Evolving: Deadly H7N9 virus develops drug-resistance to Tamiflu

 

With new H7N9 cases waning, the worst thing humans can do right now is let their guard down about the potential dangers of this deadly new virus. The microbe is always mutating and evolving, as a virulent living force of nature and natural selection.

May 20, 2013 – TAIPEI, Taiwan - The only H7N9 patient so far in Taiwan was carrying two strains of the same virus, with one being drug resistant and the other not, making it tricky to treat to him, doctors said. Huang Li-min, a doctor from National Taiwan University Hospital (NTUH), explained that it was possible the avian flu virus was not drug resistant when the patient was first infected, but mutated later to become resistant to Tamiflu. With Tamiflu failing, NTUH later switched to another intravenous drug, Huang said. Because of the presence of the two strains simultaneously, it was difficult for doctors to determine how much the virus’ drug resistance had undermined the therapy Chou Chi-hao, deputy director-general of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), said it is natural for viruses to mutate, saying the H1N1 flu strain mutated after infecting human beings. But Huang said H7N9 has limited chances of human-to-human transmission through respiratory secretions because the virus has difficulty surviving the environments of human upper respiratory systems. Patients do not have symptoms of a runny nose or sneezing. The patient, surnamed Lee, got sick on April 12, three days after returning from a business trip in China. His condition was initially critical, but has improved much. He has already been transferred from the intensive care unit to an ordinary ward at NTUH. The findings by the NTUH and CDC about H7N9 are to be published in a local medical journal next month. Resistance is of concern in the scenario of an influenza pandemic (Wong and Yuen 2005), and may be more likely to develop in avian influenza than seasonal influenza due to the potentially longer duration of infection by novel viruses. –Your Health, Wikipedia

Coronavirus in the U.S? – AvianFluTalk.com, an online discussion forum created in 2005 to track the potential threat of an avian flu pandemic, has been the venue for a serious discussion regarding the new SARS-like coronavirus infecting patients at a New York Hospital leaving several in critical condition and resulting in 3 deaths. The new SARS-like coronavirus recently emerged in the Middle East infecting 41 total worldwide resulting in 20 deaths and is primarily spread by limited human-to-human transmission. Experts fear that the virus’ early ability to transmit among humans could spark a global pandemic should the virus mutate further and achieve sustained human transmission. Nurses working at a St. Luke’s hospital in New York have claimed that there are several cases of the new SARS-like virus in the hospital’s ICU, which have gone misdiagnosed and that are in fact the new deadly virus. A nurse who works at the hospital believes there is a potential outbreak of this new SARS-like virus and she too has now been hospitalized with flu-like symptoms. Although hospital administrators have made no comment about this matter, posters on the online message board at avianflutalk.com have indicated through research that it is influenza B. The nurses are disputing that claim stating that in fact the new coronavirus is the culprit. The nurses feel that they have an obligation to speak-out about their suspicions in this matter. –Market Wire

Quiet tornado season unwinds with rampage: 22 tornadoes rip through Kansas and Nebraska

May 20, 2013 – KANSAS – Tornadoes touched down in three states on Sunday, ripping roofs off homes and turning trees to matchsticks, as severe weather swept the region. A large “violent and extremely dangerous” tornado was spotted on the southwest side of Wichita, Kansas, the National Weather Service said. A second confirmed tornado was seen near Edmond, Oklahoma, said the weather service. Another tornado was spotted in nearby Luther, Oklahoma, but it was not immediately clear whether that was the same twister. A third tornado touched down near Wellston, Oklahoma, taking out power lines and damaging several homes, according to video from CNN affiliate KFOR. The affiliate’s helicopter pilot estimated the funnel cloud to be about a half-mile wide. “It’s tearing up everything,” the pilot said. “Just ripping everything up in its sight.” Aerial video from KFOR and CNN affiliate KOCO showed severe damage near Wellston and near Carney, Oklahoma. Roofs were ripped from homes, branches stripped from trees and roads were filled with debris. Tornadoes were also reported east of Dale, west of Paden, and near Prague in Oklahoma. Part of Interstate 40 in Shawnee, Oklahoma, was shut down in both directions Sunday night after a tornado touched down, overturning multiple tractor-trailers. Still more tornadoes were spotted in Iowa, near Earlham, Huxley and east of Dallas Center, according to the weather service. It did not mince words, telling people to take cover there, as elsewhere. “You could be killed if not underground or in a tornado shelter. Complete destruction of neighborhoods, businesses and vehicles will occur. Flying debris will be deadly to people and animals,” it said in its Kansas advisory. Incredibly, given the severe nature of the weather, there have been no immediate reports of injuries or death, said Randy Duncan, director of emergency management in Sedgwick County, where Wichita is located. “I’m very pleased to say there are no fatalities or injuries … and actually only relatively minor reports of property damage,” he told CNN. “Overall, I would say we escaped relatively unscathed.” The twisters are part of a severe weather outbreak that is sweeping through parts of Kansas, Oklahoma, Iowa and Missouri as the storms sweep east. Baseball-sized hail, wind gusts and tornadoes are threatening to pummel parts of the central Plains and Midwest through Monday. Beyond the Midwest, other areas were already seeing severe weather on Sunday. In Atlanta, serious flooding was reported amid storms producing heavy rainfall. –CNN

