For those who read my posts regularly, you'll note that the following is no surprise, that I have been saying this about the Swine Flu from the get-go. Of course, with any story where there are emotions running high, you kind of need to take the middle-ground and realize they are alarmists and that they usually make alarming claims whenever there is an issue with vacinations. However, with any contraversial story...conspiracy and the like, there is usually some truth.
...
Journalist Files Charges against WHO and UN for Bioterrorism and Intent to Commit Mass Murder
by Barbara Minton, Natural Health Editor
NaturalNews) As the anticipated July release date for Baxter's A/H1N1 flu pandemic vaccine approaches, an Austrian investigative journalist is warning the world that the greatest crime in the history of humanity is underway. Jane Burgermeister has recently filed criminal charges with the FBI against the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations (UN), and several of the highest ranking government and corporate officials concerning bioterrorism and attempts to commit mass murder. She has also prepared an injunction against forced vaccination which is being filed in America. These actions follow her charges filed in April against Baxter AG and Avir Green Hills Biotechnology of Austria for producing contaminated bird flu vaccine, alleging this was a deliberate act to cause and profit from a pandemic.
Summary of claims and allegations filed with FBI in Austria on June 10, 2009
In her charges, Burgermeister presents evidence of acts of bioterrorism that is in violation of U.S. law by a group operating within the U.S. under the direction of international bankers who control the Federal Reserve, as well as WHO, UN and NATO. This bioterrorism is for the purpose of carrying out a mass genocide against the U.S. population by use of a genetically engineered flu pandemic virus with the intent of causing death. This group has annexed high government offices in the U.S.
Specifically, evidence is presented that the defendants, Barack Obama, President of the U.S, David Nabarro, UN System Coordinator for Influenza, Margaret Chan, Director-General of WHO, Kathleen Sibelius, Secretary of Department of Health and Human Services, Janet Napolitano, Secretary of Department of Homeland Security, David de Rotschild, banker, David Rockefeller, banker, George Soros, banker, Werner Faymann, Chancellor of Austria, and Alois Stoger, Austrian Health Minister, among others, are part of this international corporate criminal syndicate which has developed, produced, stockpiled and employed biological weapons to eliminate the population of the U.S. and other countries for financial and political gain.
The charges contend that these defendants conspired with each other and others to devise, fund and participate in the final phase of the implementation of a covert international bioweapons program involving the pharmaceutical companies Baxter and Novartis. They did this by bioengineering and then releasing lethal biological agents, specifically the "bird flu" virus and the "swine flu virus" in order to have a pretext to implement a forced mass vaccination program which would be the means of administering a toxic biological agent to cause death and injury to the people of the U.S. This action is in direct violation of the Biological Weapons Anti-terrorism Act.
Burgermeister's charges include evidence that Baxter AG, Austrian subsidiary of Baxter International, deliberately sent out 72 kilos of live bird flu virus, supplied by the WHO in the winter of 2009 to 16 laboratories in four counties. She claims this evidence offers clear proof that the pharmaceutical companies and international government agencies themselves are actively engaged in producing, developing, manufacturing and distributing biological agents classified as the most deadly bioweapons on earth in order to trigger a pandemic and cause mass death.
In her April charges, she noted that Baxter's lab in Austria, one of the supposedly most secure biosecurity labs in the world, did not adhere to the most basic and essential steps to keep 72 kilos of a pathogen classified as a bioweapon secure and separate from all other substances under stringent biosecurity level regulations, but it allowed it to be mixed with the ordinary human flu virus and sent from its facilities in Orth in the Donau.
In February, when a staff member at BioTest in the Czech Republic tested the material meant for candidate vaccines on ferrets, the ferrets died. This incident was not followed up by any investigation from the WHO, EU, or Austrian health authorities. There was no investigation of the content of the virus material, and there is no data on the genetic sequence of the virus released.
In answer to parliamentary questions on May 20th, the Austrian Health Minister, Alois Stoger, revealed that the incident had been handled not as a biosecurity lapse, as it should have been, but as an offence against the veterinary code. A veterinary doctor was sent to the lab for a brief inspection.
Burgermeister's dossier reveals that the release of the virus was to be an essential step for triggering a pandemic that would allow the WHO to declare a Level 6 Pandemic. She lists the laws and decrees that would allow the UN and WHO to take over the United States in the event of pandemic. In addition, legislation requiring compliance with mandatory vaccinations would be put into force in the U.S. under conditions of pandemic declaration.
She charges that the entire "swine flu" pandemic business is premised on a massive lie that there is no natural virus out there that poses a threat to the population. She presents evidence leading to the belief that the bird flu and swine flu viruses have, in fact, been bioengineered in laboratories using funding supplied by the WHO and other government agencies, among others. This "swine flu" is a hybrid of part swine flu, part human flu and part bird flu, something that can only come from laboratories according to many experts.
WHO's claim that this "swine flu" is spreading and a pandemic must be declared ignores the fundamental causes. The viruses that were released were created and released with the help of WHO, and WHO is overwhelmingly responsible for the pandemic in the first place. In addition, the symptoms of the supposed "swine flu" are indistinguishable from regular flu or from the common cold. The "swine flu" does not cause death anymore often than the regular flu causes death.
Burgermeister notes that the figures for deaths reported for the "swine flu" are inconsistent and there is no clarity as to how the number of "deaths" has been documented.
There is no pandemic potential unless mass vaccinations are carried out to weaponize the flu under the guise of protecting the population. There are reasonable grounds for believing that the mandatory vaccines will be purposely contaminated with diseases that are specifically designed to cause death.
Reference is made to a licensed Novartis bird flu vaccine that killed 21 homeless people in Poland in the summer of 2008 and had as its "primary outcome measure" an "adverse events rate", thereby meeting the U.S. government's own definition of a bioweapon (a biological agent designed to cause an adverse events rate, i.e death or injury) with a delivery system (injection).
She alleges that the same complex of international pharmaceutical companies and international government agencies that have developed and released pandemic material have positioned themselves to profit from triggering the pandemic with contracts to supply vaccines. Media controlled by the group that is engineering the "swine flu" agenda is spreading misinformation to lull the people of the U.S. into taking the dangerous vaccine.
The people of the U.S. will suffer substantial and irreparable harm and injury if they are forced to take this unproven vaccine without their consent in accordance with the Model State Emergency Health Powers Act, National Emergency Act, National Security Presidential Directive/NSPD 51, Homeland Security Presidential Directive/HSPD-20, and the International Partnership on Avian and Pandemic Influenza.
In the U.S. since 2008, Burgermeister charges that those named in her allegations have implemented new and/or accelerated the implementation of laws and regulations designed to strip the citizens of the U.S. of their lawful constitutional rights to refuse an injection. These people have created or allowed provisions to remain in place that make it a criminal act to refuse to take an injection against pandemic viruses. They have imposed other excessive and cruel penalties such as imprisonment and/or quarantine in FEMA camps while barring the citizens of the U.S. from claiming compensation from injury or death from the forced injections. This is in violation of the laws governing federal corruption and the abuse of office as well as of the Constitution and Bill of Rights. Through these actions, the named defendants have laid the groundwork for mass genocide.
Using the "swine flu" as a pretext, the defendants have preplanned the mass murder of the U.S. population by means of forced vaccination. They have installed an extensive network of FEMA concentration camps and identified mass grave sites, and they have been involved in devising and implementing a scheme to hand power over the U.S. to an international crime syndicate that uses the UN and WHO as a front for illegal racketeering influenced organized crime activities, in violation of the laws that govern treason.
She further charges that the complex of pharmaceutical companies consisting of Baxter, Novartis and Sanofi Aventis are part of a foreign-based dual purpose bioweapons program, financed by this international criminal syndicate and designed to implement mass murder to reduce the world's population by more than 5 billion people in the next ten years. Their plan is to spread terror to justify forcing people to give up their rights, and to force mass quarantine in FEMA camps. The houses, companies and farms and lands of those who are killed will be up for grabs by this syndicate.
By eliminating the population of North America, the international elite gain access to the region's natural resources such as water and undeveloped oil lands. And by eliminating the U.S. and its democratic constitution by subsuming it under a North American Union, the international crime group will have total control over North America.
Highlights from the complete dossier
The complete dossier of the June 10th action is a 69 page document presenting evidence to substantiate all charges. This includes:
Factual background that delineates time lines and facts that establish probable cause, UN and WHO definitions and roles, and history and incidents from the April, 2009 "swine flu" outbreak.
Evidence the "swine flu" vaccines are defined as bioweapons as delineates in government agencies and regulations classifying and restricting vaccines, and the fear of foreign countries that "swine flu" vaccines will be used for biological warfare.
Scientific evidence the "swine flu" virus is an artificial (genetic) virus.
Scientific evidence the "swine flu" was bioengineered to resemble the Spanish flu virus of 1918 including quotes from Swine Flu 2009 is Weaponized 1918 Spanish Flu by A. True Ott, Ph.D., N.D., and a Science Magazine report from Dr. Jeffrey Taubenberger et.al.
The genome sequence of the "swine flu"
Evidence of the deliberate release of the "swine flu" in Mexico
Evidence as to the involvement of President Obama that delineates his trip to Mexico which coincided with the recent "swine flu" outbreak and the death of several officials involved in his trip. Contention is made that the President was never tested for "swine flu" because he had been previously vaccinated.
Evidence as to the role of Baxter and WHO in producing and releasing pandemic virus material in Austria includes a statement from a Baxter official stating the accidentally distributed H5N1 in the Czech Republic was received from a WHO reference center. This includes delineation of evidence and allegations from Burgermeister's charges filed in April in Austria that are currently under investigation.
Evidence Baxter is an element in a covert bioweapons network
Evidence Baxter has deliberately contaminated vaccine material.
Evidence Novartis is using vaccines as bioweapons
Evidence as to WHO's role in the bioweapons program
Evidence as to WHO's manipulation of disease data in order to justify declaring a Pandemic Level 6 in order to seize control of the USA.
Evidence as to the FDA's role in covering up the bioweapons program
Evidence as to Canada's National Microbiology Lab's role in the bioweapons program.
Evidence of the involvement of scientists working for the UK's NIBSC, and the CDC in engineering the "swine flu".
Evidence vaccinations caused the Spanish killer flu of 1918 including belief of Dr. Jerry Tennant that the widespread use of aspirin during the winter that followed the end of World War I could have been a key factor contributing to the earlier pandemic by suppressing the immune system and lowering body temperatures, allowing the flu virus to multiply. Tamiflu and Relenza also lower body temperatures, and therefore can also be expected to contribute to the spread of a pandemic.
Evidence as to manipulation of the legal framework to allow mass murder with impunity.
Constitutional issues: the legality vs. illegality of jeopardizing the life, health and public good by mass vaccinations.
The issue of immunity and compensation as evidence of intent to commit a crime.
Evidence as to the existence of an international corporate crime syndicate.
Evidence of the existence of the "Illuminati".
Evidence as to the depopulation agenda of the Illuminati/Bilderbergs and their involvement in the engineering and release of the artificial "swine flu" virus.
Evidence that weaponized flu was discussed at the annual Bilderberg meeting in Athens from May 14-17, 2009, as part of their agenda of genocide, including a list of attendees who, according to a statement once made by Pierre Trudeau, view themselves as genetically superior to the rest of humanity.
