Rhiza Labs FluTracker Forum

The Fryeburg Fair in Maine (bordering New Hampshire) was held Oct 2-9 and also had Pig Scrambles on Oct 7 and Oct 9.

The filmer (Jordan's parent or sibling) of one of the scrambles (uploaded Oct 10), was coughing throughout the filming

Must see video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XSECGUcId2E

_________________
www.twitter.com/hniman

Video is 6:41 and a quick viewing has coughs at the following times (stronger coughs with a "+")

0:17
0:38
0:56 +
1:51 +
1:56 +
2:49 +
3:16
3:34 +
3:48 +
3:49 +
4:15 +
5:07
5:30
5:49
6:15

_________________
www.twitter.com/hniman

Schedule for 2011 Fryeburg Fair

http://www.fryeburgfair.com/FRYEBURGFAI ... re2011.pdf

_________________
www.twitter.com/hniman

It is worth noting that Fryeburg is adjacent to the New Hampshire border, which may have generated the media warning to farmers in New Hampshire.

_________________
www.twitter.com/hniman

Confirmation from Maine that both cases were linked to the same fair (and the ProMED rumor centered on New hampshire and Fryburg is on the New Hampshire, while the coughing videographer is the real deal).

_________________
www.twitter.com/hniman

Published Date: 2011-11-02 15:54:18
Subject: PRO/AH/EDR> Influenza (63): USA (ME, NOT NH) swine-origin H3N2 reassortant
Archive Number: 20111102.3260

INFLUENZA (63): USA (MAINE, NOT NEW HAMPSHIRE) SWINE-ORIGIN H3N2
REASSORTANT
****************************************************************************

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: Sun 23 Oct 2011
Source: Nashua Telegraph [edited]
http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/newsstat ... asses.html

New Hampshire residents who work with pigs are being cautioned to keep an eye out for flu-like symptoms after a Maine child became sick from [a] "novel influenza virus" [infection]. The child had contact with pigs, including time spent in a closed setting at an agricultural fair, public health officials said. The child became sick earlier this month [October 2011]. So far, officials said Friday [21 Oct 2011], the case of the child in Cumberland County, Maine, "is an isolated event. They said Maine "is not aware of any person-to-person transmission."

Public health officials have long feared a new, dangerous strain of influenza would be bred in animals and passed to people, where it would have the ability to spread throughout the human population in a manner similar to the devastating 1918 influenza pandemic. That concern explains the enormous publicity and reaction to the so-called swine flu scare of 2009, which petered out when the H1N1 strain proved less dangerous than feared.

The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention and federal health authorities are investigating the latest case, which is unusual, although not unique. Since 2005, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports, there have been 26 cases of flu virus passing from pigs to people. None of those cases have resulted in disease that passes from people to other people.

"Swine-origin influenza is rare in humans, but veterinarians should remind owners and those who work closely with swine to watch for symptoms of ILI (influenza-like illness) in themselves and their families," said the announcement from Maine, which was passed on to New Hampshire veterinarians on Thursday [20 Oct 2011]. "Any person with ILI, defined as fever greater than 100 deg F [38 deg C] with cough or sore throat, should contact their primary care provider for follow-up."

Influenza can have a variety of signatures, differentiated by the letters H and N, which stand for different proteins on the surface of the virus. There are 16 types of H (hemagglutinin) and 9 types of N (neuraminidase), meaning up to 1454 strains of flu can exist, which is why tracking and vaccinating for the disease is difficult.

Officials said the influenza in the Maine case is similar to rare human infections with swine-origin H3N2 viruses, but it also contains a genetic component of the pandemic H1N1 virus. This is genetically similar to 4 previous cases identified in the United States this year [2011], 3 in Pennsylvania and one in Indiana, all of which had exposure to swine.

[Byline: David Brooks]

-- Communicated by: ProMED-mail

[This press report has been incorrectly interpreted elsewhere as confirmation of transmission of a swine-origin reassortant A/H3N2 influenza virus to humans from pigs in New Hampshire. Transmission of this strain of influenza virus occurred in isolated cases in the states of Indiana, Maine, and Pennsylvania, with no onward human-to-human transmission. These cases are described in detail in the ProMED-mail references below.

No transmission (or isolation) of this swine-origin reassortant H3N2 influenza virus has occurred in the state of New Hampshire as far as is known at present.

The HealthMap/ProMED-mail interactive map of the state of Maine can be accessed at http://healthmap.org/r/1m1U. - Mod.CP]




See Also

Influenza (60): USA (ME) swine-origin H3N2 reassortant 20111021.3134
Influenza (54): (PA) swine-origin H3N2 reassortant, comment
20110913.2789
Influenza (52): (PA), swine-origin H3N2 reassortant, 3 cases
20110906.2723
Influenza (51): swine-origin H3N2 reassortant, children 20110902.2685
Influenza (40): H3N2/H1N1 reassortant ex patient 20110609.1749]
.................................................mpp/cp/mj/mpp

_________________
www.twitter.com/hniman

The above ProMED denial STRONGLY suggests that the fair linked to the Maine cases is the Fryeburg fair, which is adjacent to New Hampshire.

_________________
www.twitter.com/hniman

How can you NOT go to the Fryeburg Fair - otherwise known as Fryeburg Fair, Maine's Blue Ribbon Classic?

With a calf scramble, a fireman's muster, a 4x4 pull, sheep dog trials, shuffleboard, a skillet throw, a pig scramble, a tractor pull, and a Grand Parade on Saturday, how can you resist!

If you are looking for a motel in Fryeburg, inns or bed and breakfasts, you are in luck. However, larger Fryeburg, Maine hotels are non-existent. For those...

...your best bet would be to find a place to stay in North Conway, NH, around 20 minutes from Fryeburg.

_________________
www.twitter.com/hniman

Commentary

http://www.recombinomics.com/News/11161 ... eburg.html

_________________
www.twitter.com/hniman

Detail on 2nd Maine case

Maine Case
• A male child became ill with influenza-like symptoms (fever, cough, chills and body aches) on October 22, 2011. The child continues to recover from his illness.
• The patient was seen by a local health care provider on October 24, 2011, where a respiratory specimen was collected and forwarded to the Maine Health and Environmental Testing Laboratory.
• The patient did not receive influenza antiviral medications.
• On October 28, 2011, diagnostic testing at the state laboratory was weakly positive for influenza A (H3), but negative for swine-origin influenza targets. The specimen was forwarded to CDC.
• On October 30, 2011, partial genome sequencing confirmed the virus as a swine-origin triple reassortant influenza A (H3N2) virus with the M gene from pH1N1.
• The patient reported multiple instances of close contact with pigs where sick pigs were present.
• No other ill persons have been identified at this time and no human-to-human transmission of this virus is suspected.

https://linksweb.oph.dhh.louisiana.gov/ ... 202011.doc

_________________
www.twitter.com/hniman