Flu Outbreak in Mexico

[bwframe]

What they won't say on the news, for fear of killing an industry, is that this would be a time to start eating at home. The same idea would lean to packing your lunch.

Most restaurants are a roll of the dice as far as employee sanitation and food handling go anyway. Add this bug to that mix and what do you have?

 

[Sailor]

The genome sequence for this strain is available.

If you are a smarty you can interpret the data, otherwise the comments by other smarties are interesting.

sequences at genbank ! - FluTrackers

 

[United]

just hit me last night..my youngest boys technical soccer instructor just got back from Mexico City....a guy that sits two offices over from me also just got back from there last week. I am washing my hands like a madman and so are the kids!

 

[misconfig]

Virus Alarm in Switzerland: Swine Flu Container Explodes on Train - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News - International

 

[Richard]

Quick update for everyone, me, my wife & my daughter now all have it, we all stayed home today & we're all running small fevers & have sore throats along w/some coughing & aching.

None of us have gone to the doctor to test to see if it's this "swine flu" that's being talked about or another variety of influenza flu bug, I really dont see a reason to do so as so far it doesn't seem any more severe than any other flu.

 

[SavageEagle]

Quick update for everyone, me, my wife & my daughter now all have it, we all stayed home today & we're all running small fevers & have sore throats along w/some coughing & aching.

None of us have gone to the doctor to test to see if it's this "swine flu" that's being talked about or another variety of influenza flu bug, I really dont see a reason to do so as so far it doesn't seem any more severe than any other flu.

Sorry to hear! Lots and lots of fluids, bed, but becareful not to shove too much meds in you. I'd hate to see you ruin your immune system. Especially since it's not deadly here.

 

[melensdad]

Melensdad, I hope that it is just the plain old garden variety flu. Let us know how she gets along.

Seriously. With the way this virus is, I wouldn't take any chances.

OK here is an update.

Mel's whole class is sick. She attends St John The Evangelist Catholic School in St John, IN (Lake County).

The 8th grade kids are getting ready for "confirmation" into the Catholic Church, they all attended a 2.5 day long retreat at Andrean Catholic High School (Merrillville, IN/Lake County) beginning Friday. There were children from SEVERAL OTHER SCHOOLS present at the retreat. I know that kids from the LAKE CENTRAL, the HANOVER TOWNSHIP and the TRI-CREEK school districts were in attendance. I do not know how many other school districts had some children represented at the event. It was called the "Source & Summit" and it was primarily attended by 8th grade students. While this event was limited to CATHOLIC children, the students came from BOTH PUBLIC and Catholic Schools.

Now I know of at least one student who attended who vacationed in Mexico over her spring break a couple weeks ago. I know of one who vacationed in southern California. There were probably many more. That all said, there is NO REASON to think this is the "swine flu" and it is statistically far more likely to be any of the common seasonal flues that are ALREADY common in this area and ALREADY spreading.

But just to be safe, I made a bacon sandwich for lunch

 

[smokingman]

The World Health organization is raising the alert level to 5.As the cases in New York come back confirmed human to human transmitted.Had to go to BBC news to find that out.
BBC NEWS | Americas | More countries confirm swine flu
Also first death in Kalifornia.

 

[chromegrill]

there is a confirmed case at Notre Dame as of one hour ago, said he was sick last week but has tested positive...

 

[SavageEagle]

Anyone getting the symtoms had better go get checked out. I'd rather you all be safe than sorry. I know I HATE the doctor myself, but I don't want to see anyone on here fall victim to a pig farm virus being that most of us are bacon lovers!!!

 

[raiven]

SHOCKING Swine Flu Video, SCARY

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASilZYe3dn4]YouTube - SHOCKING Swine Flu Video, SCARY[/ame]




WHO awaits U.S. confirmation on human flu spread




* WHO awaits U.S. confirmation on sustained human spread

* If confirmed, phase 5 pandemic alert could be declared

* Questions remain on low mortality in Mexico

* Worldwide, cases confirmed to WHO rise to 79 with 7 deaths

(updates with Fukuda in paragraphs 7-9; new figures paragraph 16)

By Stephanie Nebehay

GENEVA, April 28 (Reuters) - The World Health Organisation said on Tuesday it awaited formal confirmation from U.S. authorities that the new swine flu virus has spread significantly between people, a sign that could indicate an "imminent" influenza pandemic.

