Confirmation of Avian Influenza H7N2 Infection in Wales

[HenryN]

HPA Press Statement
25 May 2007
Confirmation of Avian Influenza H7N2 Infection
The Health Protection Agency is providing expert support and advice to the National Public Health Service for Wales after an H7N2 avian influenza infection was found in birds on a small farm in north Wales. The Agency has carried out tests on specimens from nine people associated with the incident; seven are from Wales and two were from north west England.
Four of the test results were positive - two of these were from Wales and two were from north west England.The remaining five test results came back as negative. However because these five cases were associated with the birds and had a compatible illness, they are being treated as a precaution.
H7N2 is a low pathogenic strain of avian flu. It is different to the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain currently circulating in South East Asia, and in Europe last year. In almost all human cases to date, H7N2 infection has generally been associated with a mild disease. The risk to the general public is considered to be very low.
Pat Troop, Chief Executive of the Health Protection Agency said:-
“As a routine precaution, we have tested those who were associated with the infected or dead birds and reported flu-like symptoms. We tested samples from nine people in our laboratories and confirmed infection in four.
“These test results confirm that human infection with the avian flu virus has occurred. The cases so far have been associated with the infected birds. “It is important to remember that H7N2 avian flu remains largely a disease of birds.
The virus does not transmit easily to humans. Worldwide, almost all human H7N2 infections documented so far, including those associated with this most recent incident, have been associated with infected poultry.
Three of the nine individuals were initially hospitalised. They have all, however, now been discharged.
The National Public Health Service for Wales and HPA North West is tracing and following up all close contacts of the individuals who have been ill as a precautionary measure.
Notes to Editors:
1. For further information please contact the HPA Press Office on 0208 327 7097/7098/6055. Out of hours please call 020 8200 44002.
2. For further information about avian flu go to: http://www.hpa.org.uk/infections/topics_az/influenza/avian/default.htm
3. A Q&A information sheet prepared by The National Public Health Service for Wales and is available to download from the link: Q&A Avian Influenza in North Wales.
Situation updates are also available from the Welsh Assembly Government website at: http://new.wales.gov.uk/news/presreleasearchive/1469510/?lang=en.

A map detailing the Avian Influenza Restricted Zone declared in accordance with Article 55 of the Avian Influenza and Influenza of Avian Origin in Mammals (Wales) (No.2) Order 2006 is also given on the Welsh Assembly website at: Welsh Assembly Government Avian Influenza Restricted Zone
4. As part of the tracing exercise, and epidemiological investigation, Defra would like to hear from anyone, who has not already been contacted by Animal Health officials, who has:

• Purchased from or supplied to Chelford Market in Cheshire on Monday 7 May 2007 or
• Any poultry keeper who visited Chelford Market on this date whose birds have subsequently become ill.
• These people should contact their local Animal Health Office (details to be found at www.defra.gov.uk/animalhealth) or from the Defra helpline 08459 33 55 77 (open between 9am - 5pm 7 days a week).

According to Defra all bird keepers throughout the UK should continue their efforts to maintain high levels of biosecurity and maintain vigilance by continuing to monitor their birds for signs of disease. If you are concerned about the health of your birds you should seek the advice of your veterinary surgeon, if you suspect that your birds have avian influenza you should report it to your Local Animal Health Office.
There is absolutely no reason for anyone to abandon their birds (or any other pet) because of any fears or worries of infection from avian influenza. This is an offence under the abandonment of Animals Act. The welfare of birds is seriously compromised when they are abandoned and they are at risk from starvation or accident and are more vulnerable to disease.

All those persons wishing to seek general information about animal health should not call the local Animal Health office, but should call the Defra Helpline on 08459 33 55 77, or visit the Defra website at www.defra.gov.uk.
Further biosecurity guidance can be found on the Avian Influenza pages on the Defra website at: www.defra.gov.uk

http://www.hpa.org.uk/hpa/news/artic...n_flu_H7N2.htm

[Treyfish]

Re: Confirmation of Avian Influenza H7N2 Infection

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=765 border=0 valign="top"><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top width=12></TD><TD id=centralContainerCell vAlign=top width=400><SCRIPT language=javascript type=text/javascript> function newPrintableWindow(objectid,path) { popUpWindow = window.open(path+'?objectid='+objectid+'&siteid=50 082', 'Article', 'width=450,height=500,scrollbars=yes,resizable=yes ,toolbar=no,location=no,menubar=yes'); popUpWindow.focus(); }</SCRIPT><SCRIPT src="http://www.icnetwork.co.uk/js/IC_displayMPUAd.js" type=text/javascript></SCRIPT>
Healthcare worker and hospital patient among those with bird flu symptoms <TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE class=headerTable cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=* border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>May 31 2007

