Swine Flu news and updates thread

Outbreak like swine flu predicted 14 monts ago

A team of scientists predicted more than a year ago that Mexico and other tropical locales were emerging "hotspots" for so-called zoonotic diseases that jump from animals to humans, getting it right on the newly reported swine flu.

Don't know if anyone has posted this.

88 Australians suspected of swine flu

Eighty-eight Australians are feared to have contracted swine flu, with the search on for another 22 who were on the same flight as three New Zealand students now confirmed as being infected.

Federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon has called on Governor-General Quentin Bryce to ensure chief medical officer Jim Bishop can enact Australia's quarantine powers, if required, for suspected swine flu cases.

This means authorities will have the power to detain people suspected of having the potentially deadly virus.

news.ninemsn.com.au...

This seems to be just getting worse and worse.


[edit on 28-4-2009 by TheKingsVillian]

Hello my ATS peeps i live in houston and i sense something wicked this way comes.we had this morning at leats 11 inches of rain,from nowhere alot of businesses and schools are closed and massive flooding,but if you watch the news clips many children and people are playing in the stagnant water...and we all knw stagnant water is a breeding ground for germs keep an eye on the houston area

Hopefully this hasn't already been posted, just updated from the BBC:

WHO spokesman Mr Hartl said there are a number of cases in New York "which appear to be human-to-human transmission".

He said if the New York cases were confirmed, the WHO was likely to raise its alert to level five.

Sooo, basically if the Human-human cases in New York are confirmed then a pandemic is imminent? Scary stuff.

(Source: news.bbc.co.uk...)

By Fergus Maguire

Feb. 10 (Bloomberg) -- Panasonic Corp. has instructed Japanese workers assigned to parts of Asia, Africa, Eastern Europe and South America to send family members back to Japan because of the risk of outbreaks of new influenza strains, Nikkei English News said, without citing anyone.

The Osaka-based electronics maker has asked workers' families to return home by the end of September, the report said, adding it was not known how many people were affected by the decision.

Link

and this dated 4th April

H5N1 Avian Virus Adapting to Pigs, Closer to Human Variation

The deadly H5N1 virus, a scourge among avian species in Asia, appears to have adapted to operate in swine populations, a report in the Archives of Virology finds.

Humans are most commonly infected by avian flu varieties, but swine infections happen occasionally. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that humans were infected by swine varieties at least twice this flu season.

It is not clear whether or not the H5N1 virus has truly adapted to swine.

"If these viruses have gone into swine, I think the key is whether they become established in swine. If that happened, we'd be concerned. I think the consensus now is that pigs are like humans; they can be infected, but it's unlikely there'd be a lot of transmission," said Richard Webby, PhD, a virologist, flu researcher, and associate member of the Department of Infectious Diseases at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, in the Center for Infectious Disease Research & Policy report.

The certainty is that the virus is introducing new combinations into the ecology. It is a matter of time before one of these combinations crosses the threshold into human populations.
Link

[edit on 28-4-2009 by IamNow]

reply to post by Grego


I can confirm this.

There are multiply sources suggesting this. Let us hope the cases in New York turn out to be false - even though Mayor Bloomberg said there is a significant cluster.

Buffalo, NY
"State health officials are looking at two possible swine flu cases in Chautauqua County. "This is a rapidly changing situation," state Health Commissioner Richard Daines "

AP -officials say number of USA confirmed cases now stands at 64 - Sky News

[edit on 28-4-2009 by jonny2410]

Latest from CDC

CDC Announces More Confirmed Swine Flu Cases

Tuesday, Apr 28, 2009 @11:25am CST

(Atlanta, GA) -- The swine flu outbreak in the U.S. is now at 64 cases.

The Centers for Disease Control reports that number and also confirms a number of the people afflicted have been hospitalized.

The CDC says cases have now been confirmed in California, Kansas, New York City, Ohio and Texas.

The agency has activated its emergency operations center in response to the outbreak.

Incidents of swine flu are starting to spread around the world.

The South Korean government raised its health alert level and further heightened quarantine measures against swine flu on Tuesday after confirming the nation's first patient suspected of swine flu

reply to post by TheCoffinman


Edited to say I just found the link, coffinman you are fast, you got that link up pretty fast! LOL

I just called a local news station and they got that information around 11:00 this morning.

I say we are doing pretty well getting info out there.

Bad news, they are testing for a couple of cases right here in our county. YIKES is all I can say, YIKES, FOR REAL.

[edit on 4/28/2009 by redhead57]

I believe this is the work of man, not nature. I can't believe this complex and far reaching of a genetic hybrid just so happened...

Be smart, be safe.

I'm sure they felt that way in 1918 as well.

It's not so much far reaching as man is. People travel all over the planet these days. It also is neither unusual or unexpected. I posted on FB a PSA on swine flu from the 70's. It is also no more or less lethal than most flus. 25,000 US citizens die every year from flu. This is just another strain.

Originally posted by redhead57
reply to post by TheCoffinman

 

I live in Rochester and just googled suspected swine flu in Buffalo....this is just too close for comfort.....do you have a link to that for me????

YIKES, good thing I found that mask, eh!

www.buffalonews.com...

Ok this thing is spreading fast now, 23 others suspected of swine flu is Scotland. I staying home for the next few days as a precaution, better safe than sorry

Dr. Rebecca Carley just stated on the AJ show that if and when the WHO raises the level to "5" that the WHO will require governments to do a 'manditory vaccination' of the public.....

Also this would require that some type of travel ID card be carried durning travel...........

[edit on 28-4-2009 by Cloudsinthesky]

reply to post by TheCoffinman


Crap, this is getting way to close to home now. And to top it off, my 8 yr old came down with something yesterday. She goes to her doctor in the morning, but it is taking every ounce of energy in me to fight off my over-protective mommy instinct & take her to the ER today.

She had a fever of 103.5, med's keep it down around 100. She's lethargic, has no appetite, stuffed nose, nausea & some dizziness. She was fine the day before, but she was just yuck yesterday morning.

Any other time & I would not be worried, but with what is going on, I'm finding it hard not to. I've been glued to the computer & news on tv trying to see if I have a reason to be concerned, wondering if it will hit closer to home & now it has come to my neck of the woods. I can say it now, I'm officially worried.

i understand the panic beacuse of the simple fact the virus is spreading very fast but then again it just seems to be a slightly harsher version of the normal flu.. no deaths at all outside of mexico. What is there to be worried about?

Ha, I hope it doesn't get much worse, I just got my work assignment and will be heading for Los Angeles later today.

Oh well, I'll take my cameras and if anything extraordinary happens I'll document it and post it.

a 3rd suspected swine flu case in cortland county, NY

Originally posted by Cloudsinthesky
Dr. Rebecca Carley just stated on the AJ show that if and when the WHO raises the level to "5" that the WHO will require governments to do a 'manditory vaccination' of the public.....

Also this would require that some type of travel ID card be carried durning travel...........

[edit on 28-4-2009 by Cloudsinthesky]

Oh no they won't, not me. I am old enough to clearly remember having to stand in a line waiting to get that vaccination back in 76, I was 19 at the time. I can only hope there is a way to avoid them. Probably won't help that I am on disability either, easy to find and keep track of. And the story continues....