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Source: http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=684547&category=REGION&newsdate=4/29/2008
Flu talk will kick off lecture series
This year's speakers to focus on the affect animal diseases can have on human health
By CATHLEEN F. CROWLEY, Staff writer
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First published: Tuesday, April 29, 2008
ALBANY -- David Wentworth loves the crafty little virus he studies, though it brings misery to the rest of us.
Wentworth, a director of the influenza virus lab at the state's Wadsworth Center, has researched influenza for 18 years and will talk about the bug Wednesday night as part of the 14th annual Public Lecture Series titled "Zoonoses: Animal Diseases Affecting Humans."
The series is sponsored by the state Department of Health. This year's speakers will explore the relationship between human and animal infections and how they can jump from one to the other.
"We pick topics that we thought people would be interested in and where we have expertise at the New York Department of Health," Wentworth said. "It's to help make people aware that diseases of animals cross species barriers and can cause real problems for humans."
The influenza that infects humans on an annual basis can be traced back to birds, Wentworth said. Pigs also played a role in the migration process between species.
"To me, it's a very exciting virus," Wentworth said. "It's so amazing the things it can do."
Influenza mutates rapidly.
"Once a while, a novel variant that gives the virus a selective advantage just appears and it evolves," he said. "And when that occurs, that virus can take off in our population and that's what causes the yearly epidemics."
A flu epidemic is a higher than usual number of illnesses. The seasonal flu this year reached epidemic proportions, partly because scientists didn't accurately predict the strain so the flu vaccine was only 44 percent effective.
In a pandemic flu, the infection spreads worldwide, causing serious illness.
Pandemics, like the 1918 outbreak that killed 50 million people worldwide and the 1957 outbreak that killed 70,000 in the United States, are caused when an influenza strain from an animal mixes with a human strain, resulting in a dramatic evolutionary leap.
"Although we know a significant amount about this virus in contrast to other viruses, we still don't have all the answers because it changes so frequently and it seems to always have more than one way to skin the cat," Wentworth said. "You think you know how it jumped from a bird to a pig, but five years later, the virus has found a new way to do it that's quite different than the other one."
Another pandemic is inevitable, he said.
"It's not a question of if. It's a question of when," he said. Cathleen F. Crowley can be reached at 454-5348, or by e-mail at ccrowley@timesunion.com.
Upcoming lectures What: State Department of Health 14th annual Public Lecture Series Where: The David Axelrod Institute, 120 New Scotland Ave. A photo ID is required for entry. When: 7 p.m. Wednesdays Schedule: This Wednesday: "Influenza A: Consistently Ducking Our Immunity," with David Wentworth May 7: "SARS: The Threat That Succumbed to Science -- For Now?" with Paul Masters May 14: "Here a Species, There a Species: Mosquitoes and Malaria," with Jan Conn May 21: "Out of the Blue: Mosquitoes and Emergency Viruses," with Laura Kramer and Kristen Bernard
Flu talk will kick off lecture series
This year's speakers to focus on the affect animal diseases can have on human health
By CATHLEEN F. CROWLEY, Staff writer
Click byline for more stories by writer.
First published: Tuesday, April 29, 2008
ALBANY -- David Wentworth loves the crafty little virus he studies, though it brings misery to the rest of us.
Wentworth, a director of the influenza virus lab at the state's Wadsworth Center, has researched influenza for 18 years and will talk about the bug Wednesday night as part of the 14th annual Public Lecture Series titled "Zoonoses: Animal Diseases Affecting Humans."
The series is sponsored by the state Department of Health. This year's speakers will explore the relationship between human and animal infections and how they can jump from one to the other.
"We pick topics that we thought people would be interested in and where we have expertise at the New York Department of Health," Wentworth said. "It's to help make people aware that diseases of animals cross species barriers and can cause real problems for humans."
The influenza that infects humans on an annual basis can be traced back to birds, Wentworth said. Pigs also played a role in the migration process between species.
"To me, it's a very exciting virus," Wentworth said. "It's so amazing the things it can do."
Influenza mutates rapidly.
"Once a while, a novel variant that gives the virus a selective advantage just appears and it evolves," he said. "And when that occurs, that virus can take off in our population and that's what causes the yearly epidemics."
A flu epidemic is a higher than usual number of illnesses. The seasonal flu this year reached epidemic proportions, partly because scientists didn't accurately predict the strain so the flu vaccine was only 44 percent effective.
In a pandemic flu, the infection spreads worldwide, causing serious illness.
Pandemics, like the 1918 outbreak that killed 50 million people worldwide and the 1957 outbreak that killed 70,000 in the United States, are caused when an influenza strain from an animal mixes with a human strain, resulting in a dramatic evolutionary leap.
"Although we know a significant amount about this virus in contrast to other viruses, we still don't have all the answers because it changes so frequently and it seems to always have more than one way to skin the cat," Wentworth said. "You think you know how it jumped from a bird to a pig, but five years later, the virus has found a new way to do it that's quite different than the other one."
Another pandemic is inevitable, he said.
"It's not a question of if. It's a question of when," he said. Cathleen F. Crowley can be reached at 454-5348, or by e-mail at ccrowley@timesunion.com.
Upcoming lectures What: State Department of Health 14th annual Public Lecture Series Where: The David Axelrod Institute, 120 New Scotland Ave. A photo ID is required for entry. When: 7 p.m. Wednesdays Schedule: This Wednesday: "Influenza A: Consistently Ducking Our Immunity," with David Wentworth May 7: "SARS: The Threat That Succumbed to Science -- For Now?" with Paul Masters May 14: "Here a Species, There a Species: Mosquitoes and Malaria," with Jan Conn May 21: "Out of the Blue: Mosquitoes and Emergency Viruses," with Laura Kramer and Kristen Bernard