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**HenryN** · July 28, 2009, 02:21 PM

Re: Swine flu in Quebec swine?

Originally posted by Shiloh View Post

Source: http://www.cjad.com/news/565/967757

Swine flu in Quebec swine?
Tue, 2009-07-28 11:24.
Shuyee Lee

Swine flu in Quebec swine?

Quebec Agriculture officials inspecting pigs found an isolated case of H1N1 in a herd of pigs.

It was officially identified last Friday by a federal lab in Winnipeg.

Officials quickly isolated the case and the situation is back to normal. No other such case has been reported in the province and there's no human case involved.

Officials reiterate that this does not affect the pork supply and that it's safe to eat.

Since they didn't say it was NOT the pandemic strain, it is likely that it IS the pandemic strain.

**HenryN** · July 28, 2009, 02:36 PM

Re: Swine flu in Quebec swine?

Originally posted by Shiloh View Post

Source: http://www.cjad.com/news/565/967757

Swine flu in Quebec swine?

Officials quickly isolated the case and the situation is back to normal. No other such case has been reported in the province and there's no human case involved.

If there is "no human case involved", then how did the pig get infected?

This story really isn't adding up.

Since the sample was sent to Winnepeg, there should at least be a partial sequence to determine if the H1N1 is the pandemic strain (which could be determined with a VERY short sequence). If it is not the pandemic strain, it would not be very newsworthy because detection of swine H1N1 in swine is common, and it seems likely that the news story would cleary state that the H1N1 was NOT pandmeic H1N1.

Since pandemic H1N1 was not denied, it seems likley that it is pandmeic H1N1, but pandemic H1N1 in swine without human involvement would mean that pandemic H1N1 is widespread in swine.

**Rwilmer** · July 28, 2009, 02:44 PM

Re: Swine flu in Quebec swine?

hat-tip muscade

Surveillance of influenza A (H1N1)

Controlled case in a herd of pigs in Quebec

Quebec, 28 July 2009 - As part of routine surveillance exercised by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAPAQ) Animal Health, an isolated influenza A (H1N1) was detected in a pig herd. The monitoring strategy deployed by the Department and its partners through the Alert Network and Information Animal Health (RAIZO) allowed to contain the situation quickly.

The virus strain was formally identified on 24 July by the federal laboratory in Winnipeg. The flock is now completely restored. It should be emphasized that no further cases have been reported in pig farms in Quebec and there was no human case associated with this situation.

Remember that international health authorities, including the World Health Organization and the World Organization for Animal Health, have unanimously declared that this virus does not affect food safety. The Department therefore wishes to reassure the population and to clarify that the consumption of meat from these pigs is quite safe and poses no risk to human health.

It is also important to add that, thanks to existing control measures in the places of slaughter, only meat from healthy pigs is found in the food supply chain.

Surveillance of circulating strains of swine influenza qu'exerce MAPAQ was intensified in the context of the eve of influenza A (H1N1) of the Organization of Quebec's civil security. The Department continues to monitor the situation, in collaboration with its partners, including the Ministry of Health and Social Services of Quebec, the federal government, industry and members of the veterinary doctors RAIZO, network monitoring and information system Quebec.

http://www.mapaq.gouv.qc.ca/Fr/Centr...2009/09178.htm

**oldman** · July 28, 2009, 02:58 PM

Re: Swine flu in Quebec swine?

Wow. The "immaculate infection".

**HenryN** · July 28, 2009, 03:14 PM

Re: Swine flu in Quebec swine?

Originally posted by oldman View Post

Wow. The "immaculate infection".

and no OIE report!

**HenryN** · July 28, 2009, 03:59 PM

Re: Swine flu in Quebec swine?

Quebec pigs contract H1N1; humans, food safe

Updated: Tue Jul. 28 2009 4:13:22 PM

<SCRIPT language=javascript type=text/javascript> var byString = ""; var sourceString = "ctvmontreal.ca"; if ((sourceString != "") && (byString != "")) { document.write(byString + ", "); } else { document.write(byString); }</SCRIPT>ctvmontreal.ca
An isolated case of H1N1 has broken out among a herd of pigs in Quebec.
The swine flu virus was identified on July 24 at a lab in Winnipeg after symptoms became apparent in the animals in late June.
The entire herd was isolated and there are no human infections of the virus associated with this outbreak, which is considered very light, said Alain Laperle, a pathologist from Quebec's agriculture bureau.
The board would not reveal which farm the tainted pigs came from, said Cl?ment Falardeau, an official with the agriculture bureau.
"There is no danger to the public's health and the since pigs have been cured, we can't give out information to that effect," said Falardeau.
Officials said this outbreak does not affect any Quebec pork products and that they are safe to eat.

