, NCBI website right away as soon as we had the data.  There was no holding back of it.

>> Operator, this is Dave.  I think that was our last call.  So I want to thank everybody for taking the time to join us today to ask questions.  We’ll plan another daily update briefing tomorrow, regular CDC press briefing.  Thanks, everyone. 

>> Thank you.  At this time, that does end this conference.  All parties may disconnect. 

End

####

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Link to transcripts:

http://www.cdc.gov/media/transcripts/2009/t090507b.htm

H1N1 Flu, Swine Flu, CDC update, May 6, 2009, 11:00 AM ET, Deaths, outbreak of novel influenza A H1N1 continues to expand in the United States, more hospitalizations

The latest status of influenza A , H1N1, Swine Flu,  in the US from the CDC, May 6, 2009, 11:00 AM ET:

“The ongoing outbreak of novel influenza A (H1N1) continues to expand in the United States. CDC expects that more cases, more hospitalizations and more deaths from this outbreak will occur over the coming days and weeks.

CDC continues to take aggressive action to respond to the expanding outbreak. CDC’s response goals are to reduce spread and illness severity, and provide information to help health care providers, public health officials and the public address the challenges posed by this emergency.

CDC is issuing updated interim guidance daily in response to the rapidly evolving situation.

School Guidance

This includes updated interim guidance for schools and childcare facilities on preventing the spread of novel influenza A (H1N1) virus. At this time, CDC recommends the primary means to reduce spread of influenza in schools focus on early identification of ill students and staff, staying home when sick, and good cough etiquette and frequent hand washing. Decisions about school closure should be at the discretion of local authorities based on local considerations.

Increased Testing

CDC has developed a PCR diagnostic test kit to detect this novel H1N1 virus and has now distributed test kits to all states in the U.S. and Puerto Rico. The test kits are being shipped internationally as well. This will allow states and other countries to test for this new virus. This increase in testing capacity is likely to result in an increase in the number of reported confirmed cases in this country, which should provide a more accurate picture of the burden of disease in the United States.”

Read more:

http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/

Microbiologists, experts on infectious diseases, Deaths, mysterious deaths, murders

The following list of microbiologists and experts on infectious diseases that died under mysterious causes was sent to me on March 20, 2009:

#43: David Kelly, age 59. Died: July 18, 2003.

British biological weapons expert, was said to have slashed his own wrists while

walking near his home. Kelly was the Ministry of Defense’s chief scientific officer

and senior adviser to the proliferation and arms control secretariat, and to the

Foreign Office’s non-proliferation department. The senior adviser on biological

weapons to the UN biological weapons inspections teams (Unscom) from 1994

to 1999, he was also, in the opinion of his peers, pre-eminent in his field, not only

in this country, but in the world.

#1 Jose Trias, Died: May 19, 1994

wife were murdered in their Chevy Chase, Maryland home. They met with a

friend of theirs, a journalist, before the day of their murder and told him of their

plan to expose HHMI (Howard Hughes Medical Institute) funding of “special ops”

research. Grant money that goes to HHMI is actually diverted to special black

ops research projects.

#s22-24: Avishai Berkman, age 50

Amiramp Eldor

Matzner

All Died: November 24, 2001

the time of the Black Sea crash, Israeli journalists had been sounding the alarm

that two Israeli microbiologists had been murdered, allegedly by terrorists;

including the head of the Hematology department at Israel’s Ichilov Hospital, as

well as directors of the Tel Aviv Public Health Department and Hebrew University

School of Medicine. World experts in hematology and blood clotting. Five

microbiologists in this list of the first eight people that died mysteriously in

airplane crashes worked on cutting edge microbiology research; and, four of the

five were doing virtually identical research; research that has global political and

financial significance.