Media is keeping Americans clueless about the threat they are under
Jane Burgermeister is a dual Irish/Austrian who has written for Nature, the British Medical Journal, and American Prospect. She is the European Correspondent of the Renewable Energy World website. She has written extensively about climate change, biotechnology, and the ecology.
In addition to the charges currently under investigation that she filed against Baxter AG and Avir Green Hills Biotechnology in April, she has filed charges against WHO and Baxter among others concerning a case of exploding "swine flu" vials meant for a research lab on a busy IC train in Switzerland.
In her view, control of the media by the ruling elite has allowed the world crime syndicate to further its agenda unabated while the rest of the people remain in the dark about what is really going on. Her charges are an attempt to get around this media control and bring the truth to light.
Her greatest concern is that "in spite of the fact Baxter has been caught red handed nearly triggering pandemic, they are also moving ahead, together with allied pharma companies, with supplying the vaccine for pandemics." Baxter is hurrying to get this vaccine to market some time in July.
For more information:
http://www.naturalnews.com/025760.html
http://birdflu666.wordpress.com/200...
http://in.news.yahoo.com/137/200906...
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...
Showing posts with label swine epidemic. Show all posts
Showing posts with label swine epidemic. Show all posts
Friday, July 3, 2009
Friday, May 15, 2009
Updated Swine Flu Numbers
U.S. Human Cases of H1N1 Flu Infection
(According the the CDC website)
U.S. Human Cases of H1N1 Flu Infection
(As of May 15, 2009, 11:00 AM ET)
47 states*
4,714 cases
4 deaths
*includes the District of Columbia
swine flu
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Who Do You Trust?
What do you do when you cannot trust your own government to tell you the truth or to make the best decisions?
Maybe you haven't trusted them for a long time and I am just naive. However, I am noticing a bit of a pattern that leads me to be very untrusting of our government and their motives.
Take the swine flu...oh, excuse me, the H1N1 virus. Isn't the situation kind of like the boy who cried wolf? What will we think the next time there may be a health emergency? I don't think that we may feel quite as alarmed. After all, there are 36,000 people who die from the regular flu every year and look at the stats for this flu. I know that next flu season it may come back heavier. However, it isn't resistant. Looking back at the article that I posted about the swine flu during the '70s, it is the same thing and caused panic back then and then deaths from the inoculations to "prevent" the virus. Why would we trust new inoculations now? I wouldn't until a bunch of other people take them and live to tell about it. CDC LINK HERE
Let's address the issue of Homeland Security putting out information that said that our veterans, those who have served our country on the front lines, may be recruited into terrorist organizations. No, let's not reward them and welcome them home. Let's demonize them and make them feel like outcasts in society. That will most certainly help tame the masses. www.fas.org...the official Homeland Security Document PDF
...and they think that other people may be paranoid? Hmmm. Sounds like the pot calling the kettle black to me. I mean, I don't need to dislike Obama because of his race. That's not the reason I dislike him at all. Plus, it's not a matter of disliking him as a person. I just dislike his policies.
One more thing for this post (I could go on and on). I don't trust the motives of the Obama administration getting involved in the bankruptcy of Chrysler (or involved in the business dealings to begin with...other than insuring the money side of things because of the trickle down effect).
So, why is it that there is a bit of siding...okay totally siding with the union workers? Here is a bit of info you probably already know.
Now, there are many sources indicating that there was anywhere from $4 million to over $400 million in donations from the UAW to Obama's presidential campaign. Evidently those claiming that have a secret source (or they could just be bent) because I couldn't find that exact number. Here are a couple of sources you may want to check out.
NEWSMEAT
OpenSecrets.org
Anywho, I don't know about you, but I don't trust much that is being done in the government these days. There seems to be ulterior motives for all of it and none of those motives seems to reflect the needs of the average American citizen. On the upbeat news, I can leave my house now because the CDC says that the swine flu wasn't as bad as they thought it was going to be.
Maybe you haven't trusted them for a long time and I am just naive. However, I am noticing a bit of a pattern that leads me to be very untrusting of our government and their motives.
Take the swine flu...oh, excuse me, the H1N1 virus. Isn't the situation kind of like the boy who cried wolf? What will we think the next time there may be a health emergency? I don't think that we may feel quite as alarmed. After all, there are 36,000 people who die from the regular flu every year and look at the stats for this flu. I know that next flu season it may come back heavier. However, it isn't resistant. Looking back at the article that I posted about the swine flu during the '70s, it is the same thing and caused panic back then and then deaths from the inoculations to "prevent" the virus. Why would we trust new inoculations now? I wouldn't until a bunch of other people take them and live to tell about it. CDC LINK HERE
Let's address the issue of Homeland Security putting out information that said that our veterans, those who have served our country on the front lines, may be recruited into terrorist organizations. No, let's not reward them and welcome them home. Let's demonize them and make them feel like outcasts in society. That will most certainly help tame the masses. www.fas.org...the official Homeland Security Document PDF
"Returning veterans possess combat skills and experience that are attractive to rightwing extremists. DHS/I&A is concerned that rightwing extremists will attempt to recruit and radicalize returning veterans in order to boost their violent capabilities...
The possible passage of new restrictions on firearms and the return of military veterans facing significant challenges reintegrating into their communities
could lead to the potential emergence of terrorist groups or lone wolf extremists capable of carrying out violent attacks...
Rightwing extremism in the United States can be broadly divided into those groups, movements, and adherents that are primarily hate-oriented ...It may include groups and individuals that are dedicated to a single issue, such as opposition to abortion or immigration...
Proposed imposition of firearms restrictions and weapons bans likely would attract new members into the ranks of rightwing extremist groups, as well as potentially spur some of them to begin planning and training for violence against the government. The high volume of purchases and stockpiling of weapons and ammunition by rightwing extremists in anticipation of restrictions and bans in some parts of the country continue to be a primary concern to law enforcement...
...the historical election of an African American president and the prospect of policy changes are proving to be a driving force for rightwing extremist recruitment and radicalization...
Rightwing extremists are harnessing this historical election as a recruitment tool. Many rightwing extremists are antagonistic toward the new presidential administration and its perceived stance on a range of issues, including immigration and citizenship, the expansion of social programs to minorities, and restrictions on firearms ownership and use. Rightwing extremists are increasingly galvanized by these concerns and leverage them as drivers for recruitment. From the 2008 election timeframe to the present, rightwing extremists have capitalized on related racial and political prejudices in expanded propaganda campaigns, thereby reaching out to a wider audience of potential sympathizers...
DHS/I&A assesses that rightwing extremists will attempt to recruit and radicalize returning veterans in order to exploit their skills and knowledge derived from military training and combat."
...and they think that other people may be paranoid? Hmmm. Sounds like the pot calling the kettle black to me. I mean, I don't need to dislike Obama because of his race. That's not the reason I dislike him at all. Plus, it's not a matter of disliking him as a person. I just dislike his policies.
One more thing for this post (I could go on and on). I don't trust the motives of the Obama administration getting involved in the bankruptcy of Chrysler (or involved in the business dealings to begin with...other than insuring the money side of things because of the trickle down effect).
"An attorney representing several Chrysler bondholders accused the Obama administration of intimidating his clients by issuing threats of public humiliation if they opposed their brokered deal to resolve the automaker’s debts. Speaking to WJR, Thomas Lauria said that the White House called the bondholders “vultures” for insisting on their rights as senior creditors and told them that the Obama administration would use the White House press corps to attack them in the media."HOT AIR.com
"...the lenders who dared to oppose the deal, undoubtedly considering that the bargaining had been too one-sided, were excoriated by the president as “speculators” for raining on his parade. Over the weekend it emerged that would-be auto czar Steve Rattner threatened to sic the White House press corps on bondholder Perella Weinberg if they continued to oppose the deal on the table...CLICK HERE FOR MORE
...the effort by the Obama administration to protect the UAW will likely leave Chrysler permanently uncompetitive..."
So, why is it that there is a bit of siding...okay totally siding with the union workers? Here is a bit of info you probably already know.
"The UAW, which has more than 1 million members, announced today the union is endorsing Obama after a unanimous vote of its International Executive Board."- June 10, 2008 AFLCIO
"You deserve a leader in the White House who not only understands the difficulties you and your families face, but who will stand up for you every single day. That’s exactly what I’ll do as your President." - July 18, 2008UAW.org
Now, there are many sources indicating that there was anywhere from $4 million to over $400 million in donations from the UAW to Obama's presidential campaign. Evidently those claiming that have a secret source (or they could just be bent) because I couldn't find that exact number. Here are a couple of sources you may want to check out.
NEWSMEAT
OpenSecrets.org
Anywho, I don't know about you, but I don't trust much that is being done in the government these days. There seems to be ulterior motives for all of it and none of those motives seems to reflect the needs of the average American citizen. On the upbeat news, I can leave my house now because the CDC says that the swine flu wasn't as bad as they thought it was going to be.
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Pandemic Defined.
Definition of Pandemic
Pandemic: An epidemic (a sudden outbreak) that becomes very widespread and affects a whole region, a continent, or the world.
By contrast:
An epidemic affects more than the expected number of cases of disease occurring in a community or region during a given period of time. A sudden severe outbreak within a region or a group as, for example, AIDS in Africa or AIDS in intravenous drug users.
An endemic is present in a community at all times but in low frequency. An endemic is continuous as in the case of malaria in some areas of the world or as with illicit drugs in some neighborhoods.
The word "pandemic" comes from the Greek "pan-", "all" + "demos", "people or population" = "pandemos" = "all the people." A pandemic affects all (nearly all) of the people. By contrast, "epi-" means "upon." An epidemic is visited upon the people. And "en-" means "in." An endemic is in the people.
Source: MedicineNet.com
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Epidemics and pandemics refer to the spread of infectious diseases among a population. The difference between an epidemic and a pandemic is two-fold. First a pandemic is normally used to indicate a far higher number of people affected than an epidemic, and a pandemic refers to a much larger region affected. In the most extreme case, the global population is affected by a pandemic.
An epidemic is defined by an illness or health-related issue that is showing up in more cases than would be normally expected. However, in the case of a pandemic, even more of the population is affected than in an epidemic.
Let's take a hypothetical example and assume several people contract the same flu-like symptoms in a particular area. Let's further assume that cases show up across the state, but the concentration remains localized in a few original cities. Some cases even turn up elsewhere in the nation, but the illness doesn't catch on elsewhere. In the hubs where it is seen the infection rate remains more than you would expect to normally see. This is a classic example of an epidemic.
Now let's take that same scenario but imagine the rate of infection started growing exponentially so that more and more cases were cropping up locally. When the rate of infection grows very fast it is likely, given favorable circumstances, that the epidemic grows into something more. Now we start seeing cases across the nation and the rate of infection is exceeding even that of an epidemic. It turns out in our hypothetical scenario that most of the population in the nation becomes affected by this flu. This is a pandemic.
To put a finer point on it, if the entire nation was affected but the rate of incidence never rose above that of an epidemic, it would still be considered an epidemic, even though the disease was nationwide.
Conversely, you might have a small population in a remote area of Africa, for example, that is nearly 100% affected by an illness or health problem. Because the incidence is so high, and the area relatively widespread in that it is affecting an entire population, this could be termed pandemic.