Confirmation that infected people in two countries are spreading the new disease to their families or contacts in a sustained way would meet the WHO's criteria for declaring a phase 5 alert on its scale of 1 to 6.

The U.N. agency raised its pandemic alert level to phase 4 from phase 3 on Monday as the virus jumped to Europe.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on Monday some people who have had contact with confirmed cases were also developing flu-like symptoms.

"We're still awaiting for a final confirmation from the U.S. authorities, but it appears that there's a number of cases in New York which appear to be human-to-human transmission," WHO spokesman Gregory Hartl told a news briefing.

Such secondary transmission of the virus was "probable", he later told reporters, adding: "If we have a confirmation from the United States or Canada, we could move to phase 5."

U.S. authorities are studying an outbreak in New York where many schoolchildren have caught the disease after returning from a trip to Mexico.

Keiji Fukuda, acting WHO assistant director for health security and environment, said it was possible that the virus could spark widespread infection in areas of multiple countries -- setting off what could prove to be a "very mild pandemic".

"In New York City, some of the studies show people who became ill did not travel, again suggesting the virus has the ability to have person-to-person transmission, to transmit from travellers to people who did not travel," he told reporters.

"So there is definitely the possibility that this virus can establish that kind of community-wide capacity in multiple countries. It is definitely a very serious possibility."

The emergency committee recommended moving to phase 4 on Monday, but WHO has not announced any future meetings. Its experts could convene at any time to make such decisions.

People have occasionally caught swine flu from a pig but it has stopped there. Avian influenza has occasionally spread from one person to just one other person and stopped there.

But the new H1N1 flu appears to be spreading beyond that limited chain, which is what worries the WHO.



CENTRAL QUESTION

More than 15 WHO epidemiological experts have been deployed in Mexico to help authorities combat the outbreaks in Mexico City and other areas.

They are helping to collect new data and ensure that virus specimens are tested to shed new light on the epidemic which Fukuda hoped would be forthcoming in the near future.

So far, 26 swine flu cases in Mexico have been confirmed by laboratory testing, including seven deaths, according to WHO.

In all, the WHO has official laboratory confirmation of a total of 79 cases of the new swine flu virus worldwide. They include 40 confirmed cases in the United States, 26 in Mexico, 6 in Canada, 2 in Spain, 2 in Britain and 3 in New Zealand.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control said on Tuesday it had confirmed a total of 64 human cases of swine flu across the country.

The WHO's official total does not include 2 cases which have been announced by authorities in Israel. The Geneva-based agency requires formal legal notification of cases.

Mexican authorities say the new strain has killed up to 149 people in Mexico, but are still investigating.

A central question is why Mexico is the only country so far where deaths have been confirmed, although the mortality rate has been relatively low in relation to the number of cases, while elsewhere infections have been mild.

"We don't understand why the disease has been more severe in Mexico," Hartl said. (For more Reuters stories on swine flu, click on [nFLU]) (For more Reuters swine flu coverage, please click here: here ) (For WHO information on swine flu, go to: here ) (Editing by Jonathan Lynn and Sophie Hares)


WHO awaits U.S. confirmation on human flu spread | Reuters

 

[printcraft]

Virus Alarm in Switzerland: Swine Flu Container Explodes on Train - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News - International

Why? Why? and again Why? How do you have this stuff on board
and "accidently" break it open.

The genome sequence for this strain is available.

If you are a smarty you can interpret the data, otherwise the comments by other smarties are interesting.

sequences at genbank ! - FluTrackers

QUOTE FROM ABOVE

The Spanish flu of 1918 was a recombinant between swine H1N1 and human H1N1. In 2009 the swine is now in humans and will soon be recombining with human H1N1, so something similar to 1918 may appear in the fall of 2009.

 

[42769vette]

i just heard that there is a UN confirmed case in richmond indiana

 

[03mustgt]

I noticed last week that something was going around. My gf and I were sick about a week ago and I noticed that pretty much everyone of my coworkers had something within a 2 week period similar to what I had.

 

[JetGirl]

there is a confirmed case at Notre Dame as of one hour ago, said he was sick last week but has tested positive...

