OT - Swine flu in USA, New Zealand, Canada and France - Page 3

Canada confirmed cases in six people, including some students who — like some New York City spring-breakers — got mildly ill in Mexico. Countries across Asia promised to quarantine feverish travelers returning from flu-affected areas.

The U.S. declared the health emergency so it could ship roughly 12 million doses of flu-fighting medications from a federal stockpile to states in case they eventually need them — although, with 20 confirmed cases of people recovering easily, they don't appear to for now.

Make no mistake: There is not a global pandemic — at least not yet. It's not clear how many people truly have this particular strain, or why all countries but Mexico are seeing mild disease. Nor is it clear if the new virus spreads easily, one milestone that distinguishes a bad flu from a global crisis. But waiting to take protective steps until after a pandemic is declared would be too late.

"We do think this will continue to spread but we are taking aggressive actions to minimize the impact on people's health," said Dr. Richard Besser, acting chief of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

There is no vaccine against swine flu, but the CDC has taken the initial step necessary for producing one — creating a seed stock of the virus — should authorities decide that's necessary. Last winter's flu shot offers no cross-protection to the new virus, although it's possible that older people exposed to various Type A flu strains in the past may have some immunity, CDC officials said Sunday.

Worldwide, attention focused sharply on travelers.

"It was acquired in Mexico, brought home and spread," Nova Scotia's chief public health officer, Dr. Robert Strang, said of Canada's first four confirmed cases, in student travelers.

New Zealand said 10 students who took a school trip to Mexico probably had swine flu, and on Monday it said three students in a second group just back from Mexico probably have it as well. Spanish authorities had seven suspected cases under observation. In Brazil, a hospital said a patient who arrived from Mexico was hospitalized with some swine flu symptoms. A New York City school where eight cases are confirmed will be closed Monday and Tuesday.

flu viruses oversimlified mess with dna all mammals share godd deal of idenical dna, some closer that others.  Think a virus like a car thief. He starts by stealing escorts and soon figures out mustangs then its mercurys and then lincolns. the all have some shared mechanichals.  Its oversimplefied but its basically the same with all viruses.  They are a life form and every life forms goal is to perpetuate itself.

There can be many reasons for why things happen it is much better to evalute without emotion but with reason.

jeff 

cut and paste isn't working again.

in the yahoo article - the obama adminestration said they have 12 million doses - don't panic....

but later in the article the who said they have not started creating doses

gee who could be telling the truth

Oddly enough, I recently read about missing deadly bio-organisms (including flu??) from Fort Dedrick labs. Nobody in positions of power wants to talk about it, but those nasties are gone. 

I doubt the 1918 flu was any kind of plot, since no one knew anything much about viruses back then. It was called the Spanish flu simply because it was prevalent in Spain and news reports weren't filtered there. It killed about 40 - 50 million people worldwide, including one of my uncles.  The next flu was the Asian flu in 1957, which started in China and killed about 2 million people worldwide. AFter that came the Hong Kong flu in 1968 which killed a million or so people.

We do know that researchers have revivied the 1918 flu from people who died in the Arctic of the flu during that pandemic. Did it get away? Don't know. I did see a crawl on FoxNews that Obama was exposed to a flu victim in Mexico. I guess we'll see if he gets sick. My bet is he won't. 

Kalibutt, - huh?
Health officials have been preparing for the next pandemic flu  for many years. If you are generally healthy, use good hygiene, eat well, & get your normal amount of rest, you should be OK. This is good advise. Those who have chronic illnesses, are immunosupressed, the very young & the very old, healthcare workers, those who work with the general public should be extra vigilent. There is no need for panic, but it's always good to be prepared. Talk to your MD about symptoms & what they recommend you do should you become sick. We are generally better nurished & healthier than folks in many other countries, so I doubt there is little to fear. It's also true, however, that as this is a new strain of virus, no one will have immunity to it. I doubt that this is bio-warfare. And true, if I lived in Texas, I might be more concerned. But there was an outbreak in NY, & the Poconos are where many people from NY come to vacation, so I would expect it to show up here soon. And my husband works at a resort, he is elderly,(but vigorous), & we both have chronic illnesses, & I work in healthcare. And we could be hit by an asteroid, or creamed by a bus when we step off the curb. That's life! I refuse to live terrified of what might happen next. Life is short enough as it is, I want to enjoy it while I'm here.
Kalibutt, - huh.
jackie harris

