Grace&Violets Posted April 25, 2009 Share Posted April 25, 2009 Ok, this is in the next state over now... http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30398682 New U.S. swine flu cases spread pandemic fears As Mexico hunkers down, 2 cases found in Kansas and 8 likely in NYC Video NYC students test positive for 'probable' swine flu April 25: Local public health officials announced that at least eight samples from students in Queens tested as "probable" for the emerging strain of flu. MSNBC Video CDC 'very worried' about pandemic potential April 25: NBC’s Amy Robach speaks with Dr. Richard Besser, the acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Today show Q&A Swine flu Learn about the virus found in pigs and why it is causing concern among health officials. msnbc.com msnbc.com news services updated 1 minute ago Worries that the new swine flu strain that has killed as many as 68 people and sickened more than 1,000 across Mexico has “pandemic potential” increased with the announcement that the virus has spread to Kansas, and likely to New York City. On Saturday, two new cases of swine flu were confirmed in Kansas — the first U.S. cases outside of California or Texas. And New York City Health Commissioner Dr. Thomas Frieden announced that tests showed that eight New York schoolchildren had a type A influenza virus that was "probable" swine flu. Samples have been sent to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for further testing for confirmation. The students showed only mild flu symptoms. Story continues below ↓ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- advertisement | your ad here -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- It may be too late to contain the sudden outbreak, warned t he CDC, which has stepped up surveillance across the United States. "We are worried," said the CDC's Dr. Anne Schuchat. “We don’t think we can contain the spread of this virus,” said Schuchat, Interim Deputy Director for Science and Public Health Program. “We are likely to find it in many other places.” Because cases are spreading in the U.S. and in several sites in Mexico, officials now must work to detect infections and reduce their severity, if possible. “It’s time to prepare, time to think ahead and to be prepared for some uncertainty,” Schuchat told reporters in a telephone briefing on Saturday. Two dozen new suspected cases were reported Saturday in Mexico City alone, schools were closed and all public events suspended in the capital until further notice — including more than 500 concerts and other gatherings in the metropolis of 20 million. A hot line fielded 2,366 calls in its first hours from frightened city residents who suspected they might have the disease. Soldiers and health workers handed out masks at subway stops, and hospitals dealt with crowds of people seeking help. The Texas health department announced Saturday that Byron Steele High School in Cibolo, near San Antonio, will temporarily close as local health and school officials work to keep the virus from spreading. Swine flu was confirmed earlier this month in two students from the school, and a third student is listed as a probable case with confirmatory lab test results pending. The original two have recovered, and the third is recovering. "The purpose is to reduce the risk to students, staff and the community," said Sandra Guerra, M.D., the public health authority for Guadalupe County, Texas. The World Health Organization’s director-general, Margaret Chan, said the outbreak of the never-before-seen virus is a very serious situation and has “pandemic potential.” But she said it is still too early to tell if it would become a pandemic. “The situation is evolving quickly,” Chan said in a telephone news conference in Geneva. “A new disease is by definition poorly understood.” This virus is a mix of human, pig and bird strains that prompted WHO to meet Saturday to consider declaring an international public health emergency — a step that could lead to travel advisories, trade restrictions and border closures. Spokesman Gregory Hartl said a decision would not be made Saturday. Scientists have warned for years about the potential for a pandemic from viruses that mix genetic material from humans and animals. Another reason to worry is that authorities said the dead so far don’t include vulnerable infants and elderly. The Spanish flu pandemic, which killed at least 40 million people worldwide in 1918-19, also first struck otherwise healthy young adults. This swine flu and regular flu can have similar symptoms — mostly fever, cough and sore throat, though some of the U.S. victims who recovered also experienced vomiting and diarrhea. But unlike with regular flu, humans don’t have natural immunity to a virus that includes animal genes — and new vaccines can take months to bring into use. But experts at the WHO and the CDC say the nature of this outbreak may make containment impossible. Already, more than 1,000 people have been infected in as many as 14 of Mexico’s 32 states, according