#16-#20: Five Unnamed Microbiologists. Died: October 4, 2001

Five unnamed microbiologists on a plane that was brought down by a missile

near the Black sea on the Russian border. Traveling from Israel to Russia;

business not disclosed. 3 scientists were experts in medical research or public

health. The plane is believed by many in Israel to have had as many as four or

five passengers who were microbiologists. Both Israel and Novosibirsk are

homes for cutting-edge microbiological research. Novosibirsk is known as the

scientific capital of Siberia. There are over 50 research facilities there, and 13 full

universities for a population of only 2.5 million people.

25: Dr. David Schwartz , age 57. Died: December

10, 2001

Loudon County, Virginia. His daughter, who identifies herself as a pagan high

priestess, and three of her fellow pagans have been charged. He was extremely

well respected in biophysics, and regarded as an authority on DNA sequencing.

Three teens that were into the occult were charged with murder in the slashing

death.

#27: Dr. Don Wiley, age 57. Vanished: December 16,

2001

University, top Deadly Contagious Virus expert, abandoned rental car was found

on the Hernando de Soto Bridge outside Memphis, TN. He was heavily involved

in research on DNA sequencing, and was last seen at around midnight on

November 16, leaving the St. Jude’s Children’s Research Advisory Dinner at The

Peabody Hotel in Memphis, TN. Associates attending the dinner said he showed

no signs of intoxication, and no one has admitted to drinking with him. Body

found floating one month later. Workers at a hydroelectric plant in Louisiana

found the body of Don Wiley on Thursday, about 300 miles south of where the

molecular biologist was last seen on Nov. 18 at a medical meeting in Memphis.

On January 14, 2002 (almost two months later) Shelby County Medical Examiner

O.C. Smith announced that his department had ruled Dr. Wiley’s death to be

“accidental”; the result of massive injuries suffered in a fall from the Hernando de

Soto Bridge. Smith said there were paint marks on Wiley’s rental car similar to

the paint used on construction signs on the bridge, and that the car’s right front

hubcap was missing. There has been no report as to which construction signs

Dr. Wiley hit.

#28: Dr. Vladimer Pasechnik, age 64.

Died: December 23, 2001

home. Two different dates have been reported: November 21 and December

23. Death ruled stroke. He had defected from Russia to UK. He had been the

#1 scientist in the FSU’s bioweapons program. It was thought he was involved

with exhuming the bodies of the 10 London victims of the 1919 Type A flu

epidemic. Pasechnik died six weeks after the planned exhumations were

announced. On November 23, 2001, Pasechnik’s death was reported in the New

York Times as having occurred two days earlier. Pasechnik’s death was made in

the United States by Dr. Christopher Davis of Virginia, who stated that the cause

of death was a stroke. Dr. Davis was the member of British intelligence who debriefed

Dr. Pasechnik at the time of his defection. Pasechnik was heavily

involved in DNA sequencing research. He had just founded a company like three

other microbiologists working to provide powerful alternatives to antibiotics. Dr.

Vladimir Pasechnik was the boss of William C. Patrick III who holds 5 patents on

the militarized anthrax used by the United States. Patrick is now a private

biowarfare consultant to the military and CIA. Patrick developed the process by

which anthrax spores could be concentrated at the level of one trillion spores per

gram. No other country has been able to get concentrations above 500 billion per

gram. The anthrax that was sent around the eastern United States last fall was

concentrated at one trillion spores per gram.

#33: Dr. Vladamir “Victor” Korshunov, age 56. Died:

February 9, 2002.

Korshunov was head of the microbiology sub-facility at the Russian State

Medical University. He was found dead in the entrance to his home with a head

injury. On Feb. 9 the Russian newspaper Pravda reported that Korshunov had

probably invented a vaccine protecting from any biological arm.

#38: Steven Mostow, age 63. Died: March 25, 2002.

the country’s leading infectious disease and bioterrorism experts and was

associate dean at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center. He died in

a plane crash near Centennial Airport. He was known as “Dr. Flu” for his

expertise in treating influenza, and expertise on bioterrorism. Mostow was one of

the country’s leading infectious disease experts.

#49: Dr. Michael Patrick Kiley, age 62. Died: January 24, 2004.

massive heart attack. Ebola, Mad Cow Expert, top of the line world class. It is

interesting to note, he had a good heart, but it “gave out”. Dr. Shope and Dr.

