Details:

Corporate Authors:
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U.S.)
Description:
Monday, April 28, 2003, 17:43 EDT (5:43 PMEDT)

CDCHAN-00138-03-04-28-UPD-N

The Netherlands has been reporting outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza A (H7N7) among poultry on several farms since the end of February 2003. More recently cases of H7N7 infection have been reported among pigs and humans in the Netherlands, and among birds in Belgium.

As of April 25, 2003, the National Influenza C enter in the Netherlands reported that 83 confirmed cases of human H7N7 influenza virus infection had occurred among poultry workers and their families since late February 2003. Most of the infected persons had clinical signs of conjunctivitis, and some had mild influenza-like illness. However, one individual, a 57-year-old veterinarian who visited one of the affected farms in early April, died on April 17 of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and related complications fromH7N7 infection. Dutch authorities also have reported evidence of possible transmission of H7N7 influenza from2 poultry workers to 3 family members who developed mild illness. Additional information is available on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website at http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/diseases/flu/H 7N 7facs.htm.

This is the second reported occurrence of human infection with avian influenza viruses since early February 2003, when 2 human cases of influenza A (H5N1) infection were confirmed in a single family of Hong Kong residents who had recently traveled to Fujian Province on mainland China. Both patients were hospitalized and one died. A third family member died while in China, but testing was not done to determine the cause of her death. There is currently insufficient information to determine whether this family was infected from a common source or whether illness spread within the family from person to person.

Both influenza A (H5N1) and influenza A (H7N7) are influenza viruses that have not circulated widely among people in the past; therefore, the general population has little or no immunity to the viruses. When a novel influenza virus infects a person, the situation is monitored closely because of the potential for an influenza pandemic in the event that the virus causes illness and is able to spread efficiently from person to person. Three influenza pandemics occurred in the 20th century, the most devastating of which was the pandemic of 1918-19, during which more than 550,000 people in the United States died of influenza-related complications.

In response to the 2 human cases of H5N1 in February 2003, CDC issued recommendations for enhanced influenza surveillance for state health departments (http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/diseases/flu/hanH 5N 1.htm). The purpose of these recommendations is to enhance the capacity to rapidly identify an importation of a novel strain of influenza A virus into the United States, while minimizing the disruption of existing public health response capacity. The surveillance enhancements are structured to occur in a stepwise fashion based on the evolution of the influenza activity associated with the novel virus.


Subject:
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Influenza, Human/epidemiology
Influenza A Virus, H7N7 Subtype
Population Surveillance

Series:
HAN ; 138
Document Type:
HAN Health Update
Place as Subject:
Netherlands ; United States
Netherlands ; United States Less -
Collection(s):
Health Alert Network (HAN)
Main Document Checksum:
[+]
urn:sha256:61e74a53e7eebcaa2502bad24b87b4143ebfe3706165c4c399d81ca626136e26
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