Unusual strain of flu from Mexico

[Michael OLeary]

And, being an Afghan pig, he'd have to be the one that goes to market ... and blows himself up in revenge.

But that wouldn't be kosher would it?

 

[1feral1]

On the news here, its been reported in Egypt, they've murdered every pig in the whole country as a countermeasure of the swine flu. Sillyness!

I had pancakes and bacon (nice, thin and crisp) on Sunday morning. It sure was good, all cooked an a BBQ hot plate.

There's something about an infidel, isn't there.  :nod:


Cheers,

Wes

 

[benny88]

Anyone else think that the world has bigger problems which have less recognition than swine flu? My condolences to the families of the people who have died, but 26 people pales in the face of other problems. The fear machine keeps turning.

 

[Michael OLeary]

For most people, the only issues are those that make the headlines of the day, and their attention spans last about as long as the media spotlight on an issue.

The media thinks for them, in bold font headlines and 15-second sound bites.

 

[JBoyd]

I get the distinct feeling the media is blowing this swine flu thing way out of proportion. They tell you there are X cases in B.C. but they never inform you just how many people died this flu season from the common flu

 

[vonGarvin]

I just hope that this drives down the price of live swine.  I'm about to purchase some pigs, and I could use a discount

 

[JBoyd]

I just hope that this drives down the price of live swine.  I'm about to purchase some pigs, and I could use a discount

Maybe, but it is also most likely going to destroy the Mexican tourism market, if not already has.

 

[JSR OP]

But that wouldn't be kosher would it?

I think the term your looking for is halal, not kosher.

 

[Danjanou]

Maybe, but it is also most likely going to destroy the Mexican tourism market, if not already has.

Yeah like holding Canadian tourists hostage and threatening them last month in Cancun after Conquest Vacations went belly up hasn’t already. That and the oh murdering one Canadian tourist in Acapulco , another in Los Cabos and that couple in Playa Del Carmen a while back. The one where the cops destroyed evidence, contaminated the crime scene and tossed the blame on two soccer moms from Thunder Bay rather than the security with ties to the cartels who went AWOL the next day.

Toss in the ongoing turf war between rival cartels this year with a body count in excess of 1,000. Yup Mexico will sure be getting my vacation dollars this year…..not. :

On the bright side Pork is on sale at Dominion and I’ve got a BBQ planned for Sunday. 8)

 

[Shec]

As of today there are a 1516 reported swine flu cases worldwide amongst a world wide population of 6.77 billion.  This makes it a global pandemic?????  A media provoked panic, most certainly !  I'd write more but I really must go & wash my hands, the papers tell me that I may have contracted the virus while I was trying to calculate the statistical significance on my calculator which needs another couple of dozen decimal places, excuse me.

 

[PMedMoe]

As of today there are a 1516 reported swine flu cases worldwide amongst a world wide population of 6.77 billion.  This makes it a global pandemic?????

Definition: A global disease outbreak.
A pandemic is a worldwide epidemic that, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), has to meet three conditions:

The microbe infects and causes serious illness in humans.
Humans do not have immunity against the virus.
The virus spreads easily from person-to-person and survives within humans.

Source

You also have to remember that pandemic refers to how quickly the disease can spread.  For instance, the U.S. had 403 (reported) cases as of this morning.  Now the number is >620 reported. Is this slow diagnosis/lab results/reporting or is it starting to spread faster?  Who knows?

I'd write more but I really must go & wash my hands, the papers tell me that I may have contracted the virus while I was trying to calculate the statistical significance on my calculator which needs another couple of dozen decimal places, excuse me.

Only if someone with the virus has been using your calculator. 

 

[Kat Stevens]

We're missing a golden opportunity here.  Weaponize the virus and spray it all over the taliban controlled areas.  Get into heaven now, pricks.





added, just in case: ;D    8)

 

[Michael OLeary]

Is this slow diagnosis/lab results/reporting or is it starting to spread faster?  Who knows?

Only if someone with the virus has been using your calculator. 

Just a minute, I'll plug the numbers into my global pandemic computer model.  The contractors wasted no expense providing this tool to the world for the betterment of [wo]mankind.    ;D

 

[CougarKing]

This is just a suggestion. Maybe this should be merged with the main swine flu thread?

