Swine Flu

[Andrew]

WHO increased swine flu to phase 5. One more phase and we are officially at pandemic.

But only one person has died outside of Mexico... So even if no one dies from it (other than Mexicans apparently), but everyone is infected (like common cold say), is it still a pandemic? Is the normal flu that killed 30,000 last year in US alone a pandemic?

During Obamas press coverage tonight, a reporter asked Obama if he is going to shut down border with mexico. Good reporting there. Tami flu producer stock price has gone up almost 20% since the panic started.

Infection map - takes a while to load.

[Edric O]

WHO increased swine flu to phase 5. One more phase and we are officially at pandemic.

Well, the requirement for phase 5 is for the disease to be spreading from person to person in more than one country.

And a Spanish woman who traveled to Mexico gave swine flu to her boyfriend in Spain. He had not been to Mexico, so there you have it: swine flu spreading from person to person in a second country. Apparently, that one case was enough for WHO to declare phase 5.

[chatfsh]

If only

[Andrew]

Still spreading. In Canada an infected person passed it on to a pig farm in Alberta, so now the pigs are infected.

I saw on news that x number of States have confirmed cases. And they say that schools have been closed in x+2 states. So states with no confirmed cases are cancelling school!?

Egypt is slaughtering all pigs, even though no confirmed cases in that country and eating infected pork is safe.

But Mexico is now saying that infection rate (new cases) is going down, so that is good news.

Yes, this is media frenzy increasing profit. In a month I doubt anyone will remember swine flu, because Britney Spears will have died or something stupid that is profitable for media corporations.

[Edric O]

While waiting for your inevitable demise from swine flu, why not play Pandemic II and see if you can design an even more deadly disease? ;D

[Dante]

Yes... play...

*hides the petri dishes*

[gunner154]

Still spreading. In Canada an infected person passed it on to a pig farm in Alberta, so now the pigs are infected.

So can we call it the Canadian Flu now? ;D

[bob_fox]

I believe three Swedes are suspected of having contracted the virus on an aeroplane. Will try to find out more for the sake of those who live in Scandinavia.

[bob_fox]

I haven't found out much more. The situation in Sweden doesn't seem to be too serious yet. I did come across the following article at Stockholm News from a week ago:

Still no swine influenza in Sweden

National News | 2009-04-29 There are still no confirmed Swedish cases of the swine influenza. The thirteen persons who were tested yesterday were all negative. The National Board of Health and Welfare are just finishing an action plan for the case of a pandemic.

In March last year the Swedish National Audit Office criticized the previous plan for being insufficient. The government then initiated an ambition to improve it. Inger Andersson Von Rosen, specialist doctor on contagious diseases, says to Dagens Nyheter that it varies how far the local authorities have come in different counties but that overall Sweden is now well prepared.

The Swedish Institute for infectious Disease Control did last night advice against travelling to Mexico unless absolutely necessary. The Ministry for foreign Affair (UD) writes on its homepage that the recommendation has the same impact as if UD itself would issue it; therefore they do not issue any travelling warnings for Mexico themselves.

It means for example that a person who has a flight ticket to Mexico can rebook it, or cancel it, without any charges. If people travel to Mexico anyway it might mean that the travelling insurance is not valid, but that should be checked in advance for each case.

The main reason for the advice is the uncertainty about the reserve capacity of the Mexican hospitals, especially if more people there turn ill.

Tommie Ullman

tommie.ullman@stockholmnews.com

[Andrew]

OMFG, the person who transmitted swine flu to the pigs in Alberta was a Mexican immigrant worker (surprise!).

All last week there was talk about whether to allow Mexican workers into Canada. Authorities said they would be allowed, although they would be checked more (to try and find swine flu in them). It looks like the measures failed. So now seasonal Mexican workers are going to their jobs, and bringing flu with them. So infected Mexicans are bringing flu to US and Canada. I'm guessing they are now afraid to get tested, so the numbers will be under reported.

Hilarious. Canadian pig farmer want to save money and bring in Mexican labour (also no one is willing to do those jobs even with good wages), and then a single worker shuts down entire industry. Pork prices have now plummeted. Guess those pig farmers didn't weigh the risk of bringing infected Mexican to their farm and infecting entire stock. I'm guessing the pigs will be destroyed (you don't want flu infected pigs around, as it would transmit to the workers).

China now banned pork imports from Alberta, and have quarantined Canadian students in China.

[Dante]

That's hilarious.

I'll be worried when there's proof of virulent human-human infection. Until then, I have better things to worry about.