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**HenryN** · July 28, 2009, 04:04 PM

Re: Swine flu in Quebec swine?

Earlier OIE comments on the Alberta swine:

On 5 May 2009, CFIA reported that the full sequence of the virus detected in swine on an Alberta farm confirmed that the virus found in the pigs was the same as the novel H1N1 influenza A virus causing illness in humans around the world.
The CFIA developed a strategy/approach/plan to resolve the animal health issues associated with this farm, in line with the public health concerns. Public health and animal health authorities, nationally and internationally, were engaged in discussion. All groups and organizations supported the ?controlled marketing with no cull? approach which the CFIA advocated.
Clinical signs of respiratory disease observed in the herd at the beginning of the outbreak have resolved and hogs in all affected subpopulations have since recovered. Crowding conditions in the barn forced a limited cull of approximately 500 mature hogs to alleviate animal welfare concerns and to allow a period of time to do testing in the herd. The hogs were humanely destroyed and transported to a rendering establishment. The rendered material was buried in landfill due to concerns about negative public perception of incorporating it into animal feeds.
PCR tests on samples collected on 14 and 25 May showed evidence of continued virus presence but at a low prevalence. Isolating virus from these samples has not been successful, to date.
Research activities to determine the virulence of the novel H1N1 virus for animals and the associated risk have been undertaken. The preliminary results indicate that the novel virus produces clinical signs similar to the traditional influenza A viruses in swine.
The initial risk management decisions in this herd were precautionary due to the lack of information to determine the risk to the swine and human populations of North America. It was first suggested that a virus negative test was needed to release movement restrictions. However, although additional information provided insight to the lower risk this virus would pose to the human and animal community, it became difficult to modify the initial precautionary approach and identify alternate criteria for the release of the quarantine. In spite of clinical recovery and negative status of market weight animals, market forces resulted in there being no slaughter facility willing to receive the animals.
Due to an impending and further overcrowding situation in the barns and an inability to market the animals following lifting of restrictions, the owner petitioned the Alberta provincial government for the destruction of the herd for economic reasons, to allow him to exit the situation and resume operation with a replacement herd. The culling of the herd was NOT an ordered destruction as the result of animal or human disease considerations.
The quarantine will be lifted when appropriate cleaning and disinfection measures have been completed on the infected premises. The trace out/ trace in investigation is complete. No additional farms at-risk were identified.

403 Access Forbidden

http://www.oie.int/wahis/public.php?page=single_report&pop=1&reportid=8180

**blacknail** · July 28, 2009, 05:40 PM

Re: Swine flu in Quebec swine?

Can anyone come up with hard research showing that pigs farms and pork products are safe? The pork producers are quick to point out that influenza stays in the lungs and that cooked pork is safe. Studies in ferrets show that this virus does not stay in the lungs and people might be getting infected from handling raw pork. Has anyone actually slaughtered one of these infected pigs and tested to see which tissues are infectious with Pandemic H1N1? Are the farms spreading the virus via their ventilation systems and runoff to the general public? Is there a vector such as birds or cats that is infecting these pigs if its not people? Just curious!

**HenryN** · July 29, 2009, 05:24 PM

Re: Swine flu in Quebec swine?

INFLUENZA PANDEMIC (H1N1) 2009, ANIMAL HEALTH: CANADA (QUEBEC)
************************************************** ************
A ProMED-mail post
<http://www.promedmail.org>
ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
<http://www.isid.org>

Date: Tue 28 Jul 2009
Source: Alberta Farmer Express [edited]
<http://www.albertafarmexpress.ca/issues/ISArticle.asp?aid=1000335999&PC=FBC&issue=07282009>

Quebec finds pandemic (H1N1) in hog herd
----------------------------------------
An isolated case of the pandemic strain of (H1N1) influenza has been
confirmed in a Quebec hog herd that has since "completely recovered."

The provincial agriculture, food and fisheries ministry (MAPAQ) said
in a release Tuesday [28 Jul 2009] that the strain had been
identified Friday [24 Jul 2009] at the labs of the National Centre
for Foreign Animal Disease in Winnipeg. MAPAQ emphasized Tuesday that
no other case has been reported on any other hog farm in Quebec and
no people have caught the virus from the herd, saying "there is no
human case related to this situation." A MAPAQ spokesman said Tuesday
that it's not known how the hogs caught the virus.

