What's this about a Virus missing in the US that killed millions?

[Journeyman]

Anyone know what this is about?

All I heard was that it was accidentally shipped into the US

 

[919]

i am assuming you are talking about the Marburg virus...

 

[919]

UN: Marburg Virus Epidemic Not Controlled<!--/title-->

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<!--/photo--> <!--byline-->Posted April 10, 2005 10:43AM <!--/byline-->

The disease first appeared in the northern province of Uige in October, and Ryan said officials had since seen some success against the virus there. Several deaths attributed to Marburg have been reported in four other provinces, but all the victims had been in Uige.



<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=5 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=smallText align=middle><!--/pos: 246 adv: 2686:hpcore55_aprmay_ron_300-1--></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!--body-->Medical experts are having some success countering an outbreak of a deadly Ebola-like virus in Angola, but it has yet to be brought fully under control, the U.N. health agency said Friday.

The rare Marburg virus has killed 174 people out of a total 200 cases, said Dr. Mike Ryan, director of alert and response operations for the World Health Organization.

"The situation right now in Angola is not under control yet," Ryan told reporters in Geneva. "This is still a crisis, and a health crisis on a national level."

The disease first appeared in the northern province of Uige in October, and Ryan said officials had since seen some success against the virus there. Several deaths attributed to Marburg have been reported in four other provinces, but all the victims had been in Uige.

Two cases have been confirmed in Angola's capital, Luanda, but there has been no transmission of the virus there.

Like Ebola, Marburg is a hemorrhagic fever. It spreads through contact with bodily fluids and can kill rapidly. There is no vaccine.

To stop transmission, all possible Marburg contacts need to be followed up, and this is made more difficult by Angola's damaged infrastructure. Containing the virus requires "a profound commitment" from Angolan authorities and the international community, Ryan said.

WHO, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Doctors Without Borders have deployed teams in Uige to combat the virus. The worst previously recorded outbreak of the virus killed 123 people in neighboring Congo between 1998 and 2000, the last known outbreak of Marburg. <!--/body-->

 

[919]

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=3 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR vAlign=top align=left><TD width="100%" bgColor=#ffffcc>[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=-1]What is Marburg hemorrhagic fever?[/size][/font]</TD><TD width=50 bgColor=#ffffcc> </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=1 width=150 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]

[/font]</TD><TD>[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]

[/font]</TD></TR><TR><TD> </TD><TD>[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=-2]Negative stain image of an isolate of Marburg virus, showing filamentous particles as well as the characteristic "Shepherd's Crook." Magnification approximately 100,000 times. Image courtesy of Russell Regnery, Ph.D., DVRD, NCID, CDC. Go to high-resolution version.[/size][/font]</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=-1]Marburg hemorrhagic fever is a rare, severe type of hemorrhagic fever which affects both humans and non-human primates. Caused by a genetically unique zoonotic (that is, animal-borne) RNA virus of the filovirus family, its recognition led to the creation of this virus family. The four species of Ebola virus are the only other known members of the filovirus family.[/size][/font]

[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=-1]Marburg virus was first recognized in 1967, when outbreaks of hemorrhagic fever occurred simultaneously in laboratories in Marburg and Frankfurt, Germany and in Belgrade, Yugoslavia (now Serbia). A total of 37 people became ill; they included laboratory workers as well as several medical personnel and family members who had cared for them. The first people infected had been exposed to African green monkeys or their tissues. In Marburg, the monkeys had been imported for research and to prepare polio vaccine.[/size][/font]

 

[919]

