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WORLD HEALTH ORG WEBSITE
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CDC Swine Flu Website
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I PM Tuesday 4.28.09 Updates:::
LA Times has the latest International number rising to 90..BBC has reported that the UN has stated that The Flu can not be contained as new countries report new cases. ( BBC reported UK issued warnings yesterday about Travel to Mexico and the US.) The US Number stands at 68 have tested postive in five states, only five have been hospitalized, 3 in California and 2 in Texas. It still appears the more deadly form is in Mexico. Very few have had to be hospitalized abroad, and some have been quarantined to prevent spread. The Incubation is still thought to be 2-7 days. Dr.Besser of CDC is still giving daily press conferences, and the Travel Advisory still is requesting Travel to Mexico be limited to Only Essential Trips. As of today ALL states have requested some of the Supplies from the Strategic Stockpile in preparation. This includes non-medical supplies. I will update in the Comments the latest Morbidity and Mortality Stats from Mexico, as well as any Updates.
Bangkok Post has more of the Asian perspective of this epidemic and how it is being handled in Asia. More from The Mercury News has about the spread in Middle East and monitoring and surveillance in Asia.
Jason Linkins article about how the GOP Blocked Pandemic Funding really needs to be read,
as now the GOP's actions really have Global Implications as the International numbers rise.
Another post that is worth reading about the travel aspect is written by Fran over at Ramblings has a post called "Vacation to Die For" that really asks good questions, and certainly shows the angst that Travelers are facing right now looking at the Bigger picture.
Also Distributor Cap has an amazing post that explains the Pandemic Flu Outbreak of 1918 and also re-examines the Swine Outbreak of 1976.
Another article that is getting much focus is The Guardian Article that is zeroing in on the Possible Source of the Flu in Mexico. It centers around a small village in Vera Cruz, and the Large Corporate US owned Hog Farm. ( Yes, it is a Smithfield Farm). The Bigger question that is emerging about the Flu is the path of transmission Actual Contact with the excrement or is it the Flies that have excrement. ( Tests are being run on samples from the farm at University of New Mexico). The Guardian has an entire page dedicated to following up all angles of this Epidemic.
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** ? Enigma HOG WASTE Question ?***
As of 3PM::: Is the Hog Farm Excrement used to fertilize fruits and vegetables ? Because if it is then that path of transmission also needs to be examined ? I also have heard no discussion of whether Hog Farm Workers have been sick or tested ? It seems that would be a path of exploration. And sadly yes, it does raise questions about all the Hog Waste Issues and how it could possibly contaminate the food chain or reach people. Secretary of Agriculture Vlsak said that Pork Products are safe in HLS Presser today, he did not explain well enough Why pork is being scrutinized, he turned into a time to promote the Hog Industry.Sadly he is missing the point , that it is NOT just an Economic Issue, it is a Safety Issue- people want to be reassured that their MEAT is Safe. Sadly he caused confusion, claiming that it should not be called Swine Flu which will only cause confusion at this critical time. Sadly a Mixed Message can cause problems, Dr.Bresser of the CDC gave his presser earlier at 2 PM , and he still called it the Flu Swine Flu.)
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AP :: ;Latest Video about the Global Rise and the implications for International travelers, and even explains how they face Quarantine issues abroad. ( Linked to the title is BBC Video about travel and global spread, or you can watch here also.)
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3:30 PM Update::::
LA TIMES Governor declares Emergency:::
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger today proclaimed a state of emergency over the spread of swine flu, expediting state agency responses to the outbreak.State health officials have been aggressively working to combat the outbreak, and the proclamation is simply one more step in that effort, not an indication that the outbreak here has become more severe.The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors also declared a local state of emergency today.
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"Carnival Cruises has Cancelled Mexico Cruises" ( AP: 2PM)
Carnival cancels Mexico cruise stops over flu fear//From Associated Press//April 28, 2009 1:51 PM EDT
MIAMI - Carnival Cruise Lines has suspended stops at Mexican ports over concerns about swine flu.The company says it canceled Mexico stops for three ships scheduled to visit the country Tuesday. It hasn't yet announced a decision on future stops there.Meanwhile, the company and competitors Royal Caribbean International and Norwegian Cruise Lines tried to allay guest fears by emphasizing how thoroughly the ships are cleaned.Norwegian's Pearl is on a special voyage with Mexico stops. The company says it is monitoring the situation and asking passengers about their health before cruises start.Royal Caribbean says it's monitoring the situation but telling passengers not to worry because the outbreaks are inland, not in the Mexican coastal cities popular with cruise tourists.