MAPAQ pathologist Dr Alain Laperle told the Quebec farmers' newspaper
La Terre de Chez Nous on Tuesday [28 Jul 2009] that no one in the hog
farmer's family, nor any of the hog farm's workers or visitors, has
been sickened by the virus. Laperle told the newspaper that the 1st
clinical signs of the flu were detected in the herd at the end of
June [2009]. Neither the newspaper nor the ag [MAPAQ] ministry gave
the name or location of the hog farm in question. La Terre also
quoted Laperle as saying that while the vector by which the disease
came to the farm may never be known, the "most probable hypothesis"
is that it came through a human carrier.

The ministry in its release Tuesday [28 Jul 2009] also emphasized
that Quebec's pork supply is safe to consume and poses no human health risk.

Tuesday's announcement follows a statement Friday [24 Jul 2009] from
the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) that it will not
quarantine hog herds found to carry (H1N1). The agency hasn't yet
made any official statement on the Quebec case.

CFIA said Friday [24 Jul 2009] that affected animals from now on
"will be managed using the same veterinary management and biosecurity
practices employed for other swine influenza viruses." That means
"limiting opportunities for (H1N1) to spread to susceptible animals,"
the agency said, noting pork slaughter plants have "multiple
inspection points to ensure that only healthy animals enter the food
supply." All herds in which (H1N1) is detected will be monitored to
verify that infected animals recover. As well, CFIA added,
surveillance for the presence of (H1N1) in swine will continue, so as
"to detect any changes in how the virus affects swine and to identify
any changes in the structure of the virus."

CFIA's decision follows the quarantine it slapped on a hog herd near
Rocky Mountain House, [Alberta], earlier this spring [2009]. The herd
was believed to have caught the virus from a person, although the
visitor previously suspected of bringing the virus to the farm from
Mexico has since been ruled out as the carrier. None of the animals
that came down with (H1N1) died from it, but the federal quarantine
dragged on as positive tests continued to turn up within the herd.
Faced with an indefinite quarantine and overcrowded facilities, the
hogs' owner, Arnold Van Ginkel, eventually culled all of his
2000-plus animals last month [June 2009] for animal welfare reasons.

The only other known case of the pandemic strain of (H1N1) crossing
over from humans to hogs was reported in Argentina earlier this month
[July 2009].

Since the arrival of pandemic (H1N1) in Canada, the federal Public
Health Agency has reported 58 people have died from this specific flu
strain, as of Tuesday morning [24 Jul 2009]. In all, as of [18 Jul
2009], Canada has reported 10 449 lab-confirmed cases of pandemic
(H1N1) in people, including 1141 hospitalizations.

Globally, the World Health Organization reports 816 lab-confirmed
deaths due to pandemic (H1N1), and a total of 134 503 lab-confirmed
cases of the virus in people as of Monday morning [27 Jul 2009].
However, the WHO said in Monday's report, "given that countries are
no longer required to test and report individual cases, the number of
cases reported actually understates the real number of cases."

--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>

[This would confirm that the influenza pandemic (H1N1) virus is
essentially benign for pigs. But even so one can hope that the CFIA
investigators FedExed their diagnostic samples overnight to Winnipeg
and did not hand carry them by air; see ProMED-mail posting
20090723.2603. - Mod.MHJ]

[see also:
Influenza pandemic (H1N1) 2009 (15): Canada (AB) swine workers 20090723.2603
Influenza A (H1N1): animal health (13) swine, Canada, origin, RFI 20090615.2215
Influenza A (H1N1): animal health (10) swine, Canada, cull 20090514.1813
Influenza A (H1N1): animal health (09), swine, Canada 20090513.1790
Influenza A (H1N1): animal health (07), swine, Canada, OIE 20090506.1691
Influenza A (H1N1): animal health (06), Canada, OIE 20090505.1683
Influenza A (H1N1): animal health (05), swine, Canada, FAO 20090505.1680
Influenza A (H1N1): animal health (04), infected swine, Canada 20090502.1653
...................................mpp/mhj/mj/mpp

**HenryN** · July 29, 2009, 05:27 PM

Re: Swine flu in Quebec swine?

