China combats swine flu spread

[still_one]

CHINA today rushed the first batch of swine flu vaccine to the south-western province of Sichuan, where an outbreak of the disease has killed 34 people and left 28 in critical condition.

Vaccines for 350,000 pigs were flown to Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan, where the infection has swept through about 100 villages, Xinhua news agency reported.
It said vaccines for 10 million pigs were being produced to combat the disease, which is contracted from slaughtering, handling or eating infected pigs.


http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,16110154-1702,00.html

[kestrel91316]

1. It's not swine "flu", so the swine flu vaccine won't help.

It's Streptococcus suis infection, a bacterial infection which should not be confused with influenza, a virus.

Intellectually lazy, misinformed "journalists" disturb me.

[still_one]

2. really, then why is CCTV plus other sources reporting it as such

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8742214/

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2005/7/28/worldupdates/2005-07-28T160305Z_01_NOOTR_RTRJONC_0_India-210911-1&sec=worldupdates

Maybe you should do a little more research

All these sites are "intellectually lazy?

Every think that it was misreported. China isn't always the most accurate source

[kestrel91316]

3. The other thread on this topic has a quote from ..................

somebody that says the vaccine in question is Streptococcus suis vaccine (more properly referred to as a bacterin).

[still_one]

4. all I know is that the Chinese government is not letting reporters in

there is something else going on

Please remember that it was the Chinese authorities that identified the culprit as Streptococcus suis, and as far as I know this has NOT been confirmed by outside sources

China's diagnosis of Streptococcus suis was only a preliminary one, especially since authorities there have confirmed the presence of the bacteria in only five cases through laboratory tests. Over 70 other cases were only clinically diagnosed to be swine fever.

I am just as perplexed as you

I know we will see in the fullness of time what happens because these are things that cannot be hidden.

What concerns me is how they tried to cover up the SARS issue

[kestrel91316]

5. "Swine fever", another one of those oh-so helpful terms ...........

it has no specific meaning other than the pig's core body temperature is elevated. It is not a diagnosis. Medical people need to stop using these terms which only serve to confuse (one of my pet peeves)laypersons.

Streptococcus suis infection has a specific meaning. Swine flu has a specific meaning but it is mis-used all the time, just like when the media refers to all illnesses in people as having "flu-like symptoms" (fever, aches, cough) when they actually mean "food poisoning symptoms" (vomiting, diarrhea, gastric distress), LOL.

ARRGGGGHHHHHHH
Ok, calm down.

Maybe they are not letting reporters in because more people have died than they are letting on, but that doesn't mean it isn't S. suis. Maybe they are embarrassed at the deplorable state of affairs in their obviously nonexistent food safety system. Maybe they fear the reporters will get exposed and die and make a bigger PR disaster than they already have there.

SARS is another matter entirely. We dodged a bullet with that one, but ultimately it was not easily spread from person to person and is essentially a food-borne infection (stop eating bush meat, people!!!) They tried to keep a lid on that and it could have backfired. I do not trust the Chinese completely, but I also do not think that everything they say is a lie.

[still_one]

6. neither do I. In fact I visit China regularly

We will know in the course of time exactly what is happening

I find it extremely interesting that the World Health Organization is extremely quiet on this matter

[Media_Lies_Daily]

11. The WHO is only as good as the information they receive from others....

...I don't think they're getting anything from the Chinese Government.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

10. The Chinese buried SARS for several months before admitting they....

...had a problem. By then, they were being forced to quarantine entire city blocks in several major cities to include Beijing. By then, the damage to tourism and trade to that region of the world was measured in the tens of billions of dollars.

Until we get some sort of third-party verification from a trusted source, I'm not prepared to believe anything stated publicly by the Chinese Government. Their history of lying is just as bad as that of the NeoCon Junta, or worse, if that can even be imagined.

[still_one]

19. I agree with you, that is why I am skeptical

and detest the censorship they are opposing

[Karmakaze]

16. Cover up the SARS issue? Or NOT hype it?

After all, what happened with SARS? I'll tell you - the HYPE was bullshit, thats what.

And its probably bullshit now.

[still_one]

20. Sorry it wasn't bullshit

we were damned luckey it wasn't worse

Do you remember what happened in Canada?

It started to spread there because people were coming back from China who had been in the areas where it was

Sorry, but they tried to cover it up, and when they couldn't they allowed international involvement which helped prevent a disaster

If ANY country INCLUDING CHINA wants to be part of the international community they have to abide by standards

[Karmakaze]

27. Damn lucky, my ass!

Every single DAY, more people die of normal old Human Flu, than were killed during the entire SARS epidemic.

And what happened in Canada was HYPE - sure hosptials were stretched, but ONLY because the hype made people with nothing more serious than a normal flu come rushing in thinking they were gonna die.

The vast majority of reported cases turned out to not even BE SARS. It was the HYPE like this that caused the panic, that resulted in overtaxed hospitals, and that therefore did the most damage.

And now they are starting it up all over again.

[still_one]

7. there is no vaccine for a bacteria

I think the vaccine is for the pigs, but it is very confusing

[Media_Lies_Daily]

12. Only in Bizarro World does bacteria = virus.

[hallc]

14. Of course there are vaccines for bacteria...

There is a vaccine for Strep. pneumoniae...and a vaccine for Neiserria meningitidis....and a vaccine for Haemophilus influenza...should I keep going? Ah yes, there is a vaccine for Yersinia pestis, and there was a vaccine for Borrellia burdorferi, however it was removed from the market. So yes, there are vaccines to bacteria.

