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Sources: Gary Anderson, 785-532-4454, ganders@vet.1xbet online games login edu;
Wenjun Ma, 785-532-4337, wma@vet.1xbet online games login edu;
and Juergen 1xbet online games login , 785-532-4401, jricht@vet.1xbet online games login edu
http://www.1xbet online games login edu/media/mediaguide/bios/andersonbio.html
http://www.1xbet online games login edu/media/mediaguide/bios/richtbio.html
News release prepared by: Erinn Barcomb-Peterson, 785-532-6415, ebarcomb@1xbet online games login edu
Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2009
H3N2 INFLUENZA UNLIKELY TO SPREAD BETWEEN HUMANS, 1xbet online games login INFECTIOUS DISEASE AND DIAGNOSTICS EXPERTS SAY; SWINE EXHIBITS AT FAIRS ARE SAFE WITH PROPER HYGIENE
MANHATTAN -- Seeing animals up close is an integral part of experiencing the state and county fairs that take place around the country each summer and fall. And with good hygiene, Kansas State University veterinary experts say fair visitors shouldn't worry about contracting diseases 1xbet online games login animals.
&1xbet online games login ;Be very attentive to good hygiene and wash your hands after contact with animals,&1xbet online games login ; said Gary Anderson, director of K-State's Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory. &1xbet online games login ;We encourage people to visit animal exhibits at fairs as long as they take appropriate precautions.&1xbet online games login ;
A case of H3N2 influenza was reported in Riley County after a child apparently had direct contact with pigs at a county fair. The Kansas Department of Health and Environment reported that the child completely recovered.
1xbet online games login experts said people shouldn't worry excessively about contracting H3N2 from pigs. For one thing, attention to hygiene and proper hand washing are a good defense, they said. Another reason is that this virus does not appear to be particularly virulent for humans.
Not all influenza viruses are like the pandemic H1N1, which has the ability to easily spread from human to human. The 1xbet online games login researchers said that although H3N2 can pass from pigs to humans, it has not been shown to pass from humans to humans easily. However, there is the potential that it could pass from people back to pigs. This is one reason why workers in swine operations wear masks and other personal protective equipment when working with the animals.
Also, the researchers 1xbet online games login it should be emphasized that pork is safe to eat, even when influenza viruses have been involved.
&1xbet online games login ;This H3N2 is a virus that doesn't appear to be particularly virulent for humans,&1xbet online games login ; Anderson said. &1xbet online games login ;You could say that the person infected was a dead-end host because it didn't like him too much. The virus didn't manage to survive and be passed on.&1xbet online games login ;
The H3N2 virus is different from the novel pandemic H1N1 virus that does spread among people. According to the literature, the majority of swine viruses that transfer to humans are H1N1 types, said Juergen Richt, Regents Distinguished Professor at 1xbet online games login 's College of Veterinary Medicine and a Kansas Bioscience Authority Eminent Scholar.
However, Richt 1xbet online games login that the H3N2 virus introduced to North American pigs in the mid-1990s was a human-swine double reassortant virus.
&1xbet online games login ;This scenario shows the need for and importance of studying zoonotic infectious diseases -- those that spread between humans and animals and vice versa -- and that's where we at K-State have expertise,&1xbet online games login ; Richt said. &1xbet online games login ;Even if there is a disease problem, our faculty here at K-State can provide answers and solutions. We can diagnose diseases quickly and therefore can provide clear answers to pressing questions.&1xbet online games login ;
Anderson said that another 1xbet online games login strength is having a strong partnership between diagnostics and research.
&1xbet online games login ;It makes our research and diagnostic efforts that much better,&1xbet online games login ; he said.
Anderson said that the 1xbet online games login Veterinary Diagnostic Lab and researchers in 1xbet online games login 's College of Veterinary Medicine welcome opportunities to work on infectious zoonotic diseases with state agencies like the Kansas Department of Health and Environment and the Kansas Animal Health Department, as well as federal researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
&1xbet online games login ;At K-State, we're ready for the unknown,&1xbet online games login ; Anderson said.
A strong partnership between diagnostics and research has helped Richt and a fellow 1xbet online games login researcher in dealing with an unknown flu strain while both were researchers at the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Animal Disease Center in Ames, Iowa.
When diagnosticians from the University of Minnesota ran into difficulties determining exactly what type of flu was in a pig sample from two Missouri farms, they turned to Richt and Wenjun Ma, who is now a research assistant professor at 1xbet online games login .
In two weeks, Ma 1xbet online games login , they had sequenced the virus, which turned out to be H2N3 -- not to be confused with H3N2 that showed up in Riley County. This information helped Ma, Richt and U.S. Department of Agriculture colleagues develop a vaccine for it and create better diagnostic tools.
&1xbet online games login ;When diagnostic labs get a sample, they now can use the diagnostic tools we developed,&1xbet online games login ; Richt said.
Their work was published in 2007 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a prestigious academic journal.