Kiley were working on the lab upgrade to BSL 4 at the UTMB Galvaston lab for

Homeland Security. The lab would have to be secure to house some of the

deadliest pathogens of tropical and emerging infectious disease as well as

bioweaponized ones.

#48: Robert Shope, age 74. Died: January 23, 2004.

Virus Expert Who Warned of Epidemics, Dies died of lung transplant

complications. Later purported to have died of Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis

which can be caused by either environmental stimulus or a VIRUS. It would not

be hard to administer a drug that would cause Dr. Shope’s lung transplant to

either be rejected or to cause complications from the transplant. Dr. Shope led

the group of scientists who had an 11 MILLION dollar fed grant to ensure the

new lab would keep in the nasty bugs. Dr. Shope also met with and worked with

Dr. Mike Kiley on the UTMB Galveston lab upgrade to BSL 4. When the upgrade

would be complete the lab will host the most hazardous pathogens known to man

especially tropical and emerging diseases as well as bioweapons.

#50: Vadake Srinivasan, Died: March 13, 2004.

guard rail in Baton Rouge, LA. Death was ruled a stroke. He was originally from

India, was one of the most-accomplished and respected industrial biologists in

academia, and held two doctorate degrees.

#53: William T. McGuire, age 39. Found May 5, 2004, last seen late April

2004.

University Professor and Senior programmer analyst and adjunct professor at the

New Jersey Institute of Technology in Newark. He emerged as one of the world’s

leading microbiologists and an expert in developing and overseeing multiple

levels of biocontainment facilities.

#55: Antonina Presnyakova, age 46. Died: May 25, 2004.

scientist at a former Soviet biological weapons laboratory in Siberia died after an

accident with a needle laced with ebola. Scientists and officials said the accident

had raised concerns about safety and secrecy at the State Research Center of

Virology and Biotechnology, known as Vector, which in Soviet times specialized

in turning deadly viruses into biological weapons. Vector has been a leading

recipient of aid in an American program.

#57: Dr., age 45. Died: June 24, 2004.

Assefa Tulu

department in 1997 and served for five years as the county’s lone epidemiologist.

He was charged with trackcing the health of the county, including the spread of

diseases, such as syphilis, AIDS and measles. He also designed a system for

detecting a bioterrorism attack involving viruses or bacterial agents. Tulu often

coordinated efforts to address major health concerns in Dallas County, such as

the West Nile virus outbreaks of the past few years, and worked with the media

to inform the public. Found face down, dead in his office. The Dallas County

Epidemiologist died of a hemorrhagic stroke.

#58: Dr. Paul Norman, age 52. Died: June 27, 2004.

Wiltshire. Killed when the single-engine Cessna 206 he was piloting crashed in

Devon. Expert in chemical and biological weapons. He traveled the world

lecturing on defending against the scourge of weapons of mass destruction. He

was married with a 14-year-old son and a 20-year-old daughter, and was the

chief scientist for chemical and biological defense at the Ministry of Defense’s

laboratory at Porton Down, Wiltshire. The crash site was examined by officials

from the Air Accidents Investigation Branch and the wreckage of the aircraft was

removed from the site to the AAIB base at Farnborough.

#61: Dr. Larry Bustard, age 53. Died July 2, 2004

was a Sandia scientist in the Department of Energy who helped develop a foam

spray to clean up congressional buildings and media sites during the anthrax

scare in 2001. He worked at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque. As an

expert in bioterrorism, his team came up with a new technology used against

biological and chemical agents.

#64: Dr. John Badwey, age 54. Died: July 21,

2004.

waste program of exposing humans to sludge. Suddenly developed pneumonia

like symptoms then died in two weeks. Biochemist at Harvard Medical School

specializing in infectious diseases.

#68: John R. La Montagne, age 61. Died:

November 2, 2004.

pulmonary embolism. PhD, Head of US Infectious Diseases unit under Tommie

Thompson. Was NIAID Deputy Director. Expert in AIDS Program work and

Microbiology and Infectious Diseases.

