One World Coughing: Deadly Flu Strain
Deadly flu strain threatens Mexico and U.S.
By Catherine Bremer
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexican and U.S. health officials searched on Saturday for signs an outbreak of a new flu strain is spreading further, after it killed up to 68 people in Mexico and infected eight in the United States.
As Mexico shut schools and museums and axed public events, global health officials stopped short of declaring a pandemic.
But they warned more cases could come to light, making up a major outbreak, as the flu spreads between people and infected some individuals who had no contact with one another.
The World Health Organization said the virus from 12 of the Mexican patients was the same genetically as a new strain of swine flu, designated H1N1, seen in eight people in California and Texas who later recovered.
The Mexican government said the flu had killed 20 people and it may also be responsible for 48 other deaths. In all, 1,004 suspected cases have been reported nationwide.
Health Minister Jose Angel Cordova, speaking on the evening television news, encouraged people to avoid crowds and wear face masks, noting there was no guarantee that going to get a flu vaccine would help against the new strain.
He said the death rate appeared to have steadied and hospitals in the past few days had not seen the exponential rise in the number of people infected that many had feared.
Genetic analysis shows the flu strain is a never-before-seen mixture of swine, human and avian viruses.
The fact most of the dead were aged between 25 and 45 was seen as a worrying sign linked to pandemics, as seasonal flu tends to be more deadly among the elderly and the very young.
“We realize the seriousness of this problem,” Mexican President Felipe Calderon told health officials on Friday.
MORE CASES COULD EMERGE
In California, Dr. Gil Chavez, director of the Center for Infectious Diseases at the California Department of Public Health and the state’s chief epidemiologist, said many more cases could come to light as patients are tested. “The more we look the more we are likely to find,” he said.
In New York City, health officials were investigating what had sickened scores of students who fell ill with flu-like symptoms in a Queens high school on Thursday and Friday. The symptoms were reported as mild and a city health official said he could not speculate about which flu strain was responsible.
The U.S. government said it was taking the situation seriously and monitoring for any new developments.
As far away as Hong Kong — the epicenter of the 2003 SARS epidemic and especially vigilant to any threat of infectious disease — the government’s Center for Health Protection said it was closely monitoring investigations in the United States and would analyze flu samples in the territory.
Cordova said Mexico had 1 million doses of antiviral medicine, easily enough to treat the cases reported so far.
In Mexico City, a crowded metropolis of 20 million people, soldiers handed out surgical masks and the government warned people to avoid close physical contact and sharing food.
Finnish rock band The Rasmus canceled a Mexico City concert and the Mexican Football Federation said two weekend soccer matches would be played with no spectators present as a precaution.
DVD rental stores said customers poured in to rent movies on Friday night so they could huddle inside for the weekend.
The last flu pandemic was in 1968 when “Hong Kong” flu killed about a million people globally.
(Editing by Mohammad Zargham)
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Hey….wasn’t hussein just down there recently? Hmmmmm!!!!
Is he sneezing?
“Genetic analysis shows the flu strain is a never-before-seen mixture of swine, human and avian viruses.”
A local kid’s parent just called to cancel a birthday invitation to my daughters Disneyland B-day. He has the Flu.
What part of the country are you in? You don’t have to give your state, just the general area. This stuff scares the bejesus out of me.
I’m sorry, I just re-read what you posted. I always mix up the Disneys (land and world). I hope your daughters get a re-do when he gets better. That sounds like a cool party.
So Cal.
I heard about this on Savage last night. He made a bold statement that might get him in trouble with “The Man”. He said (the truth) that the illegals are the cause of it spreading the the USA. Mediamatters will be on him like a fly on youknowwhat.
Maybe they will seal the border, now…
I have my fingers crossed that your wrong. It’s a strange virus. Is it normal for 3 virus’ to join up like this? Especially a Euro-Asian avian virus crossing with American swine and human virus’. I hope it’s not genetically engineered. But like you said, 1-2 weeks and we’ll know. Hopefully it’s just a glitch in nature that will work itself out, or the scientists’ can figure it out. But we can’t do anything until more is known. God, please keep an extra eye on us.