You can see with these subtle but significant differences how the terms might be confusing, but normally epidemics that grow out of hand due to the nature of the disease and other factors, turn into pandemics.
A pandemic may be regionally localized if it involves more cases than a simple epidemic; and an epidemic may be widespread if not enough of the population is affected to term it pandemic. Though in this latter case, you might still see it termed pandemic by some, just because the geographical area is so widespread. View Source
Source: WiseGeek.com
Pandemic: An epidemic (a sudden outbreak) that becomes very widespread and affects a whole region, a continent, or the world.
By contrast:
An epidemic affects more than the expected number of cases of disease occurring in a community or region during a given period of time. A sudden severe outbreak within a region or a group as, for example, AIDS in Africa or AIDS in intravenous drug users.
An endemic is present in a community at all times but in low frequency. An endemic is continuous as in the case of malaria in some areas of the world or as with illicit drugs in some neighborhoods.
The word "pandemic" comes from the Greek "pan-", "all" + "demos", "people or population" = "pandemos" = "all the people." A pandemic affects all (nearly all) of the people. By contrast, "epi-" means "upon." An epidemic is visited upon the people. And "en-" means "in." An endemic is in the people.
Source: MedicineNet.com
************************************************************************
Epidemics and pandemics refer to the spread of infectious diseases among a population. The difference between an epidemic and a pandemic is two-fold. First a pandemic is normally used to indicate a far higher number of people affected than an epidemic, and a pandemic refers to a much larger region affected. In the most extreme case, the global population is affected by a pandemic.
An epidemic is defined by an illness or health-related issue that is showing up in more cases than would be normally expected. However, in the case of a pandemic, even more of the population is affected than in an epidemic.
Let's take a hypothetical example and assume several people contract the same flu-like symptoms in a particular area. Let's further assume that cases show up across the state, but the concentration remains localized in a few original cities. Some cases even turn up elsewhere in the nation, but the illness doesn't catch on elsewhere. In the hubs where it is seen the infection rate remains more than you would expect to normally see. This is a classic example of an epidemic.
Now let's take that same scenario but imagine the rate of infection started growing exponentially so that more and more cases were cropping up locally. When the rate of infection grows very fast it is likely, given favorable circumstances, that the epidemic grows into something more. Now we start seeing cases across the nation and the rate of infection is exceeding even that of an epidemic. It turns out in our hypothetical scenario that most of the population in the nation becomes affected by this flu. This is a pandemic.
To put a finer point on it, if the entire nation was affected but the rate of incidence never rose above that of an epidemic, it would still be considered an epidemic, even though the disease was nationwide.
Conversely, you might have a small population in a remote area of Africa, for example, that is nearly 100% affected by an illness or health problem. Because the incidence is so high, and the area relatively widespread in that it is affecting an entire population, this could be termed pandemic.
You can see with these subtle but significant differences how the terms might be confusing, but normally epidemics that grow out of hand due to the nature of the disease and other factors, turn into pandemics.
A pandemic may be regionally localized if it involves more cases than a simple epidemic; and an epidemic may be widespread if not enough of the population is affected to term it pandemic. Though in this latter case, you might still see it termed pandemic by some, just because the geographical area is so widespread. View Source
Source: WiseGeek.com
Epidemic Defined.
adj.
1. Spreading rapidly and extensively by infection and affecting many individuals in an area or a population at the same time: an epidemic outbreak of influenza.
2. Widely prevalent: epidemic discontent.
n.
1. An outbreak of a contagious disease that spreads rapidly and widely.
2. A rapid spread, growth, or development: an unemployment epidemic.
Source: Answers.com
********************************************
Epidemic \Ep`i*dem"ic\, Epidemical \Ep`i*dem"ic*al\, a. [L. epidemus, Gr. ?, ?, among the people, epidemic; ? in + ? people: cf. F. ['e]pid['e]mique. Cf. Demagogue.]
1. (Med.) Common to, or affecting at the same time, a large number in a community; -- applied to a disease which, spreading widely, attacks many persons at the same time; as, an epidemic disease; an epidemic catarrh, fever, etc. See Endemic.
2. Spreading widely, or generally prevailing; affecting great numbers, as an epidemic does; as, epidemic rage; an epidemic evil.
It was the epidemical sin of the nation. --Bp. Burnet.
Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
1. Spreading rapidly and extensively by infection and affecting many individuals in an area or a population at the same time: an epidemic outbreak of influenza.
2. Widely prevalent: epidemic discontent.
n.
1. An outbreak of a contagious disease that spreads rapidly and widely.
2. A rapid spread, growth, or development: an unemployment epidemic.
Source: Answers.com
********************************************
Epidemic \Ep`i*dem"ic\, Epidemical \Ep`i*dem"ic*al\, a. [L. epidemus, Gr. ?, ?, among the people, epidemic; ? in + ? people: cf. F. ['e]pid['e]mique. Cf. Demagogue.]
1. (Med.) Common to, or affecting at the same time, a large number in a community; -- applied to a disease which, spreading widely, attacks many persons at the same time; as, an epidemic disease; an epidemic catarrh, fever, etc. See Endemic.
2. Spreading widely, or generally prevailing; affecting great numbers, as an epidemic does; as, epidemic rage; an epidemic evil.
It was the epidemical sin of the nation. --Bp. Burnet.
Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
Mexico Swine Deaths Slow...
By ALEXANDRA OLSON, Associated Press Writers Alexandra Olson, Associated Press Writers
MEXICO CITY – Mexico said a swine flu epidemic appears to be easing, but urged citizens Saturday not to let their guard down against a virus that has killed 17 people and is spreading across Asia and Europe. Experts warned the virus could mutate and come back with a vengeance.
With no suspected swine flu deaths since Wednesday and fewer people turning up at hospitals with virus symptoms, Mexican officials were guardedly optimistic that the worst was over in the outbreak's epicenter. Cases outside Mexico suggested the new swine flu strain is weaker than feared. But governments moved quickly anyway to ban flights and prepare quarantine plans.
In the first known reported case of the new, mutated virus infecting another species, pigs in the province of Alberta have become infected and are under quarantine. They apparently got the virus from a Canadian farm worker who recently visited Mexico and got sick with swine flu, Canadian officials said Saturday.
They told a press conference in Ottawa that the pigs do not pose a food safety risk, adding that the traveler recovered from the swine flu and the pigs are "well on their way to recovery." The outbreak occurred on a single farm, where about 10 percent of 2,200 pigs showed a fever and loss of appetite. No pigs have died from the virus, officials said.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it's too early to declare victory.
The World Health Organization also decided against a full pandemic alert, but that doesn't mean people can relax, said Dr. Mike Ryan, WHO's global alert and response director.
"These viruses mutate, these viruses change, these viruses can further reassort with other genetic material, with other viruses," he said. "So it would be imprudent at this point to take too much reassurance" from the small number of deaths.
"We have seen times where things appear to be getting better and then get worse again," said Dr. Anne Schuchat, the U.S. agency's interim science and public health deputy director. "I think in Mexico we may be holding our breath for some time."
The global caseload was 763 and growing — the vast majority in Mexico, the U.S. and Canada. Costa Rica reported its first confirmed swine flu case — the first in Latin America outside Mexico.
Swine flu cases have been confirmed in 18 countries so far — including Europe, the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific region — and experts believe the actual spread is much wider than the numbers suggest.
U.S. President Barack Obama urged caution Saturday.
"This is a new strain of the flu virus, and because we haven't developed an immunity to it, it has more potential to cause us harm," Obama said. Later, he spoke with Mexican President Felipe Calderon for about 20 minutes to share information.
What started as a swine flu outbreak more than a week ago in Mexico quickly ballooned to a global health threat, with the WHO declaring a pandemic was imminent. Now public health officials are having to carefully calibrate their statements. Push the message too far, and they could lose credibility if the virus fizzles out. But if they back off and it suddenly surges, the consequences could be much more dire.
Some Mexicans have criticized their government for reacting too slowly to the outbreak at first, and now for overreacting in ordering a five-day, nationwide shutdown of all nonessential government and private business. Responding to the attacks, Health Secretary Jose Angel Cordova said: "It's absurd to think that Mexico was putting on a show. I think it's preferable, at a certain moment, to take advanced measures and succeed in containing the problem than to not take them and ask, 'Why didn't we take them?'"
Mexico's last confirmed swine flu death occurred Tuesday, and the last suspected death came Wednesday, said Pablo Kuri, an epidemiologist and adviser to Cordova.
Cordova said hospitals are now handling fewer patients with swine flu symptoms, a sign that the disease is presently not very contagious. Mexican investigators who visited 280 relatives of victims found only four had the virus.
But experts said there is much they don't know about the outbreak in Mexico, where tests confirmed 16 deaths and nearly 450 people sickened. A multinational team of virus sleuths are trying to piece together the epidemiological puzzle.
Kuri said three of the dead were children: a 9-year-old girl, a 12-year-old girl and a 13-year-old boy. Four were older than 60.
The other nine were between 21 and 39 — unusual ages for people to die of the flu because they tend to have stronger immune systems.
Although most of the dead were from Mexico City, they came from different neighborhoods in the metropolis of 20 million people, Kuri said. One common factor may be that they sought treatment too late — an average of seven days before seeing a doctor. For those who recovered, the average wait was three days, said Hugo Lopez-Gatell Ramirez, deputy director of Mexico's Intelligence Unit for Health Emergencies.
Many of the sick around the world were people who had visited Mexico, including 13 of Britain's 15 cases.
South Korea reported Asia's second confirmed case — a woman just back from Mexico — and other governments prepared to quarantine airline passengers, eager to show how they have learned from the deadly SARS epidemic in 2003, when Hong Kong was criticized for imposing quarantines too slowly.
China suspended all direct flights from Mexico and sealed 305 people inside a Hong Kong hotel where an infected Mexican tourist stayed. Health workers in white bodysuits patrolled the lobby where the 25-year-old Mexican stayed before he became Asia's first confirmed case late Friday.
Mexican Foreign Minister Patricia Espinosa complained that China had isolated 71 Mexican nationals in six cities, including Beijing, without reason — and urged Mexicans not to travel to China until the situation was resolved.
"These are discriminatory measures," she said.
___
Associated Press writers David B. Caruso in New York and Juan Carlos Llorca in Mexico City contributed to this report.
MEXICO CITY – Mexico said a swine flu epidemic appears to be easing, but urged citizens Saturday not to let their guard down against a virus that has killed 17 people and is spreading across Asia and Europe. Experts warned the virus could mutate and come back with a vengeance.
With no suspected swine flu deaths since Wednesday and fewer people turning up at hospitals with virus symptoms, Mexican officials were guardedly optimistic that the worst was over in the outbreak's epicenter. Cases outside Mexico suggested the new swine flu strain is weaker than feared. But governments moved quickly anyway to ban flights and prepare quarantine plans.
In the first known reported case of the new, mutated virus infecting another species, pigs in the province of Alberta have become infected and are under quarantine. They apparently got the virus from a Canadian farm worker who recently visited Mexico and got sick with swine flu, Canadian officials said Saturday.
They told a press conference in Ottawa that the pigs do not pose a food safety risk, adding that the traveler recovered from the swine flu and the pigs are "well on their way to recovery." The outbreak occurred on a single farm, where about 10 percent of 2,200 pigs showed a fever and loss of appetite. No pigs have died from the virus, officials said.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it's too early to declare victory.