</TD></TR><TR><TD>
</TD></TR><TR><TD colSpan=2>by Madeleine Brindley, Western Mail
</TD></TR></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=400 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD colSpan=3> </TD></TR><TR><TD colSpan=3>THE number of people with symptoms of bird flu rose to 13 in Wales yesterday.
The National Public Health Service (NPHS) for Wales last night said these 13 have – or have had – flu-like symptoms or conjunctivitis.
They include a healthcare worker, who was working at Ysbyty Glan Clwyd, a patient treated at Ysbyty Gwynedd and a child at Ysgol Henllan, near Denbigh.
Health officials have also identified 220 people who have had contacts with either poultry infected with H7N2 bird flu, the Ty’n Llwyn smallholding at the centre of the outbreak, or people who have experienced symptoms.
But none of the 69 patients who were in contact with the man treated at Ysbyty Gwynedd have shown any symptoms of the illness, officials said.

Story continues
ADVERTISEMENT

<!-- OAS AD 'x60 begin --><SCRIPT language=JavaScript type=text/javascript><!--OAS_AD('x60');//--></SCRIPT> <!-- OAS AD 'x60' end -->

<SCRIPT language=JavaScript type=text/javascript><!-- var MPUBlockLength = 718; //--></SCRIPT>
A total of 79 people who were in contact with the healthcare worker have been given the anti-viral medicine Tamiflu.

Dr Marion Lyons, lead consultant in communicable disease control for the NPHS, said, “North West Wales NHS Trust staff have contacted all 69 patients and staff who had been in contact with the patients at Ysbyty Gwynedd. No one reported symptoms of conjunctivitis or flu-like illness in the time period when the flu could have been incubating. So, I am pleased to conclude that there has been no spread of the flu in the hospital.”

Local health boards and other primary care services have introduced a system to help identify patients who may be suffering mild flu-like symptoms or conjunctivitis. Officials expect this to lead to a rise in the number or people suspected of contracting the disease. Dr Lyons said, “We have been looking more closely at these and I expect to identify some new cases of people who could have avian flu.”

It also emerged last night that everyone who has become ill is directly connected either with the infected poultry or the first few cases of illness.

There have been no cases of illness in people with more distant contacts. Tests on 12 of the affected people in Wales have revealed that two have tested positive for the H7 subtype of the virus which was isolated from the affected poultry.

But the definition of a case of avian flu relies as much on clinical symptoms with a history of contact with infected birds or another human case.

Meanwhile, Wales’ chief veterinary officer said there was no cause for complacency among poultry keepers, despite tests on a second farm on the Llyn Peninsula coming back negative for the H7N2 virus.

Birds on the farm were tested because of a connection with Chelford Market, in Cheshire, on May 7 – the Corwen outbreak is believed to have been caused by infected chickens bought there.

Dr Christianne Glossop said, “We are very pleased with the results but must not be complacent so early in our investigations into the source of this outbreak. Considerable efforts continue in this complicated tracings exercise.

“Anybody in Wales who either bought or sold poultry at Chelford on May 7 or any poultry keeper in Wales who visited the market on this date whose birds have subsequently become ill, to contact their local animal health office.

“All birdkeepers throughout Wales should be vigilant and maintain strict bio-security precautions, monitoring their birds for any signs of infectious disease.”

The T’n Llwyn farm, in Llanfihangel Glyn Myfyr, has been cleansed and disinfected. http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/0100n...name_page.html
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

[Anne]

Re: Confirmation of Avian Influenza H7N2 Infection

http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/cidrap/con...ales.htmlWelsh officials announce four H7N2 flu cases, suspect human-to-human transmission