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US CDC Numbers :: 2PM
California 10 cases
Kansas 2 cases
New York City 45 cases
Ohio 1 case
Texas 6 cases
TOTAL COUNT 64 cases
( up above I listed 68- but that is what was is being reported on most news outlets and also foreign ones- so I am trying get a better updated number, important to note that the 45 number is based on person to person transmission- only 8 of those went to Mexico- so this is a true Cluster that shows Human to Human transmission).
Anderson Cooper updated his Blog tonight and interviewed Dr.Gupta.
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11PM
While reading about Sebelius Update;;::
I came across the Sentence in the story that says that the US Number is up to 64 ??? We will learn more tomorrow.
"But Sebelius will take office as U.S. health officials rush to prepare for a possible widespread outbreak of a new strain of flu that has killed scores of people in Mexico and sickened at least 64 in the United States."
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CBS is trying to educate people on this disease by having questions and education provided by Infectious Disease Physicians. Huffpost article explains more.
New WHO website
6 comments:
AP/ Mercury News has more about Spread of Outbreak to Middle East/ Asia:::::
Swine flu in U.S. may now be spreading beyond Americans infected in Mexico
By Andrew O. Selsky
Associated Press
Posted: 04/28/2009 05:39:20 AM PDT
Updated: 04/28/2009 10:21:45 AM PDT
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A masked customer checks masks at a sales department for traveling gear at... ( Koji Sasahara )
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The swine flu epidemic crossed new borders Tuesday with the first cases confirmed in the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific region, as world health officials said they suspect American patients may have transmitted the virus to others in the U.S.
Most people confirmed with the new swine flu were infected in Mexico, where the number of deaths blamed on the virus has surpassed 150.
But confirmation that people have been infecting others in locations outside Mexico would indicate that the disease was spreading beyond travelers returning from Mexico, World Health Organization spokesman Gregory Hartl told reporters on Tuesday in Geneva.
Hartl said the source of some infections in the United States, Canada and Britain was unclear.
The swine flu has already spread to at least six countries besides Mexico, prompting WHO to raise its alert level on Monday but not call for travel bans or border closings. On Tuesday, countries, including Canada, Israel and France, warned their citizens to avoid nonessential travel to Mexico.
"Border controls do not work. Travel restrictions do not work," Hartl said, recalling the 2003 SARS epidemic that killed 774 people, mostly in Asia, and slowed the global economy. "There was much more economic disruption caused by these measures than there was public health benefit."
Hartl said WHO is advising countries to provide sick people with treatments such as Tamiflu, and make sure national plans are
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in place to ease the impact of a larger outbreak.
"Governments will need to start thinking about larger-scale care for a specific disease in accident and emergency wards," he said. "Do they have the infrastructure? Do they have the equipment? Do they have the medicines? This is the time, now, to prepare."
WHO raised the alert level to Phase 4, meaning there is sustained human-to-human transmission causing outbreaks in at least one country. WHO's pandemic alert system was revised after bird flu in Asia began to spread in 2004. Monday was the first time it has ever been raised above Phase 3.
Flu deaths are nothing new in the United States or elsewhere. The Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that about 36,000 people died of flu-related causes each year, on average, during the 1990s in the United States.
But the new flu strain is a combination of pig, bird and human viruses that humans may have no natural immunity to.
Tuesday, Mexico City Mayor Marcelo Ebrard ordered gyms, sports clubs, swimming pools and pool halls closed — extending a growing shutdown that already included schools, state-run theaters and other public places.
The city was evaluating whether to keep open a subway system that provides 5 million trips a day.