The World Health Organization also decided against a full pandemic alert, but that doesn't mean people can relax, said Dr. Mike Ryan, WHO's global alert and response director.
"These viruses mutate, these viruses change, these viruses can further reassort with other genetic material, with other viruses," he said. "So it would be imprudent at this point to take too much reassurance" from the small number of deaths.
"We have seen times where things appear to be getting better and then get worse again," said Dr. Anne Schuchat, the U.S. agency's interim science and public health deputy director. "I think in Mexico we may be holding our breath for some time."
The global caseload was 763 and growing — the vast majority in Mexico, the U.S. and Canada. Costa Rica reported its first confirmed swine flu case — the first in Latin America outside Mexico.
Swine flu cases have been confirmed in 18 countries so far — including Europe, the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific region — and experts believe the actual spread is much wider than the numbers suggest.
U.S. President Barack Obama urged caution Saturday.
"This is a new strain of the flu virus, and because we haven't developed an immunity to it, it has more potential to cause us harm," Obama said. Later, he spoke with Mexican President Felipe Calderon for about 20 minutes to share information.
What started as a swine flu outbreak more than a week ago in Mexico quickly ballooned to a global health threat, with the WHO declaring a pandemic was imminent. Now public health officials are having to carefully calibrate their statements. Push the message too far, and they could lose credibility if the virus fizzles out. But if they back off and it suddenly surges, the consequences could be much more dire.
Some Mexicans have criticized their government for reacting too slowly to the outbreak at first, and now for overreacting in ordering a five-day, nationwide shutdown of all nonessential government and private business. Responding to the attacks, Health Secretary Jose Angel Cordova said: "It's absurd to think that Mexico was putting on a show. I think it's preferable, at a certain moment, to take advanced measures and succeed in containing the problem than to not take them and ask, 'Why didn't we take them?'"
Mexico's last confirmed swine flu death occurred Tuesday, and the last suspected death came Wednesday, said Pablo Kuri, an epidemiologist and adviser to Cordova.
Cordova said hospitals are now handling fewer patients with swine flu symptoms, a sign that the disease is presently not very contagious. Mexican investigators who visited 280 relatives of victims found only four had the virus.
But experts said there is much they don't know about the outbreak in Mexico, where tests confirmed 16 deaths and nearly 450 people sickened. A multinational team of virus sleuths are trying to piece together the epidemiological puzzle.
Kuri said three of the dead were children: a 9-year-old girl, a 12-year-old girl and a 13-year-old boy. Four were older than 60.
The other nine were between 21 and 39 — unusual ages for people to die of the flu because they tend to have stronger immune systems.
Although most of the dead were from Mexico City, they came from different neighborhoods in the metropolis of 20 million people, Kuri said. One common factor may be that they sought treatment too late — an average of seven days before seeing a doctor. For those who recovered, the average wait was three days, said Hugo Lopez-Gatell Ramirez, deputy director of Mexico's Intelligence Unit for Health Emergencies.
Many of the sick around the world were people who had visited Mexico, including 13 of Britain's 15 cases.
South Korea reported Asia's second confirmed case — a woman just back from Mexico — and other governments prepared to quarantine airline passengers, eager to show how they have learned from the deadly SARS epidemic in 2003, when Hong Kong was criticized for imposing quarantines too slowly.
China suspended all direct flights from Mexico and sealed 305 people inside a Hong Kong hotel where an infected Mexican tourist stayed. Health workers in white bodysuits patrolled the lobby where the 25-year-old Mexican stayed before he became Asia's first confirmed case late Friday.
Mexican Foreign Minister Patricia Espinosa complained that China had isolated 71 Mexican nationals in six cities, including Beijing, without reason — and urged Mexicans not to travel to China until the situation was resolved.
"These are discriminatory measures," she said.
___
Associated Press writers David B. Caruso in New York and Juan Carlos Llorca in Mexico City contributed to this report.
Swine Not the Killer You Think It Is
May 2nd, 2009 2:06 PM Eastern
DR. MARC SIEGEL: Swine Flu — It’s Not the Killer You Think It Is
By Marc Siegel, M.D.
FOX News Medical Contributor/Associate Professor, NYU School of Medicine/Author, “False Alarm; the Truth About the Epidemic of Fear and Bird Flu: Everything You Need to Know About the Next Pandemic”
I was listening to a conference call on Friday, organized by the NYC Health Department about — you guessed it — swine flu (now known as H1N1). The discussion centered around “Influenza-like illness” and it was soon clear to me that…
1) It is a late influenza season this year and some of these illnesses are from the garden-variety mild influenza B.
2) A lot of the so-called “influenza cases” are really just reports by worried people with the sniffles. When all is said and done, it is looking more and more like H1N1 (a designation which describes two proteins on the surface of the flu virus which help it spread) will end up being a mild, over-hyped virus despite the fact that it is new.
In the current swine flu scare the virus is assumed to be a more powerful human killer than it actually is. In reality it appears to losing virulence as it spreads human to human and is not that transmissable, and is NOT becoming widespread.
As I described in my book “False Alarm; the Truth About the Epidemic of Fear,” there is a history of hysterical ovverreaction to health risks in this country especially as evidenced by the swine flu fiasco of 1976, SARS in 2003 and the bird flu scare in 2005.
In each case, Some of this overreaction was due to a distortion of the scientific information about the virus itself. In 1976, when a swine flu virus appeared to kill a military recruit and then be present in the blood of 500 others (who never got sick) this led to a massive hysteria and vaccination program for a pandemic that never occurred. Forty millon Americas were vaccinated and ascending paralysis (also known as Guillain Barre Syndrome) was associated with recipients in close to 1,000 patients.
The fears that prompted the mass vaccination were due to the ghost of the 1918 Spanish Flu, which killed at least 50 million worldwide. In 1976 and 2003 SARS, and again in 2006 with the bird flu, false assumptions were made connecting the memory of 1918 with another potential scourge.
Back in 1976 the prevailing theory was that pigs had been the source of the 1918 Spanish Flu, which was later disproven but served as an impetus for the hysteria at the time. In 2005, the knowledge that the 1918 scary virus was “bird-like” led the fearmongers to point a finger at an equally scary H5N1 virus that was killing millions of birds. But lost in the panic was the knowledge that human pandemics had likely never been caused by an H5 virus before.
In the current swine flu scare the virus is assumed to be a more powerful human killer than it actually is. In reality it appears to losing virulence as it spreads human to human and is not that transmissable, and is NOT becoming widespread.
The vast overreaction to this virus and its potential has severe economic consequences as it did previously in 1976, 2003, and 2006. This time the hysteria may lead to billions of dollars lost to the travel industry, tourism, the Mexican economy, and to closing schools due to hysterical children and overreacting nurses. Vice President Biden’s statement that we should all avoid planes, trains, and crowded places was not at all consistent with the very low prevalence of the virus. It made me think he had become disoriented and suddenly thought he was back in 1918! Even President Obama’s statement that we should wash our hands (of course we should, they are loaded with bacteria and viruses of all kinds) sent the wrong message that there is far more of this particular virus around than there actually is. (The chance that this virus is on your hands as you read this is extremely close to zero).
Despite the fact that you can’t get this virus from eating pork, Egypt is destroying its pigs and several other countries are not importing pigs from the U.S. or Mexico. This is another form of hysteria.
Perhaps the greatest overreaction of all is the new pandemic alert system that the World Health Organization developed in response to the 2005 bird flu scare (an alert system developed in response to a scare??). Though it is reasonable to call a pandemic for an extensive spread of a new strain of killer flu to many parts of the world at once, what is sorely lacking in this alert system is any counting of actual cases or number of deaths before raising the alert level. As a result, we may end up with the first pandemic in history with less than a thousand deaths. Consider that the last pandemic, the 1968 Hong Kong Flu, which was controlled with the help of vaccines, public health measures, and treatments for secondary infections with antibiotics, killed 750,000 worldwide.
It look like H1N1 is another pandemic of mostly of fear — something that is stronger and more infectious than any virus.
Marc Siegel M.D., a FOX Medical Contributor, is the author of “False Alarm; the Truth About the Epidemic of Fear and Bird Flu: Everything You Need to Know About the Next Pandemic.”
DR. MARC SIEGEL: Swine Flu — It’s Not the Killer You Think It Is
By Marc Siegel, M.D.
FOX News Medical Contributor/Associate Professor, NYU School of Medicine/Author, “False Alarm; the Truth About the Epidemic of Fear and Bird Flu: Everything You Need to Know About the Next Pandemic”
I was listening to a conference call on Friday, organized by the NYC Health Department about — you guessed it — swine flu (now known as H1N1). The discussion centered around “Influenza-like illness” and it was soon clear to me that…
1) It is a late influenza season this year and some of these illnesses are from the garden-variety mild influenza B.
2) A lot of the so-called “influenza cases” are really just reports by worried people with the sniffles. When all is said and done, it is looking more and more like H1N1 (a designation which describes two proteins on the surface of the flu virus which help it spread) will end up being a mild, over-hyped virus despite the fact that it is new.
In the current swine flu scare the virus is assumed to be a more powerful human killer than it actually is. In reality it appears to losing virulence as it spreads human to human and is not that transmissable, and is NOT becoming widespread.
As I described in my book “False Alarm; the Truth About the Epidemic of Fear,” there is a history of hysterical ovverreaction to health risks in this country especially as evidenced by the swine flu fiasco of 1976, SARS in 2003 and the bird flu scare in 2005.
In each case, Some of this overreaction was due to a distortion of the scientific information about the virus itself. In 1976, when a swine flu virus appeared to kill a military recruit and then be present in the blood of 500 others (who never got sick) this led to a massive hysteria and vaccination program for a pandemic that never occurred. Forty millon Americas were vaccinated and ascending paralysis (also known as Guillain Barre Syndrome) was associated with recipients in close to 1,000 patients.
The fears that prompted the mass vaccination were due to the ghost of the 1918 Spanish Flu, which killed at least 50 million worldwide. In 1976 and 2003 SARS, and again in 2006 with the bird flu, false assumptions were made connecting the memory of 1918 with another potential scourge.
Back in 1976 the prevailing theory was that pigs had been the source of the 1918 Spanish Flu, which was later disproven but served as an impetus for the hysteria at the time. In 2005, the knowledge that the 1918 scary virus was “bird-like” led the fearmongers to point a finger at an equally scary H5N1 virus that was killing millions of birds. But lost in the panic was the knowledge that human pandemics had likely never been caused by an H5 virus before.
In the current swine flu scare the virus is assumed to be a more powerful human killer than it actually is. In reality it appears to losing virulence as it spreads human to human and is not that transmissable, and is NOT becoming widespread.
The vast overreaction to this virus and its potential has severe economic consequences as it did previously in 1976, 2003, and 2006. This time the hysteria may lead to billions of dollars lost to the travel industry, tourism, the Mexican economy, and to closing schools due to hysterical children and overreacting nurses. Vice President Biden’s statement that we should all avoid planes, trains, and crowded places was not at all consistent with the very low prevalence of the virus. It made me think he had become disoriented and suddenly thought he was back in 1918! Even President Obama’s statement that we should wash our hands (of course we should, they are loaded with bacteria and viruses of all kinds) sent the wrong message that there is far more of this particular virus around than there actually is. (The chance that this virus is on your hands as you read this is extremely close to zero).