Lisa Schnirring Staff Writer

May 29, 2007 (CIDRAP News) - Four people in Wales and northwest England have tested positive for the low-pathogenic H7N2 avian influenza subtype found last week in chickens at a small farm in Wales, and local public health authorities suspect some degree of human-to-human transmission of the disease.
England's Health Protection Agency (HPA), in announcing the positive tests 4 days ago, said five other patients whose test results were negative for the virus are undergoing treatment as a precaution because they had similar illnesses. All of the patients who tested positive for the virus had contact with infected birds, the HPA said.
The National Public Health Service (NPHS) for Wales said in a statement today that of 221 people who were identified as contacts so far, 12 are ill with conjunctivitis or a nonserious flulike illness. The NPHS said it could not rule out human-to-human spread of the virus but that it had no laboratory confirmation of such cases.
"Of the people with conjunctivitis or a flulike illness, some did not have close contact with infected poultry," said Marion Lyons, lead consultant in communicable disease control for the NPHS, in the press release.
On May 24 veterinary officials in Wales confirmed a low-pathogenic H7N2 avian influenza outbreak at a farm near the northern town of Denbighshire. For outbreaks of mild strains of avian flu subtypes such as H7N2, public health officials often order culling of birds and monitor human cases because the viruses could mutate into highly pathogenic forms.
Welsh veterinary officials think the infected chickens could have been exposed to the virus on May 7 at the Chelford Market in Cheshire. Tests on birds at another farm in Llyn Peninsula came back negative today, according to a statement from the Welsh government.
Of 221 patients identified as contacts, 171 may have been exposed in a workplace setting, including patients and staff at two hospitals, the NPHS statement said. At one of the hospitals, 79 patients and staff were offered oseltamivir because of contact with a healthcare worker who was treated for the H7 flu virus. Lyons said in the NPHS statement that the sick staff member was working between May 21 and 23, when she may have been infectious.
At the other hospital, 69 patients and staff were notified because a patient who had the H7N2 illness was recently treated at the facility. Lyons said the patient was discharged on May 18, and after an 8-day incubation period, anyone who was ill would have had symptoms by May 26. "So we are contacting all staff and patients to ensure that they remained well and to reassure them," she said in the statement.
Lyons said that people who have had contact with individuals who became ill with the H7N2 virus are being offered prophylactic antiviral medication.
"Investigations also show that, when it spreads from person to person, the illness experienced becomes milder," she said in the press release.
In a related development, children at a primary school in the town where the Welsh farm is located are being given antiviral medication after one of their classmates became ill with suspected H7N2 infection, the London Evening Standard reported today. The ill child visited the affected farm 10 days ago for less than 15 minutes, the Standard report said.
"It is very rare to see this particular flu virus, so we are taking every reasonable precaution to eliminate it from the community, " Brendan Mason, a consultant epidemiologist, told the Standard.
Some infectious disease experts say human illnesses associated with the H7N2 outbreak in Wales are a reminder that other virus subtypes—not just the well-known H5N1 strain—could spark a pandemic.
"There may be a bit of complacency when it comes to recognizing the pandemic potential of H7 viruses," Michael Perdue from the World Health Organization (WHO) told the Associated Press (AP) today.
The number of [H7] human cases seems large for the small number of bird deaths, he told the AP. "Unless there's something unusual about the contact with birds, that suggests the virus is finding new ways of getting to humans," he said in the AP report.
Other experts say the focus on the H5N1 subtype's pandemic potential is justified. "We know that H7 can cause outbreaks in chickens and that it can occasionally jump the species barrier, but it has not done it nearly to the extent of the H5N1 virus," said Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
David Halvorson, DVM, a veterinarian in avian health at the University of Minnesota in St Paul, told CIDRAP News that H5 and H7 subtypes both have the ability to generate a highly pathogenic virus of the same subtype, but there's no way to project when and if such evolution will occur. "Whether that will happen quickly, as it did in Chile or British Columbia, or not happen for over 10 years, as it has not done in New York live bird markets, is not predictable," he said.
The WHO's Regional Office for Europe said human illness from other H7 subtypes has occurred in two other instances in the past few years. In 2006 a poultry worker in the United Kingdom was diagnosed with conjunctivitis linked to an H7N3 poultry outbreak, and in 2003 an outbreak of highly pathogenic H7N7 in the Netherlands resulted in 86 confirmed cases of mild illness, with one death—a veterinarian who died from acute respiratory distress syndrome.

[Gert van der Hoek]

Re: Confirmation of Avian Influenza H7N2 Infection

No bird flu at second suspect farm

30/5/2007

Tests at a second farm in Wales where bird flu was a possibiity, because of its links with Chelford Market, have proved negative.

Meanwhile the National Public Health Service for Wales has identified 221 people who may have had contact with the avian flu, 36 in the household setting, 14 in school and 171 in workplace settings (including patients and staff at two hospitals)

By 3pm yesterday, Monday, 12 avian flu contacts had been identified who had or have had symptoms of a flu like illness or conjunctivitis. This is unchanged from the day before.

No one is seriously ill.

Seventy nine patients and staff from Ward 6 at Ysbyty Glan Clwyd are being offered tamiflu as a precaution because of contact with a healthcare worker who is being treated for the H7 flu virus.

Sixty nine patients and staff from the Accident and Emergency Unit, Trysfan Ward and Gogarth Ward at Ysbyty Gwynedd are also being contacted because a patient, who is now discharged, is also being treated for the avian flu virus.

The full list of contacts is constantly changing as possible contacts are added to or taken off the database. Contacts are added if contact was possible. They are taken off if detailed questioning shows that there was no contact.

People with symptoms of conjunctivitis and flu and meet the definition of a case have been given treatment. They have been advised to stay at home until they are better.

All well contacts are being given medication to reduce the severity of any impact from the infection if their last contact with a case was only a week ago.

Dr Marion Lyons, Lead Consultant in Communicable Disease Control for the National Public Health Service for Wales, said: “We believe the risk to the health of the general public is low. Avian flu is primarily a disease of birds. H7N2 is different to and very mild compared with H5N1.

“Of the people with conjunctivitis or a flu-like illness, some did not have close contact with infected poultry.