 

[CougarKing]

USS Dubuque. The US Navy said Tuesday a warship's crew member became ill with swine flu and 50 others showed symptoms, leading military officials to cancel a scheduled deployment to the South Pacific. (AFP/US NAVY/File/Gregory Badger)

http://www.military.com/news/article/navy-cancels-deployment-due-to-swine-flu.html

Navy Cancels Deployment Due to Swine Flu
May 06, 2009
Associated Press


WASHINGTON - The Navy canceled the deployment of a San Diego-based ship and ordered its crew to be treated with anti-viral drugs after a crew member's illness was confirmed as swine flu.

Navy spokesman Lt. Sean Robertson said Tuesday there also were about 50 suspected cases of the virus from crew members on board the USS Dubuque. He said the crew member with the virus and those suspected of being ill from it have completed treatment with the anti-viral drug Tamiflu and are recovering.

Poll: Is the Navy overreacting to the Swine Flu threat?

Robertson said the ship's deployment was canceled out of an "abundance of caution." The ship was scheduled to leave June 1 on a humanitarian mission to the South Pacific for assistance on projects such as medical and construction operations.

The Navy was exploring options to still meet its commitments, Robertson said.

RELATED VIDEO:


As a precaution, the other 370 crew members who were not showing symptoms of the virus began taking preventive treatment at the beginning of the month. Those showing symptoms and the crew member confirmed to be ill from the virus were recovering at home and in quarters provided by the Navy, he said.

The USS Dubuque, an amphibious transport dock ship, is now being cleaned and disinfected at the naval base in San Diego

Soldiers load into a military aircraft boxes of relief supplies donated by the Chinese government to Mexico to help battle the outbreak of swine flu at the International airport in Mexico City, Tuesday, May 5, 2009. The aid consists of 6,300 boxes of medical and hygiene equipment.
(AP Photo/Miguel Tovar)

 

[Michael OLeary]

For a little additional perspective:

Five Disease Outbreaks That Are Worse Than Swine Flu

Article link.

By Joshua Keating
Posted May 2009

CHOLERA

a cholera outbreak that began in August 2008 has infected more than 96,000 people in Zimbabwe, resulting in over 4,200 deaths.

SPINAL MENINGITIS

Since the beginning of 2009, a meningitis outbreak has killed more than 1,900 people in the three countries -- 1,500 in Nigeria alone.

AIDS

China has attracted international attention for the draconian measures it has taken to prevent a swine flu outbreak, but it has been less quick to react to the AIDS epidemic that killed 7,000 people throughout the country in the first nine months of 2008 alone.

EBOLA

The most recent outbreak of the disease in Congo was declared over in mid-February after 32 cases and 15 deaths. 2007's outbreak was more severe, resulting in 187 deaths, 71 percent of those affected.

DENGUE FEVER

While the world's attention has been focused on Mexico's swine flu, a severe dengue outbreak infected 50,000 people in Bolivia and more than 20,000 in Argentina. .... the death toll is thought to be in the hundreds.

More at link.

 

[Michael OLeary]

The pandemic continues:

More than 2,000 cases of swine flu worldwide, 44 deaths: WHO

World health officials continue to see new human-to-human transmissions of swine flu in North America, but not on other continents, the World Health Organization said Thursday.

But the UN's top flu expert also warned the new strain of H1N1 flu virus still has the potential to infect up to two billion people in the next several months if it develops into a pandemic.

Dr. Keiji Fukuda, the World Health Organization's acting assistant director-general, said the figure wasn't a prediction, but that past experience with flu pandemics indicated it is "reasonable" to expect that up to a third or more of the world's population could get infected in the case of a pandemic.

More at link.

But, more importantly:

'Eating pork is not a danger,' UN health agency says

Your bacon is safe.

 

[c_canuk]

average of 36 000 people are killed by the common flu in just the united states yearly...

http://www.abcactionnews.com/news/local/story/Common-flu-far-more-deadly-than-swine-flu-in-U-S/SYwVqQF_3Umy0qY3qhp9zQ.cspx

the swine flu hysteria is pure hype

 

[CougarKing]

Yikes. And the Swine Flu kills its first victim in Canada.

