More On Namibian Mystery Virus! - Event Date: June 05 2006

Virus baffles officials

CHRISTOF MALETSKY

FIVE people have died and at least 17 others have been hospitalised as Namibia and the Geneva-based World Health Organisation (WHO) try to identify the mystery virus affecting people.

 

 

One of the 17 people, a pregnant mother, is on a ventilator in Windhoek Central Hospital's acute care unit, according to Dr Helen Kandi-Shiimi, Senior Medical Superintendent of that hospital.

The others were in a stable condition in Ward 5A yesterday.

On Friday, Health Deputy Minister Petrina Haingura called for calm and said the Government was in contact with WHO head office in Geneva as the wait for the results of stool, urine and blood specimens send to South Africa continued.

FIRST CASE NOTED IN MAY

Victims typically suffer from lower-limb weaknesses, acute paralysis, breathing difficulties, chest pain, cold and flu, neck stiffness, headache and dizziness.

"All patients are isolated and movement of visitors will be limited to avoid further potential spread of the illness to others," said Haingura.

The first case was reported on May 7 at the southern town of Aranos.

The person was still alive yesterday but remains on ventilator support.

The last patient admitted was on Thursday night, Kandi-Shiimi told The Namibian yesterday.

It was confirmed later yesterday that more people had been admitted to the Windhoek Central Hospital.

However, Maggy Nghatanga, Director of Primary Health Care, said they were unable to confirm the number of new cases.

She noted that they were working with municipalities where cases had been reported to conduct tests on water.

"Every possible action, in terms of investigation, is being taken," she added.

"We need to call in other countries for help when we have identified something but we are in touch with WHO and Geneva has been informed," Nghatanga said.

Haingura said patients were aged between 14 and 55 years.

They expect the results from South Africa by Wednesday.

The health officials said they were looking for anything to lay their hands on as they search for answers to the mystery.

Dr Flavia Mugala said it was critical to keep the patients alive while investigations on the disease continued.

Health Deputy Minister Haingura said special teams had been dispatched to affected communities to trace the origins of the disease.

She called on the nation to stay calm and to report sudden weaknesses immediately.

Deputy Permanent Secretary Simwansa Simenda ruled out the possibility that any of the patients had contracted the virus while travelling.

He said most had not travelled recently.

Apart from Aranos, cases have been reported in suburbs north of Katutura and at Otjiwarongo.

Initially, there were fears that they had contracted Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) - a disorder of the peripheral nervous system.

However, the Ministry of Health conducted tests which indicated that it was something else.

Polio was also ruled out.

Haingura said the Ministry of Health was mobilising the necessary financial, human, technical and material resources from inside and outside Namibia to address the situation.

Would be nice if Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie could get some publicity for H5N1 in Africa...  They are in Nambia now.

WorkinStiff wrote: I'm kind of new at this.....Do these symptoms, in Namibia sound like BF?????, Dr Niman?????

    There are a number of things that could cause some or all of these symptoms beside a potential pandemic virus -- organophosphate poisoning, rabies, botulism, polio, various mosquito-born encephalitises -- in the US, tick fever, dunno if they have that in Africa. Other things that I'm probably not thinking of. (Disclaimer, I'm not a medical professional. I have livestock & live in an area with a lot of backyard livestock. With the exception of polio, which is not an animal disease, I think I've seen examples of all of the above in animals over the last few years.)

My bet is polio. They said they tested negative for polio, but I can think of several political and socioeconomic reasons for an impoverished country to claim that it's not polio ...

Leva

Apparently is it polio.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060606/hl_afp/namibiahealthpolio_060606141207

Namibia: Mystery Disease Claims More Victims

New Era (Windhoek)

June 6, 2006
Posted to the web June 6, 2006

Wezi Tjaronda
Windhoek

The number of patients affected by the unknown viral infection that paralyses its victims has risen to 28.

But four patients that were thought to have the same disease have been taken off the list and one has been discharged, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Health and Social Service Dr Kalumbi Shangula said yesterday.

The disease, whose name the ministry will only confirm this Wednesday as it is waiting for laboratory results from South Africa, has now claimed six lives.

At a press briefing on Friday, the ministry said it was dealing with a very serious situation and hoped that the disease does not get out of hand.

Shangula said two patients are in the critical care units of the Katutura and Windhoek Central Hospitals - three in a critical condition, while the rest are stable.

The disease, which causes extreme weakness of the lower limbs in patients, was first reported in Aranos on May 7, with the second case reported in Windhoek around the same time.

So far, the disease has broken out in the Khomas, Hardap and Otjozondjupa Regions, with Katutura accounting for the majority of cases with ages ranging from 14 to 55.

The symptoms of the disease include acute paralysis of three regions with the following symptoms: lower limb weaknesses, paralysis, breathing difficulties, inability to walk, chest pains, cold and flu, neck stiffness, headache and dizziness.

