Mysterious U.S. Swine Flu Probe Widens as Mexico Finds Swine Flu *updated*

Lebanon confirms first case of H1N1 death

Lebanon's Public Health Ministry announced here on Saturday that the man who died on Thursday had infected with H1N1, recording the country's first death case of the flu, Xinhua reported.

The announcement said that contracting H1N1 was one of the many complications that the patient suffered from, as he was also suffering from an advanced stage of lymphatic cancer, he did not respond to treatment as he lacked immunity.

The patient, 20-year-old man Elias Antoine Nehmetallah of Batroun, died at a hospital in Beirut on Thursday this week. Earlier media reports said that his virus was possibly from relatives who had just traveled from Australia to Lebanon.

Tragedy strikes hog farm, killing thousands of pigs

CALGARY — A hog barn lay in ruins Saturday after a massive blaze swept through and demolished the building — taking all the livestock with it.

The Cluny Hutterite Colony’s hog barn, located about 100 kilometres east of Calgary, was a 118,000-square-foot facility that provided the colony with 75 per cent of its income.

The facility had a herd of approximately 15,000 pigs.

No one was injured.

The fire is the latest — and the most devastating — blow to the colony’s livelihood, following years of low hog prices, this spring’s drought and the panic brought on by the H1N1 outbreak. Fire officials say the fire struck at about 6:30 p.m. Friday, and it was likely sparked by mechanical parts in the feed mill inside the barn.

The building contained seven tonnes of feed, which likely caught fire, said Frank Tschetter, the colony’s financial secretary.

According to the Johnny Tschetter — Franks’s son and the first person to arrive on the scene — the blaze went from its first visible signs to an inferno in less than 20 minutes. The fire drew several crews, but the building burned to a total loss.
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Makes you wonder if somebody wanted revenge on the swine?

Very substantial compilation of facts concerning biowarfare research...

Biowarfare Research: Lifting the Lid on America's

The sixth anniversary of the murder of British bioweapons expert Dr. David Kelly on July 17, 2003, lifted the lid on more than government lies that smoothed the way for the illegal invasion and occupation of Iraq; it exposed the shadowy world of germ warfare research in Britain and the United States.

Along with the 2001 anthrax attacks in America that murdered five people and exposed some 10,000 others to a weaponized form of the bacteria, Kelly's death under highly questionable circumstances focused attention on the West's bioweapons establishment. For a fleeting instant, all eyes were trained on an international network of medical researchers, corporate grifters and Pentagon weaponeers busy as proverbial bees experimenting with deadly microorganisms.

And then as they say, things went dark; as more bodies piled up, cases were "closed" and the money kept on flowing...

www.pacificfreepress.com...

Originally posted by burntheships
www.pacificfreepress.com...

Excellent article. Thanks!

Everyone should read this.

At this stage of the game it is imperative that
we understand to what degree we are being destroyed -
and why the species is under such stress in regards to survival.

We have come to believe that being ill - being lied to - being controlled -
being told what to do and not do - is normal. It is not.

Israel confirms second H1N1 flu death - media

JERUSALEM, Aug 2 (Reuters) - Israel's Health Ministry on Sunday said a second patient carrying the H1N1 virus had died, Israeli media reported.

A 24-year-old woman died in a hospital in the northern town of Nahariya, they said.

A 35-year-old male resident of the southern city of Eilat became the first victim of the deadly strain last week and 21 people diagnosed with H1N1 remain hospitalised..

6th H1N1-linked death

29-YEAR-OLD Indian woman with Influenza A (H1N1) died on Sunday, becoming the sixth flu-related death here in two weeks.

She had no known underlying medical conditions other than being obese, said the Health Ministry. All five others who have so far died had pre-existing illnesses or chronic conditions.

The woman was admitted to Changi General Hospital's emergency department on July 25 after having fainted. She already had four days of flu-like symptoms by then.

She was moved into intensive care the next day because of low oxygen levels. The cause of death has been identified as pneumonia and renal failure, with H1N1 infection as a contributing factor.

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African woman carries new HIV strain

Washington - A new strain of the virus that causes Aids has been discovered in a woman from the West African nation of Cameroon.

It differs from the three known strains of the human immunodeficiency virus and appears to be closely related to a form of simian virus recently discovered in wild gorillas, researchers report in Monday's edition of the journal Nature Medicine.

The finding "highlights the continuing need to watch closely for the emergence for new HIV variants, particularly in western central Africa", said the researchers, led by Jean-Christophe Plantier of the University of Rouen, France.

