US decl. pub. health emer'cy 4 swine flu
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| Sun, 04-26-2009 - 6:34pm |
http://www.seattlepi.com/national/1151ap_us_swine_flu_emergency.html
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON -- The U.S. declared a public health emergency Sunday to deal with the emerging new swine flu, much like the government does to prepare for approaching hurricanes.
Officials reported 20 U.S. cases of swine flu in five states so far, with the latest in Ohio and New York. Unlike in Mexico where the same strain appears to be killing dozens of people, cases in the United State have been mild - and U.S. health authorities can't yet explain why.
"As we continue to look for cases, we are going to see a broader spectrum of disease," predicted Dr. Richard Besser, acting chief of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "We're going to see more severe disease in this country."
At a White House news conference, Besser and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano sought to assure Americans that health officials are taking all appropriate steps to minimize the impact of the outbreak.
Top among those is declaring the public health emergency. As part of that, Napolitano said roughly 12 million doses of the drug Tamiflu will be moved from a federal stockpile to places where states can quickly get their share if they decide they need it. Priority will be given to the five states with known cases so far: California, Texas, New York, Ohio and Kansas.
Remainder of article at above link.








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I think this is a developing story to keep the eyes on.
Europe Urges Citizens to Avoid U.S. and Mexico Travel
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/28/health/28swine.html?hp
Hoping to head off a global pandemic of swine flu that has surfaced in North America, the European Union’s health commissioner on Monday urged Europeans to avoid traveling to the United States or Mexico if doing so is not essential.
The warning came as health officials in Spain confirmed early Monday that a man hospitalized in eastern Spain had tested positive for swine flu, becoming what appeared to be Europe’s first case of the disease. Health authorities were also testing 17 other suspected cases across Spain, a major hub for travel between Mexico and Europe.
Britain and other European Union nations had already issued travel advisories for those traveling to Mexico, but the European Union’s health commissioner went a step further on Monday in urging Europeans to avoid nonessential trips. Europeans, she told reporters in Luxembourg, “should avoid traveling to Mexico or the United States of America unless it is very urgent for them.”
But Dr. Richard Besser, acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Ga., called that advisory unwarranted, saying that only 20 cases had been diagnosed in the United States, just one of which required hospitalization.
Remainder of article at link above.
Flu Outbreak Raises a Set of Questions
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/27/health/27questions.html?_r=1&em
Just to mention, it's in Canada, also (Nova Scotia and B.C.).
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090427.wswineworld0427/BNStory/Front
Kate
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Edited 4/27/2009 1:29 pm ET by fairly.damsely
Kate
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On the local news this a.m., they were out at SeaTac Airport & pretty much all of the airlines seem to be willing to let passengers trade out their trips to Mexico for comparable tickets elsewhere.
Yep, I heard about the cases in BC this morning.
The spread infections is another downside of globalistion.
Glad to see they're taking swift action.
Complete article....
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jY65KDyF4puFLrnLY_d0tyqVjrcQD97PKFP80
_ 1918. The Spanish flu pandemic that started in 1918 was possibly the deadliest outbreak of all time. It was first identified in the U.S., but became known as the Spanish flu because it received more media attention in Spain than in other countries, which were censoring the press during World War I. The 1918 flu was an H1N1 strain — different from the one currently affecting Mexico and the U.S. — and struck mostly healthy young adults. Experts estimate it killed about 40 to 50 million people worldwide.
_ 1957. The 1957 pandemic was known as the Asian flu. It was sparked by an H2N2 strain and was first identified in China. There were two waves of illness during this pandemic; the first wave mostly hit children while the second mostly affected the elderly. It caused about 2 million deaths globally.
_ 1968. The most recent pandemic, known as the Hong Kong flu, was the mildest of the three pandemics this century. It was first spotted in Hong Kong in 1968 and it spread globally over the next two years. The people most susceptible to the virus were the elderly. About 1 million people are estimated to have been killed by this pandemic, an H3N2 flu strain.
I had a little bird
And it name was Enza
I opened the window
And in-flew-Enza.
Quote: Porter, KA. Pale Horse, Pale Rider
One of my great-grandmothers died from the Spanish 'flu pandemic.
Complete article & video at link.........
http://www.alternet.org/blogs/peek/138568/gop_pigs_stripped_%27flu_pandemic_preparedness%27_from_stimulus/#more
>"Remember way back in the day, President Obama delivered his Not Really The State Of The Union address, and the GOP trotted out Future Of The Republican Party Supra-Genius Bobbly Jindal to provide a rebuttal? Well, we all had some laughs, didn't we? Mainly because Jindal was all: "They want to spend stimulus money on volcano monitoring? Why everyone knows that the Hill Witch keeps tabs on our volcanoes by floating chicken bones in her own intestinal ichor!" And then Alaska's Mount Redoubt erupted, suggesting there might be something to this "let's monitor volcanoes with government-funded science" idea.
Well, as it turns out, volcano monitoring wasn't the only worthwhile public safety program that was deemed extravagant in the stimulus package, funding for pandemic preparation was axed as well. And playing a critical role was Susan Collins -- for whom the necessity of obtaining her vote is in inverse proportion to the intelligence she shows in policy making:
Secessionist Texas Governor Asks for Federal Help to Deal with Swine Flu
Swine Influenza (Flu)
http://www.cdc.gov/swineflu/
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