Died while in Mexico, no cause stated, later disclosed asScientist and accidental politician when he opposed disposal of sewagefrom unknown causes. HeFrom SalisburyDr. Tulu joined the healthA RussianBody found in three suitcases floating in Chesapeake Bay. He was NJMicrobiologist crashed car intoDied ofOne ofFound dead on a Moscow street. Head was bashed in.. Found dead in Wiltshire, England, a village near his. Molecular Biologist with Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard. Murdered by stabbing with what appeared to be a sword in rural home. Four of, age 59 Yaacov, age 54. (no photo). Another airplane crash kills 3 scientists. At about. Trias and his #43: David Kelly, age 59. Died: July 18, 2003.

British biological weapons expert, was said to have slashed his own wrists while

walking near his home. Kelly was the Ministry of Defense’s chief scientific officer

and senior adviser to the proliferation and arms control secretariat, and to the

Foreign Office’s non-proliferation department. The senior adviser on biological

weapons to the UN biological weapons inspections teams (Unscom) from 1994

to 1999, he was also, in the opinion of his peers, pre-eminent in his field, not only

in this country, but in the world.

#1 Jose Trias, Died: May 19, 1994

. Trias and his

wife were murdered in their Chevy Chase, Maryland home. They met with a

friend of theirs, a journalist, before the day of their murder and told him of their

plan to expose HHMI (Howard Hughes Medical Institute) funding of “special ops”

research. Grant money that goes to HHMI is actually diverted to special black

ops research projects.

 

#s22-24: Avishai Berkman, age 50

.(no photo)

Amiramp Eldor

, age 59 YaacovMatzner

, age 54

All Died: November 24, 2001

. Another airplane crash kills 3 scientists. At about

the time of the Black Sea crash, Israeli journalists had been sounding the alarm

that two Israeli microbiologists had been murdered, allegedly by terrorists;

including the head of the Hematology department at Israel’s Ichilov Hospital, as

well as directors of the Tel Aviv Public Health Department and Hebrew University

School of Medicine. World experts in hematology and blood clotting. Five

microbiologists in this list of the first eight people that died mysteriously in

airplane crashes worked on cutting edge microbiology research; and, four of the

five were doing virtually identical research; research that has global political and

financial significance.

#16-#20: Five Unnamed Microbiologists. Died: October 4, 2001

. Four of

Five unnamed microbiologists on a plane that was brought down by a missile

near the Black sea on the Russian border. Traveling from Israel to Russia;

business not disclosed. 3 scientists were experts in medical research or public

health. The plane is believed by many in Israel to have had as many as four or

five passengers who were microbiologists. Both Israel and Novosibirsk are

homes for cutting-edge microbiological research. Novosibirsk is known as the

scientific capital of Siberia. There are over 50 research facilities there, and 13 full

universities for a population of only 2.5 million people.

25: Dr. David Schwartz , age 57. Died: December

10, 2001

. Murdered by stabbing with what appeared to be a sword in rural home

Loudon County, Virginia. His daughter, who identifies herself as a pagan high

priestess, and three of her fellow pagans have been charged. He was extremely

well respected in biophysics, and regarded as an authority on DNA sequencing.

Three teens that were into the occult were charged with murder in the slashing

death.

#27: Dr. Don Wiley, age 57. Vanished: December 16,

2001

. Molecular Biologist with Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard

University, top Deadly Contagious Virus expert, abandoned rental car was found

on the Hernando de Soto Bridge outside Memphis, TN. He was heavily involved

in research on DNA sequencing, and was last seen at around midnight on

November 16, leaving the St. Jude’s Children’s Research Advisory Dinner at The

Peabody Hotel in Memphis, TN. Associates attending the dinner said he showed

no signs of intoxication, and no one has admitted to drinking with him. Body

found floating one month later. Workers at a hydroelectric plant in Louisiana

found the body of Don Wiley on Thursday, about 300 miles south of where the

molecular biologist was last seen on Nov. 18 at a medical meeting in Memphis.

