Mexico City has apparently been hit with a outbreak od a deadly "swine flu"
The virus has also been reported in 2 states in America. Texas is one of them
SP
Sky news story
Germany's English-speaking crowd
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Swine flu epidemic breaks out in North America
Update: Now a national emergency
Yeah, I dont dig swine. Pig's a filthy animal...
Not all us pigies is dirty...
A few quotes from a NY Times article:
PS: No one died in the US yet and the authorities seem rather calm about the situation. But where is the fun in that?
Mexican officials, scrambling to control a swine flu outbreak that has killed as many as 61 people and infected possibly hundreds more in recent weeks, closed museums and shuttered schools for millions of students in and around the capital on Friday, and urged people with flu symptoms to stay home from work.
Most of Mexico’s dead were young, healthy adults, and none were over 60 or under 3 years old, the World Health Organization said.
There is no point in trying to use containment measures in the United States, he said, because the swine flu virus has already appeared from San Antonio to San Diego, without any obvious connections among cases.
Health officials urged anyone with a fever, a cough, a sore throat, shortness of breath or muscle and joint pain to seek medical attention.
and the LA Times:But researchers at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have found nothing connecting the U.S. victims or any common behaviors, acting director Dr. Richard Besser said Friday in a telephone news conference. That suggests "there has been transmission through several cycles" -- meaning that several intermediaries passed it among themselves before the virus reached the identified victims.
International health officials said they were considering whether to raise the alert for a possible pandemic -- a global outbreak.
In New York, health officials said Friday that about 75 students at a Queens high school had fallen ill with flu-like symptoms and were being tested to rule out the swine flu strain, the Associated Press reported.
... and I too have been running around sneezing and with watery eyes for the last couple of days. Oh my god, I feel the icy grip of death already. PS: No one died in the US yet and the authorities seem rather calm about the situation. But where is the fun in that?
Pigs aren't dirty at all. Piglets leave the mother's side to do their business in a remote corner if they can. And what do human babies do? Crap and pee in their pants willy nilly until they're a couple of years old. Pigs are also pretty intelligent, although no Einsteins.
Update..
World Health Organisation (WHO ) in Geneva Is holding an emergency meeting toay to dicuss this possibly "Pan-demic"
Pig-flu is the new Bird-flu!
SP
World Health Organisation (WHO ) in Geneva Is holding an emergency meeting toay to dicuss this possibly "Pan-demic"
Pig-flu is the new Bird-flu!
SP
Pig-flu is the new Bird-flu!
At least pigs cant fly cross borders. Although spiderpigs might be able to climb walls.
From the Sky News article:
The flu combines genetic material from pigs, birds and humans in a way researchers have not seen before.
Is it time to be very afraid?
Is it time to be very afraid?
I think so!Not many blokes like a Bird that Squeel...
The flu combines genetic material from pigs, birds and humans in a way researchers have not seen before.
Anyone know is it infecting birds too?
from the Guardian
seems the virus is a variant of H1N1 and not H5N1. Still it is alarming that WHO are using the word 'pandemic'. Lets hope that isn't the case.
As this is a human infection now (although the source was non-human) it is possible that it will be spread through world travel in the way that SARS was. Influenza is symptomless for the first few days so an infected individual could travel to a different area or country without knowing that they are a vector for infection.
seems the virus is a variant of H1N1 and not H5N1. Still it is alarming that WHO are using the word 'pandemic'. Lets hope that isn't the case.
As this is a human infection now (although the source was non-human) it is possible that it will be spread through world travel in the way that SARS was. Influenza is symptomless for the first few days so an infected individual could travel to a different area or country without knowing that they are a vector for infection.
I have a stupid question:
If somebody falls sick with the flu, why is it so important to determine if it is an old strain or a new strain?
In any case, you don't want that person to infect others, and you want to give him the same medical treatment, since in any case it's the flu.
If somebody falls sick with the flu, why is it so important to determine if it is an old strain or a new strain?
In any case, you don't want that person to infect others, and you want to give him the same medical treatment, since in any case it's the flu.
why is it so important to determine if it is an old strain or a new strain?
New strains may be resistant to existing vaccines.Edit: A new vaccine doesn't help those that are already sick, that's true, but it protects others from catching the virus and stops it spreading further.
Yeah, but once you're already sick, you are not supposed to get the vaccine anymore anyway, right? So as long as we know there's a new strain out there, scientists can start working on a new vaccine. But it doesn't help those that have fallen sick.
if it turns out to be pandemic it will be essential to halt spread through restrictions in travel. A reliable test that would identify all individuals with the strain would greatly aid this.
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