Vietnam: Human cases of new human swine flu strain

[tetano]

The Ministry of Health said, according to the results of monitoring of the Pasteur Institute, Ho Chi Minh, new virus strains appeared as influenza A/H3N1, recombinant of influenza A/H1N1 influenza A/H3N2 flu-with the season usually derived from pigs. monitoring for
Through 10 with influenza A/H3N2 anthem originates from pigs reveals, has recently asked that no 3 ca direct contact with infected pigs. Therefore, health sector concerned does not exclude possibility of influenza A/H3N2 mutate and can spread from person-to-person, instead of just spread from pigs to people as before. However, if the people injected with flu vaccine clinic the full, not to worry because the transformation of new viruses not high pathogenic yet more, and not signs of drug resistance.

Mr. Le Hoang San, Deputy Director of the Pasteur Institute, Ho Chi Minh said: influenza have characteristic is constantly changing, only when the dangerous change, pathogenic drug resistance is higher, then the new danger. So, the annual flu vaccine must change constantly. However, with the transformation is then the flu vaccine still has room. So, people should not be puzzled, to present the health sector has yet to alert communities.,.

http://vov.vn/Home/Xuat-hien-bien-chung-cum-moi-AH3N1/20122/199565.vov

[tetano]

Re: Vietnam: New flu strains A/H3N1

There were 10 songs in the area south of flu Sotr_A flu vaccine, H3N1, a new appearance is recombinant between influenza A/H1N1 and influenza A/H3N2 originated in pigs, the Ministry of health has confirmed on 8-2 in standby medical meetings with southern provinces, the disease response measures by 2012.

According to the Ministry of health, in 10 new influenza, have got ca 3 ca most recently caught without contact with pigs. This prompted health experts do not exclude the possibility of identification of influenza A/H3N2 can spread from person to person.
Dr. Le Hoang San, Deputy Director of the Pasteur Institute, HO CHI MINH CITY for that ability appear due to swine flu H3N2 flu strains Sotr_A/new in the South is very high. According to the doctor, influenza A/H5N1-San has returned to do 2 people dead early in 2012.

http://baobacgiang.com.vn/266/86525.bgo

[tetano]

Re: Vietnam: human cases of new flu strain A/H3N1

New strain of swine flu detected

(VOV) - The Heath Ministry has quoted sources from the Ho Chi Minh City Pasteur Institute confirming that a new kind of porcine flu virus, A/H3N1, has appeared, apparently a combination of the pig-related A/H1N1 and A/H3N2 flu viruses.

The medical sector has monitored 10 patients infected with the A/H3N2 virus with porcine origin, and found that three of them had not had direct contact with any diseased pigs.

Therefore, the sector has not ruled out the possibility of a mutation in the A/H3N2 strain which could lead to transmission between humans, instead of strictly from pigs to humans as previously.

However, the situation has not reached an alarming level because the virus has not changed much; it has low toxicity and has shown no sign of drug resistance.

Flu vaccines are able to cope with small changes in this kind of virus, said Le Hoang San, Vice Director of the HCMC Pasteur Institute.

http://english.vov.vn/Home/New-strain-of-swine-flu-detected/20122/134722.vov

[sharon sanders]

Re: Vietnam: 10 human cases of new flu strain A/H3N1 - human transmission possible

Mike is using "H3N2 swine" as the type in this article. Until we have a sequence released/analyzed for this flu, I am not sure which is correct, A/H3N2 swine or A/H3N1.

hat tip Michael Coston

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 09, 2012

Vietnam:`New’ H3N2 Swine Flu Virus Reported





# 6131





This morning Editor & Senior Moderator Tetano on FluTrackers has picked up a series of news articles coming out of Vietnam talking about 10 human cases of infection by a `new’ H3N2 swine flu virus.



Two of these articles are machine translated from Vietnamese, and are therefore a bit garbled, but the third is an English Language report from the VOV (Voice of Vietnam).