On January 14, 2002 (almost two months later) Shelby County Medical Examiner

O.C. Smith announced that his department had ruled Dr. Wiley’s death to be

“accidental”; the result of massive injuries suffered in a fall from the Hernando de

Soto Bridge. Smith said there were paint marks on Wiley’s rental car similar to

the paint used on construction signs on the bridge, and that the car’s right front

hubcap was missing. There has been no report as to which construction signs

Dr. Wiley hit.

#28: Dr. Vladimer Pasechnik, age 64.

Died: December 23, 2001

. Found dead in Wiltshire, England, a village near his

home. Two different dates have been reported: November 21 and December

23. Death ruled stroke. He had defected from Russia to UK. He had been the

#1 scientist in the FSU’s bioweapons program. It was thought he was involved

with exhuming the bodies of the 10 London victims of the 1919 Type A flu

epidemic. Pasechnik died six weeks after the planned exhumations were

announced. On November 23, 2001, Pasechnik’s death was reported in the New

York Times as having occurred two days earlier. Pasechnik’s death was made in

the United States by Dr. Christopher Davis of Virginia, who stated that the cause

of death was a stroke. Dr. Davis was the member of British intelligence who debriefed

Dr. Pasechnik at the time of his defection. Pasechnik was heavily

involved in DNA sequencing research. He had just founded a company like three

other microbiologists working to provide powerful alternatives to antibiotics. Dr.

Vladimir Pasechnik was the boss of William C. Patrick III who holds 5 patents on

the militarized anthrax used by the United States. Patrick is now a private

biowarfare consultant to the military and CIA. Patrick developed the process by

which anthrax spores could be concentrated at the level of one trillion spores per

gram. No other country has been able to get concentrations above 500 billion per

gram. The anthrax that was sent around the eastern United States last fall was

concentrated at one trillion spores per gram.

#33: Dr. Vladamir “Victor” Korshunov, age 56. Died:

February 9, 2002.

Found dead on a Moscow street. Head was bashed in.

Korshunov was head of the microbiology sub-facility at the Russian State

Medical University. He was found dead in the entrance to his home with a head

injury. On Feb. 9 the Russian newspaper Pravda reported that Korshunov had

probably invented a vaccine protecting from any biological arm.

#38: Steven Mostow, age 63. Died: March 25, 2002.

One of

the country’s leading infectious disease and bioterrorism experts and was

associate dean at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center. He died in

a plane crash near Centennial Airport. He was known as “Dr. Flu” for his

expertise in treating influenza, and expertise on bioterrorism. Mostow was one of

the country’s leading infectious disease experts.

#49: Dr. Michael Patrick Kiley, age 62. Died: January 24, 2004.

Died of

massive heart attack. Ebola, Mad Cow Expert, top of the line world class. It is

interesting to note, he had a good heart, but it “gave out”. Dr. Shope and Dr.

Kiley were working on the lab upgrade to BSL 4 at the UTMB Galvaston lab for

Homeland Security. The lab would have to be secure to house some of the

deadliest pathogens of tropical and emerging infectious disease as well as

bioweaponized ones.

#48: Robert Shope, age 74. Died: January 23, 2004.

Virus Expert Who Warned of Epidemics, Dies died of lung transplant

complications. Later purported to have died of Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis

which can be caused by either environmental stimulus or a VIRUS. It would not

be hard to administer a drug that would cause Dr. Shope’s lung transplant to

either be rejected or to cause complications from the transplant. Dr. Shope led

the group of scientists who had an 11 MILLION dollar fed grant to ensure the

new lab would keep in the nasty bugs. Dr. Shope also met with and worked with

Dr. Mike Kiley on the UTMB Galveston lab upgrade to BSL 4. When the upgrade

would be complete the lab will host the most hazardous pathogens known to man

especially tropical and emerging diseases as well as bioweapons.

