Seven People in U.S. hit by Strange New Swine Flu

Updated article here: 04/24/2009

Government scientists have identified five more people who have been infected with swine flu, apparently confirming suspicions that the unusual strain of the respiratory infection is spreading from person to person, federal health officials said yesterday.

www.washingtonpost.com...

CDC officials detected a virus with a unique combination of gene segments that have not been seen in people or pigs before. The bug contains human virus, avian virus from North America and pig viruses from North America, Europe and Asia.

Health officials have seen mixes of bird, pig and human virus before, but never such an intercontinental combination with more than one pig virus in the mix.

Scientists keep a close eye on flu viruses that emerge from pigs. The animals are considered particularly susceptible to both avian and human viruses and a likely place where the kind of genetic reassortment can take place that might lead to a new form of pandemic flu, said Dr. John Treanor, an infectious disease specialist.......
.........U.S. health officials are consulting with Mexican and Canadian health officials, and the CDC is beginning to receive samples from Mexico for testing, a CDC spokesman said. The ethnicity of the seven confirmed cases was not disclosed.

www.google.com...


[edit on 24-4-2009 by burntheships]

Well it sounds like the same flu that popped up in Mexico, especially since they found cases in Cali and Texas, and if it is we're screwed. Our government doesn't even attempt to keep the illegals from comin across so they damn sure aren't gonna be able to stop this from spreading over here. They're not gonna be so quick to tell us about it either. We're just gonna have to keep ourselves informed.

You know the way they're describing this flu it sounds man made. Maybe they can't figure it out because there's some other kind of bug mixed in there also.

Originally posted by Agit8dChop
7 people got sick with the flu? This isnt NEWS. 20horses died the other day from something unknown, that barely made a headline.

So I have to ask ,why is 7 people sick, but recovered making headlines in the US and in Australia?

www.news.com.au...

SEVEN people have been diagnosed with a strange and unusual new kind of swine flu in California and Texas, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported.

All seven people have recovered but the virus itself is a never-before-seen mixture of viruses typical among pigs, birds and humans, the CDC said.

This is on the front page of www.news.com.au

I cant believe its on Australian front page news.

Why are they pre-empting things like this:

"We don't think this is time for major concern around the country."

However, some experts fear this strain, or another strain, could spark a pandemic that could kill millions.

"We believe at this point that human-to-human spread is occurring," Dr Schuchat said.

"That's unusual. We don't know yet how widely it is spreading.

"We are also working with international partners to understand what is occurring in other parts of the world."

Other parts of the world?

7 people had the flu, and got better... why are we saying this is a worldy event?

something stinks..

I was just going to mention those horses dying! Hey does anybody know if these two stories are connected? Is this confirmable?

reply to post by topsecretombomb


The cases in Mexico and Texas and California seemed linked by the fact that they are working through each countries CDC...

The horse incidents seem unrelated...as far as I know.

This thread and the one about the outbreak in Mexico and what Agit8dChop said about the horses dying made me think about this,

www.washingtonpost.com.../components

Seems an army infectious disease lab lost three vials of Venezuelan Equine Encephalitis sometime within the past couple of years. This Equine Encephalitis has flu like symptoms and is passed by mosquitoes, it can be passed to swine and birds, as well as other animals and humans. What if this has something to do with this new strain of this swine flu ?

This is alittle scarey for me cause I was one of the soldiers who had this at Fort Dix,N.J. during basic training in Feb. 1976. A friend of mine,who was also in my plattoon died because they would not let him return to base during our 24 mile bivwac. We had to carry him the last few miles to the gate a the base where they finally had him taken to the hospital. Well, 5 more of us reported to sick call that morning and they said we were all just trying to get out of PT. About half way into our 2 mile run they came to get us and put us in quarentine and pumped us full of anti-bodies. I recall that they called my parents and had them come to the base because they thought we were going to die. All I remember is it was like having the flu really bad and not being able to catch my breath. This was kept pretty hush,hush for awhile. Rumor on base was that it was brought in from over seas from the guys returning from Viet-nam. Nobody was ever turn away at sick call after that. Other than Dave passing,nothing else was mention to any of us. I know a part of basic training is to try to break you mentally and physically, so I assume know one was to blame.

