An usual strain of swine flu, which is spreading from human-to-human, has killed more than 68 people throughout Mexico, with ovr 1000 cases in that country. In the United States, 8 known cases of swine flu have appeared in California and Texas. A possible swine flu outbreak in NYC has sickened more than 75 kids at a private school. New cases of swine flu are appearing along the Mexican border at Mexicali, as well as several areas in central Mexico and five new cases have appeared in the U.S.
Canada, US and Mexican health officials, as well as the CDS and the World Health Organization (WHO) have gone on alert, and the CDC is considering raising the Pandemic threat level from 3 to 4. Level 6 is a full-fledged pandemic. This strain of swine flu is highly unusual, as it did not originate in pigs, but in humans, and is spreading from person to person. This classifies the outbreak as airborne.
Mexico City has shut down all schools, state-run theatres, museums, and other public establishments in an effort to help slow the spread of the virus. The CDC has also reported that the outbreak is already too late to contain, and could continue to spread rapidly throughout the population.
The latest reports from Mexico this morning states that five healthcare workers have been stricken with the swine flu.
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I would keep an eye on the news over the next day or so, to see if this deadly flu outbreak continues to spread unchecked. It may be time to consider buying face masks and staying away from crowds, keeping your kids home if any outbreaks occur in your area, etc. 1|1|Thanks for the info Cary...I've been reading about this all week and it sounds very scary~*~|RebekkaVA|queen_vulture@msn.com|20:15:34|04/25/2009|
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2|2|It scares me too!|angNC|memawang@embarqmail.com|22:40:57|04/25/2009|
Scary! Everyone wash your hands! 3|1|New cases in Kansas now....|saint6811|waylan@comcast.net|22:44:07|04/25/2009|
"Middle age is when you choose your cereal for the fiber, not the toy." 4|1|New swine flu outbreaks in the U.S. ---|inthesticks|inthesticks@alltel.net|23:43:57|04/25/2009|
On the 10pm news here in Arkansas, it is being reported that this new swine flu outbreak has appeared in more US states. Confirmed cases are now being reported in California, Texas, Kansas, New York, Minnesota, and Massachusetts.
http://arkansasmatters.com/content/fulltext/news?cid=215411
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from Reuters: ""We are worried and because we are worried we are acting aggressively on a number of fronts," the CDC's Dr. Anne Schuchat told reporters. "The situation is serious."
In Mexico, most of the dead were aged 25 to 45, a worrying sign because a hallmark of past pandemics has been high fatalities among healthy young adults.
http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE53N22820090426?pageNumber=2&virtualBrandChannel=0
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Surgical masks n95-grade can be bought online or in medical supply stores. Get the ones with the exhalation valves, the ones without them suck to wear. It's worth the extra cost.
N100's would be better but they are FAR more expensive. Still and all, the best way not to get infected is stay home and don't go out in public or around other people, during the heavier "waves" of the pandemic. IIRC the hypothetical H5N1 pandemic was expected to come in three or four "waves", lasting 3-4 weeks each with a lull of two to six months in between "waves". The "wave" duration is based on how long it takes between getting infected and becoming infectious or symptomatic.
Better be able to bunker up for at least a month at a time. 5|1|U.S. declares public health emergency!|inthesticks|inthesticks@alltel.net|17:37:43|04/26/2009|
By DAVID KOOP Associated Press
April 26, 2009, 1:02PM
WASHINGTON — The U.S. declared a public health emergency Sunday to deal with the emerging new swine flu, much like the government does to prepare for approaching hurricanes.
At a White House news conference, Besser and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano sought to assure Americans that health officials are taking all appropriate steps to minimize the impact of the outbreak.
Top among those is declaring the public health emergency. As part of that, Napolitano said roughly 12 million doses of the drug Tamiflu will be moved from a federal stockpile to places where states can quickly get their share if they decide they need it. Priority will be given to the five states with known cases so far: California, Texas, New York, Ohio and Kansas.
The flu has spread beyond Mexico’s borders with 20 confirmed cases in five U.S. states and suspected cases as far away as New Zealand.
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Sunday that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed that students at a city high school were infected with swine flu.
New York officials previously had said they were eight “probable” cases, but tests later confirmed it was swine flu. Bloomberg stressed that the cases were mild and many are recovering.
About 100 students complained of flu-like symptoms at the school. Some students went to Cancun, Mexico, on a spring break trip two weeks ago. Mexican authorities have not said whether swine flu has been found in the Caribbean beach resort.
On Sunday, New Zealand reported that 10 students “likely” have swine flu after a school trip to Mexico, though Health Minister Tony Ryall said none of the students was seriously ill and there was no guarantee they had swine flu. Israel’s Health Ministry said there is one suspected case in that country and France is investigating four possible cases.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/world/6393102.html
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Map showing cases of swine flu worldwide...along with a state and country listing of the cases. http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&t=p&msa=0&msid=106484775090296685271.0004681a37b713f6b5950&ll=36.315125,-45&spn=92.320899,188.085938&z=2&source=embed 6|2|This is starting to worry me.. so all these "spring break" people are basically "spreading" this flu.. by going down and then returning home.. Oh mom, didn't catch a STD on spring break - brought you Swine Flu though.. |car_mont|car_mont@hotmail.com|11:43:17|04/27/2009|
PLEASE INCLUDE - USER NAME AND YOUR OFFER if we are in a trade. 7|3|No Actually here in the states only one woman who got sick hadn't been to Mexico but her husband had all the others here in the states have been there|teener|teenerzacsneenee@yahoo.com|11:49:33|04/27/2009|
>Posted on Apr-27-09 at 11:43 AM (Eastern)
>by 72.51.146.153PLEASE INCLUDE - USER NAME
>AND YOUR OFFER if we are
>in a trade.