H1N1 (Swine Flu) spreads worldwide= Is declared a Pandemic

[PTrackerLA]

First school in the state of Louisiana closes here in Lafayette due to flu outbreak until further notice. Apparently up to six students tested positive for Type A flu (could be swine flu) and one of the students recently traveled to Mexico. In my opinion it's smart to be on the safe side and I'm surprised to see the flu already possibly be here but I think it will take some time before we really know what this thing is capable of. Like some have said, it could be a large overreaction or this could be the pandemic we have all been afraid of.

Source: http://www.katc.com/Global/story.asp?S=10273457

[srainhoutx]

Another confirmed case in Ft. Bend County, TX...

http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?secti ... id=6787755

[CajunMama]

First school in the state of Louisiana closes here in Lafayette due to flu outbreak until further notice. Apparently up to six students tested positive for Type A flu (could be swine flu) and one of the students recently traveled to Mexico. In my opinion it's smart to be on the safe side and I'm surprised to see the flu already possibly be here but I think it will take some time before we really know what this thing is capable of. Like some have said, it could be a large overreaction or this could be the pandemic we have all been afraid of.

Source: http://www.katc.com/Global/story.asp?S=10273457

Cathedral Carmel is where my kids went to school k-9. My husband graduated from there when it was k-12. I know lots of families whose kids are attending.

I agree with you on it being smart to be on the safe side. Kids are in such a close environment for many hours a day. There's sneezing, coughing, touching all day long. I just hope the parents whose kids are sick take precautions at home and with their friends, families and neighbors.

[Stephanie]

I think that it is a good idea for schools to close and athletic events to be cancelled if they suspect that swine flu is in the area. I'd rather the authorities be cautious.

Maybe it is the media, but this one feels like it is bigger than SARS or the Avian flu outbreak, especially since it's closer to home. There's a possibility of 7 cases in NJ and 10 in the University of Delaware. They're awaiting confirmation. At least one student from the University just came back from Mexico. It's scary because Spring Break has just ended and Cancun, Cozumel, etc. are hot spots for students on break. I can see why it's popping up the way it is in the different states.

Hopefully this will all go "poof", but we really can never take things like this too lightly.

[HURAKAN]

Egypt slaughters pigs to stop flu

Egypt has begun a mass slaughter of thousands of pigs in an effort to prevent swine flu spreading.

The cull was going ahead despite there being no cases of swine flu in Egypt. However, neighbouring Israel has two confirmed cases in humans.

"It is decided to slaughter all swine herds present in Egypt, starting from today," said Health Minister Hatem el-Gabali, according to Mena news agency.

Swine flu has spread from Mexico to several countries around the world.

From Muslim Qandeel, BBC Arabic

Zaraib, or Stables, is a shanty hidden away in Western Cairo. I had to gain access by jumping over a wall as police have blocked off the area.

Here they breed pigs that feed on refuse. Thousands of Christians live here - and there is one Muslim breeder too, despite the ban on pork in Islam. People are anxious about the cull, fearing it will destroy their livelihood and the government will not give compensation.

"We have been living here for years doing this. We will not surrender," one breeder said. They are threatening a strike. "Let Cairo drown in garbage."

The pigs in Egypt, a largely Muslim country, are raised by the Coptic Christian community.

Estimates of the number of pigs range from 250,000 to 400,000.

Up to 159 people are believed to have died in the outbreak - all but one of them in Mexico.

Confirmed cases of swine flu have been reported in numerous other countries, including New Zealand, Spain, Austria and Canada, but most have been mild cases.

Many of those victims had been to Mexico, prompting airport screening for passengers displaying potential flu symptoms.

Egyptian authorities increased numbers of medical staff at Cairo airport to check passengers arriving from Mexico and will monitor them during their stay.

Egypt suffered during the outbreak of bird flu, between 2004 and 2008, with 22 deaths reported.

The latest swine flu is a variation of H1N1, which causes seasonal outbreaks of flu in humans on a regular basis.