Israeli-Syrian powder keg is about to explode: Syria points surface-to-surface missiles towards Tel Aviv

Sunday Times says Assad regime puts advanced surface-to-surface Tishreen missiles on standby with orders to hit Tel Aviv should Israel launch another airstrike. Expert: Missiles ‘extremely accurate’ and can cause ‘serious harm.’

May 20, 2013 – ISRAEL – Syria has put its most advanced missiles on standby with orders to hit Tel Aviv if Israel launches another strike on its territory, The Sunday Times reported overnight Sunday. According to the British newspaper, reconnaissance satellites have been monitoring preparations by the Syrian army to deploy surface-to-surface Tishreen missiles. The Sunday Times said the deployment of the Syrian-made Tishreen missiles, each of which can carry a half-ton payload, marks a significant escalation of tension “in a region in which the United States and Russia appear to be preparing for a Cold War-style stand-off.” Uzi Rubin, Israel’s leading missile expert, told the newspaper that the Tishreen missiles are “extremely accurate and can cause serious harm. Even if they don’t hit Ben-Gurion (Airport) directly, they would halt all commercial flights out of the country,” he said. An Israeli official told The New York Times last week that Israel, which has reportedly launched three attacks on Syria recently and destroyed advanced anti-aircraft and surface-to-surface missiles that were designated for Hezbollah, was considering additional strikes and warned President Assad that his regime would face “crippling consequences” if he hit back at Israel. In a rare interview on Saturday, Assad told Argentine newspaper Clarin that Israel was supporting the Syrian opposition, which he dubbed terrorists. “Israel is directly supporting the terrorist groups in two ways, firstly it gives them logistical support and it also tells them what sites to attack and how to attack them. For example, they attacked a radar station that is part of our anti-aircraft defenses, which can detect any plane coming from overseas, especially from Israel,”the Syrian president said. The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that Russia is continuing to arm Assad’s regime and has sent a dozen or more warships to patrol waters near its naval base in Syria, a move that American and European officials have called aggressive, saying it was designed to warn the West and Israel not to intervene in the country’s civil war. Also on Friday, the New York Times reported that Russia has transferred to Syria advanced anti-ship cruise missiles, which threaten Israeli Navy vessels and the Jewish states gas fields located up to 300 kilometers (186 miles) from the coast. According to the report, Russia has previously provided a version of the missiles, called Yakhonts, to Syria. But those delivered recently are outfitted with an advanced radar that makes them more effective. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow’s weapons sales would “not in any way alter the balance of forces in this region or give any advantage in the fight against the opposition.” –YNET News

Tension mounting on Pacific Plate: region of Kamchatka rocked by scores of earthquakes

May 20, 2013 – KAMCHATKA – A massive earthquake swarm has occurred in the region of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy, Russia. More than 20 earthquakes have struck the region in the last 22 hours- the strongest of which was a 5.9 magnitude earthquake, which rattled the seafloor at a depth of 16.5 km deep. The latest seismic flare-up along this region reflects growing agitation on one of the planet’s largest tectonic plates- the Pacific plate. Increasing seismic volatility along this region of Kamchatka could have serious ramifications for every tectonic plate that comes into contact with the Pacific plate- from the South Pacific to South America. A similar, more intense earthquake swarm occurred along the periphery of the Pacific Plate near the Santa Cruz Islands in February of this year. Is the Pacific plate on the verge of a large-scale change?