Originally posted by niman View Post

INFLUENZA PANDEMIC (H1N1) 2009, ANIMAL HEALTH: CANADA (QUEBEC)
************************************************** ************

[This would confirm that the influenza pandemic (H1N1) virus is
essentially benign for pigs. But even so one can hope that the CFIA
investigators FedExed their diagnostic samples overnight to Winnipeg
and did not hand carry them by air; see ProMED-mail posting
20090723.2603. - Mod.MHJ]

Pandemic H1N1 is also essentially benign in humans (as measure by fatalities), no "but even so's" required.

**HenryN** · July 29, 2009, 05:29 PM

Re: Swine flu in Quebec swine?

Originally posted by niman View Post

INFLUENZA PANDEMIC (H1N1) 2009, ANIMAL HEALTH: CANADA (QUEBEC)
************************************************** ************
Quebec finds pandemic (H1N1) in hog herd
----------------------------------------
An isolated case of the pandemic strain of (H1N1) influenza has been
confirmed in a Quebec hog herd that has since "completely recovered."

As assumed, the H1N1 in Quebec swine is PANDEMIC H1N1 with NO human link.

The emperor has no clothes.

**HenryN** · July 29, 2009, 07:03 PM

Re: Swine flu in Quebec swine?

<a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.recombinomics.com/News/07300901/H1N1_H2S_NOT.html">Commentary</a>

**AlaskaDenise** · July 29, 2009, 07:15 PM

Re: Swine flu in Quebec swine?

Originally posted by niman View Post

<a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.recombinomics.com/News/07300901/H1N1_H2S_NOT.html">Commentary</a>

Commentary

Pandemic H1N1 in Quebec Swine Lack Human Link

Recombinomics Commentary 00:27
July 30, 2009

An isolated case of the pandemic strain of (H1N1) influenza has been
confirmed in a Quebec hog herd that has since "completely recovered."

The provincial agriculture, food and fisheries ministry (MAPAQ) said
in a release Tuesday [28 Jul 2009] that the strain had been dentified Friday [24 Jul 2009] at the labs of the National Centre for Foreign Animal Disease in Winnipeg. MAPAQ emphasized Tuesday that no other case has been reported on any other hog farm in Quebec and no people have caught the virus from the herd, saying "there is no human case related to this situation." A MAPAQ spokesman said Tuesday that it's not known how the hogs caught the virus.

The above comments add to a growing body of evidence supporting widespread pandemic H1N1 in swine. The sequences of pandemic H1N1 leave little doubt that the strain has a swine origin. The human PB1 is from 1993 H3N2 and has been in swine since 1993. Similarly, the avian PB2 and PA have been in swine for more than a decade. Thus, all eight gene segments have been in swine for some time.

However, the pandemic H1N1 in humans was not closely related to swine H1N1 which had been isolated prior to the outbreak. However, this match failure was largely linked to a poor surveillance system, and possibly also due to the hoarding of matching sequences.

The first closely related sequences were identified in an Alberta herd. Media reports suggested the swine had been <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.recombinomics.com/News/05030901/Swine_H1N1_H2S.html">infected by a worker</a> who had developed symptoms during or after a trip to Mexico. However, that worker tested negative, so there was no linkage between H1N1 from the worker and the infection in swine.

Sequences were subsequently released, and although the sequences were closely related to human sequence, there was considerable heterogeneity in the swine sequences which was not consistent with a recent infection from a common source. Thus, the heterogeneity and difference with humans flu sequences strongly suggested the swine were not recently infected by a human source.

The outbreak in Alberta was followed by two <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.recombinomics.com/News/07180901/H1N1_Swine_BA.html">outbreaks</a>outside of Buenos Aires. These outbreaks were also said to be linked to infected workers, but the latest OIE report indicates the Buenos Aires swine sequences are closely related to than Alberta sequences (greater than 99.99&#37

, further supporting swine to swine transmission and not human to swine transmission.

The outbreak in Quebec supports swine to swine transmission because no human link has been identified.

None of the four swine outbreaks involved swine deaths, and none have been linked to a specific human isolate or even been shown to be homogeneous, as would be expected in a recent introduction from a common source.

Thus, the evidence is increasing that H1N1 has been spreading swine to swine and is much more widespread than reported in the four outbreaks in Canada and Argentina.

Full sequences from the two outbreaks near Buenos Aires, as well as the outbreak in Quebec would be useful, as would a more robust surveillance system of swine worldwide.

.

**HenryN** · July 30, 2009, 03:05 PM

Re: Swine flu in Quebec swine?

Still no OIE report