Ukhsa Reminds Travellers To China About The Risk Of Avian Flu
Following an increase in avian flu cases in humans in China, the UK Health Security Agency is reminding people travelling to the country to avoid handling produce at wet markets.
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- 18 November 2021
UKHSA is also advising travellers to China to alert their GP if they experience any symptoms when they return home.
A record number of human cases with avian flu have been reported from China with onset in 2021, with 22 cases reported in the last 10 months. Before 2021, the largest number of cases of avian flu in China was in 2016 when 9 human cases of infection were reported.
Most cases reported by China have involved close contact with an infected bird . Markets where live birds are sold can also be a source of infection. China has not reported any spread of H5N6 from person to person.
Though the risk to the UK public is very low, UKHSA and the National Travel Health Network are reminding UK travellers to China to protect themselves from avian flu by minimising exposure to wild birds and poultry while in China.
Dr Gavin Dabrera, a Consultant in Acute Respiratory Infections at UKHSA said:
Travellers can check NaTHNaCs TravelHealthPro website for current travel health recommendations for:
Biden Orders Us Intel Review Of Covid Origin
H10N3 is low pathogenic, which means it causes relatively less severe disease in poultry and is unlikely to cause a large-scale outbreak, the NHC added.
The strain is “not a very common virus,” said Filip Claes, regional laboratory coordinator of the Food and Agriculture Organization’s Emergency Centre for Transboundary Animal Diseases at the regional office for Asia and the Pacific.
Only around 160 isolates of the virus were reported in the 40 years to 2018, mostly in wild birds or waterfowl in Asia and some limited parts of North America, and none had been detected in chickens so far, he added.
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Analyzing the genetic data of the virus will be necessary to determine whether it resembles older viruses or if it is a novel mix of different viruses, Claes said.
There have been no significant numbers of human infections with bird flu since the H7N9 strain killed around 300 people during 2016-2017.
China Has Withheld Samples Of A Dangerous Flu Virus
Despite an international agreement, U.S. health authorities still have not received H7N9 avian flu specimens from their Chinese counterparts.
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For over a year, the Chinese government has withheld lab samples of a rapidly evolving influenza virus from the United States specimens needed to develop vaccines and treatments, according to federal health officials.
Despite persistent requests from government officials and research institutions, China has not provided samples of the dangerous virus, a type of bird flu called H7N9. In the past, such exchanges have been mostly routine under rules established by the World Health Organization.
Now, as the United States and China spar over trade, some scientists worry that the vital exchange of medical supplies and information could slow, hampering preparedness for the next biological threat.
The scenario is unlike shortages in aluminum and soybeans, said Dr. Michael Callahan, an infectious disease specialist at Harvard Medical School.
Jeopardizing U.S. access to foreign pathogens and therapies to counter them undermines our nations ability to protect against infections which can spread globally within days.
Experts concur that the worlds next global pandemic will likely come from a repeat offender: the flu. The H7N9 virus is one candidate.
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First Human Case Of H3n8 Avian Flu Has Been Detected In China Heres What We Know
ISAAC LAWRENCE/AFPLuke HurstAP
China has reported the first case of the H3N8 strain of avian flu in humans.
Known to infect horses, dogs, and seals, this is the first time the bird flu variant has been detected in a human.
Health officials have insisted the risk of human-to-human transmission is low.
Heres what we know about the strain of bird flu and the first detected human case.
Warming Herbs Like Ginger Turmeric And Cinnamon
When sick, you can easily make yourself a warming tea with these common kitchen herbs.
When it comes to common colds and the flu, you want to break a sweat to get everything out, says Kung. These help to heat up the body in a way thats not too dangerous. It pushes and brings on the sweat and helps to warm up the body.
Ginger is already known to be antiviral and antibacterial, and it helps with reducing nausea. Chop the ginger up and steep in hot water, adding honey or lemon to taste.
Full of antioxidants as well as anti-inflammatory benefits, turmeric can be added to bone broth or taken in pill form.
Like turmeric, cinnamon is also full of antioxidants and anti-inflammatory agents. It can help fight bacterial and fungal infections.
You can make a tea of cinnamon, Chinese dates, and ginger to help with cold and flu symptoms.
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Reading Just One Article Had An Impact
The way media frame, depict and describe events can have a profound influence on the publics perception of those events. Researchers have found that audiences are prone to interpret media stories in the context of their biases, especially in relation to racial groups.
My colleagues Lanier Frush Holt, Sophie Kjærvikand I found that simply reading one media article calling the coronavirus the Chinese virus made people more likely to blame China for the pandemic.
