H5N1

Canada: Three cases of measles confirmed in Burlington

Via The Star: Three cases of measles confirmed in Burlington. Excerpt:

Three cases of measles have been confirmed in Burlington, the Halton Region Health Department said Monday. 

All three cases are in children from one family who may have contracted it by travelling out of the province. 

“There certainly have not been any measles cases circulating locally here, so travel exposure probably played into it,” Dr. Monir Taha, a spokesperson for the Halton health department, said. 

The health authority advised that anyone who visited three locations in Burlington on Saturday, June 8 may have been exposed to the virus. The locations are SportChek at the Burlington Mall, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.; The Collector’s Vault, near Guelph Line and Fairview St., from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.; and Al’s Source for Sports, at 3485 Fairview St., from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. 

The children affected visited those three locations at roughly the listed times. 

Taha said other locations that the children visited, such as walk-in clinics and organized events, have registers that the health department consulted to track down people who may have been exposed. 

Measles begins with symptoms that aren’t easily recognizable, Taha said, including a cough, runny nose, red, watery eyes, and a fever. After about four days, a rash begins on the face and moves down the body and white spots appear inside the mouth. The illness lasts for about eight to nine days as long as no complications arise. 

It’s highly contagious for about eight days, from four days before the rashes first appear until four days after, but two doses of the vaccine leads to almost 100% immunity. 

“Our concern would be for people that are not fully immune to measles,” meaning those who are not vaccinated, Taha said. 

While vaccination rates began to drop in the United Kingdom and Europe, “in Canada, that’s not really the case,” Taha said, adding that Halton region has a fairly high vaccination rate for measles. 

Taha said that in Canada, the disease is most common in late winter and spring, but as people travel to parts of the southern hemisphere where the seasons are reversed, that trend becomes less relevant. 

“With air travel everything is just a plane ride away,” he said. “One has to be wary of it at any time.”

Pakistan: Another 105 measles cases reported

Via The Nation, a June 17 report: Another 105 measles cases reported.

More and more measles patients continued to approach public sector hospitals in the province for treatment, enhancing burden on already overloaded health facilities facing severe shortage of necessary drugs. 

On Sunday, as many as 99 measles patients were admitted to different hospitals in the province including 18 in Lahore. So far 17948 measles cases have been reported from across the province including 5204 in Lahore. 

According to Additional Director General Health Dr Jafar Ilyas, no death has been reported from anywhere in the province.  Also, six more children admitted to Holy Family Hospital (HFH) during the last 24 hours, informed hospital sources on Sunday. 

"As many as six children are hospitalised from the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad where doctors are treating them," sources added. 

The disease that broke out in Punjab virtually assumed shape of an epidemic as six to 10 measles-affected children were being reportedly taken on daily basis in the three teaching hospitals from different parts of the district. Ironically, officials of district health department termed the situation normal and under control while the surge in cases of measles speaks otherwise.–Staff Reporter 

HFH Spokesman Dr Javed Hayat confirmed that a total of six children have been admitted in the hospital. He said that out of six children, five were brought from different areas of Rawalpindi and Islamabad while one from Attock. He said that the doctors were medicating the patients and condition of all patients stable. 

So far, a total of 516 cases of measles have been reported in teaching hospitals including Benazir Bhutto Hospital, Holy Family Hospital and District Headquarters Hospital. Of total number, 295 were only reported in HFH.

Pakistan: 3 die of measles; 158 this year

Via the Daily Times, a discouraging report: Three die of measles.

LAHORE: Measles on Saturday claimed three more lives raising the total deaths to 158 across the province, during the last six months. Over a hundred deaths have been recorded in the provincial metropolis alone. 

According to health department officials, the deaths were reported from Bakkhar, Khanweal and Kasur. At least 57 new cases of measles have been reported in different city hospitals during the last 24 hours on Saturday. 

Sources said 32 people suffering from measles were taken to Children’s and Mayo Hospitals, while 25 cases were admitted in different private and government hospitals across the city. 

A total of 18,339 measles cases were reported during the last six months in Punjab. More than ten thousand were reported in Lahore. 

Reviewing the number of rising measles cases in Punjab, the Extended Programme for Immunisation (EMI), department of health, will launch anti-measles drive in 12 high-risk districts of the province from June 24, which was earlier scheduled for June 13, said EPI’s focal person Dr Younas on Saturday. He said the drive could not be launched from June 13, as it would be difficult to train the staff by that date. 

He further said the EMI department had announced to start the campaign on June 13, but due to the rising number of measles cases, the department had re-scheduled the anti-measles drive for June 24. 

However, necessary material has been dispatched to the concerned districts which include Gujranwala, Bhakkar, Shaikhupura, Okara, Kasur, Layyaha, Rawalpindi, Rahim Yar Khan, Lodhran, DG Khan, Faisalabad and Sargodha.