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=3 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR vAlign=top align=left><TD width="100%" bgColor=#ffffcc>[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=-1]Where do cases of Marburg hemorrhagic fever occur?[/size][/font]</TD><TD width=50 bgColor=#ffffcc> </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=-1]Recorded cases of the disease are rare, and have appeared in only a few locations. While the 1967 outbreak occurred in Europe, the disease agent had arrived with imported monkeys from Uganda. No other case was recorded until 1975, when a traveler most likely exposed in Zimbabwe became ill in Johannesburg, South Africa – and passed the virus to his traveling companion and a nurse. 1980 saw two other cases, one in Western Kenya not far from the Ugandan source of the monkeys implicated in the 1967 outbreak. This patient’s attending physician in Nairobi became the second case. Another human Marburg infection was recognized in 1987 when a young man who had traveled extensively in Kenya, including western Kenya, became ill and later died. In 1998, an outbreak occurred in Durba, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Cases were linked to individuals working in a gold mine. After the outbreak subsided, there were still some sporadic cases that occurred in the region. [/size][/font]

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=3 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR vAlign=top align=left><TD width="100%" bgColor=#ffffcc>[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=-1]Where is Marburg virus found?[/size][/font]</TD><TD width=50 bgColor=#ffffcc> </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=-1]Marburg virus is indigenous to Africa. While the geographic area to which it is native is unknown, this area appears to include at least parts of Uganda and Western Kenya, and perhaps Zimbabwe. As with Ebola virus, the actual animal host for Marburg virus also remains a mystery. Both of the men infected in 1980 in western Kenya had traveled extensively, including making a visit to a cave, in that region. The cave was investigated by placing sentinels animals inside to see if they would become infected, and by taking samples from numerous animals and arthropods trapped during the investigation. The investigation yielded no virus. The sentinel animals remained healthy and no virus isolations from the samples obtained have been reported.[/size][/font]

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=3 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR vAlign=top align=left><TD width="100%" bgColor=#ffffcc>[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=-1]How do humans get Marburg hemorrhagic fever?[/size][/font]</TD><TD width=50 bgColor=#ffffcc> </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=-1]Just how the animal host first transmits Marburg virus to humans is unknown. However, as with some other viruses which cause viral hemorrhagic fever, humans who become ill with Marburg hemorrhagic fever may spread the virus to other people. This may happen in several ways. Persons who have handled infected monkeys and have come in direct contact with their fluids or cell cultures, have become infected. Spread of the virus between humans has occurred in a setting of close contact, often in a hospital. Droplets of body fluids, or direct contact with persons, equipment, or other objects contaminated with infectious blood or tissues are all highly suspect as sources of disease.[/size][/font]

 

[919]

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=3 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR vAlign=top align=left><TD width="100%" bgColor=#ffffcc>[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=-1]What are the symptoms of the disease?[/size][/font]</TD><TD width=50 bgColor=#ffffcc> </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=-1]After an incubation period of 5-10 days, the onset of the disease is sudden and is marked by fever, chills, headache, and myalgia. Around the fifth day after the onset of symptoms, a maculopapular rash, most prominent on the trunk (chest, back, stomach), may occur. Nausea, vomiting, chest pain, a sore throat, abdominal pain, and diarrhea then may appear. Symptoms become increasingly severe and may include jaundice, inflammation of the pancreas, severe weight loss, delirium, shock, liver failure, and multi-organ dysfunction.[/size][/font]

[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=-1]Because many of the signs and symptoms of Marburg hemorrhagic fever are similar to those of other infectious diseases, such as malaria or typhoid fever, diagnosis of the disease can be difficult, especially if only a single case is involved.[/size][/font]

[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=-1]Antigen-capture enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) testing, IgM-capture ELISA, polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and virus isolation can be used to confirm a case of Marburg hemorrhagic fever within a few days of the onset of symptoms. The IgG-capture ELISA is appropriate for testing persons later in the course of disease or after recovery. The disease is readily diagnosed by immunohistochemistry, virus isolation, or PCR of blood or tissue specimens from deceased patients.[/size][/font]

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=3 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR vAlign=top align=left><TD width="100%" bgColor=#ffffcc>[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=-1]Are there complications after recovery?[/size][/font]</TD><TD width=50 bgColor=#ffffcc> </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=-1]Recovery from Marburg hemorrhagic fever may be prolonged and accompanied by orchititis, recurrent hepatitis, transverse myelitis or uvetis. Other possible complications include inflammation of the testis, spinal cord, eye, parotid gland, or by prolonged hepatitis. [/size][/font]