We randomly split a diverse sample of 614 American adults into two groups. One read a fabricated news article that labeled the coronavirus as the Chinese virus. The other read an identical article except for labeling the coronavirus as the COVID-19 virus.
There were important differences in how the articles were perceived. For instance, Democrats and more liberal individuals judged the Chinese virus article much more negatively than did Republicans and more conservative individuals. But overall, we found that participants who read the Chinese virus article were 8.5% more likely to agree with the statement China is responsible for the current global pandemic than were those who read the COVID-19 virus article.
Stocks Open Higher Shaking Off Rising Coronavirus Cases
9:35 a.m. ET U.S. stocks opened higher even as U.S. coronavirus cases continued to surge, reports CNBC’s Fred Imbert and Thomas Franck. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 200 points at the opening bell, a gain of about 0.8%. The S& P 500 added 0.3% while the Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.1%. Melodie Warner
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China Flu Outbreak: Mystery Pneumonia Illness Symptoms Causes
Monitoring Desk
Theres alarm in central China where a mysterious outbreak of pneumonia has been linked to a new coronavirus a family of bugs responsible for diseases that range in severity from the common cold to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, or SARS. Because some of the patients worked or shopped at a seafood market where live animals and wildlife parts were also reportedly sold, there was concern that the pathogen might have come from animals, as SARS probably did reviving memories of the epidemic that killed almost 800 people about 17 years ago. But health officials say there are significant differences.
1. Whats the worry?
The outbreak in Wuhan, a city of 11 million, appears severe. Dozens of people have been hospitalized since mid-December a handful in serious condition. Fatalities have been reported. Cases have been confirmed in Thailand and Japan involving travelers arriving from China. On the other hand, many patients in Wuhan have recovered and been discharged and there havent been any cases of health-care workers becoming infected, which supports early findings that the disease probably isnt being transmitted from person to person. That reduces the potential of it spawning an outbreak like SARS, which began in China and swept across the globe, infecting thousands of people.
2. What are the symptoms?
3. Whats the cause?
4. How are people being infected?
5. Whats a coronavirus?
6. Why does it take so long to identify?
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Origin And Outbreak In China
The first cases were reported in Guizhou of southern China, in 1956 or in early 1957. They were soon reported in the neighbouring province of Yunnan in late February or early March 1957. By the middle of March, the flu had spread all over China.
The People’s Republic of China was not a member of the World Health Organization at the time , and did not inform other countries about the outbreak. The United States CDC, however, states that the flu was “first reported in Singapore in February 1957″.
In late 1957, a second wave of the flu took place in Northern China, especially in rural areas. In the same year, as response to the epidemic, the Chinese government established the Chinese National Influenza Center, which soon published a manual on influenza in 1958.
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Us Has Too Much Spread To Contain The Outbreak Cdc Official Says
5:02 p.m. ET The U.S. is reporting too many new infections every day for the country to wrestle its outbreak under control, according to Dr. Anne Schuchat, principal deputy director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
While many other countries in Europe and Asia have managed to bring their levels of daily infection down to a point at which health officials can corner off and contain pockets of the virus, Schuchat said the U.S. is not at that point.
“We’re not in the situation of New Zealand or Singapore or Korea where a new case is rapidly identified and all the contacts are traced and people are isolated who are sick and people who are exposed are quarantined and they can keep things under control,” she said in an interview with The Journal of the American Medical Association’s Dr. Howard Bauchner. “We have way too much virus across the country for that right now, so it’s very discouraging.” Will Feuer
Shoppers Getting Back To Splurging On Themselves Npd Group Says
10:21 a.m. ET New data from the consumer tracking firm NPD Group point to shoppers in the U.S. getting back to shopping for items for themselves, not solely necessities, in search of enjoyment during the coronavirus pandemic.
The categories for kids apparel, underwear, sleepwear and shorts were all up year-over-year in May, according to the firm, and swimwear was growing week-over-week into early June.
“Right now, retail is reflecting the consumer’s need for normalcy in a sea of change,” NPD’s chief advisor Marshal Cohen said. “Purchases are becoming less about making our extended time at home more pleasant, and more about finding ways to enjoy ‘getting out’ and once again expressing yourself as an individual in public.”
More than two-thirds of consumers said they would be comfortable with shopping in a store once stay-at-home restrictions eased, according to a poll taken in May by NPD. Malls in New Jersey are reopening Monday. In-store retail in New York is also finally back open. Lauren Thomas
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Or directly from the Wuhan lab
The flu shot: when is it safe to get it after having COVID?After nearly two years with virtually no influenza, many people have little immunity to the virus. So, when should you get your flu shot? | SamanthaSMorris covid19 SamanthaSMorris Dont ask questions, just follow orders or you too will get blocked. SamanthaSMorris We can eradicate most bad bacteria and viruses. I call them complex molecules. Then take pro biotics which contribute to the immune system.
