SANTIAGO (Reuters) – Chile detected the H1N1 swine flu virus in turkeys, authorities said, the first time the virus has been found outside humans and pigs, but said there was no indication the disease had spread to other parts of Chile.
The country’s farming and livestock agency SAG said on Thursday the flu outbreak had been controlled at the two farms 120 km west of the capital Santiago and notified the World Organization for Animal Health.
“We call on the public to consume turkey products with confidence,” a SAG statement said. It added that laboratory results ruled out the presence of H5N1 or bird flu virus.
The Geneva-based World Health Organization declared H1N1 a full pandemic in June and the virus has now spread to some 180 countries, causing at least 1,462 laboratory-confirmed deaths. The WHO says the pandemic is unstoppable.
The H1N1 swine flu virus was first seen in March in Mexico and California. Experts say at least 1 million people have been infected in the United States alone.
Genetic tests show the virus appears to have originated in pigs but it is now spreading from human to human.
In Chile, the H1N1 flu virus has killed 128 people and infected 12,175 during the Southern Hemisphere’s winter.
Chilean authorities said the farms near the port city of Valparaiso were placed under quarantine on Aug. 13 as a precaution after turkey producers reported anomalies in the output of eggs. Later laboratory results confirmed the H1N1 virus infections.
Authorities did not say how many animals were infected but claimed there was no evidence the virus had spread to other parts of the country.
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http://in.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idINIndia-41879020090821
Argentina
• Delegates Claim Layoffs Are Due to Health Demands (Link)
India
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• H1N1: Heart needs to be checked too (Link)
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Japan
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Kosovo
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Taiwan
• Taiwan records third H1N1 fatality (Link)
United Arab Emirates
• UAE reports first swine flu death (Link)
United Kingdom
• First ‘swine flu’ death in Wales (Link)
• Woman with swine flu dies in Northern Ireland (Link)
United States
• FL: 2 Local Women Hospitalized With H1N1 (Link)
• Paragraph from an Alabama swine flu story (Link)
• Poll data from ABC/WaPo (Link)
• CA: Swine flu kills 2 in S.J. (Link)
• LA: Flu like symptoms hit Tulane football team (Link)
• Oregon swine flu summit (Link)
• IL: First H1N1 death reported in Madison County (Link)
• OK: Suspected H1N1 case in Broken Arrow Schools (Link)
• FL: Possible H1N1 Hits High School Team (Link)
• NB: No Closing After H1N1 Confirmed At Westside School (Link)
• Indiana: Two students confirmed with flu (Link)
• Alabama: Doctors see increase in H1N1 flu cases (Link)
• GA: CSU student diagnosed with swine flu (Link)
Research
• Study indicates Vaccine should to go to those most likely to transmit Flu (Link)
• CDC: No ‘red flags’ in swine flu vaccine tests (Link)
• H1N1 flu virus hasn’t mutated, CDC officials report (Link)
Commentary
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General
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• ECDC case update (Link)
• WHO: No Tamiflu for healthy people with swine flu (Link)
• WHO predicts “explosion” of swine flu (Link)
