Mysterious U.S. Swine Flu Probe Widens as Mexico Finds Swine Flu *updated*

Some good news about the swine flu: It's on the wane, doctors and health officials say.

But don't get too comfortable, they're quick to add. It will be back. www.courant.com...

The BBC has come under fire for "stockpiling" thousands of doses of the swine flu drug Tamiflu. www.telegraph.co.uk...

LONDON — Airlines stepped up restrictions Sunday on travellers to and from Britain as a report said four more British students quarantined in China had been confirmed as having swine flu.

Britain is Europe's worst-hit territory, with estimates of 55,000 new cases last week, and both British Airways and Virgin Atlantic said they have put in place measures to turn back passengers showing symptoms.

"If we have concerns about a customer or the customer is concerned, then we have a 24-hour medical service we can call to give advice to staff," said a British Airways spokeswoman.

"There have been a number of cases where we have advised customers not to fly on the basis of their diagnosis or symptoms of H1N1."

Britain's health authorities are advising people with symptoms to delay journeys if they are experiencing illness.

"If there are signs of something being wrong, be it excessive sneezing or coughing, not looking well, high temperature, then the airport staff can call in a medical team for extra advice," added Virgin Atlantic spokesman Paul Charles.

"If the medical team believe there are reasons not to fly, the passenger will be asked to produce a fit to fly certificate from their doctor or a hospital, and they will be put at our cost on to the next available flight." www.google.com...

Stop Baxter International from developing the H1N1 vaccine.

Stop Baxter International from developing the H1N1 vaccine.
Target:Canadian citizens.
Sponsored by: JC.

Baxter International is a drug company that has been at the center of three major drug contamination scandals, one of them occured only a few months ago in February of this year:

1. Live avian flu was found in flu vaccines intended for human use:
www.torontosun.com...

2. They sent out Heparin that did not even contain the main ingredient, but instead contained a chemically similar compound:
www.nowpublic.com...
:

So the Candaians are starting petition against Baxter developing the H1N1 vaccines.

Two hospital staff members down with H1N1

Two members of staff at Mater Dei Hospital have contracted the H1N1 virus, the Health Department said this evening.

The two, both Maltese, worked in the same section and had been at work when a foreign student who was in Malta on an exchange programme reported for work (at the hospital) with flu symptoms. She was sent home on the same day.

The two staff members are being treated in their homes. The situation is being monitored, the Health Department said.
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The HSE has said that it is "inevitable" that there will be some deaths from swine flu in Ireland in the future as the virus spreads.

Of the 156 confirmed cases of swine flu in Ireland so far, just 12 people have been hospitalised, the HSE’s national director of population health Dr Pat Doorley told RTÉ Radio today. All have recovered fully.

Dr Doorley said the H1N1 virus was “fairly” contagious, but all remedies were proving effective and there was “no reason for alarm or undue concern”. He said the HSE had no intention of banning large gatherings of people to halt the spread of the virus.

“Sadly, we could not say that there won’t be deaths here,” he said. “Just looking at the pattern in the UK, it is clear that we are going to have more cases and … inevitably, there will be some deaths.” www.irishtimes.com...

H1N1 COUNTERMEASURES STRATEGY AND DECISION-MAKING FORUM DETAILED REPORT

PANDEMIC INFLUENZA WORKING GROUP (PIWG) NATIONAL BIODEFENSE SCIENCE BOARD H1N1 COUNTERMEASURES STRATEGY AND DECISION-MAKING FORUM DETAILED REPORTIN PDF FILE.

July 2009.

Dr. Dowdle summarized the lessons of past pandemics. Risk assessment, he said, is—or should be—a scientific process, but risk management is a political process based on public perceptions of risk and the willingness to pay to reduce that risk. It is notable that two Congressional representatives from Georgia are opposed to any appropriations for swine influenza, and would rather spend money on F22s.

Brian Murphy, M.D.: When do you think we’ll get hit—early September? October? That affects vaccine production. Dr. Dowdle: Look at past experiences and available data. Mr. Ferguson: In 1957 and in 1918, there was a marked increase in September and the pandemic peaked in October. I think that’s what you should plan on. [Unidentified]: Schools open early in Louisiana. Dr. Dowdle: In 1957, seeding began in the summer, in June. Lawrence Schonberger, M.D., M.P.H.: The virus is still here, it has not left. Is there a precedent for that? Dr. Dowdle: In 1957, it never left, but kept occurring. Also in 1968, it started a little later, but it never left. So are these first and second waves or split epidemics? [Unidentified]: In thinking about swine influenza, should we not be worried about GBS? Dr. Dowdle: In 1976, there were field trials of the vaccine, but not to detect adverse events, just to look at immunologic response. That was not a major issue, and it was thought that the GBS risk was small compared with need for H1N1 vaccine. Dr. Edwards: Are sera still available from the people who got GBS? Were they ever reevaluated?

CAIRO: Egypt on Sunday reported its first death linked to swine flu after a 25-year-old woman coming back from a pilgrimage to the Muslim holy
places in Saudi Arabia died in hospital, the health ministry said. timesofindia.indiatimes.com...

