Thread: Swine Influenza Outbreak - Please Follow Developments Closely!

As many of you are aware, there is a public health emergency in Mexico concerning infection by swine influenza virus. The infection has now spread to the U.S. and possibly New Zealand.

Students quarantined as flu emergency goes global - CNN.com

BBC NEWS | Americas | Suspected Mexico flu toll hits 81


The WHO is concerned that this new strain has the potential to turn into a pandemic. Indeed situation is changing so rapidly by the hour. This is potentially very serious and I urge everybody to follow developments in the news very closely, with particular regard to the situation in your own country.

As a few of you know, I was a medical virologist in Hong Kong before I took up IM full-time. I worked in the laboratory that detected the first ever human avian influenza in 1997 and also played a central role in the SARS crisis in 2003. Dr. Margaret Chan, the current Director General of the WHO was my overall boss.

Conventional scientific wisdom is that a pandemic cannot occur unless there is a new haemagglutinin (H) influenza A strain. In this moment, we do have human H1N1 strains in circulation.. The swine H1N1 strain seems to be very different from the currently circulating H1N1 strains and therefore all bets are off at this stage. It is uncertain whether current influenza protects against this virus, but some anti-viral drugs appear to be effective.

Here are some useful websites you can look at

CDC - Influenza (Flu) | Swine Influenza (Flu)

WHO | Swine influenza

Centre for Health Protection


The following precautions are recommended for preventive purposes.

- Keep hands clean and wash hands properly. Alcohol-based handrub is also effective when hands are not visibly soiled.
- Avoid touching eyes, nose or mouth. Germs spread that way
- Wash hands with liquid soap promptly if they are contaminated by respiratory tract secretions, e.g. after sneezing or coughing.
- Cover nose and mouth when sneezing or coughing.
- No spitting. Always wrap nasal and mouth discharges with tissue paper, and dispose of the tissue paper properly in a lidded rubbish bin.
- Wear mask when symptoms of respiratory tract infection or fever develop. Seek medical advice promptly.
- Refrain from work or school if develop symptoms of influenza

As this is very early days, much more data is needed before we have a firm idea of the size of the risk. From what I have gleamed so far, it appears to be much more serious than the SARS crisis of 2003. Needless to say, the economic impact could be enormous. I will try and see whether I could get some hard scientific data from my past colleagues and will keep you up to date on the current situation. Again, I urge everybody to follow the news on this closely and take care.

That is why I stay way from pork.

Originally Posted by MakeMoneyOnline

That is why I stay way from pork.

The experts are saying that you will not get swine flu by eating pork. You can only get this if you have a direct contact to an infected person or live swine.

I don't eat pork or sleep with pork.

Vincent: Want some bacon?
Jules: No man, I don't eat pork.
Vincent: Are you Jewish?
Jules: Nah, I ain't Jewish, I just don't dig on swine, that's all.
Vincent: Why not?
Jules: Pigs are filthy animals. I don't eat filthy animals.
Vincent: Bacon tastes gooood. Pork chops taste gooood.
Jules: Hey, sewer rat may taste like pumpkin pie, but I'd never know 'cause I wouldn't eat the filthy motherfucker. Pigs sleep and root in shit. That's a filthy animal. I ain't eat nothin' that ain't got enough sense enough to disregard its own feces.
Vincent: How about a dog? Dogs eats its own feces.
Jules: I don't eat dog either.
Vincent: Yeah, but do you consider a dog to be a filthy animal?
Jules: I wouldn't go so far as to call a dog filthy but they're definitely dirty. But, a dog's got personality. Personality goes a long way.
Vincent: Ah, so by that rationale, if a pig had a better personality, he would cease to be a filthy animal. Is that true?
Jules: Well we'd have to be talkin' about one charming motherfuckin' pig. I mean he'd have to be ten times more charmin' than that Arnold on Green Acres, you know what I'm sayin'?

I don't eat pork or sleep with pork.

Originally Posted by stickynote

The experts are saying that you will not get swine flu by eating pork. You can only get this if you have a direct contact to an infected person or live swine.

CDC

Can people catch swine flu from eating pork?
No. Swine influenza viruses are not transmitted by food. You can not get swine influenza from eating pork or pork products. Eating properly handled and cooked pork and pork products is safe.Cooking pork to an internal temperature of 160°F kills the swine flu virus as it does other bacteria and viruses.

Eating properly handled and cooked pork and pork products is safe.

Then the CDC states

Cooking pork to an internal temperature of 160°F kills the swine flu virus as it does other bacteria and viruses.

Sounds like you can get the virus from eating under cooked pork.

I don't eat raw pork or sleep with raw pork.

What comes after this? Cow flu?

They have changed the name from swine flu to the "flue formally known as the swine flu" .

Now they are saying it has nothing todo with the artery clogging high cholesterol meat known has pig,hog, or swine.

Originally Posted by MakeMoneyOnline

I don't eat pork or sleep with pork.

Really? I tell you, you're missing out on a real treat.
It tastes pretty good too.

Here you go Zap.

I am not sure about what you guys thought, but I thought the swine flu was really just ridiculous, like it had potential, but a lot of people were really freaking out and look what happened about it all.

The mexican-swine flu is spreading to Costa Rica. There's been some deaths reported in Washington State and Costa Rica.

The threat is that the flu will mutate into a more deadly strain as occured in the 1918 Flu Pandemic where 50 million people died.