Like my thesis. Oh sweet mercy why am I writing this?!

[Tatar Khan]

Hilarious. Canadian pig farmer want to save money and bring in Mexican labour (also no one is willing to do those jobs even with good wages), and then a single worker shuts down entire industry. Pork prices have now plummeted. Guess those pig farmers didn't weigh the risk of bringing infected Mexican to their farm and infecting entire stock. I'm guessing the pigs will be destroyed (you don't want flu infected pigs around, as it would transmit to the workers).

With profit comes risk the higher the risk the higher the possibility of profit and of loss

[Mahdi]

OMFG, the person who transmitted swine flu to the pigs in Alberta was a Mexican immigrant worker (surprise!).

All last week there was talk about whether to allow Mexican workers into Canada. Authorities said they would be allowed, although they would be checked more (to try and find swine flu in them). It looks like the measures failed. So now seasonal Mexican workers are going to their jobs, and bringing flu with them. So infected Mexicans are bringing flu to US and Canada. I'm guessing they are now afraid to get tested, so the numbers will be under reported.

Hilarious. Canadian pig farmer want to save money and bring in Mexican labour (also no one is willing to do those jobs even with good wages), and then a single worker shuts down entire industry. Pork prices have now plummeted. Guess those pig farmers didn't weigh the risk of bringing infected Mexican to their farm and infecting entire stock. I'm guessing the pigs will be destroyed (you don't want flu infected pigs around, as it would transmit to the workers).

China now banned pork imports from Alberta, and have quarantined Canadian students in China.

1) The government is not destroying any pigs in Canada (anymore).  We already culled 7% of all breeding swine in the nation last year and are starting up a new program to pay people who liquidated their herds in 2007.

2) The herd may not even be infected with the swine flu.  Tests are still ongoing.

3) Pork prices plummetted two years ago.  There had been a bit of a researgance of late, but it wasn't much, and it had been fluctuating.  That is why the CBSP has been re-opened and back dated to cover animals culled August 2007 - Nov. 30th 2008.

4) The worker was not a seasonal, new Mexican immigrant worker.  Nor did he sneak in, hide his symptoms, or avoid being tested for fear of a positive result.  He had already been working on the farm, went on vacation in Mexico, and returned mid-April, before the whole swine flu scare started. Once he started showing flu symptoms he stopped working in the barn, and once the pigs started showing symptoms the herd vet was notified who in turn contacted the government.  Again, all of this was BEFORE the swine flu hit the news.

5) Raising pigs is not a job "no one is willing to do... even with good wages".  There are a hell of a lot of people out there who would love to be raising swine but, due to economic reasons can't afford to do it anymore (no one is getting good wages off of a 200 pound pig sold for $8).

6) Major producers of pork have higher biosecurity than your local hospitals.  It's incredible what you have to go through just to enter one of these farms.

7) You can't get swine flu from eating pork, even if the pig had been infected by it.  As with any other meat COOK IT and you are fine.  I'd be much more worried about e. coli or salminella than swine flu.

[Andrew]

1. Yep I know that. But I'm pretty sure if a farm was infected with swine flu I would think they would exterminate the animals. Unless it is normal for pigs to have this type of flu (but it can be transferred to humans, so I don't see how workers would be able to work there).

2. true.

3. Yep pork prices have been crap for years, and it put many people out of business (I know my close relative got out of pork many years ago).

4. well he visited Mexico and then came here, so decent chances it is the flu.

5. I meant it is one of those jobs that your average north american does not want to do, even if it pays above minimum wage. PEI imports workers from Russia to work in fish plants here, and pay ~$1 above minimum wage. It is seasonal, yet there are still lots of people bitching about getting paid min wage, even though there are plenty of jobs above min wage. They either don't have qualifications, or don't want to do much physical work (would prefer some cozy gov job, and complain about people making more than them). Reading in local newspaper online comments section is is always a laugh when any wage story comes up (none of them even know their own worker rights).

6. Yes, paperwork on Farms is ridiculous now. We just got audited (can take 6 hours to review farm operations). For example, to set mouse/rat traps, you can not use cheese (as it can contain salmonella), and you can't use peanut butter (allergies). You have to use chocolate syrup. This is in case a rat somehow gets ahold of it, and then bites into your product which would be contaminated. The time of small operation Farms is almost completely gone, or will be shortly with all these regulations (the final blow, after the big farms, high expenses, and low prices put most farmers out of business over past 20 years). Only ones left will be major farms.

