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A 23-month-old child in Texas is the first U.S. death from swine flu, Reuters reported, citing a government official.

 

...

 

New York accounts for 45 of the 65 confirmed U.S. cases in six states. New Zealand today confirmed 14 people have swine flu in Auckland city, the first cases in the Asia-Pacific region.

 

Mexico, where the virus toll is highest, said 159 people may have died from the malady, with seven of those verified by laboratory tests. Seven countries have confirmed swine flu, including the U.K., Canada, Israel, New Zealand and Spain, laying the seeds for a possible global pandemic, according to the World Health Organization. Officials in Bavaria said Germany found two cases.

 

?The zillion-dollar question is how long will this transmission activity last and what will be the evolving picture of disease severity,? said Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease and Policy at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. ?If transmission continues and severe illness is documented, WHO will have to raise its pandemic alert level further.?

IT'S A PANDEMIC!!!!!!!!!

 

From Wikipedia:

 

In humans, the symptoms of swine flu are similar to those of influenza and of influenza-like illness in general, namely chills, fever, sore throat, muscle pains, severe headache, coughing, weakness and general discomfort. The strain responsible for the 2009 swine flu outbreak in most cases causes only mild symptoms and the infected person makes a full recovery without requiring medical attention and without the use of antiviral medicines.

The outbreak of swine flu should be renamed "Mexican" influenza in deference to Muslim and Jewish sensitivities over pork, an Israeli health official has said.

 

Deputy Health Minister Yakov Litzman said the reference to pigs is offensive to both religions and "we should call this Mexican flu and not swine flu," he told a news conference at a hospital in central Israel.

The outbreak of swine flu should be renamed "Mexican" influenza in deference to Muslim and Jewish sensitivities over pork, an Israeli health official has said.

 

Deputy Health Minister Yakov Litzman said the reference to pigs is offensive to both religions and "we should call this Mexican flu and not swine flu," he told a news conference at a hospital in central Israel.

They're not the only ones.

 

WASHINGTON, April 28 (Reuters) - What's in a name? U.S. pork producers are finding that the name of the virus spreading from Mexico is affecting their business, prompting U.S. officials to argue for changing the name from swine flu.

 

At a news briefing, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack took pains to repeatedly refer to the flu as the "H1N1 virus."

 

"This is not a food-borne illness, virus. It is not correct to refer to it as swine flu because really that's not what this is about," Vilsack said.

 

Israel has already rejected the name swine flu, and opted to call it "Mexico flu." Jewish dietary laws forbid eating pork.

 

The Paris-based World Organization for Animal Health also objected to the name, saying the virus contains avian and human components and no pig so far has been found ill with the disease.

 

And there is growing sentiment in the farm sector to call it the North American virus -- although disease expert Anthony Fauci told a Senate hearing the "swine flu" designation reflected scientific naming protocol.

 

For U.S. pork producers the swine flu name has hurt, forcing government officials into the position of stressing that American pork is safe to eat and that other countries should not ban imports.

 

Pork, soybean and corn prices have fallen in the last two days, "and if this continues, obviously you have significant potential, which is why it's important to get this right," Vilsack said.

 

At the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there was also talk of stripping the "swine" from swine flu, which CDC acting director Richard Besser said was leading to the misapprehension that people can catch the disease from pork.

 

"That's not helpful to pork producers. That's not helpful to people who eat pork. It's not helpful to people who are wondering, how can they get this infection," Besser told a briefing.

Yeah, but at least pork producers aren't saying "We don't like the name, it's bad for our business. They should call it chicken flu."

hmmm... all deaths up until now have been in mexico.. the little girl who died was mexican... anyone see a pattern here?

 

(no offense to mexicans who read this..)

2.5% of infant deaths in the US are from the flu. Why would "swine" flu be any exeption.

Im worried because myself, my sister, and her daughter who is 7 months old are going to El Paso to visit my father for a week. other then that i wouldnt care.

Top Ways to Prevent the Spread of Swine Flu

 

1. Don't confine animals to small areas. Aside from the obvious cruelty, it's unhygienic. Do you really want to eat meat that's been soaking in feces?

2. Don't send your teenagers to Spring Break in Cancun. This is good advice even in the absence of an outbreak.

3. Wash your hands.

4. Don't share drinks.

7News has learned that a worker at Miami International Airport is being tested for Swine Flu virus.

 

 

CNN reports The World Health Organization raises the swine flu alert to level five indicating it fears a pandemic is imminent.

I heard that there is now a confirmed case in Maryland... I live an hour away, I'm thinking about getting tested as I got the flu on Monday.

I heard that there is now a confirmed case in Maryland... I live an hour away, I'm thinking about getting tested as I got the flu on Monday.

Dodge, I hope all turns out well and you get well quick. Flus stink.

Penguin is right when he says he doesn't think but I surely would be extraordinarly concerned(but not panicked) if I or a family member had the flu right now. I'd encourage you to see a doc, get tested, and take it from there. A little chicken soup couldn't hurt either.

Let's hope everybody stays well whatever our relatively minor differences are. Health is the main thing.

I heard that there is now a confirmed case in Maryland... I live an hour away, I'm thinking about getting tested as I got the flu on Monday.

Yeah, I've caught a flu as well.

