Category Archives: Americas

USA: North Carolina measles outbreak involves 19 cases

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Pub­lic health offi­cials in North Car­olina are inves­ti­gat­ing 19 con­firmed cases of measles there since mid-April, accord­ing to the state’s Depart­ment of Health and Human Ser­vices (DHHS) on 30 April 2013. The cases so far have occurred in Stokes, Orange, and Polk coun­ties, and more than 1,000 peo­ple have been noti­fied of pos­si­ble expo­sure in these as well as Forsyth, Guil­ford, and Chatham coun­ties. Most of the cases to date have been in peo­ple vis­it­ing Prab­hu­pada Vil­lage, a rural Hare Krishna com­mu­nity in Stokes County; addi­tion­ally, two case-patients attended the Shakori Hills Grass­roots Fes­ti­val in Chatham County while they were infec­tious. Most infec­tions have occurred in unvac­ci­nated peo­ple. State health offi­cials are remind­ing peo­ple of the impor­tance of vac­ci­na­tion, even if they have already been exposed, and are rec­om­mend­ing that unvac­ci­nated indi­vid­u­als stay away from Prab­hu­pada Vil­lage and any other highly pop­u­lated areas in Stokes County until the out­break is over.

(CIDRAP 5/1/2013)

 

Mexico: New H7N3 influenza outbreaks destroy almost 900,000 poultry

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Five out­breaks of H7N3 avian flu in poul­try in Mexico’s Jalisco, Gua­na­ju­ato, and Puebla states have killed 40,010 birds and led to the culling of 850,005 oth­ers, the World Orga­ni­za­tion for Ani­mal Health (OIE) reported 8 May 2013. Two of the out­breaks were in Jalisco, includ­ing one that began 1 March 2013 in a 16-bird back­yard flock and one that affected 320,000 birds from 29 April to 2 May 2013 on a com­mer­cial layer farm. Two out­breaks in early April 2013 were con­firmed in Gua­na­ju­ato, one in a heavy breeder flock and one on a fat­ten­ing farm. On one farm 319,398 birds were culled, and on the other 100,601 birds were culled to pre­vent dis­ease spread. The final out­break, in Puebla, began 1 May 2013 and was resolved 7 May 2013. It involved by far the most poul­try killed by the virus, 40,000, with 110,000 addi­tional birds culled. All told, 890,015 poul­try died in the five out­breaks and culls. In April 2013, Mex­i­can author­i­ties said that recent H7N3 out­breaks had destroyed almost four mil­lion poul­try and cost farm­ers about $32 million.

(CIDRAP 5/8/2013)

Mexico: H7N3 influenza outbreaks, culling have killed almost four million poultry

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Out­breaks of H7N3 avian flu between 25 March and 1 April 2013 have led to almost four mil­lion poul­try deaths in Gua­na­ju­ato and Jalisco states, reported on 1 April 2013. Offi­cial fig­ures indi­cate that 1,984,000 broil­ers, 847,000 breed­ers, and 918,221 lay­ing hens have died, for a total of 3,749,221, on 52 farms and in four back­yard flocks. In addi­tion, more than 131 mil­lion vac­cine doses have been admin­is­tered to flocks in Jalisco, Aguas­calientes, and Gua­na­ju­ato states, as well as in nine addi­tional “fed­eral enti­ties”. So far, 117 of 158 farms in Gua­na­ju­ato have already been inspected by offi­cials, and H7N3 was found on 25 of them, as well as in two of 195 back­yard flocks. In Jalisco, 27 of 535 farms and two of 135 back­yard flocks tested pos­i­tive. The out­breaks have cost farm­ers $32 mil­lion. Mex­ico culled about 3.8 mil­lion birds in 2012 to help pre­vent dis­ease spread after mul­ti­ple H7N3 out­breaks in Jalisco.

(CIDRAP 4/2/2013)