Griffith
With the streak of a tear, Like morning dew
http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/04/24/swine.flu/index.html
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090425/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/med_swine_flu
There's too much interesting info to quote it all, but you should really read the articles, anyway (all sorts of cool stuff about bird, pig, and human DNA viruses mixing into super viruses). Basically it's in Mexico, Texas, California (San Diego) and possibly even Queens New York, and is particularly nasty. It's also likely incubating anywhere at this point considering all the travel in and out of Mexico City. So far anywhere from 20 to 68 deaths by this particular flu, over a 1000 sick in Mexico, and 8 confirmed cases in the U.S (all recovered). That's 20 to 68 deaths because, according to the yahoo article, of the 68 people to die of flu only 20 have been confirmed to be from this strain (by name, you wouldn't think YaHoO! would be the less sensational news source =). Anyway, health officials are understandably concerned, as many are already on the lookout for potential pandemic viruses, but being very vague about how exactly worried they are and we should be, as they seem to struggling between warning people of possible serious danger here and not overreacting and starting a panic if it turns out to be not as bad as it looks like it could be. Bottom line, might be very serious, or might just be another flu story.
In any case, take care, everyone.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090425/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/med_swine_flu
MEXICO CITY – A unique strain of swine flu is the suspected killer of dozens of people in Mexico, where authorities closed schools, museums, libraries and theaters in the capital on Friday to try to contain an outbreak that has spurred concerns of a global flu epidemic.
The worrisome new virus — which combines genetic material from pigs, birds and humans in a way researchers have not seen before — also sickened at least eight people in Texas and California, though there have been no deaths in the U.S.
"We are very, very concerned," World Health Organization spokesman Thomas Abraham said. "We have what appears to be a novel virus and it has spread from human to human ... It's all hands on deck at the moment."
Epidemiologists are particularly concerned because the only fatalities so far were in young people and adults.
The eight U.S. victims recovered from symptoms that were like those of the regular flu, mostly fever, cough and sore throat, though some also experienced vomiting and diarrhea.
U.S. health officials announced an outbreak notice to travelers, urging caution and frequent handwashing, but stopping short of telling Americans to avoid Mexico.
Mexico's Health Secretary Jose Angel Cordova said 68 people have died of flu and the new swine flu strain had been confirmed in 20 of those deaths. At least 1,004 people nationwide were sick from the suspected flu, he said.
The geographical spread of the outbreaks also concerned the WHO — while 13 of the 20 deaths were in Mexico City, the rest were spread across Mexico — four in central San Luis Potosi, two up near the U.S. border in Baja California, and one in southern Oaxaca state.
Scientists have long been concerned that a new flu virus could launch a worldwide pandemic of a killer disease. A new virus could evolve when different flu viruses infect a pig, a person or a bird, mingling their genetic material. The resulting hybrid could spread quickly because people would have no natural defenses against it.
U.S. health officials said the outbreak is not yet a reason for alarm in the United States. The five people sickened in California and three in Texas have all recovered.
It's unclear how the eight, who became ill between late March and mid-April, contracted the virus because none were in contact with pigs, which is how people usually catch swine flu. And only a few were in contact with each other.
CDC officials described the virus as having a unique combination of gene segments not seen before in people or pigs. The bug contains human virus, avian virus from North America and pig viruses from North America, Europe and Asia. It may be completely new, or it may have been around for a while and was only detected now through improved testing and surveillance, CDC officials said.
The most notorious flu pandemic is thought to have killed at least 40 million people worldwide in 1918-19. Two other, less deadly flu pandemics struck in 1957 and 1968.
There's too much interesting info to quote it all, but you should really read the articles, anyway (all sorts of cool stuff about bird, pig, and human DNA viruses mixing into super viruses). Basically it's in Mexico, Texas, California (San Diego) and possibly even Queens New York, and is particularly nasty. It's also likely incubating anywhere at this point considering all the travel in and out of Mexico City. So far anywhere from 20 to 68 deaths by this particular flu, over a 1000 sick in Mexico, and 8 confirmed cases in the U.S (all recovered). That's 20 to 68 deaths because, according to the yahoo article, of the 68 people to die of flu only 20 have been confirmed to be from this strain (by name, you wouldn't think YaHoO! would be the less sensational news source =). Anyway, health officials are understandably concerned, as many are already on the lookout for potential pandemic viruses, but being very vague about how exactly worried they are and we should be, as they seem to struggling between warning people of possible serious danger here and not overreacting and starting a panic if it turns out to be not as bad as it looks like it could be. Bottom line, might be very serious, or might just be another flu story.
In any case, take care, everyone.