Ukraine Hemorrhagic Pneumonia (Mutated H1N1) May Be Spreading

I spent some time last night trying to break down all the different news reports to make some sense of what we are seeing across the world in terms of H1N1, different flu viruses, mutations, completely different beasts, etc., and had to bench that post when I ran across this from PreventDisease.com.

A hospital spokesman has confirmed the second recorded H1N1 related death in Nacogdoches, a County in east Texas. Since the vast majority of H1N1 infections are mild, the death of two roommates within 24 hours of each other raises concerns that they were infected with a lethal contagious form of the virus.

The 53-year-old oil rig worker from Enid, Oklahoma died Friday at 3:50 p.m.

The victim checked into Nacogdoches Memorial Hospital last week when he began experiencing severe symptoms.

This update follows the death of his roommate, a 55-year-old oil rig worker from Mississippi, who passed away Thursday morning as a result of H1N1.

These were not only the first two H1N1 deaths in Nacogdoches County, but both men were also the first hospitalizations as a result of H1N1.

The increasing number of deaths, including this cluster described in Texas, raises concerns that a mutation known as D225G confirmed in Norway and Ukraine, which may also be present in Iowa, is gaining traction. More sequencing of samples near lung tissues in severe and fatal cases may present further evidence.

To the best of my understanding, the WHO is reporting that the H1N1 flu virus has mutated into a more lethal form that attacks the lung tissue instead of the throat.  This mutation appears to have occurred in Ukraine, (although I just ran across reports of the same symptoms in China in August, 2009), then migrated to East Europe and Norway, and may now be here in Iowa and Texas.

For what it is worth, the world is a mighty big place and there could be more than one mutation of the H1N1 Swine Flu virus at work here, or it could be a completely different bug dropped into the pond.  We just don’t know quite yet, and considering how little we trust our own government, the CDC, and WHO; we may never know exactly what is going on.

All of that considered, you can still take steps to protect yourself from whatever bugs come your way by building up your immune system.  The current natural recommendation is to increase your Vitamin D intake.

Dr. John Cannell on vitamin D (12.15.2008)

Dr. John Cannel on Vitamin D

The Council On Foreign Relations has a podcast about how to get YOU to take the H1N1 Flu Vaccine by stating that there is a shortage of the vaccine.  Does that not make you all warm and fuzzy inside?

If you would like to read the transcript of the CFR conference podcast that is in the above video, go here. It’s a doozy.

Swine Flu Ground Zero…More Questions For Enquiring Minds

Swine Flu Ground Zero…More Questions For Enquiring Minds

More questions are arising about the origin of this strain of the swine flu, know known by the Bambi Administration as H1N1.  This is all very curious since we know that it is a combo-pack of swine, avian and human viruses.  The renaming of this flu from swine to H1N1 is not so much to protect the pork industry as it is to help people forget that this is a combination of viruses and to stop searching for the cause of such a curious bug.

News is coming out of Mexico about the possible ground zero for this bug starting with a 5 year old named Edgar Hernandez, but after reading the two reports I’ve seen, it is tracking with research I am doing for “Spanish Flu vs. Mexican Flu, Part 2”.  As for those of you that read the link to Smithfield Foods, this is not going to surprise you.

From The Mail:

‘I feel great,’ says five-year-old Mexican boy living near ‘ground zero’ pig farm who may hold the key to swine flu outbreak

The five-year-old boy who is the earliest confirmed victim of swine flu so far has said he feels ‘great’.

Edgar Hernandez – who has since recovered – fell sick on April 2 – nearly two weeks before anybody even knew the virus existed.

edgar1

Edgar is from the village of La Gloria, whose residents say officials ignored their warnings of an unexplained outbreak for weeks.

A staggering 60 per cent of the 3,000 residents of La Gloria – which lies in the shadow of a massive U.S-owned pig farm – reported getting sick, including three children aged under two, who later died.

Villagers say state officials and factory bosses claimed the outbreak was caused by chilly weather and dust in the air.

Although many others fell ill earlier than Edgar, none have yet been confirmed as having had swine flu. By last night, the overall death toll in Mexico stood at 152.

The youngster’s case came as more than 450 members of the community claimed they were suffering respiratory problems and symptoms similar to swine flu.

They claim they are ill from contamination spread by pig waste at nearby breeding farms partly owned by a U.S. company.

Edgar was treated in hospital and is now recovering, but two infants from the area died.

Mexico’s Health Secretary Jose Angel Cordova told reporters a sample taken from a 4-year-old boy in Mexico’s Veracruz state in early April tested positive for swine flu.

However, it is not known when the boy became infected.

As far back as late March, roughly one-sixth of the members of this community of 3,000 in the Gulf coast state began suffering from severe respiratory infections.

They say they can directly trace the infections to a farm that lies upwind five miles (8.5 kilometres) to the north, in the town of Xaltepec.

But Jose Luis Martinez, a 34-year-old resident of La Gloria, said he knew the minute he heard about the outbreak on the news, with symptoms including a fever, coughing, joint aches, severe headache and, in some cases, vomiting and diarrhea.

‘When we saw it on the television, we said to ourselves, ‘This is what we had,” he said. ‘It all came from here. … The symptoms they are suffering are the same that we had here.’

Granjas Carroll de Mexico, 50 per cent owned by Virginia-based Smithfield Foods, Inc., has eight farms in the area.

Smithfield spokeswoman Keira Ullrich said the company has found no clinical signs or symptoms of the presence of swine influenza in its swine herd or its employees working at its joint ventures anywhere in Mexico.

Mexican Agriculture Department officials said yesterday that its inspectors found no sign of swine flu among pigs around the farm in Veracruz, and that no infected pigs have been found yet anywhere in Mexico.

However, the inspections may have been less than complete: Ochoa, the farm manager, said no one from the government has inspected his farm for swine flu.

But residents here say they are certain that Edgar Hernandez was not the only swine flu victim in their town.

Concepcion Llorente, a first-grade teacher in La Gloria, says authorities still owe the town some answers.

‘They said that what we had here was an atypical flu, but if the boy tested positive for swine flu, where did he get it from?’

(more…)

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