Tag Archives: Disease From Animals

Ebola Re-Emerges in Liberia

Liberian officials confirmed a third case of Ebola on Thursday, two months after the country had declared itself Ebola free.

A case management leader for the country’s Ebola Task Force says that the three villagers with the disease “have a history of having had dog meat together.”  Dog meat is common in the diet of Liberians.

The first confirmed case, a 17-year-old boy, died Sunday about 30 miles from the capital city of Monrovia.  The other two cases are in the same village as the dead teen.

“The two (latest) live cases are 24 years old and 27 years old. They are stable,” Deputy Health Minister Tolbert Nyenswah said on Thursday.

Scientists say that there is no proof yet that dogs can carry the Ebola virus.  Humans have been infected in past outbreaks by eating contaminated monkey meat.

“There is no need to panic. Our health team is on top of it. It will be contained,” Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf told Reuters.

At least 175 people are being monitored because of contact with the three confirmed cases.

Plague Expert: “No One’s Fault” Teen Died From Plague

An expert on the plague says that the death of a teenage boy in Colorado was likely unavoidable because of how the disease presents itself.

‘You need some kind of indication from patient history that [plague] is what it is,” Dr. Robert Perry, plague researcher with the University of Kentucky, told USA Headline News.  “Septicemic is rare enough and doesn’t have really many more symptoms that anybody would think of going in real soon for that.”

“If he had gone in soon enough, and the doctors had recognized what it was, maybe he would have been OK but after a certain period of time even antibiotics are too late.”

Perry said that the symptoms that would have been presented by Taylor Gaes would have mimicked the flu until the very end.

“There was no reason anyone would have thought it was anything significant, just the flu,” Dr. Perry said.  “Nobody did anything wrong here.  The parents, the kid.”

“It could have been a dozen of viral or bacterial agents,” he continued.  “There aren’t any distinguishing symptoms to say it’s not a flu that you’re going to get over.  And once it progresses to a certain stage, it’s just too late.  It’s essentially the same as pneumonic plague.  The symptoms are pretty common to a bacteria that causes a lung infection.”

“24 to 48 hours after symptoms start to show, it’s too late to treat pneumonic plague.”

Dr. Perry said that because the bacteria went straight into the bloodstream it was classified as “septicemic.”  He said that the other two kinds of plague show earlier symptoms because the bacteria would grow in the skin or lungs before entering the bloodstream.  Once the bacteria enters the bloodstream, it immediately begins to destroy internal organs.

“Septicemic plague is basically bubonic plague that skips the earlier stages,” Dr. Perry said.

High School Athlete Dies from Plague

A rare strain of the plague has killed a 16-year-old Colorado athlete.

Taylor Gaes was a star athlete for Poudre High School.  Taylor, who was 6 foot, 4 inches, was already being considered an excellent college baseball prospect and was being scouted by schools when he fell ill.

He died June 8th, a day after his 16th birthday from a sudden illness.  Friends thought it was just a bad case of the flu.  He woke up that morning and told his parents he coughed up blood.  The family tried to rush him to the hospital but he died five minutes before arriving.

That’s when doctors discovered the real cause of death was septicemic plague.  It is the rarest of three forms of the plague and happens when bacteria directly enters the bloodstream.  It is highly fatal.

Health officials are speculating that Taylor contracted the disease from fleas on a dead rodent or other animal on his family’s farm.

Now the Larimer County Health Department is warning all those who attended Taylor’s memorial on the ranch to be vigilant for any changes in their health.

“There is a small chance that others might have been bitten by infected fleas, so anyone who was on the family’s land in the last 7 days should seek medical attention immediately if a fever occurs,” the agency said.

Gaes was the first resident of the area to contract the disease since 1999 although a visitor to the region in 2004 caught it while camping.

Post Holdings Losing 35 Percent Of Eggs To Avian Flu

Post Holdings announced that a third company-owned chicken farm in Nebraska has been infected with avian flu.  The infection means that the company has lost 35 percent of their egg crop.

The company, which makes Raisin Bran and other well known cereals, said they are still working on the financial impact of the major loss.  The loss is so significant that the situation is being declared a “force majeure event” that will allow the company to get out contract obligations for egg deliveries because of an event out of their control.

The outbreak continues to spread throughout the midwest.  Nebraska Department of Agriculture officials confirmed another poultry farm infected with over 3 million hens in Knox County. The Minnesota Department of Public Safety said three more turkey flocks have been infected with the flu.  Iowa’s Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship reported one new infection in a county with three other outbreaks.

The outbreak has caused at least one tradition to be suspended.  The Indiana Board of Animal Health has said that all bird shows at county fairs and the state fair will be prohibited until the outbreak ends.

“We are very concerned about bird health,” said Denise Derrer, a spokeswoman for the Indiana Board of Animal Health. “This decision wasn’t done lightly, and it wasn’t a knee-jerk reaction to a single backyard flock.”

The total number of deaths from the virus has been 40 million birds.

Bird Flu Cases Hit 35 Countries

The World Organization for Animal Health says the bird flu outbreak that is currently killing millions of birds in the United States has impacted 35 countries around the world.

The major strain in the U.S. that has led to the deaths of 33 million birds since last December is H5N2.  The USDA is now admitting that the H5N8 strain of bird flu has also been found in the United States.

The OIE says that the H5N8 strain was discovered in Korea and China before moving to Japan.

“From there the strain probably spread with migratory wild birds to India, Europe, Canada and later the United States of America,” the OIE said in a statement.

The OIE has requested that the 180 member countries apply better biosecurity measures at farms, live bird markets and in trades.  They’ve also requested an increase in surveillance to try and stop outbreaks before they can infect more than one location.

