Swine Flu news and updates thread

haika:

Do any of you know if the virus affects pets?

It have good chances in a later mutation, but not at this stage.

Mexico: US Embassy Halts Issuing US Visas to Mexican Citizens Until 5 May.

Finally... only May 5? What about until the virus is cured?

Not sure if anyone has posted this yet.
www.idemc.org...

Is a world map of and up to date count of, deaths & infections

[edit on 27/4/2009 by wycky]

reply to post by dainoyfb


Yes I saw the post about 16 minutes but I did not think that was reliable, it sounded more like a guess.

How long can viruses live outside the body?

We know that some viruses and bacteria can live 2 hours or longer on surfaces like cafeteria tables, doorknobs, and desks. Frequent handwashing will help you reduce the chance of getting contamination from these common surfaces

Keep in mind it says 'viruses' not just the swine flu, it is a mutation, so it may be able to last longer.
edit to add= link to source:www.cdc.gov...





[edit on 27-4-2009 by space cadet]

For those of you asking what masks you should buy i would recomend ffp3 grade masks with a valve. (ffp3 equals N100) If you want to see what grade 3M masks are, it is the ones with red marking on the valve or red headbands.
To bad they are that costly.

Zyk

[edit on 27-4-2009 by Zykloner]

[edit on 27-4-2009 by Zykloner]

**There's been lots of talk regarding why the fatality rate in Mexico seems so high, when there has not yet been a case of severe illness or death elsewhere.

One explanation for this is that the total number of infections in Mexico is likely much, much higher than reported. Mexico is a developing country and only the most severe cases would have been noticed or counted by health officials. . . . So, if there really were a total of 10-30k cases in Mexico, ~80 deaths does not give that high of a mortality rate. Definitely nothing approaching that of the Spanish flu, and possibly not high enough to result in a serious pandemic.**


that's likely true. i said before i think we're just getting horrible data out of mexico, most of it skewed to the alarmist side.

total cases is no-doubt grossly understated, confirmed deaths is likely overstated by co-mingling with suspected deaths, and reports of health care providers dying is probably sensationalized.

two scenarios . . . one being lots of cases with few deaths, the other being fewer cases with greater severity . . .

if it's the former, you're NOT going to see a noticeable rise in health care worker death. you see that with truly nasty pathogens, like ebola.

if it's the later, you would certainly have seen deaths in america by now. no two ways about it. there is too much contact between mexico and the states for a killer bug not to have killed in the states in a 3-week plus time period.

neither of those scenarios make sense given what we hear. and when that happen, it's almost always because your data sucks.

my hunch, we're looking at many cases, a much lower mortality rate than it appears, and little in the way of actual health care provider death due to this flu.

even that can be bad. flu is a killer in any configuration. flu other than the 1918 spanish flu have selectively killed young adults, the asian flu and the hong kong flu both killed proportionately more young adults than other seasonal flus.

none of this strikes me as being too novel. human/pig/bird flu virus has been re-assorting as long as there have been humans and pigs and birds. this flu will kill . . . but a pandemic? odds are against it.

we're overdue though, this could be it, no doubt. just saying if you're a betting person, bet against it.

a little before my time, but this reminds me more of the hong kong flu and asian flu than anything else. from wiki:

CONT'D

**The Hong Kong Flu was a category 2 flu pandemic caused by a strain of H3N2 descended from H2N2 by antigenic shift, in which genes from multiple subtypes reassorted to form a new virus. This pandemic of 1968 and 1969 killed an estimated one million people worldwide.[5][6][7] The pandemic infected an estimated 500,000 Hong Kong residents, 15% of the population, with a low death rate.[8] In the United States, approximately 33,800 people died.[9]

Both the H2N2 and H3N2 pandemic flu strains contained genes from avian influenza viruses. The new subtypes arose in pigs coinfected with avian and human viruses and were soon transferred to humans. Swine were considered the original "intermediate host" for influenza, because they supported reassortment of divergent subtypes.**

hong kong flu is suspected to have derived from and earlier flu, the asian flu of 1957 . . .

**The "Asian Flu" was a category 2 flu pandemic outbreak of avian influenza that originated in China in early 1956 lasting until 1958. It originated from mutation in wild ducks combining with a pre-existing human strain.[5] The virus was first identified in Guizhou.[6] It spread to Singapore in February 1957, reached Hong Kong by April, and US by June. Death toll in the US was approximately 69,800.[5] Estimates of worldwide infection rate varies widely depending on source, ranging from 1 million to 4 million.

