This flu season's vaccine has provided "little or no protection" against influenza in Canada because of a mismatch between the H3N2 strain included in the vaccine and the predominant circulating H3N2 strain, say interim findings from the Canadian Sentinel Physician Surveillance Network (SPSN) published in today's issue of Eurosurveillance.
Hundreds of thousands of poultry affected in more than 100 outbreaks involving various subtypes.
The Northern Hemisphere continues to see high levels of influenza A (H3N2), especially in North America and northwestern Europe, according to a Jan 26 World Health Organization (WHO) report.
The husband of a British Columbia woman who was found to have the first H7N9 avian flu case in North America probably was infected with the virus too, according to a Canadian Press (CP) report today.
British Columbia officials said test results are still pending for the man, but he may test negative for the illness because he had already recovered when samples were taken, according to the story.
Also, US officials report more details on the H5N8 outbreak on a California turkey farm.
A British Columbia resident who recently returned from China is recovering from H7N9 avian flu.
H5N8 has now been found in US commercial poultry after infecting wild birds and backyard flocks.
US flu activity last week showed some signs of decline but continued at an elevated pace, well above epidemic levels, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said today in its weekly update.
China has reported three more H7N9 avian flu infections, two in Zhejiang province and one in Guangdong province, according to an analysis of Chinese state media report and a provincial health department report by FluTrackers, an infectious disease news message board.
Officials are assessing farm and public health workers after widespread outbreaks.