Influenza is an RNA virus with eight independent and separate strands of RNA in it genome, each encoding one protein. Two of these proteins, HA and NA, are the ones most often seen by antibodies. These viruses exist in man, birds and pigs, among other animals. Assortment of gene segments (mixing of gene segments between viruses in an animal), as well as mutation, occurs all the time in nature that is why a new flu vaccine is developed each year. When one gene segment comes from a different species, such as bord or swine, the new virus is very different then would be another strian formed solely in man, therefore we are less likely to have natural resistence, therefore it is more likely to cause a more severe disease. The bird flu that arose in China a few years ago turned out to be not as dangerous as was originally feared, although it did kill people. That is because it did not move from person to person, deaths were almost entirely confined to people with direct contact with infected birds. That often happens with these new viruses, they can live in the bird, or the pig, and can kill a person, but they grow very poorly if at all in the person, and therefore do not spread from person to person. This swine virus appears more dangerous because it may be transmissible. I do not know of any direct contact between sick kids in a NYC school and pigs in Mexico. At least some of the kids had been in Mexico, but I have not read about any farm exposure. A virus like this could arise in any country that has pigs, and birds, and people. The only criticism I would have for Mexico is that they may have taken too long to inform the CDC of a potential new flu. The fatality rate in Mexico is hard to judge since many people may have had a milder form of the flu, so the apparent fatality rate may be higher then it will be with more study. Also, medical care in Mexico is presumably less complete then care here, but to date only one person in the US has been hospitalized, although a pretty large number have most likely been ill. Until clinical specimens are analyzed we are a little in the dark on incidence and transmission. Because in general influenza is very easily transmitted, if the CDC decides this strain is sufficiently dangerous, they can and likely will curtail travel, mandate testing, and quarantine infected individuals. They would not take these steps for the hell of it, but to save lives. Hopefully, we will find that the flu is not as dangerous or contagious as all that, and more modest steps will be needed. Personal liberty has its limits. In a national emergency, the government must be willing to take steps to protect the whole population. Any government has to be willing and able to do this, it has nothing to do with membership in any political party. Typing in large type to claim conspiracies does not impress me. The government constantly runs practice drills for a variety of natural and unnatural emergencies. That is how they stay prepared. In my city, I see this all the time. Sometimes it may be in response to “chatter” but a lot of it is simply training. In the military, there is a lot of training before there is engagement. The government program in bio-defense is focused on detection and treatment, not production of new and more dangerous viruses. There are plenty of things already in existence for us to study.

I apologize if this post shows up twice, I posted it once, did not see it, so am posting again. Influenza is an RNA virus with eight independent and separate strands of RNA in it genome, each encoding one protein. Two of these proteins, HA and NA, are the ones most often seen by antibodies. These viruses exist in man, birds and pigs, among other animals. Assortment of gene segments (mixing of gene segments between viruses in an animal), as well as mutation, occurs all the time in nature that is why a new flu vaccine is developed each year. When one of these gene segments comes from a diferent species (biird, pig) it is more dangerous, as people have not seen it before, and have no immunity. The bird flu that arose in China a few years ago turned out to be not as dangerous as was originally feared, although it did kill people. That is because it did not move from person to person, deaths were almost entirely confined to people with direct contact with infected birds. That often happens with these new viruses, they can live in the bird, or the pig, and can kill a person, but they grow very poorly if at all in the person, and therefore do not spread from person to person. This swine virus appears more dangerous because it may be transmissible. I do not know of any direct contact between sick kids in a NYC school and pigs in Mexico. At least some of the kids had been in Mexico, but I have not read about any farm exposure. A virus like this could arise in any country that has pigs, and birds, and people. The criticism I would have for Mexico is that it took too long to inform the CDC of a potential new flu. The fatality rate in Mexico is hard to judge since many people may have had a milder form of the flu, so the apparent fatality rate may be higher then it will be with more study. Also, medical care in Mexico is presumably less complete then care here, but to date only one person in the US has been hospitalized, although a pretty large number have most likely been ill. Until clinical specimens are analyzed we a re a little in the dark on incidence and transmission. Because in general influenza is very easily transmitted, if the CDC decides this strain is dangerous, they can and likely will curtail travel, mandate testing, and quarantine infected individuals. They would not take these steps for the hell of it, but to save lives. Hopefully, we will find that the flu is not as dangerous or contagious as that, and more modest steps will be needed. Personal liberty has its limits. In a national emergency, the government must be willing to take steps to protect the whole population. Any government has to be willing and able to do this, it is not a matter of political party. Typing in large type to claim conspiracies does not impress me. The government constantly runs practice drills for a variety of natural and unnatural emergencies. That is how they stay prepared. In my city, I see this all the time. Sometimes it may be in response to “chatter” but a lot of it is simply training. In the military, there is a lot of training before there is engagement. The government program in bio-defense is focused on detection and treatment, not production of new and more dangerous viruses. There are plenty of things already in existence for us to study.

Ahhh The Grand Chessboard. Zbignew Brezinsky. Holy Cows yellowrose .. your catchin on. Be safe, it's a wild world out there.

So should I be worried if I ate sausage this morning?  I don't think it was Mexican sausage. 

What are the symptoms?  I have a sinus problem right now.

20-40 yr olds dying?  HMMM...that is a big pot smoking demographic.  Perhaps it's in the dope?  We better stop sending money and guns over there. 

Should I put plastic on my windows? 

I hate to say it, but this hype about the 'swine flu' is making me sick (pun intended).  The only place that anyone has died is Mexico, not here in the US, and those who have gotten sick have gotten better right away, and according to the news tonight, only one person has been hospitalized.  This flu is in no way more dangerous than any other flu, and I'm getting terribly tired of the 'pandemic' hype.  The method to control it is the same, by washing hands, covering your face when you sneeze, all that.  Stay home if you're sick.  Don't expose others, if you can avoid it.

I usually do not get the flu, and when I do, I don't bother with doctors.  I use homeopathic and naturepathic medicine, right from the onset, and I am usually over it in a day or two, without ever having gotten really sick.

In response to the above post regarding the ability of viruses to mutate and incorporate other viruses into their makeup...I've heard that before.  I'm no expert, but it strikes me as being a bit strange that every year, the WHO can tell you that "x and y strain of flu will be coming through this flu season, run right down and get your flu shot."  How can they know?  And why do these viruses keep popping back up?  Sorry, I'm not really the type to scream about conspiracy, but there's just too much strange stuff going on to call it coincidence. 

PETA and the rest of the nuts want the human species eliminated, so it stands to reason that their bedpartners, the politicians, have bad plans as well.  To be alive today...it's a very scary thing. 

Crys