Despite the fact that you can’t get this virus from eating pork, Egypt is destroying its pigs and several other countries are not importing pigs from the U.S. or Mexico. This is another form of hysteria.
Perhaps the greatest overreaction of all is the new pandemic alert system that the World Health Organization developed in response to the 2005 bird flu scare (an alert system developed in response to a scare??). Though it is reasonable to call a pandemic for an extensive spread of a new strain of killer flu to many parts of the world at once, what is sorely lacking in this alert system is any counting of actual cases or number of deaths before raising the alert level. As a result, we may end up with the first pandemic in history with less than a thousand deaths. Consider that the last pandemic, the 1968 Hong Kong Flu, which was controlled with the help of vaccines, public health measures, and treatments for secondary infections with antibiotics, killed 750,000 worldwide.
It look like H1N1 is another pandemic of mostly of fear — something that is stronger and more infectious than any virus.
Marc Siegel M.D., a FOX Medical Contributor, is the author of “False Alarm; the Truth About the Epidemic of Fear and Bird Flu: Everything You Need to Know About the Next Pandemic.”
CDC Swine Flu Report
U.S. Human Cases of H1N1 Flu Infection
(As of May 2, 2009, 11:00 AM ET)
Arizona 4
California 24
Colorado 2
Connecticut 1
Delaware 4
Florida 2
Illinois 3
Indiana 3
Kansas 2
Kentucky* 1
Massachusetts 8
Michigan 2
Minnesota 1
Missouri 1
Nevada 1
New Jersey 7
New York 50
Ohio 1
South Carolina 13
Texas 28 cases and 1 death
Virginia 2
TOTAL (21) 160 cases 1 death
CDC continues to take aggressive action to respond to an expanding outbreak caused by H1N1 (swine flu).
CDC’s response goals are to:
Reduce transmission and illness severity, and
Provide information to help health care providers, public health officials and the public address the challenges posed by this emergency.
CDC continues to issue and update interim guidance daily in response to the rapidly evolving situation. This includes guidance on when to close schools and how to care for someone who is sick at home. Supplies from CDC’s Division of the Strategic National Stockpile (SNS) are being sent to all 50 states and U.S. territories to help them respond to the outbreak. In addition, the Federal Government and manufacturers have begun the process of developing a vaccine against this new virus.
Response actions are aggressive, but they may vary across states and communities depending on local circumstances. Communities, businesses, places of worship, schools and individuals can all take action to slow the spread of this outbreak. People who are sick are urged to stay home from work or school and to avoid contact with others, except to seek medical care. This action can avoid spreading illness further.
http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/
(As of May 2, 2009, 11:00 AM ET)
Arizona 4
California 24
Colorado 2
Connecticut 1
Delaware 4
Florida 2
Illinois 3
Indiana 3
Kansas 2
Kentucky* 1
Massachusetts 8
Michigan 2
Minnesota 1
Missouri 1
Nevada 1
New Jersey 7
New York 50
Ohio 1
South Carolina 13
Texas 28 cases and 1 death
Virginia 2
TOTAL (21) 160 cases 1 death
CDC continues to take aggressive action to respond to an expanding outbreak caused by H1N1 (swine flu).
CDC’s response goals are to:
Reduce transmission and illness severity, and
Provide information to help health care providers, public health officials and the public address the challenges posed by this emergency.
CDC continues to issue and update interim guidance daily in response to the rapidly evolving situation. This includes guidance on when to close schools and how to care for someone who is sick at home. Supplies from CDC’s Division of the Strategic National Stockpile (SNS) are being sent to all 50 states and U.S. territories to help them respond to the outbreak. In addition, the Federal Government and manufacturers have begun the process of developing a vaccine against this new virus.
Response actions are aggressive, but they may vary across states and communities depending on local circumstances. Communities, businesses, places of worship, schools and individuals can all take action to slow the spread of this outbreak. People who are sick are urged to stay home from work or school and to avoid contact with others, except to seek medical care. This action can avoid spreading illness further.
http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/
1/3 Swine Flu Cases from Visiting Mexico
CDC says a third of US flu cases visited Mexico
May 2nd, 2009 @ 12:53pm
By MIKE STOBBE
AP Medical Writer
ATLANTA (AP) - About a third of the confirmed U.S. cases of swine flu are people who had been to Mexico and likely picked up the infection there, a federal health official said Saturday.
But investigations indicate many cases are getting the illness here, and that it probably still is spreading, said Dr. Anne Schuchat of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
In a press briefing, CDC officials said the agency knows of confirmed cases from 21 states, with Connecticut, Florida and Missouri the latest to join the list.
The CDC's count of 160 confirmed cases released Saturday is believed to already be outdated. Some states can now do their own tests for the swine flu virus and don't have to send samples to the CDC. States have reported about a dozen more cases, bringing the national total to more than 170.
The swine flu cases range in age from 1 to 81, but the majority are people younger than 20, said Schuchat, the CDC's interim deputy director for science and public health. Most U.S. cases have been relatively mild; only 13 have been hospitalized.
May 2nd, 2009 @ 12:53pm
By MIKE STOBBE
AP Medical Writer
ATLANTA (AP) - About a third of the confirmed U.S. cases of swine flu are people who had been to Mexico and likely picked up the infection there, a federal health official said Saturday.
But investigations indicate many cases are getting the illness here, and that it probably still is spreading, said Dr. Anne Schuchat of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
In a press briefing, CDC officials said the agency knows of confirmed cases from 21 states, with Connecticut, Florida and Missouri the latest to join the list.
The CDC's count of 160 confirmed cases released Saturday is believed to already be outdated. Some states can now do their own tests for the swine flu virus and don't have to send samples to the CDC. States have reported about a dozen more cases, bringing the national total to more than 170.
The swine flu cases range in age from 1 to 81, but the majority are people younger than 20, said Schuchat, the CDC's interim deputy director for science and public health. Most U.S. cases have been relatively mild; only 13 have been hospitalized.
Friday, May 1, 2009
CDC: New Virus Does Not Have Genes That Made 1918 Flu So Deadly
A U.S. health official says the new swine flu virus lacks genes that made the 1918 pandemic strain so deadly.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday the new virus is "a very unusual" four-way combination of human genes and genes from swine viruses found in North America, Asia and Europe.
CDC flu chief Dr. Nancy Cox said the good news is "we do not see the markers for virulence that were seen in the 1918 virus."
U.S. authorities are pledging to eventually produce enough swine flu vaccine for everyone but the shots won't begin until fall at the earliest.
Scientists are racing to prepare the key ingredient to make a vaccine against the never-before-seen flu strain — if it's ultimately needed.
10 Ways to Prevent Swine Flu
But it will take several months before the first pilot lots begin required human testing to ensure the vaccine is safe and effective.
"We think 600 million doses is achievable in a six-month time frame" from that fall start, Health and Human Services Assistant Secretary Craig Vanderwagen said.
"I don't want anybody to have false expectations. The science is challenging here," Vanderwagen told reporters. "t's a question of can we get the science worked on the specifics of this vaccine."
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have reported 141 cases of swine flu in 19 states. Some 300 schools have closed in communities across the country as health authorities work to contain the virus.
On Friday, the World Health Organization raised its tally of confirmed human cases to 331, up from 257.
Cox said the manufacture of a vaccine for the new virus would not interfere with the manufacture of a seasonal flu vaccine for the upcoming flu season. She said that, if it becomes necessary to make a supplemental swine flu vaccine, that vaccine would be prepared "in parallel" with the seasonal vaccine.
Because of this, world scientists are in agreement, for now, that the seasonal vaccine offers no protection, she said.
"We have no doubt making a successful vaccine is possible," Kieny said.
The reason why the vaccine will take so long to produce is because scientists must first isolate the virus and then adapt it to be made into a vaccine. It is believed that the adapted virus should be ready by the end of May. After this, the virus is injected into eggs where it will grow. From there, scientists will remove it, kill it and then formulate it into a vaccine.
After that, clinical trials in humans must be performed to ensure it's safety and effectiveness. Later, it will need to receive approval by national regulatory authorities, Kieny said.
The WHO is now reporting 11 countries have confirmed cases, including Germany, which confirmed Friday the first case of swine flu transmission within the country. This does not include Hong Kong and Denmark, which confirmed cases mid-morning Friday.
Federal officials had to spend much of Thursday reassuring the public it's still safe to fly and ride public transportation after Vice President Joe Biden said he wouldn't recommend it to his family.
"There's not an increased risk there," Dr. Richard Besser, acting director of the CDC, said Friday. "If you have the flu or flu-like symptoms, you shouldn't be getting on an airplane or you shouldn't be getting in the subway, but for the general population that's quite fine to do," he said.
Clinics and hospital emergency rooms in New York, California and some other states are seeing a surge in patients with coughs and sneezes that might have been ignored before the outbreak.
Until a vaccine is ready, the government has stockpiled anti-viral medications that can ease flu symptoms or help prevent infection. The medicines are proving effective.
Reassurances from top health officials didn't stop the questions from coming.
An estimated 12,000 people logged onto a Webcast where the government's top emergency officials sought to cut confusion by answering questions straight from the public: Can a factory worker handling parts from Mexico catch the virus? No. Can pets get it? No.
And is washing hands or using those alcohol-based hand gels best? Washing well enough is the real issue, Besser said. He keeps hand gel in his pocket for between-washings but also suggested that people sing "Happy Birthday" as they wash their hands to make sure they've washed long enough to get rid of germs.
The Numbers
Although the CDC has tallied just 141 swine flu cases in the U.S., state health experts say the count is likely much higher. Among the U.S. cases confirmed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are 51 in New York, 16 in Texas and 14 in California, as well as scattered cases in Kansas, Illinois, Florida, Massachusetts, Michigan, Arizona, Indiana, Nevada, Ohio, Maine and South Carolina.
State officials also confirmed cases in Minnesota, Georgia, Delaware, Utah, New Jersey, Virginia and Colorado.
About 300 of the nation's 132,000 schools have closed, while high school, college and professional sporting events have been called off nationwide due to increasing fears.
Nebraska's chief medical officer says federal tests have confirmed the first case of swine flu in the state. It involves a California man in his 40s who's vacationing in the Omaha area. Health officials have said the infection ultimately will be reported as a California case because the CDC counts cases of infectious disease by residence. Nebraska also has suspected cases of the flu.
Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle declared a public health emergency after two more probable cases of swine flu were identified in Wisconsin Thursday.
Thirty-nine Marines were confined to their base in California after one came down with the disease.
A pediatrician in Washington state saw 22 patients with flu-like symptoms before she developed serious symptoms and went to the emergency room. The Pennsylvania Department of Health says it continues to find people who it considers to be probable swine flu cases. It is investigating three new possible cases.
Illinois health officials say the number of probable swine flu cases in the state has more than doubled to 41.
A security aide helping with arrangements during President Barack Obama's recent trip to Mexico became sick with flu-like symptoms and three members of his family later contracted probable swine flu, the White House said Thursday.
White House press secretary Robert Gibbs remained steadfast that the president was never at risk of contracting the flu.
