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Local coverage in WTAE is short and confused. Say virus never seen before, but say its a combination between human and swine flu. Also confused about origin. The quote was OK (not sure if its swine to human or human to human), but news anchors seemed confused.

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Swine flu makes appearance in Western Pennsylvania
By Jodi Weigand, PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
About the writer
Jodi Weigand is a Pittsburgh Tribune-Review staff writer can be reached at 412-320-7910 or via e-mail.

Health officials are warning the public about several cases of swine flu that have appeared in Western Pennsylvania and seeking anyone who may have had contact with the virus.

"This may be just a few cases, and it may be nothing," said Christine Cronkright, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Health. "We wanted to get the message out to the public as soon as possible that they should report the symptoms to us."

Three children who attended the Washington County Agriculture Fair last month contracted a rare form of swine flu, but it's unclear if that's where they caught the virus.

"We're not saying don't go to fairs or public venues," said Cronkright, who added that no cases of human-to-human infection have been identified. "Did they contract it at the fair? We don't know that yet. That's the one common link among all of them."

The first child became ill on Aug. 20 and has recovered. The other two, confirmed sick during the weekend, are recovering, according to a news release Monday from the health department. The cases are unique because they contain a component of the H1N1 virus, also known as swine flu, that caused a 2009 pandemic.

The state Department of Agriculture monitors the health of animals at all exhibitions, spokeswoman Samantha Krepps said. She said no animals at the Washington fair were reported as ill or showed flu symptoms.

"We have health requirements for animals entered into fairs," she said.

Jeff Lash, vice president of the Washington County Fair Board, said he believes the fair isn't at fault.

"Nothing was found at our fair that caused any of these problems," he said.

The first case of the new virus in Pennsylvania was a girl younger than 5 who had contact with pigs at the Washington County fair, according to the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The state isn't releasing information about the other two children.

A child in Indiana state was sickened in July by the same virus, but it is unrelated to the cases here, the CDC said.

The new strain is a hybrid of viruses that have infected pigs over the past decade and a gene from the H1N1 strain that caused the pandemic two years ago. It's classified as an H3N2 virus. The current flu vaccine contains an antigen for H1N1, but is not effective against the new virus, according to the CDC.

The first child infected in Pennsylvania and the child in Indiana both had received flu shots.

The gene from the pandemic is one of the things that makes the new strain worrisome, because it appears it is important for transmission from person to person, said Dr. John Treanor, a flu specialist at the University of Rochester School of Medicine.

"That's why we're taking a very close look at this," Cronkright said.

During the pandemic, nearly 2,000 swine flu cases had been confirmed by December 2009 in Western Pennsylvania and at least 18 people died. Most recently, a paramedic and dispatcher with a Fayette County ambulance service died in February from H1N1.

Anyone who attended the Washington County Agriculture Fair, which took place from Aug. 13-20, and has flulike symptoms is asked to call 800-PA-HEALTH.



Read more: Swine flu makes appearance in Western Pennsylvania - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsbu ... z1XAMaBOSo

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Swine flu has been spotted again in Pennsylvania. Last week two children were identified as having contracted the virus, and early this week state officials confirmed two more cases both in children. The two children from last week have recovered, and the other two are being treated. However, all four cases are connected to the Washington County Agricultural Fair held the week of Aug. 13-20. The virus is referred to as swine flu because it has been infecting pigs for the last several years, and the reappearance of the virus raises many questions due to the 2009 pandemic.


I was at the Washington County Fair -- should I be worried?



Anyone who was at the Washington County Fair that has developed flu-like symptoms is being asked to call (800) PA-HEALTH -- (800) 724-32584. While location of the confirmed cases might be a coincidence, so far it is the common thread in all four situations. However, no cases of human-to-human transfer of the virus have been confirmed.

What are the symptoms of swine flu?



The symptoms of swine flu are very similar to seasonal flu and include: fatigue, coughing, and fever. While other symptoms are possible, as a precaution anyone with flu like symptoms is being asked to call the contact number.

Is the fair at fault?



The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture monitors the health of all the animals at fairs. Since no animals were reported ill, the fair believes it is not to blame for the infections. It is not yet determined that the sick children contracted the virus at the fair or at another location.

Why are these cases so special?


These cases stand out because this particular strain of the virus contains a gene from the original virus that caused the pandemic. The current flu shots do not contain vaccinations against this particular strain of virus, although it does contain two for common swine flu classifications: H1N1 and H3N2. The virus that has sickened the children can be spread from animal to human or from one human to another.


Is another pandemic on the way?



Thoughts of all residents are shifting to 2009 when 2,000 people in Western Pennsylvania fell ill to the virus and caused at least 18 deaths. So far rather than be concerned about a pandemic, residents should monitor the research of the path the illness has taken and be prepared to take appropriate action.

Jason Gallagher is a long-time Pennsylvania resident. He has experiences in trends and developments in many regions from having lived in many parts of the Keystone State, and currently resides in the Pittsburgh area.

http://news.yahoo.com/swine-flu-back-pe ... 00754.html

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Niman

Your two new articles on your website are highly critical of the CDC experts.