Heh, I'm updating my $500 (+$180 each year support required) field manager software now. If not used you go out of business, because the two product buyers (duopoly) require it. Oh and you need $500 iPaq handheld as well. Then you need specific accounting software $400 and accountant. And they also tried getting everyone to use another software that cost $2000 (+300 per year support), but I think that fell through.

Farming is a disaster unless you are a major player. If not, you don't get to determine your costs, and you don't get to determine your revenue. Everyone else that leeches off farmers have it well made. People who fix/sell equipment have a business and charge exactly what is needed to be profitable. The international corps that sell fertilizer/pesticides etc ($500 for 7 litres just for one pesticide) charge whatever they want to meet required profit. The international corps that buy your product determine the prices to buy from farmers and prices to sell to grocery stores so they know exactly what profits should be.

Around here farmers are dividing their land and selling it for residential. Land that has been in families for a century, gobbled up because the banks are after them, farmers made more money 30 years ago than today.

Sorry I just had to rant about how small farms make no money (not directed at anyone here), and they now expect 50 year olds to get a degree just to do paperwork (who only have grade 12 from 30 years ago). Big farms are profitable, and I'd like to see more small farms joining together to have more leverage. Seen that happen with one group of farms already (joined together as single corporation).

Swine flu has been confirmed in my province today.

[bob_fox]

All I have to say is, You swine flu!

[Andrew]

At university graduation, handshakes have been cancelled. Normally when getting degree, you shake hands with Dean, Chancellor, and President. After 40 years, it is no more. Everyone entering the building will receive hand sanitizer wipes. At reception there will be no finger foods.

Every door on campus has swine flu warnings/info. Government has public broadcasts on the radio with info.

The problem I see with this flu, is that it is yet another thing to catch and get sick from. If it became as common as the other flu, would it mean a bigger chance of getting flu, since there is yet another flu spreading around?

So I wouldn't think we should panic because it will kill us all, but it should be contained and eliminated before it spreads, so that the general population does not have yet another type of flu to catch.

EDIT:

Another confirmed case in my province.

[chatfsh]

The swine flu has killed a Canadian woman who reportedly had not visited Mexico.  Do any of you Canadians know any more details around this case?

[Andrew]

The flu is going around in my area a lot. No idea if swine flu or regular flu. No way to tell because the only people being tested are the ones that took vacation to Mexico, and I doubt anyone has taken a trip there in the past 2 weeks, so I doubt anyone is being tested, even if the general population is infected with flu (swine or regular).

I'm sure the number of people infected is much higher than reported, because no one gets tested unless they were to Mexico recently. So I'd venture to say that it has been transferred to people outside of Mexico visitors. Either that or the regular flu has made a big comeback for this time of year.

I wouldn't be surprised if I got the flu this week as so many people I know have it.

[Andrew]

Swine Flu May Be Human Error; WHO Investigates Claim

On a related note from earlier in the year:

Baxter: Product contained live bird flu virus

[Andrew]

The swine flu is now an official pandemic

omg we are all going to die.

[SAND]

The swine flu is now an official pandemic

omg we are all going to die.

Oh comon dont be ridiculous! Nothing is gonna happen to us...just take precutionry measurres nd ull be alright...

[Sneakgab]

Just to alert you to the fact that that was sarcasm in hopes of saving you from a more severe tounge-lashing and in so doing save the board from the minor spat that may result.

[Sneakgab]

''Swine Flu May Be Human Error; WHO Investigates Claim''

If by ''human error'' you mean loading your cattle with antibiotics (thus weakening their immune system in various ways [by the way, antibiotics do not affect viral infections such as flus of course]) and herding them into tiny spaces (thus increasing density and the distance between hosts) as well as generally reducing the healthiness of the cattle through various means (like hormone injections) that through different levels of directness that reduce their ability to defend themselves against infection and creates (edit.well, not creates exactly, more facilitates the spread of. You know what I mean. edit.) strands of virus that are resistant to the antibiotics normally used to treat them (since mammalian viruses are presumably treated with similar antibiotics even for different species [ie: humans and whatever cattle species]), then yes, swine flu may have been caused by human error.

[gryphon]

''Swine Flu May Be Human Error; WHO Investigates Claim''

Didn't they mean it's possible to be an escaped lab-viri that has been man made...

[nampigai]

how many has been infected on world wide scale? around 20000 people. And I've heard about 197 has died from it. I think that the last flu epidemic in denmark killed around 1000 people.