However, this strain contains genetic material that is typically found in strains of the virus that affect humans, birds and swine.

Pigs can act as a "melting pot" for several flu strains.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/w ... 024946.stm

[somethingfunny]

What is the deal with the Mexico death toll? Had been over 60 and now down to 7, and had been reporting 1,400 infections and now it's down to a couple of dozen? I'm still not convinced this is that bad.

Oh and lovely open borders.

I dunno man. I don't trust the Mexican counts at all and while at first I thought it was just because they're overwhelmed so only the most severe cases are being documented, the fact that there is NO reported flu activity in Cancun, Cozumel, and the rest of Quinta Roo, while all of the U.S. cases except in Border States have originated in people taking vacations to Cancun...that screams cover-up to me. But I'm not a professional tinfoil hat wearer or anything.
Maybe there's a rational explanation for that because nobody in the media is asking the question, and with all the time they're devoting to this story you'd figure they'd have all the resources in the world needed to answer the big questions right?

For "somethingfunny".......you comment about being the last post on a page and those of us having ADD was inappropriate.

Meanwhile as the virus spreads.....Fox News is now reporting the possibility of hundreds of NYC school children infected. An unnamed official at CDC has told us to expect deaths here in the states.

I apologize about offending anyone, I just mentioned ADD because some people tend not to read things that are more than a paragraph long. I nearly added 'hypochondriac' but decided that might be offensive to some as well. I'm not an expert at anything but I thought my opinion was fairly well thought-out and might help everyone figure out what the real story here might be.

I'm as scared as anyone else is, I think, but it's not like we can stop living our daily lives is it? Either we get it or we don't and if we catch it, we either survive or we don't. Such is life.

On a side note, has anyone else noticed how cheap pork has gotten at the supermarket since a bunch of countries banned our products? I know what I'm eating for dinner all next week....pork chops!

[Dionne]

91 Confirmed Cases in U.S. (10 States)

The U.S. now has 91 confirmed cases of the new swine flu in 10 states.

Dr. Richard Besser, the acting chief of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, says thus far only five of those cases needed hospitalization, including a Mexican toddler who became the first death recorded in the U.S., in Texas.

The increase is not surprising. For days, CDC officials have said they expected to confirm more cases — and more severe illnesses — as they intensively hunt down this new virus.

Until now the government had known of outbreaks in just five states. But the new information shows cases in five more: Massachusetts, Michigan, Arizona, Nevada and Indiana.´

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30471035/

CNN now reporting 12 states. I wonder how many will be added by this time tomorrow?

From the CDC website:

"a pattern of more severe illness associated with this virus may be emerging in the U.S."

"most people will not have immunity to this new virus"

It certainly doesn't sound encouraging.

[Derek Ortt]

remember, Mexico is the same country that tried to say no damage in Cancun from Gilbert

when there was total destruction

[somethingfunny]

remember, Mexico is the same country that tried to say no damage in Cancun from Gilbert

when there was total destruction

Exactly. When Mexico isn't reporting any swine flu activity at all in Cancun, that makes me VERY worried.

[Cookiely]

Officials in South Carolina shut down a school today and are disinfecting the building after 16 to 18 students in their marching band reported flu-like symptoms after visiting Walt Disney World.

Reports from the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control show lab results released today indicate that 10 students from a different school probably have the swine flu virus after a recent school trip to Mexico.

Those lab results have been sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for final confirmation, which can take up to 48 hours.

Meanwhile, Orange County Health Department officials said test results on a tourist who had visited Disney earlier this week and also displayed flu-like symptoms are expected sometime today.

The Greenville County students visited Disney between April 23 and April 27 for Festival Disney -- a gathering of concert bands, jazz ensembles, marching bands, orchestras and choral ensembles. A Disney website shows the students visited Disney's Saratoga Springs Resort and Disney's Hollywood Studios, among other Disney theme parks.

Health officials in Orange County did not say which theme park the tourist with the connection to Mexico visited earlier this week.