From the time Dave complained of being sick, till he pasted was about 24 hrs so I hope they dont take this lightly.

reply to post by SonnyJames


Whoa that actually happened to you? More than glad you survived, and thank you for serving the U.S!

reply to post by chise61


That would be an extremely interesting link...



So we have a flu that breaks out and is reported as unusual and ongoing in Mexico...and at the same time a flu that is a genetic mix!!! It is genetically different from the fully human H1N1 seasonal influenza virus that has been circulating globally for the past few years. The new flu virus contains DNA typical to avian, swine and human viruses!?

This just in from Bloomberg

An urgent probe into an unusual flu outbreak that’s infected seven people in the U.S. was widened after Mexico sought assistance to investigate more than 130 cases of severe respiratory disease that may be related.

Authorities in Mexico asked the Public Health Agency of Canada to help identify the cause of the lung illness linked to 20 deaths, including two in the state of Baja California Norte, which borders California. The Mexican cases include five health- care workers, the Ottawa-based agency said in an e-mail today.

Tests in Mexico found patients were infected with H1N1 and type-B influenza strains and the parainfluenza virus, the agency said. In the U.S., doctors discovered a new strain of H1N1 swine influenza in patients in San Diego County and Imperial County, California, and in San Antonio, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta said today.

“It will be critical to determine whether or not the strains of H1N1 isolated from patients in Mexico are also swine flu,”

www.bloomberg.com...

reply to post by topsecretombomb


The horses all belonged to the Venezuelan team. First they said they thought maybe the horses ingested some heavy metals in their feed or water. Then they said it was from a supplement biodyl that is available in France and South America, but illegal in the US, the vet i saw talking about it said it was an allergic reaction to it. Now they're saying that a pharmacy mixed up some Biodyl here for the horses and put in the wrong amount of something.

I apologize for going off topic, but since two posts discussed the death of the horses and it was the fact that they were from the Venezuelan team that made me remember about the army losing that virus, i just wanted to update what i knew about the deaths.

I concur here is a link to the final story on the horses. From what is said there is no virus or any true foul play, just a mistake.

AP News Story on Death of Horses.

So I would say as well that we can take out any linking between these viruses and the dead horses.

Mexican Health Minister Jose Angel Cordoba said schools and universities in Mexico City and the surrounding area would be temporarily closed and advised people with flu symptoms to stay home from work.

"We're dealing with a new flu virus that constitutes a respiratory epidemic that so far is controllable," Cordoba said on Thursday.

We recommend avoiding places or events with a lot of people unless strictly necessary," Cordoba said in an unusual late-night live statement to media.

If its controllable, why are we taking such never before seen steps.?

reply to post by Agit8dChop

Exactly...and did you see the update? On Bloomberg?
www.bloomberg.com...

reply to post by burntheships


It's H1N1, a new strain of influenza, and i would give this 2-4 weeks

before we really know if it's the next 1918-like pandemic. Always

wash hands after being out in public, even more so now. Avoiding

urban areas of course helps - the best way to avoid the flu is to avoid

civilization....

www.cbc.ca...

Originally posted by Agit8dChop

Mexican Health Minister Jose Angel Cordoba said schools and universities in Mexico City and the surrounding area would be temporarily closed and advised people with flu symptoms to stay home from work.

"We're dealing with a new flu virus that constitutes a respiratory epidemic that so far is controllable," Cordoba said on Thursday.

We recommend avoiding places or events with a lot of people unless strictly necessary," Cordoba said in an unusual late-night live statement to media.

If its controllable, why are we taking such never before seen steps.?

This just in from Breitbart.com

"The government of Mexico City said Friday it was launching a massive vaccination campaign against swine flu, after authorities said they were probing 45 deaths and 943 possible infections from the virus. "

Mexico is wisely closing schools and universities, today (Friday) and the closure may get extended.

