MidnightWatcher – Prophecy in Motion

RSOE EDIS – “A mysterious coral die-off on Kauai’s north shore is prompting a team of scientists to take a closer look at what may be killing large areas of coral reef. Marine biologist Terry Lilley has been monitoring and documenting Kauai’s marine environment for the last decade or more. This summer he was struck at how fast he was seeing something kill off what he estimates are millions of coral colonies. Lilley contacted scientists with the U.S. Geological Survey who’ve determined the diseased coral is different from what killed coral heads in Kaneohe Bay last year. The Kauai outbreak is believed to be due to a type of cyano bacteria and fungus which has compromised the health of the reef, according to researcher Thierry Work. Work said he took samples from the reef earlier this month and will be back to collect more coral and fish to conduct toxicology tests. Lilley has sounded the alarm which he hopes will trigger action to get the disease in check, and prevent its spread. ‘We have a billion dollar industry tourist industry in Hawaii with snorkels who want to see the reefs. If we let them die on the north shore of Kauai, that’s going to be a huge impact financially on the resources, and the money coming in,’ said Lilley. The Kauai resident is also concerned about what he saw on a recent dive where he documented evidence of diseased turtles and fish.” Source – RSOE EDIS Event Report.

The Canadian Press – “Ontario has found a case of an infection with a new swine flu virus, in a man who had close contact with pigs.

The infection was caused by an H1N1-variant virus, which is not the swine flu virus that has been jumping from pigs to people in the United States this summer.

That virus was an H3N2-variant, and has caused 305 infections this year in the U.S. but has not been spotted in Canada to date. Most infections with the H3N2-variant flu have been in people who visited pig barns at state and county fairs.

The Ontario case was announced by the province’s chief medical officer of health, Dr. Arlene King on Tuesday morning.

Ms. King said the man is being treated in hospital in southwestern Ontario. She did not indicate whether that is as a precaution or because he is seriously ill.

Health Minister Deb Matthews said the fact that the case was detected in Ontario demonstrates that the province has a strong surveillance system for infectious diseases.

‘It’s one case, the first we’ve seen in Ontario, but not really unexpected because there have been cases in the States,’ Ms. Matthews told reporters on Tuesday.

Ms. Matthews said health care providers in Ontario learned a lot about infectious diseases from the earlier outbreaks of SARS and H1N1.

‘Our hospitals know exactly what to do when they get a case,’ she said.

Ms. King said this new virus is one that rarely spreads from animals to people, and human-to-human spread is also rare.

She stressed the discovery of the infection does not trigger food safety concerns. ‘Proper cooking of meats, including pork, kills all bacteria and viruses.’

She also urged people to remember that hand washing and getting a flu shot are the best way to protect against contracting the flu.” Read more.

China Daily – “COPENHAGEN – Five persons showing symptoms of infection from a SARS-like virus have been admitted to Odense University Hospital (OUH), central Denmark, the hospital said in a press statement Tuesday.

The five patients are currently being examined for symptoms of infection from a new corona virus, which can lead to severe respiratory disease.

Corona viruses are a large family of viruses including those which cause the common cold, as well as severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), an outbreak of which killed some 800 people in 2003.

The new corona virus is thought to have an incubation period lasting seven to 10 days, and has previously been found among patients who had traveled from Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

OUH Director Jens Peter Steensen said to Danish media late Tuesday that the five patients, who are all Danish residents, will be tested for the new corona virus and for a range of more common triggers of respiratory infection.

The results of these tests will be released Wednesday afternoon, Steensen said, adding the patients will be kept in isolation until then.

On Monday, the Danish Health and Medicines Authority advised persons who had traveled to Qatar or Saudi Arabia to seek medical advice if they experienced fever, cough or difficulty breathing within ten days of their return from these countries.” Read more.