A Special Helpline available for general information about avian flu in people is open from 7am to 8pm daily. The number is 0845 600 3678.

Test results for the H7N2 strain of avian flu from poultry on a farm on the Llyn Peninsula have proved negative. Final results received today by the Welsh Assembly Government confirm that birds on the farm are not infected with this virus.


Birds on the farm were tested because of a connection with Chelford Market on 7 May which is linked to the Corwen outbreak where H7N2 was confirmed in poultry on 24 May, 2007. All birds on this site were slaughtered by 5 pm on Friday 25 May and cleansing and disinfection of the site has now been completed.

Chief Veterinary Officer Dr Christianne Glossop said: > We are very pleased with today’s results but must not be complacent so early in our investigations into the source of this outbreak. Considerable efforts continue in this complicated tracings exercise.

“I repeat my request to any people in Wales who either bought or sold poultry at Chelford Market in Cheshire on Monday 7 May 2007 or any poultry keeper in Wales who visited Chelford Market on this date whose birds have subsequently become ill, to contact their local Animal Health office.

“All bird keepers throughout Wales should continue to be vigilant and maintain strict biosecurity precautions monitoring their birds for any signs of infectious
disease. Again, if anyone is concerned about the health of their birds they should contact Animal Health."

The Welsh Assembly Government continues to co-ordinate the operation working closely with Whitehall departments.

http://www.newswales.co.uk/?section=...e&F=1&id=11502

[HenryN]

Re: Confirmation of Avian Influenza H7N2 Infection

http://www.pickatrail.com/jupiter/lo...erseyside.html

[MHSC]

Re: Confirmation of Avian Influenza H7N2 Infection

Published: 30th May 2007
http://www.macclesfield-express.co.u...s.html?rss=yes

Bird flu fears

POULTRY keepers, buyers and sellers, who attended the early May Bank Holiday sales at Chelford Market 24 days ago, were today urged to contact government farming watchdogs in the wake of a bird flu outbreak.


Defra – the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs – are appealing to anyone present at the auction on Monday, May 7, to contact them after 15 hens in North Wales died when they were infected with avian influenza.


Officials – who stress the disease is the H7N2 strain rather than the more deadly H5N1 virus – have traced the 15 affected Rhode Island Reds to the agricultural centre in Chelford.
Advertisement

<script type="text/javascript" src="http://ad.uk.doubleclick.net/adj/macclesfieldexpress/news;%21category=housead;tile=2;sz=300x250;ord=443 20533?"> </script>

And now they need to track down the 140 chicken sellers, not to mention the buyers, who were in attendance on a particularly busy Bank Holiday sale.


Bosses at Chelford Market last night (Tuesday) confirmed no-one working there was showing signs of the disease and the Health Protection Agency stress the risk to the general public is low.


Regular Monday sales of poultry have been suspended until the all-clear is announced, but it was business at usual at the agricultural centre this week as livestock shows continued.


Partner at Frank Marshall, Gwyn Williams, said: "Anything that removes part of our business is difficult, but this is not on the same scale as when all livestock sales were shut down between February 2001 and February 2002 because of Foot and Mouth disease.


"All of the 541 poultry pens are cleaned and disinfected at the end of every sale. We are very tight on anything that appears ill, whatever the animal, and there was no sign at all that day."


"We are very proud of our record here for welfare and keep a close eye on this."


The mild form of avian influenza was confirmed 70 miles away at a smallholding in Conwy, after owners called in vets when their Rhode Island Red hens began to die.


A total of 30 chickens have been slaughtered after 15 birds died and a one kilometre restriction zone was in place.


Tests were also underway at a second farm on the Llyn Peninsula. Both bought birds from Chelford on May 7.


At the time of going to press, four people tested positive for bird flu – two in North Wales and two in Merseyside – although others, including a child at a primary school linked to the Conwy farm, are being offered treatment.

No-one is seriously ill.


A Defra spokeswoman said: "Following confirmation of Low Pathogenic H7N2 Avian Influenza in the flock, we amended the general licence to specify that chickens or ducks must not be taken to bird gatherings.


"This temporary measure will be kept actively under review over the next few days as the disease situation becomes clearer."


She added as part of the tracing exercise and epidemiological investigation to determine the source of the outbreak and any spread, Defra want to hear from anyone who purchased from or supplied to Chelford Market on Monday, May 7, or any poultry keeper who visited the market on that day whose birds have since become ill.


Mr Williams said there were around 140 vendors at the sale from all over the country, with many different purchasers.


He said: "We don’t know which hens were the carriers but Defra want to contact anyone who was there. We have given contact details of all buyers and sellers on that day, which was busy because it was a bank holiday.


"As a responsible measure we cancelled the sale this Monday (May 28) and we will review the situation as of next week. Defra amended the licence restricting sales of chicken and ducks. We were not compelled to cancel the sale, we could have gone ahead with other types of birds, but decided not to."