to daily newspaper El Universal. Tests show 20 people have died of the swine flu, and 48 other deaths were probably due to the same strain. The CDC and Canadian health officials were studying samples sent from Mexico, and airports around the world were screening passengers from Mexico for symptoms of the new flu strain, saying they may quarantine passengers. But CDC officials dismissed the idea of trying that in the United States. They noted there had been no direct contact between the cases in the San Diego and San Antonio areas, suggesting the virus had already spread from one geographic area through other undiagnosed people. Video What are the symptoms of swine flu? April 25: Dr. Holly Atkinson joins NBC’s Lester Holt to shed some light on the virus that has killed up to 68 people in Mexico and infected 8 in the United States. Today show “Anything that would be about containing it right now would purely be a political move,” said Michael Osterholm, a University of Minnesota pandemic expert. Mexican President Felipe Calderon said his government only discovered the nature of the virus late Thursday, with the help of international laboratories. “We are doing everything necessary,” he said in a brief statement. But the government had said for days that its growing flu caseload was nothing unusual, so the sudden turnaround angered many who wonder if Mexico missed an opportunity to contain the outbreak. “Why did it break out, where did it break out? What’s the magnitude of the problem?” pizzeria owner David Vasquez said while taking his family to a movie Friday night, despite warnings to stay out of theaters. Across Mexico’s capital, residents reacted with fatalism and confusion, anger and mounting fear at the idea that their city may be ground zero for a global epidemic. Authorities urged people to stay home if they feel sick and to avoid shaking hands or kissing people on the cheeks. Outside Hospital Obregon in the capital’s middle-class Roma district, a tired Dr. Roberto Ortiz, 59, leaned against an ambulance and sipped coffee Saturday on a break from an unusually busy shift. Click for related content Are you concerned? Join the Newsvine discussion “The people are scared,” Ortiz said. “A person gets some flu symptoms or a child gets a fever and they think it is this swine flu and rush to the hospital.” He said none of the cases so far at the hospital had turned out to be swine flu. Jose Donasiano Rosales, 69, got nervous on the subway and decided to get out one stop early. “I felt I couldn’t be there for even one more station,” Donasiano said as he set up a rack to sell newspapers on a busy thoroughfare. “We’re in danger of contagion. ... I’m worried.” The exact same virus also sickened the eight people in Texas and California, though there have been no deaths north of the border, puzzling experts at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A “seed stock” genetically matched to the new swine flu virus has been created by the CDC, said Dr. Richard Besser, the agency’s acting director. If the government decides vaccine production is necessary, manufacturers would need that stock to get started. The CDC says two flu drugs, Tamiflu and Relenza, seem effective against the new strain. Roche, the maker of Tamiflu, said the company is prepared to immediately deploy a stockpile of the drug if requested. Both drugs must be taken early, within a few days of the onset of symptoms, to be most effective. Mexico’s Health Secretary Jose Angel Cordova said the country has enough Tamiflu to treat 1 million people — only one in 20 people in greater Mexico City alone — and that the medicine will be strictly controlled and handed out only by doctors. At Mexico’s National Institute of Respiratory Illnesses, Adrian Anda waited to hear whether his 15-year-old daughter had the frightening new disease. She had been suffering a cough and fever for a week. “If they say that it is, then we’ll suffer. Until then, we don’t want to think about it,” he said. Link to comment
ANewMe Posted April 26, 2009 Share Posted April 26, 2009 http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/stor...5001028,00.html British airways cabin crew grounded with 'flu-like symptoms' Article from correspondents in Geneva, Switzerland April 26, 2009 08:06am THE World Health Organisation has branded the outbreak of a new strain of swine flu "a public health emergency of international concern", following a meeting of its emergency committee. In a statement, the Geneva-based UN agency said it was recommending that all nations "intensify surveillance for unusual outbreaks of influenza-like illness and severe pneumonia". Health officials worldwide are scrambling to contain an outbreak of swine flu that has killed as many as 68 people in Mexico, with WHO chief Margaret Chan warning that the virus had "pandemic potential" and it may be too late to contain a sudden outbreak. The new flu strain - a mixture of swine, human and avian flu viruses - is still poorly understood and the situation is evolving quickly, the World Health Organisation said. Possible case in London Health officials today confirmed a British Airways cabin crew staff member was being treated in a London hospital with "flu-like symptoms" after arriving on a flight from Mexico City. A spokesman for the northwest London hospital where the unnamed man is being treated said he had "flu-like symptoms and is responding well to treatment". The man has undergone tests, but the results are not expected back until at least Sunday. No other crew members or passengers on the BA242 flight into Heathrow airport were detained. A British Airways spokesman confirmed the cabin crew member had been on a flight from Mexico City to London's main Heathrow airport which landed on Saturday. 