Assuming the major points of today’s report are correct (not always a given), there is not enough information provided to know how this virus compares to the A/H3N2v virus which has been detected in a handful of cases in the United States (see CDC Releases Updated H3N2v Interim Guidance).



Keeping the usual caveats in mind regarding early media reports, here is the story from the Voice of Vietnam.





New strain of swine flu detected
Updated : 5:16 PM, 09/02/2012
(VOV) - The Heath Ministry has quoted sources from the Ho Chi Minh City Pasteur Institute confirming that a new kind of porcine flu virus, A/H3N1, has appeared, apparently a combination of the pig-related A/H1N1 and A/H3N2 flu viruses.

The medical sector has monitored 10 patients infected with the A/H3N2 virus with porcine origin, and found that three of them had not had direct contact with any diseased pigs.

Therefore, the sector has not ruled out the possibility of a mutation in the A/H3N2 strain which could lead to transmission between humans, instead of strictly from pigs to humans as previously.

However, the situation has not reached an alarming level because the virus has not changed much; it has low toxicity and has shown no sign of drug resistance.

Flu vaccines are able to cope with small changes in this kind of virus, said Le Hoang San, Vice Director of the HCMC Pasteur Institute.




Swine are highly susceptible to the influenza virus, and are capable of serving as `mixing vessels’, allowing them to reassort into new hybrid strains.



Reassortment happens when two different influenza viruses co-infect the same host, swap genetic material, and produce a hybrid virus.



That is essentially what happened in 2009, when the H1N1 swine flu virus emerged after bouncing around swine herds for a decade or more, picking up genetic changes along the way.


And not surprisingly, this recently emergent `humanized’ H1N1 virus has re-entered the swine population and is once again mixing and matching with other circulating swine flu viruses.

As a result we now have a Swine H3N2 virus that has reassorted with the 2009 pandemic H1N1 virus, producing a new hybrid that has – in a limited fashion – begun to emerge into the human population.



The article above calls the Vietnamese strain a `combination of the pig-related A/H1N1 and A/H3N2 flu viruses’ – which if we take literally – suggests a different reassortment than the one we’ve seen in the United States.


As stories in the media often gloss over crucial scientific details, we really need to wait for a more definitive report before we can talk about the origin, genetic makeup, and potential of this new virus.




For now, this is simply something new to keep an eye on in the ever changing and always surprising world of influenza.

Posted by Michael Coston

[sharon sanders]

Re: Vietnam: 10 human cases of new flu strain A/H3N1 - human transmission possible

"Update: In a conversation with Sharon Sanders of FluTrackers this morning, she pointed out that this article refers to this new reassortant virus as H3N1 (once) and H3N2 (twice).


I took the first mention (H3N1) as a likely misprint, but until we can get some clarification, I don’t think we can say with any confidence exactly which strain this new virus is."

[alert]

Re: Vietnam: 10 human cases of new flu strain A/H3N1 - human transmission possible

I'm also not sure which H1N1 and H3N2 viruses have allegedly reassorted; there are two candidates for each (circulating seasonal/pandemic or swine), so there are at least four possible pairs of reassorting viruses, each of which could produce either an H3N1 or an H3N2 (or an H1N1 or H1N2, but there is no reason to suspect that possiblity). Given the mention of at least some contact with pigs, I would assume this is NOT the result of reassortment between the two circulating seasonal strains, as has been reported in Toronto and elsewhere.

Also missing from all these articles is whether the cases form a single cluster, or whether these are sporadic detections from routine surveillance. The lack of a specific location argues against a cluster, but the fact that 7 of the 10 had contact with pigs would argue in favor of it, because far less than 70% of random flu patients in any country would have recent swine contact.

Sequences, please?

[alert]

Re: Vietnam: 10 human cases of new flu strain A/H3N1 - human transmission possible

This sounds an awful lot like this report from December in the Vietnamese press of the trH3N2 cases in the US (including the H3N1 error).