Parents of students at Mauldin High School in Greenville were alerted Wednesday about their children's increased risk of exposure to the flu. South Carolina school district officials are waiting for the students' test results, which will determine if they contracted swine flu.

Other Greenville County schools are also being advised to closely monitor students and to report any cases of flu-like symptoms to the district's health services officials.


Copyright © 2009, Orlando Sentinel

[cycloneye]

World Health Organization changes name of flu to H1N1

The World Health Organization said it will would stop using the term "swine flu" to avoid confusion over the danger posed by pigs.

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."


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

[grentz7721]

From local news reports, The H1N1 virus hit South Carolina.

[southerngale]

World Health Organization changes name of flu to H1N1

The World Health Organization said it will would stop using the term "swine flu" to avoid confusion over the danger posed by pigs.

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."


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

How many things are we going to change the name of? That's stupid. Everyone is still going to call it swine flu.

[cycloneye]

109 cases in the U.S. alone and 236 worldwide are the latest numbers provided by World Health organization.

GENEVA, Switzerland (CNN) -- Confirmed cases of swine flu worldwide increased to 236 on Thursday, up significantly from the previous day's total of 147, the World Health Organization reported.

In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it has confirmed 109 cases of swine flu, or 2009 H1N1, in 11 states, an increase of 18 from its previous total.

Mexico, with 97 confirmed cases, showed the biggest increase in the world, WHO said. There were 26 confirmed cases Wednesday.

The higher totals do not necessarily mean that incidence of the disease is increasing, but rather that health investigators are getting through their backlog of specimens, said Dr. Keiji Fukuda, assistant director-general of WHO.


http://edition.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/04/3 ... index.html

[olddude]

[Swine Flu Q&A] April 29, Monroe County Health Department
Is there swine flu in Florida?
At this time, there are no confirmed cases in Florida. (4.29.09)
What is Florida doing to protect me from swine flu?
We have epidemiologist or “disease detectives” at the County Health Departments and in Tallahassee. There is a detailed plan in place to respond to influenza outbreaks. Florida has a strong system to identify potential influenza cases.
· Our state laboratories have the equipment and trained staff to identify influenza samples.
· We have 100 physicians who report flu activity to us on a weekly basis.
· We have access to a database that tracks over the counter drugs to provide us with early warning of potential flu activity.
· We also track 106 emergency departments throughout the state to analyze trends in types of illnesses.

So far all clear here but I worry about the cruise ships entering Key West

[Brent]

An Obama adminstration aide and his family have probable cases of swine flu. The aide traveled with Obama to Mexico in Mid-April and got sick soon after(flew back commercially to Dallas). All 4 members of the family have now recovered from it.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/art ... QD97SVM6G0

Swine flu confirmed in a patient at a hospital 15 miles from here over in Georgia:

http://www.wsbtv.com/health/19332103/detail.html

[CajunMama]

Could we please change the title of this thread back whatever just as long as it has Swine Flu in it? That way people can find the thread. I had no clue what it was and was looking for the swine flu thread.

Maybe "Swine Flu name changed to H1N1" or something like that

[cycloneye]

Could we please change the title of this thread back whatever just as long as it has Swine Flu in it? That way people can find the thread. I had no clue what it was and was looking for the swine flu thread.

Maybe "Swine Flu name changed to H1N1" or something like that

Changed to add Swine Flu.

[Stephanie]

5 are confirmed in NJ and 4 in DE with other "probable" cases:

http://cbs3.com/topstories/Swine.Flu.De ... 98180.html

http://cbs3.com/topstories/swine.flu.new.2.997225.html

[cycloneye]

Nearly 300 Schools in U.S. closed

Nearly 300 schools scattered around the country closed as the nation's swine flu caseload passed 100 Thursday, and U.S. authorities pledged to eventually produce enough vaccine for everyone — but said shots couldn't begin until fall at the earliest.

The Education Department's count stood at 298 on Thursday, tripling from around 100 on Wednesday. Most will be closed only for a few days. About 172,000 students are affected in 11 states, from every region of the country.


http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30471035/