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=3 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR vAlign=top align=left><TD width="100%" bgColor=#ffffcc>[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=-1]Is the disease ever fatal?[/size][/font]</TD><TD width=50 bgColor=#ffffcc> </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=-1]Yes. The case-fatality rate for Marburg hemorrhagic fever is between 23-25%.[/size][/font]

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=3 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR vAlign=top align=left><TD width="100%" bgColor=#ffffcc>[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=-1]How is Marburg hemorrhagic fever treated?[/size][/font]</TD><TD width=50 bgColor=#ffffcc> </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=-1]A specific treatment for this disease is unknown. However, supportive hospital therapy should be utilized. This includes balancing the patient’s fluids and electrolytes, maintaining their oxygen status and blood pressure, replacing lost blood and clotting factors and treating them for any complicating infections.[/size][/font]

[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=-1]Sometimes treatment also has used transfusion of fresh-frozen plasma and other preparations to replace the blood proteins important in clotting. One controversial treatment is the use of heparin (which blocks clotting) to prevent the consumption of clotting factors. Some researchers believe the consumption of clotting factors is part of the disease process. [/size][/font]

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=3 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR vAlign=top align=left><TD width="100%" bgColor=#ffffcc>[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=-1]Who is at risk for the illness?[/size][/font]</TD><TD width=50 bgColor=#ffffcc> </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=-1]People who have close contact with a human or non-human primate infected with the virus are at risk. Such persons include laboratory or quarantine facility workers who handle non-human primates that have been associated with the disease. In addition, hospital staff and family members who care for patients with the disease are at risk if they do not use proper barrier nursing techniques.[/size][/font]

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=3 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR vAlign=top align=left><TD width="100%" bgColor=#ffffcc>[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=-1]How is Marburg hemorrhagic fever prevented?[/size][/font]</TD><TD width=50 bgColor=#ffffcc> </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=-1]Due to our limited knowledge of the disease, preventive measures against transmission from the original animal host have not yet been established. Measures for prevention of secondary transmission are similar to those used for other hemorrhagic fevers. If a patient is either suspected or confirmed to have Marburg hemorrhagic fever, barrier nursing techniques should be used to prevent direct physical contact with the patient. These precautions include wearing of protective gowns, gloves, and masks; placing the infected individual in strict isolation; and sterilization or proper disposal of needles, equipment, and patient excretions.[/size][/font]

[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=-1]In conjunction with the World Health Organization, CDC has developed practical, hospital-based guidelines, titled Infection Control for Viral Haemorrhagic Fevers In the African Health Care Setting. The manual can help health-care facilities recognize cases and prevent further hospital-based disease transmission using locally available materials and few financial resources.[/size][/font]

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=3 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR vAlign=top align=left><TD width="100%" bgColor=#ffffcc>[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=-1]What needs to be done to address the threat of Marburg hemorrhagic fever?[/size][/font]</TD><TD width=50 bgColor=#ffffcc> </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=-1]Marburg hemorrhagic fever is a very rare human disease. However, when it does occur, it has the potential to spread to other people, especially health care staff and family members who care for the patient. Therefore, increasing awareness among health-care providers of clinical symptoms in patients that suggest Marburg hemorrhagic fever is critical. Better awareness can help lead to taking precautions against the spread of virus infection to family members or health-care providers. Improving the use of diagnostic tools is another priority. With modern means of transportation that give access even to remote areas, it is possible to obtain rapid testing of samples in disease control centers equipped with Biosafety Level 4 laboratories in order to confirm or rule out Marburg virus infection.[/size][/font]

[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=-1]A fuller understanding of Marburg hemorrhagic fever will not be possible until the ecology and identity of the virus reservoir are established. In addition, the impact of the disease will remain unknown until the actual incidence of the disease and its endemic areas are determined.[/size][/font]

 

[919]

oops, you probably meant this

BANGKOK, Thailand -- The World Health Organization has issued a dramatic warning that bird flu will trigger an international pandemic that could kill up to seven million people.

