johnastovall
Light Hunter - RIP 2010
This is starting to look very serious.
Swine Flu Emergency Caused By New Variant of Old Bug
"The virus has already evaded the first line of defense that health officials had hoped to use against a pandemic. International flu experts preparing for a pandemic had planned to contain the initial outbreak of a new, lethal strain of flu. The swine flu virus has already spread so far in Mexico and the U.S. that the containment strategy is out of the question, said Anne Schuchat, interim deputy director for science and public health programs at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Atlanta-based U.S. agency.
“We don’t think we can contain the spread of this virus,” she said yesterday in a conference call with reporters. "
Hong Kong's reaction.
"Dr. York Chow, Hong Kong’s secretary for health and food, asked residents to watch the news for reports of which states in the United States have outbreaks and discouraged travel to these states, but reserved his strongest warning for travel to Mexico. “Do not travel to Mexico unless it is absolutely necessary,” he said."
Swine Flu Emergency Caused By New Variant of Old Bug
"The virus has already evaded the first line of defense that health officials had hoped to use against a pandemic. International flu experts preparing for a pandemic had planned to contain the initial outbreak of a new, lethal strain of flu. The swine flu virus has already spread so far in Mexico and the U.S. that the containment strategy is out of the question, said Anne Schuchat, interim deputy director for science and public health programs at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Atlanta-based U.S. agency.
“We don’t think we can contain the spread of this virus,” she said yesterday in a conference call with reporters. "
Hong Kong's reaction.
"Dr. York Chow, Hong Kong’s secretary for health and food, asked residents to watch the news for reports of which states in the United States have outbreaks and discouraged travel to these states, but reserved his strongest warning for travel to Mexico. “Do not travel to Mexico unless it is absolutely necessary,” he said."
xayraa33
rangefinder user and fancier
MickH
Well-known
It's a slow weekend for news. Remember bird flu & SARS?
enochRoot
a chymist of some repute
yeah...reeks of sensationalism to me.
Spider67
Well-known
Recommender read "In the wake of the plague" by Cantor
No, this is not a "slow weekend" news item.
It might be bio-engineered.
This is going to get very serious, very fast. It could kill healthy adults.
VERY dangerous.
It might be bio-engineered.
This is going to get very serious, very fast. It could kill healthy adults.
VERY dangerous.
xayraa33
rangefinder user and fancier
I think you might be are right about this.
http://www.rightsidenews.com/200904...-strain-of-swine-flu-a-bio-terror-attack.html
Sparrow
Veteran
on average 120 people will be killed on US roads tomorrow, that's a whole pandemic and a half in a single day 
............. scary Jamaica
............. scary Jamaica
N
Nikon Bob
Guest
swoop
Well-known
The school that has the outbreak is 3 miles away from me. It's not sealed up in the least.
I think the question about the infections in Mexico that needs to be asked is did those people that died have quick easy access to medical care.
sooner
Well-known
I think clearly this is serious, and it is evolving and isn't over yet. Sure, you could be tortured and killed slowly, and that would be worse, but that's not really a fair comparison to this pandemic. To call this merely sensationalism on a slow news day is, in my opinion, unfair. Hopefully it will pass quickly, but I suspect we will continue to see these kinds of events as the world climbs past 6 billion people on earth.
Paul T.
Veteran
yes, I remember bird flu, too.
I'm sure when we all die off it will be via something new, that doesn't profit the media who will stoke up our paranoia. Plus, it has to be said, the general reporting of medical issues, in the UK at any rate, is woeful - does anyone remember the long-term furoe over the MMR jab?
I'm sure when we all die off it will be via something new, that doesn't profit the media who will stoke up our paranoia. Plus, it has to be said, the general reporting of medical issues, in the UK at any rate, is woeful - does anyone remember the long-term furoe over the MMR jab?
Roger Hicks
Veteran
I think I'll delay worrying about it until it has spread a LOT further than it has.
Even then, what good is worrying going to do?
Tashi delek,
R.
Even then, what good is worrying going to do?
Tashi delek,
R.
Thardy
Veteran
"Travelers from Mexico who appear to have flu symptoms will be stopped at the border and isolated, Ms. Napolitano said."
Does this statement appear strange to anyone?
Does this statement appear strange to anyone?
johnastovall
Light Hunter - RIP 2010
No, not with the Public Health Emergency just declared this morning. Hong and Japan are already screening incoming passengers for fever.
Hong Kong's reaction.
Ever since the 2003 outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome, Hong Kong has used infrared scanners to measure the facial temperature of all arrivals at its airport and border crossings with mainland China. Visitors are required to remove any hats to ensure accurate measurement, and children are checked with ear thermometers because the scanners are less reliable in measuring their faces.