New Zealand reported Tuesday that 11 people who recently returned from Mexico contracted the virus. Tests conducted at a WHO laboratory in Australia had confirmed three cases of swine flu among 11 members of the group who were showing symptoms, New Zealand Health Minister Tony Ryall said.
Officials decided that was evidence enough to assume the whole group was infected, he said.
Israel's Health Ministry confirmed Tuesday the region's first swine flu case in the city of Netanya. The patient, 26, recently returned from Mexico and had contracted it. A hospital official said the patient had recovered, but will remain hospitalized until the health ministry approves his release.
A hospital in the central town of Kfar Saba said a 47-year-old man who returned from Mexico two days ago and checked himself in when he felt ill had the strain and was being kept in isolation. He was expected to recover.
Meanwhile, a second case was confirmed Tuesday in Spain, Health Minister Trinidad Jimenez said, a day after the country reported its first case. The 23-year-old student, one of 26 patients under observation, was not in serious condition, Jimenez said.
With the virus spreading, the U.S. stepped up checks of people entering the country and warned Americans to avoid nonessential travel to Mexico.
"We anticipate that there will be confirmed cases in more states as we go through the coming days," Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said on NBC's "Today" show on Tuesday.
The Food and Drug Administration late Monday issued emergency guidance that allows certain antiviral drugs to be used in a broader range of the population in case mass dosing is needed to deal with an outbreak.
Mexico, where the number of deaths believed caused by swine flu rose by 50 percent on Monday to 152, is suspected to be the center of the outbreak. But Mexican Health Secretary Jose Angel Cordova late Monday said no one knows where the outbreak began, and implied it may have started in the U.S.
"I think it is very risky to say, or want to say, what the point of origin or dissemination of it is, given that there had already been cases reported in southern California and Texas," Cordova told a press conference.
Mexico City Health Secretary Armando Ahued said three people died in the capital Monday, but it was unclear if they were included in the national toll. He said 6,610 people went to city hospitals Monday with flu symptoms, but only 29 were remained hospitalized.
Dr. Nancy Cox of the CDC has said she believes the earliest onset of swine flu in the U.S. was on March 28. Cordova said a sample taken from a 4-year-old boy in Mexico's Veracruz state in early April tested positive for swine flu. However, it is not known when the boy, who later recovered, became infected.
A decision by WHO to put an alert at Phases 4 or 5 signals that the virus is becoming increasingly adept at spreading among humans. Phase 6 is for a full-blown pandemic, characterized by outbreaks in at least two regions of the world.
Fifty cases — none fatal and most of them mild — were confirmed in the United States. Including the New Zealand, Israeli and new Spanish reports, there were 92 confirmed cases worldwide on Tuesday. That included six in Canada, one in Spain and two in Scotland.
Amid the alarm, there was a spot of good news. The number of new cases reported by Mexico's largest government hospitals has been declining the past three days, Cordova said, from 141 on Saturday to 119 on Sunday and 110 Monday.
Symptoms include a fever of more than 100, coughing, joint aches, severe headache and, in some cases, vomiting and diarrhea. Many victims have been in their 30s and 40s — not the very old or young who typically succumb to the flu.
So far, no deaths from the new virus have been reported outside Mexico.
It could take four to six months before the first batch of vaccines are available, WHO said. Some antiflu drugs do work once someone is sick.
The best way to keep the disease from spreading, the CDC's acting director, Richard Besser, said, is by taking everyday precautions such as frequent handwashing, covering up coughs and sneezes, and staying away from work or school if not feeling well.
Russia, Hong Kong and Taiwan said they would quarantine visitors showing symptoms of the virus.
World stock markets fell Tuesday as investors worried that any swine flu pandemic could derail a global economic recovery. In the U.S., stocks fell moderately in early trading as investors worried that a growth in swine flu cases could hurt industries such as travel and tourism.
——
AP writers Mark Stevenson in Mexico City, Mike Stobbe in Atlanta, Ray Lilley in Wellington, New Zealand, Aron Heller in Jerusalem, Frank Jordans and Sandy Higgins in Geneva, Aron Heller in Jerusalem, Maria Cheng in London and Pan Pylas in London contributed to this report.