The influenza pandemic could occur anywhere from next week to the coming years, WHO said.

"There is no doubt there will be another pandemic," Klaus Stohr of the WHO Global Influenza Program said on the sidelines of a regional bird flu meeting in Bangkok, Thailand.

"Even with the best case scenario, the most optimistic scenario, the pandemic will cause a public health emergency with estimates which will put the number of deaths in the range of two and seven million," he said.

"The number of people affected will go beyond billions because between 25 percent and 30 percent will fall ill."

Pandemics occur when a completely new flu strain emerges for which humans have no immunity.

With a human vaccine to the bird flu virus not expected until March 2005 at the earliest, urgency is being placed on containment.

"The countries that have the weakest health systems are in need of most support and clearly, usually it's together the poorest countries who have the least resources to invest in health," Dr. Bjorn Melgaard, head of WHO's Southeast Asia office, said.

The dire flu warning came ahead of a two-day meeting of regional health ministers in Bangkok, looking at how to pool efforts to combat a future outbreak.

It also comes just a few months after the first probable instance of human-to-human transmission of the bird-flu virus emerged.

The virus killed 32 people in Thailand and Vietnam earlier this year and led to the slaughter of millions of poultry birds across the region.

Pandemics usually occur every 20 to 30 years when the genetic makeup of a flu strain changes so dramatically that people have little or no immunity built up from previous flu bouts.

"During the last 36 years, there has been no pandemic, and there is a conclusion now that we are closer to the next pandemic than we have ever been before," Stohr told reporters.

"There is no reason to believe that we are going to be spared."

Stohr said if bird flu triggers the next pandemic, the virus would likely originate in Asia.

"An influenza pandemic will spare nobody. Every country will be affected," he said.

There have been three pandemics in the 20th century, all spread worldwide within a year of being detected.

The worst was the Spanish flu in 1918-19, when as many as 50 million people worldwide are thought to have died, nearly half of them young, healthy adults.

The Asian flu pandemic of 1957 claimed nearly 70,000 lives in the United States and one million worldwide after spreading from China.

In 1968, the Hong Kong flu pandemic is also said to have killed around one million.

Both pandemics were believed to be mutations of pig viruses.

It is important that countries act quickly to guard against a possible pandemic and take stock of their inventories of antivirals, Stohr said.

Scientists are busy working on vaccines for bird flu and other viruses. Two U.S. companies have said they plan to test experimental bird flu vaccines in January.

Thai health officials said Wednesday they expected that a vaccine to protect humans from bird flu would be ready by 2007, The Associated Press reports .

Health ministers and senior officials from 10 Southeast Asian countries, along with China, Japan and South Korea, are among the more than 100 people attending this week's meeting to develop strategies against flu and other infectious diseases.

 

[919]

lol...here it is im sure...from cincinnati

Experts: Health Scare Started Here Innocently

Local Company Sent Deadly Virus In Test Kits



<TEXT id=txt_posted>POSTED:</TEXT> 8:44 am EDT April 13, 2005
<TEXT id=txt_updated>UPDATED:</TEXT> 4:26 pm EDT April 13, 2005


<!--startindex-->CINCINNATI -- Experts said a Cincinnati company didn't know it was sending out a deadly flu virus in test kits that went to 5,000 labs around the world and that the company abided by U.S. regulations.

Meridian Bioscience Inc., of Newtown, had no direct comment after starting a worldwide health scare. But in its quarterly earnings statement Wednesday, Meridian referred to the flu issue and said the company has "a long history of supplying samples" and "believes it has been and is in compliance with all applicable regulations."

Dr. Jared Schwartz, an official with College of American Pathologists, said Meridian didn't know it was sending out a pandemic virus. <TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

Schwartz said the company went to its samples and found a virus from the year 2000, which it had gotten from another company, which had gotten it from yet another company.

