Flu, Influenza

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is advising the public that roast beef and corned beef products previously recalled for potential presence of Listeria monocytogenes may have been recently sold at some retail outlets. These products were part of the recall by Smith's Quality Meats (Establishment 294) associated with public warnings issued on June 11 and 16, 2010.

The government is exploring the possibility of importing 3,500 metric tons of chicken, notwithstanding concerns expressed by Sri Lanka poultry producers that 'the move would disturb the local industry', trade officials said last week. With a limited choice at hand in terms of procuring the produce from bird flu free countries, the government is now looking at pricing and the speed of delivery from suppliers in the United Kingdom, United States Australia and Brazil, they said.

Livestock officials culled 117,600 chickens in the town of Thakurgaon, in northern Bangladesh Sunday, after lab tests confirmed the presence of avian flu. According to reports, an abnormally large number of birds were found dead last week in poultry sheds owned by Kazi Farms, the nation's largest producer of eggs and poultry.

The flu, whether it is swine or not, is a serious viral disease. It can leave disabling sequelae and is potentially fatal. Current procedures are not known to be effective for treatment or prevention. There are no virucidal drugs available on the market, nor do any safe, efficient and cheap prophylactic measures exist.

With just more than two months before the start of the Vancouver Olympics, the security threats for very specific attacks are well beyond code orange. "(This is) still probably one of the biggest things that concern me," Bud Mercer, assistant commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and head of the Integrated Security Unit, told The Associated Press.

Now instead of waiting in long lines, some people in Washoe County have the option to get the swine flu vaccine through their health care provider. The state reports some 43 different county doctors and clinics have received their first shipment of the H1N1 vaccine. But, Dr. Cheryl Hug-English, medical director at UNR's student health clinic (where the majority of patients fall into the high risk category 6 months to 24 years old) says they're still awaiting the first delivery.

US and Australia, vaccination has already begun. Can we be sure that safety hasn't been compromised in the race to test and produce the vaccine? Didn't vaccination hurt people during the last big swine flu scare? And do the benefits of vaccination outweigh the risks? In this excerpt from our in-depth feature Swine flu: fact versus fantasy - to be published in full next week - New Scientist sorts the myths from reality.

Companies can help quell the swine flu pandemic by educating employees. Here are some quick swine flu facts to share with your work force: The traditional flu season starts as early as October and ends as late as May, hitting its peak in the winter. Swine flu, however, has caused widespread illness beyond those months.

''Those who got the inactivated vaccine the traditional flu shot were half as likely to get the flu as those who got the live attenuated vaccine the flu nasal spray ," says the study's lead author Arnold Monto, MD, a professor of epidemiology at the University of Michigan School of Public Health in Ann Arbor.

Asian countries, needs more money as it predicts a fourth annual loss in five years amid the biggest passenger drop since 2003. The carrier, known as JAL, will present the outline of a mid-term reorganization plan to a government panel in Tokyo today, according to spokeswoman Sze Hunn Yap. Japan Air expects to complete tie-up talks with a foreign carrier by mid-October, President Haruka Nishimatsu said today, without specifying any potential partner.

The state Department of Health is preparing for what officials expect to be a busy and dangerous flu season. Federal officials said they expect 90,000 flu-related deaths because of the H1N1 virus. That is three times the normal flu death rate. Cases of flu medication were loaded onto a Hawaii Air Med flight Wednesday morning bound for Kauai.

The death of a Vicksburg first grader has many on alert and asking questions about the potentially deadly bacterial infection. Test results from a 6-year-old who died from bacterial meningitis are expected by Wednesday. Preliminary reports show she did not have a form of the infection that's typically contagious.

A US office tasked with readying the country for influenza pandemics received an unpleasant surprise last week, when creditors filed a lawsuit intended to force one of its new grantees into bankruptcy. The lawsuit was filed the day before the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) in Washington DC announced it had awarded a US$35-million contract to Protein Sciences, a biotechnology company in Meriden, Connecticut.

The family of the Buffalo girl that died of swine flu speaks to Eyewitness News about her final days. And another Buffalo parent is worried about her son who is in the hospital fighting this deadly flu strain. Swine flu has now claimed two lives in Erie County. 15-year-old Matthew Davis died last weekend and yesterday 9-year-old Maya Harden passed away.

In a world dictated by endless streams of information it can be said that sometimes the truth is not always revealed and instead is spun into a different direction either by governments, corporations, or simply by individuals who benefit from selling false information. This blog will try and reveal the truth to the public and I am privileged to be your speaker, the speaker of the truth.