On Another Subject:::
I watched Spector's Presser about his Defection...and my first thought was- this is about The health Issues- he knows that GOP has failed people on this front....but that is my nursey take on it....
on another note, on Tuesdays the Repugs have their luncheon...here is the Amazing Dumbass quote of the week from that ::::
"This is not a national story. It is a Pennsylvania story," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell told reporters in a news conference following Tuesday’s GOP policy luncheon."
Omg.....still laughing....
MSNBC update 4:40 PM:::
Hundreds of NY school children are now be tested. 2 of the 45 Infected are in Hospital.
4.27.09 Update For Texas::::
As a precautionary measure, Gov. Rick Perry today increased his request of antiviral medication to 25 percent (850,000 courses) of the Texas allotment from the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions (CDC) Strategic National Stockpile to be prepositioned in the state. This request will augment the more than 840,000 courses of antiviral medication on hand in Texas following a purchase authorized by the 80th Legislature and Gov. Perry in 2007.
While the confirmed cases of swine flu in the U.S. have been mild, it is prudent that we take the necessary precautions in Texas to protect our citizens, which is why today I have requested 850,000 courses of antiviral medication from the CDC to be prepositioned in the state, said Gov. Rick Perry. We will continue to work with our local, state and federal health officials to ensure public safety is protected.
CDCs Strategic National Stockpile (SNS) has large quantities of medicine and medical supplies to protect the American public if there is a public health emergency (terrorist attack, flu outbreak, earthquake). For more information on the SNS, visit http://www.bt.cdc.gov/stockpile.
All 14 schools and two district facilities in the Schertz-Cibolo-Universal City Independent School District will be closed effective immediately after several more flu-like illnesses have been discovered in the ongoing Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) swine flu investigation. All extracurricular activities are also cancelled. For more information visit: http://www.scuc.txed.net.
The move follows the closing of the districts Byron Steele High School, announced on Saturday. Swine flu has been lab-confirmed in two students from that school who have recovered. Lab confirmation is pending on a third case who is recovering.
We dont have lab confirmation for any of the additional flu-like illnesses yet, but weve found enough illnesses associated with some of the other schools that we believe its prudent to close all of them before classes resume on Monday, said Sandra Guerra, M.D., a DSHS regional director and the public health authority for Guadalupe County. She urged students not to be around each other while the schools are closed, noting that would defeat the purpose of the closings.
The governor and state health officials urge the schools staff, faculty, students and their household members to avoid contact with others, especially if they have symptoms of a respiratory illness.
Symptoms of swine flu in people are similar to those of regular or seasonal flu and include fever, fatigue, lack of appetite and coughing. Some with swine flu also have reported runny nose, sore throat, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.
Health officials say everyone should follow standard precautions to reduce the spread of any respiratory illness. •Stay home when you are sick to avoid spreading illness to others. •Cough or sneeze into the crook of your elbow or a tissue and properly dispose of used tissues. •Wash hands frequently and thoroughly with soap and warm water or use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer.
Individuals with these flu-like symptoms should call the states swine flu call center at 888-777-5320. For health care providers with questions about assessing, evaluating and treating swine flu, call 877-623-6274. These lines are operational from 7:30 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
For additional information on the swine flu, please visit:
www.dshs.state.tx.us/swineflu
www.cdc.gov/swineflu/
To reach the Texas Department of State Health Services press office, contact Doug McBride, DSHS Press Officer, 512-458-7524 or 512-532-4950.
TX has 6 cases and they want how many doses of meds.. give me a break.. what a jerk.. does he think his is the only and the most important state .. tell him to fly a damn kite. He is full of crap.. I think NY needs the meds a lot more than TX does.. so does CA.. Besides the way TX and Perry has acted lately.. tell him to piss up a rope.
Annette:::
well...thank you for that lovely visual....LOL...
I have NO idea WHY he wants that much - I am very puzzled...( and I have not found out how much has actually been released to him ....)
I am trying to find out HOW it is being tested State to State...so if you hear anything in your state email me....There have been some varying levels of care and surveillance that I have been hearing from people...
( an d about Perry- yeah- the same idiot that cares so much that he was refusing Fed Stim funds for the unemployed in his state ???LOL..)
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