Canada: train quarantined: 1st Thread - one person died, others have flu-like symptoms

[kent nickell]

Re: Canada: train quarantined; Thread #2 - Flu Trackers Team Follow-Up

Re: Canada: train quarantined; Thread #2 - Flu Trackers Team Follow-Up

This recent situation in Canada has some similarities to the recent deaths in northern Minnesota from influenza. In both cases there was uncertainty whether these patients had been reliably screened for H5N1. Many rapid and Elisa tests which are common in North America are not very sensitive for H5N1 and it is often unclear if even in highly suspect cases such as these that more reliable pcr testing is being done. In Canada it probably was, the Minnesota situation appeared to garner much less interest and even though autopsies were apparently done the full level of influenza testing done was not revealed.

In Canada there was the added problem that originally the rapid tests on 4 patients were apparently negative but later testing was positive for influenza A. This would make identification and release of the precise serotype even more important.

Also the age of 43 of the fatal case also makes the situation more worrisome and important to accurately identify the cause and release the information to the public.

The public deserves better than this. Hopefully public health is actually performing better than this.

http://www.wdio.com/article/stories/S385875.shtml?cat=10335
Created on: 03/20/2008 06:47:42 PM
By: Renee Passal

Health Officials Investigating Two Flu-like Illness Deaths in Same Family

The Minnesota Department of Health is investigating the deaths of two rural Itasca County men. Authorities say they had flu-like symptoms, but may have died from secondary bacterial infections. Both are from Dora Lake, which is in Itasca County, west of Bigfork.

Dan "Barney" Adams Jr., 45, died on Sunday at Bigfork Valley Hospital. Three days later, his father, Rev. Dan Adams Sr. died at St. Mary's Medical Center in Duluth. His age is unknown.

Adams Jr. owned and operated Barney's On The Bowstring resort and hunting guide service. He leaves behind a wife and two children. Adams Jr. also ran for Itasca County Commissioner back in 2006. His friend, Phil Padgett, said Adams was a kind-hearted man, who was always there to help you.

Adams Sr. was the pastor of Good News Bible Church in Dora Lake and in Cohasset.

Health officials say the two deaths in one family is devastating, but not a reason to panic. The DOH estimates about 800 people in Minnesota die from the flu each year, most of them over the age of 65. The flu season runs through April. To prevent the spread of the disease, good hygiene is encouraged. Flu shots are also still available.

 

[Shiloh]

Re: Canada: train quarantined; Thread #2 - Flu Trackers Team Follow-Up

Re: Canada: train quarantined; Thread #2 - Flu Trackers Team Follow-Up

Source: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080512.wtrain12/BNStory/National/home

Blood clot caused Via rider's death, police say

COLIN FREEZE

From Monday's Globe and Mail

May 12, 2008 at 4:04 AM EDT

TORONTO ? A short-lived pandemic scare, one that caused a train to be quarantined last Friday, actually resulted from a sedentary passenger's fatal blood clot, police have told The Globe and Mail.

Brenda Buckley, a 43-year-old South African tourist travelling alone on a cross-Canada rail journey, died from a pulmonary embolism, authorities say. The condition, the worst-case outcome of a lesser malady known to travellers as deep-vein thrombosis, can result from protracted periods of sitting.

The condition has been known to arise on long-haul flights, but many observers are surprised it is being linked to rail travel. "This is not a condition Via [Rail] has ever encountered on any of its trains," Catherine Kaloutsky, a spokeswoman for the company, said last night. She said Via Rail doesn't warn passengers about the risk of thrombosis, but will review practices.

The rarity of the condition on train journeys may have contributed to the case's initial aura of inexplicability, which fuelled the infectious-disease speculation that garnered global headlines.

The Ontario Provincial Police say a host of factors conspired to cause police to fear the worst. Ms. Buckley's death while travelling through Northern Ontario on Friday coincided with another passenger being airlifted to hospital after complaining of a severe respiratory problem. Five other passengers were also complaining of flu-like symptoms.

By Saturday, it was clear that all of the cases had arisen independently. Authorities issued a statement saying the five passengers were "afflicted by a common flu virus," the airlifted woman had a history of breathing difficulties, and that Ms. Buckley had "died of natural causes."

Yesterday, The Globe asked an investigating OPP officer to elaborate on the kinds of natural causes that could kill a 43-year-old. The death was "due to a pulmonary embolism," Detective Sergeant Michael Pilon responded.

