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Showing posts from January, 2015

The CDC is Watching for Human Avian Influenza Infections

So far, North America has been lucky. Community acquired infections of avian   influenza have not yet occurred, although an imported case of H5N1 was identified in Alberta Canada in 2013 and two imported cases of H7N9, a husband and wife, were reported from British Columbia in just this past week. Because of recent outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza (H5 subtypes) in wild birds and domestic flocks in North America, the Center for Disease Control has issues guidance for health care workers for identifying and testing patients with potential avian influenza infections. As of January 31, 2015, no H5 subtype human avian influenza infections have been recorded from these outbreaks which have been reported from six western states along the Pacific Flyway (Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Nevada, Utah, and California ). ( link ) CDC document: Interim Guidance on Testing, Specimen Collection, and Processing for Patients with Suspected Infection with Novel Influenza A Viruses with the P...

Human Cases of Avian Influenza Infections in 2014

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In 2014, 366 human cases of avian influenza infection from four subtypes, A(H7N9), A(H5N1), A(H5N6) and A(H10N8) were reported from 7 countries, China, Egypt, Taiwan, Malaysia, Cambodia, Indonesia, and Vietnam. The case-fatality risk ranged from possibly as low as .22 to as high as .67 among these subtypes in 2014. There is no evidence among any of these subtypes of sustained human-to-human transmission. Influenza viruses that easily circulate among human populations are referred to as seasonal influenza viruses and can cause severe illness in 3 to 5 million individuals annually.[1] Avian influenza Type A viruses that cause infection in birds are referred to as avian influenza viruses. These viruses occur naturally among wild birds worldwide and can infect domestic poultry and other bird and animal species.[2] These avian influenza viruses circulating in bird populations do not usually infect humans. However, sometimes humans can become infected with avian influenza subtypes which hav...