where is the flu going next and when is the WHO going to release the sequencing?

1. 1 million infected

Ukraine's epidemic of flu and acute respiratory disorders has now affected more than a million people, the country's deputy health minister said on Tuesday.

Vasyl Lazoryshynets said the death toll from the epidemic had risen to 174, as President Viktor Yushchenko warned the country must brace itself for a second wave of infections.

...A World Health Organisation (WHO) team in Ukraine said on Monday the epidemic had slowed, but warned a second wave was likely.


...Washington (AFP) Nov 10, 2009 - Swine flu is causing "an American emergency" as employees who lack paid sick leave go to work despite being ill and spread the disease, US lawmakers were told Tuesday.

read more @ terra daily



2. timeline on WHO silence on Ukraine H1N1 sequences

"There are a lot of unknowns," he said. The crew of experts will collect samples from patients and send them to the WHO's influenza collaborating center in London for diagnosis. The WHO may have more information on Nov. 4, Hartl said.

The above comments were made on Oct 30. The WHO update of the next day indicated that H1N1 had already been confirmed in two labs in Kyviv and samples were being sent to a WHO collaborating center, Mill Hill. Since H1N1 had already been lab confirmed twice, and multiple reports of symptoms of fatal cases left little doubt that the patients had died from hemorrhagic pneumonia, the main unknown question was the sequence of the H1N1. Thus, it seemed likely that comments on sequences would be made on Nov 4.

...This morning a clinical description of 90 fatal cases again supported hemorrhagic pneumonia, which once again raised concern about genetic changes.

However, there has only been silence on the sequences and they have not been made public. These delays suggest significant changes have been found, and these changes are undergoing further analysis, such as receptor binding testing.

An update on the sequences is long overdue.

read more @ recombinomics



from today:

The number of cases and fatalities is unusually high, and has raised concerns about the sequences of the H1N1 circulating in Ukraine. Although earlier announcements from WHO indicated details on the sequences would be forthcoming, such information has been delayed. The recent release of H1N1 sequences from fatal cases in Sau Paulo, Brazil with receptor binding domain changes at position 225 (D225N and D225G) have raised concerns that similar changes will be present in the Ukraine sequences, leading to more virulence resulting in the hemorrhagic pneumonia described in fatal cases when both lungs were destroyed. Although such cases have been reported previously, the number of such cases in Ukraine was unusually high.

The sequences at Mill Hill should be released immediately.


read more @ recombinomics




3. Ukraine map

source: click through for large version or click on map to enlarge, notice where Lviv -- western Ukraine













4. Benny Steinmetz buys Canadian gold co stake

Benny Steinmetz-owned BSG Group Ltd. unit BSG Capital Markets PCC Ltd. has acquired 30 million units in Canadian mining concern Gabriel Resources Ltd. (TSX: GBU), amounting to 9% of its share capital, for $67.5 million, through a private placement. Each unit comprises one share and one warrant.

If BSG exercises all the warrants, it will increase its stake in Gabriel Resources to 16%.

Gabriel Resources is developing a gold mine in Romania through its Rosia Montana project, in which it owns 80.2%. The company has been hampered by environmental protection authorities worried about the impact of the mining on local communities. BSG's investment will help the company develop the mine, and with other financial expenditures.

The Rosia Montana mine is estimated to have some of the largest gold reserves in the world, capable of producing 510,000 ounces a year. Steinmetz's investment comes as the price of gold soared to $1,114 per ounce on Wall Street yesterday. Some analysts believe that the price will climb still higher.

source: http://www.globes.co.il/serveen/globes/docview.asp?did=1000513329&fid=1725


5. the CDC and the WHO march forward with further manipulation of the data

...Various media outlets have confronted the WHO about their sweeping assumptions on the Ukraine pneumonic plague. Despite huge differences in transmission and death rates, the agency stated that it was valid to assume that most of the cases of influenza that have infected over one million people in the Ukraine were caused by the H1N1 swine flu virus.

Although the number of infections in Belarus (now one quarter million) are increasing at a rate which mimics the Ukraine plague, announcements of sequencing data on the viral strain are still being delayed by the WHO, raising concerns of a covert operation to withhold critical information that should be made public.

Media and agency reports are purposely confusing the issue in Ukraine and Belarus by reporting influenza cases based on symptoms and generalizing numbers based on faulty H1N1 swine flu data rather than lab confirmed cases which are a very small fraction of all cases being reported. Consequently, the deaths in the Ukraine and Belarus are actually much higher than what their governments and the WHO are publicly announcing.

read more @ prevent disease