Published Date: 2005-08-25 23:50:00
Subject: PRO/AH/EDR> Streptococcus suis, porcine, human - China (18)
Archive Number: 20050825.2510
STREPTOCOCCUS SUIS, PORCINE, HUMAN - CHINA (18)
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[1]
Date: Tue, 23 Aug 2005
From: ProMED-mail <promed@promedmail.org>
Source: AllHeadlineNews.com [edited]
<http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/2249683212>
A 62-year-old woman has been infected with the pig bacterium _Streptococcus
suis_, bringing the total number of victims in the Hong Kong territory to
11. The Center for Health Protection said the latest patient had no visible
wounds and hadn't traveled recently outside Hong Kong.
Despite recent outbreaks, Hong Kong government officials have decided to
resume pork imports from Sichuan province, which has been hardest hit by
the recent epidemic. Pork from Sichuan and Henan provinces, and also
Shenzhen, which supplies over 60 percent of the frozen and chilled pork to
Hong Kong, will re-enter Hong Kong today for the 1st time since imports
were banned late in Jul 2005, according to The Standard.
Center for Health Protection principal medical and health officer, Chuang
Shuk-kwan Chuang, said genetic characterization of the first 9 of the 11
cases known in Hong Kong have shown different bacterial strains, suggesting
the previous cases were sporadic and that there was no link between them.
[Byline: Danielle George]
--
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
[Genetic differences between the strains in Hong Kong certainly suggest no
direct link between them, that is, they were not spread from the same
source. It would not be surprising if multiple strains of _S. suis_ are
behind the outbreak in Sichuan. If the digging up of dead, infected pigs
(with high titers of different strains of type 2 _S. suis_ in them) for
meat is behind the outbreak rather than evolution of a more virulent,
toxin-producing strain, multiple Sichuan strains should be found in pigs
and man. - Mod.LL]
******
[2]
Date: Wed, 24 Aug 2005
From: ProMED-mail <promed@promedmail.org>
Source: AsiaNews.it [edited]
<http://www.asianews.it/view_p.php?l=en&art=3972>
China's government has lifted the ban on pork exports, even though people
in the southern part of the country and in Hong Kong are still dying from
_Streptococcus suis_, a bacterium lethal to humans, that is widespread in
animal farms in central China. For the past month, [examination of swine
strains] from Sichuan, Henan and Guangdong show evidence that
_Streptococcus suis_, which can be deadly and passed on to humans, is
mutating. Last month, 40 farmers died in Sichuan, a province that exports
pork meat to the whole of China and Hong Kong.
Li Changjiang, the Minister responsible for the State General
Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, said the
fatal outbreak in Sichuan was "now under control", while the Agriculture
Ministry confirmed there was no outbreak in Henan.
However, in Shenzhen, where a 28-year-old man died, Wang Xuewei,
director-general of the Shenzhen Bureau of Commerce and Industry, said the
city lacked the infrastructure to handle emergencies. "To be honest, we
don't have adequate facilities and experience to fully prevent such . . .
outbreaks. Our planning and preparation is not enough." The most pressing
problem is that "we don't have enough modern slaughterhouses. Illegal
slaughtering [of live pigs] is a problem," he added.
--
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
[ProMED would appreciate more information regarding the statement that
porcine strains of _S. suis_ "are mutating." - Mod.LL]
See Also
Streptococcus suis, porcine, human - China (17) 20050822.2471Streptococcus suis, porcine, human - China (16): background 20050819.2436
Streptococcus suis, porcine, human - China (15) 20050818.2417
Streptococcus suis, porcine, human - China (14) 20050817.2409
Streptococcus suis, porcine, human - China (13) 20050816.2399
Streptococcus suis, porcine, human - China (12) 20050814.2381
Streptococcus suis, porcine, human - China (11) 20050811.2347
Streptococcus suis, porcine, human - China (10) 20050808.2311
Streptococcus suis, porcine, human - China (09): OIE 20050807.2296
Streptococcus suis, porcine, human - China (08): OIE 20050805.2285
Streptococcus suis, porcine, human - China (07) 20050804.2271
Streptococcus suis, porcine, human - China (06) 20050804.2266
Streptococcus suis, porcine, human - China (05) 20050803.2262
Streptococcus suis, porcine, human - China (04) 20050803.2250
Streptococcus suis, porcine, human - China (03) 20050802.2246
Streptococcus suis, porcine, human - China (02) 20050801.2238
Streptococcus suis, porcine, human - China 20050730.2217
Streptococcus suis, human - China (Hong Kong) 20050728.2196
Streptococcus suis, porcine, human - China (Sichuan)(02) 20050728.2194
Streptococcus suis, porcine, human - China (Sichuan) 20050727.2179
Undiagnosed deaths - China (Sichuan)(05): Strep. suis susp. 20050726.2169
Undiagnosed deaths - China (Sichuan)(04): Strep. suis susp. 20050726.2160
Undiagnosed deaths - China (Sichuan) (03) 20050725.2153
Undiagnosed deaths - China (Sichuan) (02) 20050724.2139
Undiagnosed deaths - China (Sichuan): RFI 20050724.2131
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