Depopulation effort? In the midst of a manufactured global financial crisis, I think very possibly.

Quite honestly, as a physician, I'm saying that this is definitely cause for concern. Eat healthy, drink pure water, get exercise, take your vitamins, wash your hands and stay away from people who cough or sneeze.

reply to post by drphilxr


I think the CDC is moving quick on this...according to all I have read, I just think it is kind of strange...and yes wash wash wash. Warm (almost hot) water and lots of soap.!

reply to post by Another Vodka


Doctor tell us what you know about flu mutations...I think this is wierd as CDC is reporting that this is a never seen before mutation...between swine, bird and human. Is that just from the way they make to fle shots, brewing them in monkeys and all? Or...is it done in a test tube somewhere that we do not know about???


Mexico's Health Minister reports that the flu outbreak in Mexico is the swine flu virus.

Mexico has shut schools in the capital and center hearland in flu scare, telling people to stay home from work on Friday, April 24, 2009. Over 60 have died, and more than 800 are sickened at the time of this update.

An outbreak of "influenza-like" cases in Mexico was caused by swine flu, Mexico's Health Minister Angel Cordova said Friday.

"It is a virus that mutated from pigs and then at some point was transmitted to humans," he told the Televisa network, according to Reuters.

www.cbc.ca...

Mexico is canceling classes for millions of children in the heart of the country on Friday after influenza killed around 20 people in recent weeks.

Mexican Health Minister Jose Angel Cordova said schools and universities in Mexico City and the surrounding area would be temporarily closed and advised people with flu symptoms to stay home from work.

www.breitbart.com...

Also just in an UPDATE on Bloomberg News...

April 24 (Bloomberg) -- Disease trackers are trying to determine whether a previously unseen strain of influenza in the U.S. is related to more than 130 cases of severe respiratory illness in Mexico and may spark a pandemic.

A new variant of H1N1 swine influenza has sickened at least seven patients in California and Texas, the Atlanta-based U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said yesterday. Mexico’s Health Minister Jose Cordova canceled classes in the capital, Mexico City, today and recommended citizens avoid public places after 20 fatalities from an illness possibly caused by a flu virus.

www.bloomberg.com...

FOXNEWS

It seems this flu is spreading quite fast across North America, any reports on South America yet?

Tests in the United States will confirm if this is related to the outbreak in Mexico. The news is starting to make the international headlines.


[edit on 24-4-2009 by infinite]

reply to post by infinite


Funny thing is when I posted this original story, the two storys did not seen to be linked...but now they are...so I started a new thread in current events to post the new news updates.

Current Events Thread with Updates on the Combined Story

There is a thread on Mexico...and I do not want to interfere with that thread. Mexico Thread Here

This is not what I need to read, for sure.

My housemate is in the Tucson VA hospital, having surgery today.
His daughter is scheduled to return from Mexico today...from the sounds of it, the middle of the outbreak.

Currently, this hospital is trying to control some sort of influenza outbreak within its confines. My Bud told me what they called it, but I can not remember.

Fortunately, for me, he'll be there for the next 5-7 days. I'll be talking to him, for sure, before I go for a visit.

Will put out the word, if anything unusual manifests...

Can someone please correct me if I am wrong on the following.

I remember reading in the past that the 'link' between avian flu affecting humans would be pigs. In that the avian flu would have to infect a pig due to their similarity to humans then the 'mix' would make humans susceptible.

So this article definitely caught my attention when they mentioned it was a combo of swine-avian-human flu. That is exactly what I recall reading a few years ago as the predicted requirement to cause the epidemic and here we have a case of that mixture.

Can someone confirm or debunk that? Or am I reading this article right?

Originally posted by Agit8dChop
reply to post by Chadwickus

 

Damn right.
Beauties of being an island, and the toughest 'sons' of bitches on the face of the earth. Doubt that flu would last a week in the aussie summer anyway.

i think the heat may help the virus, they can usually survive heat tempature which we can.

so actually Australia might be the perfect incubator for the virus, BAN ALL FLIGHTS COMING FROM AUSSY haha jk,