#50: Vadake Srinivasan, Died: March 13, 2004.

Microbiologist crashed car into

guard rail in Baton Rouge, LA. Death was ruled a stroke. He was originally from

India, was one of the most-accomplished and respected industrial biologists in

academia, and held two doctorate degrees.

#53: William T. McGuire, age 39. Found May 5, 2004, last seen late April

2004.

Body found in three suitcases floating in Chesapeake Bay. He was NJ

University Professor and Senior programmer analyst and adjunct professor at the

New Jersey Institute of Technology in Newark. He emerged as one of the world’s

leading microbiologists and an expert in developing and overseeing multiple

levels of biocontainment facilities.

#55: Antonina Presnyakova, age 46. Died: May 25, 2004.

A Russian

scientist at a former Soviet biological weapons laboratory in Siberia died after an

accident with a needle laced with ebola. Scientists and officials said the accident

had raised concerns about safety and secrecy at the State Research Center of

Virology and Biotechnology, known as Vector, which in Soviet times specialized

in turning deadly viruses into biological weapons. Vector has been a leading

recipient of aid in an American program.

#57: Dr.Assefa Tulu

, age 45. Died: June 24, 2004.

, age 45. Died: June 24, 2004.

Dr. Tulu joined the health

department in 1997 and served for five years as the county’s lone epidemiologist.

He was charged with trackcing the health of the county, including the spread of

diseases, such as syphilis, AIDS and measles. He also designed a system for

detecting a bioterrorism attack involving viruses or bacterial agents. Tulu often

coordinated efforts to address major health concerns in Dallas County, such as

the West Nile virus outbreaks of the past few years, and worked with the media

to inform the public. Found face down, dead in his office. The Dallas County

Epidemiologist died of a hemorrhagic stroke.

#58: Dr. Paul Norman, age 52. Died: June 27, 2004.

From Salisbury

Wiltshire. Killed when the single-engine Cessna 206 he was piloting crashed in

Devon. Expert in chemical and biological weapons. He traveled the world

lecturing on defending against the scourge of weapons of mass destruction. He

was married with a 14-year-old son and a 20-year-old daughter, and was the

chief scientist for chemical and biological defense at the Ministry of Defense’s

laboratory at Porton Down, Wiltshire. The crash site was examined by officials

from the Air Accidents Investigation Branch and the wreckage of the aircraft was

removed from the site to the AAIB base at Farnborough.

#61: Dr. Larry Bustard, age 53. Died July 2, 2004

from unknown causes. He

was a Sandia scientist in the Department of Energy who helped develop a foam

spray to clean up congressional buildings and media sites during the anthrax

scare in 2001. He worked at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque. As an

expert in bioterrorism, his team came up with a new technology used against

biological and chemical agents.

#64: Dr. John Badwey, age 54. Died: July 21,

2004.

Scientist and accidental politician when he opposed disposal of sewage

waste program of exposing humans to sludge. Suddenly developed pneumonia

like symptoms then died in two weeks. Biochemist at Harvard Medical School

specializing in infectious diseases.

#68: John R. La Montagne, age 61. Died:

November 2, 2004.

Died while in Mexico, no cause stated, later disclosed as

pulmonary embolism. PhD, Head of US Infectious Diseases unit under Tommie

Thompson. Was NIAID Deputy Director. Expert in AIDS Program work and

Microbiology and Infectious Diseases.

WHO to stop using swine flu name, H1N1 influenza A, World Health Organization announcement, April 30, 2009, confusion over the danger posed by pigs, Egypt slaughter of pigs, UN food agency concerns

From the Chicago Tribune April 30, 2009.

“WHO to stop using ‘swine flu’ name to avoid confusion over risk from pigs”

“The World Health Organization announced Thursday it will would stop using the term “swine flu” to avoid confusion over the danger posed by pigs. The policy shift came a day after Egypt began slaughtering thousands of pigs in a misguided effort to prevent swine flu.

