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Commentary
New York Summer
Camp Outbreak Raises H3N2v Concerns
Recombinomics
Commentary 12:45
August 10, 2012
There are reports of influenza-like illness from other states, and we're looking into these along with the state health departments. Finally, limited human-to-human transmission has been observed in the past and we expect some limited human-to-human spread may be observed in these current outbreaks. Ongoing investigations will determine whether there is, and if so, what the extent of transmission is.
The above comments, on a flu outbreak at a summer camp in Glen Spey, New York (in blue) and the August 9 CDC telebriefing transcript (in red), raise concerns that reports on CDC H3N2v confirmation for flu clusters that do not involve swine exposure have been delayed.
As also noted in the telebriefing, the CDC is ceding confirmatory H3N2v testing to state labs because almost all samples submitted to the CDC have been confirmed, and the level of seasonal flu in the United States at this time is low.
Recombinomics attempted to get additional information on the summer camp outbreaks. The summer camp noted that the CDC had been informed of the outbreak, and the CDC would have additional information. However, the media center at the CDC denied knowledge of the outbreak. Similarly, attempts to ask questions on the above outbreak or H3N2v evolution at the CDC telebriefing were unsuccessful, in spite of early queueing.
More information on the serotype involved in the above flu outbreak, as well as influenza illness in individuals without swine exposure, would be useful.
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