22 January 1998 - UPDATE (for today, aus.general & nz.general added)
xenotransplant uproar? /Hong Kong birds&cows /AUSTRALIA flu vaccine /KENYA
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UNITED STATES - A call for a moratorium on xenotransplants, transplanting
animal organs into humans, was published Wed. in NATURE MEDICINE. Written
by a group of scientists, who fear the practice may cause an epidemic, it
has caused some controversy.
Want the scoop? For a researched in-depth look at xenotransplantation,
and its history, I direct you to an article authored by myself and posted
publicly on Usenet exactly one month ago. It can now be found at:
ftp.primenet.com/users/p/ptp
Once there, click on the last file, entitled: xenotransplant.pandemic
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HONG KONG - Although a firm date has yet to be announced by both the
Beijing and Hong Kong governments, quarantine officials in China are
preparing to resume chicken exports to Hong Kong shortly, just days short
of a month since the 'bird flu' outbreak caused the Hong Kong government
to ban it.
A spokesman told Reuters the Health Department had not heard of any new
cases of influenza A/H5N1 since the slaughter of 1.4 million chickens
last month.
In other news, 111 hospital patients here were injected with a fluid,
given before lung and stomach scans, now suspected to have been
contaminated with a human variant of "mad cow" disease, hospital
authorities told Reuters yesterday.
This suspected contamination came to light only after a patient in
Britain, who was also injected with this fluid, died of the brain-wasting
Creutzfeldt-Jacob Disease (CJD).
About one-third of the former patients in Hong Kong have been called
back for tests and counseling, and the Hospital Authority deputy director
played down their chances of contracting CJD.
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AUSTRALIA - The Australian Influenza Vaccine Committee, meeting each
September and taking WHO's recommendations from the preceding February
into consideration in light of more recent developments, has released its
formulation to combat the Southern Hemisphere's influenza season, which
will peak in June - September.
Ideally, vaccination should take place in March - April.
The influenza vaccine formulation for the 1998 Australian winter, also
adopted by New Zealand and South Africa, is... (drum roll, please)...
A/Bayern -like
A/Sydney -like
B/Beijing -like
As many Americans are now learning, as A/Sydney spreads in the US, a
few months time can make all the difference.
(formulation info via Pacific Public Health Surveillance Network)
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KENYA / SOMALIA - There is concern that Rift Valley fever may be
spreading, via exported livestock, to areas in Ethiopia, Tanzania and, if
eventually exported through the port of Berbera, Saudi Arabia.
Sheep, goats, cattle and camel are exported through this port.
The potential is certainly there, but right now these are just concerns
being voiced via medical channels, NOT a confirmed occurrence.
D.U. will keep you updated on any developments, if they come to pass.
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<end D.isease U.pdates, 22 Jan. 98>
