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56 °F Forecast | Road Cams Thursday, April 14, 2005 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Menu Guide How To Guide Health Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Real Estate Guide Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Passport to the Rogue Valley SHOP OUR VALLEY AutoFinder HomeFinder JobFinder Classified Place an ad TOP JOBS EXTRA Ashland News NIE Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People Volunteer Moving here? eSouthernOregon CUSTOMER SERVICE FAQ's Advertise with us Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend April 14, 2005 RVMC received deadly flu virus sample By JONEL ALECCIA Mail Tribune A Rogue Valley Medical Center laboratory is among 29 in Oregon that received samples of an influenza virus ordered destroyed by federal authorities because it caused a pandemic that killed millions in the late 1950s. Laboratory workers got confirmation from state health officials Wednesday afternoon that they had received two kits that contained samples of Influenza A H2N2 in November 2004 and January 2005. Lab staff immediately began destroying the samples as requested, said Michelle Halfhill, RVMC spokeswoman. The samples, used as blind tests to assure laboratory competency, contained a virus that killed between 1.4 million and 4 million people worldwide during an outbreak that peaked between 1957 and 1958, said Michael Skeels, state public health laboratory director. The good news, health officials said, is that the samples were sent only to labs that routinely handle infectious agents. Advertisement "The workers know what they’re doing," Skeels said. "It’s not a huge risk, but it’s not zero." There is a very low chance that a worker could be exposed to the virus and then expose the public, he added. People born after 1968 haven’t been exposed to or immunized against that strain of influenza. Health officials originally believed that only one organization, the College of American Pathologists, was involved in sending the samples nationwide. However, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday that three other organizations also sent vials of H2N2 to a total of 6,400 labs across the country. The other agencies include the American Association of Bioanalysts, the American College of Family Physicians and the American College of Physician Services, officials reported. They all sent the flu strain in unlabeled samples as part of an annual certification program in which labs identify samples and send back results. "I guess they got in their freezers and dug out a virus from the 1950s," Skeels said. Reach reporter JoNel Aleccia at 776-4465, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback Student Loan Consolidation Conference Calls - $50/Month Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker, Trunk, Footlockers home equity loans helzberg Distance Education Diamonds Slippers Student Loans afsa teleconferencing Memory Foam Mattress w2 forms Tatoo Fasa Advertisement s