It was also learned that a Mexican toddler who visited Texas with his family and died Monday night in Houston, spent a day with his family shopping at a huge Houston indoor mall the day before he began to show symptoms, said Cameron County Judge Carlos Cascos, who interviewed the boy's family.
Slippery Rock University in Pennsylvania will hold a separate graduation for 22 students who recently returned from Mexico.
So far, the students are in good health, but school officials fear they could have been exposed to the swine flu. Commencement falls in the middle of an incubation period during which the students have been advised to limit contact with others. The students were in Mexico completing their student-teacher requirements.
Even though scientists say the new virus is more pig than human, the WHO said it plans to no longer call it "swine flu" to avoid confusion over the risk from pigs and eating pork. Health officials have stressed repeatedly that the disease is being transmitted human to human and that there is no risk from eating pork.
WHO spokesman Dick Thompson says the name change comes after the agriculture industry and the U.N. food agency expressed concerns that the term "swine flu" was misleading consumers and needlessly causing countries to order the slaughter of pigs.
He told reporters in Geneva "we're going to stick with the technical scientific name H1N1 influenza A."
Several countries have put a ban a pork imports. Hog futures fell for the sixth time in seven sessions on Thursday because of continued speculation that people will stop eating pork.
On Wednesday, the WHO boosted its alert level to one level below a full-fledged pandemic. The new Phase 5 alert, indicating a pandemic could be imminent as the virus spread further in Europe, prompted Mexico to announce the partial May 1-5 shutdown, Mexican Health Secretary Jose Cordova said late Wednesday.
The virus, a mix of pig, bird and human genes to which people have limited natural immunity, has also spread to Canada, New Zealand, Britain, Spain, Israel and Austria.
The U.S., the European Union and other countries have discouraged nonessential travel to Mexico. Some countries have urged their citizens to avoid the United States and Canada as well. Health officials said such bans would do little to stop the virus.
Where Did Virus Originate?
Medical detectives have not pinpointed where the outbreak began. Scientists believe that somewhere in the world, months or even a year ago, a pig virus jumped to a human and mutated, and has been spreading between humans ever since.
California is now being eyed as the potential source of the virus.
China has gone on a rhetorical offensive to squash any suggestion it's the source of the swine flu after some Mexican officials were quoted in media reports in the past week saying the virus came from Asia and the governor of Mexico's Veracruz state was quoted as saying the virus specifically came from China.
Swine Flu Timeline
One of the deaths in Mexico directly attributed to swine flu was that of a Bangladeshi immigrant, said Mexico's chief epidemiologist Miguel Angel Lezana.
Lezana said the unnamed Bangladeshi had lived in Mexico for six months and was recently visited by a brother who arrived from Bangladesh or Pakistan and was reportedly ill. The brother has left Mexico and his whereabouts are unknown, Lezana said. He suggested the brother could have brought the virus from Pakistan or Bangladesh.
By March 9, the first symptoms were showing up in the Mexican state of Veracruz, where pig farming is a key industry in mountain hamlets and where small clinics provide the only health care.
The earliest confirmed case was there: a 5-year-old boy who was one of hundreds of people in the town of La Gloria whose flu symptoms left them struggling to breathe.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report. FOX
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday the new virus is "a very unusual" four-way combination of human genes and genes from swine viruses found in North America, Asia and Europe.
CDC flu chief Dr. Nancy Cox said the good news is "we do not see the markers for virulence that were seen in the 1918 virus."
U.S. authorities are pledging to eventually produce enough swine flu vaccine for everyone but the shots won't begin until fall at the earliest.
Scientists are racing to prepare the key ingredient to make a vaccine against the never-before-seen flu strain — if it's ultimately needed.
10 Ways to Prevent Swine Flu
But it will take several months before the first pilot lots begin required human testing to ensure the vaccine is safe and effective.
"We think 600 million doses is achievable in a six-month time frame" from that fall start, Health and Human Services Assistant Secretary Craig Vanderwagen said.
"I don't want anybody to have false expectations. The science is challenging here," Vanderwagen told reporters. "t's a question of can we get the science worked on the specifics of this vaccine."
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have reported 141 cases of swine flu in 19 states. Some 300 schools have closed in communities across the country as health authorities work to contain the virus.
On Friday, the World Health Organization raised its tally of confirmed human cases to 331, up from 257.
Cox said the manufacture of a vaccine for the new virus would not interfere with the manufacture of a seasonal flu vaccine for the upcoming flu season. She said that, if it becomes necessary to make a supplemental swine flu vaccine, that vaccine would be prepared "in parallel" with the seasonal vaccine.
Because of this, world scientists are in agreement, for now, that the seasonal vaccine offers no protection, she said.
"We have no doubt making a successful vaccine is possible," Kieny said.
The reason why the vaccine will take so long to produce is because scientists must first isolate the virus and then adapt it to be made into a vaccine. It is believed that the adapted virus should be ready by the end of May. After this, the virus is injected into eggs where it will grow. From there, scientists will remove it, kill it and then formulate it into a vaccine.
After that, clinical trials in humans must be performed to ensure it's safety and effectiveness. Later, it will need to receive approval by national regulatory authorities, Kieny said.
The WHO is now reporting 11 countries have confirmed cases, including Germany, which confirmed Friday the first case of swine flu transmission within the country. This does not include Hong Kong and Denmark, which confirmed cases mid-morning Friday.
Federal officials had to spend much of Thursday reassuring the public it's still safe to fly and ride public transportation after Vice President Joe Biden said he wouldn't recommend it to his family.
"There's not an increased risk there," Dr. Richard Besser, acting director of the CDC, said Friday. "If you have the flu or flu-like symptoms, you shouldn't be getting on an airplane or you shouldn't be getting in the subway, but for the general population that's quite fine to do," he said.
Clinics and hospital emergency rooms in New York, California and some other states are seeing a surge in patients with coughs and sneezes that might have been ignored before the outbreak.
Until a vaccine is ready, the government has stockpiled anti-viral medications that can ease flu symptoms or help prevent infection. The medicines are proving effective.
Reassurances from top health officials didn't stop the questions from coming.
An estimated 12,000 people logged onto a Webcast where the government's top emergency officials sought to cut confusion by answering questions straight from the public: Can a factory worker handling parts from Mexico catch the virus? No. Can pets get it? No.
And is washing hands or using those alcohol-based hand gels best? Washing well enough is the real issue, Besser said. He keeps hand gel in his pocket for between-washings but also suggested that people sing "Happy Birthday" as they wash their hands to make sure they've washed long enough to get rid of germs.
The Numbers
Although the CDC has tallied just 141 swine flu cases in the U.S., state health experts say the count is likely much higher. Among the U.S. cases confirmed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are 51 in New York, 16 in Texas and 14 in California, as well as scattered cases in Kansas, Illinois, Florida, Massachusetts, Michigan, Arizona, Indiana, Nevada, Ohio, Maine and South Carolina.
State officials also confirmed cases in Minnesota, Georgia, Delaware, Utah, New Jersey, Virginia and Colorado.
About 300 of the nation's 132,000 schools have closed, while high school, college and professional sporting events have been called off nationwide due to increasing fears.
Nebraska's chief medical officer says federal tests have confirmed the first case of swine flu in the state. It involves a California man in his 40s who's vacationing in the Omaha area. Health officials have said the infection ultimately will be reported as a California case because the CDC counts cases of infectious disease by residence. Nebraska also has suspected cases of the flu.
Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle declared a public health emergency after two more probable cases of swine flu were identified in Wisconsin Thursday.
Thirty-nine Marines were confined to their base in California after one came down with the disease.
A pediatrician in Washington state saw 22 patients with flu-like symptoms before she developed serious symptoms and went to the emergency room. The Pennsylvania Department of Health says it continues to find people who it considers to be probable swine flu cases. It is investigating three new possible cases.
Illinois health officials say the number of probable swine flu cases in the state has more than doubled to 41.
A security aide helping with arrangements during President Barack Obama's recent trip to Mexico became sick with flu-like symptoms and three members of his family later contracted probable swine flu, the White House said Thursday.
White House press secretary Robert Gibbs remained steadfast that the president was never at risk of contracting the flu.
It was also learned that a Mexican toddler who visited Texas with his family and died Monday night in Houston, spent a day with his family shopping at a huge Houston indoor mall the day before he began to show symptoms, said Cameron County Judge Carlos Cascos, who interviewed the boy's family.
Slippery Rock University in Pennsylvania will hold a separate graduation for 22 students who recently returned from Mexico.
So far, the students are in good health, but school officials fear they could have been exposed to the swine flu. Commencement falls in the middle of an incubation period during which the students have been advised to limit contact with others. The students were in Mexico completing their student-teacher requirements.
Even though scientists say the new virus is more pig than human, the WHO said it plans to no longer call it "swine flu" to avoid confusion over the risk from pigs and eating pork. Health officials have stressed repeatedly that the disease is being transmitted human to human and that there is no risk from eating pork.
WHO spokesman Dick Thompson says the name change comes after the agriculture industry and the U.N. food agency expressed concerns that the term "swine flu" was misleading consumers and needlessly causing countries to order the slaughter of pigs.
He told reporters in Geneva "we're going to stick with the technical scientific name H1N1 influenza A."
Several countries have put a ban a pork imports. Hog futures fell for the sixth time in seven sessions on Thursday because of continued speculation that people will stop eating pork.
On Wednesday, the WHO boosted its alert level to one level below a full-fledged pandemic. The new Phase 5 alert, indicating a pandemic could be imminent as the virus spread further in Europe, prompted Mexico to announce the partial May 1-5 shutdown, Mexican Health Secretary Jose Cordova said late Wednesday.
The virus, a mix of pig, bird and human genes to which people have limited natural immunity, has also spread to Canada, New Zealand, Britain, Spain, Israel and Austria.
The U.S., the European Union and other countries have discouraged nonessential travel to Mexico. Some countries have urged their citizens to avoid the United States and Canada as well. Health officials said such bans would do little to stop the virus.
Where Did Virus Originate?
Medical detectives have not pinpointed where the outbreak began. Scientists believe that somewhere in the world, months or even a year ago, a pig virus jumped to a human and mutated, and has been spreading between humans ever since.
California is now being eyed as the potential source of the virus.
China has gone on a rhetorical offensive to squash any suggestion it's the source of the swine flu after some Mexican officials were quoted in media reports in the past week saying the virus came from Asia and the governor of Mexico's Veracruz state was quoted as saying the virus specifically came from China.
Swine Flu Timeline
One of the deaths in Mexico directly attributed to swine flu was that of a Bangladeshi immigrant, said Mexico's chief epidemiologist Miguel Angel Lezana.
Lezana said the unnamed Bangladeshi had lived in Mexico for six months and was recently visited by a brother who arrived from Bangladesh or Pakistan and was reportedly ill. The brother has left Mexico and his whereabouts are unknown, Lezana said. He suggested the brother could have brought the virus from Pakistan or Bangladesh.
By March 9, the first symptoms were showing up in the Mexican state of Veracruz, where pig farming is a key industry in mountain hamlets and where small clinics provide the only health care.
The earliest confirmed case was there: a 5-year-old boy who was one of hundreds of people in the town of La Gloria whose flu symptoms left them struggling to breathe.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report. FOX
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Get Your Two Week Supply Ready.
PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT
Community Planning for Swine Flu
April 28, 2009 6:45 PM ET
Script
Health officials are concerned about a new influenza virus of swine origin that’s spreading from person to person. Officials are acting to combat this threat, but the outbreak might grow. So be prepared.
Store a two-week supply of food and water. Have two weeks of your regular prescription drugs at home. Keep health supplies on hand, including pain relievers and cold medicines.
For more details, visit www.cdc.gov/swineflu or call 1-800-CDC-INFO.
A message from HHS.
CDC.gov
H1N1 Flu (Swine Flu)
Swine Flu website last updated April 30, 2009, 10:30 AM ET
U.S. Human Cases of H1N1 Flu Infection
(As of April 30, 2009, 10:30 AM ET)
Arizona 1
California 14
Indiana 1
Kansas 2
Massachusetts 2
Michigan 1
Nevada 1
New York 50
Ohio 1
South Carolina 10
Texas 26 cases and 1 death
TOTAL COUNTS 109 cases 1 death (someone visiting from Mexico)
...the World Health Organization raised the worldwide pandemic alert level to Phase 5 on April 29, 2009. A Phase 5 alert is a “strong signal that a pandemic is imminent and that the time to finalize the organization, communication, and implementation of the planned mitigation measures is short.”
The United States Government has declared a public health emergency...CDC’s response goals are to reduce transmission and illness severity, and provide information to help health care providers, public health officials and the public address the challenges posed by this emergency...
...CDC’s Division of the Strategic National Stockpile (SNS) continues to send antiviral drugs, personal protective equipment, and respiratory protection devices to all 50 states and U.S. territories to help them respond to the outbreak. The swine influenza A (H1N1) virus is susceptible to the prescription antiviral drugs oseltamivir and zanamivir. In addition, the Federal Government and manufacturers have begun the process of developing a vaccine against this new virus.
"People do not normally get swine flu, but human infections can and do happen. Swine flu viruses have been reported to spread from person-to-person, but in the past, this transmission was limited and not sustained beyond three people...
In late March and early April 2009, cases of human infection with swine influenza A (H1N1) viruses were first reported in Southern California and near Guadalupe County, Texas...
No. Swine influenza viruses are not spread by food. You cannot get swine influenza from eating pork or pork products. Eating properly handled and cooked pork products is safe...
Infected people may be able to infect others beginning 1 day before symptoms develop and up to 7 or more days after becoming sick...
CDC recommends the use of oseltamivir or zanamivir for the treatment and/or prevention of infection with these swine influenza viruses. Antiviral drugs are prescription medicines (pills, liquid or an inhaler) that fight against the flu by keeping flu viruses from reproducing in your body. If you get sick, antiviral drugs can make your illness milder and make you feel better faster. They may also prevent serious flu complications. For treatment, antiviral drugs work best if started soon after getting sick (within 2 days of symptoms)...
Children, especially younger children, might potentially be contagious for longer periods...
...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...
...There is no vaccine available right now to protect against swine flu...
...Like seasonal flu, swine flu in humans can vary in severity from mild to severe. Between 2005 until January 2009, 12 human cases of swine flu were detected in the U.S. with no deaths occurring. However, swine flu infection can be serious. In September 1988, a previously healthy 32-year-old pregnant woman in Wisconsin was hospitalized for pneumonia after being infected with swine flu and died 8 days later. A swine flu outbreak in Fort Dix, New Jersey occurred in 1976 that caused more than 200 cases with serious illness in several people and one death...
...CDC’s Division of the Strategic National Stockpile (SNS) continues to send antiviral drugs, personal protective equipment, and respiratory protection devices to all 50 states and U.S. territories to help them respond to the outbreak..."
Community Planning for Swine Flu
April 28, 2009 6:45 PM ET
Script
Health officials are concerned about a new influenza virus of swine origin that’s spreading from person to person. Officials are acting to combat this threat, but the outbreak might grow. So be prepared.
Store a two-week supply of food and water. Have two weeks of your regular prescription drugs at home. Keep health supplies on hand, including pain relievers and cold medicines.
For more details, visit www.cdc.gov/swineflu or call 1-800-CDC-INFO.
A message from HHS.
CDC.gov
H1N1 Flu (Swine Flu)
Swine Flu website last updated April 30, 2009, 10:30 AM ET
U.S. Human Cases of H1N1 Flu Infection
(As of April 30, 2009, 10:30 AM ET)
Arizona 1
California 14
Indiana 1
Kansas 2
Massachusetts 2
Michigan 1
Nevada 1
New York 50
Ohio 1
South Carolina 10
Texas 26 cases and 1 death
TOTAL COUNTS 109 cases 1 death (someone visiting from Mexico)
...the World Health Organization raised the worldwide pandemic alert level to Phase 5 on April 29, 2009. A Phase 5 alert is a “strong signal that a pandemic is imminent and that the time to finalize the organization, communication, and implementation of the planned mitigation measures is short.”
The United States Government has declared a public health emergency...CDC’s response goals are to reduce transmission and illness severity, and provide information to help health care providers, public health officials and the public address the challenges posed by this emergency...
...CDC’s Division of the Strategic National Stockpile (SNS) continues to send antiviral drugs, personal protective equipment, and respiratory protection devices to all 50 states and U.S. territories to help them respond to the outbreak. The swine influenza A (H1N1) virus is susceptible to the prescription antiviral drugs oseltamivir and zanamivir. In addition, the Federal Government and manufacturers have begun the process of developing a vaccine against this new virus.
"People do not normally get swine flu, but human infections can and do happen. Swine flu viruses have been reported to spread from person-to-person, but in the past, this transmission was limited and not sustained beyond three people...
In late March and early April 2009, cases of human infection with swine influenza A (H1N1) viruses were first reported in Southern California and near Guadalupe County, Texas...
No. Swine influenza viruses are not spread by food. You cannot get swine influenza from eating pork or pork products. Eating properly handled and cooked pork products is safe...
Infected people may be able to infect others beginning 1 day before symptoms develop and up to 7 or more days after becoming sick...
CDC recommends the use of oseltamivir or zanamivir for the treatment and/or prevention of infection with these swine influenza viruses. Antiviral drugs are prescription medicines (pills, liquid or an inhaler) that fight against the flu by keeping flu viruses from reproducing in your body. If you get sick, antiviral drugs can make your illness milder and make you feel better faster. They may also prevent serious flu complications. For treatment, antiviral drugs work best if started soon after getting sick (within 2 days of symptoms)...
Children, especially younger children, might potentially be contagious for longer periods...
...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...
...There is no vaccine available right now to protect against swine flu...
...Like seasonal flu, swine flu in humans can vary in severity from mild to severe. Between 2005 until January 2009, 12 human cases of swine flu were detected in the U.S. with no deaths occurring. However, swine flu infection can be serious. In September 1988, a previously healthy 32-year-old pregnant woman in Wisconsin was hospitalized for pneumonia after being infected with swine flu and died 8 days later. A swine flu outbreak in Fort Dix, New Jersey occurred in 1976 that caused more than 200 cases with serious illness in several people and one death...
...CDC’s Division of the Strategic National Stockpile (SNS) continues to send antiviral drugs, personal protective equipment, and respiratory protection devices to all 50 states and U.S. territories to help them respond to the outbreak..."
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Fear Mongering. New Tactic.
I know that I have been somewhat to blame over the last couple of days for passing on the information about Swine Flu. However, is it interesting in a disturbing sort of way to anyone else that the information about this strain of flu is being blown out of proportion?!
Look at the center of this quote from an article today on Yahoo News
"On Monday morning, a 5.6 earthquake in Mexico added to that country's woes, where the death count from suspected swine flu cases had climbed to 152 and more than 1,600 people across the nation had fallen ill. So far, laboratories have confirmed only 26 of Mexico's cases, including seven deaths, as swine flu. In an effort to stem further spread of the apparently deadly disease"
Did you notice how low the numbers actually are (bold added)? It's kind of like the word "terrorist", or "terrorism" that was used in our face since 2001 to instill fear so that certain programs could happen and be justified. Now, instead of the "terrorism" threat, we have a health scare that is putting people on edge around the globe. What is it that this new fear tactic is covering up? What is actually going on?
Look at the center of this quote from an article today on Yahoo News
"On Monday morning, a 5.6 earthquake in Mexico added to that country's woes, where the death count from suspected swine flu cases had climbed to 152 and more than 1,600 people across the nation had fallen ill. So far, laboratories have confirmed only 26 of Mexico's cases, including seven deaths, as swine flu. In an effort to stem further spread of the apparently deadly disease"
Did you notice how low the numbers actually are (bold added)? It's kind of like the word "terrorist", or "terrorism" that was used in our face since 2001 to instill fear so that certain programs could happen and be justified. Now, instead of the "terrorism" threat, we have a health scare that is putting people on edge around the globe. What is it that this new fear tactic is covering up? What is actually going on?
Is Swine Flu in Utah?
Questions and answers about swine flu in Utah
The Salt Lake Tribune
Updated: 04/28/2009 07:44:41 AM MDT
Utah has no confirmed or even suspected cases of swine flu as of Monday evening. But health officials, hospitals and others are preparing for possible cases. Here's what you need to know, from the Utah Department of Health and other responders.
How worried should I be about the swine flu breaking out in Utah?
Utahns should be highly alert for symptoms -- particularly if you have recently traveled to Mexico or had contact with someone who has -- but otherwise carry on with their normal lives. "What people don't acknowledge is we have deaths from seasonal influenza every year," said David Sundwall, executive director of the Utah Department of Health.
Is it inevitable that Utah will have cases?
It's "likely," Sundwall said, adding: "I'll be surprised if it doesn't show up here." In Idaho, four reports of people with flulike illnesses were being investigated Monday, according to the state Department of Health and Welfare. One person is from Fremont County, two are from Madison County, and the fourth is from Ada County.
Are the symptoms of swine flu different than the seasonal flu?
Not really. Symptoms of either flu may include fever, body aches, runny nose, sore throat or cough; some patients may also have nausea, vomiting or diarrhea. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has seen more severe diarrhea or vomiting, or both, in some cases of swine flu.
How do I avoid getting the flu?
Avoid close contact with people who are coughing or ill. Wash your hands frequently. If you're not sick, do not seek anti-viral medication from your doctor unless you have symptoms, the Utah Department of Health urges.
Will my seasonal flu shot protect me?
No.
What should I do if I feel ill?
» Stay home from work or school to avoid spreading the infection.
» Cover your cough with your shirt sleeve. Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth.
» Seek medical care for severe symptoms; clinicians will collect samples for testing at the Utah Public Health Laboratory.
Do Utah's hog farms make the states' residents more vulnerable to swine flu?
No, because people who have the virus generally have not had contact with pigs, said Tom Hudachko, state health department spokesman.
Leonard Blackham, Utah commissioner of Agriculture and Food, added there is no sign that Utah hogs are infected with the new flu, and a network of state and private veterinarians will continue to monitor the health of farm animals.
Because pigs can catch the flu from humans, he added, producers are being urged to keep ill employees away from animals.
The high rate of international travel to and from Utah may be a more problematic factor, Sundwall said.
Can I catch swine flu from eating pork?
No. Swine flu viruses are not transmitted by food. And cooking pork to an internal temperature of 160 degrees Fahrenheit kills viruses and foodborne pathogens, Blackham said.
