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Date: Mon 22 Aug 2005 From: ProMED-mail Source: Aberdeen News [edited] ------------------------------------------------------------ Legionnaire's warning issued after 8th case ----------------------------------------------- The discovery last week [3rd week August 2005] of an 8th case of Legionnaire's disease in Rapid City prompted South Dakota health officials to alert every state health department in the nation. ------------------------------------------------------------- The discovery came only a few days after an estimated 500 000 motorcyclists attended the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. Lisa Weyer, director of the Sturgis Rally Department, said this year's [2005] rally took place without them knowing anything about the Rapid City outbreak. --------------------------------------------------------------- The 1st Rapid City case was in May 2005. The 1st time most South Dakotans heard about the outbreak was in early August 2005. Doneen Hollingsworth, state Health department secretary, said South Dakota's public health officials decide on a case-by-case basis how to proceed in case of an outbreak. She said the disease is not contagious, and there's nothing people can do to prevent it. ------------------------------------------------------------- Officials say 8 Rapid City residents -- 3 women and 5 men, ages 51 to 85 -- have been diagnosed with Legionnaire's disease this summer [2005]. Lon Kightlinger, state epidemiologist, said the victims fit the disease profile. Some are smokers, and some have underlying health conditions, he said. ------------------------------------------------------------- South Dakota's earlier decision not to issue a public alert is similar to what several neighboring states say they would have done and is in line with policies of CDC. Jennifer Marcone, a CDC spokeswoman, said there are no firm national guidelines concerning public notification. She said South Dakota health officials did a thorough case control study, and no definitive source of the disease was found. -------------------------------------------------------------- -- ProMED-mail [With the meeting of half a million bikers in Rapid City, cases may be diagnosed from the cluster in other states. - Mod.LL]

Date: Wed 24 Aug 2005 From: Marianne Hopp Source: World Health Organization (WHO), CSR, Disease Outbreak News, Wed 24 Aug 2005 [edited] ------------------------------------------------------------ Angola: Marburg Hemorrhagic Fever Outbreak - WHO Update 25 ----------------------------------------------- As of Tue 23 Aug 2005, the Ministry of Health in Angola reported a total of 374 cases, including 329 deaths (Case Fatality Rate 88 percent) countrywide. Of these, 368 cases, including 323 deaths, were reported in Uige Province. A total of 158 cases have been laboratory confirmed. ------------------------------------------------------------- 52 contacts are being monitored in Uige Province, and clinical specimens from alerts continue to be shipped to the Special Pathogens Program, National Microbiology Laboratory, Public Health Agency of Canada, for diagnostic testing. ------------------------------------------------------------- The last confirmed case of Marburg died on Tue 21 Jul 2005 in Songo municipality, Uige Province. There have been no laboratory confirmed cases since then. ----------------------------------------------------------- -- ProMED-mail [These figures are not substantially different from the previous update on 8 Aug 2005, although the number of people under surveillance has increased slightly. It has been more than a month since the last confirmed death in Uige province, and the outbreak can be considered to be virtually at an end. ------------------------------------------------------------- Attention can perhaps turn now to investigation of the source of the outbreak. - Mod.CP]

Date: 24 Aug 2005 From: ProMED-mail Source: Channel Cincinnati.com [edited] ------------------------------------------------------------- Parasite Outbreak Puts Swimmers At Risk, 9 People Fall Ill, One Hospitalized ------------------------------------------------------------- A dangerous parasite prompted the closing of hundreds of Hamilton County swimming pools on Tuesday [23 Aug 2005], and at least 9 people are already sick, News 5 reports. ------------------------------------------------------------- 8 children are ill, and an adult has been hospitalized after an outbreak of cryptosporidosis at Powel Crosley Y.M.C.A. in Springfield Township, health officials said. ------------------------------------------------------------- "Crypto" will give you cramps and severe diarrhea that can last up to 2 weeks, or even worse. The local water supply has been tested and given the all-clear, but Hamilton County health officials are worried that swimmers could spread the outbreak to other pools, News 5 reports. The bug is spread by ingesting fecal matter. ------------------------------------------------------------- The Hamilton County Health Department mailed letters to 320 pool operators, asking them to put up a "No Swimming" sign for 8 hours and to super-chlorinate the water. "You can't kill it with normal doses of chlorine, and that's what we do when we ask people to super-shock their pools," said Kathy Lordo of the Hamilton County Health Department. At Powel Crosley, they used 10 times the normal amount of chlorine, just to be sure, and they cleaned the slides and railings, trying to reassure members. ------------------------------------------------------------- The symptoms can be tricky, and victims and doctors may not suspect "crypto." "You can have diarrhea for a day or 2, and it kind of goes off for a little bit, and it may flare up again," Lordo said. ------------------------------------------------------------- The best ways to avoid "crypto:" Wash your hands often. Avoid swimming. Anyone who is infected can be contagious for up to 2 weeks. They are advised not to swim and not to work in daycare or restaurant facilities during that time. ------------------------------------------------------------- -- ProMED-mail ------------------------------------------------------------- [see also: Cryptosporidiosis, water park - USA (NY)(02) 20050821.2457 Cryptosporidiosis, water park - USA (NY) 20050819.2442 Cryptosporidiosis, swimming pools - USA (MT) 20050818.2415 Cryptosporidiosis, swimming pools - Australia (NSW) 20050617.1710 2003