Gastroenteritis means irritation and inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract, which includes the stomach and small and large intestines. The condition is usually due to bacteria, food poisoning, parasites, or viruses, and it often results in diarrhea, abdominal pain, nausea, and vomiting.

June 4 (Bloomberg) -- The head of the World Health Organization urged governments not to overreact to global outbreaks of swine flu as the agency moves closer to declaring the first pandemic in four decades. Margaret Chan, the WHO's director-general, may declare an influenza pandemic within days, said three people familiar with the organization's plans.

PITTSBURGH - Gov. Ed Rendell says the state's first resident to die of swine flu had also suffered from diabetes and asthma. Rendell spoke in Pittsburgh on Friday, a day after the state reported the death of a 55-year-old Berks County woman from swine flu. Rendell says there is also a 27-year-old man hospitalized in Philadelphia in critical condition with the virus.

NEJM study points to new era in hepatitis C treatment For patients with the most common form of hepatitis C, the addition of a hepatitis C-specific protease inhibitor called telaprevir to the current standard therapy can significantly improve the chances of being cured, and it does it in half the time of standard therapy alone.Results of the Phase IIb clinical trial -- led by Duke Clinical Research Institute (DCRI) and 36 other sites, including NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center -- are published in the April 30th issue of the New England Journal of Medicine .

4 New Cases of Swine Flu3 cases involve children Story by KDHE News Release 10:07 a.m. Friday, May 15, 2009 Four new cases of the 2009 H1N1 influenza A virus have been confirmed in Kansas since the last update Thursday morning. One case has been identified in a Geary County child.

By Michelle Fay Cortez and Trista Kelley May 15 (Bloomberg) -- GlaxoSmithKline Plc plans to begin production of a swine flu vaccine, preempting a recommendation by the World Health Organization, after four European countries placed orders for the shots. The U.K., France, Belgium and Finland agreed to buy about 158 million shots from London-based Glaxo and Baxter International Inc.

Pig farmers are warned to stop expanding their farms after fear of the A(H1N1) flu and a glut of hogs caused China's pork prices to plummet. The price of pork dropped 28.6 percent year-on-year in April, according to the latest National Bureau of Statistics data. The decrease has prompted the Chinese government to consider buying up large quantities of pork to stabilize the price.

MEXICO CITY The slumping economy and the bloody drug war had been Mexican voters' top worries ahead of midterm elections in July. Then the mysterious A(H1N1) virus gave Mexicans the scare of their lives and made those who did not end up in a hospital bed or a grave feel fortunate. Or did it skillfully manage the crisis and keep deaths down?

The swine flu might run its course "like ordinary flus" but the government is preparing for a "worst-case scenario" as a precaution, President Obama said Friday. The president spoke to reporters after a Cabinet meeting, his second since taking office and the first for newly confirmed Health Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.

Pitching Coach Joe Kerrigan, he was pissed about not getting an extension perhaps, and as I believe, he might have had other problems. Well, maybe so, but his performance on the mound this spring (7.00ERA, 1.44WHIP, 9IP) didn't help his cause either. As the season starts, Gorzelany will not be in St.

In Sonoma County, the five elementary districts with the lowest vaccination rates are all in west county: Twin Hills Union, 55.6%; Sebastopol Union 58.93%; Harmony Union, 67.65%; West Side Union, 68.12%; and Gravenstein Union, 71.92%. Statewide, 2% of kindergartners have vaccination waivers. At five Sonoma County schools, that rate exceeds 50%: Sunridge Charter, 76%; Sebastopol Independent Charter, 75%; Orchard View, 67%; Summerfield Waldorf, 55%; and Village Charter, 53%.

CAIRO, March 26 (Xinhua) -- An Egyptian girl has contracted the bird flu virus, bringing the number of human cases of the avian influenza to 60, a spokesman for the Health Ministry said on Thursday. The patient is a 30-month-old girl comes from the southern governorate of Qena, some 450 km south of Cairo, local media quoted Abdel-Rahman Shahine as saying.

JAMES Wong proved a real natural when he burst on to the screen in his debut TV series seven days ago. Packing the zest of Jamie Oliver's early television appearances, the scientist and gardener was a big hit with 2.5m viewers. Since then, internet chatter has been buzzing about newcomer James, 27.

THE FLU * Sends 200,000 to hospital each year * Kills 36,000, of whom over 90% are over 64. * Costs U.S. $87.1 bil. a year. * Symptoms: Fever over 100 degrees, headaches, body aches, nasal discharge, sore throat, cough. SOURCES: Centers for Disease Control; Chicago, Cook County Departments of Public Health "The flu is peaking currently in the area," said epidemiologist Megan Patel of the Cook County Department of Public Health.