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(VOV) - The Heath Ministry has quoted sources from the Ho Chi Minh City Pasteur Institute confirming that a new kind of porcine flu virus, A/H3N1, has appeared, apparently a combination of the pig-related A/H1N1 and A/H3N2 flu viruses.

The medical sector has monitored 10 patients infected with the A/H3N2 virus with porcine origin, and found that three of them had not had direct contact with any diseased pigs.
Therefore, the sector has not ruled out the possibility of a mutation in the A/H3N2 strain which could lead to transmission between humans, instead of strictly from pigs to humans as previously.

However, the situation has not reached an alarming level because the virus has not changed much; it has low toxicity and has shown no sign of drug resistance.

Flu vaccines are able to cope with small changes in this kind of virus, said Le Hoang San, Vice Director of the HCMC Pasteur Institute.

http://english.vov.vn/Home/New-strain-o ... 134722.vov

Swine H3N2v sequences from Vietnam discussed here

viewtopic.php?f=5&t=7935

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Commentary

http://www.recombinomics.com/News/02091 ... Novel.html

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Plans to block new swine flu outbreak
VietNamNet Bridge – The Ministry of Health's Preventive Medicine Department has asked relevant bodies to take measures to prevent a new strain of swine flu virus found recently in the US from entering the country.

The requirement followed an announcement by the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) stating that three children in the state of Iowa had been diagnosed as suffering from A /H3N1 on November 23.

None of the children were hospitalised, and each had recovered from a mild episode of febrile respiratory illness. All three were in contact with one another, but none were known to have been exposed to swine.

No additional human cases of the virus had been detected in Iowa, and no evidence of sustained human-to-human transmission existed. Surveillance was ongoing, the CDC reported last Friday.

The new strain was reported to be a mutation of the A/H1N1 virus, which caused an epidemic in 74 countries in 2009, and the A/H3N2 virus.

The National Institute for Hygiene and Epidemiology and the Pasteur Institute were asked to strengthen quarantine measures and monitor people suffering from flu, especially those from the affected area. They will also keep a close watch on pneumonia cases which were the suspected cause of the virus. No cases of the strain have been detected in the country

The country now has vaccines for A/H3N1, H3N2 and H1N1. Health experts said that flu vaccinations were necessary because they had the potential to stop strains from mutating.

According to the World Health Organisation, as of April 2010, more than 214 countries and territories had reported confirmed cases of influenza H1N1, sometimes dubbed swine flu, resulting in nearly 17,800 deaths.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News

http://vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn/soci ... break.html

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The above quote STRONGLY suggests that the story at the top of this thread is in reference to the US cases in 2011.

http://www.recombinomics.com/News/02091 ... Novel.html

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Yes, I think it's a mistake !!!

I know it is a mistake. It even uses H3N1, as seen in the Dec 7 paper (and the numbers are the same - at that time there were 10 confirmed H3N2 cases, including the 3 in Iowa with no swine exposure).

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"Alert" at flutrackers.com still stealing without attribution

http://www.flutrackers.com/forum/showpo ... ostcount=7

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Published Date: 2012-02-09 16:58:09
Subject: PRO/AH/EDR> Influenza (09): Viet Nam, new strain?, RFI
Archive Number: 20120209.1037688

INFLUENZA (09): VIET NAM, NEW STRAIN?, REQUEST FOR INFORMATION
**************************************************************
A ProMED-mail post
http://www.promedmail.org
ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
http://www.isid.org
Date: Thu 9 Feb 2012
Source: VOV - Voice of Viet Nam [edited]
http://english.vov.vn/Home/New-strain-o ... 134722.vov


New strain of swine flu detected
--------------------------------
The Heath Ministry has quoted sources from the Ho Chi Minh City Pasteur Institute confirming that a new kind of porcine A/H3N1 influenza virus has appeared, apparently a combination [reassortant ?] of the swine-related A/H1N1 influenza virus and the A/H3N2 influenza virus. The medical sector has monitored 10 patients infected with [a] A/H3N2 influenza virus of porcine origin, and found that 3 of them had not had direct contact with any diseased pigs. Therefore, the sector has not ruled out the possibility of a mutation in the [porcine] A/H3N2 strain which could lead to transmission between humans, instead of strictly from pigs to humans as previously.

However, the situation has not reached an alarming level because the virus has not changed much; it has low toxicity and has shown no sign of drug resistance. Flu vaccines are able to cope with small changes in this kind of virus, said Le Hoang San, Vice Director of the HCMC Pasteur Institute.

--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail Rapporteur Mary Marshall

[It is difficult to evaluate this report on the basis of the information provided. The 1st paragraph suggests that the agent is an H3N1 reassortant virus, but later it is described as a mutant of a swine H3N2 virus endowed with transmissibility in humans. Pending clarification, this report should be ignored. - Mod.CP]

[More information from knowledgeable sources would be greatly appreciated.

For the HealthMap/ProMED map of Viet Nam, see http://healthmap.org/r/1jtz - Mod.MPP]


See Also

Influenza (08): WHO Update 20120204.1032238
Avian influenza, human (12): Viet Nam, background 20120123.1019444
Influenza A (H1N1) 2009, animal: Viet Nam, porcine, 2009 20120106.1001398]
.................................................cp/ejp/mpp

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More theft without attribution.

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