Emailing a doctor friend of mine…
The first case was seen in Mexico on April 13. The outbreak coincided with the President Barack Obama’s trip to Mexico City on April 16. Obama was received at Mexico’s anthropology museum in Mexico City by Felipe Solis, a distinguished archeologist who died the following day from symptoms similar to flu, Reforma newspaper reported. The newspaper didn’t confirm if Solis had swine flu or not…
What was that bit I read about a village in Pakistan or Afghanistan coming up dead and the whispers was the it was a bio strain that got away?(I think that was plague.)
The dot connecting with Napolatono, Clinton then Barry Sotoro coming into the zone where an out break occurs tells me that somebody leaked their schedule and somebody wanted to capitalize on it.
What seems to be saving us is that we are a highly immunized public.
I have a hard time believing the piglets would attack us with a strain of swine flu. that means somebody else.
Let me put my tinfoil hat back on…..
Ive been thinking the same thing. The timing of this flu is to interesting and the location giving the violence outbreak on the boarder. This is BS and maybe the “generated crisis” Biden was talking about. Population control
Fema camps are said to be for a bio outbreak to quarentine people who are “infected”
I am stocking up more food and staying home for a while.
I pray nothing as sinister as I suspect comes from this.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aEsNownABJ6Q&refer=worldwide
Yeah. well you better be concerned. I was 14 in 1976 which the last time this shit came down the pike…shit fucked up the entire family bad for about a week. I mean BAD. Not enough energy to barely keep a fire going (we had wood heat at the time). Ran out of what little food could be tolerated. I remember the conversation where my folks we’re concerened if she was going to make it. Hospitals full…..
This shit starts spreading and Im going into quarantine mode….they have been saying we were past due for this kinda shit.
Mexicans have been emailing the BBC. They’re saying that his is worse than what is being reported:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/talking_point/8018428.stm
Swine flu panic is spreading in Mexico and soldiers are patrolling the streets after it was confirmed that human to human transmission is occurring and that the virus is a brand new strain which is seemingly affecting young, healthy people the worst, and that the bug is a never-before-seen intercontinental mixture of human, avian and pig viruses from America, Europe and Asia.
Clues that the virus may be a synthetic creation are already manifesting.
Link:
http://www.infowars.com/swine-flu-is-deadly-mix-of-never-before-seen-viruses/
How can young, healthy people get hit the worst when it’s usually the very young and very old that always get it the worse with these bugs?
Could this be the excuse they need to implement martial law on us?
A lot of questions we need to get answered on this one.
holy shit I went to watch this and got caught up in THE OBAMA DECEPTION video.
that’s some scary shit.
Scoot, the ‘Spanish Flu Pandemic’ of 1918 killed mostly healthy late teens to 30 somethings and killed a lot of them. The cause of death then and quite possibly now is that too many ‘attack’ cells are released by a persons own defense mechanisms- something stronger/healthier bodies are more capable of producing, and the lungs become clogged.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cytokine_storm
This is an interesting article also:
“The first case was seen in Mexico on April 13. The outbreak coincided with the President Barack Obama’s trip to Mexico City on April 16. Obama was received at Mexico’s anthropology museum in Mexico City by Felipe Solis, a distinguished archeologist who died the following day from symptoms similar to flu, Reforma newspaper reported. The newspaper didn’t confirm if Solis had swine flu or not. ”
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aEsNownABJ6Q&refer=worldwide
Oops! I see Preston has already posted this.
Sorry Preston.
The libs are blaming Cheney.
A swine cannot cast out swine. More than plagues will follow O.. famine, war and plenty more misery is on the horizon ..
I just read that Obama was directly exposed to someone in Mexico that died the following day from the flu.