What is Utah doing to prepare for possible cases?
» Acquiring about 60,000 doses of anti-viral medication from the Strategic National Stockpile, bringing Utah's arsenal up to more than 100,000. Tamiflu and Relenza appear to affect the symptoms of the swine flu virus.
» Health and hospital officials are urging prevention and planning care for possible swine flu patients, based on existing detailed pandemic flu plans.
» Infectious disease experts and other clinicians at Intermountain Medical Center, Utah's largest Trauma 1 center, met Monday morning to discuss how to respond to the nation's declaration of a public health emergency and to prepare for potential patients.
» As a precaution, patients coming to any Intermountain Healthcare hospitals in the Salt Lake Valley -- LDS Hospital, Alta View Hospital and The Orthopedic Specialty Hospital -- are being asked to wear a mask if they have respiratory illnesses or symptoms, including coughing. Visitors with such symptoms are being asked to stay away.
» University Hospital alerted staff to be on the look out for symptoms, but had not seen an influx of patients with apparent swine flu symptoms. MountainStar hospitals, including St. Mark's Hospital in Salt Lake City, also are preparing to treat possible swine flu patients and are isolating patients with infectious symptoms in the meantime.
Is Salt Lake City International Airport taking precautions?
Airport spokeswoman Barbara Gann said a "very small" number of Customs officials and airline agents in the International terminal are voluntarily wearing masks and gloves to protect themselves.
She said as of Sunday, Delta Airlines stopped its last nonstop flight to Mexico City, because of a seasonal lull in travel. The airport still has 14 weekly nonstop flights to San Jose, Puerto Vallarta and Cancun, Mexico. That is 1,700 seats each week, Gann said.
"Our exposure to direct Mexico flights is minimal," she said.
Is the outbreak having an affect on Utahns' travel plans?
Not yet. Morris Murdock Travel had only four cancellations Monday out of almost 1,000 people who had booked trips to Mexican resorts. A handful of customers switched destinations from Mexico to Hawaii or the Caribbean, said spokesman Jim Barsch. Mexico is the second largest source of foreign tourists to Utah, so industry officials are watching reports closely, but trying not to create a panic. Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. has not altered plans for a May 11-14 trade mission to Israel.
Is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints taking any precautions for missionaries in Mexico? Are all missionaries well?
Missionaries are safe but church authorities have canceled all meetings until further notice. LDS leaders have also advised missionaries and members in Mexico City to follow basic sanitary precautions as a guard against infections. LDS Church records show 1,121,933 members in Mexico and 21 missions with between 75 and 150 missionaries each.
Where can I learn more?
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention offer more information at www.cdc.gov/swineflu. Utah has developed its own site at health.utah.gov/epi/SwineFlu/.
Tribune reporters Julia Lyon, Jason Bergreen, Mike Gorrell and Peggy Fletcher Stack contributed to this report.
The Salt Lake Tribune
Updated: 04/28/2009 07:44:41 AM MDT
Utah has no confirmed or even suspected cases of swine flu as of Monday evening. But health officials, hospitals and others are preparing for possible cases. Here's what you need to know, from the Utah Department of Health and other responders.
How worried should I be about the swine flu breaking out in Utah?
Utahns should be highly alert for symptoms -- particularly if you have recently traveled to Mexico or had contact with someone who has -- but otherwise carry on with their normal lives. "What people don't acknowledge is we have deaths from seasonal influenza every year," said David Sundwall, executive director of the Utah Department of Health.
Is it inevitable that Utah will have cases?
It's "likely," Sundwall said, adding: "I'll be surprised if it doesn't show up here." In Idaho, four reports of people with flulike illnesses were being investigated Monday, according to the state Department of Health and Welfare. One person is from Fremont County, two are from Madison County, and the fourth is from Ada County.
Are the symptoms of swine flu different than the seasonal flu?
Not really. Symptoms of either flu may include fever, body aches, runny nose, sore throat or cough; some patients may also have nausea, vomiting or diarrhea. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has seen more severe diarrhea or vomiting, or both, in some cases of swine flu.
How do I avoid getting the flu?
Avoid close contact with people who are coughing or ill. Wash your hands frequently. If you're not sick, do not seek anti-viral medication from your doctor unless you have symptoms, the Utah Department of Health urges.
Will my seasonal flu shot protect me?
No.
What should I do if I feel ill?
» Stay home from work or school to avoid spreading the infection.
» Cover your cough with your shirt sleeve. Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth.
» Seek medical care for severe symptoms; clinicians will collect samples for testing at the Utah Public Health Laboratory.
Do Utah's hog farms make the states' residents more vulnerable to swine flu?
No, because people who have the virus generally have not had contact with pigs, said Tom Hudachko, state health department spokesman.
Leonard Blackham, Utah commissioner of Agriculture and Food, added there is no sign that Utah hogs are infected with the new flu, and a network of state and private veterinarians will continue to monitor the health of farm animals.
Because pigs can catch the flu from humans, he added, producers are being urged to keep ill employees away from animals.
The high rate of international travel to and from Utah may be a more problematic factor, Sundwall said.
Can I catch swine flu from eating pork?
No. Swine flu viruses are not transmitted by food. And cooking pork to an internal temperature of 160 degrees Fahrenheit kills viruses and foodborne pathogens, Blackham said.
What is Utah doing to prepare for possible cases?
» Acquiring about 60,000 doses of anti-viral medication from the Strategic National Stockpile, bringing Utah's arsenal up to more than 100,000. Tamiflu and Relenza appear to affect the symptoms of the swine flu virus.
» Health and hospital officials are urging prevention and planning care for possible swine flu patients, based on existing detailed pandemic flu plans.
» Infectious disease experts and other clinicians at Intermountain Medical Center, Utah's largest Trauma 1 center, met Monday morning to discuss how to respond to the nation's declaration of a public health emergency and to prepare for potential patients.
» As a precaution, patients coming to any Intermountain Healthcare hospitals in the Salt Lake Valley -- LDS Hospital, Alta View Hospital and The Orthopedic Specialty Hospital -- are being asked to wear a mask if they have respiratory illnesses or symptoms, including coughing. Visitors with such symptoms are being asked to stay away.
» University Hospital alerted staff to be on the look out for symptoms, but had not seen an influx of patients with apparent swine flu symptoms. MountainStar hospitals, including St. Mark's Hospital in Salt Lake City, also are preparing to treat possible swine flu patients and are isolating patients with infectious symptoms in the meantime.
Is Salt Lake City International Airport taking precautions?
Airport spokeswoman Barbara Gann said a "very small" number of Customs officials and airline agents in the International terminal are voluntarily wearing masks and gloves to protect themselves.
She said as of Sunday, Delta Airlines stopped its last nonstop flight to Mexico City, because of a seasonal lull in travel. The airport still has 14 weekly nonstop flights to San Jose, Puerto Vallarta and Cancun, Mexico. That is 1,700 seats each week, Gann said.
"Our exposure to direct Mexico flights is minimal," she said.
Is the outbreak having an affect on Utahns' travel plans?
Not yet. Morris Murdock Travel had only four cancellations Monday out of almost 1,000 people who had booked trips to Mexican resorts. A handful of customers switched destinations from Mexico to Hawaii or the Caribbean, said spokesman Jim Barsch. Mexico is the second largest source of foreign tourists to Utah, so industry officials are watching reports closely, but trying not to create a panic. Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. has not altered plans for a May 11-14 trade mission to Israel.
Is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints taking any precautions for missionaries in Mexico? Are all missionaries well?
Missionaries are safe but church authorities have canceled all meetings until further notice. LDS leaders have also advised missionaries and members in Mexico City to follow basic sanitary precautions as a guard against infections. LDS Church records show 1,121,933 members in Mexico and 21 missions with between 75 and 150 missionaries each.
Where can I learn more?
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention offer more information at www.cdc.gov/swineflu. Utah has developed its own site at health.utah.gov/epi/SwineFlu/.
Tribune reporters Julia Lyon, Jason Bergreen, Mike Gorrell and Peggy Fletcher Stack contributed to this report.
Swine Flu Update.
Swine Influenza (Flu)
Swine Flu website last updated April 28, 2009 11:00 AM ET
U.S. Human Cases of Swine Flu Infection
(As of April 28, 2009 11:00 AM ET)
California 10 cases
Kansas 2 cases
New York City 45 cases
Ohio 1 case
Texas 6 cases
TOTAL COUNT 64 cases
The human swine flu outbreak continues to grow in the United States and internationally. Today, CDC reports additional cases of confirmed swine influenza and a number of hospitalizations of swine flu patients. Internationally, the situation is more serious too, with additional countries reporting confirmed cases of swine flu. In response to the intensifying outbreak, the World Health Organization raised the worldwide pandemic alert level to Phase 4. A Phase 4 alert is characterized by confirmed person-to-person spread of a new influenza virus able to cause “community-level” outbreaks.” The increase in the pandemic alert phase indicates that the likelihood of a pandemic has increased.
CDC has activated its emergency operations center to coordinate the agency’s emergency response. CDC ’s goals are to reduce transmission and illness severity, and provide information to help health care providers, public health officials and the public address the challenges posed by this swine influenza virus. Yesterday, CDC issued a travel warning recommending that people avoid non-essential travel to Mexico. CDC continues to issue interim guidance daily on the website and through health alert network notices. CDC’s Division of the Strategic National Stockpile (SNS) is releasing one-quarter of its antiviral drugs, personal protective equipment, and respiratory protection devices to help states respond to the outbreak. The swine influenza A (H1N1) virus is susceptible to the prescription antiviral drugs oseltamivir and zanamivir. This is a rapidly evolving situation and CDC will provide updated guidance and new information as it becomes available.
WebMD...
What is swine flu?
Like people, pigs can get influenza (flu), but swine flu viruses aren't the same as human flu viruses. Swine flu doesn't often infect people, and the rare human cases that have occurred in the past have mainly affected people who had direct contact with pigs. But the current swine flu outbreak is different. It's caused by a new swine flu virus that has spread from person to person -- and it's happening among people who haven't had any contact with pigs.
What are swine flu symptoms?
Symptoms of swine flu are like regular flu symptoms and include fever, cough, sore throat, body aches, headache, chills, and fatigue. Some people have reported diarrhea and vomiting associated with swine flu. Those symptoms can also be caused by many other conditions, and that means that you and your doctor can't know, just based on your symptoms, if you've got swine flu. It takes a lab test to tell whether it's swine flu or some other condition.
If I think I have swine flu, what should I do? When should I see my doctor?
If you have flu symptoms, stay home, and when you cough or sneeze, cover your mouth and nose with a tissue. Afterward, throw the tissue in the trash and wash your hands. That will help prevent your flu from spreading.
If you've got flu symptoms, and you've recently been to a high-risk area like Mexico, CDC officials recommend that you see your doctor. If you have flu symptoms but you haven't been in a high-risk area, you can still see a doctor -- that's your call.
Keep in mind that your doctor will not be able to determine whether you have swine flu, but he or she would take a sample from you and send it to a state health department lab for testing to see if it's swine flu. If your doctor suspects swine flu, he or she would be able to write you a prescription for Tamiflu or Relenza. Those drugs may not be required; U.S. swine flu patients have made a full recovery without it.
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