Yet Another Update on Bird Flu

Hey folks,

Happy Friday night to you. Yes, you read the title correctly. Remember way back on April 1, 2007, I said this.

“In the "Health and Science" segment this week, I have a question. How Ready are WE? In the news on a daily bases is the war. Is the war here at home between Congress and the White House over the war. Nothing getting done at all.

While this is going on, some news outlets offer puff stories about celebs, as to take a break from politics. Who is sleeping with who. Who is dying. Where’s the money / kids going. Who got arrested, and why. Blah, blah, blah. Then right back to Politics.

It wasn’t always this way. THIS was big news for about a minute. Even made a movie about it. But now? I haven’t seen ANYTHING on this as of late. Are we ready? Are we working on a worst case scenario? Are we trying to prevent it? Yes, we are worried about pet food. Perhaps the poisoned pet food really was just a test by terrorist. Maybe they wanted to see if it would work? If it did, and it did, maybe they will try people food. So this is important to deal with also.

But what I’m talking about is nature. Well, so to speak. It is out there. It IS coming. So? Are we ready? According to the AFP -Four-year-old girl 32nd case of bird flu in Egypt”

I then did a whole series of articles about the Bird Flu. Now tonight, as I checked in for a second, remember, I will not be here tomorrow. I saw two articles. First up, Reuters -Bird flu virus mutating into human-unfriendly form By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Editor Thu Oct 4, 8:10 PM ET

The H5N1 bird flu virus has mutated to infect people more easily, although it still has not transformed into a pandemic strain, researchers said on Thursday.

The changes are worrying, said Dr. Yoshihiro Kawaoka of the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

"We have identified a specific change that could make bird flu grow in the upper respiratory tract of humans," said Kawaoka, who led the study.

"The viruses that are circulating in Africa and Europe are the ones closest to becoming a human virus," Kawaoka said.

This was my whole point. Back then, Sam Spade said.

“You reminding me of the outcry from some on the left that President Bush was doing nothing about the bird flu epidemic and that this was just another reason to hate him because everything was his fault and because the President did not jump into a lab and immediately find a cure the U.S. was going to be devastated by this.

Yada Yada

Your article pointed out the reality”

My response to him then, is the same today.

“I see this as a very REAL problem, that seems to be being ignored. I blame everyone for it. From the President, Congress, press, all the way down to me and you. This is not something that is anyone’s personal fault that it is happening. It is something in nature. But the fact that it seems to be back {increasing in activity} we have to get involved. It is coming.

My point in posting the article is awareness. It is out there. It is increasing. People are dying. My point is simple. Our government needs to investigate protective measures, and possible cures. Our Congress should be legislating if needed and investigating this real threat. The President should be warning, teaching, and just keeping the American people informed of this on going threat.

Me and you? We have a self responsible obligation to keep ourselves informed on what goes on outside our little comfort zones. We need to be aware of our surroundings. If we hear something that effects all, regardless or politics, religion, race, sex, sexual orientation, rich, poor, smart, dumb, fat, skinny, WHATEVER, we have an obligation to share that information. Chances are GREAT that you will never get this. But if you do, chances are you MAY die. It doesn’t care who you are or what you believe.” Back to Reuters.

Recent samples of virus taken from birds in Africa and Europe all carry the mutation, Kawaoka and colleagues report in the Public Library of Science journal PLoS Pathogens.

"I don't like to scare the public, because they cannot do very much. But at the same time it is important to the scientific community to understand what is happening," Kawaoka said in a telephone interview.

You THINK?

The H5N1 avian flu virus, which mostly infects birds, has since 2003 infected 329 people in 12 countries, killing 201 of them. It very rarely passes from one person to another, but if it acquires the ability to do so easily, it likely will cause a global epidemic.

All flu viruses evolve constantly and scientists have some ideas about what mutations are needed to change a virus from one that infects birds easily to one more comfortable in humans.

Birds usually have a body temperature of 106 degrees F, and humans are 98.6 degrees F usually. The human nose and throat, where flu viruses usually enter, is usually around 91.4 degrees F.

"So usually the bird flu doesn't grow well in the nose or throat of humans," Kawaoka said. This particular mutation allows H5N1 to live well in the cooler temperatures of the human upper respiratory tract.

H5N1 caused its first mass die-off among wild waterfowl in 2005 at Qinghai Lake in central China, where hundreds of thousands of migratory birds congregate.

That strain of the virus was carried across Asia to Africa and Europe by migrating birds. Its descendants carry the mutation, Kawaoka said.

"So the viruses circulating in Europe and Africa, they all have this mutation. So they are the ones that are closer to human-like flu," Kawaoka said.

Luckily, they do not carry other mutations, he said.

"Clearly there are more mutations that are needed. We don't know how many mutations are needed for them to become pandemic strains."

AGAIN? ARE WE READY?

Then this story by the AFP -Mutated bird flu eases human-to-human spread by Mira Oberman Fri Oct 5, 3:52 PM ET

Bird flu has mutated so that it can more easily spread to humans and a change in a single amino acid could radically increase its virulence, according to two new studies.

While there has been some transmission of bird flu among the family members of those first infected through close interaction with ill birds, the virus has not yet evolved to the point where it can spread easily among humans.

But researchers warn that it is moving in that direction and with the wrong combination of mutations it could become a pandemic flu.

Neither study will lead to a magic bullet to cure or prevent the virus, but researchers hope they will help health officials better track and understand it.

The first study found that bird flu strains in Europe and Africa have mutated to the point where they can infect the nose and throat of humans, which can increase the spread of the disease through coughing and sneezing.

"The change we're seeing is necessary but not sufficient for bird flu to become pandemic," said lead researcher Yoshihiro Kawaoka of the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

"We don't know yet what (else) is needed. We are working on it."

Work harder and faster. It’s working hard at mutating. How did the “war games” turn out? We never heard. Will Tamiflu help? Dr. Kawaoka is not the only one warning of this possible mutation. According to the AFP,

In the second study, researchers compared viruses from the 1997 Hong Kong bird flu outbreak to that of the 1918 pandemic which killed 50 million people.

They identified a single protein present in both viruses which, when mutated by the change of a single amino acid, can dramatically increasing the virulence of the virus.

Mice infected with the mutated strain had more virus present in their lungs, lost more weight, took longer to recover and were more likely to die.

"We really are trying to dissect theses viruses and really be able to say what it is that makes it so dangerous to humans," said lead author Peter Palese of Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York.

"In this case we were able to break it down to one amino acid in the context of the whole protein and the virus itself," Palese told AFP.

And while the mutation is no longer present in current strains of the H5N1 virus, it could resurface, he said.

Coming up with a "bullet drug" which could attack that specific amino acid and reduce the virulence of the virus is still in the realm of science fiction, Palese cautioned.

That amino acid would also not necessarily lead to the same changes in other viruses. But recognizing the specific protein - and then the specific amino acid - which leads to high mortality rates in these types two viruses could help scientists eventually develop better treatments and cures.

"These are incremental but important steps," he said.

Let’s hope so.

Both studies were published in the October edition of PLoS Pathogens.

Folks, again, I’m not trying to scare you. I’m just informing you of what IS out there. What COULD become reality. We REALLY need to watch this.
Peter

Sources:
OPNTalk - H.S. April 1, 2007, How ready Are We
OPNTalk -Bird Flu Articles
Reuters -Bird flu virus mutating into human-unfriendly form
AFP -Mutated bird flu eases human-to-human spread