A story in yesterday’s New York Times was headlined: In New Theory, Swine Flu Started in Asia, Not Mexico. That sounded pretty interesting. What’s the new evidence? The answer? None. Just speculation. So what’s going on?

Contrary to the popular assumption that the new swine flu pandemic arose on factory farms in Mexico, federal agriculture officials now believe that it most likely emerged in pigs in Asia, but then traveled to North America in a human.
But they emphasized that there was no way to prove their theory and only sketchy data underpinning it.

There is no evidence that this new virus, which combines Eurasian and North American genes, has ever circulated in North American pigs, while there is tantalizing evidence that a closely related “sister virus” has circulated in Asia.

American breeding pigs, possibly carrying North American swine flu, are frequently exported to Asia, where the flu could have combined with Asian strains. But because of disease quarantines that make it hard to import Asian pigs, experts said, it is unlikely that a pig brought the new strain back West.

“The most likely scenario is that it came over in the mammalian species that moves most freely around the world,” said Dr. Amy L. Vincent, a swine flu specialist at the Agriculture Department’s laboratory in Ames, Iowa, referring, of course, to people. (Don McNeil, New York Times)

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– 8 confirmed cases in Wales, including 3 new cases: – A 19 year old female from Monmouthshire linked to a confirmed case of swine flu in Cambridge. She has been offered antiviral medicine and is recovering. The NPHS has identified three close contacts who are all are well. – A 20 year old male from Torfaen linked to a confirmed case of swine flu in Bristol. He has been offered antiviral medicine and is recovering. The NPHS has identified one close contact that has tested negative for swine flu.

– 160 people have been under investigation in Wales. Of these, swine flu has been confirmed in 8 cases (see above) and ruled out in 134 cases, leaving 18 still under investigation. All of these are displaying, or have displayed, mild symptoms.

– Of the 18 people under investigation, seven were well when first identified, but reported recent flu-like symptoms following travel to affected areas. Blood tests are being undertaken on these individuals to see if they had the flu and to help the NPHS understand the pattern of the disease from the past. Their symptoms may or may not have been due to swine flu. Testing will be conducted in a number of weeks to check whether these people did have swine flu – scientifically it won’t work before that. Investigations have shown that people they had close contact with did not catch flu from them when they were ill.

– No further details will be confirmed or denied about cases in order to protect their right to confidentiality.

– There are now 2,908 laboratory confirmed cases in the UK – 8 cases in Wales, 647 cases in Scotland, 2236 cases in England and 17 in Northern Ireland.

– One person with swine flu in the UK – a case in Scotland – has died. The patient had underlying health conditions.

– Swine flu cases have been confirmed in 99 countries. For the latest international figures for the spread of swine flu, visit the website of the World Health Organization at www.who.int

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The Associated Press

Lewis and Clark County and Butte-Silver Bow each recorded its first case of swine flu Monday.

The Lewis and Clark County patient was not identified by age or gender. Beth Cottingham, a registered nurse with the Lewis and Clark City-County Health Department, says the patient is doing well and is recovering.

Butte-Silver Bow Health Officer Terri Hocking says a 34-year-old Butte woman has been infected with the swine flu virus.

Hocking says the woman sought treatment for a high fever on Friday and later developed other symptoms. Test results confirming the virus came back Monday.

The woman is said to be recovering nicely with no complications.

Hocking says the woman had not been out of town recently, which indicates she may have caught the virus in Butte.

By VOA News

Health authorities in Latvia said their country has registered its first confirmed case of swine influenza A-H1N1.

Officials said the patient was hospitalized after flying home from a visit to the United States and Canada by way of Berlin.

Earlier, the Philippines closed down its lower house of Congress after a 49-year-old woman died from the influenza.

Health authorities said the woman, who worked in the legislature, died Friday from heart failure that was aggravated by severe pneumonia.

The A-H1N1 strain of swine flu that has spread around the world this year is a highly contagious new virus.

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By Pat Forgey, JUNEAU EMPIRE

State public health officials reported 13 new cases of swine flu Monday, including one new case in Juneau among Southeast Alaska’s five new ones.

Alaska’s first official cases of the H1N1 swine flu was in Fairbanks in May, and with most of the state’s early cases concentrated in the Interior. Southeast and the Interior now each have 11 cases, while the Southcentral communities of Anchorage and Matanuska-Susitna have a total of 13.

There was also a single case in Homer, for a total of 36 statewide.

The latest Juneau case was a woman in her 60s, who was diagnosed at Bartlett Regional Hospital on June 8.

Two earlier Juneau cases were diagnosed at the Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium’s Juneau clinic.

The Juneau woman may be the oldest person in the state to come down with the flu. Health officials say those confirmed to have swine flu so far have ranged in age from 7 months to 63 years.

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Times Union

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Two students at Maple Avenue Middle School have confirmed cases of the H1N1 flu, a school official announced Monday.

Saratoga Springs Superintendent of Schools Janice White notified parents of the illnesses through letters and the district’s Web site. Classes end for the year on Wednesday, and the flu cases aren’t expected to interrupt testing, White said. The school asks parents to keep their children home if they show any symptoms.

