Cases in 12 States

 Virus poses particular danger to kids with asthma; cases in 12 states

 http://www.latimes.com/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-respiratory-virus-children-20140908-story.html

A rare virus that threatens respiratory systems has sickened hundreds children in Kansas City, Mo., and and Chicago and could be responsible for far more cases in about a dozen states, national health officials said Monday.
The virus, known as Enterovirus D68, is a rare form of the virus normally associated with the common cold, Anne Schuchat, assistant surgeon general and director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, said at a news conference at the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Reports of hundreds of children being infected have raised concerns, and doctors have been warned to be on the lookout for more clusters, she said. “We understand the concern about this. Severe respiratory illness is also a concern, especially when children are involved,” she said.
No deaths have been reported, Schuchat said. It is unclear exactly how many children have been infected by the EV-D68 strain, which requires special testing to be identified. “Most of the runny noses out there are not going to be turning into this,” she said.

EV-D68 was first identified in California in 1962, according to the CDC. Just 79 cases were reported from 2009 to 2013 in the United States.
The full danger from the virus is still being studied, but in general it has been associated with respiratory illness and some neurological conditions including meningitis and encephalitis. In the current situation, the only reported problems have been associated with the lungs, Schuchat said.

cComments

• @ohboycrazycomments! The sick illegals are from Central America. Most of the illegal aliens in California are from Mexico, and have lived here for awhile. What is different is that we have a tidal wave of sick minors flooding across our border and being sent all over the country and allowed...
  joinamerica
  at 10:50 AM September 10, 2014

Symptoms are similar to an intense cold. But for those with asthma and other lung diseases, there can be complications that require hospitalization, she said.
On Aug. 19, the CDC said, it was notified by Children's Mercy Hospital in Kansas City of an increase in patients examined and hospitalized with severe respiratory illness, including some admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit. More than 500 children have been treated there.
On Aug. 23, the CDC was told by the University of Chicago Medicine Comer Children's Hospital of an increase in children needing treatment there. There was no immediate overall number of children seeking treatment, but nine of the 25 patients in the pediatric intensive care unit appear to have the virus, spokeswoman Ashley M. Heher said Monday in an email. Many of the children who are getting especially sick are considered medically fragile, meaning they have other health issues that might put them at risk for complications, but there are also healthy children who are becoming ill, she said.
Based on testing, EV-D68 was identified in 19 of 22 specimens from Kansas City and in 11 of 14 specimens from Chicago. “Since these initial reports, admissions for severe respiratory illness have continued at both facilities at rates higher than expected for this time of year. Investigations into suspected clusters in other jurisdictions are ongoing,” according to the CDC.
The ages of the patients ranged from about 6 weeks to 16 years, with the median age of about 4 years.
Late-summer colds are common, especially among children who are heading back to school. About 10 million and 15 million such infections are reported each year.
Officials recommend the usual common-sense precautions to avoid the virus, including washing hands and avoiding sharing utensils with those who are infected. Those who are ill are urged to stay home.
The CDC also said it is testing to see whether the virus caused respiratory illnesses reported in children in Alabama, Colorado, Georgia, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma and Utah.

From WIKI:
 The Department of Health and Human Services had opened three temporary shelters for children at military bases in Texas, Oklahoma and California, but the sites were closed in August 2014 as the flow of migrant children declined and the capacity of permanent centers to house children was expanded. ^[24] However, the new centers, such as the one in Artesia, New Mexico, may not offer facilities compatible with due process.^[25] After a lawsuit was filed by the ACLU about conditions at Artesia conditions there showed marked improvement.^[26]
In January of 2014 the Department of Homeland Security sought a contractor to manage and transport approximately 65,000 Unaccompanied Alien Children (UAC) "ages infant to 17 years of age."^[27] This number is in contrast to an average annual number of 5,000 UAC.^[28] The Department of Health and Human Services stated in its “Budget in Brief” that the expected annual number of arriving UAC had increased from 6,560 to an estimated 60,000 for fiscal year 2014,^[29] and the Government anticipated awarding a five year contract to deal with them.

Mean while in North Dakota:
" A representative of the Adjutant General provided us information which states 4 unaccompanied children have been placed with sponsors (typically a parent or relative) in North Dakota. A representative of the North Dakota Department of Human Services stated the department was not involved in nor made aware prior to the placement of the 4 unaccompanied children with the sponsors. The sponsors are responsible for the well-being and care of the unaccompanied children while their immigration cases are being processed."

 MADISON, Wis. -
The federal office that helps refugees settle in the United States has placed 50 unaccompanied children in Wisconsin since the beginning of the year, but the government has asked both Milwaukee and Madison if there are locations that additional children could be housed on a temporary basis.

Haslam to Obama: Surprise placement of immigrant children in TN ‘unacceptable’

In a letter to President Obama, Gov. Bill Haslam is protesting as “unacceptable” the placement of 760 illegal immigrant children within Tennessee without notifying state officials.

What Effect did disease have on the native Americans?

Miriam Pierson Answered Last When the Europeans came to the Americas, they brought a variety of diseases which had not been introduced to the Natives. These diseases proved to be extremely deadly. Many explanations are given for the huge decrease in the numbers of Natives; however, these new diseases were a huge contributer. Very soon after the Europeans arrival in the Americas, observers noticed that the Natives were catching and dying from introduced diseases. The death tole from these diseases is impossible to calculate, but it was up to 90% of the population which was killed in some places.

 

 

 

Massive Population Drop Found for Native Americans, DNA Shows

Genetic data supports accounts of decline following European contact.

Ker Than

for National Geographic News

Published December 5, 2011

The number of Native Americans quickly shrank by roughly half following European contact about 500 years ago, according to a new genetic study.

The finding supports historical accounts that Europeans triggered a wave of disease, warfare, and enslavement in the New World that had devastating effects for indigenous populations across the Americas.
(Related: "Guns, Germs and Steel—Jared Diamond on Geography as Power.")
Using samples of ancient and modern mitochondrial DNA—which is passed down only from mothers to daughters—the researchers calculated a demographic history for American Indians. (Get an overview of human genetics.)
Based on the data, the team estimates that the Native American population was at an all-time high about 5,000 years ago.
The population then reached a low point about 500 years ago—only a few years after Christopher Columbus arrived in the New World and before extensive European colonization began.
Study co-author Brendan O'Fallon, a population geneticist who conducted the research while at the University of Washington in Seattle, speculates that many of the early casualties may have been due to disease, which "would likely have traveled much faster than the European settlers themselves."
For instance, the Franciscan friar Toribio de Benavente—one of the first Spanish missionaries to arrive in the New World in the early 1500s—wrote that Mexico was initially "extremely full of people, and when the smallpox began to attack the Indians, it became so great a pestilence among them ... that in most provinces more than half the population died."
(Related: "Conquistador Was Deep in U.S.: 'Stunning' Jewelry Find Redraws Route?")
Some historians have questioned whether such effects were restricted to particular cities or regions, but the new study suggests mortality was widespread.