Do you ever give any consideration to the fact that they may be right and you are wrong. This new flu strain may just be a 'Blip' and lead nowhere.

I must admit you are due after many many predictions so i tend to think this will become something major rather than minor.

The next few days will tell us if the CDC or Niman is correct.

CDCs Fluview comes out on a Friday.

You really don't understand evolution or sequences. The Indiana sequence (A/Indiana/08/2011) is already out and it is the same lineage as the earlier trH3N2 sequences showing clustering in HUMANS as in H2H. MMWR comes out on Thursday and should have more novel cases, but the number depends in CDC testing and release of data, which is pretty iffy.

The story is in the sequence,a nd it will come out sooner or later (and sooner is Friday).

The quotes in commentaries were not by "experts". The were by people that have major problems understanding evolution and trH3N2 SEQUENCES, which are VERY clear.

This is NOTHING about being "due". The story about the sequences coming from trH1N1 in Ohio in 2007 is quite real and confirmed by the 2009, 2010, and 2011 trH3N2 SEQUENCES.

Your comments are NOT reality based.

Stick with the babble boards. They speak your language,

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I don't expect much today. trH3N2 is dependent on testing and the CDC is still asking for cases with a swine link (and it is still the off season for flu in the US). Today's MMWR hasn't even added the two confirmed trH3n2 cases (9F) who were described Monday, but samples were collected last month (Aug 25 and 26).

There may be a few more H3N2 cases listed today and maybe more unsubtypables, but most recent isolates are not even sub-typed.

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http://www.promedmail.org/pls/apex/f?p= ... 1000,90195

The countries in the northern hemisphere temperate zone are in their
inter-seasonal period for influenza. Nearly all of the countries in
this zone reported low or no influenza activity. Of interest, the USA
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has reported 4 cases
of swine influenza A(H3N2) virus in children in the states of Indiana
(1 case) and Pennsylvania (3 cases). The virus is similar to one that
has been circulating in swine since 1998 and which has been previously
identified in 8 human cases. The viral genome contains seven of the 8
gene segments from the circulating swine H3N2 viruses, including the
hemaglutinin and neuraminidase genes, however, it is unique in that it
contains one gene segment, the M gene, derived from the pandemic
influenza A(H1N1) virus. The swine H3N2 viruses have antigenic
cross-reactivity with human H3N2 viruses circulating in the 1990s. The
Indiana case did not have direct exposure to pigs but had contact with
a care-giver who did have recent swine contact. The 3 cases in
Pennsylvania had all recently visited a fair where swine were present.
The virus does not appear to have spread widely in humans; however,
investigations are ongoing.

For more information, see the CDC Morbidity and Mortality Weekly
Report, 9 Sep 2011 / 60(35);1213-1215; the Pennsylvania Department of
Health website; and the ProMED-mail archived posts listed below.

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From February:

In addition to seasonal viruses, two unrelated human infections with a swine-origin influenza A/H3N2 virus were identified in different areas of Pennsylvania with onset dates in September 2010 and October 2010. Both of these individuals (one a child, one an adult) had typical influenza illness and were not hospitalized. In recent years, swine influenza A/H3N2 viruses have produced human illness elsewhere in the country, generally in association with direct contact with ill pigs, but these two recent cases are the first in the eastern US. Person-to-person transmission of swine-origin A/H3N2 has not been conclusively demonstrated, and there is no evidence of additional spread in the two Pennsylvania cases. However, clinicians should remain alert to the possibility of infection with this virus in persons with influenza-like illness who have a history of recent exposure to swine populations, and collect appropriate diagnostic specimens. This virus can be detected by currently available point-of-use rapid diagnostic tests.
The Bureau of Laboratories conducts influenza strain subtyping primarily for surveillance and investigative purposes. Virus monitoring serves three purposes: To identify and characterize circulating subtypes To identify changes in the virus that could suggest lack of vaccine effectiveness or enhanced virulence To identify emerging antiviral resistance
To accomplish these goals, specimens are collected through a network of influenza sentinel providers located throughout Pennsylvania. At present, there are a total of 148 sentinel providers in the Commonwealth. Registered sentinel providers may continue to submit between 3-5 specimens per week from patients who meet the case definition for influenza-like illness. Clinicians wishing to join the influenza sentinel provider should contact Owen Simwale at (717) 787-3350 or by email at osimwale@state.pa.us
Specimens are also accepted from other sources for confirmatory testing in specific circumstances. These include:
Seriously ill persons
- in-patient hospitalizations with severe influenza or evidence of influenza on local lab testing
- admissions to an intensive care unit with influenza-like illness or its complications, regardless of local lab test results Deaths due to confirmed or suspected influenza or its complications Apparent vaccine failures (individuals who received the 2010/11 trivalent influenza vaccine at least two weeks prior to illness onset with laboratory-confirmed influenza)



http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/se ... 569&rank=2

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My wife has fairly significant flu-like symptoms (Fox Chapel area in Pittsburgh). Started with a headache, sore throat, and fatigue. Today she is dizzy, clammy, naseous, with diahrea. Drs appointment this afternoon.

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I will pray for a quick recovery and that you stay healthy.

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I used to think I had to understand in order to believe, but then I realized that I had to believe in order to understand. - Augustine