SECRETARIAT OF THE PACIFIC
COMMUNITY
Private Mail Bag, Suva, Fiji
Telephone: (679) 337 0733
Fax: (679) 338 6326 Or 337 0021
SECRÉTARIAT GÉNÉRAL DE
LA COMMUNAUTÉ du
PACIFIQUE
Private Mail Bag, Suva, Fidji
Téléphone: (679) 337 0733
Télécopieur:(679) 3386326
ANIMAL HEALTH Influenza A (H1N1) and (H5N1) Update 8 as of 19th May, 2009
PURPOSE : To inform bio-security and agriculture agency personnel of
developments regarding an outbreak of the new influenza A virus
(H1N1) in humans and its implications on animal health and trade.
BACKGROUND
A new strain of Influenza A (H1N1) virus affecting humans is steadily spreading to new
countries as summarised below. Secondary infection or community spread of the disease is
still occurring in a significant way in US and Mexico but not elsewhere in other infected
countries.
BREAKING NEWS

Global novel Influenza A (H1N1) surpasses 9,000 case mark (9830).

USA surpasses 5,000 case mark (5,123) with 5 deaths

Mexico surpasses 3,000 case mark ( 3648) with 72 deaths

USA recorded another two deaths since last update (12/5/09) .

Seven new countries recorded confirmed cases ( India, Turkey, Belgium, Ecuador,
Malaysia, Peru and Chile ) making a total of 40 countries have now reported
confirmed cases.

The novel H1N1 influenza A virus seems to be more contagious than seasonal flu, but
so far it appear to cause "very mild illness" in otherwise healthy people.

The secondary attack rate of seasonal influenza ranges from 5% to 15% whereas the
new Influenza A H1N1 virus range from 22% to 33%." (The secondary attack rate is
defined as the frequency of new cases of a disease among the contacts of known
cases.)

The World Health Organization warned against a false sense of security from waning
and apparently mild outbreaks of H1N1 flu, saying the worst may not be over.

The H1N1 virus strain causing the current outbreaks is said to be a new virus that has
not been seen previously in either humans or animals, however, there is no
confirmed conclusions from the experts yet.

Japan closed 4,043 schools and kindergartens Kobe and Osaka city areas to slow the
spread of swine flu which has infected 163 people(latest) in the country. The virus is
believed to have spread between Kobe and nearby Osaka after high schools from the
two cities met for a volleyball tournament. Experts warn the virus would likely soon
spread to other regions, including the capital Tokyo, which with almost 36 million
people is the world's most populous urban area and the heart of the Japanese
economy.
GLOBAL SITUATION REPORT
1. Summary Update for INFLUENZA A (H1N1) as of 19th May, 2009
Cumulative Total (confirmed
cases)
Newly confirmed cases
since last reporting
period (12/5/09)
cases
Deaths
cases
Deaths
1 Mexico
3648 ( +1140 )
72
1140
12
2.0
2 USA
5123(+1161)
5
1161
2
0.1
3 Canada
496
1
59
0
0.2
4 UK
102
0
31
0
0
5 New Zealand
9
0
0
0
0
6 Spain
103
0
3
0
0
7 Germany
14
0
2
0
0
8 Switzerland
1
0
0
0
0
9 Austria
1
0
0
0
0
10 Netherland
3
0
0
0
0
11 Israel
7
0
0
0
0
12 China (HK)
7(+3)
0
3
0
0
13 Rep Korea
3
0
0
0
0
14 France
14
0
0
0
0
15 Denmark
1
0
0
0
0
16 Costa Rica
9
1
1
0
11
17 Colombia
11
0
4
0
0
18 El Salvador
6
0
2
0
0
19 Italy
9
0
0
0
0
20 Ireland
1
0
0
0
0
21 Portugal
1
0
0
0
0
Country
Mortality %
22 Poland
1
0
0
0
0
23 Sweden
3
0
1
0
0
24 Guatemala
3
0
2
0
0
25 Brazil
8
0
0
0
0
26 Argentina
1
0
0
0
0
27 Australia
1
0
0
0
0
28 Japan
159
0
155
0
0
29 Panama
59
0
30
0
0
30 Norway
2
0
0
0
0
31 Cuba
3
0
2
0
0
32 Thailand
2
0
0
0
0
33 Finland
2
0
0
0
0
34 Belgium
5
0
1
0
0
35 Peru
2
0
1
0
0
36 Ecuador
1
0
0
0
0
37 Malaysia
2
0
1
0
0
38 India
1
0
0
0
0
39 Turkey
2
0
1
0
0
40 Chile
4
0
0
0
0
Total
9830
79
1983
14
For further Information:
WHO daily situation reports and Guidance documents can be viewed at:
http://www.who.int/csr/disease/swineflu/en/index.html
WHO Press releases can be viewed at: http://www.who.int/ ;
http://www.cidrap.um.edu/index.html ; http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/updates/
For H5N1 ( bird flu ) situation Update please refer to:
http://www.who.int/csr/disease/avian_influenza/country/cases_table_2009_05_06/en/in
dex.html
WHO WARNING

Although, it is still early in the outbreak, information collected so far appears to
indicate that influenza A(H1N1) is somewhat different from seasonal influenza. It is
therefore important that governments continue to prepare for pandemic and do not
assume that outbreaks of influenza A(H1N1) will now, or in the future, be just like
seasonal influenza.

