ApocaDocuments (6) matching "pandemic" from this week [see full week] ~ [see all stories tagged "pandemic"]
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Sat, May 2, 2009 from The Australian:
Animal bugs our biggest risk
...Nine years ago infectious diseases experts attending a US conference were presented with alarming new research that made clear the threat animal infections posed to humans.
The study found three-quarters of new diseases affecting people were crossing the species barrier from animals, in which case they are known as zoonoses....
The journal Science reported that after three months of looking through the literature, they found 1709 viruses, bacteria, fungi and other bugs that afflicted humans. Forty-nine per cent had come from animals. When they narrowed the focus to 156 diseases considered emerging, or recent, threats, 73 percent were derived from animals. ...
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Zoonoses... or zoonooses?
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Fri, May 1, 2009 from Agence France-Presse:
Pig owners outraged over Egypt's decision to slaughter all beasts
EGYPT has ordered the immediate cull of all pigs in the country as a precaution against swine flu - the first such move in the world.
"It has been ordered to immediately begin the slaughter of all herds of pigs in Egypt," Health Minister Hatem al-Gabali said yesterday after meeting President Hosni Mubarak.
He said slaughterhouses would begin the cull at the fastest rate possible, as pig owners expressed outrage.
Mr Gabali said Egypt - where 26 people died from the H5N1 virus, making it one of the countries most affected by the bird flu strain - was taking the threat of swine flu "very seriously". Precautionary measures such as an awareness campaign and boosting production of protective masks and the anti-viral drug Tamiflu would also be taken, he said. ...
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That sounds like throwing the piglet out with the manure lagoon.
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Thu, Apr 30, 2009 from London Guardian:
Swine flu pandemic alert raised to level five
The World Health Organisation last night raised its swine flu global epidemic threat level to phase five -- the second highest -- as a result of the increasing number of people being confirmed as infected with the virus across the globe.
Phase five indicates the disease is able to spread easily between humans and is a strong signal that a pandemic is imminent....The increase in threat level comes after a 23-month-old Mexican child died in Texas, becoming the first person to die from swine flu outside the country of origin; while in Spain officials confirmed the first case of the disease in a person who has not travelled to Mexico. ...
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Who let the hogs out... Who who who who!
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Wed, Apr 29, 2009 from Reuters:
Major gaps in knowledge of swine flu, say scientists
Scientists trying to gauge the severity of the threat of a swine influenza pandemic face many important knowledge gaps.... "We don't really know the mortality rate, we don't really know which age groups are affected."...
"We don't know the cause of death, I think that's really important, what are people dying of? Until we have more epidemiological information it's very difficult to make any kind of judgement [about pandemic potential]."... Even the genetic makeup of the virus is under debate. Scientists agree that it is a H1N1 virus -- named because of the types of haemagglutinin and neuraminidase proteins that it possesses. According to some analyses it is made up of an assortment of human, swine and avian influenza genetic material, while the WHO is saying it is made up of largely swine influenza genes.
"By and large when you analyse this virus it is a swine influenza virus," said Fukuda. "I appreciate the difficulty of keeping all of this straight but these are new viruses -- they're new for pigs and they're new for people." ...
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If this was CSI: Mexico City, we'd have the answers by the next ad!
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Tue, Apr 28, 2009 from London Times:
Mexico outbreak traced to 'manure lagoons' at pig farm
The first known case of swine flu emerged a fortnight earlier than previously thought in a village where residents have long complained about the smell and flies from a nearby pig farm... The Mexican Government said it initially thought that the victim, Edgar Hernandez, 4, was suffering from ordinary influenza but laboratory testing has since shown that he had contracted swine flu....It is now known that there was a widespread outbreak of a powerful respiratory disease in the La Gloria area earlier this month...about 60 per cent of La Gloria's 3,000-strong population have sought medical assistance since February. ...
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Pig shit: the petri dish of plague.
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Mon, Apr 27, 2009 from Wall Street Journal:
Science Races to Parse New Virus
Avian flu and SARS rudely awoke the world to the possibility of a new pandemic. Could a seemingly more mundane bug now put the world to the test?
The swine flu virus that may have killed more than 80 people in Mexico and appears to have sickened hundreds more is still a mystery contagion. But this much is known: The virus is unusually made up of genetic material from avian, pig and human viruses; it can transmit from person to person; and in many people, it only triggers mild symptoms seen in garden-variety influenza....The Atlanta-based CDC has said the current swine flu virus, known as A/H1N1, combines genetic sequences from North American pigs, Eurasian pigs, birds and humans. The H protein that sits on its surface has previously circulated only in pigs and is new to the human immune system -- a crucial condition for starting a pandemic flu. ...
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Boinked by the oink!
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