Jiangxi Province Reports Fatal H5N6 Case - Ex Guangdong Province

Jiangxi Province - Credit Wikipedia

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FluTrackers (h/t Biological) today has picked up a report from the Jiangxi Provincial Health and Family Planning website somewhat belatedly announcing what is China's 8th human H5N6 infection to date.

While the patient was hospitalized (and died) in a Ganzhou hospital, he apparently lived in Jieyang City, Guangdong Province - a city which has recently reported two H7N9 cases.  Guangdong province has also reported three recent H5N6 cases.

In the 20 months since the H5N6 virus was first detected China has reported 8 H5N6 cases, 4 of which have occurred in the past three weeks.  And all four recent cases either occurred in, or have links to, Guangdong Province.

We found one case of H5N6 cases in our province in the regular monitoring of severe pneumonia cases

Jiangxi Provincial Health and Family Planning www.jxwst.gov.cn 2016 年 1 月 08 2008

Source: Committee of Emergency Management Office 

Jiangxi Provincial Health and Family Planning Commission communications:

After entering the winter and spring of influenza and other respiratory diseases high season, the province stepped up surveillance of influenza, severe pneumonia. In routine monitoring, from 1 cases of severe pneumonia cases detected H5N6 avian influenza virus nucleic acid positive. 1 month 7 days, the Chinese Center for Disease Control to review the detection identified as H5N6 virus nucleic acid positive . Provincial expert group on the basis of the clinical cases, laboratory testing and epidemiological findings, diagnosis in this case as H5N6 confirmed cases.        

Patients, male, 42 years old, currently residing in Jieyang City, Guangdong Province , has a history of contact with live poultry business market exposure history. December 21st due to fully died in a hospital in Ganzhou. All close contacts did not appear abnormal normal.       

Experts judged the view that this case appears as sporadic cases, the lower the risk of spreading the virus at this stage.

Recent blogs on H5N6 and H7N9 cases in China include:

HK CHP: 3rd H5N6 Case In Guangdong Province In Last 2 Weeks

Hong Kong Alert For Holiday Avian Flu Threat

Hong Kong: H5N6 Detected In Dead Egret

WHO Update On H5N6 In China 

 

While H7N9 and H5N1 have proved to be the most dangerous avian flu viruses to date, H5N6 is showing signs of being a contender, and is definitely a virus to watch.

 

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H7N9 Case Notifications In Drips & Drabs

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Hong Kong's CHP has published another notification of an H7N9 case from the mainland, this time from the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Health and Family Planning, reporting the hospitalization of a 58 year old woman.

The announcement from Shanghai, however, list her as living in Shandong.   This from the CHP.

CHP closely monitors additional human case of avian influenza A(H7N9) in Mainland

The Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health (DH) is today (January 9) closely monitoring an additional human case of avian influenza A(H7N9) in the Mainland, and again urged the public to maintain strict personal, food and environmental hygiene both locally and during travel.

According to the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Health and Family Planning, the patient is a 58-year-old woman. She is now hospitalised for treatment.

From 2013 to date, 668 human cases of avian influenza A(H7N9) have been reported by the Mainland health authorities.

(Continue . . .)

Meanwhile Biological on FluTrackers picked up the belated announcement (buried in an EOM Epidemiological report) from Jiangsu Province of two cases from last December.  This tactic, of quietly releasing case counts (without details) - often weeks after the fact - has become increasingly common with some Chinese Provinces.

Perhaps the only good thing to say about China's notifications of human avian flu infections is that it beats Egypt's reporting of H5N1 by a mile.

While one hopes that both countries are being more open about sharing avian flu information with the World Health Organization than they are their own people, the paucity of information we see in WHO updates suggests otherwise.

Even under the best of circumstances we assume we are only seeing the tip of the iceberg when it comes to disease outbreaks around the world. 

But of late with avian flu, we're barely getting ice cubes.

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Nigeria: Lassa Fever Outbreak With 40 Fatalities

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Although endemic in West Africa, for the past three years Nigeria has seen a steady decline in the number of Lassa Fever cases  - and deaths - with the last significant outbreak reported in 2012.

Last year, Nigeria reported only 250 cases (likely a substantial under count) and 8 deaths.   By contrast - in 2012 - 117 deaths were recorded.

Lassa is a Viral Hemorrhagic Fever (VHF), although it is nowhere near as virulent as Ebola or Marburg. The Lassa virus is commonly carried by multimammate rats, a local rodent that often likes to enter human dwellings.

Exposure is typically through the urine or dried feces of infected rodents, and roughly 80% who are infected only experience mild symptoms.  The overall mortality rate is believed to be in the 1%-2% range, although it runs much higher (15%-20%) among those sick enough to be hospitalized.