The current Influenza A(H1N1) virus appears to be more transmissible than seasonal
influenza but not as high as that experienced in the 1918 pandemic.

Although the number of reported cases in the Western Pacific Region remains low,
WHO believes strongly that this is no time for complacency.
ANIMAL HEALTH & BIO-SECURITY IMPLICATIONS
1. The situation for the Alberta pig farm (Canada) is that about 1700 pigs remain under
quarantine to this date.
2. No further human-to-animal transmission cases have been reported elsewhere yet.
3. So far there is no evidence of animal-to-human infection yet.
4. There is no evidence of mutation of Influenza A (H5N1) virus ( bird flu) in pigs yet
and scientist are closely monitoring the situation.
FAO Recommended Priority Actions for Countries
PICT government authorities are advised to carefully investigate possible occurrences of
Influenza-like symptoms in domestic animals. Swab samples can be collected and sent to
national labs and/or reference laboratories such as the Australian Animal Health
Laboratories in Australia or Centre for Disease Control in Atlanta in US for the US
Territories or to labs in Japan whichever is convenient. For FAO assistance get in touch by
contacting EMPRES-Shipping-Service@fao.org of support for transporting samples for
laboratory testing.
In order to reduce the risk for transmission of the new influenza A/H1N1 (humans-toanimals or animals-to-animals), FAO recommends the following:

Outbreak investigation protocols and laboratory sampling procedures should be
developed and disseminated.
 Surveillance for porcine respiratory disease should be intensified and all cases of
porcine respiratory syndrome should be immediately reported to the national
agriculture and/or animal health authorities.

OIE, FAO and WHO should be informed when presence of the new A/H1N1
Influenza virus is confirmed.

Movement restrictions should be implemented for all farms or holdings with swine
showing signs of clinical respiratory illness until diagnosis of the illness have been
made. Where influenza A/H1N1 is confirmed, these restrictions should be in force
until seven (7) days after the last animal has recovered.


Animals suffering from swine influenza should be separated from healthy herdmates and allowed to recover – culling of affected animals is not necessary unless
absolute necessity.
Animal handlers, livestock officers and paravets should wear protective gear to
minimize risk of being infected by zoonotic agents, including influenza when
working with animals.

Persons who work directly with swine should not go to work if they have any signs of
respiratory disease, fever or any influenza-like illness.

Maintain vigilance for close communication and collaboration with public health
counterparts and the national influenza pandemic task force in the country, and
readiness to support their operations in any way reasonably possible.

In collaboration with health quarantine and other border control agencies intensify
awareness to incoming travellers including profiling high risk travellers as well as
post-entry surveillance of travellers to strengthened border protection measures

Governments are requested to provide full support in improving biosecurity
measures particularly to small holder pig farmers.

Governments in PICTs must now address the biosecurity legislation requirements of
their country if they have not done so to strengthened their border protection and
disease emergency response capabilities

Adopt good personal hygiene practices such as frequent hand-washing with soap and
water and covering nose and mouth and turning away from close contacts when
coughing and sneezing, personal distancing (eg. standing 2 metres apart when
conversing, particularly with sick people; not shaking hands as a greeting when sick),
PICT SITUATION and SENARIO

French Polynesia has modified its laws to include swine flu in the animal diseases
subjected to notification and regulations. FP MAFF also prepared and circulated
swine influenza information note for pig and poultry owners. On the 13 th May, 2009
there were 4 human suspected cases in FP (students coming back from USA) but
yet to be confirmed ( SPC -Axel Wiegandt).
( SPC encourages feedback report from countries of their current state of preparedness
and response to the current H1N1 situation )

Although the number of reported cases in the Western Pacific Region remains low,
WHO warns this is no time for complacency. The influenza A(H1N1) virus is expected
to continue spreading and infecting more people in more countries and it is
anticipated that more countries will experience community-level transmission in
humans, and the risk of potential entry to the region and into PICTs will continue to
escalate despite the current uncertainties or speculations. The case for renewed
vigilance is stronger now than ever, particularly in the Southern Hemisphere as it
moves into its seasonal influenza season.

There is a significant and increasing probability that when cases start arriving at our
borders or start occurring in travellers within our borders, the numbers are likely to
escalate very rapidly due, in part, to our current weaknesses in surveillance (eg. high
order laboratory diagnostic capacity)and in-country response resource limitation
situation in PICTs.

Our people are culturally very close to their pigs, so there is possibly a greater chance
of the disease going back into and/or establishing and circulating in pigs here if we
are not quite serious about preventing that from happening. One way the agriculture
authorities in PICTs can do is to do some good strong advocacy to remind respective
administrations that whilst this is primarily a human worry at present, there are
important animal health and production aspects to it that must not be ignored.

It is therefore an absolute necessity that Governments in the Western Pacific Region
must take this time to step up preparedness activities. Based on current analysis and
past pandemic experiences, scientist are contemplating that up to one third of the
world's population could yet get infected by influenza A(H1N1) and that could be very
debilitating for, especially, developing countries.