 

 

Just looks like regular flu though, so I'm trying to rest and keep hydrated. I'm not having any of the nausea or diarrhea that is a symptom of the swine flu so I'm not worried.

If you are a healthy adult, you should recover even if it is swine flu. The last outbreak killed about 6 hundreths of a percent of the Americans that contracted it, which oddly enough produced about the same number of deaths as the typical yearly flu outbreak.

 

If you have any young children (less that 3 years old) or elderly in your household you should have the doctor check you out to make sure you don't have the big nasty and you need to stay away from those folks.

This is totally ridiculous, more people die from the common cold than this stupid flu.

we have idiots running our government....Our VP is more dangerous than the swine flu

 

 

Biden would avoid subways, planes after swine flu outbreak........

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0409/21925.html

 

Biden should be quarantined and confined to speak only with the help of a teleprompter

If you are a healthy adult, you should recover even if it is swine flu. The last outbreak killed about 6 hundreths of a percent of the Americans that contracted it, which oddly enough produced about the same number of deaths as the typical yearly flu outbreak.

Actually the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic killed 3% of the Americans that contracted it, or 0.7% of the total population at the time.

 

That compared to the 25% death rate worldwide, for a total of 5% of the entire world's population.

 

Still, it is an interesting fact. Even in the early 20th century, far fewer Americans by proportion died of the Spanish flu than the rest of the world. In the SARS outbreak, the American death toll: 0.

 

No American has died of swine flu. The one "American fatality" that has been reported thus far was actually a Mexican girl who came down with it in Mexico and was brought into the States for treatment.

The problem is the overwhelming majority of citizens want to hear the White House is doing something about it.

 

 

 

I'm not feeling any better but I'm not feeling any worse. I don't think that I'll be getting checked up.. I'm sure the hospital is jammed up enough with hypochondriacs.

we have idiots running our government....Our VP is more dangerous than the swine flu

 

 

Biden would avoid subways, planes after swine flu outbreak........

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0409/21925.html

 

Biden should be quarantined and confined to speak only with the help of a teleprompter

good grief... :banghead :banghead :banghead

I am waiting for someone to write a humorous, satirical piece about this flu scare and Obama's 100 day power grab:

 

Pandemic! Parasitic government is infecting all sectors! Must quarantine now!

 

Maybe I should do it.

and this thread just reached the toilet bowl...

Are you that hard on yourself when you walk into rooms too?

well this thread went to a prevelant discussion on a medical situation facing the globe to how obama is the devil...id say that was a big of a digression dont ya think?

I have no problem with the Obama administration on this subject, but the media is out of control on it.

How much is known about this strain though? I have to admit I haven't researched it much. If it incubates for a long time, then it could be spread much farther than we think it is as of this moment. Who knows? No reason not to take precautions, in my book. If it's as contagious as it seems then it doesn't take much carelessness for it to spread exponentially very quickly. I think it's a "better safe than sorry" type of thing.

Of course not.

 

The whole point of mentioning the current administration is that they are severely exaggerating a threat that should not be a global emergency. To mention the underlying politics is not only permissible but absolutely necessary.

 

So you've posted three times in this thread. What insight have you offered to the discussion with your slew of brainless one-liners?

 

You are the digression, friend.

i think everyone is blowing this way out of proportion...had any other administration been in power, they would be doing and saying the same things...which is why it doesnt bother me that the current admin is doing what it is doing...

 

and really penguino...can you go one post without making fun of anyone? i dont think you can...and since you are saying im the digression...then ill oblige you here...see....back in another thread when you thought i was getting personal...i wasnt asking what you did for work or how your boss thinks you have future nobel prizes in your future or anything of that nature...

 

i was pointing out your mentality and how you treat other board members...you have to make fun of someone in every post because that in and of itself is your argument...you are the type of person that has to be devil's advocate...that has to believe that if its different, then it must be good...

 

well i have a bit of historical information which ill let you in on...politicians are politicians and they seak to get themselves re-elected and not much more than that...your messiah, "dr" paul is a politician and would turn on your ideals in under a second if it thought it would get him re-elected...

 

so really...you can live and breath with his rhetoric all you want...but use your thoughts within his argument to form your own and then maybe you wont have to rely on cheap shots to make your points

Let's keep in mind that we're all of 6 days into this viral outbreak. Six days since the WHO started issuing updates. Six days since the CDC began looking for this virus. Also, as with most situations, there's undoubtedly info that we're not aware of. So far, I wholeheartedly agree with how President Obama is dealing with this issue. Apart from fringe libertarians, the rest of the citizenry wants to hear how the goverment is dealing with the issue, and they want as much info as possible.

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Last night I saw a President who was not fear mongering. He calmly urged the citizens to wash their hands, stay home if they have flu symptoms, and reassured the citizens that their goverment is prepared to do what's needed. What's needed in the future may very well be nothing....or it may be quite a bit. For now, I have no problem with having the taxpayer take out a possible 1.5 billion dollar insurance policy, if it turns out in the coming weeks that preparing mass vaccines is medically appropriate.

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2 minor points.

1. Biden's gaffe was clearly a foot in mouth moment.

2. Urging schools to close if their were confirmed cases. I have no problem with this. It's not a law, it's a recommendation. One that's ultimately decided on a local level. We don't see mass closings, apart from the decision by the Tarrant County School Board, where there haven't even been any confirmed cases. Right or wrong, it's a local decision.