The OIE added that while the main focus is on H5N2 and H5N8, the H5N1 virus that lead to a worldwide outbreak in 2004 and also infected humans is still out there.  The virus has most recently been found in Africa.

Nebraska Declares State of Emergency Due To Bird Flu

Nebraska’s governor has declared a state of emergency because of a bird flu strain that has contributed to the termination of 33 million birds in 16 states.

Governor Pete Ricketts declared the state of emergency on Thursday after federal officials said a second farm in the state had tested positive for the avian flu virus.  The declaration is the fourth by governors after Wisconsin, Iowa and Minnesota.

The action by the governor would allow emergency funds to be release to the Nebraska Department of Agriculture and other state agencies tasked with stopping the spread of the flu virus.

Experts say the H5 strains post little threat to human health but are on the verge of record levels in the U.S.

“Having a second farm in Nebraska confirmed to have HPAI (highly pathogenic avian influenza) is unfortunate but not completely unexpected,” said Nebraska Department of Agriculture Director Greg Ibach.  “This follows the pattern we’ve seen in other states when it comes to the spread of the virus.”

Ibach said that 1.8 million birds will be destroyed.  The state’s first case resulted in the destruction of 1.7 million.

American Doctor “Cleared” of Ebola Finds Virus In His Eye

An American doctor who had been treated in Atlanta for Ebola and declared free of the virus by his doctors has now been found to have the virus in his eye two months after his release.

Dr. Ian Crozier was experiencing horrific pain in his left eye according to the New York Times.  The pressure in his eye kept increasing while vision decreased and the hue of his eye changed from blue to green.

Tests showed the virus was still living in his eye.

“It felt almost personal that the virus could be in my eye without me knowing it,” Crozier said.

The 44-year-old doctor contracted the disease while working at a hospital in Sierra Leone.  The doctors at Emory University Hospital called Crozier “the sickest of all the four Ebola patients” who they had treated.

Emory University has updated the treatment protocols for victims of the virus.

“Following recovery from Ebola virus disease, patients should be followed for the development of eye symptoms including pain, redness, light sensitivity and blurred vision, which may be signs of uveitis,” said Steven Yeh, associate professor of ophthalmology at Emory University School of Medicine.

Emory said in a statement that they did not find the virus in tears and the outer membranes of the eyes.

“These findings have implications for the thousands of Ebola virus disease survivors in West Africa and also for health care providers who have been evacuated to their home countries for ongoing care,” Jay Varkey, assistant professor at Emory University School of Medicine said. “Surveillance for the development of eye disease in the post-Ebola period is needed.”

Iowa Bird Flu Cases Hit 25

Four new cases of bird flu have been found in Iowa including one farm with 2.8 million laying hens.  Three of the new cases are at commercial turkey farms in Buena Vista and Cherokee Counties.

The Iowa Department of Agriculture says that 19.4 million birds will be destroyed because of the virus, although that estimate did not include the number birds from the commercial turkey farms.

The farms will be quarantined and all the turkeys destroyed according to officials.  Every flock within 6.2 miles of the infected farms will be quarantined and tested to see if the virus has spread beyond the four new infected locations.

Governor Terry Branstad has declared a state of emergency so that state agencies can take strong measures to stop the virus from continuing to spread.  Cherokee, Clay, Kossuth, Madison, O’Brien, Osceola, Pocahontas, Sac and Sioux counties have all been impacted by the virus.

Scientists speculate that migratory birds such as ducks and geese have spread the virus through their droppings on the farms.  Farm workers then unknowingly spread the virus through dust or bird feathers.

The risk to humans is considered low according to health officials.

The outbreak is also causing concern among grocers because there is only seven months to Thanksgiving and it’s possible the farms will not be able to meet the demand for turkeys on the holiday.  The cost of turkey could skyrocket because of short supply.

Minnesota Declares State of Emergency Over Bird Flu

Minnesota has declared a state of emergency because of a strain of avian flu that has led to the elimination of 7.3 million birds.  It’s the second state to declare the emergency over the bird flu following Wisconsin.

The highly infectious strain of H5N2 bird flu has been found in 46 different Minnesota farms in 16 counties.  The disease has hit around 2.6 million birds.

State health officials are rushing doses of Tamiflu to farm workers or anyone else who has been in contact with the infected birds.  As of April 24th, no humans have been confirmed to have been infected with the H5N2 strain.

“There’s no reason for anybody in the state of Minnesota to be concerned about their own health,” Governor Mark Dayton said at a press conference on Thursday after declaring the state of emergency.

The H5N2 strain is so deadly to birds that an entirely infected flock will die within 48 hours.

Two bird flu strains have been discovered in the United States this year. The H5N2 strain is in Arkansas, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Washington and Wisconsin. It has also been identified on farms in Ontario, Canada.  The other strain, H5N8, was found in California and Idaho.

The top U.S. egg producing state, Iowa, reported the virus in a farm that has 3.8 million hens.

Untreatable Tick Borne Virus Found in Connecticut

An untreatable tick-borne disease has been found in parts of southern Connecticut.

The Powassan virus is similar to Lyme disease with headache, nausea and fever.  Unlike Lyme disease that can be easily treated with antibiotics, Powassan virus can often be fatal.

The virus impacts the central nervous system and causes encephalitis and meningitis.

Dr. Theodore Andreadis of the Connecticut Agriculture Experiment Station, told WCBS that fortunately there has not yet been a human case of the disease in the area.  However, the fact ticks in the region carry the disease could be a serious threat to hikers and anyone who is close to a wooded area.

“These ticks will transmit this virus when they feed within a matter of hours, whereas with Lyme disease, for example, ticks generally have to feed up to two days before they’re capable of transmitting it,” Andreadis told WCBS 880.

Twelve cases of the disease were found in the U.S. in 2013, the last year statistics for the disease have been published by the CDC.