He said they were not particularly worried about future sales, and added: "This is a very low pathogenic strain and I think it’s more precautionary than anything else.


"Defra are trying to place the source of the infection but there is no ready way of identifying birds. They could have been bought at Chelford but we don’t know yet whether the birds that came through here were infected or carriers."


A spokeswoman for Defra said Animal Health officials visited Chelford Market to offer advice to people and farmers if they had been at the sale earlier this month. The cage and aviary bird sale will go ahead on Wednesday, June 6.


POULTRY farmers who were at the May 7 sale at Chelford Market should contact Jenny Kirby at the Macclesfield Express on 01625 424445 ext 30, or the DEFRA helpline on 08459 33557.
Jenny Kirby

First published by the Macclesfield Express

[MHSC]

Re: Confirmation of Avian Influenza H7N2 Infection

Bird flu warning for two hospitals

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/liv...70&ito=newsnow

Last updated at 23:50pm on 29th May 2007
Bird flu is an ever-present worry for farmers

Patients and staff at two hospitals in North Wales are being offered anti-viral drugs after coming into contact with people who may be ill with bird flu.



At Ysbyty Glan Clwyd hospital, Bodelwyddan, near Rhyl, 79 patients and staff spent some time with a healthcare worker who is suspected to be ill with an H7 strain of the virus.



They are being offered the drug Tamiflu, which minimises the symptoms associated with flu.



At Ysbyty Gwynedd hospital, Bangor, 69 patients and staff associated with an A & E unit are being called because they may have been in contact with a patient carrying the virus.


The development came as health chiefs were trying to stamp out the spread of a virus which has been traced to chickens on a small farm near Corwen, North Wales.


Previously, some 12 children aged nine and ten and two teachers at a school in the area have been treated with Tamiflu.


The 14 had been in contact with a nine-year-old girl who is thought to have fallen ill with the virus after visiting the farm at the centre of the alert.

[MHSC]

Re: Confirmation of Avian Influenza H7N2 Infection

Hospital worker in bird flu alert link


http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news?articleid=2913585







Staff and patients at a hospital are being treated with anti-avian flu drugs after it emerged a health worker may have been infected with the virus.
Almost 80 people at Glan Clwyd hospital in north Wales have received the Tamiflu drug as a precaution.

The move comes after it was confirmed a worker at the hospital was being treated for the H7 flu virus.

Health officials are contacting a further 69 people at Gwynedd hospital after a former patient suffered symptoms.

On Monday, schoolchildren and staff at Ysgol Henllan primary school near the Corwen farm were offered courses of anti-flu drug Tamiflu after a pupil fell ill.

A total of 12 people are so far thought to have contracted the avian flu virus since it was discovered at a farm in Corwen last week.

Preliminary tests have confirmed two people are suffering from the H7 virus. Further tests are being carried out on the remaining 10 to establish whether they also have the illness.

The disease is the "very mild" H7N2 strain rather than the more virulent H5N1 variety.

Dr Marion Lyons, lead consultant in communicable disease control for the National Public Health Service for Wales, said: "We have assessed the risk to others and can confirm the healthcare worker was working at Ysbyty Glan Clwyd during the time when she may possibly have been infectious, between May 21 and 23.

"Consequently, the patients and staff with whom the healthcare worker has had contact are being offered Tamiflu as a precaution."

The virus is thought to have spread from infected chickens, which were traded at Chelford Market in Cheshire two weeks ago.

A further 30 birds have now been slaughtered and restrictions were put on a second farm in the Llyn Peninsula, around 45 miles from the Corwen property.


Last Updated: 30 May 2007

[hawkeye]

Re: Confirmation of Avian Influenza H7N2 Infection

Has there been any confirmation to the May 7th market having 1400 fowl (of different types)? Were all 1400 sold?

[scottmcpherson]

Ah, yes, so much for:

So much for the vaunted British bird flu readiness system.

So much for British influenza protocols in hospital.

Can you say SARS? Eerie parallels, with health care staff apparently spreading the virus.

Remember, folks, it was the second wave in 1918 that was the killer. The first wave was relatively benign.

I agree completely with Dr. Niman. This, after only 15 chickens were purchased? There is another, developing story here. SOMETHING happened/is happening at that bird market.

[HenryN]

Re: Confirmation of Avian Influenza H7N2 Infection

Patients given flu drugs after health worker contracts virus <TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE class=headerTable cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=* border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>May 30 2007

</TD></TR><TR><TD>
</TD></TR><TR><TD colSpan=2>by Madeleine Brindley, Western Mail
</TD></TR></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=400 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD colSpan=3> </TD></TR><TR><TD colSpan=3>MORE than 70 patients and hospital staff have been given anti-flu drugs after a healthcare worker contracted the avian flu virus.
Staff and patients at two hospitals – Ysbyty Glan Clwyd and Ysbyty Gwynedd – have been identified as potentially at risk of contracting H7N2.
They are among a list of 221 people who have been identified as contacts, although the number of people confirmed as showing signs of contamination remains unchanged at 12 – none are seriously ill.
It emerged last night that 79 patients and staff from ward six at Ysbyty Glan Clwyd have been offered Tamiflu as a precaution after coming into contact with a healthcare worker who is being treated for the virus.
And a further 69 patients and staff who were treated at Ysbyty Gwynedd’s accident and emergency department, Trysfan and Gogarth wards, have also been contacted by health officials.