Like many other hemorrhagic fevers, person-to-person transmission may occur with exposure to the blood, tissue, secretions, or excretions of an individual, although the CDC reassures:

Casual contact (including skin-to-skin contact without exchange of body fluids) does not spread Lassa virus. Person-to-person transmission is common in health care settings (called nosocomial transmission) where proper personal protective equipment (PPE) is not available or not used. Lassa virus may be spread in contaminated medical equipment, such as reused needles.

Over the past couple of days alarm bells have started ringing in Nigeria as it was revealed that 86 Lassa cases have been reported from 10 states over the past 6 weeks, and of those, 40 have died. 

An initial mortality rate (among hospitalized cases) of 46% -  roughly triple that normally expected. 

While this high mortality rate is getting a lot of press, this is a relatively small sample, there is often a bias towards identifying the most critically ill subset of patients early in any outbreak, and that there may be unreported co-factors at work here.

All of which could help to skew the mortality figures higher. 

Forty deaths in such a short time period, however, is a substantial jump over recent years. Last night (Friday), the Health Minister Isaac Adewole, speaking at a news conference, announced the latest case counts and called the number of deaths `unusual'. 

 This report from NAIJ.COM.

Lassa Fever Kills 40 In 10 States
 
Isaac Adewole, the minister of health, has confirmed that 40 people have died in Nigeria in a suspected outbreak of Lassa fever.


Speaking at a news conference in Abuja, the minister said: “The total number (of suspected cases) reported is 86 and 40 deaths, with a mortality rate of 43.2 percent.”

He also warned Nigerians that the disease has already spread to ten states in the six weeks since the first case was reported.

Seven of the affected states are in the north: Bauchi, Nasarawa, Niger, Taraba, Kano, Plateau and Gombe, while the remaining three are in the south: Rivers, Edo and Oyo.

(Continue . . . )

The twitter hashtag  #Lassafever  is seeing a lot of traffic overnight, with @EbolaAlert posting public health infographics and links.

While Lassa is unlikely to spark a major epidemic, the same could have been said for Ebola a couple of years ago. Of late - when it comes to infectious diseases - conventional wisdom has suffered some setbacks.


So we'll keep an eye on this outbreak, and I'll report back any significant information.

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Lane Community College - United States

Lane has released over US$700,000 dollars of scholarship money that is available to all students.

For more information, please contact/visit your nearest JM Office today

                  

                                                                                                                                                              Article is courtesy of  Lane Community College

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Wellington Institute of Technology - New Zealand

Congratulations to the School of Engineering!

Engineering Achieves International Accreditation

Graduates from WelTec’s School of Engineering will now have their qualifications officially recognised globally. 

WelTec has been formally recognised by an independent panel convened by the Institution of Professional Engineers New Zealand (IPENZ) – New Zealand’s professional body for engineers –as having qualifications that meet international standards. The NZ Diploma in Engineering and the Bachelor of Engineering Technology degree have been successfully recognised as meeting the requirements of two benchmark international accords. WelTec’s Engineering Degree has been accepted for recognition within the Sydney Accord and the Engineering Diploma within the Dublin Accord.

Achieving this world class status means our engineering degree qualification and our graduates are recognised by nine individual member countries who are party to the Sydney Accord and our diploma is recognised by seven member countries that have joined the Dublin Accord. Graduates will now have their WelTec qualifications recognised around the world which really enhances the mobility of our alumni. These Accords are the gold standard test for technologist and technician engineering qualifications and this recognition is a credit to all WelTec staff involved in their delivery.

For more information, please contact/visit your nearest JM Office today

                  

                                                                                                                                                 Article is courtesy of  Wellington Institute of Technology

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The University of Adelaide - Australia

The University of Adelaide has offered two new Bachelor programme (Bachelor of Liberal Arts and Sciences & Bachelor of Criminology) commencing in February 2016. 

Bachelor of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Program Name	Bachelor of Liberal Arts and Sciences
CRICOS Code	089705J
AQF Level	7 – Bachelor Degree
Duration	3 years (156 weeks)
Location	North Terrace
Number of Units	72
Intakes	Semester 1 (February), Semester 2 (July)

Bachelor of Criminology 

Program Name	Bachelor of Criminology
CRICOS Code	089645E
AQF Level	7
Duration	3 years
Location	North Terrace
Number of Units	72
Intakes	February,  July

For more information, please contact/visit your nearest JM Office today

                  

                                                                                                                                                 Article is courtesy of  The University of Adelaide

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Monash University - Malaysia

You are invited to attend our Workshops and Talks on the Application Day.

Take this opportunity to discuss your study options with  our course counsellors and academic staff and discover what an Undergraduate or Postgraduate degree from Monash can do for you and your future! 

Attend our Application Days to find out more:

Venue	Date	Time
Clinical School Johor Bahru (Hospital Sultanah Aminah)	9 Jan 2016	11am-4pm
St Giles Wembley, Penang	16 Jan 2016	11am-4pm

For more information, please contact/visit your nearest JM Office today

                  

                                                                                                                                                 Article is courtesy of  Monash University Malaysia

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