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/090508/national/flu_cda

By The Canadian Press

EDMONTON - Provincial health officials confirmed Friday that swine flu was a contributing factor in the death of a northern Alberta woman who had other chronic medical conditions.


It's the first death in Canada associated with the global H1N1 outbreak.


Dr. Andre Corriveau said the woman was in her 30s. He said her other medical conditions were originally blamed for her death on April 28. But health officials went back and did tests after a relative contracted a mild form of the swine flu illness on May 5.


Those tests came back positive for the virus.


"There is nothing that is really different for us from a public health perspective," Corriveau said, adding the patient only had a mild form of the flu and it is not known exactly what role it played in her death.


Dr. Gerry Predy, a senior medical officer of health, said more may be known about her case after the final pathology report is finished next week.


The woman had no history of travel to Mexico, where the outbreak began. It appears that she gave the virus to the relative who tested positive, but there is no way to tell for sure, officials said.


The 300 people who attended the woman's funeral are now being monitored for any signs of the illness. Officials would not release exactly where the woman lived.


Corriveau said the woman's age is not a concern for health officials because she had other medical conditions, putting her at increased risk of serious consequences from the flu.


"It's something that happens usually in vulnerable people whatever age they might be at," he said. "I don't think the age is much relevant here. It's really the cluster of underlying conditions that would make somebody vulnerable."


Corriveau noted that every year about 4,000 Canadians die of the flu and a high percentage of them have another condition that put them at increased risk.


A total of 44 people have died of the flu strain in Mexico and two in the U.S.


There are 243 confirmed cases of the outbreak strain of H1N1 in Canada.


Alberta confirmed nine new cases Friday, including the woman who died, for a total of 42. Ontario reported six new cases on Friday, bringing the total there to 62.


Quebec health officials said four new cases had been confirmed in that province on Friday, bringing the total there to 15.


Nova Scotia confirmed three more cases, bringing the total there to 56. British Columbia confirmed six new cases for a total of 60. Prince Edward Island confirmed one new case for a total of three. Nearly all of the cases in Canada have been mild.


Newfoundland and Labrador, as well as the three territories, haven't officially reported any cases.

The World Health Organization said Thursday that up to two billion people could be infected by swine flu if the current outbreak turns into a pandemic.

 

[CougarKing]

Just an update:

Agence France-Presse - 5/9/2009 9:22 AM GMT
Australia reports first case of swine flu
Australia on Saturday reported its first case of swine flu, after a woman tested positive for the disease as she returned from a trip to the United States, the government said.

"We have a person who had contracted the disease overseas and has fully recovered by the time they returned to Australia," Health Minister Nicola Roxon said.

"This person identified themselves to a border nurse... to explain that she had been ill. It is understood that the person contracted and recovered from the disease while overseas and recovered by the time she flew back into Australia."

As a precaution, Roxon said authorities were contacting other passengers who were on the 28-year-old's flight from Los Angeles, which arrived in Australia on Thursday.

The woman was likely no longer infectious when she was in transit and had tested "weakly" positive, with the flu strain detected at a very low count, Roxon said.

It had been more than a week since the woman was first ill and she was not displaying any symptoms, but presented herself to medical staff at Brisbane airport for a swab, Roxon said.

She had been travelling through the US by herself and began experiencing "typical flu-like symptoms" on April 27, said Jeanette Young, Queensland state's chief health officer.

"She has fully recovered and the experts believe that she was not infectious on that flight travelling from LA through to Brisbane," Young said.

A total of 567 Australians have been tested for the disease, and 18 are awaiting results, Roxon said, adding that despite the confirmed case, the government has decided not to elevate its pandemic threat level to the containment phase.

"This is clearly a serious development but we are in a situation where the best medical advice seems to be indicating that this person would not have been infectious," she said.

"Because at this stage there is no evidence of any live infection in Australia the advice currently is for us not to change that alert level."

Mexico has been at the epicentre of the global A(H1N1) flu epidemic, with most deaths recorded there, but the United States on Friday became the country with the highest number of patients, confirming 1,639 cases in 43 states.

The World Health Organization (WHO) meanwhile said that 2,500 people in 26 countries had tested positive for the virus.