Story continues
ADVERTISEMENT

<!-- OAS AD 'x60 begin --><SCRIPT language=JavaScript type=text/javascript><!--OAS_AD('x60');//--></SCRIPT> <!-- OAS AD 'x60' end -->

<SCRIPT language=JavaScript type=text/javascript><!-- var MPUBlockLength = 718; //--></SCRIPT>
A male patient was treated at the hospital in Bangor for the avian flu virus, but was discharged on May 18.

A spokesman for North West Wales NHS Trust, which runs the hospital, last night said 66 of these people had been contacted and none are experiencing symptoms.

He added, “The incubation dates suggest that we will not see any further development of the disease in these people.”

The incubation period for this strain of avian flu is eight days, during which time infected people would be expected to experience flu-like symptoms or conjunctivitis.

Dr Marion Lyons, lead consultant in communicable diseases for the National Public Health Service for Wales (NPHS), said, “We are actively managing the outbreak. This involves taking every precaution in identifying possible contacts of the infected poultry or people who have been ill after contact with the infected poultry.

“We have assessed the risk to others and can confirm that the healthcare worker was working at Ysbyty Glan Clwyd during the time when she may, possibly, have been infectious, between May 21 and May 23.

“Consequently the patients and staff with whom the healthcare worker has had contact are being offered Tamiflu as a precaution.”

Health officials have not yet been able to rule out person-to-person spread of avian flu, although it is understood that the majority of confirmed cases had some form of close contact with the smallholding at the centre of the outbreak.

It was confirmed last Thursday that 15 chickens had died from H7N2 avian flu at a farm in Llanfihangel Glyn Myfyr, near Corwen.

The chickens – 22-week-old Rhode Island Reds – had been bought by the smallholding’s owners Barbara Cowling and Tony Williams from Chelford Market, in Cheshire.

A 1km exclusion zone, to prevent the movement of birds, is in place around the farm and 30 birds were slaughtered last week.

Tests on samples taken from a second farm, on the Llyn Peninsula, last night confirmed birds at the site had not been infected with the virus despite a link with Chelford Market.

Meanwhile a dozen schoolchildren and two members of staff at Ysgol Henllan primary school, in Denbigh, have also been offered courses of Tamiflu after one of the pupils contracted the virus.

The child lives at a neighbouring property to the farm and the staff and pupils receiving treatment had all been in close proximity to the youngster.

Although health officials have been keen to reassure the public that the North Wales outbreak does not pose a serious risk to the public, the fact that a cluster of 12 people with symptoms has developed is unique.

Until now there have only been two occasions when the H7N2 avian flu virus crossed the species barrier from poultry to humans.

Both cases occurred in the US and involved only one person each – in 2002 and 2003.

The North Wales outbreak will become the focus for intense scientific study, particularly if person-to-person transmission is established. Some of the 12 people who have been identified as experiencing flu-like symptoms and conjunctivitis did not have close contact with the infected poultry.

Dr Brendan Mason, a consultant epidemiologist at the NPHS, said, “We are not, at the moment, saying that person-to-person transmission has taken place, but we cannot rule that out.

“We have been looking very hard to identify cases when they have occurred and to prevent them. We have been looking at people who have been in close contact with the poultry or with the human cases.

“This is not serious in the sense that we have had a limited number of cases and the cases of avian flu in humans have been very tight and associated with the small holding, with the chickens or people close to it. There is no suggestion that the virus has taken hold or that there are long chains of transmission from person to person to person.”

Many experts believe the next pandemic flu strain will emerge from the animal kingdom – some believe the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain, which has killed more than 180 people across South East Asia could be a potential source, if it mutates to become more readily transmitted between humans. But the NPHS does not believe H7N2 will mutate to form a new, virulent virus.

Dr Mason said, “We have been very fortunate in the timing of this because, where pandemic strains have emerged in the past, it has been through a reassortment of two viruses, where one person or an animal has become infected with two different strains with the ability to mix.