According to Meridian's process and evaluation, it thought the virus was "an innocuous typical influenza A virus, the kind of virus they've used before in our programs," Schwartz said.

The College of American Pathologists distributed 3,747 of the kits.

Kent Stohr of the World Health Organization said Meridian abided by U.S. regulations. Nevertheless, Stohr called the decision to send out the strain "unwise" and "unfortunate."

Dr. Julie Gerberding, head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, said the government should restrict the handling of flu virus to more secure labs.

The WHO urged labs to destroy the samples to prevent a global outbreak.

Stohr said there is only a slight risk of that. However, he said, "if someone does get infected, the risk of severe illness is high, and this virus has shown to be fully transmissible."

Labs use Meridian kits in identifying viruses as part of quality control or to acquire certification.

The deadly germ, the 1957 H2N2 "Asian flu" strain, killed between 1 million and 4 million people. It has not been included in flu vaccines since 1968, and anyone born after that date has little or no immunity to it.

The WHO said there have been no reports of infections.

"The risk is low and we've taken appropriate action," said Dr. Nancy Cox, chief of the CDC influenza branch.

The WHO said Canada, South Korea, Hong Kong and Singapore had already destroyed their samples, while Japan was doing the same. Taiwan and Germany also announced that they had destroyed all their vials.

Stohr, said he was "relatively confident" most of the samples outside the United States would be destroyed by Friday.

Gerberding noted that there had been no sign of the strain circulating anywhere.

Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt is reviewing procedures for handling flu viruses to prevent future incidents of this nature, Gerberding said.

The agency said it didn't know why such a dangerous strain was included as part of the testing process.

"There's a lot of questions right now we don't have answers to," said spokesman Tom Skinner. "I think what people need to understand is the very labs that receive these strains of influenza all have people trained to work safely and effectively with these viruses."

White House press secretary Scott McClellan said the president has been briefed on the incident. He said the CDC and the Department of Health and Human Services are working to address the problem and it is "a high priority for our government."

"They have assessed that the risk to the public from these samples is low," McClellan said. "Nevertheless, we do not want to take any chances, and that's why the Centers for Disease Control is working with these laboratories and the world health organizations as well. And we're notifying the laboratories that these samples need to be destroyed immediately.

"What we're asking is that if anybody sees any suspicious illness that it be reported immediately," he said.

Outside the United States, labs in Canada, Brazil, France, Germany, Japan, Belgium, Bermuda, Chile, Hong Kong, Israel, Italy, Lebanon, Mexico, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Singapore and Taiwan received the kits.

Viruses are classed according to the level of lab safety precautions that must be taken when handling them. Routine viruses can be handled in labs with a basic level of biosafety protection. However, very dangerous viruses, such as Ebola, can only be handled at labs with top-level safety measures. Those labs have a biosafety level of 4.

The 1957 flu virus has for years been a level 2 virus, but many countries have upgraded it to a biosafety level of 3 because so many people have no immunity to it.

The kits contain blind samples that labs must correctly identify to pass the test. The influenza virus included in the kits typically is one that is currently circulating or has recently circulated.

The incident has renewed attention on the safe handling of deadly germs - an issue that led to toughened U.S. rules after anthrax was sent in the mail in 2001, killing five Americans.

Cox said officials strongly doubt someone deliberately planted the dangerous germ. "It wouldn't be a smart way to start a pandemic to send it to laboratories because we have people well trained in biocontainment," she said.

 

[DarrylParsons]

:lolBIG:


Seems like I should have died 5 times just in the time it takes to read the thread.

Of course I don't doubt the seriousness of it all, just seems like too much too fast....

 

[one9]

Never seemed that serious in the paper today. It sure seems now that it is a cause for concern.

 

[Woody0]

The simple story is that the College of American Pathologists arranges for samples to be routinely sent as part of a quality control/certification of labs. Once a lab reported that this was the strain that caused the 1957 epidemic the shxt hit the fan.