CNN Reporting Swine Flu Cases Confirmed in Kansas.

[Avalux]

No link yet.....

Pandemic here we come?

[Liberal_in_LA]

1. yikes!

x(

[Warren Stupidity]

2. Is it an OFFICIAL PANIC yet?

[Avalux]

5. Nah, not yet. Depends on the mortality rate. n/t

[Mari333]

3. well that clinches it

Im going to continue being a hermit.

[babylonsister]

4. Isn't this amazing, and hasn't the subject been

definitively changed from torture done in our names by the former admin, all in the course of a day or two?

Color me sceptical, but we've been here before.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

6. SARS, anybody?

I'm not ready to panic.

[Mojorabbit]

29. Sars was one of the greatest public health

successes ever. The system worked wonderfully that time. It was nothing to take lightly. The story of it's spread and how they got a lid on it is wonderful reading.

[spoony]

33. Agreed. Here's to hoping they'll be able to

quickly smother this kitchen fire, too.

[rvablue]

7. Yep. It's not as if these cases were all "confirmed" in the past 24 hours.

Why are we only being let it in on it now?

I guess it's too early in the season for shark attack stories. The water is still too cold.



edit: ms'd wds.

[Spider Jerusalem]

8. uh huh, of course, the US government has engineered a flu outbreak in MEXICO...

to distract from the news re torture. That's not sceptical; that's insane.

Also, 7% observed mortality in known cases in Mexico? Decidedly newsworthy (fun fact: the mortality rate of the 1918 flu was 2.5%.)

[babylonsister]

9. Kansas, Texas, California, what other states hve been named in the

past day? It's just amazing to me.

[Spider Jerusalem]

10. Air travel, and a nine day incubation period.

NYC too, possibly.

[babylonsister]

11. And no swine involved!

:crazy:

[Spider Jerusalem]

14. human-to-human transmission accounts for that, pretty obviously

the initial vector of infection for Patient Zero of the current outbreak is unknown, after all.

[FedUpWithIt All]

13. It is moving fast but this is what pandemics do.

It is what they have always done.

[Avalux]

15. Add New York to the list.

There will probably be more by the end of the day.

[hedgehog]

18. New York, New York

[uppityperson]

26. No, but news places do chose what news to "OMG!" over though.

I agree it is newsworthy.

[NashVegas]

41. Couldn't They Pick a More Useful Place, Y'Know,

Like China, Russia, or India?

[Mari333]

20. ODD AINT IT

I thought the same thing.....little flu panic to keep peoples minds off torture...very fishy indeed

[northernlights]

23. so you're suggesting that last month

Mexico introduced an entirely new strain of flu, comprised of swine dna from two different continents, avian dna and human dna. Because they *knew* that it would result in local deaths and hit the U.S. in time to provide a distraction from the yet-to-hit-the-mainstream torture debate?

Please. It started spreading around Mexico a month ago. It has a 2-9 day incubation period. That is how epidemics and outbreaks occur. It starts in one place. Pops up in a couple sporadic spots. Then suddenly begins to erupt all over the place as more and more people who were exposed, and walked around (or flying around) exposing others, start falling ill.

[Adsos Letter]

34. Reason and rationality....

mankind's greatest underutilized natural resource. :hi:

[Mari333]

12. BREAKING NEWS: 8 of 9 student specimens test probable for swine flu, NYC health official says

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x3848889

[The Straight Story]

16. The Mexican Swine Flu is just doing the job the American swine didn't want to do

:)

[uppityperson]

17. CDC . 12/05-2/09, 12 human infections in 10 states. Since 3/09, a #

http://www.cdc.gov/swineflu/
From December 2005 through February 2009, a total of 12 human infections with swine influenza were reported from 10 states in the United States. Since March 2009, a number of confirmed human cases of a new strain of swine influenza A (H1N1) virus infection in California, Texas, and Mexico have been identified. An investigation into these cases is ongoing. For more information see Human Swine Flu Investigation.

http://www.cdc.gov/swineflu/investigation.htm
California 6 cases
Texas 2 cases


WHO
http://www.who.int/csr/don/2009_04_24/en/index.html

Influenza-like illness in the United States and Mexico

24 April 2009 -- The United States Government has reported seven confirmed human cases of Swine Influenza A/H1N1 in the USA (five in California and two in Texas) and nine suspect cases. All seven confirmed cases had mild Influenza-Like Illness (ILI), with only one requiring brief hospitalization. No deaths have been reported.

The Government of Mexico has reported three separate events. In the Federal District of Mexico, surveillance began picking up cases of ILI starting 18 March. The number of cases has risen steadily through April and as of 23 April there are now more than 854 cases of pneumonia from the capital. Of those, 59 have died. In San Luis Potosi, in central Mexico, 24 cases of ILI, with three deaths, have been reported. And from Mexicali, near the border with the United States, four cases of ILI, with no deaths, have been reported.

Of the Mexican cases, 18 have been laboratory confirmed in Canada as Swine Influenza A/H1N1, while 12 of those are genetically identical to the Swine Influenza A/H1N1 viruses from California. The majority of these cases have occurred in otherwise healthy young adults. Influenza normally affects the very young and the very old, but these age groups have not been heavily affected in Mexico. Because there are human cases associated with an animal influenza virus, and because of the geographical spread of multiple community outbreaks, plus the somewhat unusual age groups affected, these events are of high concern.

The Swine Influenza A/H1N1 viruses characterized in this outbreak have not been previously detected in pigs or humans. The viruses so far characterized have been sensitive to oseltamivir, but resistant to both amantadine and rimantadine.