ALERT: Only 15 individuals in every 100 people will get the vacinne
Poverty will prevent some countries from accessing swine flu vaccines, the head of the World Health Organization, Margaret Chan, said Tuesday.

Since the manufacturing capacity for influenza vaccines is not infinite and the world population is 6.8 billion people, we won't have vaccines enought to all.

The lion's share of these limited supplies will go to wealthy countries, leaving poor countries with very few options to save themselfs.

Based on the WHO’s estimate last May, world capacity for producing vaccine against the novel influenza is about two billion doses. If an individual needs two shots for complete immunity, the vaccines will only be enough for 15 individuals in every 100 people.

Read again:

Only 15 individuals in every 100 people will get the vacinne

Read in full

Swine Flu Vaccinations Could Prove More Deadly Than the Swine Flu

Austrian Investigative Journalist Jane Buergermeister (Bürgermeister) who recently filed criminal charges against the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations (UN) and several high-ranking Goverment and corporate officials concerning bioterrorism involving Swine Flu vaccines that could prove to be more deadly than the disease was fired from her job -- writing for Renewable Energy World -- earlier this week, apparently because she filed those charges, and that is unacceptable. Readers wishing to help her can read more about that on her blog.

Evidence that many organizations as well as Pharmaceutical companies such as Baxter and Novartis who merged with Chiron are part of a system controlled by a crime syndicate responsible for funding the development, manufacturing and release of artificial viruses with the intention of justifying mass vaccinations with a bioweapon substance to eliminate the people of the U.S. and to gain control of North America's assets and resources was produced by Burgermeister.

Burgermeister says the crime syndicate sets its goals using the Trilateral Commission and Bilderberg meetings, identifying the 'Illuminati,' a mafia-like group with family dynasties -- a global crime syndicate based in off-shore banking centers -- that employs international organizations such as the WHO and the UN.
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Universities are drawing up contingency plans to deal with a 'worst-case' scenario of significant swine flu deaths among their student population and the possible closure of their campuses as a result of an epidemic.

While Ireland's third-level institutions are preparing detailed scenarios, the Department of Education has confirmed that no extra money has been allocated to primary or secondary schools to prepare for a swine flu outbreak.

Colleges, such as Trinity College Dublin (TCD), are preparing to close their doors to the public as early as September in order to limit the spread of the H1N1 virus.

They are also preparing to offer counselling and other support services in the event of fatalities among the student population.

The virus, which has to date been relatively mild in most cases, is known to be particularly virulent among those aged under 30. www.tribune.ie...

www.recombinomics.com...

The finding of pandemic H1N1 in swine on farms in Alberta Canada and farms in two distinct locations in Buenos Aires Argentina raises concerns that the virus is more widespread on farms, and increased surveillance in swine linked to symptomatic farm workers or symptomatic swine has led to the detection.

The alert in Argentina was issued in part because of limited surveillance and consequences of pandemic H1N1 in pork, which causes concern with regard to H1N1 evolution and spread. Swine acts as a mixing vessel and allows for pandemic H1N1 genetic exchanges with other serotypes such as H9N2 and H5N1. Although cooking kills H1N1, contaminated pork can contaminated cutting utensils and surfaces, leading to cross contamination in food that is nor cooked.

The two outbreaks in Buenos Aires is a concern because of the high rate for H1N1 deaths. Agency and media reports have described over 200 deaths, which have largely been reported in the past few weeks. Most of these deaths have been in Buenos Aires province or the adjacent Santa Fe province, raising concerns that the virus in the region has changed. Similarly one report suggest that as many as 10% of fatalities are in health care workers, which, if confirmed would be a major concern because health care workers would be more likely to be taking prophylactic Tamiflu or received time Tamiflu treatment, so frequent deaths could signal or more virulent virus.

Thus, release of sequences from the two outbreaks on the farms, as well as the recent explosion of fatal cases in Argentina would be useful
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[edit on 19-7-2009 by JBA2848]

LONDON - Fourteen Britons who had contracted H1N1 flu have died and the rapid spread of infection in two areas of the country is close to epidemic level, health officials said on Thursday.

The Department of Health said Britain now had 9,718 laboratory-confirmed cases, the third most in the world behind the United States and Mexico.

Britain's Chief Medical Officer Liam Donaldson said the actual number of cases was likely to be higher.

All 14 who have died had underlying health issues and it was not clear in how many cases the patients had died as a direct result of the virus, known as swine flu.

"In London and the West Midlands we are getting pretty close to epidemic levels. We've seen big surges there," Donaldson told BBC TV.

"For the country as a whole, the average is about the level of the flu season but in some parts of the country the levels are getting pretty big." talk-vietnam.blogspot.com...

In the past few days, swine flu has turned from a topic of relatively light-hearted conversation into a serious anxiety. The figure of 65,000 deaths quoted by Sir Liam Donaldson, the Chief Medical Officer, has worked its way into the popular imagination. The fact that this is an upper limit tends to be overlooked, as does the even more important detail that it assumes an overall fatality rate of just 0.35 per cent of those infected. Fewer than one in 200 people who catch swine flu will die, according to these projections.

