News Scan for Aug 06, 2013

News brief

2009 H1N1 flu virus continues circulating globally

Influenza activity increased in several areas of the Southern Hemisphere and was dominated by the 2009 pandemic H1N1 strain over the 2-week period from Jul 7 through Jul 20, according to World Health Organization (WHO) updates.

Data were reported from 73 countries. The Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System (GISRS) tested 24,825 specimens. Of the 1,884 specimens positive for influenza, 1,590 (84.4%) were influenza A and 294 (15.6%) were influenza B. Of the 1,310 type A specimens that were subtyped, 719 (54.9%) were 2009 H1N1 and 590 (45%) were H3N2.

Increased cases of H3N2 were seen in Australia and increased influenza B in New Zealand, although the numbers are lower than in previous years. Flu activity decreased in much of tropical Asia, although several countries in Southeast Asia reported higher levels of H3N2. Much of Central America and the Caribbean region reported increased activity, and tropical South America reported increased 2009 H1N1 and H3N2 activity.

Northern Hemisphere temperate zones continue to see interseasonal levels of flu.
Aug 5 WHO GISRS update
Aug 2 WHO update

Two more deaths tied to steroid-linked fungal infections

Two more patients have died in the outbreak of infections linked with contaminated steroid injections that emerged last fall, raising the toll to 63, though the overall case count stayed steady at 749, according to numbers reported yesterday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The state with the most cases is Michigan with 264, followed by Tennessee with 153. The 749 cases include 233 of meningitis only, 333 of paraspinal or spinal infection only, 151 of meningitis plus paraspinal or spinal infection, 33 with peripheral joint infection only, 2 with paraspinal or spinal plus peripheral joint infection, and 7 of stroke without lumbar puncture only.

The steroid injections implicated contain preservative-free methylprednisolone acetate produced by the New England Compounding Center of Framingham, Mass.
Aug 5 CDC update

Study: Mortality pattern in 1918 flu pandemic related to 1889 pandemic

A team of Canadian and US scientists says that 28-year-olds had the highest mortality during the 1918 flu pandemic, and they suggest that the high death rate in young people was related to childhood exposure to flu during the pandemic of 1889-90.

Writing in PLoS One, the authors say they used historical records from Canada and the United States to determine that 28-year-olds had the highest risk of death during the 1918 pandemic. The team was headed by Joaquin Madrenas of McGill University as senor author.

The scientists suggest that the vulnerability of young adults in 1918 was shaped by their exposure to the "Russian flu," which spread from Russia to Western Europe in the fall of 1889 and reached North America in the winter of 1889-90.

They speculate that the 1889 pandemic was caused by an influenza A/H3 virus, and argue that "commitment very early in life to this subtype would have led to an immune profile offering little or no humoral protection to the antigenically dissimilar H1N1 subtype that emerged in 1918," resulting in an increased risk of death.

The scientists also suggest that exposure to a virus in utero or infancy may permanently affect later health and mortality by causing changes in the T cell repertoire, impairing lung maturation, or affecting metabolism.

"Yet, despite compelling evidence, these explanations remain incomplete," they add. "At a minimum, more detailed analyses using exact ages derived from historical birth and death records for 1889-90 and 1918 are needed."
Aug 5 PLoS One report

Food Safety Scan for Aug 06, 2013

News brief

Texas Cyclospora cases lift national total to 490

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has reported 41 more Cyclospora infections, raising its national total so far to 466, according to an update today. The latest illness onset date is Jul 23, but the CDC said most of the dates have ranged from the middle of June through early July.

Also, Texas health officials reported 41 more infections, raising its total to 181 and pushing it past Iowa as the state with the most cases. The latest update from the Texas Department of State Health Services (TDSHS) has 24 more cases that aren't reflected in the CDC's latest total, which would lift the national toll to 490. Despite all the cases in Texas, health officials still haven't found a common source for the illnesses. Yesterday the CDC said it has deployed extra assistance, including an Epidemic Intelligence Service officer, to lend a hand with the investigation in Texas.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said in an update today that it's not clear if illnesses in other states are part of the same outbreak and that an investigation into the increased cases of cyclosporiasis in other states is ongoing. A few days ago the FDA said its trace-back investigation confirmed that the restaurant salad mix linked to illness clusters in Iowa and Nebraska was produced by a Taylor Farms facility in Mexico. It said the restaurants in Iowa and Nebraska include Olive Garden and Red Lobster, both of which are owned by Darden Restaurants, a company based in Orange County, Fla.
Aug 6 CDC outbreak update
Aug 6 TDSHS update
Aug 6 FDA update

USDA weighing whether poultry chemicals hide Salmonella

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) is looking into concerns raised by researchers that more and stronger chemicals used to kill pathogens in poultry-processing facilities might be masking Salmonella contamination, according to an Aug 2 report in the Washington Post. Some scientists have said that the stronger chemicals may not be neutralized after rinsing prior to testing procedures that are done as spot checks for residual bacterial contamination after birds have been sprayed with or bathed in different chemical solutions. Any contamination that is still on the birds might be masked by tests that come back as false-negatives.

The issue has become a point of contention among chemical companies that market their products to poultry producers, and in June the USDA held a briefing to hear from the companies and food safety experts. Testimony revealed that the average number of chemical treatments on chicken-processing lines has grown from two to four since the early 2000s in an effort to cut pathogens and meet tougher federal food safety standards. Experts also reported that the chemicals, including cetylpyridinium chloride and peracetic acid, are now used with less dilution. The testimony also noted that poultry plants have cut Salmonella rates, without a similar drop in human Salmonella infections.

Scott Russell, PhD, a poultry-processing expert from the University of Georgia, presented at the USDA briefing and will work with federal officials to identify steps to ensure that the chemicals are neutralized before testing, according to the Post report. The USDA said it is assessing Russell's work and will take steps to adjust its policies, if needed. Russell projected that the research will take 6 months to a year to complete, the story said.
Aug 2 Washington Post story