“We are well out of the European and UK flu season and no human flu virus strains are circulating in Wales at the moment.”
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/0100n...name_page.html

[Treyfish]

Re: Confirmation of Avian Influenza H7N2 Infection

No enhanced ability

[Treyfish]

Re: Confirmation of Avian Influenza H7N2 Infection

Date: Tue 20 May 2007
Source: BBC News online a.m. Tue 29 May 2007 [edited]
<http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/6699595.stm>


<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=556 border=0 valign="top"><TBODY><TR vAlign=top><TD vAlign=top width=2 bgColor=white> </TD><TD vAlign=top width=554><!-- start: main content --><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100&#37;" summary="" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD align=left><INPUT onclick="javascript:this.disabled=true; doSubmit('Back');" type=button value=Back></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE summary=""><TBODY><TR><TD noWrap align=right>Archive Number</TD><TD noWrap align=left>20070529.1734</TD></TR><TR><TD noWrap align=right>Published Date</TD><TD noWrap align=left>29-MAY-2007</TD></TR><TR><TD noWrap align=right>Subject</TD><TD noWrap align=left>PRO/AH/EDR> Avian influenza H7N2, human - UK (05), WHO</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
AVIAN INFLUENZA H7N2, HUMAN - UK (05), WHO</PRE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></P>Avian flu contacts 'identified'
-------------------------------
Teachers and pupils at Ysgol Henllan have been given treatment [for
avian influenza]. Health officials say they have identified all the
people who came into close contact with an outbreak of avian flu at a
smallholding in north Wales. The number of people found to have had
contact with the disease rose over the weekend to 142, of which 12
are being treated as being positive for bird flu. The mild H7N2
strain of bird flu was first found last week [20-26 May 2007] among
chickens at a farm near Corwen, Conwy.

Children at a Denbighshire school are being offered anti-viral
medication. A year-5 pupil at Ysgol Henllan suspected of contracting
the virus has been linked to the smallholding. A dozen children, aged
9 and 10, and 2 teachers at the school are being given Tamiflu
treatments as a precaution. The National Public Health Service of
Wales has said a total of 142 people have had either direct or
indirect contact with the virus, which is not the virulent H5N1
strain of avian flu. A total of 12 people are being treated as
"positive," but no one is seriously ill.

Of the 142 to come into contact with the virus, 47 came into contact
"in the household setting," 14 in the school and 81 in "the workplace
setting." Health officials held a meeting for concerned parents at
the school on Monday evening [28 May 2007], in which it was stressed
the risk of anyone contracting the virus is very small.

The National Public Health Service of Wales's director for north
Wales, Andrew Jones, said it was "reassuring" so few people had
reported symptoms. He said, "We are treating 12 cases as positive. We
always approach schools in a precautionary way. We are advising them
that the risk to the population is low and that avian flu is a
disease of birds. It would be very unusual for it to spread from
person to person."

Hugh Pennington, a microbiologist and bird flu expert from Aberdeen
University, added, "You have to be in quite close contact with
infected birds to get infected. It doesn't spread from one infected
person to another. It's still a bird virus; someone infected isn't
going to cause any more human cases."

The 1st confirmed case involved a smallholding at Llanfihangel Glyn
Myfyr, Conwy. Owners Tony Williams and Barbara Cowling, who have
tested negative for the virus, called in a vet after their Rhode
Island Red chickens began to die. They bought the chickens at
Chelford Market at Macclesfield, Cheshire, some 70 miles (112 km)
away, on 7 May [2007]. A total of 30 chickens from the smallholding
have now been slaughtered after 15 birds died.

The 2nd possible case emerged on Saturday [26 May 2007] about 35
miles (56 km) away, at a farm on the outskirts of Efailnewydd, near
Pwllheli. It has also been linked to the market.

******
[2]
Date: Tue 29 May 2007
Source: BBC News, online, p.m. Tue 29 May 2007 [edited]
<http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/6701927.stm>


Bird flu checks reach hospitals
-------------------------------
Hospital patients and staff are being offered anti-viral treatment by
health officials fighting a bird flu outbreak in north Wales. Nearly
80 people at Ysbyty Glan Clwyd at Bodelwyddan are being offered
Tamiflu because of contact with a health worker who is being treated
for the H7 virus. About another 70 patients and staff at Ysbyty
Gwynedd in Bangor are being contacted to see that they are well.

A total of 12 people with flu-like symptoms or conjunctivitis have
been identified. The National Public Health Service for Wales (NPHS)
stressed that no one has been seriously ill and the risk to the
health of the general public is low. So far the service has found a
total of 221 people who may have come into contact with the virus,
which is not as serious as the H5NI strand of the disease.

History of outbreak:
24 May [2007]: The 1st outbreak at Llanfihangel Glyn Myfyr, Conwy; 45
chickens slaughtered but farms test negative for virus.
26 May: The 2nd possible outbreak at farm at Efailnewydd, near
Pwllheli; no test results yet.
29 May: A total of 221 may have had contact with bird flu; 36 in
"household setting," 14 in school, 171 in workplace.