WHO spokesman Dick Thompson said the agriculture industry and the U.N. food agency had expressed concerns that the term “swine flu” was misleading consumers and needlessly causing countries to ban pork products and order the slaughter of pigs.

“Rather than calling this swine flu … we’re going to stick with the technical scientific name H1N1 influenza A,” Thompson said.

The swine flu virus originated in pigs, and has genes from human, bird and pig viruses. Scientists don’t know exactly how it jumped to humans. In the current outbreak, WHO says the virus is being spread from human to human, not from contact with infected pigs.

 

Egypt began slaughtering its roughly 300,000 pigs Wednesday even though experts said swine flu is not linked to pigs and not spread by eating pork. Angry farmers protested the government decree.

In Paris, the World Organization for Animal Health said Thursday “there is no evidence of infection in pigs, nor of humans acquiring infection directly from pigs.”

Killing pigs “will not help to guard against public or animal health risks” presented by the virus and “is inappropriate,” the group said in a statement.”

“WHO also reported the number of confirmed swine flu cases rose to 257 worldwide Thursday, with cases in Mexico rising to 97 from 26, with seven deaths. The WHO confirmed tally from the United States now stands at 109, with one death.

Other confirmed cases include 34 in Canada, 13 in Spain, eight in Britain, three each in Germany and New Zealand, two in Israel and one each in Austria, Switzerland and the Netherlands.”

Read more:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/health/swineflu/sns-ap-un-who-swine-flu,0,7922234.story

Flu, avian flu, Baxter International, Indonesia avian flu, H5N1 virus, World Health Organization, WHO, Indonesia signed a memorandum of agreement with Baxter, February 7, 2007

Here is an interesting  tidbit about Baxter International, a company enmeshed in the controversy surrounding the swine flu pandemic. This news is from the NY Times dated February 7, 2007 and is another connection in common with Obama, Indonesia.

“Indonesia May Sell, Not Give, Bird Flu Virus to Scientists

Published: February 7, 2007”

“Indonesia, which has had more human cases of avian flu than any other country, has stopped sending samples of the virus to the World Health Organization, apparently because it is negotiating a contract to sell the samples to an American vaccine company, a W.H.O. official said yesterday.

The strains of the H5N1 virus circulating in Indonesia are considered crucial to developing up-to-date vaccines and following mutations in the virus. The official, Dr. David L. Heymann, said the agency was “clearly concerned” about the development and was in talks with Indonesia.

Dr. Heymann, the agency’s chief of communicable diseases, said he was not blaming the company involved, Baxter Healthcare of Deerfield, Ill. “But now that this has happened,” he said, “we have to sit down and figure out how to rectify it.”

Indonesia signed a memorandum of agreement with Baxter today.

A Baxter spokeswoman said the company had not asked Indonesia to stop cooperating with the W.H.O. She added that the agreement under negotiation would not give it exclusive access to Indonesian strains.

The virus has not yet mutated into a strain easily transmitted among humans. But it has infected 81 people in Indonesia, 63 of them fatally. It killed more people in 2006 than in any previous year and is out of control in poultry in Indonesia, Egypt and West Africa, so experts fear it as much as ever.”

““The W.H.O. should be their biggest friend. Indonesia has a virus with a 70 percent case fatality, and we don’t know why. If they want to work with the best laboratories in the world, they should make sure that virus samples can get out.”

With human cases breaking out in Egypt, Nigeria and elsewhere, new pandemic flu vaccines could be produced from other strains, Dr. Monto added. Indonesia’s Asian neighbors are the most threatened by its outbreak and may press it to back down, he said.”

“The strains are usually rendered harmless by laboratories that consult with the W.H.O., and the genes responsible for the ability of the virus’s outer coat to invade cells are spliced to older, well-known strains. Then this “seed virus” is given free to private companies that produce millions of doses. ”

“The release of sequences — not the virus itself, but the pattern of nucleotides in its genes, which shows what mutations it has made — is a touchy subject because some scientists try to keep the data secret until they can publish scientific papers.”

Read more:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/07/world/asia/07birdflu.html?ref=world