Asian Flu was of the H2N2 strain (a notation that refers to the configuration of the hemagglutinin and neuraminidase proteins in the virus) of type A influenza, and a influenza vaccine was developed in 1957 to contain its outbreak.

The Asian Flu strain later evolved via antigenic shift into H3N2 which caused a milder pandemic from 1968 to 1969.[7]

Both the H2N2 and H3N2 pandemic strains contained avian influenza virus RNA segments. "While the pandemic human influenza viruses of 1957 (H2N2) and 1968 (H3N2) clearly arose through reassortment between human and avian viruses, the influenza virus causing the 'Spanish flu' in 1918 appears to be entirely derived from an avian source (Belshe 2005)."**

so again, this type of reassortment isn't novel. this mexican flu will have a long way to go before it can even be spoken of in the same terms as either the asian or hong kong flu, let alone the spanish flu.

it *could* get worse and become more virulent next year as some have posted about, but that would be the exception not the norm.

it *could* become the next great pandemic flu, but again, that would be the exception, even though we're over due.

believe it or not, we're in better position to monitor, isolate, and treat flu victims now than we were 40 years ago.

my hunch: this is just going to be another bad flu, short of pandemic, which is plenty bad enough.

oh yeah, and that our mexican data sucks.

Originally posted by space cadet
I have yet to see anywhere how long it can live outside the human body

How long can viruses live outside the body? We know that some viruses and bacteria can live 2 hours or longer on surfaces like cafeteria tables, doorknobs, and desks. Frequent handwashing will help you reduce the chance of getting contamination from these common surfaces.

Source


That's what they are saying now, but if you Google "influenza-A live days surfaces" you get several sources that say that strain lives for up to 2 days on surfaces. This being a hybrid..........who knows.

This flu has been in Mexico for three weeks - which the Mexican government didn't take seriously first. It is very worrying, the amount of tourists who travelled around Mexico itself and then back to their country of origin.

Judging by the comments coming for the Mexican doctors, this disease is not under control.

Whether you believe in a god or not, pray this is not true.

I'm a specialist doctor in respiratory diseases and intensive care at the Mexican National Institute of Health. There is a severe emergency over the swine flu here. More and more patients are being admitted to the intensive care unit. Despite the heroic efforts of all staff (doctors, nurses, specialists, etc) patients continue to inevitably die. The truth is that anti-viral treatments and vaccines are not expected to have any effect, even at high doses. It is a great fear among the staff. The infection risk is very high among the doctors and health staff.

There is a sense of chaos in the other hospitals and we do not know what to do. Staff are starting to leave and many are opting to retire or apply for holidays. The truth is that mortality is even higher than what is being reported by the authorities, at least in the hospital where I work it. It is killing three to four patients daily, and it has been going on for more than three weeks. It is a shame and there is great fear here. Increasingly younger patients aged 20 to 30 years are dying before our helpless eyes and there is great sadness among health professionals here.
Antonio Chavez, Mexico City

SOURCE:news.bbc.co.uk...

Chinese virologist: "We are counting down to a pandemic" & "WHO is always very cautious about raising its alert system but its wasting time"

So basically this chinese virologist is saying that it will turn into a pandemic... just like Napolitano said.

And yes, WHO is wasting time. CLOSE Mexico airports. Close the US-Mexico border. Close the Guatamela-Mexico border. Close the belize-Mexico border. Close Mexico ports. Get off the shelves all porcine products from Mexico-US.

It started in Mexico city. The situation is covered up from all the reports from doctors in Mexico City.

[edit on 27-4-2009 by Vitchilo]

Originally posted by infinite
This flu has been in Mexico for three weeks - which the Mexican government didn't take seriously first.

kinda like what's happening with Morgellons in the states huh?

yeah. .that's what I thought....

since swine flu kills people with healthy immune systems by overloading their immune system.. and it's their immune system that kills them..

then do people with AIDS go unaffected?
something to ponder.