[uppityperson]

19. Reuters link/article. (2 in Kansas, maybe 8 in NY)

http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idUSN2547703020090425

WASHINGTON, April 25 (Reuters) - Kansas state health officials have confirmed two cases of swine flu, just minutes after New York health officials said they had eight probable cases, CNN reported on Saturday.

Health officials across the United States are testing for the new and unusual strain of H1N1 swine flu that is suspected of killing 68 people in Mexico and that has caused mild illness in at least eight people in the United States.

[S_E_Fudd]

21. So what does this tell us...

For every case so far confirmed probably dozens infected that just didn't go to the doctor...

According to these reports these case are mild...

Gives a clue that this may not be particularly virulent...

Pandemic is kind of a loaded word as it doesn't have anything to do with the severity of the illness

[northernlights]

24. 6.8% death rate in Mexico

but no deaths in the U.S. cases. Possibly as a result of early treatment?

[S_E_Fudd]

27. 6.8% of known cases...

Probably hundreds of non-reported cases for every one reported...

[anonymous171]

22. Why isn't the border closed already? nt

[DainBramaged]

30. How are they going to close the border? It is swiss cheese anyway.

Panic

Panic is a sudden fear which dominates or replaces thinking and often affects groups of people or animals. Panics typically occur in disaster situations, or violent situations (such as robbery, home invasion, a shooting rampage, etc.) which may endanger the overall health of the affected group. The word panic derives from the Greek πανικός, "pertaining to Pan", the god of woods and fields who was the source of mysterious sounds that caused contagious, groundless fear in herds and crowds, or in people in lonely spots. Panic is also known as an acute case of anxiety.

Prehistoric men used mass panic as a technique when hunting animals, especially ruminants. Herds reacting to unusually strong sounds or unfamiliar visual effects were directed towards cliffs, where they eventually jumped to their deaths when cornered. Humans are also vulnerable to panic and it is often considered infectious, in the sense one person's panic may easily spread to other people nearby and soon the entire group acts irrationally, but people also have the ability to prevent and/or control their own and other's panic by disciplined thinking or training (such as disaster drills). Architects and city planners try to accommodate the symptoms of panic, such as herd behavior, during design and planning, often using simulations to determine the best way to lead people to a safe exit and prevent congestion (stampedes). The most effective methods are often nonintuitive. A tall column, approximately 1 ft (300 mm) in diameter, placed in front of the door exit at a precisely calculated distance, may speed up the evacuation of a large room by up to 30%, as the obstacle divides the congestion well ahead of the choke point.

An influential theoretical treatment of panic is found in Neil J. Smelser's, Theory of Collective Behavior. The science of panic management has found important practical applications in the armed forces and emergency services of the world.

Many highly publicized cases of deadly panic occurred during massive public events. The layout of Mecca was extensively redesigned by Saudi authorities in an attempt to eliminate frequent stampedes, which kill an average of 250 pilgrims every year. <1> Football stadiums have seen deadly crowd rushes and stampedes, such as at Hillsborough stadium in Sheffield, England, in 1989. This led to controlled entry gates and stricter rules by the end of the 1980s to regulate seating arrangements.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panic

[Changenow]

36. Should the Mexicans block New Yorkers

from crossing? Should Mississippi stop Kansans from entering? Should Americans traveling not be allowed home?

Just what boarders should be closed? Should all Americans be quarantined? If so, how will the lights go on and food get delivered?

Since you're a fucking genius on infectious disease control, please answer each of the above questions.

[anonymous171]

37. Everything I know about disease containment I learned from Pandemic 2.

I was just thinking out loud anyways.

[Doctor Cynic]

25. Madagascar has closed its ports.

[anonymous171]

28. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

My last hope, dashed!

[cwydro]

38. Lol!

Good one!

[dixiegrrrrl]

39. Madagascar closed ports because of recent civil war, not the flu.

Please do what I did...google "news" and Madagascar.

[Mari333]

31. Im certainly not going to sit around worrying about it

hell I could be hit by a truck tomorrow.

[Mojorabbit]

32. Neither am I

I have six months of groceries in my pantry, a garden, live on a lake full of fish, and have a well. If people start dropping like flies I am good to go.

[dem629]

35. Same here. Just more 24-hour news channel programming. sigh

[TexasObserver]

40. One would think there would be a geographic pattern to the outbreak, but no.

Texas, New Mexico, Kansas, New York.

All find it, all at the same time.

Color me dubious.

[anonymous171]

42. Airplanes. nt

[Mojorabbit]

47. It makes sense as now they are actively looking for it. nt

[Skidmore]

43. I swear that this flu has been here and is only just being noticed.

My husband and I were sick for nearly 6 weeks with the most ungodly flu I've ever had in my life. After reading the symptoms, complete with pneumonia/bronchitis, we are wondering if we may have had it. We were totally wiped out for days, very weak and lacking energy or appetites, high fevers, etc. I took one course of antibiotics and he's taken two courses and still has some residual mild upper respiratory stuff going on. It was a really scary bout of illness.

[Avalux]

46. It's possible, especially during flu season.

What set off the alarms was the amount of young healthy people in Mexico getting sick; flu season now past.

[FedUpWithIt All]

44. NBC is reporting that there are suspected cases in MN

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30398682/

edited because the link removed MA as a the site of a possible outbreak,

[Avalux]

45. British Airways crew member hospitalized after returning from Mexico

http://adjix.com/m887

No one else on the flight exhibiting symptoms.