Even so, it is hard not to be worried, following a week in which 55,000 new cases emerged. Swine flu has not become more dangerous, but it is spreading faster than the medical authorities anticipated: since the beginning of July, the number of people consulting GPs with flu-like symptoms has increased from 15 to 40 per 100,000 per day. Hence the urgency of the Government's advice to pregnant women (whose immune systems are naturally suppressed) to avoid unnecessary travel on public transport and to parents to keep their babies away from crowds. www.swineflunews.org...

St. Petersburg, Florida - The Bay area has already had dozens of confirmed cases of H1N1 but this is the first time we've seen so many deaths in one week that are directly related to the virus.

So far, statewide, there have been fourteen deaths due to swine flu. Three of those were in the Bay area -- two in Sarasota County and one in Polk County.

"Three deaths, just recently? That's pretty serious," said Tampa resident Lisa Johnson. www.wtsp.com...

There are two more swine-flu related deaths in San Diego County. There are also two confirmed cases of swine flu at the South Bay Detention Center -- and more than 1,000 other inmates have been exposed to the virus and are being treated with Tamiflu, said San Diego Sheriff William Gore.

Some inmates and employees are showing signs of the swine flu. Now, friends and family are not allowed to visit their loved ones behind bars, and officials don't know when that will change.

"They didn't even tell me why. In fact, when I got to the jail to visit my mom they just said there was no visits; they were canceled, period," said visitor Julie Alvarez. "I think it's terrible, I think its terrible for all people that have family members in jail because they can't see their relatives." www.msnbc.msn.com...

H1N1 Egypt : Egypt reports first swine flu death (via @Flu_alert) #H1N1/Egypt

from tweetdeck

BM News: 28-year-old woman Egypt’s first H1N1 death

CAIRO: Egypt’s health ministry reported Sunday evening that a 28-year-old woman returning to Egypt from a pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia has died as a result of the H1N1 influenza virus, becoming the first fatality in the North African nation. According to The Daily News Egypt, there have been 120 reported cases in Egypt.

Ministry spokesman Abdel Rahman Shahin reported that the woman, Samah El Sayed Salim, died Sunday after having returned to Egypt three days ago from Saudi Arabia from complications of the virus.

Shahin said that the woman had suffered heart and blood problem, which could have complicated the condition with the flu virus.

The death comes as Egypt continues to discuss whether or not to cancel the Haj – the Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca required of all able Muslims. The death will likely spur the debate further.

The Associated Press reported that Lebanon’s leading Shiite cleric Mohamed Hussein Fadlallah said that those Muslims who have concerns about contracting the H1N1 virus are permitted to remain at home this year.

The number of cases of swine flu cases in the Arab countries has been growing, with Saudi Arabia recording the highest number of cases.

The World Health Organization and the ministry have expressed worries that the virus could mutate with the dealy H5N1 avian flu to create an even more deadly disease, but this has not yet occurred.

For a detailed look at the cases in Egypt, Bikya Masr has a timeline of all 112 cases, having not yet confirmed the 8 reported today by The Daily News Egypt.

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[edit on 19-7-2009 by JBA2848]

Working document on surveillance and control measures for the pandemic (H1N1) 2009influenza virus in pigs

2.3. Possible scenarios in the future
Two main hypothetical scenarios are considered:
1- Mild/moderate disease in pigs
􀂃 This scenario corresponds to the current situation/knowledge. No significant change in the behaviour of the pandemic virus as compared with other swine influenza viruses.
2.- Significant changes in the severity of the disease caused by the pandemic virus in pigs or humans1 (several possibilities - worst case)
􀂃 The virus might evolve and change its virulence leading to an increased transmissibility. However, there is no substantive data to suggest that past influenza viruses have increased in virulence in mammalian species, especially in pigs and therefore there are no substantive data suggesting that the pandemic virus is likely to develop increased virulence for people or other mammalian species.
􀂃 The disease might become endemic in the pig population in Europe. This is a distinct possibility and a more severe clinical picture with an increased morbidity and an increased mortality might be observed. However, in the absence of significant genetic change to an existing strain of influenza, increased disease severity with influenza in mammalian hosts it is normally only seen in association with concurrent disease.
􀂃 Infected pigs may prove to be a possible and serious source of infection for humans (increased zoonotic character). A sustained circulation of this virus in pigs may pose an additional risk for transmission to humans in close contact with infected pigs.
􀂃 Possible epidemics in pigs may hamper trade with pigs and may cause major economic
losses.

Swine flu death toll still rising

The number of people to die with swine flu is continuing to rise, with 32 deaths now recorded in Australia.

The latest figure follows the death of a middle-aged man in the Northern Territory yesterday morning, who also had underlying medical conditions.

At noon yesterday (AEST), Australia had 12-thousand-and-48 cases of the virus, with 194 people in intensive care.
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Final sermon: A pastor leaves his flock a message of love

"You accept what God gives you," she says. "Life is a privilege. It's not something you have a right to. You can't say, 'I deserve this, or this wasn't right.' Life is life. Everybody has bad things they go through."

I don't agree that "Life is a privilege. It's not something you have a right to." Maybe thats some NWO type saying but to me "I have a right to live."