US: Colorado may see more measles cases

Via 9news.com: State Epidemiologist: More measles cases may begin to surface. Click through to watch a video clip. Excerpt:

Doctors are stressing the need for vaccinations after Colorado health officials have confirmed two cases of measles in the Denver area. They expect there will be more. 

They are the first cases reported in the state since 2006. 

One case was confirmed in a man who traveled to Denver from India last month. 

That man was infectious when he visited the Dermatology and Laser Institute of Colorado in Lone Tree. The second case was confirmed in a man who visited the same doctor's office. 

State epidemiologist Lisa Miller says that man may have exposed others to the disease.

MERS: The silence of the Saudis

I've just scanned a lot of Saudi media, both Arabic and English, and found nothing new about their MERS cases. They must still have a lot of cases in their hospitals, but no one is reporting on those patients' condition. No one is doing any follow-up stories on the families of those who have died. Perhaps most importantly, no one is pestering Saudi experts about the possible origins of this new disease.

These all seem to me, as a sometime journalist, to be obvious angles for new stories about a scary new bug. Evidently not to the Saudi media. (In fairness, the French media haven't said anything in over a week about the poor man still fighting MERS in Lille.)

I learned in China, 30 years ago, that even the Chinese media are free to report on news of fresh disasters—in other countries. But the Saudis aren't talking about cases in other countries, and neither are the other Gulf states. Jordan, where MERS emerged last year, hasn't published anything new about it for a week. (In fairness, the Jordan Times does report 71 measles cases so far this year, including 39 among Syrian refugees and 6 Iraqi refugees.)

If the governments of such countries really worried about a new disease outbreak, you would think they'd publicize the problem to their own people incessantly. Instead, the only thing they really fear is embarrassment: A virus has broken out on their watch, and they really would prefer to shut up and hope it goes away.

The decision-makers in such governments are highly intelligent, very well-educated men (and maybe, behind the scenes, a few women). They should be perfectly aware of the political hazards of allowing a new virus to fester and spread. And yet they prefer to keep quiet and to keep their media quiet. Do they really want to delegitimize themselves, and invite demonstrations in the streets while armoured limousines carry them to military airfields and exile?

I have no idea, but at the moment the silence of the Saudis does not bode well for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Measles kills 148 children in Pakistan

Via The Hindu, a PTI report datelined Lahore: Measles kills 148 children in Pakistan. Excerpt:

Measles has claimed the lives of 10 more children in Pakistan’s Punjab province over the past two days, taking the toll in an outbreak of the disease to 148. 

Three to five children have been dying of measles every day since the outbreak in the province a month ago. 

According to a spokesman of the Health Department, the death toll in Lahore alone is 80. 

Since Thursday, three children succumbed to the disease in Lahore, two each in Faisalabad and Hafizabad districts, and one each in Toba Tek Singh, Mandi Bahauddin and Gujranwala. 

At least 195 more cases of measles were reported in Punjab, including 19 in Lahore on Friday, the spokesman said. 

The failure to launch an immunisation campaign against measles and the failure to purchase the vaccine were said to be the main reasons for the outbreak.

Pakistan: Health Dept. officials stealing measles-vaccine refrigerators

Quite a spate of measles reports today. Via The Express Tribune: Measles concerns: ‘Health Department officials stealing vaccine fridges’. Excerpt:

The Lahore High Court on Friday summoned a Health Deputy Secretary, an executive district officer and a deputy district officer for June 11 on a petition filed by a drug inspector. 

Petitioner Bilal Yasin, a drug inspector from Ferozewala, submitted that he had been suspended from service for drawing attention to the theft of refrigerators provided by the UNICEF to store measles vaccines. Of the 81 refrigerators handed over to the Health Department in Sheikhupura, 36 had gone missing, said Yasin. He said that he had raided a site on a tip off and recovered four refrigerators from Vaccination Deputy Superintendent Ali Raza Gilani. Yasin said that he had lodged a complaint against Gilani and initiated a departmental inquiry against him. 

However, Yasin said, Sheikhupura Health EDO Rana Rafique and Ferozewala Health Deputy District Officer Zulfiqar Butt had managed to have the inquiry dropped. He said that he was suspended from service for drawing attention to the theft of the refrigerators. Yasin said he was neither given a notice nor a chance to explain, as was procedure. 

Yasin alleged that he had been victimised by those involved in stealing the refrigerators. “They were given to the department to store vaccine, but the vaccine has not been stored properly. This will hamper efforts to control the epidemic,” he said. He prayed to the court to set aside his suspension and direct the authorities to reinstate him. 

The judge remarked that while on one hand children were dying of measles, on the other, officers were being picked on for taking action against officials involved in the theft of refrigerators. 

According to official reports, more than 1,500 children are suffering from measles. As many as 129 children have died in the province so far.