The three previously known HIV strains are related to the simian virus that occurs in chimpanzees.
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More Evidence Revealing the Intentional Collusion to Create a Swine Flu Pandemic

A recent report from Vitalis News offers yet more evidence showing that Novartis Pharmaceutical, in collusion with several government entities including the U.S., conspired to commit mass murder and worldwide genocide for no other reason than to turn big profits — the billions of dollars being received by worldwide government contracts.

www.infowars.com...

All truths pass through three phases. First it is ridiculed. Second it is violently opposed. Third it is accepted as self evident.

And this just hit the MSM...
Homeland Security, Defense Departments plan domestic operations?

www.examiner.com...

www.abovetopsecret.com...


[edit on 2-8-2009 by burntheships]

New political powers to quarantine, close schools may be tested in flu outbreak

WINNIPEG - A resurgence of swine flu anticipated this fall could test new provincial powers that include being able to place sick people under quarantine in their homes and shut down schools.

Many provinces have passed updated public health acts in recent years to give them the right to do whatever a medical health officer feels is necessary to curb the spread of a communicable disease.

None of the powers has been used so far in the new H1N1 outbreak, but that could change if the country is hit with another wave of the flu, says Manitoba's top health official.

"We haven't had to quarantine or limit restrictions in the community based on our current situation," said Dr. Bunmi Fatoye, the province's acting chief public health officer.

"Would we have to do that in the future? We may. It all depends on how the disease evolves in the fall. That would determine what measures to take, if we think that method of quarantine would limit the spread of the disease."

www.cbc.ca...


Here's a quote from the article that says it all.

Under the new act, the province can order vaccinations or examinations and quarantine people. Health officials can also enforce the act using peace officers, warrants and even court orders.

[edit on 2-8-2009 by ZombieSlayer]

No panic after H1N1 death in Africa

Cape Town - The Western Cape's health department says it is no longer doing routine tests for the H1N1 virus, despite the first swine flu death being that of a Stellenbosch University student.

Ruan Muller, who was studying polymer science at Maties, died last week Tuesday.

He was an "apparently healthy" student, said the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD).

"Severe illness and deaths related to pandemic influenza are rare events and the experience both globally and in South Africa has, to date, in the majority of cases been mild," it said..

Maties step up monitoring after first H1N1-related fatality

Ruan Muller (22), a Stellenbosch University student in polymer science has become the first fatality in the Western Cape and in South Africa related to the current Novel Influenza A/H1N1 illness. He had a two-week history of illness and was treated by general practitioners before being admitted to hospital with pneumonia.

He died of atypical bacterial pneumonia on 28 July 2009. The laboratory test was done for Novel Influenza A/H1N1 and it was sent to the Department of Health. The specimen was also forwarded to the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) and an underlying H1N1 infection was confirmed this morning.
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[edit on 3-8-2009 by JBA2848]

India registers first H1N1 flu death

MUMBAI: India on Monday registered its first H1N1 flu death after a 14-year-old girl in the western city of Pune died from the disease, media reports said.

The teenager was admitted to a private hospital on July 27, six days after initially feeling unwell and consulting doctors. She was put on an intensive care ward on July 29 and confirmed to have H1N1 flu the following day.

No one at the state or city health department was immediately available to comment when contacted by AFP but the domestic Press Trust of India news agency said the student had been given the anti-viral drug Oseltamivir.

She failed to respond to treatment and died on Monday evening after suffering multiple organ failure, an unnamed senior health ministry official was quoted as saying.

Russian fans urged to drink whisky to ward off swine flu

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian soccer fans have been told to drink whisky on their trip to Wales for next month’s World Cup qualifier to ward off the H1N1 swine flu virus, the head of the country’s supporter association (VOB) said on Monday.

“We urge our fans to drink a lot of Welsh whisky as a form of disinfection,” VOB head Alexander Shprygin told Reuters.

“That should cure all symptoms of the disease.”

Russia’s Health Ministry has issued a public warning against travelling to Britain because of the spread of the H1N1 virus but Shprygin said he expected at least several hundred fans would go to Wales for the Sept. 9 qualifier in Cardiff.

“Health officials say this virus is very dangerous but being a fan myself I can tell you that for a real fan nothing is more important than the well-being of the team,” said Shprygin, who also sits on the executive board of the Russian FA.

“Russian fans don’t fear anything or anybody so this virus will not stand in our way of supporting our team.”

The Russian FA also said health issues should not prevent fans from travelling.