Could this all be a mis-report of the US trH3N2 cases? This would explain all the missing details above. Nothing in the articles above actually says the cases are located in Vietnam, upon further reading.

http://vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn/social-issues/218415/plans-to-block-new-swine-flu-outbreak.html

Plans to block new swine flu outbreak

HA NOI — The Ministry of Health's Preventive Medicine Department has asked relevant bodies to take measures to prevent a new strain of swine flu virus found recently in the US from entering the country.
The requirement followed an announcement by the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) stating that three children in the state of Iowa had been diagnosed as suffering from A /H3N1 on November 23.

None of the children were hospitalised, and each had recovered from a mild episode of febrile respiratory illness. All three were in contact with one another, but none were known to have been exposed to swine.

No additional human cases of the virus had been detected in Iowa, and no evidence of sustained human-to-human transmission existed. Surveillance was ongoing, the CDC reported last Friday.

The new strain was reported to be a mutation of the A/H1N1 virus, which caused an epidemic in 74 countries in 2009, and the A/H3N2 virus.

The National Institute for Hygiene and Epidemiology and the Pasteur Institute were asked to strengthen quarantine measures and monitor people suffering from flu, especially those from the affected area. They will also keep a close watch on pneumonia cases which were the suspected cause of the virus. No cases of the strain have been detected in the country

The country now has vaccines for A/H3N1, H3N2 and H1N1. Health experts said that flu vaccinations were necessary because they had the potential to stop strains from mutating.

According to the World Health Organisation, as of April 2010, more than 214 countries and territories had reported confirmed cases of influenza H1N1, sometimes dubbed swine flu, resulting in nearly 17,800 deaths. — VNS

[alert]

Re: Vietnam: 10 human cases of new flu strain A/H3N1 - human transmission possible - errant report?

Never saw this instruction in a ProMED post before:

http://www.promedmail.org/

Published Date: 2012-02-09 16:58:09
Subject: PRO/AH/EDR> Influenza (09): Viet Nam, new strain?, RFI
Archive Number: 20120209.1037688

INFLUENZA (09): VIET NAM, NEW STRAIN?, REQUEST FOR INFORMATION
************************************************** ************
A ProMED-mail post

http://www.promedmail.org

ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases

http://www.isid.org

Date: Thu 9 Feb 2012
Source: VOV - Voice of Viet Nam [edited]

http://english.vov.vn/Home/New-strain-of-swine-flu-detected/20122/134722.vov

New strain of swine flu detected
--------------------------------
The Heath Ministry has quoted sources from the Ho Chi Minh City Pasteur Institute confirming that a new kind of porcine A/H3N1 influenza virus has appeared, apparently a combination [reassortant ?] of the swine-related A/H1N1 influenza virus and the A/H3N2 influenza virus. The medical sector has monitored 10 patients infected with [a] A/H3N2 influenza virus of porcine origin, and found that 3 of them had not had direct contact with any diseased pigs. Therefore, the sector has not ruled out the possibility of a mutation in the [porcine] A/H3N2 strain which could lead to transmission between humans, instead of strictly from pigs to humans as previously.

However, the situation has not reached an alarming level because the virus has not changed much; it has low toxicity and has shown no sign of drug resistance. Flu vaccines are able to cope with small changes in this kind of virus, said Le Hoang San, Vice Director of the HCMC Pasteur Institute.

--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail Rapporteur Mary Marshall

[It is difficult to evaluate this report on the basis of the information provided. The 1st paragraph suggests that the agent is an H3N1 reassortant virus, but later it is described as a mutant of a swine H3N2 virus endowed with transmissibility in humans. Pending clarification, this report should be ignored. - Mod.CP]

[Sally Furniss]

Re: Vietnam: 10 human cases of new flu strain A/H3N1 - human transmission possible - errant report?