Dr. Thomas Tsang, the controller of the Hong Kong government’s Center for Health Protection, said at a press conference on Sunday afternoon that any traveler who has passed through a city with laboratory-confirmed cases and who arrives in Hong Kong with a fever and respiratory symptoms will be intercepted by officials and sent to a hospital to await testing.
“Until that test is negative, we won’t allow him out,” he said.
Hong Kong's reaction.
Ever since the 2003 outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome, Hong Kong has used infrared scanners to measure the facial temperature of all arrivals at its airport and border crossings with mainland China. Visitors are required to remove any hats to ensure accurate measurement, and children are checked with ear thermometers because the scanners are less reliable in measuring their faces.
Dr. Thomas Tsang, the controller of the Hong Kong government’s Center for Health Protection, said at a press conference on Sunday afternoon that any traveler who has passed through a city with laboratory-confirmed cases and who arrives in Hong Kong with a fever and respiratory symptoms will be intercepted by officials and sent to a hospital to await testing.
“Until that test is negative, we won’t allow him out,” he said.
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jke
Well-known
Once you get past all the heightened tone of the news reports, you can see that most of what is being done now by health authorities is preventative - handing out masks, alerting people to symptoms and readying vaccine supplies. Proactive rather than panicked.
Flu kills people every year. Not all of them are old people.
Health statistics may be skewed in Mexico by lack of thorough reporting data and lack of comprehensive health care. The total number of people who suffered from this flu may be much larger, which would make the percentage of people who have died from the flu less notable.
The students at the school in the Bronx were infected when they traveled to Mexico on a trip. Since most of the known infections in the US have occurred in groups - friends, relatives, family, classmates - health authorities believe that it is transmitted from person to person rather than by air - close proximity rather than just being in the neighborhood.
I think currently the least plausible idea is that this was man-made, especially since animal husbandry and travelers to or from Mexico have not yet been eliminated as possible sources. Just because this seems to have multiple strains in it does not mean that someone made it. This flu may simply reflect the global nature of travel and food.
There will probably be a lot of "my friend the doctor" or "my friend the medical researcher" stories in the next few days/weeks in the vacuum created by the inevitable lag time that occurs between recognizing the problem and doing the science that will allow definitive statements to be made.
Flu kills people every year. Not all of them are old people.
Health statistics may be skewed in Mexico by lack of thorough reporting data and lack of comprehensive health care. The total number of people who suffered from this flu may be much larger, which would make the percentage of people who have died from the flu less notable.
The students at the school in the Bronx were infected when they traveled to Mexico on a trip. Since most of the known infections in the US have occurred in groups - friends, relatives, family, classmates - health authorities believe that it is transmitted from person to person rather than by air - close proximity rather than just being in the neighborhood.
I think currently the least plausible idea is that this was man-made, especially since animal husbandry and travelers to or from Mexico have not yet been eliminated as possible sources. Just because this seems to have multiple strains in it does not mean that someone made it. This flu may simply reflect the global nature of travel and food.
There will probably be a lot of "my friend the doctor" or "my friend the medical researcher" stories in the next few days/weeks in the vacuum created by the inevitable lag time that occurs between recognizing the problem and doing the science that will allow definitive statements to be made.
N
Nikon Bob
Guest
The news here just stated that there were cases in New Zealand, Hong Kong and Spain. So it is spreading and no wonder with the amount of air travel today. You are right that worrying about it won't do anything.
Bob
charjohncarter
Veteran
Poor Mexico, I've been there twice this year. Both time business was slow: recession (ours and theirs), drug wars, some lag on big hotel prices (condos and timeshares, that didn't work their down yet) and just fear of getting sick (not swine flu). Now the Swine Flu come along.
colker
Well-known
mexican photography from the 30s is just sublime: Tina MOdotti and Manuel Alvarez Bravo made some of my all time favourite images.
Beniliam
Out of the limelight
Mexico have a great tradition in photography, and is and was very ´inspirational´ for foreigns and for the mexicans equally.
There are still today great photographers in Mexico like Graciela Iturbide.
http://images.google.es/images?q=gr...ent=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&hl=es&tab=wi
And there are other ´classic´ photographers, less popular than Alvarez Bravo o Modotti like Nacho Lopez that are fantastic too.
http://manualdemimismo.files.wordpress.com/2008/07/20080416012010-nacho-lopez05.jpg
http://alkek.library.txstate.edu/swwc/wg/exhibits/witnesses/Lopez_Unt.jpg
http://images.artnet.com/artwork_images_1050_78098_nacho-lopez.jpg
I think that Mexico is one of the most magic places for the photographers. Its a shame that the violence and the corruption are ´winning´ the battle to the State. Many great photographers like Helen Levitt, Henri Cartier Bresson, Paul Strand, Edward Weston, ... found inspiration here.
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