“Despite confirmed cases of H1N1 swine flu in school districts, as advised by the state and local health departments, students can safely attend classes and our schools will remain open at this time,” White wrote.

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By Stuart Rintoul, The Australian

THE mother of a Victorian man who died from swine flu on Saturday said last night there was no intensive care bed available in the state when he was diagnosed as suffering from pneumonia.

Judith Splatt told The Australian at her home in Colac, in the state’s west, that her son Anthony had collapsed at home about 1pm on Thursday. Mr Splatt, the second Australian to die from the virus, was 35 years old, had type 2 diabetes and was obese.

“He became very ill and needed an intensive care bed,” she said. “I would like it known that there was none in the state available at that time.

“The health people tell us our health system is wonderful, but … on Thursday afternoon, there was no bed available.”

Mr Splatt’s family said that, after being taken to Colac Hospital, her son was initially diagnosed as having pneumonia. He was not swabbed for the H1N1 virus until the following day, after an intensive care bed was found at Maroondah Hospital in Melbourne, and the results were only returned two days after his death.

Victoria’s acting chief health officer, Rosemary Lester, said Mr Splatt, whom she refused to identify, deteriorated so quickly he was unable to be treated with the anti-viral drug Tamiflu.

She said, incorrectly, that he had presented at Colac Hospital last Friday with a “flu-like illness” and that, like the West Australian man who last week became the nation’s first H1N1 fatality, he had a range of underlying medical conditions.

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By Henry L. Davis, The Buffalo News

Complications from MRSA bacteria contribute to first local H1N1 fatality

Matthew Davis was a healthy Buffalo teenager who participated in sports before complaining of headaches June 13.

Within a few days, the 15-year-old student at Harvey Austin School 97 on Sycamore Street arrived seriously ill at Women & Children’s Hospital and then died Saturday, making him the first known fatality in Erie County caused by swine flu, officially known as novel H1N1 influenza.

It was a surprising turn of events for the family.

“He was a very healthy boy,” said his mother, Lucretia Belton.

What happened? By the time Matthew entered the hospital, he was seriously ill with the flu, as well as co-infected with a type of bacteria known as methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, according to health officials.

MRSA has been a problem in hospitals and nursing homes for decades, but has also spread to otherwise healthy people in the community, living normally on the skin and in the nose and throat. Research suggests that the overuse of antibiotics has contributed to the problem.

This bacteria can cause infections of the skin, nose, throat and ear. But in a small number of cases, especially in patients with weakened immune systems, it can lead to life-threatening pneumonia and blood infections.

An estimated 92 children die annually in the United States from regular influenza, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and some of those deaths have been associated with coinfection with MRSA. As such, officials at the federal agency said last month they are closely following the development of the new H1N1 flu strain to see whether there is a similar co-infection with community-acquired MRSA in some cases.

In total, eight people, including two adults, have been hospitalized in Erie County since the first case of H1N1 was confirmed in the county May 11. Three children remain hospitalized in Women & Children’s with the new strain of the flu, including a 9-year-old student at Charles Drew Science Magnet School 59 in critical condition. Matthew and the 9-year-old also were infected with MRSA when they were admitted to the hospital.

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The Associated Press

REDWOOD CITY, Calif.—San Mateo County health officials are reporting California’s ninth death from swine flu.

The county health department said Monday that a middle-aged woman with underlying health problems had died after contracting the H1N1 flu. Health officer Scott Morrow reminded residents of the county, which has 31 of the 1,076 cases reported statewide, to avoid large gatherings of people.

California health officials had tallied 99 hospitalizations and eight deaths from swine flu as of June 18. Half of the deaths have been in the San Francisco Bay area, half in Southern California.

By IAN McCANN, The Dallas Morning News

Scrapes and bruises aren’t all that kids are getting at summer camp this year.

Swine flu is spreading through dozens of camps across the country, forcing some to shut down, delay openings or treat campers with antiviral drugs. It’s something they haven’t had to deal with previously, as seasonal flu has usually subsided by this time of year.

“It’s kind of a wake-up call to be aware of this,” said Ann Sheets, past president of the American Camp Association. “The thing that is saddest to us is, there are kids who look forward to camp for the whole year, and then they don’t get to go.”

Swine flu, now officially known as novel H1N1 influenza, appears to be here for the summer and should last until the seasonal flu season begins in the fall, said Dr. Daniel Jernigan, deputy director of the influenza division of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Flu cases are popping up at scouting, religious and other camps across the country, including in Texas, North Carolina, New York and Georgia.

Campers and staff at Greene Family Camp near Waco, including many from the Dallas area, are taking Tamiflu to prevent the spread of the disease after one confirmed and four suspected swine flu cases. And the Muscular Dystrophy Association has canceled its remaining 47 camps across the country, including one for North Texas children. Flu cases have occurred among participants in previous MDA camps this year.

“We were completely shocked,” said Kathy Spann, whose son Brian was to spend his sixth year with the MDA at Camp John Marc in Bosque County. “When I read the national stuff, I certainly understand it.”

Brian, 14, said he is most disappointed for his 17-year-old friends, who would have been attending their final camp.

“One friend said she was disappointed because she would have tried harder to remember things last year,” he said.

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