Deputy Minister Petrina Haingura said on Friday local investigations by laboratories could not reach a final diagnosis as to what the country is dealing with, hence technical assistance has been sought from an accredited laboratory in South Africa.

If necessary, Namibia will also seek international support.

The first case from Aranos in the Hardap Region was reported on May 7 followed by one from Windhoek around the same time. Other areas where the patients come from are Ombili, Havana, One Nation, Babilon, Single Quarters, Central Katutura, Okahandja and Otjiwarongo.

Health officials said although the first reported patients were still alive, it remained difficult to collect more information to determine the source of the sickness while the patients were in a critical condition on life-support systems.

Actions taken so far by the ministry include isolating all patients and limiting the movements of visitors to avoid a further potential spreading of the illness. They were taking stool, urine and blood specimens of all the patients as well as testing their spinal fluid.

The municipality has also been roped in to test water and food to determine the cause of the disease.

The ministry has also conducted a polio immunisation campaign for Khomas and Hardap at the weekend because of the suspicion that the disease could be polio. The im-munisation campaign for the whole country is scheduled for June10.

The ministry has urged the nation to stay calm as the situation was receiving the highest attention from the government and the public should report any suspected cases with sudden weakness of the extremities to health facilities near them and to co-operate with the emergency health investigating teams in their areas.

Well, is it polio or not????

Polio cases in Namibia put S. Africa on high alert
       

South Africa's Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang said on Tuesday that her country has been on full alert following the confirmation of three polio cases in neighboring Namibia.
She was informed of suspected cases in Namibia last week, after which South Africa assisted its neighbor to conduct tests and confirmed three cases.
"I have offered our assistance to my counterpart in Namibia, and we have also strengthened our own efforts in this regard," the minister was quoted as telling the National Assembly in Cape Town by the SAPA news agency.
"We are on full alert, in particular the Northern Cape which borders on Namibia," she said.
Namibia's health ministry confirmed on Tuesday that seven people had died and 27 had fallen ill after an outbreak of polio, the first in the southern African country since 1995.
The first case was reported on May 7 at the southern town of Aranos while two others were reportedly picked up at Otjiwarongo and Okahandja, online edition of local newspaper The Namibian reported on Tuesday.
Victims typically suffer from lower-limb weaknesses, acute paralysis, breathing difficulties, chest pain, cold and flu, neck stiffness, headache and dizziness.
The Namibian health authorities later sent stool, urine and blood specimens to South Africa for tests.
A massive campaign to vaccinate all 2 million Namibians is expected. The Biovac Institute in South Africa has sent 1 million doses of the polio vaccine to Namibia, said the SAPA.
Source: Xinhua
http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200606/07/eng20060607_271625.html

Bozito wrote: So, you know, cut them some slack.  They do more than most celebrities.

Maybe so, but they are still turds.

To Bozito,

Don't be an idiot.  I'm pretty sure that you have opinions about people that others might disagree with.  Kind of like the opinion that you are probably forming of me. 

I never have to explain my opinions to you or anyone else.  Their money, success or fame have absolutely nothing to do with my opinion of them.  For all you know, I might be George Clooney.  I'm not, but you don't know who I am so don't imply that my opinion is based on such trivial things.

If you never use "vile names" when describing people that you don't like, more power to you.  I'm me and you are you.

Thanks for being such a special person though.

hi bozito and earwax .....im hillery clinton.....and im willing to take the heat from both of you to protect my celebraty freinds.....if you want to call me a turd then please do ...i dont usualy identfiy myself like this...the secret service goes out and buys antacid by the case when i do this... :)

Poliomyelitis in Namibia

7 June 2006

Thirty-four suspect cases with sudden paralysis are under investigation, mostly in the Windhoek area of Namibia, of which three have been confirmed as wild poliovirus. What is thought to be the first case is a 39-year old man with onset of paralysis on 8 May, later confirmed as infected with wild poliovirus type-1. The majority of suspect cases are over 20 years old; seven of the individuals have died.

National health authorities are planning a response to an outbreak of wild poliovirus in Namibia, polio-free since 1996. An investigation of the outbreak – which unusually appears to be affecting mostly adults – is currently under way. Genetic sequencing confirms that the virus is consistent with an importation from Angola, of Indian origin. Angola, polio-free since 2001, was re-infected last year by a virus from India.

The Government is planning an immunization response consisting of three National Immunization Days (NIDs), using monovalent oral polio vaccine type 1 (mOPV1). The first NID could be conducted as early as 21 June, and will aim to reach the entire population of the country (two million), rather than the usual under-five year population. The age of any further cases will dictate the target age groups for the two subsequent NIDs. An international team is in the country to assist the national authorities.

Namibia began routine immunization for polio in 1990. While the cause of the largely adult outbreak is yet to be determined, it is likely that those who fell ill did not receive immunization as children. Routine immunization coverage within Namibia today varies by region from 60% to 80%.

For more information

Global Polio Eradication Initiative