16:05 Thursday, 09/02/2012 - 16:05

Vietnam has not reported any cases of influenza A/H3N2

Nguyen Van Binh, Director of Preventive Health (MOH) said the country has not recorded any cases of influenza A/H3N2 from early 2012 to present.

http://dantri.com.vn/c7/s7-563783/viet-nam-chua-ghi-nhan-ca-nhiem-cum-ah3n2.htm

[sharon sanders]

a new appearance is recombinant between influenza A/H1N1 and influenza A/H3N2 originated in pigs, the Ministry of health has confirmed on 8-2 in standby medical meetings with southern provinces, the disease response measures by 2012.

I am changing the title of the thread. I do not think it is a good idea to "ignore" this report.

Also, as far as this being a repeat of some article from December, I do not believe that rumour on the internet.

Thanks Tetano, Alert and Sally for working on this.

[sharon sanders]

Re: Vietnam: Human cases of new human swine flu strain

Please see thread for Ministry of Health confirmation of 1 case:

Vietnam : First case ( April 2011) of swine H3N2 - 2 year old


We find it is best not to ""ignore" reports of novel flu virus when reported by reputable news outlets.

[alert]

Re: Vietnam: Human cases of new human swine flu strain

The entire situation needs further clarification. I agree with Sharon's decision not to merge the two threads yet as they may not be referring to the same situation.

The one swine H3N2 case confirmed with onset in April 2011 appears to be pure swine H3N2, not a reassortment between an H1N1 and H3N2 virus, so it doesn't seem to meet the description of the virus in the first few posts of this thread.

The onset date of April 2011 also makes this case too early, it appears, to be the trH3N2 virus from the US, and may represent simply a human infection with another swine H3N2 virus.

In fact, the text in the new report indicates explicitly that other than this one case, no other human infections with swine viruses have been detected since.

[alert]

Re: Vietnam: Human cases of new human swine flu strain

ProMED MBDS has actually picked up the initial article now (but not yet the April 2011 case) and posts with the following comment:

http://www.promedmail.org/mbds

The newswire above reports that new strains of swine flu have been
detected in Viet Nam. The report does not provide information on when
and where these cases were detected. This moderator speculates that this
report might have been another version of the local health authority's
warning of a new swine virus based on a CDC statement in 2011, which
PRO/MBDS reported earlier (see more at prior PRO/MBDS posting Influenza
- MBDS region (03): Viet Nam (S-OtrH3N2) warning 20111215.3606.).

PRO/MBDS would highly appreciate more information from knowledgeable
sources regarding the information provided in the newswire above.

[tetano]

Vietnam: Human cases of new human swine flu strain

CORRECTED BELOW


WHO: Influenza Virus Traceability Mechanism, Virus processed during last month period (Jan-Feb 2012)


A virus of type A (H3N2) isolated by virus isolate culture in USA, by St Jude Children's Hospital, Memphis, USA.

Virus IVTM-VIR436, A/Vietnam/VP12-3/2012

https://extranet.who.int/ivtm/Search.aspx?mode=2&searchtype=1&viewtype=2&publishedstartdate=16-Jan-2012&vir=True

[alert]

Re: Vietnam: Human cases of new human swine flu strain

WHO: Influenza Virus Traceability Mechanism, Virus processed during last month period (Jan-Feb 2012)


A virus of type A (H3N2) isolated by virus isolate culture in USA, by St Jude Children's Hospital, Memphis, USA.

Virus IVTM-VIR436, A/Vietnam/VP12-3/2012


https://extranet.who.int/ivtm/Search...-2012&vir=True

This either has been corrected or was misreported. The text now reads:

Virus IVTM-VIR438, A/INDIANA/08/2011
A virus of type A (H3N2) isolated by virus isolate culture in USA, by St Jude Children's Hospital, Memphis, USA.

Virus IVTM-VIR436, A/Vietnam/VP12-3/2012
A virus of type A (H5N1) isolated by virus isolate egg in USA, by CDC Atlanta, USA on/in 2012-01-26.

which seems to indicate that virus came from one of the fatal H5N1 cases, not a human swine H3N2 case. The virus isolated in St. Jude's Hospital is one of the previously reported US trH3N2 cases.

Just more confusion in the reporting and tracking of this story...