don't panic, but "SWINE FLU COULD SPREAD GLOBALLY"

http://i42.tinypic.com/dvm1wn.jpg

!!!!!!!!!!

dope shot tho

On Sunday, Mexican Health Secretary Jose Angel Cordova said suspected swine flu cases in his country had risen to 1,614.
Of the 103 deaths in Mexico, only 20 are so far confirmed to have been caused by the new virus.

I wish they would explain this more. Does this mean the other 83 deaths have been confirmed as NOT the new virus or just not been confirmed as anything yet? How long does it take to confirm such things?

The Scots couple have been in hospital since Saturday and the test results still aren't back.

Apparently there are only two labs in north america that can confirm such things (in Atlanta and Winnipeg) so confirming takes a while.

The labs have all been really busy thanks to Jade Goody.

xp

Obama's swine flu scare after shaking hands with archaeologist who died 24 hours later

All hail el presidente smiling joe.

So have any of the deaths been confirmed as definitely NOT the new virus?

http://www.cdc.gov/swineflu/

A man who shook Barack Obama's hand in Mexico died the next day from symptoms similar to those of swine flu.

vs.

Mr Solis had taken Mr Obama on a tour of the museum on April 16, a week before his death.

But Obama was only there for a day? Am I missing something? The news on this whole thing is so effing confusing.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ieHZRubAS3lyjn2GBiCPkXkHrXwwD97QROAG0

uh

Meanwhile...someone's fetish prayers are answered.

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2009/04/27/article-1173756-04AFA7EC000005DC-582_468x365.jpg

“We may just be looking at the tip of the iceberg, which would give you a skewed initial estimate of the case fatality rate,” he said, meaning that there might have been tens of thousands of mild infections around the 1,300 cases of serious disease and 80 or more deaths. If that is true, as the flu spreads, it would not be surprising if most cases were mild.

Even in 1918, according to the C.D.C., the virus infected at least 500 million of the world’s 1.5 billion people to kill 50 million. Many would have been saved if antiflu drugs, antibiotics and mechanical ventilators had existed.

nyt

never realized that the 1918 pandemic was ~that~ pandemic. one in three ppl got it! yow!

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ieHZRubAS3lyjn2GBiCPkXkHrXwwD97QROAG0

uh

― i like to fart and i am crazy (gbx), Monday, April 27, 2009 4:19 PM (17 minutes ago) Bookmark

oh my fuckin god

kinda lol but mostly wtf

"Sen. Collins expressed concern about a number of spending provisions, including $780 million for pandemic-flu preparedness." (which the GOP succeeded in getting dropped from Obama's stimulus package)

http://collins.senate.gov/public/continue.cfm?FuseAction=PressRoom.Articles&ContentRecord_id=46d6e846-802a-23ad-4ccd-8f37bc42d004&Region_id=&Issue_id=&CFId=960&CFToken=38005608

(I am physically unable to link to the next site without swearing so I won't comment)

http://michellemalkin.com/2009/04/27/of-course-swine-flu-is-all-the-evil-gops-fault/

Funny thing about that is that she doesn't actually respond to the charge. (Unless you count the Surber quote.)

On September 16, 2008, the body of Yorkshire landowner Sir Mark Sykes was exhumed to study the RNA of the Spanish flu virus in efforts to understand the genetic structure of modern H5N1 bird flu. Sykes had been buried in 1919 in a lead coffin which scientists hope will have helped preserve the virus.[41]

In December, 2008 research by Yoshihiro Kawaoka of University of Wisconsin linked the presence of three specific genes (termed PA, PB1, and PB2) and a nucleoprotein derived from 1918 flu samples to the ability of the flu virus to invade the lungs and cause pneumonia. The combination triggered similar symptoms in animal testing.[42]

digging up someone with the virus late 2008 and testing it on animals and people catching the virus 2009 from animals coincidence?

5.8 earthquake in Mexico City, ffs

wha?

BBC just said it as breaking news, nothing new since.

Here we are, 145 miles south of Mexico City
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsww/Quakes/us2009fya9.php#details

http://www.rockymounttelegram.com/news/world/strong-earthquake-felt-in-mexico-city-570940.html

tommorow's breaking news:
atomic bomb on mexico city...

CNN: "Magnitude 6.0 earthquake reported 50 miles northeast of Acapulco, Mexico, according to the U.S. Geological Survey."

i'll speculate minimal damage in mexico city, if the epicenter was that far away. but yeah, if it results in a serious disruption of the public health infrastructure, then there may be some problems

my friend on AIM --

Becky: omg i overheard this lady at the coffee shop talking to her friend saying that no one is going to die in the US of swine flu because we're not a third world country
what an idiot!

tommorow's breaking news:
atomic bomb on mexico city...

a bit OTT just to eradicate swine flu

with possible danger of creating RADIOACTIVE SWINE FLU

Swine Flu confirmed in Scotland; patients not v. ill, symptoms mild.

Seven of their friends showing mild symptoms

Aren't "i like to fart and i am crazy" two of the symptoms?

we are all vectors

Swine Flu confirmed in Scotland; patients not v. ill, symptoms mild.

Seven of their friends showing mild symptoms

So. This is either the beginning of a hellish pandemic or a lot of people sniffing, coughing and spending a couple of days in bed.

Good news for: makers of man-size tissues, soup, daytime TV.

Bad news for: bosses everywhere. "No, I don't think I can come in today ... *feeble cough* ... might be that pig-flu thing ... *sniff* ... better not risk it, eh? *Pathetic splutter*"

With the ability of flu virus to mutate quickly, this isn't and either/or proposition. We could have six months of widespread relatively mild flu that spreads rapidly, followed by a year of hellishly virulent flu that spreads just as rapidly and re-infects people who had the first variant.

There's no simple storyline here except that public health officials need to work this hard and try to contain it as best they can.

http://gizmodo.com/5229314/follow-the-swine-flu-in-real-time-with-google-maps

What's great about public health officials is that they freak out about these things so we don't have to.

I mean, average citizens should really not match their freak-out thresholds to public health officials. Our freak-out thresholds should be way, way higher. It's the circle of life / freak-out thresholds.

didn't read the whole thread so sorry if this is a repeat but they might want to consider calling this something other than "swine flu" if only because people still seem convinced you get this by eating pork

i love how the article in a local newspaper screamed "OMG WE ARE GONNA DIE PORKIE STYLE" but then when you read the article it assured we wouldn't.

http://twitter.com/veratect

big boy was warning everyone on hot 97 that you dont get this from eating pork and that guys saying "oh i dont eat swine" should be less self-congratulatory

Guys, the thing is that if we freak out about this, we'll look like total wimps in front of the pigs

They will never let us forget it

they should call it Bacon Flu

did ppl think avian flu was transmitted from eating birds?

walking back from dropping my laundry off just now i coughed and this lady looked at me sideways and picked up her pace