US: Second measles case confirmed in the Denver metro area; others may have been exposed

Via The Denver Channel.com: Second measles case confirmed in the Denver metro area; Others may have been exposed. Excerpt:

A man exposed to the measles at a Lone Tree doctor's office is confirmed to have contracted the virus. It is the second case confirmed within the week. 

The first case was identified in a man from India, who visited a doctor's office and was later hospitalized at Sky Ridge Medical Center. The new measles infection was identified in another man who was exposed at the Dermatology and Laser Institute of Colorado, located at the Lone Tree Medical Plaza, 9695 S. Yosemite St. 

The virus is spread when a person sneezes or coughs and sprays droplets in the air or on surfaces. Because it is highly contagious, the state health department says other exposures may have occurred. 

"With a second case of measles and fairly wide exposure, we could be seeing additional cases of measles in our community," Dr. Lisa Miller, state epidemiologist, said in a written statement. 

"Unfortunately, vaccination coverage levels in Colorado are not as high as we would like them to be. Now is the time to check your immunizations and make sure you and your family are protected."

If you're in the Metro Denver area, click through to read the full story, which includes a list of places where this second patient may have exposed others to measles.

UK: Doctors order 200,000 extra MMR vaccines to cope with rising measles cases

Via the Mirror Online: Measles outbreak: Doctors order 200,000 extra MMR vaccines to cope with rising infection levels. Excerpt:

Doctors have been forced to order an extra 200,000 doses of the MMR vaccine as the number of people infected with measles continues to rise. 

The move came as it emerged there were 288 new cases in England in April - the highest number in a month ever recorded. 

In Wales more than 60,000 children have already been given the jab to curb the outbreak in Swansea and Powys. 

But new figures show the bug is now increasingly spreading across England. 

There have already been 962 cases in just the first four months of this year. 

There were nearly 2,000 cases of measles in England in 2012 - the highest figure for nearly two decades. 

More than half of those to have caught measles in England in 2013 were from Teesside and Greater Manchester. 

The Government aims to vaccinate one million children at risk of measles before the start of the school year. 

The catch-up campaign is targeting those who were not given two MMR jabs. 

Measles vaccination rates across Britain fell in the late 1990s and early 2000s after now discredited claims of a link between the MMR jab and autism. 

It led to a generation of school children who are vulnerable to the infection. 

The campaign aims to immunise the third-of-a-million completely unprotected children aged 10 to 16 and another 660,000 children who had only the first of two MMR jabs or are in different age groups.

UN: Ban appeals to philanthropists to help fight five deadly diseases, curb cholera in Haiti

Via the United Nations News Centre, a June 5 report that may rank as the most pathetic of the year: Ban appeals to philanthropists to help fight five deadly diseases, curb cholera in Haiti. Most of the news release is dedicated to the other five, with cholera in Haiti as an afterthought:

Mr. Ban also drew attention to the elimination of cholera in Haiti, where the disease has claimed the lives of more than 7,750 people and infected over 620,000 since the outbreak in 2010. 

“The United Nations is striving to do everything it can to eliminate cholera from Haiti. But to support the Government, we need to fill a severe funding gap,” Mr. Ban said. 

In the long-term, the country’s health system needs to be strengthened and clean drinking water and sanitation must be available to all citizens. However, Mr. Ban noted that in the oral cholera vaccine is a need that needs to be addressed immediately. 

“What Haiti needs is a partner ready to provide $1 million a year for the next three to five years to underwrite free vaccines for the poor and vulnerable people who need them most,” he said. “The United Nations will do its part to raise resources and strengthen the cholera response, but we also need partners who can make a difference for the people of Haiti.” 

Mr. Ban underlined the UN’s support to translate philanthropic initiatives to the ground and establish partnerships to “save millions of lives and set the world on course for a better future.”

First, it's pathetic that the UN has to beg the ultra-rich to ride to the rescue as Bill and Melinda Gates have. This is, after all, an association of nations whose richest members have trillion-dollar economies. But those nations can't be bothered to clean up a few easily eradicated diseases.

Second, it's doubly pathetic that the UN has to beg for help to get rid of cholera in Haiti: the UN went into Haiti in the first place because the US was getting bored with sending in the Marines every time the local paid thug failed to keep order; better to subsidize a few countries' military by paying them to be "peacekeepers." So Haiti wouldn't even have cholera in the first place if not for the Nepali contingent who arrived in the fall of 2010 and promptly triggered a catastrophe.

And what if the philanthropists, some small fraction of the top 0.1%, actually do pay to clean up malaria, polio, tetanus, measles, and HIV, and then clean up cholera in Haiti as an afterthought? What will happen to all the children who grow up reasonably healthy (maybe even adequately nourished) in the countries where those diseases once flourished? What jobs can they look forward to? How will they have a say in their countries' "better future"?

Mr. Ban doesn't say.