“We don’t want our team to be without any support for such an important match so we urge our fans to go to Wales despite the health warning,” a spokesman said.

Germany lead European Group Four with 16 points from six games, one ahead of Russia, with Wales in fourth place on nine points from seven matches.
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Resistant flu virus mutation found

THE H1N1 flu virus has mutated into a form resistant to the Australian-developed antiviral drug Relenza.

Researchers said the mutation posed little threat to humans yet: the virus was not a strain of swine or bird flu, and it was found only in the lab, not in patients.

There are no known strains of Relenza-resistant influenza in humans. In contrast, virtually all the flu cases in the US and Europe last year, much of Australia’s seasonal flu and even a few cases of swine flu have proven resistant to the other leading antiviral drug, Tamiflu.

A team at North Melbourne’s WHO Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on Influenza analysed 391 influenza A(H1N1) viruses found in humans in Australasia and South-East Asia between 2006 and 2008, before the spread of swine flu.

Nine of the viruses had a previously unseen mutation that made them 300 times more resistant to zanamivir (sold as Relenza), according to results reported in the Journal of Virology.

The mutation was not found when the specimens were taken from patients, only later when the viruses multiplied in the lab.

‘‘That could mean there were very low levels of this mutation in the patient,’’ said Dr Ian Barr, one of the researchers involved and deputy director of the WHO centre. ‘‘We wouldn’t say it’s a clinical problem, but it’s an interesting finding. We know [the mutation] can survive, and it’s stable.’’

The recent spread of Tamiflu-resistant A(H1N1) viruses showed that antiviral-resistant viruses could spread rapidly and travel widely around the world, the study authors warned.

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Swine flu death in Townsville Hospital

A FOURTH person has died in Townsville from swine flu and two cases have been confirmed at the Cleveland Bay Youth Detention Centre.

A woman in her 50s died in Townsville Hospital on Saturday, along with a man in his 20s who died on the Gold Coast.

''Both tested positive for human swine influenza,'' a Queensland Health spokesperson said.

''Both persons were in a group vulnerable to the virus.

''Queensland Health respects the right of people to privacy and cannot release or confirm information that may identify a patient, their family or workplace.''

One person is in intensive care in Townsville with a confirmed case of swine flu, with another probable case also in the unit.

There have been 12 deaths in Queensland as a result of the virus.

CDC to seek public's advice on H1N1 vaccination drive

Jul 31, 2009 (CIDRAP News) – The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) plans to gather the public's thoughts in August on how big this fall's H1N1 influenza vaccination drive should be.

The CDC will hold 10 "public engagement" meetings around the country to get the citizenry's advice on whether the vaccination program should be an all-out effort or something more modest, according to Roger Bernier, PhD, MPH, senior advisor in the CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases.

The agency wants to take the public pulse on the issue because there's so much uncertainty about the scale and of the severity of the pandemic and the demand for the vaccine this fall and winter, Bernier said.

"We're at some danger of either overreacting or underreacting, and that depends on how fully prepared we want to be and how we invest to be fully prepared," he said. "We're trying to learn how they [the public] value preparation in this case, and how they balance that against possible safety concerns and other issues that arise."

The CDC has scheduled a meeting in one city in each of the 10 Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) regions, he reported. The all-day meetings will be held on Saturdays. Dates and locations are as follows:

Aug 8: Denver, Colo., and Lincoln, Neb.
Aug 15: Birmingham, Ala., Sacramento, Calif., and Vincennes, Ind.
Aug 22: El Paso, Tex., Bucks County (near Philadelphia), Pa., and New York City
Aug 29: Somerville, Mass., and Spokane, Wash.
Participants for the meetings are being recruited through local health departments, civic organizations, and other means, Bernier said. The aim is to draw a group that reflects the local population in terms of age, race, and sex. "We're not looking at people's attitudes or beliefs coming in," he said.

The participants will hear a presentation of basic information they'll need to have an informed discussion and then will break into small groups to discuss the issues, he reported.

"The question we're putting on the table has to do with what should be the implementation strategy the US should adopt for pandemic flu," he said. "Are we talking about a full-throttle or a go-slow approach, or an approach somewhere in between?"

He said a full-throttle approach would probably involve a large number and variety of vaccination sites, such as public clinics, physicians' offices, and schools, whereas a go-slow approach would be more like a seasonal flu vaccination program. An all-out effort would likely include a major communication campaign to stoke demand for the vaccine, but communication steps in a smaller campaign would aim to simply meet existing demand, he said.