Yes. here: Notre Dame student contracted swine flu

 

[melensdad]

CDC says DEATHS IN THE US are expected and the flu is SPREADING

Officials say US deaths expected from swine flu

By SARA KUGLER and CRISTIAN SALAZAR, Associated Press Writers
32 mins ago

NEW YORK – The global swine flu outbreak worsened Tuesday as authorities said hundreds of students at a New York school have fallen ill and federal officials said they expected to see U.S. deaths from the virus. Cuba suspended flights to and from Mexico, becoming the first country to impose a travel ban to the epicenter of the epidemic.
The mayor of the capital cracked down further on public life, closing gyms and swimming pools and ordering restaurants to limit service to takeout.

Confirmed cases were reported for the first time as far away as New Zealand and Israel, joining the United States, Canada, Britain and Spain.
Swine flu is believed to have killed more than 150 people in Mexico, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the U.S. has 68 confirmed cases in five states, with 45 in New York, one in Ohio, one in Indiana, two in Kansas, six in Texas and 13 in California.

"I fully expect we will see deaths from this infection," said Richard Besser, acting director of the CDC.

That was echoed by Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano.
"It is very likely that we will see more serious presentations of illness and some deaths as we go through this flu cycle," she said. President Barack Obama asked Congress for $1.5 billion in emergency funds to fight the illness.

In New York, there were growing signs that the virus was moving beyond St. Francis Preparatory school, where sick students started lining up last week at the nurse's office. The outbreak came just days after a group of students returned from spring break in Cancun.

At the 2,700-student school, the largest Roman Catholic high school in the nation, "many hundreds of students were ill with symptoms that are most likely swine flu," said Health Commissioner Thomas Frieden. The cases haven't been confirmed.

Twelve teachers reported flu-like symptoms as well, said the principal, Brother Leonard Conway.

A nearby public school for special education students was shut down after more than 80 students called in sick. Frieden said that some of the students have siblings at St. Francis.

"It is here and it is spreading," Frieden said.

Some of the New York students who tested positive for swine flu after a trip to Mexico passed it on to others who had not traveled — a significant fact because it suggests the strain suspected in dozens of deaths in Mexico can also spread through communities in other countries, said Keiji Fukuda, assistant director-general of the World Health Organization.

"There is definitely the possibility that this virus can establish that kind of community wide outbreak capacity in multiple countries, and it's something we're looking for very closely," Fukuda said. So-called "community" transmissions are a key test for gauging whether the spread of the virus has reached pandemic proportions.

Fukuda warned, however, against jumping to the conclusion that the virus has become firmly established in the United States.

Still, U.S. officials stressed there was no need for panic and noted that flu outbreaks are quite common every year. The CDC estimates about 36,000 people in the U.S. died of flu-related causes each year, on average, in the 1990s.​

 

[jimmy_ftwayne]

The CDC estimates about 36,000 people in the U.S. died of flu-related causes each year, on average, in the 1990s.

This is just more fear-mongering from those left-wing extremist terrorists:

 

[smokingman]

Just heard on FOX new a likely explination of why it kills other wise healthy adults,found the same reason on the CNN website but not FOX website yet.
The reason given was CYTOKINE storm.
Among the swine flu mysteries: Why only deaths in Mexico? - CNN.com
Link to Ohio Public Health on Cytokine storm.
Cytokine Storm and the H5N1 Influenza Pandemic: The Bird Flu
and Wikipedia
Cytokine storm - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Seems it has been linked to the Bird Flu deaths in the past.I wish they would stop calling this swine flu as well,because it is not but a combination of 4 different strains.

 

[redneckmedic]

That video maker should be arrested for trying to casue a panic for a buck!

 

[smokingman]

Texas authorities have ordered closed all 14 schools and two district facilities in the Schertz-Cibolo-Universal City Independent School District until further notice.A student of Canyon Creek Elementary School in Richardson, Texas has also reportedly tested positive for swine flu, prompting authorities to close the school for the rest of this week. Two other students at the school are suspected of being infected at this time.
Dr. Jeffrey Engel, Texas health director, said officials are involuntarily isolating patients who may have the virus. But he said the handful of cases are sporadic and in different parts of the state.
Involuntary isolating patients.
FOXNews.com - Swine Flu Epidemic Enters Dangerous Phase - Infectious Disease