The geology of the region: The Kuril-Kamchatka arc extends approximately 2,100 km from Hokkaido, Japan, along the Kuril Islands and the Pacific coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula to its intersection with the Aleutian arc near the Commander Islands, Russia. It marks the region where the Pacific plate subducts into the mantle beneath the Okhotsk micro-plate, part of the larger North American plate. This subduction is responsible for the generation of the Kuril Islands chain, active volcanoes located along the entire arc, and the deep offshore Kuril-Kamchatka trench. Relative to a fixed North America plate, the Pacific plate is moving towards the northwest at a rate that increases from 75 mm/year near the northern end of the arc to 83 mm/year in the south. Plate motion is predominantly convergent along the Kuril-Kamchatka arc with obliquity increasing towards the southern section of the arc. The subducting Pacific plate is relatively old, particularly adjacent to Kamchatka where its age is greater than 100 Ma. Consequently, the Wadati-Benioff zone is well defined to depths of approximately 650 km. The central section of the arc is comprised of an oceanic island arc system, which differs from the continental arc systems of the northern and southern sections. Oblique convergence in the southern Kuril arc results in the partitioning of stresses into both trench-normal thrust earthquakes and trench-parallel strike-slip earthquakes, and the westward translation of the Kuril forearc. This westward migration of the Kuril forearc currently results in collision between the Kuril arc in the north and the Japan arc in the south, resulting in the deformation and uplift of the Hidaka Mountains in central Hokkaido. The Kuril-Kamchatka arc is considered one of the most seismically active regions in the world. Deformation of the overriding North America plate generates shallow crustal earthquakes, whereas slip at the subduction zone interface between the Pacific and North America plates generates interplate earthquakes that extend from near the base of the trench to depths of 40 to 60 km. At greater depths, Kuril-Kamchatka arc earthquakes occur within the subducting Pacific plate and can reach depths of approximately 650 km. -USGS

Alaska’s Pavlof Volcano ejects lava hundreds of feet into the air

May 19, 2013 – ANCHORAGE - Alaska’s remote Pavlof Volcano has been shooting lava hundreds of feet into the air, but its ash plume is thinning and is no longer making it dangerous for airplanes to fly nearby. Geologist Chris Waythomas of the Alaska Volcano Observatory says a narrow ash plume extends a couple hundred miles southeast from the volcano, which is 625 miles southwest of Anchorage. The eruption that began Monday seemed to be slowing on Saturday, but Waythomas says that could change at any time. He says seismic tremors from the 8,262-foot volcano have been going up and down, but remain at a fairly high level. Scientists are not expecting the eruption to end anytime soon but so far it has not been explosive. There are mud flows racing down the summit, but no one lives close enough to the volcano to be threatened. –ABC News

Mexican villagers locked out of shelter, as Popocatépetl volcano erupts

May 18, 2013 – MEXICO – FOR the villagers closest to Popocatepetl, a Mexican volcano showing alarming signs of an imminent eruption, contingency plans are somewhat lacking. The village president has no telephone line, there is no doctor and the man with the key to the emergency refuge, a disgraced former mayor, has fled town. El Popo, as the 17,887 ft volcano is known, burst into life a fortnight ago, spewing clouds of ash and chunks of rock over nearby towns during eruptions that have grown in intensity. It is potentially one of the world’s most destructive volcanoes because of its proximity to Mexico City, just 40 miles away, and the Mexican authorities have been preparing evacuation routes and shelters. But the residents of Santiago Xalitzintla, a poor farming village seven miles from the crater, remain locked out of their shelter. “We will use a human key,” said Soledad de Garcia, the village president’s pregnant wife. “A child small enough to squeeze through the bars of the window but strong enough to jump down into the room and open the door from the inside.” Even if the brave youngster succeeds, the 2,000 residents face further problems. For one thing, the stone-walled shack has room for only 400 people. For another, its tin roof is unlikely to withstand cascading chunks of molten rock. Michael Sheridan, an American volcanologist who observed eruptions in 1994 and 2000, said: “When I started, the crater was very deep and the explosions weren’t powerful enough to send heavy material outside. The kind of explosions we’re seeing now are very capable of shooting that stuff out. It could cause rocks to rain down for miles around or, in a worst-case scenario, huge destructive mudflows.” Popocatepetl’s last massive eruption was 1,100 years ago when it wiped out the city of Puebla, 24 miles away. “It’s a long time since it’s been this intense; a serious eruption is a possibility,” said Sheridan. “There would be definite warning signs like earthquakes if it was going to get extremely bad, but the damage could block highways, close bridges, shut down hospitals, making escape very difficult.” In Santiago Xalitzintla there are few signs of fear. Idulia Castro, a 60-year-old shopkeeper, said: “We’ve got used to the roar of the volcano. There’s nothing you can do.” If ordered to leave, they will stay put rather than be forced out by soldiers, the villagers said. Jose Agustin, 72, a council worker, said: “They want to get their hands on our land and our animals. We’re more afraid of the army than El Popo.” Last week Martin Hernandez, 53, a farmer, climbed to within two miles of the crater to check his crops. The previous day an explosion had covered 26 surrounding towns with ash. On his way back, Popocatepetl began hurling lava at him. “After a couple of hours, it went out,” he said matter-of-factly. –The Sunday Times

Shallow 4.8 magnitude earthquake strikes in Yellow Sea off the coast of North Korea

May 18, 2013 – NORTH KOREA – A 4.8 magnitude earthquake struck in the Yellow Sea, 76km WSW of Ongjin, North Korea. The earthquake struck under the sea at a depth of 13.50 km (8.39 mi). Many residents, living along coastal regions in South Korea, reported they felt the shaking inland. -TEP