The 1st confirmed case of the avian flu was confirmed last Thursday
[24 May 2007] among chickens on a smallholding near Corwen in
Denbighshire. The Rhode Island chickens 1st affected were bought at a
Chelford Market in Macclesfield, Cheshire on 7 May. On Saturday [26
May 2007] a 2nd possible case emerged at a farm on the outskirts of
Pwllheli although results of tests on birds there have not been finalised.

Some year-5 children at Ysgol Henllan in Denbighshire are being
offered anti-viral treatment after one pupil was linked to the 1st
smallholding. The NPHS said 79 patients and staff from ward 6 at Glan
Clwyd Hospital were now being offered Tamiflu as a precaution. A
further 69 patients and staff from the A&E unit, Tryfan and Gogarth
wards at Ysbyty Gwynedd in Bangor have been contacted because a
patient, who has now been discharged, has also had treatment for the virus.

Marion Lyons, NPHS's communicable disease control consultant, said,
"We have assessed the risk to others and can confirm that the
healthcare worker was working at Ysbyty Glan Clwyd during the time
when she may have been infectious, between 21 and 23 May [2007]. The
patient at Ysbyty Gwynedd may also have been infectious while at
Ysbyty Gwynedd. However, as the patient was discharged on 18 May, and
the incubation period is 8 days, anyone would have had symptoms by 26 May."

The NPHS stressed that experience of this particular bird flu virus
in humans was limited, so it was "actively managing" the response.
Person-to-person spread would be very unusual, it said, but limited
spread has been seen elsewhere in the past. Dr Lyons added, "We are
looking for people who have had flu-like symptoms or conjunctivitis.
It is the symptoms which are important to identify. It is reassuring
that so few of the large number of contacts have had symptoms."

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

******
[3]
Date: Tue 29 May 2007
Source: World Health Organisation (WHO, CSR, Disease Outbreak News,
Tue 29 May 2007 [edited]
<http://www.who.int/csr/don/2007_05_29/en/index.html>


Avian influenza A/(H7N2) in the United Kingdom
----------------------------------------------
On 25 May 2007, the United Kingdom Health Protection Agency (HPA)
announced that influenza A/H7N2 virus infection had been laboratory
confirmed in four individuals exposed to infected poultry in Corwen
Farm, Conwy, Wales. The poultry outbreak in Wales started on a
smallholding, Corwen Farm, Conwy, on 8 May 2007, was laboratory
confirmed on 24 May 2007, and notified to the World Organisation for
Animal Health on 25 May 2007.

For more information from the WHO Regional Office for Europe, see:
<http://www.euro.who.int/flu/situation/20070526_1 >
(Human cases of avian influenza A/H7N2 in the United Kingdom)

--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail Rapporteur Marianne Hopp

[The number of individuals under surveillance and offered Tamiflu
treatment as a precautionary measure has increased, but the number of
persons exhibiting flu-like symptoms and/or conjunctivitis remains at
12. There is no unequivocal evidence to suggest that the H7N2 virus
exhibits an enhanced ability to spread from person to person. - Mod.CP]
http://www.promedmail.org/pls/promed..._ID:1000,37622
[see also:

[AlaskaDenise]

Re: Confirmation of Avian Influenza H7N2 Infection

Commentary at

http://www.recombinomics.com/News/05...2_Cluster.html

Commentary

H7N2 Familial Cluster in Wales England
Recombinomics Commentary
May 29, 2007

A dozen schoolchildren and two members of staff at Ysgol Henllan primary school near the Corwen farm have been offered courses of anti-flu drug Tamiflu after one of the pupils is thought to have contracted the virus.

The child lives at a neighbouring property to the farm and the staff and pupils receiving treatment had all been in close proximity to the youngster.

The above comments on the H7N2 outbreak fail to capture the confusion regarding the testing of patients and contacts. The student described above, Megan Evans, had symptoms and responded to treatment. An interview with her father, Ian Evans, indicated he was positive and his wife was initially positive, but subsequently tested negative. Moreover, one of Megan's classmates had symptoms, but tested negative.

Thus, in the Evans family, three members either tested positive or had symptoms, suggesting H7N2 was efficiently transmitted from human-to-human. The number of human cases is remarkably high, since only 15 chickens were bought at the market.

The owners of the farm also initially had symptoms, although they too tested negative. A better picture of human H7N2 infections will emerge when convalescent serum is tested for H7 antibodies. However, at this time, the human-to-human spread appears to be quite efficient, comments by government officials notwithstanding.

The inability to reliably test patients with symptoms, or reliably track contacts, is a major cause for concern. Although these initial cases are mild, extensive passage of H7N2 through a naïve human population can lead to genetic alterations that could affect virulence. These concerns are compounded by the inability of the surveillance program to detect H5N1 or H7 in live wild birds and the potential for dual infections in a number of hosts.


.

[HenryN]

Re: Confirmation of Avian Influenza H7N2 Infection

Commentary at

http://www.recombinomics.com/News/05...2_Cluster.html