-

[edit on 27-4-2009 by prevenge]

Mexico: US Embassy Halts Issuing US Visas to Mexican Citizens Until 5 May.

ive been watching this very closely from the uk.
my wife has gone to work this morning and one of the men who work with her is married to a HR director for the NHS, my wife was telling him about my interest in this and that i mentioned stockpiling foods, he told her that they started doing this 2 or so years ago, his wife told him that it was a matter of WHEN not IF this happens that they needed to be prepaired, and that if it did hit the uk that they would be sitting it out at home and not comming out till the end.
Ive been down to my local Tescos ( store ) and bought stuff to put away in the hope i dont need it.
ive bought pasta, rice, bottled water, long life milk, canned beans, canned spagetti etc etc.
can anyone tell me what is needed should this kick off in the uk ?
many thanks
binkatonk

reply to post by Vitchilo


I was just reading what he said, here it is in full :

"A Chinese virologist who helped fight SARS and bird flu warned on Monday of a possible swine flu pandemic saying that the most populous countries in Asia like China and India would be ill-prepared to handle the outbreak.

"We are counting down to a pandemic," Guan Yi was quoted as saying. Guan, a professor at the University of Hong Kong, helped trace the outbreak of SARS in 2003 to the civet cat. "I think the spread of this virus in humans cannot possibly be contained within a short time...there are already cases in almost every region," he added.

Guan, who has been studying and tracking the spread of the H5N1 bird flu virus ever since it was discovered in people in Hong Kong in 1997, said there would be many problems if swine flu reached China and India, where populations are so dense and health infrastructure is still insufficient."

source to full article

My partner was watching a clip of the NY briefing last night and he said he felt chilled to the core watching the guys face as he spoke, saying he could see they were playing it down and how the speaker was clearly in the know of the situation being REALLY bad. My partner has never reacted to something like this before and was speaking to me in this hushed, serious voice about prepping which is SO unlike him.

reply to post by binkatonk


I'm in Cardiff Bink so a fellow UK-er. 2 years or so ago I went mental buying stuff after the media first gave the threat attention. I bought all sorts of stuff that simply got wasted as I didn't plan it through. I was only able to go mass buying as my Dad had died and left some cash at the time. I don't have the same at my disposal anymore, but am going to be mass buying if it looks like the crap is going to hit the fan and meanwhile will be getting a certain percentage of what I need.

My advice is to write a list of EVERYTHING you normally need and use in terms of food, household items, cleaning products, personal items - stuff that you shop for as a matter of course but stick to the BASICS. Last time I must have gone and bought about 200 cans of soup and I don't even eat soup and it all went in the bin in the end !! Before buying CHECK SELL BY DATES as some stuff will have 2 years on it, others not so long.

This time around instead of willy-nilly buying I'm planning a 14 day menu with the idea being to rotate the menu every 2 weeks. I'm sticking mostly to meals you can prepare from cans and put with pasta, rice or other pulses but will fill the freezer with protein produce and forzen vege. I don't notmally eat frozen vege or tinned fruit, we always buy fresh, but in the event it looks bad I would advise getting tinned fruit/vege and so on in case of shortages there. We wouldn't leave the house if a bad wave hit so you need to factor in foods that have vitamins in them. i'm trying to buy organic as well where possible .

I am planning for 6 months worth of every basic plus a few extras. Don't forget other things like candles, batteries, printer ink, paper, books if you are to be stuck at home, medical bits and bobs, a portable gas fire perhaps (maybe services would get disrupted?)....just brain storm a list of everything you normally use and stuff you'd need in more of an emergency situation

reply to post by detachedindividual
Conspiracy???

Did someone mention Conspiracy???

www.abovetopsecret.com...

www.abovetopsecret.com...

www.abovetopsecret.com...

www.abovetopsecret.com...

www.abovetopsecret.com...

www.abovetopsecret.com...

www.abovetopsecret.com...

A good enough "start" fer ya???

Swine flu outbreak hits NYC school

NEW YORK — Cleaning crews spent the day scrubbing down every desk, chair and classroom at a New York City school.

Infected students spent the weekend in bed wearing surgical masks.

Anxious parents pestered their kids through the night by constantly checking their temperature.

The swine flu outbreak that has spread throughout the country appears to have hit New York City the hardest in the United States, with more than 100 people possibly infected at a large Roman Catholic high school in Queens.

www.troyrecord.com...

do you think that if it did go tits up and the uk was hit, that there would be a lockdown type event. i mean people stay in, dont go to work, dont go outside, glued to tv's and internet ?
im just trying to get a picture of what may or may not happen

I have just read that there are 7 cases in Australia that may be the Swine Flu, but have to wait for testing,.... which will take 1 WEEK!!!.
Shouldn't these Test be carried out ASAP? i don't understand how they can leave it for a week.

www.news.com.au...

The Icons on the Google maps will tell you

reply to post by wycky


They dont wait for a week, the tests take that long.

-Zyk