ate: Wed 24 Aug 2005 From: ProMED-mail Source: San Mateo Daily Journal [edited] ------------------------------------------------------------- Salmonella outbreak examined --------------------------------- County and state health officials continue to investigate a salmonella outbreak at a South San Francisco restaurant in July 2005 that may be linked to raw almonds. One worker and 21 diners were left sick after eating at La Tapatia Restaurant, but a county report from the health department on communicable diseases notes the monthly increase is not considered out of the ordinary. ------------------------------------------------------------- A communicable disease team, including an environmental health specialist and a public health nurse, visited the Grand Avenue facility and made recommendations to prevent further disease transmission, according to the report. Later visits included state health officials who collected samples from those affected. The specimens from restaurant patrons matched a strain of salmonella specific to raw almonds. ------------------------------------------------------------- State investigators discovered La Tapatia bought raw almonds in bulk from a large food retailer and repackaged them for resale. However, all of the almonds confiscated from the restaurant all tested negative for that strain, said Health Services spokeswoman Beverly Thames. ------------------------------------------------------------- Currently, officials are comparing the outbreak to a similar incident in Berkeley during the same period. ------------------------------------------------------------- No illnesses have been reported since the initial batch. ---------------------------------------------------- -- ProMED-mail [In 2004, a worldwide recall of raw almonds occurred due to contamination of the nuts with _Salmonella enterica_ serotype Enteritidis. It would be interesting to know the relationship between the California strain and last year's contaminant. - Mod.LL]

This thread contained about 6 reports, this seems to be the best of the thread. Europe is truely concerned about the bird flu. granny ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ [2] Date: Wed 24 Aug 2005 From: ProMED-mail Source: The Times, London, 23 Aug 2005 [edited] ------------------------------------------------------------- Europe steps up attempt to halt lethal pandemic ----------------------------------------------- Dutch poultry farmers complied with a government order to move all their birds indoors yesterday [22 Aug 2005], as Europe stepped up its efforts to prevent a potentially deadly bird flu pandemic this winter. ------------------------------------------------------------- Germany plans to follow suit by ordering that all free-range birds be moved indoors in the middle of next month [September 2005] to prevent contact with birds arriving from the East that may be carrying the virus. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- On Thursday [25 Aug 2005], experts from the European Union's 25 member states are to meet in Brussels to coordinate contingency plans to combat the threat. ------------------------------------------------------------- Britain and other EU states are monitoring poultry health closely and stocking vaccines for use in the event of an epidemic. -------------------------------------------------------------- Over the weekend [20-21 Aug 2005], Italy announced stricter import controls, heightened surveillance and accelerated vaccine production. European worries about bird flu have mounted with evidence that H5N1, the latest strain, found in western China last month [July 2005], has been moving steadily westwards. It has now reached Siberia, and experts are saying that migratory fowl could bring it to Western Europe this autumn. -------------------------------------------------------------- Discovered in China in 1997, bird flu has infected 112 human beings since 2003, killing 57 in Viet Nam, Thailand, Cambodia and Indonesia. So far, human beings who contracted the disease got it from handling birds, but the World Health Organization fears that it might mutate into a human strain that could cause a global pandemic. _____________________________________________________________ The Dutch have taken the most drastic action in Europe so far, because the country was badly hit in the previous outbreak in 2003. The European Commission banned the import of live birds and feathers from Russia this month [August 2005]. Yesterday [22 Aug 2005], it insisted that its measures so far were adequate. -------------------------------------------------------------- The Commission said: "We are following the situation closely, but we are not alarmist." The authorities in Siberia and Kazakhstan ordered the slaughter of thousands of birds during the past 2 weeks, and 142 000 chickens are being monitored as possibly infected on a poultry farm near Omsk, western Siberia. -------------------------------------------------------------- The Commission said that it had been assured by Russia that reports of an outbreak west of the Urals, near the Caspian Sea, were false. ------------------------------------------------------------- Experts have been predicting that ducks and other birds will carry the virus southwestwards as they flee the autumn chill, heading across the Black Sea and southern Europe. ------------------------------------------------------------- Some 850 000 reach Britain later in the autumn every year, including the mallard and pochard ducks that are thought to have brought the disease from Asia to Russia. ------------------------------------------------------------- While the EU and national officials played down the danger, some experts are talking of potential catastrophe on the scale of the 1919 influenza epidemic, if H5N1 changes into a virus that can be transmitted from human being to human being. Tens of millions could die, and the world economy could be pushed into its biggest slump since the Great Depression of the 1930s, pessimists say. -------------------------------------------------------------- The Australian Government has plans to seal off the country from the world, closing air and sea ports, in the event of an Asian bird flu outbreak. Its contingency plan also calls for compulsory quarantine, closing schools, public transport and places of work. ------------------------------------------------------------- French environmentalists are criticizing the Government for complacency. Edir Delhaye, of Cap21, a small environmentalist party, said that France was especially vulnerable because of its large number of free-range poultry farms and the popularity of shooting migratory water birds. He said: "It is vital that we rapidly take measures like the Netherlands and Germany." ------------------------------------------------------------- Renate Kunast, the Agriculture Minister and a Green Party member, has been campaigning on a safety-first ticket. -------------------------------------------------------------- "We have to proceed systematically and with an eye on the risks," she said. The minister sees the biggest risk coming from the illegal animal trade. ------------------------------------------------------------- The customs service has tightened controls on imported birds. German travelers have been warned against visiting bird markets and any kind of livestock trading center east of the Urals. [Byline: Charles Bremner in Paris and Roger Boyes in Berlin] -- ProMED-mail