Re: Philippines - Girl Dies After Eating Meat from Sick Pig
Thanks Dutchy, here is promeds request for more info:tiphat:
<TABLE id=apex_layout_271110100662109808 class=formlayout summary=""><TBODY><TR><TD noWrap align=left>13-MAR-2009</TD></TR><TR><TD noWrap align=right>
Subject</TD><TD noWrap align=left>PRO/AH/EDR> Undiagnosed disease, porcine - Philippines (05): (Mindanao), RFI</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
UNDIAGNOSED DISEASE, PORCINE - PHILIPPINES (05): (MINDANAO), REQUEST FOR INFORMATIONDate: Fri 13 Mar 2009Source: Business Mirror [edited]<
http://businessmirror.com.ph/home/regions/7413-zamboanga-pigs-die-of-swine-flu-virus.html>
Zamboanga pigs die of swine-flu virusThe death of a dozen pigs last week [2-6 Mar 2008] in barangay Vitali, 72 km [44.7 miles] east of Zamboanga City, was caused by mainly swine flu [see comment] and not the Ebola Reston virus as earlier feared by people in the city. This was the finding of a team of experts from the Department of Agriculture (DA), city veterinarian and city health offices that went to Vitali and conducted an on-site investigation.
Apart from swine flu, other possible causes of the death were Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome, Classical Swine Fever, Actinobacillus Pleuropneumoniae, Salmonellosis Enzootic [?] and Heat Stroke, said Dr. Mario Ariola, chief of the city veterinary office.DA regional director Oscar Parawan and veterinarian Dr. Marie France Jalao, of the DA regional office that was part of the team, corroborated Ariola's pronouncement. Parawan said swine flu is a common disease in hogs that requires proper medication to prevent complications from bacteria that lead to the death of the pigs. He said they also discovered that water in Vitali where the pigs died contains E. coli that can complicate infection when mixed with food eaten by hogs.
City health officer Dr. Rodel Agbulos also disclosed that the 5-year-old child who died at same time as the pigs suffered severe dehydration caused by infectious diarrhea, and not from eating pork infected by the virus as earlier feared by people in the city. The team also found out that the owner of the swine that died had sold the meat to the community and this caused diarrhea and other symptoms of one family and eventually led to the death of one child.Agbulos said other findings showed that the water source of the family has high E. coli content that might have also led to diarrhea and severe dehydration. Ariola said the pigs that died belong to 3 households. The pigs were not vaccinated [against what? - Mod.AS] and consequently exhibited nasal discharges, fever, sudden weakness and death within 2 days. Of the 12 pigs that died 7 are piglets, and 5 sows of which 3 were pregnant, according to AriolaThe team has come up with recommendations to double-check these findings since the members have not been able to come up with a definitive diagnosis. The recommendations include continuous close monitoring of the situation in the affected areas; collection of blood and tissue samples of sick pigs; information and education campaign on swine management; advisory on meat-safety consumption; and intensified meat-inspection measures."We cannot come up with a definitive diagnosis since we were not able to observe any sick pigs in the visited areas and necropsy was not performed," Ariola disclosed.Parawan said they expect to receive any time soon the results of analysis of blood samples taken from the pigs in Vitali and sent to Manila for laboratory tests.[Byline: Bong Garcia Jr.]--Communicated by
roMED-mail<
promed@promedmail.org>[
The bottom line of the above newswire with a protracted list of pending DD's (of which influenza is just one of the various speculated infectious and non-infectious possible diagnoses) is that at present no diagnosis of the pig mortality in Vitali is available. In fact, the death of the 5-year-old child remains undiagnosed as well. In this respect it is worthwhile indicating that consuming pork from moribund pigs or their cadavers, even if not related to a suspected or identified infectious pig disease, is highly hazardous since -- in such animals -- enteric bacteria, including pathogens and toxin-producing bacteria exit the animal's digestive tract and penetrate into various tissues, including the muscles ("meat") which are regarded edible. Pork from non-inspected slaughter may also harbor dangerous parasites such as Trichinella and Cysticercus.In peace time, mortality of 5 sows and 7 piglets would not become nationally distributed news. The media attention is to be attributed to the public fear of Ebola Reston virus, since its identification in pigs in Bulacan at the end of 2008. From another source we have noted that surveillance for the Ebola-Reston virus is going to include fruit-bats in Philippines.For the location of Vitali in Mindanao, go to:<
http://www.multimap.com/maps/?qs=VITALI&countryCode=+#map=7.37741,122.28861|9|4&bd=useful_information&loc=%20:7.37111:122.28861:14|VITALI|Vitali,%20Province%20of%20Zamboanga%20del%20Sur,%20Philippines>For ProMED-mail's interactive Health map of the Philippines go to: <
http://healthmap.org/r/006t> - Mod.AS][In another sensationalist newswire (<
http://www.farminguk.com/news/Philippines-Bird-Flu.13019.asp>), there was an attempt to draw a connection between the porcine mortality and the child death. The above newswire seems to support a theory that the diarrheal illness was coincidental as the household water source had evidence of fecal coliforms (E. coli) and therefore could explain a severe diarrheal episode leading to death in a 5 year old -- a plausible explanation.
But, in the absence of more definitive information, one should be cautious on categorically classifying this as a death attributable to one of the many diarrheal etiologies seen in children under 5 years of age in rural areas of developing countries. More information on the investigations surrounding this death would be greatly appreciated. :tiphat:
http://apex.oracle.com/pls/otn/f?p=..._BACK_PAGE,F2400_P1001_PUB_MAIL_ID:1000,76588</PRE>