He explained that after an autopsy in Sudbury, a pathologist told him that the condition can result from someone "sitting in a car for a long period of time, or, in this case, sitting in a train."

Little is known about Ms. Buckley, whose age had been estimated by some fellow passengers as about 20 years older than that listed in her passport. She had provided the travel agency with the name of a sister in South Africa as next of kin. "It came as a shock to the family," said Det. Sgt. Pilon, who notified relatives.

The South African tourist had booked her Canadian trip through Trafalgar Tours, a company that promotes the "breathtaking scenery" of the Rockies, including their "snow-capped peaks, hanging glaciers, pounding waterfalls and surging rivers."

Ms. Buckley had already spent several days on a train before crossing into Alberta from British Columbia last week. She boarded another train in Jasper, and had nearly completed the two-day trip to Sudbury when she began complaining of shortness of breath. "It was a very sudden event," Det. Sgt. Pilon said.

In the past, airline agents have been forced to deal with similar incidents. "It may be we will see something like that two, three, four times a year with air traffic," said William Lucas, a coroner for the province of Ontario. In an interview yesterday, he said he has never heard of any such case arising on a train. He expressed surprise, given that there is "a greater freedom of mobility on the train than there is on an airplane."

Blood circulation is often dependant on the mechanics of walking, Dr. Lucas said, explaining that active leg muscles set about "squeegeeing, like toothpaste, your blood back into circulation."

Long periods of sitting cause the blood to pool in the legs and possibly coagulate into clots. Should a clot become dislodged from the legs and travel up to arteries that feed the lungs, it can spell disaster.

A funeral home in Timmins, Ont., was making arrangements to send Ms. Buckley's body back to South Africa.

 

[Shiloh]

Re: Canada: train quarantined; Thread #2 - Flu Trackers Team Follow-Up

Re: Canada: train quarantined; Thread #2 - Flu Trackers Team Follow-Up

Source: http://www.timminspress.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1030519

Inactivity derailed train trip
Posted By Brandon Walker
Posted -56 sec ago

The woman who was airlifted from a train stopped in Foleyet to the Timmins and District Hospital last Friday felt shortness of breath from sitting too long, doctors said.

Carolyn Clarke, 69, said doctors at Timmins and District Hospital told her she had multiple blood clots in her legs, which ended up scattered throughout her lungs.

"That's what caused the pain," she explained from her hospital bed at TDH. "The blood clot stopped blood from getting to my lungs."

She and her husband James believe the fear of a pandemic saved her life.

"Had it not been for that, the response might've been slower," she said.

A retired doctor, Paul Bishop, assisted Brenda Buckley, who was also experiencing shortness of breath, and five Australians in another train car who were experiencing flu-like symptoms.

"The blood clot stopped blood from getting to my lungs."

Carolyn Clarke

Buckley, a South African, died as a result of sitting for too long. After an autopsy in Sudbury, a pathologist report said the 43-year-old most likely experienced deep-vein thrombosis, resulting from inactivity.

Det. Sgt. Michael Pilon of the Ontario Provincial Police said the blood sometimes clots and accumulates in the legs.

Once there is activity, the clotted blood can travel into the arteries that feed the lungs. The result can be a very sudden death. Clarke believes people should be made more aware of what can occur during all forms of travel.


While on the train, staff told "us to walk around but the corridors are very narrow. It's easy to just sit and look out the window. They do encourage us to get up during stops and walk around."

The retired doctor is from the U.K. and was travelling with the Clarkes and others during a multiple-day International Food and Wine Society trip that started in Atlanta.

The group got on the Via Rail train at Jasper, Alta., but it wasn't until shortly before 9 a.m. on Friday when all of the different circumstances led to it being quarantined in Foleyet, with fears of a possible pandemic.

Clarke was airlifted to TDH at around 11 a.m. on May 9, while her husband was airlifted later that day.

The couple was scheduled to fly out of Timmins on Thursday afternoon to Toronto. Clarke had an oxygen tank with her just to be sure she wasn't negatively effected by the pressure change from flying.

They hope to fly out of Toronto as soon as possible and head home to Cheshire, England, about 320 kilometres north of London.

"I just wanted to give thanks to this wonderful little town of Timmins," James said.
Article ID# 1030519