The flu shot: when is it safe to get it after having COVID?After nearly two years with virtually no influenza, many people have little immunity to the virus. So, when should you get your flu shot? | SamanthaSMorris covid19 SamanthaSMorris Dont ask questions, just follow orders or you too will get blocked. SamanthaSMorris We can eradicate most bad bacteria and viruses. I call them complex molecules. Then take pro biotics which contribute to the immune system.
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Burger King’s Us Same
8:32 a.m. ET Restaurant Brands International said that U.S. same-store sales of Burger King are trending flat, the latest sign that the fast-food industry is recovering from the pandemic.
Even with many of its North American dining rooms closed or offering only reduced seating, Burger King is seeing customers come back and order through its drive-thru lanes. The burger chain also recently launched nationwide a meatless breakfast sandwich made with Impossible Foods’ sausage to jolt its breakfast sales.
Burger King’s sister chain Tim Hortons saw same-store declines in the negative high teens as of last week, marking a sequential improvement from May. Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen saw its U.S. same-store sales rise by the “very high 20s.” Amelia Lucas
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S The Supreme Court Takes To Reach A Decision
The Chinese Labor Corps was originally transported around Africa or by way of the Suez Canal, but as resources were diverted to troop transports, the British needed an alternative route to Europe. Canada gave its assent for the Chinese laborers to land in Vancouver, travel across the country by train and depart for Europe from the Atlantic port of Halifax. However, with nativist feelings running high in wartime Canada and fears that the Chinese laborers might attempt to escape inside their country, Canadian authorities kept the operation secret, banning coverage of it in the press and placing special army guards inside sealed train cars with the Chinese workers and stationing them at camps encased in barbed wire.
Humphries found medical records indicating that more than 3,000 of the 25,000 Chinese Labor Corps workers transported across Canada beginning in 1917 ended up in medical quarantine, many with flu-like symptoms. The influenza ripped through the Canadian guards and soon took root in North America. Ethnocentric fearsboth official and popularfacilitated its spread along military pathways that had been carved out across the globe to sustain the war effort on the Western Front, Humphries write.
The mystery of the origins of the Spanish flu, is not totally solved, however. Only DNA testing of samples from these earlier outbreaks can truly confirm or deny the theory, Humphries acknowledges.
Exploiting The Culture Of Political Correctness With The Help Of Popular Culture
Since the end of the 20th century, there has been a rapid change regarding the criteria for the ascription of authenticity. In many media formats, fiction frames and reality frames get blended. Documentaries resemble fiction films and, conversely, fiction films appear to be documentaries. The success of the film Blair Witch Project anticipates this development. In the same year, the show Big Brother initiates reality TV in Netherlands. Countless formats follow whose success is based primarily on the assumption that they show real emotions and not enacted ones, as even method acting has become identifiable as acting, that it is not convincingly authentic anymore. Once the acting of everyday life people has been unmasked as acting either, however, this propels the development of new ascription criteria. At first, a person might appear authentic when violating conventionalized norms. Then, someone might be considered authentic when following these norms, as this may seem to be a genuine expression of this persons personal inclinations. The change of criteria for the ascription of authenticity may help to understand how a former actor became the president of the United States in 1981 and a reality TV star in 2017.
FIGURE 5. Kung flu as Part of a Product Label.
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China Confirms World’s First Human Case Of H10n3 Bird Flu But Says It’s Highly Unlikely To Spread Widely Among People
China reported the world’s first human infection of the H10N3 bird flu strain on Tuesday but said the risk of it spreading widely among people was low.
A 41-year-old man was admitted to a hospital with fever symptoms in the eastern city of Zhenjiang on April 28 and was diagnosed with H10N3 a month later, China’s National Health Commission said in an online statement.
“The risk of large-scale spread is extremely low,” the NHC said, adding that the man was in a stable condition and his close contacts had reported no “abnormalities.”
No information was provided about ho the man contracted the illness.
It described H10N3 as low pathogenic less likely to cause death or severe illness in birds.
The NHC said there had been no human cases of H10N3 previously reported in the world.
Several strains of bird flu have been found among animals in China but mass outbreaks in humans are rare.
The last human epidemic of bird flu in China occurred in late 2016 to 2017, with the H7N9 virus. The H7N9 has infected 1,668 people and claimed 616 lives since 2013, according to the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization.
Following recent avian flu outbreaks in Africa and Eurasia, the head of China’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention last week urged stricter surveillance in poultry farms, markets and wild birds.
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