'Containment isn't feasible' Health authorities in the central US state of Kansas confirmed two cases of swine flu on Saturday, bringing the total number of cases in the United States to at least 10. The Kansas Department of Health and Environment said two adults were confirmed to be carrying the virus. One of the victims was still ill, while the other had recovered. "One of the patients had recently traveled to Mexico," a statement from the department said. "Both persons ... became ill with the same unique (H1N1) strain of swine flu that has been identified in Mexico, California and Texas," the statement read. Kansas officials said they were interviewing and testing people who came into contact with the pair, who lived at the same residence. Earlier on Saturday New York officials said eight to nine students at a New York City school were suspected of having swine flu, although test results are still pending. Tests were ordered after dozens of students from the St Francis preparatory school in Queens showed flu-like symptoms on Thursday, New York Health Commissioner Thomas Frieden said. Results of tests to confirm the presence of the virus in the United States' largest city will not be known until Sunday, when a statement is expected. "We are concerned by more widespread transmission," Mr Frieden said. "The city is very well prepared, the hospitals are prepared, we are even prepared for the worst cases," he added. US federal authorities have warned they expect to find more cases in the United States. "With infections in many different communities as we're seeing, we don't think that containment is feasible," said Anne Schuchat of the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. Symptoms of the disease are similar to seasonal flu, with high temperatures accompanying body aches and a sore throat. Prior to this outbreak, the United States had seen 12 cases of the human form of swine influenza since 2005. Testing at airports Tokyo’s Narita Airport began checking temperatures of passengers arriving from Mexico yesterday using thermographic imaging. No signs have been detected on 177 passengers and crew members screened so far. All pigs brought into Japan will also been screened for any signs of the virus. In the US airport workers have been told to regularly wash their hands, to use gloves and other protective wear. It is not yet known whether similar testing or precautionary measures at will be introduced at Australian international airports. Yesterday the Department of Health and Ageing urged any Australians who had returned from Mexico with flu-like symptoms to seek immediate medical advice. "We are liaising with the World Health Organisation (WHO) the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention and other relevant public health experts to obtain more information," a Health Department spokesperson said. Link to comment
HippyChick Posted April 26, 2009 Share Posted April 26, 2009 HippieChick, I went in search of these masks and there are several versions. Any advice on which one to choose? I know I've seen these at Wal-Mart (well, ok, I think I have!) By the way, we happened upon Michael Savage's program at 8 pm central time and he was absolutely ballistic over this development. He is pretty much convinced that this virus is engineered. I got mine here: http://masksnmore.stores.yahoo.net/n95masks.html My local Wal-mart is weird so I never thought of looking there. I know at hardware stores you can pick up masks that are safe to use while sanding or other such work but I prefer the surgical N95 masks that will protect against TB exposure. Pick out one that says it's CDC approved for TB and you should be good to go. I think I bought this one: http://masksnmore.stores.yahoo.net/3m18hecapare.html Link to comment
Grace&Violets Posted April 26, 2009 Share Posted April 26, 2009 They are now saying as many as 81 deaths in Mexico... Link to comment
sassenach Posted April 26, 2009 Share Posted April 26, 2009 Thanks Hippy chick for the site. I ordered some masks too. Link to comment
TurtleMama Posted April 26, 2009 Share Posted April 26, 2009 Please please please, if anyone finds the link about self-quarantine triggers, can you bump and label it? I would be sooooo grateful...thank y'all... Link to comment
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