[still_one]

15. thanks

[kestrel91316]

17. Then this veterinarian is scratching her head ...............

wondering why there are these things called "bacterins" which are supposedly vaccines against bacteria...........I am SOOOOOO confused. Did I waste my money on my university education????

[still_one]

21. as long as you can generate an immulogical response

then you can create a vaccine. i.e. antigen/antibodies

[mike_c]

8. there are some unusual aspects of this epidemic...

...that are still not understood. In the first place, the rate of human infection is quite high relative to previous reports for S. suis:

Streptococcus suis, an important pathogen of pigs, is endemic in most pig-rearing countries of the world, including the UK. The organism is carried in the tonsils of pigs, and pig-to-pig spread is mainly by nose-to-nose contact or by aerosol over short distances. Human infection with Streptococcus suis is rarely reported and only about 150 cases have been reported from the world literature. Two serotypes have been implicated in human infections; S. suis type 2, an established zoonotic human pathogen and more recently S. suis type 14. Human infection may be severe, with meningitis, septicaemia, endocarditis, and deafness. People in direct contact with pigs or pig products are considered at risk. Asplenic patients are known to be at greater risk from the disease. Human infection is thought to occur mainly via cuts or abrasions when handling infected carcasses.

Maybe a new serotype?

S. suis vaccine has been tested, although it's efficacy uncertain as far as I'm aware:

http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=226975&tools=bot

An autogenous vaccine was developed, using sonicated bacteria, with a strain of Streptococcus suis capsular type 1/2. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the antibody response following vaccination and to assess the changes in antibody levels in pigs from a herd showing clinical signs of S. suis capsular type 1/2 infection in 6- to 8-week-old pigs. An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay using the vaccine antigen was standardized. Results from a preliminary study involving 2 control and 4 vaccinated 4-week-old pigs indicated that all vaccinated pigs produced antibodies against 2 proteins of 34 and 43 kDa, respectively, and, in 3 out of 4 vaccinated pigs, against the 117-kDa muramidase-released protein. For the serologic profile, groups of 30 pigs from the infected herd were blood sampled at 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 weeks of age. The lowest antibody level was observed between weeks 6 and 8, presumably corresponding to a decrease in maternal immunity. A marked increase was seen at 10 weeks of age, shortly after the onset of clinical signs in the herd. For the vaccination field trial, newly weaned, one-week-old piglets were divided into 2 groups of 200 piglets each (control and vaccinated); blood samples were collected from 36 piglets in each group at 2-week intervals for 12 weeks. A significant increase (P 0.05) in antibody response was observed 4 weeks following vaccination and the level of antibodies stayed high until the end of the experiment. In the control group, the increase was only observed at 13 weeks of age, probably in response to a natural infection. The response to the vaccine varied considerably among pigs and was attributed, in part, to the levels of maternal antibodies at the time of vaccination. No outbreak of S. suis was observed in the control or vaccinated groups, so the protection conferred by the vaccine could not be evaluated.

on edit-- it appears that there are at least 35 serotypes of S. suis out there, and that the likelihood of a commercial vaccine is low because the antigen site is unknown. An autogenous vaccine for the specific serotype in this zoonotic outbreak is at least theoretically feasible, however (for pigs).

[sam sarrha]

9. at least they were smart enough to vaccinate the pigs...we weren't

[Media_Lies_Daily]

13. How do you vaccinate against a bacteria?

[kestrel91316]

18. Easy

Inject a vaccine which is designed for that purpose. Vaccines against bacteria are called bacterins. They are not as highly effective as viral vaccines, and have more (and potentially more dangerous) side effects, IIRC. But yes, Virginia, there are bacterial vaccines.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

26. And we know that China has a pig-bacteria problem because....

...they tell us so? How come so many people inside and outside China are questioning that diagnosis?

Skip the codescending "Virginia" comment, and I'll stop calling you "Sparky"...how does that sound, Sparky?

[anotherdrew]

22. china seems to be already fighting bio-attacks... or?

aren't there getting to be just a few too many of these types of incidents? Or are we just "hearing about it more" ?

[kestrel91316]

25. I don't think this is bioterrorism .....................

I think it is appallingly BAD animal husbandry techniques plus even more appalling food (if dead, diseased, buried-in-the-dirt-and-then-dug-up pigs can be called "food") handling techniques.

Betcha a little old-fashioned soap and water hand-washing would have prevented most of these human cases.

[nine30]

23. Much better for the pigs to die of flu

than have their throats slit open while still alive. I hope the flu gets all of them

[kestrel91316]

24. They suffer much more when they have a disease than if they are killed

quickly with a razor-sharp knife, silly. Don't you care about actual suffering?

[GliderGuider]

28. There is much nervous speculation on Recombinomics.com

There's a lot of worry about the possibility that some type of recombinant Ebola is involved.

http://www.recombinomics.com/News/08020508/H5N1_Ebola_Recombinants.html

I know Recombinomics may not be the most unbiased source for stuff like this, but there's also a ton of concern coming out of China in the Boxun reports. For example:

http://www.peacehall.com/news/gb/english/2005/07/200507250126.shtml

China's notorious secretiveness about bad news is helping to fuel the suspicion that there's a lot more going on here than meets the eye.