Saudi Arabia Adopts Measures to Limit Virus Infection During Haj – “Saudi Arabia has taken precautions to prevent disease spreading among Muslim pilgrims next month after a Qatari man was infected with a virus related to the deadly SARS, a health ministry official said on Wednesday. The World Health Organisation put out a global alert on Sunday saying a new, previously unknown, virus had infected a 49-year-old Qatari man who had recently travelled to Saudi Arabia, where another man with an almost identical virus had already died… Muslims from some 160 countries flock to Mecca and Medina during the annual Haj pilgrimage, which begins in late October.” Read more.

India Times – “LONDON: The World Health Organization said on Monday it is too soon to say whether there could be an outbreak of a SARS-like killer respiratory disease after health officials in Britain announced they detected a related virus in a severely ill patient from the Middle East.

British officials alerted WHO on Saturday of the new virus in a man transferred from Qatar for treatment in London. He had recently travelled to Saudi Arabia, where another man died of a similar illness earlier this year.

The man in the new case was sickened by a coronavirus , from a family of viruses which causes most common colds but also includes the virus that causes SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome . In 2003, SARS killed some 800 people, mostly in Asia, in a brief epidemic.

‘It’s still very early days,’ said Gregory Hartl, a WHO spokesman. ‘At the moment we have two sporadic cases and there are still a lot of holes to be filled in.’ Hartl said it was unclear how the virus is spread and there was no evidence of human-to-human transmission. for a history of travel in Saudi Arabia. SARS was first spread to humans from civet cats in China. Hartl said no country has so far reported any similar cases to WHO.

Other experts said it was unclear how dangerous the virus is. ‘We don’t know if this is going to turn into another SARS or if it will disappear into nothing,’ said Michael Osterholm, a flu expert at the University of Minnesota . He said it was crucial to determine the ratio of severe to mild cases.

SARS hit over 30 countries worldwide after spreading” Read more.

AFP – “Saudi health authorities downplayed Tuesday the impact of a possible outbreak of a virus from the family of deadly SARS on its forthcoming Hajj pilgrimage, stressing that the cases remain rare.

Pilgrims have begun to arrive in Saudi Arabia for the ritual that represents the world’s largest annual gathering as some two million faithful are expected to descend on the Muslim holy city of Mecca for the hajj which peaks in late October.

‘There have been two cases of flu over a period of time. This is normal,’ said health ministry spokesman Khaled al-Mirghalani.

‘There are no changes to the conditions put by the health ministry to pilgrims,’ he said, adding that authorities remain vigilant.

The undersecretary for preventive medicine at the Saudi health ministry, Ziyad Memish, said the ‘virus has been in the kingdom for three months.’

He, however, insisted the situation was ‘stable and no new cases have been recorded.’ Memish said the kingdom is not planning to impose new preventive measures on pilgrims.

The virus has caused the death of a Saudi national and has left a Qatari man in serious conditions at a London hospital, said the World Health Organization (WHO).

The 49-year-old Qatari was admitted to an intensive care unit in Doha on September 7 suffering from acute respiratory infection and kidney failure before being transferred to Britain by air ambulance on September 11, the WHO said.

The WHO confirmed the illness was in the coronavirus family but was not SARS, or Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, which swept out of China in 2003, killing more than 800 people worldwide.” Read more.

Saudi Authorities Detain Nearly 400 Women On Hajj Pilgrimage For Not Having Male Escort – “Nigerian officials say 398 Muslim women pilgrims travelling to Makkah were temporarily held at a Saudi Arabian airport for travelling without male relatives. A spokesman for Nigeria’s National Hajj Commission said Saudi authorities held the Nigerian women between Thursday and Monday at King Abdulaziz Airport in Jeddah. Spokesman Uba Mana said the women were allowed to proceed with their pilgrimage Monday following diplomatic intervention. He said Saudi authorities held them for not travelling with a male relative due to a ‘communication gap’. He said an agreement between the countries exempts Nigerian women from requiring a male relative to escort them during the Hajj pilgrimage, which costs about $4,000 per person.” Read more.