On 2 May, a pig farm in Alberta, Canada, made international news when officials revealed that the animals there carried that novel H1N1 virus causing the swine flu outbreak in humans—the first and still the only pigs known to be infected. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) said it was “highly probable“that a Canadian who recently had traveled to Mexico and returned with flu-like symptoms had infected the pigs. At press conferences on 2 May and 7 May, Canadian officials explained that because the farmer did not buy pigs from other farms, the “contractor” who had gone to Mexico was the most likely source of the virus. That scenario ruled out the possibility that the pigs were infected before humans and may have held clues to the origin of the outbreak.
It turns out that the contractor, Adrian Blaak, was a carpenter who had worked on the farm for one day, 14 April, swapping out vents on a pig barn. Although Blaak was feeling ill that day, he had minimal direct contact with the pigs. The farmer first noticed illness in his pig herd on 24 April. Officials quickly suspected that Blaak was the source of the pig infection, but his symptoms had resolved by then, at which point it’s typically difficult to find the virus. Nasopharyngeal swabs taken from him, as expected, were negative for the novel H1N1. At a 7 May press conference, Frank Plummer, who heads the National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg, a branch of the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), said that they were going to test Blaak’s blood samples for antibodies to the novel H1N1 virus, which could confirm that he had been infected. Plummer also discussed other workers at the farm who had flu-like symptoms and were being tested for evidence of infection with the swine flu virus.
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2. Guidelines issued for caring for people with the flu at home
3. Swine flu cases in Manitoba spike to 119 with 42 reported Friday
4. First Nations must pay out of pocket for swine flu drug or face delay
5. Northern Manitoba not in ‘chaos’ over swine flu: minister
China
6. China-Taiwan – Sports events to go ahead despite H1N1: Premier
7. S’pore remains on yellow alert despite flu pandemic announcement
8. Chinese mainland confirms 17 new A/H1N1 cases, total reaches 143
Egypt
9. Egypt hunts last pigs as three new swine flu cases confirmed
France
10. France keeps H1N1 alert level at 5A, despite WHO declaration
India
11. Swine flu screening stepped up at Delhi airport
12. Delhi makes swine flu patients’ hospitalisation mandatory
Japan
13. Clinical observations from school outbreak in Japan
Morocco
14. Morocco confirms first H1N1 flu case
New Zealand
15. No evidence that animals play part in flu spread, says body
16. Confirmed cases of swine flu in New Zealand is now 35
Thailand
17. Thailand reports 43 new cases of Influenza A/H1N1 in one day
United Kingdom
18. UK swine flu cases pass 900 mark
19. Britons urged not to panic, as flu cases spike
20. Biggest jump in swine flu cases
21. Britain tops world ‘risk list’ for flu spread: study
United States
22. NYC: New Victims of Swine Flu Include 11-Year-Old
23. Las Vegas: School half empty amid swine flu scare
24. Philadelphia: Despite calls for calm, parents fearing swine flu keep kids out of school
25. Connecticut, New Haven youth is second swine flu death
26. First Anchorage Novel H1N1 confirmed, Alaska
27. New CDC numbers (cases and deaths by state)
28. H1N1 (Swine) Flu Cases Escalate In Rhode Island
29. MI – Police Officer Dies After Illness Hits Dept.
30. Agusta, Georgia – Fort Gordon confirms H1N1 case
31. With 5,000 cases in last week, swine flu count in U.S. grows to 18,000
32. Miami immigration center has 3 swine flu cases
33. Alex Bay N.Y.: H1N1 closes school district
34. Community transmission of A/H1N1 flu appears to decline in New York City
35. Flu claims another NYC victim, but cases decline
36. Minnesota – Over 30 New Cases/Day for Last 3 Days
37. U.S. university tests drive-through method to rapidly screen A/H1N1 flu patients
Swine flu vaccine ready for clinical trials
SCENARIOS-What will be the impact of a flu pandemic?
