By Theodora FilisOn Saturday, December 31, 2011, China's state media reported that a 39 year old man, identified as Xinhua, died on Saturday in Shenzhen, Southern China, from what appears to be a contagious strain of avian flu.
Xinhua Chen was hospitalized, in Shenzhen, on December 21 with a fever. According to China's official news agency, the provincial health department came out with a statement saying Xinhua had tested positive for the H5N1 avian influenza virus.
Perhaps most disturbing of all is that the man had not traveled outside the city, and had no contact with poultry.
Last summer, the United Nations (UN) warned of a possible resurgence of the virus, which peaked in 2006 – infecting people in 63 countries. The UN warned there were indications a mutant strain may be spreading in Asia. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reported that a variant strain of H5N1, which could bypass the defenses of current vaccines, appeared in late August 2011, in Vietnam and China.
Mutations of various flu strains have been occurring recently worldwide. The Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP) reported, Alongside last week’s confirmation of another novel flu infection with an H3N2 variant, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) launched a series of documents to advise health and lab workers on how to identify and report new cases.
On Dec 23, 2011 the CDC confirmed two more novel flu infections, including in a West Virginia child with a swine-origin H3N2 reassortant strain (H3N2v) that includes the M gene from the 2009 H1N1 virus. The child was in contact with an H3N2v case reported on Dec 9, and the newly confirmed case pushed the nation’s H3N2v total to12 so far.
The other novel flu infection involved a swine-origin H1N1 variant (H1N1v) that had also acquired the M gene from the 2009 H1N1 virus. The CDC said the patient, an adult from Wisconsin who had occupational exposure to swine, was the first detection of the H1N1v strain in a human. On the same day the CDC announced the two novel flu cases, it released documents that address preventing seasonal and H3N2v in healthcare settings, interim guidance on H3N2v specimen collection and testing, and interim case definitions for investigating H3N2v infections.
Most H3N2v infections have been mild, and only 3 of the 12 patients were hospitalized, the CDC said. Though it’s not clear if cases will become more common, it’s possible that healthcare providers will care for patients who have H3N2v infections.
Governments worldwide have been preparing for a pandemic since 2009. The World Health Organization (WHO) said, in USA Today, that Tamiflu is useless:
“In 2007/2008, a different A(H1N1) influenza virus developed Tamiflu-resistance,” explained WHO research scientist Aeron C. Hurt, who reported the spike. “On that occasion, it was first detected in large numbers in Europe. However, within 12 months the virus had spread globally, such that virtually every A(H1N1) virus around the world was resistant to this drug,” he explained.
“This previous situation demonstrated the speed and potential for a Tamiflu-resistant virus to spread worldwide,” Hurt added. “Our concern is that this current pandemic 2009 A(H1N1) Tamiflu-resistant virus may also spread globally.”
Meanwhile in the US multiple new cases of H1N1 were reported at the same time the US government warned about a potential bioweapon attack.
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