Swine flu more of a threat than first thought?

[CornishCorpse]

Hey there guys, just thought everyone should be aware o this since I knew I wasnt till a little while ago. Straight from the BBC. Mexico bid to contain deadly flu Residents of the Mexican capital are taking precautionary measures Mexican authorities have closed schools and public buildings in the capital in a bid to contain a new flu virus suspected of killing up to 60 people. Public events were suspended and residents donned face masks as concern grew over the outbreak. Health experts say tests so far seem to link it with a new swine flu virus that sickened eight in the southern US. US experts said they were taking the virus seriously and working to learn as much as possible about it. But both the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) said that there was no need at this point to issue travel advisories for parts of Mexico or the US. In Geneva, the WHO said an emergency committee would likely convene over the weekend. It said it had prepared "rapid containment measures" in case they were needed. In the US, the White House said it was monitoring events. US links Mexican authorities suspect the virus may have been involved in the deaths of about 60 people, mostly in and around Mexico City, since mid-March. A new swine flu strain has been confirmed in 20 of the deaths and 40 others are being tested, Mexico's health secretary said. More than 900 other people are thought to have been infected. SWINE FLU Swine flu is a respiratory disease found in pigs Human cases usually occur in those who have contact with pigs Human-to-human transmission is rare and such cases are closely monitored Q&A: Swine flu Officials said most of those killed so far were young adults - rather than more vulnerable children and the elderly. On Friday, Mexican President Felipe Calderon cancelled a trip and convened his cabinet to coordinate a response. Masks were being handed out to residents and reports said the streets were far quieter than usual. Dr Richard Besser, acting director of the CDC, said that preliminary tests on seven out of 14 samples from patients in Mexico had matched the virus found in the US. Eight people have fallen sick - six in California and two in Texas - with a virus that experts say is a new strain of swine flu. All eight have recovered and only one was hospitalised. Dr Besser said more information was needed to determine the extent of the threat posed by the virus. "We are not at the point - WHO is not at the point - of declaring a pandemic; we are at the point of trying to learn more about this virus, understand its transmission and how to control it," he said. "In Mexico, other influenza viruses are circulating there, so sorting out which cases are caused by swine flu, which are other viruses and which are co-infections will be very important public health information." Both the CDC and the WHO say they plan to send experts to Mexico to help investigate the virus. Swine flu is a respiratory disease which infects pigs. It does not normally infect humans, although sporadic cases do occur usually in people who have had close contact with pigs. There have also been rare documented cases of humans passing the infection to other humans. Such cases are monitored very closely because of fears that a new strain of swine flu with the ability to pass from person to person could spark a pandemic. LINK: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/8017871.stm A intresting video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Wae--Tp1OU

[Crappingbear]

Yup, just another reason to have an iron claw on border entry from any location including air ports. Its not enough we have drug cartel wars down south but now we have a super flu with avian/swine/Human flu going nuts. And for you Euros and Canadios, keep in mind its already spread to Califorinaville and Texasssssss. Enough is enough; time to put up an antibiotic and razor wire barrier between El Mejico and and Los Unitos del Estates.

[Tricky]

Woohoo i live on a pig farm!

[SRP76]

This is it! We're all gonna die!

[Neil]

http://wcbstv.com/topstories/swine.f....2.994071.html

[AcesandEights]

A NYC prep school + Swine flu? Ah, the irony. I don't know how reliable that report is, like they say, they're not sure. However, possible cases at a school in Texas raise much more concern... I'm waiting for a certain someone to show up and tell us how we should have hated Mexicans while we all had the chance.

