# DOE -- Medical and Infectious Disease Update -- Wednesday, March 10, 2004

DOE weekly updates on Bird Flu, Human Influenza, West Nile Virus, or
other illnesses and medical issues will continue as appropriate or as
requested. The following information is current as of Thursday, March
11, 2004, 0700 hours, EST. Information presented is routinely taken from
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC),
<http://www.cdc.gov/>, The World Health Organization (WHO),
<http://www.who.int/en/>, the Department of Defense Global Emerging
Infections Surveillance and Response System site,
(DoD-GEIS)-<http://www.geis.ha.osd.mil/>, and other creditable sources.

**Recent News**

**Allergy Season Is Here!**

**[The Accuweather
page](http://wwwa.accuweather.com/adcbin/public/maps_index.asp?type=airq)**
provides current air quality information with specific charts for
[**Grass
Pollen**](http://wwwa.accuweather.com/adcbin/public/maps_index.asp?type=grass),
[**Overall
Pollen**](http://wwwa.accuweather.com/adcbin/public/maps_index.asp?type=overall),
[**Ragweed
Pollen**](http://wwwa.accuweather.com/adcbin/public/maps_index.asp?type=ragweed),
and [**Tree
Pollen**](http://wwwa.accuweather.com/adcbin/public/maps_index.asp?type=tree)
\...
<http://wwwa.accuweather.com/adcbin/public/maps_index.asp?type=airq>

**Allergy Season Off to Fast, Early Start** -- 10March2004, KRON NEWS 4
\--So you managed to escape the flu season unscathed, but you\'re
suddenly struggling with a sore throat, headache, running nose and
watery eyes. A late-season cold? Try an early season allergy. Doctors
across the United States are reporting that the spring allergy season is
off to a fast, premature start. They attribute the early outbreak to a
recent run of unseasonably warm weather across much of the country,
enticing trees such as elm, maple and oak to part with their pollen
particles, the *Associated Press* reports. \"Normally, it wouldn\'t be
until the end of March or the start of April,\" says Dr. Leonard
Bielory, director of the Asthma and Allergy Research Center at The
University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey in Newark. This early
start to the allergy season is unwelcome news to the estimated 30
percent of Americans who suffer from allergies, the sixth-leading cause
of chronic disease in the country, the *AP* says \...
<http://www.kron.com/Global/story.asp?S=1697060>

# Price War over Generic Allergy Pill Cuts Prices in Time for Spring - 1March2004, **By April Lynch, *San Jose Mercury News*, Calif. Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News** \--As spring allergy sufferers start to pull out the Kleenex, they\'ll be reaching for their wallets a little less often this sneezing season. In a big break for patients, the cost of a leading allergy medicine is falling amid a price war between brand-name and generic drug makers. Loratadine, the potent allergy-relief medication once sold only under the brand name Claritin, is going for as little as 9 cents a tablet. About a year ago, patients had to hand over about a dollar a pill

\...
<http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/business/national/8078614.htm>

**Surviving Spring Allergy Season** -- Allergy Prevention Center \--
(Springtime Special Report) It\'s that time of the year, spring is in
full swing and winter is slowly becoming a memory. While some people
will be planning family picnics, trips to the ballpark and other ways to
enjoy the warm weather, 35 million Americans will be preparing to deal
with spring allergy symptoms \...
<http://www.allergypreventioncenter.com/articles/survivingspringallergies.html>.
NB: This is a short, comprehensive and informative article with
information taken from the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and
Immunology (AAAAI). The home page provides information on other specific
allergies \... <http://www.allergypreventioncenter.com/>

**Maryland confirms finds bird flu on poultry farm** -- 7March2004, by
Chris Baltimore, *Reuters*, WASHINGTON \--A case of the bird flu virus
was found in a poultry farm in Maryland, the fifth U.S. state to be
affected by the disease, state government officials said on Saturday
\... On Saturday, the Maryland Department of Agriculture said that
chickens at a farm on the state\'s poultry-heavy Eastern Shore near
Pocomoke City tested positive for the H7 bird flu strain. It was not
clear if it was the highly infectious version of the H7 strain, and
definitive tests will not be available before Wednesday, said Sue
duPont, a department spokeswoman \... The U.S. bird flu strains were
different from the H5N1 strain that has devastated poultry flocks in
Asia and claimed at least 22 lives there. More than 20 countries have
banned imports of some or all U.S. poultry including Russia, the top
U.S. poultry
buyer.<http://www.agriculture.com/default.sph/AgNews.class?FNC=goDetail__ANewsindex_html___51402___1>.

**Bird Flu 2003-2004: Doe Special Medical Update** -- With information
from WHO and the CDC, this update also explains the concepts of viral
infection, viral replication, antigenic "drift", and antigenic "shift"
...
<http://www.eh.doe.gov/health/news/BIRDFLU2003-2004_DOESPECIALUPDATE_B200402091.pdf>
(PDF) or for a choice of PDF or Word format,
<http://www.eh.doe.gov/health/index.html>**,** and scroll down under
\"News and Features\".

**WHO: Avian influenza-fact sheet** -- 5January2004-Avian influenza
("bird flu") and the significance of its transmission to humans ...
<http://www.who.int/csr/don/2004_01_15/en/>.

**CDC [West Nile Virus
Home](http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/westnile/index.htm)** -
<http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/westnile/index.htm>

**Links to State and Local Government West Nile Virus Web Sites**\
Click on a state to link directly to their West Nile virus Web page.\
See list below for additional city-level and main State Health
Department Web sites.

![](media/image1.png){width="4.853472222222222in"
height="3.0416666666666665in"}

**West Nile Virus Interactive Map** -- If you go to this site, each
State will be 'HOT', and moving your mouse on a State will link you to
its Health Department's West Nile web site and bring up other
information. Where the CDC map and case summery is a lagging indicator,
this map, linked to each State's Health Department, provides real-time
information for those states which update regularly, such as PA and CO.
<http://www.mosquitoczar.com/west_nile_virus>**.**

**CDC West Nile Virus Case Count -**
[Maps](http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/westnile/surv&control03Maps.htm)
reporting WNV activity and [human disease
cases](http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/westnile/surv&controlCaseCount03.htm)
reported to CDC were updated on March 5, 2004 and provide weekly
information thru March 3, 2004. See the chart below. Total cases and
deaths from 46 states stand at 9306 and 240, respectively \...
<http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/westnile/surv&controlCaseCount03.htm>

![](media/image2.wmf){width="6.941666666666666in"
height="3.997916666666667in"}

George R. Gebus, MD, MPH, Editor

US Department of Energy

Office of Occupational Health, EH-53/270CC

19901 Germantown Road

Germantown, MD 20874-1290

Phone: 301-903-2876

Fax: 301-903-5072

Email: <george.gebus@eh.doe.gov>