The CDC has conducted similar public engagement programs several times before, according to Bernier. Topics that were addressed in recent efforts included vaccine prioritization in a severe flu pandemic and community control measures, such as school closings and event cancellations, in a pandemic. The agency also recently sought the public's opinions on an overall national vaccine plan that's being developed.

Bernier said decision-makers have found the public's responses useful. Officials don't always agree with what they hear from people, "but our promise to the public is that we'll give serious consideration to the results of the meeting," he said.

Participants for the meetings are being recruited through local health departments, civic organizations, and other means, Bernier said. The aim is to draw a group that reflects the local population in terms of age, race, and sex. "We're not looking at people's attitudes or beliefs coming in," he said.

Does not sound like they truely want public input. Just the apperance of it.

Governments use YouTube to keep their citizens, and the world, informed about H1N1

As part of the Communications, Public Policy and Government Affairs team at Google, we often get the opportunity to work with local governments on ways in which online platforms can help relay important information to a wide, public audience.

Lately, we have been working with a team of Google volunteers and health officials from Mexico and Argentina to help them set up YouTube channels that inform the citizenship about H1N1 official measures and communications. Videos have proven to be a very powerful tool in providing a clear message in this specific area. When the H1N1 flu started to become widespread in Mexico, people were desperate for more information. Many of the official government sites were overwhelmed by the sudden influx of visitors and sometimes the information the public needed wasn't available.

Within a few days the Mexican Secretary of Health was able to set up a YouTube channel to post daily updates from the Secretary of Health. Additionally, the Mexican President posted several messages to the whole country on the channel, and later created an official YouTube channel to communicate with the public. On that channel you can also connect to the federal government's Twitter feed..

In the past few weeks in Argentina, the number of documented cases of H1N1 has risen, prompting the Ministry of Health to set up a YouTube channel to provide the citizens with useful information about the flu, its prevention, and treatment. Also, the PAHO (Pan American Health Organization) has launched its own YouTube channel with many informative videos. Google has also set up landing pages to consolidate informational resources from many official sources, including those on YouTube.

[edit on 3-8-2009 by JBA2848]

Swine flu vaccines for everyone in Greece

Health Minister Dimitris Avramopoulos yesterday heralded the intended vaccination against swine flu of Greece’s entire population of 11 million, including thousands of illegal immigrants, as the government’s action plan for tackling a possible pandemic was unveiled.

“It was decided under the order of the prime minister to vaccinate all citizens and residents of the country, without exception,” Avramopoulos told reporters after an Inner Cabinet meeting chaired by Premier Costas Karamanlis. Avramopoulos added that authorities will order some 24 million doses of the flu vaccine, to secure the recommended two shots for each resident, and will start administering the drugs once they have been approved by international authorities. The drugs are to be administered from mid-September, when deliveries are expected to arrive, starting with health workers and vulnerable citizens, including children, the elderly and the sick. Each citizen will have to sign a form registering for his or her inoculation.

Another matter discussed by members of the Inner Cabinet was a national action plan for dealing with a possible pandemic of the H1N1 virus. The plan envisages the establishment of special vaccination centers as well as the mobilization of the private health sector and includes seven alternative scenarios for tackling the spread of the virus. The more serious scenarios foresee the use of military and private hospitals and even hotels to treat patients and the mobilization of trainee and retired doctors, according to sources.

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“It was decided under the order of the prime minister to vaccinate all citizens and residents of the country, without exception,”

Napa's first Swine Flu death confirmed

A Napa man has died from the H1N1 virus, otherwise known as swine flu, according the Napa County Public Health Division officials.

The man, whose name has not been released, died Friday at a local hospital, the health division indicated. This is the first confirmed case of a person with the H1N1 virus dying in Napa County..

California

WHO: Observations on Vaccine Production Technologies and Factors Potentially Influencing Pandemic Influenza Vaccine Choices in Developing Countries, 2009

Link to file

Limited distribution report on pandemic vaccines was prepared for the WHO in early 2009, shortly before the emergence of swine flu. It details tough problems that most of the world's governments face in acquiring adequate supplies of pandemic flu vaccines, as well as the problems caused by the patent claims of huge corporations.

Possibly because of the frank presentation and potential controversy, the WHO designated the paper "Limited Distribution", meaning it has only been available to select government officials in paper form. This scanned version makes the paper available electronically and to the general public for the first time.

This is an intergovernmental organization document with no "primary country" of origin. India has been selected as the WHO Regional Office that published the paper is based there.

Thanks to wikileak.

Pigs didn't start the swine flu song.
On a lighter note.
This video was kind of funny.