[CornishCorpse]

Little update the flu is now in mexico, California and New York and Texas or at least some confirmed reports are. Not being a scaremonger just a heads up. Heres the infection on google maps, purple for a dead victim of the disease pink for suspected. http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UT...,63.896484&z=4 Edit: British airlines cabin crew have been taken to hospital with "flu-like syptoms" fresh from the BBC. No link yet but a few more developments. The number of new Yorkers hit by the disease is now seventy and Emergency meeting of international health officials to deal with the flu its labelled " international public health issue". Army brought in Mexico to help keep the peace and apparently France is bringing in devices to airports to scan crowds of newcomers for a raised temperature to be able to isolate those infected. Just watching the news and meh. There have been a few threats of a pandemic with SARS and Bird Flu but nothing really developed, there were a few deaths but if the cases in the US are indeed the Mexican swine flu then bah. Probably just me being caught up by the scaremongering.

[ProfessorChaos]

[Neil]

*There is currently no vaccine for the new strain, but tamiflu, an antiviral drug used against bird flu, is said to be effective against the new strain. * Eleven confirmed infections in the US * In addition, eight suspected cases are being investigated at a New York City high school where about 200 students fell mildly ill with flu-like symptoms * Twenty-two students and three teachers in New Zealand, some suffering flu-like symptoms, have been quarantined and tested for swine flu after returning from a trip to Mexico * But a UK hospital conducting tests for swine flu on a British Airways cabin crew member admitted on Saturday said the tests proved negative.

[Crappingbear]

A NYC prep school + Swine flu? Ah, the irony. I don't know how reliable that report is, like they say, they're not sure. However, possible cases at a school in Texas raise much more concern... I'm waiting for a certain someone to show up and tell us how we should have hated Mexicans while we all had the chance. You probably aren't talking about me, but if so its ok Im responding anyway. Without a doubt, I know more illegal Mexicans than any of you and some of them are really great people. The bottom line is that we have a crime and health problem in America that comes from an open border. The Mexican blame their drug wars on U.S. imported weapons. Lock the border down and we stop it all. Why is that so hard to understand?

[Purge]

[Cody]

So we should build a great wall of china between Mexico and the US?

[mista_mo]

This wall will only be built of the finest concrete/titanium/steel in all of America. It will have enormous guard towers at 400 foot intervals, which will be approximately 75 feet higher then the wall they are built in. The wall be covered in spikes and barb wire, and stand 55 feet tall. Guards will be posted on it, and regularly patrol the wall. They will shoot anything that comes within 700 feet of the wall (only on the bad communist side though), and have a big moat dug 10 feet deep all along the border. However, it will clog up with bodies pretty quickly, so soldiers armed with acid canisters will continually douse the dead and melt them into a fine gelatin paste, which will serve as a quick sand type trap for any others that fall into the moat. also, pillboxes are to be placed at 200 foot intervals, and these pillboxes will come armed with 3 machine guns, and be made of high strength concrete. These pillboxes will also have large spikes mounted on them, which will be used to show off the latest kills of the heroes inside these freedom boxes. The national Anthem will continuously be played from loud speakers, which are directed at the stain that is Mexico, slowly turning the population into freedom loving patriots that will being to wear the American flag wherever they go, and will instill in them a fervor unknown in their former degenerate world. Big screen tvs will be mounted along the wall, for its entirety. these tvs will only play Jerry Springer and Football games, maybe occasionally changing to fox news for all informative needs. Slowly, the amount of true Mexicans will grow, as they are slowly killed off as they try to enter the country, or are Americanized by the music and television shows which will permeate the airwaves. The remaining Mexicans will flee to France, where their putrescence is hardly felt, while the remaining are turned into an army of expendable meat shields which will act as a first wave in the invasion of Canada.

[AcesandEights]

You probably aren't talking about me Nah, dude. I'm not talking about someone who is currently posting here regularly and I am down with border security. I've just seen people in the past trying to shove fear and hatred down others throats using alarmist tactics and that is not the way to rally everyone around a controversial topic. I mean, linking to a site with hate speech on it is immediately going to undercut the message for a lot of people and I've seen that happen here.

[krakenslayer]

Probable cases of swine flu in Scotland now : http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/...st/8019544.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8018887.stm